Verse 49

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 49:

तस्या मध्यान्तराले शिवपदममलं शाश्वतं योगिगम्यं
  नित्यानन्दाभिधानं सकलसुखमयं शुद्धबोधस्वरूपं ।
केचिद्ब्रह्माभिधानं पदमिति सुधियो वैष्णवं तल्लपन्ति
  केचिद्धंसाख्यमेतत्किमपि सुकृतिनो मोक्षमात्म-प्रबोधं ॥ ४९ ॥

tasyā madhyāntarāle śivapadamamalaṃ śāśvataṃ yogigamyaṃ
  nityānandābhidhānaṃ sakalasukhamayaṃ śuddhabodhasvarūpaṃ |
kecidbrahmābhidhānaṃ padamiti sudhiyo vaiṣṇavaṃ tallapanti
  keciddhaṃsākhyametatkimapi sukṛtino mokṣamātma-prabodhaṃ || 49 ||

Within Her is the everlasting place called the abode of Śiva,^[1] which is free from Māyā, attainable only by Yogīs, and known by the name of Nityānanda. It is replete with every form of bliss,^[2] and is pure knowledge itself.^[3] Some call it the Brahman; others call it the Haṃsa. Wise men describe it as the abode of Viṣṇu, and righteous men^[4] speak of it as the ineffable place of knowledge of the Ātmā, or the place of Liberation.

Commentary by Śrī-Kālīcaraṇa:

He speaks of the Para-Brahma-sthāna (place of Para-Brahma) in the Void within Nirvāṇa-Śakti.

“Within Her” (Tasyāḥ madhyāntarāle)—i.e., within Nirvāṇa^[5] Śakti in Her form of Paraṃ Bindu, the empty space within the Bindu.

“Abode of Śiva” (Śiva-pada [padaṃ]).—This is the place of the Brahman.

“Free from Māyā” (Amala [amalaṃ])—i.e., free the impurity of Māyā.

“Called”—i.e., called by those who know the Tattva.

“Attainable only by Yogīs” (Yogī-gaṃya [gaṃyam]).—On account of its extreme subtlety, it is beyond the scope of word and mind, is attainable by Yogīs by pure Jñāna^[6] only.

“Some call it”—i.e., the Vedāntists (Vaidāntikas) call it.

“Ineffable” (Kimapi)—i.e., wonder-inspiring.

“Place of the knowledge of the Ātmā” (Ātmā-prabodha [prabodham]).—The place where the Ātmā is seen or realized.

“Liberation.” (Mokṣa)—where one is liberated from Māyā by which one is surrounded.

Now be good enough to mark the following: the Para-bindu which is Prakṛti and Puruṣa is surrounded^[7] by Māyā, and is within the triangle in the pericarp of the Lotus of a thousand petals. So it has been said:

“In the Satya-loka is the formless and lustrous One; She has surrounded Herself by Māyā, and is like a grain of gram; devoid of hands, feet, and the like. She is Moon, Sun, and Fire. When casting off (Utsṛjya) the covering (Bandhana) of Māyā, She becomes of two-fold aspect (Dvidhā bhitvā) and Unmukhī,^[8] then on the division or separation of Śiva and Śakti^[9] arisen creative ideation.”^[10]

The word “Satya-loka” in the above passage means Sahasrāra.

Also cf. “The attributeless Bindu is without doubt the Cause (of the attainment) of Siddhis. Some say that the Deva who is one, stainless (Nirañjana), all-embracing (Mahā-pūrṇa) and united with the primordial Śakti as in the form of a grain of gram^[11] is Brahmā, and by some, again, He is called Viṣṇu: by others, again, He is called the Deva Rudra.”

The luminous empty space within the Nirvāṇa-Śakti (i.e., the outer circle of the Para-bindu), which is more minute than the ten-millionth part of the end of a hair, is according to the author, the abode of Brahman (Brahma-pada). Cf. “Within it^[12] is Para-bindu, whose nature it is to create, maintain, and destroy. The space within is Śiva Himself and Bindu^[13] is Parama-kuṇḍali.”

Also: “The circumference (Vṛtta) is the Kuṇḍalinī-Śakti, and She possesses the three Guṇas. The space within, O Beloved Maheśāni is. both Śiva and Śakti.”^[14]

This Bindu is, according to some, Īśvara, the Cause of All. Some Paurāṇikas call Him Mahā-Viṣṇu; others call Him Brahma Puruṣa.

Cf. “There was neither day nor night, neither the firmament nor the earth, neither darkness nor any other light; there was That, the Brahma-Male,^[15] imperceptible to hearing, and the other sources of knowledge united with Pradhāna.”^[16]

The Śāradā^[17] says: “The eternal Śiva should be known both as Nirguṇa (attributeless) and Saguṇa (possessed of attributes). He is Nirguṇa when (considered as) dissociated from the workings of Prakṛti, but when Sakala (i.e., so associated with Prakṛti) He is Saguṇa.”^[18]

This shows that the Bindu is Saguṇa-Brahman. We should know that Saguṇa-Brahman is in reality but one, though He is called by different names according to the inclinations of men. There is no need to go into further details.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Śiva-pada [padam] or state of Śiva. This, Viśvanātha says, is the Unmanī state of Śakti where there is neither Kāla nor Kalā, time nor space. It is the body of Śiva (Śiva-tanu). It is then said Unmanyante Para-śivaḥ. The following verse which occurs in Padma-Purāṇa (Uttara-Khaṇḍa, cḥ. 78, v. 43) puts the idea in a more popular form. It says:

śaivāḥ saurāś ca gāṇeśāḥ vaiṣṇavāḥ śakti-pūjakāḥ.
māmeva prāpnuvantī hi varṣāṃbhaḥ sāgaraṃ yathā.

“Śaivas, Sauras, Gāṇeśas, Vaiṣṇavas and Śāktas, all verily come to me like rain water to the ocean.”

[2]:

Sakala-sukhamaya [sukhamayam]. Viśvanātha reads here Parama-kulapada [kulapadaṃ], which he interprets as Param Akūla-pada [padaṃ], or the abode of the Supreme Śiva, who is known as Akula, as Kula is Śakti. It is so called because it is here that the universe finds its rest.

[3]:

Śuddha-bodha-svarūpa [svarūpaṃ].

[4]:

Sukṛtinaḥ [sukṛtin].

[5]:

Viśvanāthā says Samanā.

[6]:

Spiritual knowledge, as it is said: Mokṣe dhīr jñānam anyatra vijñānaṃ śilpa-śāstrayoḥ. The knowledge which gains Mokṣa (Liberation) is called Jñāna, other forms of knowledge, such as fine arts, and the Śāstras being Vijnana.

[7]:

Māyā-bandhanā-cchādita-prakṛti-puruṣātmaka-para-bindu.

[8]:

By Unmukhī is meant that She becomes intent on creation.

[9]:

Śiva-Śakti-vighāgena. By division or separation is not meant that Śiva is really divided or separated from Śakti—for the two are ever one and the same—but that Śakti, who exists latently as one with the Brahman in dissolution, appears to issue from It on creation as the manifested universe.

[10]:

Sṛṣṭi-kalpanā. That is, the subject knows itself as object.

[11]:

Gaṇaka, which under its outward sheath contains two undivided halves.

[12]:

Apparently Nirvāṇa-kalā.

[13]:

That is, the circumference as opposed to the inner space.

[14]:

Jñānārṇava-Tantra, XXIV, 21.

[15]:

Prādhānikaṃ Brahma-pumān.

[16]:

Kālikā-Purāṇa, XXIV, v. 125.

[17]:

Ch. I.

[18]:

And, so, also, the Śāktānanda-taraṅgiṇī (Ch. I) says of the Devī that Mahā-māyā without Māyā is Nirguṇa, and with Māyā Saguṇa.