Today, we read from the second chapter of Śrī Devīkālottarāgama.
The Devīkālottara stands as a key text in the Śākta and Śaiva traditions, where Śiva, the Supreme Consciousness, imparts ultimate wisdom to Devi, the Goddess. These texts ending with the name -uttara find themselves within jnana-pitha of the Siddhānta Tantras, represent the final teaching from Śiva to Devi and provide the most advanced instruction—the realization of the non-dual Self.
In the excerpt below, Śiva explains that liberation is not achieved through external practices but through the deepest realization of the Self—the understanding that the mind is the source of both bondage and liberation. When the mind attaches to desires and external objects, it creates suffering, but when it becomes still and detached, it merges with the true Self, leading to freedom. This text highlights the transformative power of knowledge of the Self, urging the practitioner to dissolve the ego and mental attachments to experience the non-dual, formless Śiva, beyond all concepts of time, space, and duality.
The teaching aligns with key ideas in Sanātana Dharma nondual philosophy. Verses here parallel those in other important texts. E.g., the Amṛtabindu Upaniṣad states that "mind is bondage, mind is liberation"; the Māṇḍūkya Kārikā emphasizes that liberation comes when the mind ceases its restless activity and rests in the unchanging Brahman; and the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha teaches that the destruction of the mind dissolves the illusion of the world. Ultimately, the mind, when purified and turned inward, reveals the non-dual truth of the Self, as Śiva imparts to Devi, transcending all dualities.
——om——
Devi said:
O Lord, what is called bondage and what is called liberation? By what is one bound and by what released? Tell me, O Śaṅkara.
The Lord said:
Listen, O Devi, I shall explain clearly—mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation for embodied beings.
When the mind attaches to sense objects it is bondage; when detached, that is called liberation.
Restlessness of the mind is bondage; its steadiness is liberation. Therefore the wise should make the mind still.
When the mind ceases to move toward objects and abides in its own nature, it attains supreme peace and dissolves in the Self.
As fire dies when fuel is exhausted, so the mind ceases when the seed of desire is consumed.
When nothing arises in the mind, it remains eternal; abiding in the Self, one surely attains liberation.
As wind ceases in a windless space, so the mind rests in the supreme, supportless Self.
Neither austerity, nor mantra, nor gift, nor scripture leads to liberation—only knowledge of the Self, O Beloved.
When one knows that the Self and Śiva are not different, duality vanishes, and he himself is the Supreme Lord.
When the mind moves outward to objects, that is bondage; its quiescence is liberation.
As the ocean, though full of waves, remains by nature calm and pure, so is the Self despite the mind’s movements.
As clouds arise and vanish in the sky, so thoughts arise and dissolve in consciousness without touching it.
Therefore the wise ever turn the mind inward and see the Self; seeing non-duality, they attain supreme peace.
He who is equal to all beings, free from fault and attachment, having abandoned anger and greed, attains eternal liberation.
As a lamp does not flicker in a windless place, so the mind, established in the Self and free from desire, is still.
When all objects and ego are abandoned, the pure light of the Self shines of itself, stainless and serene.
Where no thought arises and no difference exists, there is neither bondage nor liberation—only Śiva alone.
When the mind is merged in the heart, desireless and still, knowing Brahman, the person becomes immortal.
There are many sacred places on earth, but where the mind becomes still—that alone is the supreme pilgrimage.
So long as the mind is not slain by knowledge it binds; when destroyed by wisdom, it rises no more.
When the mind is absorbed in the Self, it becomes the Self; when turned outward, it is called the world.
As gold hidden in stone shines when smelted in fire, so the Self concealed in the mind is revealed by wisdom.
When the mind rests without thought in the supreme state, that alone is Brahman—no other reality exists.
When the mind dissolves seeing the non-dual Self, then knowledge arises, free from bondage and release alike.
The ignorant wander outward through desire; the wise turn within to the heart and meditate on the Self alone.
He who knows the Lord as unborn, infinite, unmoving, all-pervading, and eternal is freed from worldly bondage.
He who has no attachment among beings, whose acts do not cling to him, is like a lotus leaf untouched by water.
Though dwelling in the body, he who witnesses but is not the body is called liberated while alive (jīvan-mukta)—he is Śiva indeed.
Thus, O Auspicious One, the nature of bondage and liberation is declared: when the mind is destroyed, the pure, stainless Śiva alone remains.
Śrī Devīkālottarāgama II.1-31.
|| oṁ namaḥ śivāya ||
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