Rudra is Truly One

ya eko jālavān īśata īśanībhiḥ sarvāṃ lokān īśata īśanībhiḥ |

ya evaika udbhave sambhave ca ya etad vidur amṛtās te bhavanti ||1||

The non-dual Ensnarer rules by His powers. Remaining one and the same, He rules by His powers all the worlds during their manifestation and continued existence. They who know this become immortal. 

 

eko hi rudro na dvitīyāya tasthur ya imāṃl lokān īśata īśanībhiḥ |

pratyaṅ janāṃs tiṣṭhati sañcukocānta-kāle saṃsṛjya viśvā bhuvanāni gopāḥ ||2||

Rudra is truly One; for the knowers of Brahman do not admit the existence of a second, He alone rules all the worlds by His powers. He dwells as the inner Self of every living being. After having created all the worlds, He, their Protector, takes them back into Himself at the end of time. 

 

viśvataś cakṣur uta viśvato-mukho viśvato-bāhur uta viśvatas-pāt |

saṃbāhubhyāṃ dhamati sampatatrair dyāv-ābhūmī janayan deva ekaḥ ||3||

His eyes are everywhere, His faces everywhere, His arms everywhere, everywhere His feet. He it is who endows men with arms, birds with feet and wings and men likewise with feet. Having produced heaven and earth, He remains as their non-dual manifester. 

 

yo devānāṃ prabhavaś codbhavaś ca viśvādhipo rudro maharṣiḥ |

hiraṇyagarbhaṃ janayāmāsa pūrvaṃ sa no buddhyā śubhayā saṃyunaktu ||4||

He, the omniscient Rudra, the Creator of the Gods and the Bestower of their powers, the Support of the universe, He who, in the beginning, gave birth to Hiranyagarbha -may He endow us with clear intellect! 

yā te rudra śivā tanūr aghorāpāpa-kāśinī |

tayā nas tanuvā śantamayā giriśantābhicākaśīhi ||5||

O Rudra, Thou who dwellest in the body and bestowest happiness! Look upon us with that most blessed form of Thine, which is auspicious, unterrifying and all good. 

yābhiṣuṃ giriśanta haste bibharṣy astave |

śivāṃ giritra tāṃ kuru mā hiṃsīḥ puruṣaṃ jagat ||6||

O Dweller in the body and Bestower of happiness, make benign that arrow which Thou holdest in Thy hand ready to shoot, O Protector of the body! Do not injure man or the world!

tataḥ paraṃ brahma paraṃ bṛhantaṃ yathānikāyaṃ sarva-bhūteṣu gūḍham |

viśvasyaikaṃ pariveṣṭitāram īśaṃ taṃ jñātvāmṛtā bhavanti ||7||

 

The Supreme Lord is higher than Virat, beyond Hiranyagarbha. He is vast and is hidden in the bodies of all living beings. By knowing Him who alone pervades the universe, men become immortal. 

 

vedāham etaṃ puruṣaṃ mahāntam āditya-varṇaṃ tamasaḥ parastāt |

tam eva viditvātimṛtyum eti nānyaḥ panthā vidyate'yanāya ||8||

I know the great Purusha, who is luminous, like the sun and beyond darkness. Only by knowing Him does one pass over death; there is no other way to the Supreme Goal. 

 

yasmāt paraṃ nāparam asti kiṃcid yasmān nāṇīyo na jyāyo 'sti kaścit |

vṛkṣa iva stabdho divi tiṣṭhaty ekas tenedaṃ pūrṇaṃ puruṣeṇa sarvam ||9||

The whole universe is filled by the Purusha, to whom there is nothing superior, from whom there is nothing different, than whom there is nothing either smaller or greater; who stands alone, motionless as a tree, established in His own glory. 

 

tato yad uttarataraṃ tad arūpam anāmayam |

ya etad vidur amṛtāste bhavanti athetare duḥkham evāpi yanti ||10||

That which is farthest from this world is without form and without affliction. They who know It become immortal; but others, indeed, suffer pain. 

 

sarvānana-śiro-grīvaḥ sarva-bhūta-guhāśayaḥ |

sarva-vyāpī sa bhagavāṃs tasmāt sarva-gataḥ śivaḥ ||11||

All faces are His faces; all heads, His heads; all necks, His necks. He dwells in the hearts of all beings. He is the all-pervading Bhagavan. Therefore He is the omnipresent and benign Lord. 

 

mahān prabhur vai puruṣaḥ sattvasyaiṣa pravartakaḥ |

sunirmalām imāṃ prāptim īśāno jyotir avyayaḥ ||12||

He, indeed, is the great Purusha, the Lord of creation, preservation and destruction, who inspires the mind to attain the state of stainlessness. He is the Ruler and the Light that is imperishable. 

 

aṅguṣṭha-mātraḥ puruṣo'ntarātmā sadā janānāṃ hṛdaye sanniviṣṭaḥ |

hṛdā manīṣo manasābhikḷpto ya etad vidur amṛtās te bhavanti ||13||

The Purusha, no bigger than a thumb, is the inner Self, ever seated in the heart of man. He is known by the mind, which controls knowledge and is perceived in the heart. They who know Him become immortal.

 

sahasra-śīrṣā puruṣaḥ sahasrākṣaḥ sahasra-pāt |

sa bhūmiṃ viśvato vṛtvā-[a]tyatiṣṭhad daśāṅgulam ||14||

puruṣa evedaṃ sarvaṃ yad bhūtaṃ yac ca bhavyam |

utāmṛtatvasyeśāno yad annenātirohati ||15||

The Purusha with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet, compasses the earth on all sides and extends beyond it by ten fingers' breadth. The Purusha alone is all this — what has been and what will be. He is also the Lord of Immortality and of whatever grows by food. 

 

sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṃ tat sarvato 'kṣi-śiro-mukham |

sarvataḥ śrutimal loke sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati ||16||

His hands and feet are everywhere; His eyes, heads and faces are everywhere; His ears are everywhere; He exists compassing all. 

 

sarvendriya-guṇābhāsaṃ sarvendriya-vivarjitam |

sarvasya prabhum īśānaṃ sarvasya śaraṇaṃ bṛhat ||17||

 

Himself devoid of senses, He shines through the functions of the senses. He is the capable ruler of all; He is the refuge of all. He is great. 

 

nava-dvāre pure dehī haṃso lelāyate bahiḥ |

vaśī sarvasya lokasya sthāvarasya carasya ca ||18||

The Swan, the ruler of the whole world, of all that is moving and all that is motionless, becomes the embodied self and dwelling in the city of nine gates, flies outward. 

 

apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā paśyaty acakṣuḥ sa śṛṇoty akarṇaḥ |

sa vetti vedyaṃ na ca tasyāsti vettā tam āhur agryaṃ puruṣaṃ mahāntam ||19||

Grasping without hands, hasting without feet, It sees without eyes, It hears without ears. It knows what is to be known, but no one knows It. They call It the First, the Great, the Full. 

 

aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān ātmā guhāyāṃ nihito'sya jantoḥ |

tam akratuḥ paśyati vīta-śoko dhātuḥ prasādān mahimānam īśam ||20||

The Self, smaller than the small, greater than the great, is hidden in the hearts of creatures. The wise, by the grace of the Creator, behold the Lord, majestic and desireless and become free from grief. 

 

vedāham etam ajaraṃ purāṇaṃ sarvātmānaṃ sarva-gataṃ vibhutvāt |

janma-nirodhaṃ pravadanti yasya brahma-vādino hi pravadanti nityam ||21||

 

I know this undecaying, primeval One, the Self of all things, which exists everywhere, being all-pervading and which the wise declare to be free from birth. The teachers of Brahman, indeed, speak of It as eternal.

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣhad III:1-21 of the Yajurveda.

They Do Not Incarnate Any More

Bhasmajabala Upanishad is an ancient Shaiva scripture written in the form a dialogue between Mahadeva Shiva and Sage Jabala. It deals with various Shaiva topics including the holy mantras of Shiva, rituals, rules for wearing sacred ash, Shiva puja, and the sanctity of the city of Kashi (Varanasi). In the below section, we read about the real nature of Lord Shiva and liberation of pashus (individual souls). 

[Mahadeva said:]

I, conjoint with Uma, am the Brahman!

I, conjoint with Uma, am the Pavana that sanctified all.

I, conjoint with Uma, am the Generator of the various dispositions of the mind.

I, conjoint with Uma, am the Generator of the Earth.

I, conjoint with Uma, am the Generator of fire.

I, conjoint with Uma, am the Generator of the Sun.

I, conjoint with Uma, am the Generator of Indra.

I, conjoint with Uma, am the Generator of Vishnu.

I alone am the Generator of the Moon, the Devas, the terrestrial, mid-ethereal and the celestial regions and all the other worlds.

I, conjoint with Uma, am the source of all that has been, that continues to be generated in various and variegated forms, and all that is yet to be.

I am the great Rishi, the Seer of Vedic mantras.

I am Rudra, transcending all the universe.

I do see Hiranyagarbha and other Prajapatis that are yet to come into existence.

I alone am the innermost Atman, that is immanent in all as the Antaratman [Indweller], the radiance of the Brahman, transcending which, transcending Me, there is naught else!

I alone am the transcendent Brahman that transcends the entire universe.

The world of persons, ignorant of the real nature of the Atman, on coming to realize Me alone attains the state of immortality and surmounts all misery. He, who, on coming to realize ME, remains in the attitude, “I am the Brahman alone” causes the disease of worldly existence to melt away. Hence I am known as Rudra [the Driver of the disease of worldly existence], who is the final resort of all. That reputed Rudra of the aspect of all, am I.

Knowing Me to be the Paramatman alone whence all creatures take their origin, through whom all these creatures continue to subsist, and whom they finally reach as their last resting place and get dissolved therein, one should resort to Me through upasana.

I alone am praised by all beings, and the Devas as well.

The wind wafts ouf of fear for Me. The Sun rises only out of fear of Me. Agni and Indra [discharge their duties] of out fear of Me.

I, conjoint with Uma, am alone the Controller of all and protector of all.

I am the Earth; I am the fire; I am air; I am time; I am the cardinal points; I am the Atman. In Me all things are established.

He who knows the Brahman himself attains the Parabrahman.

May Brahma, the Creator, be identical with Shiva unto me; may he be identical with Sadashiva too, OM!

I am the Ishvara of the universe that has no eyes and at the same time has eyes turned in all directions; that has no ears and has ears turned in all directions; that has no feet and at the same time has feet moving in all directions; that has no hands and at the same time has hands moving in all directions; that has no head and at the same time has heads in all directions.

I am Ishvara resorted to through the vidya mantras, that of the form of the vidya, composed of vidya, the Vishveshvara [Lord of the Universe] and devoid of dotage.

Having known me as of this character, the seeker after liberation is released from bonds of worldly existence.

For that reason I am the Liberator of pashus from the bonds of worldly existence (pasha).

All created beings down [from Brahma] down to the human beings and those that occupy intermediate positions are verily pashus.

Should any of these pashus have attained the balanced state of Samadhi, such persons endeavor to attain Me alone.

On attaining Me, they do not incarnate any more; they do not incarnate any more.

~Bhasmajabala Upanishad II:5-14 of the Atharvaveda.

Fifteen Verses of Wisdom

Who here hath not heard of Abhinavagupta? About the greatest of Shivacharyas, we need not say anything for no words can describe the grandeur, the depth, the genius of his being. Unto the feet of this Jagadguru, we pay obeisance. 

In the Bodhapanchadashika (Fifteen Verses on Wisdom), the great Acharya very succinctly summarizes the entirety of Shivadvaya, the non-dualist philosophy associated with what we now term Kashmir Shaivism. Although written about a thousand years ago, the powerful words still resound in our consciousness as we read these beautiful verses. Because this short work was created by the Acharya for his disciples of little understanding, it is easy for us to understand without any explanation. Presumably, he wrote these fifteen verses after finishing his magnum opera. 

As we know, 118 worlds (bhuvanas; 256 in some Agamas) make up the entire universe at various levels, within various tattvas. Lord Bhairava is Himself the nature of all these 118 bhuvanas; all this His experience of His own infinite Being. All this diversity exists within Him. It is by His grace alone that we realize the true nature of reality, the true nature of our own being, which is but Lord Bhairava. Indeed time, one of the kanchukas of maya, and our (mis)understanding of its march results in worldly existence (samsara). The perception of the existence of time is a result of His independence, His means to realize His own nature (see: Time Divine; Doctrine of Time). The fullness of this realization is achieved by those who have been liberated within this life (jivan-muktas; see: Sivagnanabodham). 

These verses have been especially created for those of us with little understanding so we may be instantaneously elevated! Let us, then, as disciples, learn from the Bodhapanchadashika. 

oṃ sauḥ parāyai namaḥ

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बोधपञ्चदशिका [Bodhapanchadashika]

1. The brilliance of the One Being's light does not vanish in external light or in darkness because all light and darkness resides in the supreme light of God Consciousness.

2. This Being is called Lord Shiva. He is the nature and existence of all beings. The external objective world is the expansion of His Energy and it is filled with the glamour of the glory of God Consciousness.

3. Shiva and Shakti are not aware that they are separate. They are interconnected just as fire is one with heat.

4. He is the God Bhairava. He creates, protects, destroys, conceals, and reveals His nature through the cycle of this world. This whole universe is created by God in His own nature, just as one finds the reflection of the world in a mirror.

5. The collective state of the universe is His supreme Energy (Shakti), which He created in order to recognize His own nature. This (Shakti), who is the embodiment of the collective state of the universe, loves possessing the state of God Consciousness. She is in the state of ignorance, remaining perfectly complete and full in each and every object.

6. The supreme Lord Shiva, who is all-pervasive and fond of playing and falling, together with the Energy of His own nature simultaneously brings about the varieties of creation and destruction.

7. This supreme action cannot be accomplished by any other power in this universe except Lord Shiva, who is completely independent, perfectly glorious and intelligent.

8. The limited state of consciousness is insentient and cannot simultaneously expand itself to become the various forms of the universe. The possessor of independence is absolutely different from that insentient state of consciousness. You cannot, therefore, recognize Him in only one way. The moment you recognize Him in one way you will also recognize Him in the other way.

9. This Lord Shiva, who is completely independent (svatantra), has the diversity of creation and destruction existing in His own nature. And, at the same time, this diversity is found existing in its own way as the field of ignorance.

10. In this world you will find varieties of creation and destruction, some of which are created in the upper cycle, some of which are created below, and some of which are even created sideways. Attached to these worlds smaller portions of worlds are created. Pain, pleasure, and intellectual power are created according to the status of being. This is the world.

11. If you do not understand that there is actually no span of time, this misunderstanding is also the independence (svatantrya) of Lord Shiva. This misunderstanding results in worldly existence (samsara). And those who are ignorant are terrified by worldly existence.

12-13. When, because the grace of Lord Shiva is showered upon you, or due to the teachings or vibrating force of your Master, or through understanding the scriptures concerned with Supreme Shiva, you attain the real knowledge of reality, that is the existent state of Lord Shiva, and that is final liberation. This fullness is achieved by elevated souls and is called liberation in this life (jivan-mukti).

14. These two cycles, bondage and liberation, are the play of Lord Shiva and nothing else. They are not separate from Lord Shiva because differentiated states have not risen at all. In reality, nothing has happened to Lord Shiva.

15. In this way the Lord, Bhairava, the essence of all being, has held in His own way in His own nature, the three great energies: the energy of will (iccha-shakti), the energy of action (kriya-shakti), and the energy of knowledge (jnana-shakti). These three energies are just like that trident which is the three-fold lotus. And seated on this lotus is Lord Bhairava, who is the nature of the whole universe of 118 worlds.

16. I, Abhinavagupta, have written and revealed these verses for some of my dear disciples who have very little intellectual understanding. For those disciples, who are deeply devoted to me, I have composed these fifteen verses just to elevate them instantaneously.

Hughes, John. Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism. State University of New York Press, 1994. 

Sivagnanabodham

Meykanda Devar (aka Meykandar) was a important 13th century CE philosopher and propounder of the southern school of Saiva Siddhanta. Here we read from his work known as Sivagnanabodham (Instruction in the Knowledge of Shiva), a masterpiece of 12 sutras in the Tamil language. It is said that these verses come from or are inspired by the Rauravasutrasamgraha (aka, Raurava Agama). However, this is no longer found in the remaining fragment of the text that goes by that name. 

Within these sutras, Meykanda Devar has carefully woven and saliently highlighted the essential triad that is central to all forms of Shaivism from the ancient Vedic Pashupata and Lakulisha-Pashupata forms all the way to the Agamic-Tantric, Puranic and Vedantic forms. These sutras then also go on to form a school of philosophy within the southern Saiva Siddhanta through their exposition by Shivacharyas that follow Meykanda Devar. 

Verses 1-2 describe the nature of Pati (the Lord), here called Hara, as it relates to the world and the individual Atmans (Pashus). Verses 3-5 elaborate the true nature of the Pashus, and how they are guided by the Pati. Verses 6-7 speaks of the world (the fetters, pasha) and how it is perceived by the Pashus; what constitutes real and not real. Verses 8-11 speak of the quest and means of liberation for the Pashus. Finally, verse 12 describes the remaining life of the liberated soul (jivan-mukta), who has removed the fetters by the Grace (Arul/Anugraha) of Hara. Such is the beauty of the Sivagnanabodham!

 

ஓம் நம சிவாய ~ ॐ नमः शिवाय ~ ওঁ নমঃ শিবায় ~ ૐ નમઃ શિવાય ~ اوم نمہ شوایہ ~ Om Namah Shivaya 

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Sivagnanabodham

Tamil Om

1. As the (seen) universe, spoken of as he, she and it, undergoes three changes (origin, development, and decay), this must be an entity created (by an efficient cause.) This entity owing to its conjunction with anava mala has to emanate from Hara to whom it returns during samharam (dissolution). Hence, the learned say that Hara is the first Cause.

2. He is one with the souls (non-dual). He is different from them (dual). He is one and different from them (dual-non-dual). He stands in union with His Gnana Sakti and causes the souls to undergo the processes of evolution (births) and return (samharam) by including their good and bad acts (karma).

3. It rejects every portion of the body as not being itself; it says my body; it is conscious of dreams; it exists in sleep without feeling pleasure or pain or movements; it knows from others; This is the soul which exists in the body formed as a machine from maya.

4. The soul is not one of the antahkarana (mental apparatus). It is not conscious when it is in conjunction with anava mala. It becomes conscious only when it meets the antahkarana, just as a king understands through his ministers. The relation of the soul to the five avasthas is also similar.

5. The senses while perceiving the object cannot perceive themselves or the soul; and they are perceived by soul. Similarly, the soul while perceiving cannot perceive itself (while thinking cannot think thought) and God. It is moved by the Arul  (Anugraha) Sakti of God, as the magnet moves the iron, while He Himself remains immoveable or unchangeable.

6. That which is perceived by the senses is Asat (non-real in the absolute sense). That which is not so perceived does not exist. God is neither the one nor the other, and hence Siva is called Sat or Chit - Sat by the wise; Chit or Siva when not understood by the human intelligence and Sat when perceived with divine wisdom.

7. In the presence of Sat, every thing else (i.e., cosmos - Asat) is sunyam (is non-apparent). Hence Sat cannot perceive Asat. As Asat does not exist, it cannot perceive Sat. That which perceives both cannot be either of them. This is the Soul (called Sat-Asat).

8. The Lord appearing as Guru to the soul which had advanced in tapas (virtue and knowledge) instructs him that he has wasted himself by living among the savages of the five senses; and on this, the soul, understanding its real nature leaves its former associates, and not being different from Him, becomes united to His Feet.

9. The soul, on perceiving in itself with. The eye of Gnanam, the Lord who cannot be perceived by the human intellect or senses, and on giving up the world (Pasha) by knowing it to be false as a mirage, will find its rest in the Lord. Let the soul contemplate the panchakshara according to instruction.

10. As the Lord becomes one with the Soul in its human condition, so let the Soul become one with Him and perceive all its actions to be His. Then will it lose all its mala, maya, and karma.

11. As the soul enables the eye to see and itself sees, so Hara enables the soul to know and itself knows. And this Advaita knowledge and undying love will unite it to His Feet.

12. Let the Jivatma, after washing off its mala which separates it from the strong lotus feet of the Lord and mixing in the society of bhaktas (jivan-muktas) whose souls abound with love, having lost dark ignorance, contemplate their forms and the forms in the temples as His Form.

Trans: J M Nallaswami Pillai

[Edited for clarity]