The Shiva Sutras / Part 1
I began to read the Shiva Sutras in 1997 and as I have stated many times here, I
am not a scholar. I am an ordinary person seeking Liberation. At first read I
was overwhelmed with the Sanskrit technical terms, which in those early days
seemed a monumental obstacle to me. In some sort of stubborn determination, I
told myself that it didn’t matter if I couldn’t understand the terminology in
the beginning. I resolved to simply plow through the text and get whatever I
could out of it.
So I did and from the first verse on there was an abundance of inspiring wisdom
to contemplate, wonderful insights into the process of enlightenment that are
clearly stated for the seeker, granted with some spiritual experience.
In my view, the Shiva Sutras are for the person who is already a bit along on
the Path Home. I would recommend the Bhagavad Gita to anyone who is just
beginning to practice. The Bhagavad Gita explains everything and does have the
power to enlighten you. You don’t need anything else --- and the Shiva Sutras
will fill in your understanding of what you are experiencing and what you may
experience.
The first translation I studied was the Jaideva Singh version, published by
Motilal Banarsidass in Delhi. Jaideva Singh, a highly respected scholar who
translated other Kashmir Shaivite texts, thankfully includes a 28 page ‘Glossary
of Technical Terms’ which is useful, or more precisely crucial and indispensible
in your study of Kashmir Shaivism.
I have not yet assimilated all the Sanskrit words in the glossary, but the ones
that have permeated my limited western mind have revealed a depth of
understanding and insight into the secret meanderings of the soul that has
changed my consciousness and the way I think over time.
Sacred Sanskrit
Sanskrit is said to be a sacred language, the language of the gods and the
metaphysical principles they embody. English is a language of commerce. Sanskrit
has words that can describe various states of consciousness, of moods of
surrender to the God-within you, and the obstacles we place in our path.
There are endless metaphysical concepts that are painfully difficult to describe
in English, but are easily expressed in Sanskrit. I believe that you will find
it well worth your time and effort to slowly gain a familiarity with these
sacred terms.
Take the Sanskrit word SPANDA. Jaideva Singh’s glossary defines SPANDA as:
“Apparent motion in the motionless Shiva which brings about the manifestation,
maintenance and withdrawal of the universe.” The simple contemplation of the
suggestion of the omnipotent power of ‘apparent motion within the motionless’
eternal immeasurable immensity is enough to move you toward a higher way of
being.
Another superb example is the Sanskrit word BHAIRAVA: “This is an acrostic word,
BHA indicating bharana, maintenance of the world; RA, ravana or withdrawal of
the world; and VA, vamana or projection of the world.” In one sublime word the
principles that create, support, and destroy our universe are contained.
Often a word will have various meanings, for example BINDU:
1.
A point, a metaphysical point.
2.
Undivided Light of Consciousness.
3.
The compact mass of Shakti (power) gathered into an undifferentiated point ready
to create.
4.
Parah pramata,
the Highest Self or Consciousness.
5.
Anusvara
or nasal sound … suggesting that Shiva in spite of the manifestation of the
universe is undivided.
6.
A specific
teja
or light appearing in the center of the eye-brows by the intensity of
meditation.
Gaining even a cursory familiarity with these sacred Sanskrit terms will enhance
and refine your consciousness. Kashmir Shaivism is a brilliant system of thought
and in my view, well worth the effort. The Shiva Sutras are one of its primary
texts.
***
There were many ideas within the Shiva Sutras that thrilled me right away, even
before I had acquired some feeling for its language. One of these is the
understanding that rejecting the world is perhaps not as efficacious as we have
been led to believe. After all, the world is the expression of the Oneness, of
the God permeating the All we are seeking. If we cannot find our way Home
through the labyrinth of the Divine Creation, it may mean we are not masters at
all.
“… it is not necessary for the aspirant to lock himself up in a room and plunge
into a trance in order to realize the delight of Self [Atma,
the God-within]. He can find this delight in the ordinary, normal course of life
if he is mindful … he looks within, he will have a feel of the Self … In that
feel of the Self, he will experience the perennial joy of I-consciousness … the
ever-present joy of SAMADHI [bliss].”
In fact it may prove more challenging to lead an ordinary life while maintaining
a high consciousness in union with the One, than isolating ourselves in some
monastic cell.
***
Sutra I.2: Jnanam Bandhah
A very basic idea to Kashmir Shaivism, which is clearly stated in the Shiva
Sutras, is the understanding that we are all Veiled portions of the Oneness, the
Creator. This Creator in termed as Shiva in Kashmir Shaivism; the word implies
the “good” and “the name of the Divine in general; the foundational prakasha or
divine light; the Absolute; the transcendent divine principle.”
The entire mystery of life revolves around Shiva’s “wonderful power of veiling
his real nature … This Self-veiling is His technique or stratagem for the play
of life in varied, multiple forms. Man is bound to transmigratory existence, to
sense-life, to the life of his own vehicles or bodies only so long as he allows
himself to be confined to the limited knowledge of his senses and mentation.
When he recognizes his real nature, he is free.”
The Creator is playing at not being all-powerful omniscience as us. Everyone and
everything in this temporal holographic universe is a form of the Creator, the
Oneness manifested in innumerable forms. You and me and everyone on this earth,
in this universe, the beings in all the Myriad Realms, the creatures of Nature,
even the rocks and sea are the Veiled forms of the Creator – in this case
identified as Lord Shiva or Para Bhairava.
When we realize this – not just mentally, as an intellectual abstraction, but as
a very deep way of Being, when we Become that Realization – we are Liberated.
Game over! We are the actor on the stage, all the other players; we are the
stage itself, and the audience that observes. We remain in the Play only as long
as we want to. When we are weary of our adventures in Time and Space, we call
out – perhaps in anguish, perhaps in Love – we call out for our Source. We long
to go Home.
That-which-we-are, and always have been all along, waits patiently for our
return. Our Home longs for us, for our Return as much as we long for that which
is always missing, something that haunts us all our lives, leaving little tender
aches in our hearts, and casts its shadow over our cherished moments of fleeting
happiness.
***
Sutra I.4: Jnanadhisthanam matrika
One of the most fascinating ideas clearly expounded in Kashmir Shaivism and the
Shiva Sutras is the idea that the universe is the product of sound. The Power of
Sound is said to correspond to the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet.
“This Power is called Mother, because it produces the entire universe. It is the
un-understood Mother or Power of Sound inherent in the alphabet that is the
basis of the limited knowledge … which brings a sense of difference in
everything.”
The great Kashmir Shaivite saint and sage Abhinavagupta weaves these ideas into
an expression of genius in his text the PARATRISIKA VIVARANA, The Secret of
Tantric Mysticism, also translated by Jaideva Singh.
***
The verses at the end of the Shiva Sutras are particularly intriguing as they
elucidate what may happen to one who becomes Liberated - and what death means to
such a being.
This book will be a source of great knowledge and inspiration to any sincere
seeker. Over the years my understanding of the Shiva Sutras has grown and I
imagine that process will continue until I leave this form.
I highly recommend the Shiva Sutras to all those who long for your Freedom. I
will speak of the Swami Lakshmanjoo translation in Part 2.
***
SIVA SUTRAS, THE YOGA OF SUPREME IDENTITY; Text of the Sutras and the Commentary
Vimarsini of Ksemaraja Translated into English with Introduction, Notes, Running
Exposition, Glossary and Index; by Jaideva Singh; Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
Private Limited, Delhi, 1979, 6th reprint 1991.
Abhinavagupta: Paratrisika-Vivarana, The Secret of Tantric Mysticism;
English Translation with notes and running exposition by Jaideva Singh; Sanskrit
text corrected, notes on technical points and charts dictated by Swami
Lakshmanjee (Laskhmanjoo); Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 2000.
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