SHIVOPADESHA 9

Átmajiṋánamidaḿ Devi paraḿ mokśaekasádhanam;
Sukrtaermánavo bhútvá jiṋániicenmokśamápnuyát.

[Self-knowledge, Párvatii, is the greatest means to attain salvation.
People are born as human beings due to their past good saḿskáras, but to attain non-qualified liberation they will have to attain self-knowledge.]

In the older days, Párvatii was the symbolic representation of all the spiritual questions of human beings. Párvatii, as a representative of humanity, would ask Sadáshiva all the eternal questions of the human mind. Shiva’s answers to these queries are indeed the lovely jewels of all ages. Párvatii’s queries, too, are so beautiful that hearing them, learned people think, “Indeed, this is also my question.” That is why her questions have been arranged in perfect order, and are collectively known as nigama shástra. This nigama shástra is a collection of spiritual questions of a very high order. Although Shiva’s answers are very illuminating in their brilliant philosophical exposition, their practical value far exceeds their philosophical value. Indeed, Shiva’s philosophical explanations are more illuminating because of their practical value.

In Tantra, the nigama, that is, the collection of Párvatii’s questions, and the ágama, the compilation of Shiva’s answers, have been compared to the two wings of a swan. A bird cannot fly on one wing; similarly, Tantra philosophy, with its nigama and ágama, is complete. If one of the aspects is excluded, the inner essence of Tantra is jeopardized.

In this shloka, Shiva answers Párvatii’s question:

“The only way to attain salvation is to acquire self-knowledge through proper practice.” Regarding self-knowledge, it has already been discussed in great detail.⁽¹⁾ Here Shiva has said that to attain mokśa without acquiring self-knowledge is an impossibility. Some people may argue that to attain self-knowledge, the path of devotion is the best. But here the term bhakti has not been used, because in the early days of the Shiva cult, the word bhakti was not used in the realm of intuitional practice, it began to be used only in later days. We come across a reference to the term bhakti in one of the significant observations pertaining to the path of meditation: Mokśakárańasamagryáḿ bhaktireva gariiyasii [“Of all the ways to attain salvation, bhakti is the greatest”]. This observation is about 1500 years old, that is, long after Shiva’s time.

Here Shiva says, self-knowledge is the path of attaining salvation. It has also been explained very clearly that for self-knowledge, intense sádhaná and utmost sincerity are essential. It has also been said that only by moving towards the Supreme One, leaving all other entities, and totally surrendering oneself with all the sweetness of life emanating from the deepest recesses of the heart into the infinite sweetness of Paramashiva – only in this way can one attain the supreme benevolence – and then only can one attain self-knowledge. What could be a deeper and sweeter interpretation of devotion than this?

Now the question is – who can achieve this? Who is eligible for this self-knowledge? Shiva could not accept any discrimination on the basis of caste, community or colour. So how did he determine one’s eligibility? Shiva declared that when people attain human status as a result of their noble virtues of lives together, then they are considered eligible to attain self-knowledge.

Here a question may arise: While in the process of pratisaiṋcara [the introversive phase of creation], various creatures will, by natural course, attain the stage of humanity. So what is meant by attaining human life as a result of past lives?

The fact is that the creatures advance, in the flow of pratisaiṋcara, along a systematic path. Human beings are just the most evolved creatures, but those human beings who are just evolving from animal life are still very near the borderline between animal and human life. So although they have human bodies, their thoughts, recollections and behaviour remain similar to those of animals to some extent; their existence is full of animal propensities, they have little spiritual awareness, and they are propelled mostly by lower propensities. They do not want to hear good words; even if they hear they do not want to understand; and even if they want to understand, they cannot.

These types of people, although human in form, are not fully human in matter of intellect: they are still in the subhuman stratum. Out of their ignorance they say, “Dharma is opium, one can live without dharma.” They do not consider anything to be sin. They are mainly obsessed with their individual and group interests. They possess only a small fraction of human qualities because they are not sufficiently intellectually developed to possess higher human qualities. These types of people gradually acquire virtues due to their good deeds over their lives, and ultimately become mentally developed and mentally balanced.

These mentally-developed and mentally-balanced people are entitled to self-realization, whatever their intellectual attainment by worldly standards. Some of them, because of their acquired merit over their lives, attain a high degree of spirituality right from their youth. Shiva has rightly said, “One whose existence is truly blessed with virtues acquired through noble deeds, is entitled to self-knowledge. And to attain self-knowledge means to attain salvation: because, with the attainment of self-knowledge, human beings attain permanent liberation from the triple bondages. This permanent liberation is mokśa.”

SHIVOPADESHA 10

Átmasthitaḿ Shivaḿ tyaktvá vahisthaḿ yah samarcayet;
Hastasthaḿ pińd́amutsrjya bhramate jiivitáshayá.

–Shiva Saḿhitá

[One who looks for Shiva in the external world, ignoring the Shiva of the internal world,
Is like one who throws away the rice that is in one’s hand and wanders from door to door in search of one’s livelihood.]

In the universe, under no circumstances was anyone alone, is anyone alone, or will anyone be alone. All the entities lying within the Cosmic bosom from beginning to end are moving, and the touch of Parama Puruśa’s hand – the Supreme Controller, who is stronger than even the thunderbolt – is upon them all. On the one hand, in His prota-yoga, He is associated with all entities of all lokas [worlds] and all spheres; and on the other, in His ota-yoga, He is shining like a bright jewel in the most solitary corners of the minds of all creatures.

The sky of the external world is glittering with His light and the sky of the inner world is also gleaming with His effulgence.

Na tatra súryo bháti na candratárakaḿ;
Nemá vidyuto bhánti kuto’yamagnih.
Tadeva bhántamanubháti sarvaḿ;
Tasya bhásá sarvamidaḿ vibháti.

“He who illumines the external world, illumines all the stars and planets also. Besides Parama Puruśa, no other entity has light of its own. The light of all other entities is the mere reflection of His effulgence. Compared to that supreme source of effulgence, even the sun is enveloped in darkness – the shining face of the moon is covered with a black veil – the flashes of lightning are lost in the blinding darkness – what to speak of the glow of fire! All are lighted with His light; with His radiance, all others are radiant, and in His effulgence all others become blessed.” To this Supreme Entity, this Parama Puruśa, no one is negligible, no one is abominable. He is the focal point of all existence – He is the most resplendent entity of all. To make His dear children dance in joy and overflowing delight, He leads them to the highest attainment. Concealing Himself in all, He plays hide-and-seek with His little children:

Brhacca taddivyamacintyarúpaḿ súkśmácca tat súkśmataraḿ vibháti,
Dúrát sudúre tadihántike ca pashyatshivaeva nihitaḿ guháyám.

[That vast, unfathomable divine form – subtler than the subtlest,
Farther than the farthest, nearer than the nearest – one can only see Him hidden in the cave of one’s heart.]

“One need not run about in the world to find Him who is contained within the jewel-case of one’s existential feeling. One can easily attain Him if only one searches within.”

To forget the brightest jewel of the inner world and then vainly search for the source of light in the outer world – this is indeed a waste of time! Shiva says, Why should people waste their time in this way? Why should people throw the food from their hands and then beg for alms from door to door? His advice is: proceed towards the inner world… deeper… still deeper… and still deeper.

SHIVOPADESHA 11

Idaḿ tiirthamidaḿ tiirthaḿ bhramanti támasáh janáh;
Átmatiirthaḿ na jánanti kathaḿ mokśa baránane.

[Here is one place of pilgrimage, there is another place. People of static nature wander from the one place to the other place.
But without finding the real place of pilgrimage within their hearts, how can they attain salvation?]

People in general have an irresistible attraction towards tiirtha [a place of pilgrimage]. Women are ready to sell their favourite ornaments and utensils to meet the expenses of a pilgrimage, and many people are even ready to sell their landed properties for that purpose. Those who do not even have the strength to walk, travel by palanquins, and those who have defective eyesight go on pilgrimages with towels tied around their waists, pulled along by priests! If the priests show them the shell of a dead snail and tell them that it is an idol of Náráyańa, the people believe it, and with clothes around their necks [as a sign of homage] prostrate themselves before the so-called idol.

People have been feeling this irresistible attraction towards pilgrimage since the time when the idea of God first sprouted in their minds, but naturally now the question arises, what is this tiirtha? The word tiirtha means “a place of pilgrimage”. Tiira + sthá + d́a = tiirastha [tiirtha]. Tiira means the shoreline, where the land and water touch each other. The sloping portion of the land which comes in contact with this tiira is called the beach. If a person takes one step from the shoreline towards the beach one will reach the dry land, and if a person takes one step towards the water, then one will enter the water. The tiirtha, which really means a place between the physical and spiritual worlds, is analogous to this geographical tiira.

For if a person takes one step towards worldliness, one is likely to be entangled in all sorts of worldly allurements, and if one takes a step towards the “water of spirituality,” one will be carried away by its current. That very point, which is the connecting link between worldliness and spirituality, is tiirtha: Tiirasthaḿ tiirthamityáhuh.

People generally want to live without intense sádhaná in the spiritual sphere and without much effort in the mundane sphere. When people seek to acquire fortune or attain salvation without proper effort, then they try to remove their sins by visiting the so-called holy places of pilgrimage – they try to escape across the Baetarańii [Styx] by holding the tails of calves! The merchants in those holy places understand this mental weakness of the people, and by taking advantage of it, exploit them to the utmost. As a result, the pilgrims are unable to worship as they should, and are misguided into moving from one place to another by these exploiters. But this does not satisfy their spiritual hunger, and they feel they have not at all been relieved of their sins. Thus people of static mentality waste their valuable time, energy and money rushing from one place of pilgrimage to another.

Then what is the real tiirtha, and where is it situated? The golden line of the human heart whence saḿkalpa and vikalpa have originated and where they touch each other in sweet spiritual bliss – that is the real tiirtha. One who remains at this common point is called tiirastha or tiirtha – there the person and the presiding Lord of the holy place become one. Those who forget the Lord of the holy place, that ever-wakeful One in perpetual tranquillity like an eternal, unflickering flame of light in the deepest recesses of their hearts – those who wander here and there in the mundane world in search of a holy place – can they attain salvation? Shiva answers Párvatii, “No, this type of person cannot attain salvation.”

SHIVOPADESHA 12

Mayyeva sakalaḿ játaḿ mayi sarvaḿ pratiśt́hitam;
Mayi sarvaḿ layaḿ yáti tad Brahmádvayamasmyaham.

[Everything is born out of Me, everything is maintained in Me;
Everything finally merges in Me; I am that Brahma – One without a second.]

Shiva, the embodiment of Supreme Consciousness, says, “The Nucleus of Parama Puruśa is the nucleus of this universe,” that is, the nucleus of His vast body. All entities have emanated from the Cosmic Nucleus and, after rotating within the Cosmic body for ages, with their respective rhythms and saḿskáras, will ultimately merge back in their source of origin. This supreme source, the Universal Hub, is Puruśottama. It is not enough to say that all the entities are emerging from this Nucleus, from this original source of all existence; indeed, the vitality of this circumvolution within the vast body of Parama Puruśa – its rhythms in time – this too is derived from that Cosmic Nucleus. That is, this Nucleus is not only the source of emanation but also the singular motivating force behind all potential expression. It is just like a boy flying a kite – in the first stage he releases the well-waxed string from the reel, and then for a long time he flies the kite in the sky, applying all his tricks. The kite thinks, “I am free – no one can stop me. By unfolding my wings however I please, I can fly towards the blue horizon of the distant void.” Then suddenly the kite feels a jerk and, pulled by the reel, is drawn towards the reel itself.

Sadáshiva says, “Whatever exists has emanated out of Me; everything is being maintained in Me; everything is playing within My vast body.” Some know this, some do not know, while others want to remain oblivious of the fact. How can created beings go outside Him, beyond whom there is no time, place or person? So all entities have to move, walk, run and jump within the vast body of the Creator.

Those who have simplicity, straightforwardness and moral courage say, beating their breasts, “I have taken shelter on the vast lap of the infinite Parama Puruśa. Besides this I have no other shelter.” Those who are timid or cowardly, those whose tongues become inert when they utter the truth, say, “I disown Him in whose loving shelter I have been raised throughout my infancy, childhood and youth.” But Shiva says, “My loving children always were and are, and will always remain on my lap, under all circumstances. However sinful, however vile, however arrogant, however filled with the pride of superiority, I cannot keep them away from my lap. Mayi sarvaḿ layaḿ yáti [‘everything will merge in Me’].”

Shiva further says, “When all worldly activities are finished, all entities, with their life-force derived from Me, will return to their point of origin to merge in Me, to become one with Me. Then their feelings of duality come to a blissful end.” Shiva, the embodiment of Consciousness, says, “This creation of living beings, the sweet existence of all creatures, their vibrant urges for action, their busy activity, and their final blissful, tranquil rest – all these are happening around Me as the Nucleus. I am that Brahma-without-a-Second, that Singular Entity.” Why is He called the One-without-a-Second? In this universe Parama Puruśa is the Singular Entity. There is no such thing as duality. When a person attains salvation by the grace of Parama Puruśa in sádhaná all duality disappears. He only loses his small “I” and nothing else. His pettiness, centring around his small “I”, is transformed into vastness. Each and every entity has a small “I” of its own, but for all entities, the great “I” is one. In the small “I” there is duality; but not in the great “I”. So the great “I” is non-dual, singular.

When one attains salvation, one’s small “I” merges into the great “I” of the vast Puruśa. Originating from the mountain caves, crossing countless valleys and green and golden plains, the mountain river finally merges with the blue waters of the sea. Does that river really die? No, it does not die. There is no permanent death of any entity. The rhythmic sweetness of rivers lives eternally in the surging waves of the vast oceans. Although people know this, they want to forget it. And because they remain oblivious to this fact, they become overwhelmed with sorrow. In fact, all entities are living eternally in supreme blessedness within the vast bosom of the Supreme Entity, from the state of beginninglessness to the state of endlessness. Nothing is lost, nothing was lost, nothing will ever be lost.

Footnotes

(1) Discourse 12, Shivopadesha 2. –Trans.