Essence of the Supreme Reality:
Abhinavagupta's Paramarthasara
1. O Sambhu, thou art the supreme (the one) who is abiding above the abyss of maya. He who is beginning-less. Thou art the one who has entered into the many caves (hearts). Thou art thus the abode of all as thou art dwelling in everything whether it be animate or inanimate. To thee alone I approach for refuge.
2. The disciple, bewildered by the wheel of suffering which begins with life in the womb and ends in death, asks the guru, blessed Adhara, for Truth.
3. The guru (Adhara) declared to him the essence of Truth (Paramarthasara) in the form of the Adhara karikas. Abhinavagupta declares that essence of Truth in accordance with the viewpoint of the teaching.
4. Through the brimming fullness of the power of His own energy has been produced separately these four spheres (egg shaped circles) and they are sakti, maya, prakrti, and prthvi.
5. In all this universe which is the continuum of diverse bodies, organs, worlds, therein the enjoyer is Siva, embodied, having assumed the condition of the unaware.
6. Just as a flawless crystal takes to itself the forms of various colors, so likewise the Lord too assumes the forms of gods, men, animals, trees.
7. Just as the reflected orb of the moon moves when the water in which it is being reflected moves, and does not move when this water does not move so, likewise, this Self who is the supreme Self shows itself in the aggregate of bodies, organs and worlds.
8. Just as Rahu although invisible appears when he is in the orb of the moon. So likewise this Self although omnipresent appears upon the mirror of the intellect through contact with the objects of senses.
9. just as a face appears upon a mirror which is free from dirt so likewise this Self which is ligh itself appears in the tattva of the intellect which is pure by reason of the grace (saktipata) of Siva.
10-11. The universe which is thirty-six fold shines within that which is the supreme tattva, which is light, replete, experiencing the greates bliss because of the resting in Himself, overflowing with the instruments of his conscious will. He is full with infinite energies free from all discursiveness, pure, at rest, without emergence of recession.
12-13. Just as a manifold consisting of a town, a village, etc., appears without being separate upon the surface of a mirror and yet at the same time appears as divided within itself and from that awareness.
So this universe also appears as void of distinction from the absolutely pure supreme awareness of Bhairava and at the same time appears as divided within itself and from that awareness.
14. He (Paramasiva) reveals as separate from Himself the tattvas of the five saktis (energies) – cit (consciousness), ananda (bliss), iccha (will), jnana (knowledge), kriya (action); which are siva, sakti, sadasiva, isvara, and vidya.
15. The supreme freedom of the Lord is able to accomplish the seemingly impossible and this is the self concealment of Siva by the goddess who is Maya Sakti.
16. Consciousness, being soiled through taking upon itself maya becomes purusa, the limited subject. Purusa is bound by the force of time, limited creativity, limitation, attachment, and limited knowledge.
17. “Now this is just something that I know fully.” Along with maya this forms that six-fold shroud and these are said to be the inner limbs of the limited being.
18. Just as the husk, though separate, is established in the rice grain as one with it, (so the set of six kancukas) though in one sense separate from the individual, are established as one with him. However, the six kancukas become purified by means of turning toward the path of Siva.
19. First prakrti (nature) which is nothing but pleasure, pain, and delusion, and then the internal organs which are successively buddhi, mana, and ahamkara (discrimination, thought, and egoity) appear because there takes place judgment, thought and pride.
20. Ear, the skin, the eye, the tongue, the nose, these are the organs of intellection and have sound etc. as their objects. Furthermore the organs of action are the hand, mouth, the foot, the organs of excretion, and the organs of generation.
21. That subtle objective field which would be without objective qualification, that is the pentad of the tanmatras which are sound, touch sensation, form, flavor, smell.
22. However, by the force of the mingling of these tanmatras the gross objects of knowledge and action become the elements of ether, air, fire, water and earth.
23. Just as the husk covers he rice grain so creation, beginning with prakrti and ending with earth, conceals consciousness with the physical state.
24. Here the supreme covering is mala, the subtle shroud is that which begins with maya, and the gross shroud is the external in the form of objects, for the Self is enshrouded by three encasings.
25. The Self, because it has come into contact with that darkness of ignorance, would be aware of its essential Self in the various diversity of objects and subjects.
26. Just as syrup, brown sugar, molasses, and purified sugar are just the juice of the sugar cane, so all these different conditions are Sambhu, the supreme self.
27. Vijnana, antaryami, prana, virat, deha, jati, and pinda etc, these have only a practice reality. From the point of view of the ultimate in reality they do not exist.
28. There is no snake in the rope and yet when taken as a snake it causes fear even ending in death. The great power of illusion cannot be understood.
29. Likewise pain, pleasure, birth, death, heaven, hell, right and wrong, the castes, the stages of life, etc., although in the Self they have no real existence – they exist by the force of delusion.
30. So this darkness is considering things as not Self when in reality they are not separate from the Self because they appear.
31. This is darkness upon darkness, this is that great pimple on the boil, that there is the false conception of Self in the body, life principle (prana), etc., although they are not the body.
32. In wondrous ways he wraps himself about with the sphere of the awareness of the body, breath, intellectual knowledge, the voids, just like a spider with its own web.
33. By means of the revelation of the power of Self-knowledge, uncovering his own Self, in this fashion Paramsiva manifests that sport which is at one moment diverse with binding and then again liberating.
34. Creation, preservation and destruction, the waking state, the dreaming state, and deep sleep shine in that fourth abode. And even then this fourth abode shines as unconcealed by them.
35. The waking state is called “visvaya” because of diversity. The sleeping state is called “tejah” because of the greatness of its illumination. The state of deep sleep is called the prajna because of the compactness of knowledge therein. Beyond that is the fourth.
36. Just as he surface of the sky is not soiled by smoke, clouds, or dust. So likewise the supreme subject is not touched by the transformations of maya.
37. Just as when the air contained in a single pot is full of dust, other portions of air contained within pots do not become dirtied, so likewise, these limited individuals who enjoy the diversity of happiness and unhappiness.
38. When the aggregate of tattvas is at rest this Lord seems as if at rest. When it is delighted He seems as if delighted. When it is confused, He seems as if confused. But he is not really so.
39. First having rejected the projection of the Self into the not Self, then the supreme Self destroys the delusion of no Self in the Self.
40. For the supreme yogi who has succeeded in cutting out along with the root this pair of illusions. For him there is no though at all of anything else to be done.
41. This triad, earth, prakrti, and maya which has fallen into objectivity becomes nothing but pure Being through the force of the realization of non-duality.
42. Just as a girdle, an earring and a bracelet are seen as gold and nothing else when the distinction between them is abandoned. Likewise, when diversity is abandoned then everything appears as pure being.
43. This Brahman who is supreme, pure, quiescent, non-dual, unvarying, universal, the real nectar, He rests in effulgent sakti whose nature is light.
44. Whatever is not realized by that awareness whose nature is light, which takes the form of it is willed, it is known, and it is done, that is just like a sky flower.
45. This whole universe is created (emitted) by the God of gods through coming into contact with the trident of saktis (will, knowledge and action) in that reality known as siva.
46. And once again this triad of sphere is created outside also in the process of pouring fourth of the five saktis (energies objectifying) the Self.
47. Thus I alone, God, propel the device of the wheel of saktis standing as the controller of the great wheel of saktis.
48. In me alone the universe shines like objects in an unspotted mirror. The universe emerges from me like the diversity of a dream from the state of deep sleep.
49. I alone am the universe, like a body consists of hands, feet, etc., And I alone flash forth as the universe like the nature of light in things.
50. I am the seer, I am the hearer, I am the smeller, although I am without bodily organs. And although I am not their composer yet I alone create the various schools, scriptures, and philosophical arguments.
51. Thus when dualistic though is melted, transcending deluding maya, he would be dissolved in Brahman like water into water and milk into milk.
52. And when the aggregate of tattvas has thus become integrated into Siva through awareness then what grief or what delusion could be for one beholding the universe as Brahman?
53. Right and wrong, the fruit of action, arises simply as a result of false knowledge and attachment, for the fault of association is difficult to overcome just like the association with a thief by a man who is not a thief.
54. Those who, in this life, in delusion, resort to that ignorance which is produced by the practical reality of the world, they experience birth and death bound by the chains of right and wrong.
55. Yet action which consists of right and wrong gathered in the time of ignorance is destroyed, like down (cotton) which has been stored for a long time, by the force of the blazing brilliance of enlightenment.
56. In the attainment of enlightenment his acts do not bear fruit therefore how can there be birth for him. Since the bondage of birth has departed from him he shines as the sun with his own rays, free of the bondage of birth, in the form of Siva.
57. Just as a seed which is without its internal kernel, external kernel, and involucre, does not produce a sprout, so likewise the Self cannot produce the sprout of existence when it is freed of anava, mayaya and karma mala.
58. The knower of the Self is afraid of nothing for everything everywhere is his own form. Nor does he grieve for there is no destruction in the Real.
59. Because of the hoard of jewels of reality which is the awareness “I alone exist” which are amassed in the most secret treasure house of the heart, who could suffer what poverty in this state of the Lord?
60. There is no abode of liberation (moksa) nor is there any going to some other place. Liberation (moksa) is the manifesting of one’s own power through the severing of the knot of ignorance.
61. This man in whom the knot of ignorance has been severed, in whom all doubt has disappeared and error has been conquered, in whom both merit and demerit have been destroyed, he is released even though he is still one with his body.
62. Just as a seed which has been burnt by fire becomes incapable of growing a sprout, so also action which has been burnt by the fire of knowledge cannot be the cause for rebirth.
63. Because of the limited intellect and through the mental projection of a future body which is appropriate to his actions (karma), awareness becomes contracted and when this body is destroyed it (awareness) also becomes so.
64-66. But if one were to realize the Self which is one with Siva, that is, unspotted awareness which is the knower and the doer, transcending the universe, infinite, whose form is light which neither arises nor sets, whose every desire is fulfilled; which is free of the determinations of space and time, which is firm, undying, lordly, completely full, the sole agent that brings about the disposition of the creation and destruction of the multitude of the countless energies, which is the skillful performance of creation etc., then how indeed could it be that one is in samsara – whence or wither can the infinite go?
67. So as it has been established by logical arguments that the act of the enlightened man, which has already take place, does not bear fruit, for through the firm conviction, “this is not for me but for Him”, there is no fruit in the world.
68. Thus awakened by the wind of cultivated awareness he sacrificing all thoughts in the brilliance of his Self becomes nothing but that brilliance.
69. Eating whatever comes his way, clad with any garment, tranquil, dwelling in any place, he is released. He who is all beings (and is the Self of all beings).
70. Though he does hundreds of thousands of horse sacrifices, even though he performs hundreds of thousands of murders of brahmins, since he knows reality he is not touched either by merits or by sins. He is not touched at all in his purity.
71. Avoiding passion, delight, anger, desire, melancholy, fear, greed, delusion, free from hymns or sacrificial mantras he would live like one lifeless, with mind free of arguments.
72. This collection of passion, delight, etc, holds sway because of the illusion of duality. How indeed could he who has attained the awareness of his undivided Self be touched by that?
73. There is nothing separate from him to be praised or o be sacrificed to. Nor would the enlightened man delight in such things as hymns. Therefore he is free from all forms of obeisance and mantra.
74. His temple is his own or another body, supported by the thirty-six tattvas. It is complete with windows which are the arrangement of the apertures of the senses of the body.
75. United with his energies he is established, worshipping the auspicious deity which is the supreme Bhairava of his supreme Self, with substances which are pure through Self awareness.
76. The sacrifice into the extremely brilliant fire of consciousness takes place without effort for him who offers the mass of the great see of diversity which is external and internal conception.
77. Meditation is ceaseless for this Lord manifests various forms. That alone is meditation in which reality is painted on the canvas of the mind.
78. In as much as he causes to revolve in inner awareness, the whole sequence of the world, and the delineation of the sequence of the tattvas, and the assembly of the senses, this is said to be his japa (repetition of mantra).
79-80. This is his oath which is both difficult and easy, that he sees everything with equal vision and that he realizes his awareness to delight in the cremation ground of the universe. And also that he conceives awareness as marked by the conception of the corpse which is the body. And furthermore he relishes the skull which is the sphere of the known which rests in the rays of his own senses and which is filled with the intoxicating liquor which is the liquid essence of the universe.
81. Thus realizing that which is called Mahesvara, the Absolute, which is free from birth and death, by the grace of the light of the nature of the perceiver, he remains, all his needs fulliflled, in accordance with his desires.
82. He whomever knows the supreme and unparalleled bliss, which is all-pervading, which has previously been realize in this way, which is identical with everything, and which has thrown off all diversity, he becomes one with That.
83. Abandoning the body in a holy place or in the house of an untouchable, even though he may have lost all memory, released at the moment of his enlightenment, he proceeds to absolute Self identity, all suffering destroyed.
84. Frequenting shrines bestows merit, dying in the house of an untouchable leads to hell. But that means nothing when there is no contact with the limitations of good and evil.
85-86. The placing of a grain of rice which has been properly separated from its two husks back into the segments of the husks does not enable that grain of rice to return to its original state. Likewise consciousness separated from the collection of the shrouds although remaining here in this collection by the force of latent traces being essentially liberated is unaffected by it.
87-88. Just like a jewel in which purity has been fashioned by the most skillful craftsmen, though it becomes dirty when it is in contact with its case, is really pure once one removes these contingent factors.
So also that awareness which is free of the establishment of impurity through the teaching of the spiritual master being liberated from the limitations of the body shines as Siva, as absolutely void of limitations.
89. So he, on the authority of scripture or through unswerving faith, attaining identity therewith in life subsequently will attain heaven hell or human birth.
90-91. But the ‘last moment’ of this man, which is favoring various estates as animals, birds, reptiles, etc. even they attain that state purified by former knowledge.
92-93. So this soul rests in the state between assuming physical forms as heaven or as hell. And when that karma is exhausted he is united with another body in accordance with his own fitness.
But that Self which has revealed on the occasion of knowledge, It, at the time of death, is in exactly the same state as it was realized to be at the occasion of the revelation of knowledge.
94-95. The complete occlusion of the aggregate of the organic function, the destruction of memory, the choking of the breath, the breaking in the vital parts, specific ailments, the experience which comes from the impressions of the body, how could this not be when there is union with the body? Yet even though he is unconscious at the moment of death the enlightened man (jnana) does not fall from the reality of his own Self.
96. When from the mouth of the Guru one reaches the path of the supreme reality, so just then instantaneously there is the descent of the most high Grace (saktipata) and Siva is without obscuration.
97. Abiding as the All-transcending form, because of the stages which are like stages of refuge, having risen to gain the highest tattva, at last he becomes the fullness of Siva.
98-99. Of that yogi who as not attained the state of the fullness of the supreme reality but is resting in the enter, or of that one who is eager to gain that place of refuge but has gone astray from yoga, and having that consciousness would at some time die, then as it is said in the sastras, he will be the Lord of the amazing enjoyments of the world of the gods. And from the influence of resting at that state, in the next birth he attains the state of Siva.
100. Verily he though not attaining that practice of yoga which is the path to supreme reality, yet being the enjoyer of the enjoyments of heaven, happy minded, he is happy for a long time.
101. As the universal emperor of all particulars is exulted as a king by all people, so he who has fallen from yoga is exulted in the worlds of heaven by all deities.
102. After a long time he again attains the existence of man and practicing yoga he obtains the heavenly nectar which is moksa, and therefore does not return again.
103. Therefore he whosever is bent upon treading upon this path of reality, he attains to Siva-ness. So knowing this, he should attempt to gain that supreme reality by any and every means.
104. This meditating upon highest Brahman, he instantaneously reaches Siva-ness by abiding in his own heart. As is made manifest briefly Abhinavagupta.
105. This essence of sastra which is very deep is concisely put by me Abhinavagupta in 100 slokas, remember Siva’s rays by which I am guided.