Translation of a fragment from Bhairava-Yamala

Guruji ko Ādeś ! 🙏

The other day I was looking through the tantric text Saubhāgya-ratnākara, and came across a very interesting passage from the long-lost Bhairava-yāmala. I decided to translate it 😊 Below is my translation along with some comments:

तरस्थं तरमध्यस्थं तरस्थान्तरमध्यगम् ।

तरंतरङ्गमध्यस्थं यो जानाति स कौलिकः ॥ १ ॥

He who knows tara (salvation, saving from saṃsāra) as abiding within [the very process of] crossing [the ocean of saṃsāra], situated in the midst of this [process of] salvation, moving amid the intervals of its states, and residing at the very center of the [raging] waves – he is a kaulika.

Commentary:

Tara is that which saves, that which ferries one across the ocean of saṃsāra and it is the process of crossing it. This salvation and the presence of the Supreme is found within the very process of the yogic path, in sādhanā, in our transformations, in the very dharma of the yogin, which consists in moving toward mukti.

It is also found in the middle, or at the center – this means holding the state of the center in awareness throughout everything that occurs. The state of the center is both the heart and the suṣumnā, and it is the holding of the bindu motionless (bindu-stambhana).

The means of salvation is found in the intervals between states – that is, between breaths, between thoughts, and so on.

And in just the same way, salvation is present in the very heart of the surging waves of the ocean of saṃsāra – in the very thick of life's events. He who sees and knows liberation in this way is considered a kaulika (kaula).

शीर्ष-पाणि-चरणैर्विवर्जितं द्व्यक्षरं भवरुजापहं परम् ।

यस्य हृत्कुहरगं सुवर्तते तेन मृत्युरपि भस्मसात्कृतः ॥ २ ॥

This Supreme [Principle] is devoid of head, hands, and feet; It consists of only two syllables and heals the disease of worldly existence (saṃsāra). He in whose cave of the heart It has entered and become firmly rooted reduces even death itself to ashes.

शैवं चैव तथा शाक्तं सामरस्यं तु मध्यमम् ।

एकीकृत्य यदा काले तदा तद्वर्णमुत्तमम् ॥ ३ ॥

[There is] that which pertains to Śiva, and likewise there is that which pertains to Śakti. Their perfect union (sāmarasya) is the middle state. When, at the proper time, they unite, then that supreme sound [arises].

Commentary:

Varṇa means sound, syllable, color, nature. In essence, this is Parā-vāk, the highest speech, Śabda-brahman, spanda or nāda, born from the union of Śiva and Śakti. The two syllables mentioned in the previous verse are connected with Śiva and Śakti. In this text, these are ta and ra (tara – salvation), which will be explained later.

शून्यात् प्रसरमुत्पन्नं प्रसरोत्तमकालकम् ।

अकालात्तत्त्वमुत्पन्नं विश्वं यत्पञ्चधा स्थितम् ॥ ४ ॥

From the Void (Śūnya) arises [the primordial] emanation/expansion. From this expansion – the Supreme Time. From this timelessness arises the [single] tattva – the universe, which abides in fivefold [form, through five acts/elements].

Commentary:

The Supreme Time, uttama-kāla, is also akāla – literally "non-time," timelessness. This is that in which there is no reckoning of time (kāla from the root kal - "to count"), no divisions – that is, it is an indivisible, uncountable Eternity.

The fivefold nature of the universe (pañcadhā) points to the five acts of Śiva, through which everything in the universe comes about. But it may also refer to the five mahābhūtas of which it is composed.

ध्यान स्थान विहीनो यो रूपोच्चारविवर्जितः ।

अनाहतो नदत्यन्तर्मुखान्मुख पदे स्थितः ॥ ५ ॥

Devoid of a [fixed] place for contemplation, free from form and utterance, the Anāhata (unstruck sound), abiding in its primordial place (source), resounds by virtue of turning inward.

धाम त्रयाद् विरहितो योगेशीनां मुखे स्थितः ।

सत्यं तु कथितं ताभिः स्वयमुच्चरते तु सः ॥ ६ ॥

[It] is free from the three abodes, [yet] abides in the mouths of the Yogeśīs (the Mistresses of yoga). The truth has been spoken by them, yet it utters itself of its own accord.

Commentary:

It is interesting that in the previous verse it is said that the sound Anāhata is free from uccāra (devoid of utterance, articulation), while here we see that it uccarate (is uttered, resounds). This is an apparent contradiction: the unstruck sound cannot be articulated or uttered using the vocal apparatus (i.e., something external), yet it issues forth, sounds by itself (uccarate – this is ātmanepada, a turning upon itself, without an external agent).

The three abodes, dhāma-traya, are the three spiritual lights: sun, moon, and fire, of which the entire universe is composed. In the Śatsāhasra-saṃhitā, in the description of the Goddess Kubjikā, it is said: "Within Her inner space the universe, consisting of the three abodes, dissolves and unfolds again". These are also the three bindus of the triangle of creation, of Kāmakalā, and the other triads connected with this. The Anāhata-nāda transcends all of this (it does not depend on them, but pervades all of it).

शून्याच्छम्भुस्ततः शक्तिः शक्तेर्धामत्रयात्मकम् ।

प्रभवेच्च ततः सर्वमादिवर्णकदम्बकम् ॥ ७ ॥

From the Void – Śambhu; from Him – Śakti; from Śakti – that which consists of the three abodes. And from there arises the entire cluster of primordial sounds.

Commentary:

The expression sarvam-ādivarṇa-kadambakam here may admit a double reading: 1) the entire cluster of primordial sounds; 2) everything (sarvam = the whole universe) that is [itself] a cluster of primordial sounds. Both are valid and expand the meaning.

अनुत्तरं तदेवोक्तं सद्यः कौलिकसिद्धिदम् ।

तरहं च तदेव स्याच्चन्द्रभास्करमध्यगम् ॥ ८ ॥

That very [cluster of sounds] is called Anuttara, which instantly bestows Kaulika perfection (siddhi). And that very same thing is the [bīja] tarahaṃ, abiding in the middle between the Moon and the Sun.

Commentary:

Anuttara is that beyond which there is nothing – the highest and unsurpassed. It is a synonym for the Absolute, the Supreme Reality. It is also the name given to the first letter of the alphabet, अ "a" (see Parātriṃśikā-vivaraṇa). The vowel अ "a" is considered the shortest, simplest, primordial sound, from which, through intensification – the principles of guṇa and vṛddhi – all the other vowels are produced, and for consonants it serves as the supporting sound for their pronunciation. Therefore अ "a" contains within itself the entire mātṛkā (alphabet) and, consequently, the entire universe in its totality. And since the universe consists of the three abodes (sun, moon, and fire), the verse points to its identity with the bīja tarahaṃ. It will be explained further that this bīja contains this triad within itself.

तकारः सोमधामस्याद्यो रेफः स तु भास्करः

दण्डवद्रमते वह्निरेकीभूतं तदात्मकम् ॥ ९ ॥ इति ।

The letter ta is the abode of the Moon; and that which is the repha (the sound ra) – that is the Sun. Fire (vahni) abides in blissful delight like a rod, as the state of union [of Moon and Sun], having the nature of That.

Commentary:

Here fire (vahni) is interestingly described – it is likened to a rod or staff (daṇḍa), which points to the central channel, the suṣumnā (which is indeed connected with fire).

The verb रमते (ramate) is used – abides or moves in bliss, delights (including, among other things, sexual delight). This is a clear allusion to the union (maithuna) of Śiva and Śakti, which gives birth to bliss. This is also the merging of Moon and Sun as described in haṭha-yoga, which kindles the suṣumnā, causing it to straighten like a staff (daṇḍa). Within the suṣumnā abides the Supreme state – That (tad), where the Anāhata-nāda vibrates.

In terms of meaning, the fire here probably corresponds to the letter ha (in tarahaṃ), and its comparison to a rod/staff may also derive from the way this letter is written in the Brāhmī script. It is also interesting that one of the meanings of ha (neuter) is the Supreme Spirit, delight, pleasure.