ŚIVA SŪTRAS
Section III. Āṇavopāya - The Method of The Limited Being
1. Mind is self.
In the first section, Self was defined as pure consciousness. That definition was in absolute terms, meant to define the nature of the Absolute Self. Here the text is concerned with the limited human being who identifies mind and body as self.
Mind (citta) is derived from consciousness (cit) and has three aspects, intellect (buddhi) ego (ahaṁkāra) and thought (manas). These aspects reflect the three qualities of nature, light (sattva) restlessness (rajas) and dullness (tamas) respectively.
2. Knowledge is bondage.
Knowledge here is the experiential knowledge of the senses: pain, pleasure, etc. This knowledge enslaves the limited being to the constant pursuit of pleasure and the evasion of pain.
3. Non-discrimination of the Sheaths of Ignorance is illusion.
Māyā veils the Absolute Self with five Sheaths of Ignorance: Kalā – limited activity, which veils the Self’s omnipotence; Vidyā – limited knowledge, which veils the Self’s omniscience; Rāga – desire, which veils the Self’s absolute will; and Niyati – space, which veils the Self’s all-pervasiveness. Covered with these limitations, the Supreme Self appears as jīva, an individual soul.
4. Dissolution of the fundamental elements into the body (should be contemplated).
The yogi should contemplate on the fundamental elements (tattvas) merging into each other, from the gross to the subtle, up to the Self. (see Vijñāna Bhairava 54 and Śvetāśvatāra Upaniṣad VI.3). This contemplation includes dissolution of both the gross and subtle bodies.
5. Withdrawing prāna into the center channel and control, detachment, and separation from the gross elements (should also be contemplated).
The first contemplation mentioned here is to move vital air into the center pranic channel (suṣumna). This is usually accompanied by breathing exercises. The yogi can also develop knowledge and control of the elements leading to detachment from material nature and its qualities. This method is described in of the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali (Section IV).
6. Supernatural powers are due to a veil of delusion.
Yoga techniques can lead to supernatural abilities, which can become an obstacle to spiritual development. These powers can be a distraction to the yogi if he becomes attached to such powers and the fruits they bring. In that case, the yogi is no different from the worldly minded person attached to sensual pleasures and power, both suffer from delusion and neither can realize the Absolute.
7. But, from the complete conquest of delusion, the yogi masters the inherent knowledge.
When the yogi understands that all objective experience is temporary and leads to suffering, he overcomes the spell of delusion and realizes his True Nature.
8. He is awake and the second (the world) is his light.
We think of the mundane world and the transcendental Self as two separate entities; but, the enlightened yogi comes to realize that the world is the manifestation of the Supreme; that Śiva and Śakti are really one.
9. His self is a performer.
10. The individual soul is the stage.
11. The senses are the spectators.
Now that the yogi has awakened to his True Nature, his former self is now a part he continues to play in the drama of life. The drama is played out on the stage of the inner-soul: the intellect, ego, and mind; that is, the drama of life is played out on the screen of consciousness. You are both the director and the leading actor in the play. And the sense organs are the spectators of the drama. They are now mere onlookers of the world and no longer the wild horses that lead the chase after their objects.
12. Through spiritual intelligence comes realization of Truth.
13. And (the yogi) achieves the state of freedom.
When the yogi’s intellect is purified, he is able to recognize that Divine Consciousness within and he attains the state of liberation, which is oneness with That.
14. As there (in his samādhi) so elsewhere (in the world).
The state of freedom, of God-consciousness exists, not only in meditation, but all the time.
15. Giving full attention to the Source.
16. Established there, he easily dives into the Ocean of Bliss.
The yogi who is always aware of his True Self is immersed in the Ocean of Divine Bliss.
17. And he attains creation according to his own measure.
As the yogi understands that this objective world is a product of consciousness, he has control over manifestation according to his level.
18. As this knowledge remains, rebirth disappears.
19. (But when this knowledge waivers, he succumbs to) the goddess of letters and the mother of limited beings.
This sūtra gives a warning to the yogi that he should be vigilant in maintaining Self-knowledge or the mind might revert to its old ways and fall under the influence of thought-constructs and delusion.
20. The fourth state (turya) should be poured, like oil, into the other three.
Turya is the state of Being-Awareness-Bliss of the Self. It exists in the background of consciousness in the three other states. Awareness of turya is synonymous with being in samādhi. Sūtra 20 instructs the yogi to pour turya, like oil, into the three other states, which means that one should maintain a steady, uninterrupted flow of the bliss of samādhi in his life.
21. One enters that state by being immersed in Self-awareness.
The practices mentioned earlier, such as meditation, prāṇayāma, etc. lead to a state of Self-awareness. When the yogi is fully immersed in that state, he becomes enlightened and enters turya permanently.
22. When vital air is controlled, unity is perceived.
23. But between states of samādhi, inferior thoughts may arise.
24. Then, when Self-awareness unites with objective consciousness, the lost state of samādhi returns.
25. And he becomes one with Śiva.
When the yogi is in samādhi, the state of Self-awareness, he realizes the unity of Śiva and Śakti; but, in between those states, when he is experiencing objective consciousness, he still may be affected by inferior thoughts due to habitual tendencies. However, when the yogi realizes that the objective world is the manifestation of the Supreme, that state of God-consciousness returns and the realized yogi becomes one with Śiva. As long as there is the existence of the body, the yogi is equal to Śiva; but, at the death of the body, he becomes Śiva again. (This is the divine play. In reality, you are, always were, and always will be Śiva.)
26. Maintaining the body is a pious act.
The realized yogi maintains his body as a sacrifice and all his actions are for the benefit of living beings.
27. His speech is prayer.
His speech reveals the truth and reminds those who hear it of the Supreme Reality.
28. Self-knowledge is his charity.
29. Who is established in the Protector of Beings is, clearly, the means to that knowledge.
Knowledge of Self is the yogi’s gift to the world and, by his example and instruction, he is the agent to realization of That.
30. The universe is the expansion of his power;
The enlightened yogi understands that the universe is the product of his own consciousness.
31. Both the maintenance and dissolution, too.
Not only is the universe an expansion of consciousness, but it is maintained and, eventually, dissolved in consciousness as well.
32. But even though there is the occurrence of those (manifestation, maintenance, and reabsorption of the universe) there is no break in his being the knower (of Truth).
Although the cycle of creation, maintenance, and reabsorption of the universe happens over the span of billions of years, the enlightened yogi remains one with the Supreme and that awareness is not dependent on the state of the universe.
33. The yogi considers both pleasure and pain to be external.
34. And, being liberated from those, he is One.
It is illusion that causes one to identify non-self as Self. Being freed from that illusion, the yogi considers experiences of pain and pleasure to be merely objects of consciousness. The yogi experiencing pain does not think, “I am suffering,” but “there is suffering.” The pain exists, but it is not happening to him, it is just happening. Being liberated from misidentification of Self, the yogi is free from duality and one with the Absolute.
35. But the one who is entangled in delusion, his very nature is activity.
As for the individual who identifies with the body, who sees himself as the doer, his life revolves around seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. He is attached to his good and bad actions and, likewise, their consequences.
36. On the disappearance of duality, a new creation is produced.
When the yogi realizes Reality, he sees the world in a new light.
37. Creative power comes from one's own experience.
God’s creative power can be understood from experiences with one’s own imagination and dreams.
38. The three states are enlivened by the main state (turya).
For the enlightened yogi, the three states of consciousness are infused with the bliss of turya.
39. As with the mental states, so too with the body, senses, and the objective world.
The whole physical world, including the yogi’s body and senses are also enlivened with the bliss of turya.
40. Due to the craving for objective experience, the born-being’s attention flows outward.
The text returns to the condition of the limited being, whose desire for sensual experience keeps its mind always focused outward. This point is also made in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad II.1.1.
41. But, having attained realization of That by ending desire, there is a complete disappearance of the individual being (jīva).
Having overcome desire and primal ignorance, and recognized his True Self, the yogi no longer identifies with the limited, individual person he once mistook for a self. Therefore, his condition as a limited individual has ended.
42. Then, considering the body of gross elements as a garment, the liberated increasingly becomes one with the Highest Lord.
To the liberated yogi, the body is like a garment one adopts and abandons as needed.
43. Life force (prāṇa) is naturally interconnected.
In manifesting the universe, Pure Consciousness transforms into prāṇa. This same energy, in the form of vital-air, sustains all living beings. So, prāṇa is inherently linked to both Pure Consciousness and the physical body.
44. What is there in the left, right, and middle channels but prāṇa? By meditation on the inner center of consciousness...
45. there is the reappearance of complete awakening.
The first part of sūtra 44 continues the discussion of prāṇa. Vital-air, in a subtle form, flows in the two channels (referred to as left and right). This energy corresponds to inhalation and exhalation. As one progresses on the path to awakening, prāṇa enters the center channel (suṣumnā). This is said to awaken the dormant energy kuṇḍalini, which then travels up the center channel to the crown of the head where it stimulates psychic development. (There are also specific Yoga techniques designed to aid this process.) The second part of the sūtra instructs the yogi to unify the mind on the Core of Consciousness (hṛdaya) as mentioned in sūtra I.15. Sūtra 45 states that when the yogi is completely immersed in Self-awareness, he becomes fully enlightened. The term used here is pratimīlana, which means that there is no change in the yogi’s state of God-consciousness; his awareness is the same in objective consciousness as it is in samādhi. The sūtra also states that this state of complete awakening reappears. This is because the yogi has not become something new, but has recognized his True Nature, which is and always has been Brahman.
Section III describes the method of the limited, human being. This method involves discrimination of the fundamental elements, control of breath and prāṇa, contemplation, etc. Another characteristic of this section is that the yogi rises and falls between Self-awareness and inferior thoughts. This is to show that the limited individual (jīva) is still susceptible to inferior mental states. Therefore, the yogi in this stage should be mindful and attempt to maintain that higher state of consciousness at all times. Then, in the end, he will be victorious and achieve enlightenment, reuniting with the Supreme.
In the first section, Self was defined as pure consciousness. That definition was in absolute terms, meant to define the nature of the Absolute Self. Here the text is concerned with the limited human being who identifies mind and body as self.
Mind (citta) is derived from consciousness (cit) and has three aspects, intellect (buddhi) ego (ahaṁkāra) and thought (manas). These aspects reflect the three qualities of nature, light (sattva) restlessness (rajas) and dullness (tamas) respectively.
2. Knowledge is bondage.
Knowledge here is the experiential knowledge of the senses: pain, pleasure, etc. This knowledge enslaves the limited being to the constant pursuit of pleasure and the evasion of pain.
3. Non-discrimination of the Sheaths of Ignorance is illusion.
Māyā veils the Absolute Self with five Sheaths of Ignorance: Kalā – limited activity, which veils the Self’s omnipotence; Vidyā – limited knowledge, which veils the Self’s omniscience; Rāga – desire, which veils the Self’s absolute will; and Niyati – space, which veils the Self’s all-pervasiveness. Covered with these limitations, the Supreme Self appears as jīva, an individual soul.
4. Dissolution of the fundamental elements into the body (should be contemplated).
The yogi should contemplate on the fundamental elements (tattvas) merging into each other, from the gross to the subtle, up to the Self. (see Vijñāna Bhairava 54 and Śvetāśvatāra Upaniṣad VI.3). This contemplation includes dissolution of both the gross and subtle bodies.
5. Withdrawing prāna into the center channel and control, detachment, and separation from the gross elements (should also be contemplated).
The first contemplation mentioned here is to move vital air into the center pranic channel (suṣumna). This is usually accompanied by breathing exercises. The yogi can also develop knowledge and control of the elements leading to detachment from material nature and its qualities. This method is described in of the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali (Section IV).
6. Supernatural powers are due to a veil of delusion.
Yoga techniques can lead to supernatural abilities, which can become an obstacle to spiritual development. These powers can be a distraction to the yogi if he becomes attached to such powers and the fruits they bring. In that case, the yogi is no different from the worldly minded person attached to sensual pleasures and power, both suffer from delusion and neither can realize the Absolute.
7. But, from the complete conquest of delusion, the yogi masters the inherent knowledge.
When the yogi understands that all objective experience is temporary and leads to suffering, he overcomes the spell of delusion and realizes his True Nature.
8. He is awake and the second (the world) is his light.
We think of the mundane world and the transcendental Self as two separate entities; but, the enlightened yogi comes to realize that the world is the manifestation of the Supreme; that Śiva and Śakti are really one.
9. His self is a performer.
10. The individual soul is the stage.
11. The senses are the spectators.
Now that the yogi has awakened to his True Nature, his former self is now a part he continues to play in the drama of life. The drama is played out on the stage of the inner-soul: the intellect, ego, and mind; that is, the drama of life is played out on the screen of consciousness. You are both the director and the leading actor in the play. And the sense organs are the spectators of the drama. They are now mere onlookers of the world and no longer the wild horses that lead the chase after their objects.
12. Through spiritual intelligence comes realization of Truth.
13. And (the yogi) achieves the state of freedom.
When the yogi’s intellect is purified, he is able to recognize that Divine Consciousness within and he attains the state of liberation, which is oneness with That.
14. As there (in his samādhi) so elsewhere (in the world).
The state of freedom, of God-consciousness exists, not only in meditation, but all the time.
15. Giving full attention to the Source.
16. Established there, he easily dives into the Ocean of Bliss.
The yogi who is always aware of his True Self is immersed in the Ocean of Divine Bliss.
17. And he attains creation according to his own measure.
As the yogi understands that this objective world is a product of consciousness, he has control over manifestation according to his level.
18. As this knowledge remains, rebirth disappears.
19. (But when this knowledge waivers, he succumbs to) the goddess of letters and the mother of limited beings.
This sūtra gives a warning to the yogi that he should be vigilant in maintaining Self-knowledge or the mind might revert to its old ways and fall under the influence of thought-constructs and delusion.
20. The fourth state (turya) should be poured, like oil, into the other three.
Turya is the state of Being-Awareness-Bliss of the Self. It exists in the background of consciousness in the three other states. Awareness of turya is synonymous with being in samādhi. Sūtra 20 instructs the yogi to pour turya, like oil, into the three other states, which means that one should maintain a steady, uninterrupted flow of the bliss of samādhi in his life.
21. One enters that state by being immersed in Self-awareness.
The practices mentioned earlier, such as meditation, prāṇayāma, etc. lead to a state of Self-awareness. When the yogi is fully immersed in that state, he becomes enlightened and enters turya permanently.
22. When vital air is controlled, unity is perceived.
23. But between states of samādhi, inferior thoughts may arise.
24. Then, when Self-awareness unites with objective consciousness, the lost state of samādhi returns.
25. And he becomes one with Śiva.
When the yogi is in samādhi, the state of Self-awareness, he realizes the unity of Śiva and Śakti; but, in between those states, when he is experiencing objective consciousness, he still may be affected by inferior thoughts due to habitual tendencies. However, when the yogi realizes that the objective world is the manifestation of the Supreme, that state of God-consciousness returns and the realized yogi becomes one with Śiva. As long as there is the existence of the body, the yogi is equal to Śiva; but, at the death of the body, he becomes Śiva again. (This is the divine play. In reality, you are, always were, and always will be Śiva.)
26. Maintaining the body is a pious act.
The realized yogi maintains his body as a sacrifice and all his actions are for the benefit of living beings.
27. His speech is prayer.
His speech reveals the truth and reminds those who hear it of the Supreme Reality.
28. Self-knowledge is his charity.
29. Who is established in the Protector of Beings is, clearly, the means to that knowledge.
Knowledge of Self is the yogi’s gift to the world and, by his example and instruction, he is the agent to realization of That.
30. The universe is the expansion of his power;
The enlightened yogi understands that the universe is the product of his own consciousness.
31. Both the maintenance and dissolution, too.
Not only is the universe an expansion of consciousness, but it is maintained and, eventually, dissolved in consciousness as well.
32. But even though there is the occurrence of those (manifestation, maintenance, and reabsorption of the universe) there is no break in his being the knower (of Truth).
Although the cycle of creation, maintenance, and reabsorption of the universe happens over the span of billions of years, the enlightened yogi remains one with the Supreme and that awareness is not dependent on the state of the universe.
33. The yogi considers both pleasure and pain to be external.
34. And, being liberated from those, he is One.
It is illusion that causes one to identify non-self as Self. Being freed from that illusion, the yogi considers experiences of pain and pleasure to be merely objects of consciousness. The yogi experiencing pain does not think, “I am suffering,” but “there is suffering.” The pain exists, but it is not happening to him, it is just happening. Being liberated from misidentification of Self, the yogi is free from duality and one with the Absolute.
35. But the one who is entangled in delusion, his very nature is activity.
As for the individual who identifies with the body, who sees himself as the doer, his life revolves around seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. He is attached to his good and bad actions and, likewise, their consequences.
36. On the disappearance of duality, a new creation is produced.
When the yogi realizes Reality, he sees the world in a new light.
37. Creative power comes from one's own experience.
God’s creative power can be understood from experiences with one’s own imagination and dreams.
38. The three states are enlivened by the main state (turya).
For the enlightened yogi, the three states of consciousness are infused with the bliss of turya.
39. As with the mental states, so too with the body, senses, and the objective world.
The whole physical world, including the yogi’s body and senses are also enlivened with the bliss of turya.
40. Due to the craving for objective experience, the born-being’s attention flows outward.
The text returns to the condition of the limited being, whose desire for sensual experience keeps its mind always focused outward. This point is also made in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad II.1.1.
41. But, having attained realization of That by ending desire, there is a complete disappearance of the individual being (jīva).
Having overcome desire and primal ignorance, and recognized his True Self, the yogi no longer identifies with the limited, individual person he once mistook for a self. Therefore, his condition as a limited individual has ended.
42. Then, considering the body of gross elements as a garment, the liberated increasingly becomes one with the Highest Lord.
To the liberated yogi, the body is like a garment one adopts and abandons as needed.
43. Life force (prāṇa) is naturally interconnected.
In manifesting the universe, Pure Consciousness transforms into prāṇa. This same energy, in the form of vital-air, sustains all living beings. So, prāṇa is inherently linked to both Pure Consciousness and the physical body.
44. What is there in the left, right, and middle channels but prāṇa? By meditation on the inner center of consciousness...
45. there is the reappearance of complete awakening.
The first part of sūtra 44 continues the discussion of prāṇa. Vital-air, in a subtle form, flows in the two channels (referred to as left and right). This energy corresponds to inhalation and exhalation. As one progresses on the path to awakening, prāṇa enters the center channel (suṣumnā). This is said to awaken the dormant energy kuṇḍalini, which then travels up the center channel to the crown of the head where it stimulates psychic development. (There are also specific Yoga techniques designed to aid this process.) The second part of the sūtra instructs the yogi to unify the mind on the Core of Consciousness (hṛdaya) as mentioned in sūtra I.15. Sūtra 45 states that when the yogi is completely immersed in Self-awareness, he becomes fully enlightened. The term used here is pratimīlana, which means that there is no change in the yogi’s state of God-consciousness; his awareness is the same in objective consciousness as it is in samādhi. The sūtra also states that this state of complete awakening reappears. This is because the yogi has not become something new, but has recognized his True Nature, which is and always has been Brahman.
Section III describes the method of the limited, human being. This method involves discrimination of the fundamental elements, control of breath and prāṇa, contemplation, etc. Another characteristic of this section is that the yogi rises and falls between Self-awareness and inferior thoughts. This is to show that the limited individual (jīva) is still susceptible to inferior mental states. Therefore, the yogi in this stage should be mindful and attempt to maintain that higher state of consciousness at all times. Then, in the end, he will be victorious and achieve enlightenment, reuniting with the Supreme.
