The Essence of the Tantra · Chapter 9

The Essence of the Tantra — Chapter 9

तन्त्रसार

Tantrasāra


Chapter 9 53 verses

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  1. 1 sa ca saptadhā ṣaḍardhaśāstra eva paraṃ parameśena uktaḥ And that has been declared sevenfold in the highest manner by the Supreme Lord, precisely…
  2. 2 tatra śivāḥ mantramaheśāḥ mantreśāḥ mantrāḥ vijñānākalāḥ pralayākalāḥ sakalā … Therein the power-holders are seven: the Śivas, the Great Lords of Mantra, the Lords of…
  3. 3 eṣāṃ saptaiva śaktayaḥ tadbhedāt pṛthivyādipradhānatattvāntaṃ caturdaśabhir bhedaiḥ pratyekaṃ … Of these there are just seven powers;
  4. 4 tatra svaṃ rūpaṃ prameyatāyogyaṃ svātmaniṣṭham aparābhaṭṭārikānugrahāt pramātṛṣu udriktaśaktiṣu … Therein its own form, fit to be an object and resting in its own self, comes about…
  5. 5 śaktimadrūpapradhāne tu pramātṛvarge yat viśrāntaṃ tac chaktimac chivarūpaṃ … But that which comes to rest in the class of perceivers in which the power-holder's form…
  6. 6 pramātṝṇāṃ śivāt prabhṛti sakalāntānāṃ tāvatām uktatvāt For the perceivers, beginning from Śiva and ending with the Sakala, have been declared to…
  7. 7 tatra śaktibhedād eva pramātṝṇāṃ bhedaḥ sa ca sphuṭīkaraṇārthaṃ … The difference among the perceivers arises precisely from the difference of powers, and…
  8. 8 vijñānākalasya te eva vigalatkalpe tatsaṃskārasacivā prabudhyamānā śuddhavidyā mantrasya For the Vijñānākala those very powers are in a state all but dissolved;
  9. 9 tatsaṃskārahīnā saiva prabuddhā mantreśasya For the Lord of Mantra it is that very same Pure Knowledge, now fully awakened and free…
  10. 10 saiva icchāśaktirūpatāṃ svātantryasvabhāvāṃ jighṛkṣantī mantramaheśvarasya For the Great Lord of Mantra it is that very same Knowledge, on the verge of seizing the…
  11. 11 icchātmikā sphuṭasvātantryātmikā śivasya iti śaktibhedāḥ sapta mukhyāḥ For Śiva it is the will itself, consisting of manifest, full-blown autonomy.
  12. 12 taduparāgakṛtaś ca śaktimatsu pramātṛṣu bhedaḥ karaṇabhedasya kartṛbhedaparyavasānāt śakter … And the difference among the power-holding perceivers is produced by the tinge of that…
  13. 13 vastutaḥ punar eka eva citsvātantryānandaviśrāntaḥ pramātā tatra pṛthivī … In reality, however, the perceiver is one alone, reposing in the bliss of the autonomy of…
  14. 14 nanu bhāvasya cet vedyatā svaṃ vapuḥ tat sarvān … But surely, the objector says, if an entity's knowability is its very essence, then it is…
  15. 15 na tat svaṃ vapuḥ svarūpasya pṛthaguktatvāt kiṃ tarhi … That knowability is not the entity's own essence, since the own-form was spoken of…
  16. 16 anantapramātṛsaṃvedyam api ekam eva tat tasya rūpaṃ tāvati … Though cognizable by infinite perceivers, that form of it is one alone, since in that…
  17. 17 tāvaty udriktarāgādikañcukasya sakalasya pramātṛtvāt sakalasyāpi evaṃ pāñcadaśyaṃ tasyāpi … Since within that limit the perceiver is the Sakala, in whom the sheaths of attachment…
  18. 18 vitatya caitat nirṇītaṃ tantrāloke And this has been settled at length in the Tantrāloka.
  19. 19 puṃsaḥ prabhṛti kalātattvāntaṃ trayodaśadhā From the puruṣa up to the kalā-tattva, it is thirteenfold.
  20. 20 sakalasya tatra pramātṛtāyogena tacchaktiśaktimadātmano bhedadvayasya pratyastamayāt tathā ca … There, owing to the Sakala's lack of perceiverhood, the pair of distinctions — its power…
  21. 21 vijñānākalasya svarūpatve caturṇāṃ pramātṛtve nava bhedāḥ When the Vijñānākala is the own-form and the four are perceivers, there are nine…
  22. 22 mantrasya svarūpatve trayāṇāṃ pramātṛtve sapta When the Mantra is the own-form and the three are perceivers, there are seven.
  23. 23 mantreśasya svarūpatve dvayoḥ pramātṛtve pañca When the Lord of Mantra is the own-form and the two are perceivers, there are five.
  24. 24 mantramaheśasya svarūpatve bhagavata ekasyaiva pramātṛtve śaktiśaktimadbhedāt trayaḥ When the Great Lord of Mantra is the own-form and the Blessed One alone is the perceiver,…
  25. 25 śivasya tu prakāśaikacitsvātantryanirbharasya na ko 'pi bhedaḥ paripūrṇatvāt But for Śiva, replete with the sole autonomy of luminous consciousness, there is no…
  26. 26 evam ayaṃ tattvabheda eva parameśvarānuttaranayaikākhye nirūpitaḥ bhuvanabhedavaicitryaṃ karoti … Thus this very difference of the tattvas, expounded under what is named the sole method…
  27. 27 atra ca parasparaṃ bhedakalanayā avāntarabhedajñānakutūhalī tantrālokam eva avadhārayet And here, one curious to know the intermediate distinctions by reckoning the mutual…
  28. 28 evam ekaikaghaṭādyanusāreṇāpi pṛthivyādīnāṃ tattvānāṃ bhedo nirūpitaḥ Thus the difference of the tattvas beginning with earth has been set forth even by…
  29. 29 adhunā samastaṃ pṛthivītattvaṃ pramātṛprameyarūpam uddiśya nirūpyate yo dharātattvābhedena … Now the entire earth-principle is set forth with reference to its form as perceiver and…
  30. 30 yathā śrutiḥ pṛthivy evedaṃ brahma iti As the Vedic revelation says: 'This Brahman is verily earth.
  31. 31 dharātattvasiddhipradān prerayati sa dharāmantramaheśvaraḥ preryo dharāmantreśaḥ tasyaivābhimānikavigrahatātmako vācako … The Great Lord of Mantra of earth is he who impels those that bestow the powers of the…
  32. 32 pāśavavidyākrameṇa abhyastapārthivayogaḥ kalpānte maraṇe vā dharāpralayakevalaḥ He who has practiced union with the earthen principle by the gradation of bound-soul lore…
  33. 33 sauṣupte hi tattvāveśavaśād eva citrasya svapnasya udayaḥ syāt … For in deep sleep, precisely by the force of absorption into a tattva, the arising of a…
  34. 34 atrāpi śaktyudrekanyagbhāvābhyāṃ caturdaśatvam iti pramātṛtāpannasya dharātattvasya bhedāḥ svarūpaṃ … Here too the fourteenfold character arises by the heightening and the subordination of…
  35. 35 atha ekasmin pramātari prāṇapratiṣṭhitatayā bhedanirūpaṇam iha nīlaṃ gṛhṇataḥ … Now, the differentiation as measured by its being established in the breath.
  36. 36 svakāryakartṛtā tu grāhakarūpatā iti uktaṃ na sā bhūyo … But the agency-of-one's-own-effect has been said to be the state of being the perceiver,…
  37. 37 vikalpanyūnatve tu tuṭinyūnatā sukhādisaṃvittāv iva yāvat avikalpataiva But when conceptual construction diminishes, there is a corresponding diminution in the…
  38. 38 lokās tu vikalpaviśrāntyā tām ahantāmayīm ahantācchāditedambhāvavikalpaprasarāṃ nirvikalpāṃ vimarśabhuvam … Ordinary people, however, through resting in conceptual construction, suppose that ground…
  39. 39 evaṃ ca pāñcadaśye sthite yāvat sphuṭedantātmano bhedasya nyūnatā … And thus, when the fifteenfold set is established, to the extent that the diminution of…
  40. 40 yad āha śrīkallaṭaḥ tuṭipāta iti atra pātaśabdaṃ saiva … As the venerable Kallaṭa said: "the falling of the instant.
  41. 41 evaṃ mantramaheśatuṭeḥ prabhṛti tattadabhyāsāt tattatsiddhiḥ Thus, beginning from the instant of the Great Lord of Mantra onward, by the practice of…
  42. 42 athātraiva jāgradādyavasthā nirūpyante tatra vedyasya tadviṣayāyāś ca saṃvido … Now, in this very connection, the states beginning with waking are examined.
  43. 43 tatra yadādhiṣṭheyatayā bahīrūpatayā bhānaṃ tadā jāgradavasthā meye mātari … Therein, when the appearing is as that which is to be presided over, in an outward form,…
  44. 44 yadā tu tatraiva adhiṣṭhānarūpatayā bhānaṃ saṅkalpaḥ tadā svapnāvasthā But when, in that very triad, the appearing is in the form of the presiding seat — that…
  45. 45 yadā tu tatraiva adhiṣṭhātṛrūpatayā bījātmatayaiva bhānaṃ tadā suṣuptāvasthā But when, in that very triad, the appearing is in the form of the presider, precisely as…
  46. 46 imā eva tisraḥ prameyapramāṇapramātravasthāḥ pratyekaṃ jāgradādibhedāt caturvidhā uktāḥ These very three states — of object, means of knowledge, and perceiver — are each said to…
  47. 47 yadā tu tasminn eva pramātṛviśrāntigate pramātuḥ pūrṇataunmukhyāt taddvāreṇa … But when, in that very state come to rest in the perceiver, the appearing is — through…
  48. 48 etad eva avasthācatuṣṭayaṃ piṇḍasthapadastharūpastharūpātītaśabdair yogino vyavaharanti prasaṅkhyānadhanās tu … This very set of four states the yogins designate by the terms "located-in-the-body,"…
  49. 49 anvarthaṃ cātra darśitaṃ tantrāloke ślokavārttike ca And the aptness of these names to their meaning has been shown here in the Tantrāloka and…
  50. 50 yac ca sarvāntarbhūtaṃ pūrṇarūpaṃ tat turyātītaṃ sarvātītaṃ mahāpracayaṃ … And that of complete form, within which all is contained, they designate as…
  51. 51 kiṃ ca yasya yad yadā rūpaṃ sphuṭaṃ sthiram … Moreover: that form which, for someone at some time, is manifest, stable, and continuous…
  52. 52 tatra svarūpasakalau 1 pralayākalaḥ 2 vijñānākalaḥ 3 mantratadīśatanmaheśavargaḥ … Therein, in the fifteenfold division, there are five states: (1) the own-nature together…
  53. 53 svarūpaṃ pralayākala ityādikrameṇa trayodaśabhede svarūpaṃ vijñānākalaśaktiḥ vijñānākala ity … By the sequence "own-nature, Pralayākala," and so on, in the thirteenfold division;