The Essence of the Tantra· 9.38 / 53

The Essence of the Tantra9.38

9.38

लोकास् तु विकल्पविश्रान्त्या ताम् अहन्तामयीम् अहन्ताच्छादितेदम्भावविकल्पप्रसरां निर्विकल्पां विमर्शभुवम् अप्रकाशिताम् इव मन्यन्ते दुःखावस्थां सुखविश्रान्ता इव विकल्पनिर्ह्रासेन तु सा प्रकाशत एव इति इयम् असौ सम्बन्धे ग्राह्यग्राहकयोः सावधानता इति अभिनवगुप्तगुरवः

Transliteration (IAST)

lokās tu vikalpaviśrāntyā tām ahantāmayīm ahantācchāditedambhāvavikalpaprasarāṃ nirvikalpāṃ vimarśabhuvam aprakāśitām iva manyante duḥkhāvasthāṃ sukhaviśrāntā iva vikalpanirhrāsena tu sā prakāśata eva iti iyam asau sambandhe grāhyagrāhakayoḥ sāvadhānatā iti abhinavaguptaguravaḥ

— ordinary people, worldly persons ; — through resting in conceptual construction ; — consisting of I-ness ; — the non-conceptual (ground) ; — the ground of reflective awareness ; — as if unilluminated ; — they suppose, they reckon ; — a state of suffering ; — like those resting in pleasure ; — by the dwindling-away of conceptual construction ; — it shines forth indeed ; — the state of full attentiveness ; — the venerable teacher Abhinavagupta (honorific plural)

Ordinary people, however, through resting in conceptual construction, suppose that ground of reflective awareness — which consists of I-ness, in which the spread of the conceptual construction of objectivity is veiled by I-ness, and which is non-conceptual — to be as if unilluminated, a state of suffering, like those who rest in pleasure. But by the dwindling-away of conceptual construction it does indeed shine forth. This is that full attentiveness in the relation between the grasped and the grasper — so says the venerable teacher Abhinavagupta.