Attentive to the Knowing Itself
The split of knower and known is common to everyone; the yogi's one difference is constant attentiveness to the knowing itself.
ग्राह्य-ग्राहक (ज्ञेय-ज्ञाता) का बोध सब प्राणियों में समान है; योगी की एक ही विशेषता है — उस सम्बन्ध के प्रति निरन्तर सावधानी।
The conversation of Devi & Bhairava
A faithful retelling of the dialogue that frames this verse — the Goddess asks, and Bhairava answers with the teaching above. (The śloka is the scripture; the conversation dramatizes its meaning, in English and Hindi.)
What is it, Lord, that truly sets the yogi apart from anyone else?
नाथ, वह क्या है जो योगी को सचमुच और सबसे अलग करता है?
Not a special experience. In every perception there is something known and someone knowing it — this much everyone has. The yogi differs in only one thing: an unbroken attentiveness to the knowing itself.
कोई विशेष अनुभव नहीं। हर अनुभव में कुछ ज्ञेय और कोई ज्ञाता होता है — इतना तो सबके पास है। योगी केवल एक बात में भिन्न है: जानने की क्रिया के प्रति एक अटूट सावधानी।
So I shift from what is known to the knowing that links me to it?
तो मैं ज्ञेय से हटकर उस जानने पर आऊँ जो मुझे उससे जोड़ता है?
Turn from the known object, and from the apparent knower, to the act of knowing between them. Stay continuously attentive to that, moment by moment, in the very midst of ordinary perception.
ज्ञेय वस्तु से, और प्रतीत होते ज्ञाता से, हटकर उनके बीच की जानने की क्रिया पर आओ। उसी के प्रति, क्षण-क्षण, साधारण अनुभव के बीचों-बीच, निरन्तर सावधान रहो।
So liberation is not a different perception, but the same perception watched differently?
तो मुक्ति कोई भिन्न अनुभव नहीं, बल्कि वही अनुभव भिन्न ढंग से देखा हुआ?
Just so. Hold awareness on awareness while life goes on, and the steady light of the perceiver shines within all perceiving. That single vigilance is the whole of yoga.
ठीक वैसा ही। जीवन चलता रहे और चेतना पर चेतना थामे रखो, और द्रष्टा का स्थिर प्रकाश समस्त अनुभव के भीतर चमकता है। वही एक सावधानी समूचा योग है।
Why it works
Everyone constantly experiences the duality of knower and known; that is ordinary perception. The verse says the yogi differs in only one thing: sāvadhānatā — unbroken attentiveness to the knowing relation itself, rather than getting lost in the objects known. Holding awareness on awareness, in the midst of normal perception, is the entire practice.
How to practice
- 1Notice that in every experience there is something known and someone knowing it — this much everyone has.
- 2Now shift attention from the known object, and from the apparent knower, to the act of knowing that links them.
- 3Stay continuously attentive (sāvadhānatā) to that knowing itself, moment by moment.
- 4Rest as the alert awareness that is always present in every act of perception.
The deeper story
This verse defines yoga itself in the Trika key: liberation is not a different perception but the same perception attended differently. The "attentiveness to the relation" is what Kṣemarāja later calls the steady awareness of the perceiver (pramātṛ) shining within all perceiving.
Terms in this technique
- cit
- Consciousness itself, the aware principle.
- sākṣin
- The witness; awareness that observes without being touched.
- aham
- The sense of "I"; the self that is inquired into.
- ātman
- The true self; awareness as one’s own being.
Sources consulted
- Jaideva Singh, Vijñānabhairava: The Manual for Self-Realization (Motilal Banarsidass, 1979)
- Swami Lakshmanjoo, Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self Realization (Universal Shaiva Fellowship, 2007)
- Bettina Bäumer, Vijñâna Bhairava: The Practice of Centering Awareness (Indica Books, 2011)