The Body Pervaded by Space
Contemplate every substance of the body as pervaded by space; held steadily, this contemplation becomes firm.
देह के समस्त द्रव्य को आकाश से व्याप्त भावित करो; स्थिरता से यह भावना दृढ़ हो जाती है।
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.)
My body feels dense and solid, Lord. Short of dissolving it, can its very stuff be made light?
मेरा शरीर सघन और ठोस लगता है, नाथ। उसे विलीन किए बिना, क्या उसका पदार्थ ही हल्का किया जा सकता है?
Contemplate every substance of the body — flesh, bone, fluid, all of it — as pervaded through and through by space: porous, spacious, more void than solid.
शरीर के हर द्रव्य को — मांस, अस्थि, तरल, सब — आकाश से आर-पार व्याप्त भावित करो: छिद्रमय, अवकाशपूर्ण, ठोस से अधिक शून्य।
And the felt solidity?
और वह अनुभूत ठोसपन?
Let it give way to a sense of substance suffused with space. Return to this steadily, and the contemplation becomes firm — no longer a fleeting image but a settled perception of the spacious body.
उसे आकाश से सराबोर पदार्थ के भाव में बदल जाने दो। इसमें बार-बार स्थिरता से लौटो, और भावना दृढ़ हो जाती है — कोई क्षणिक चित्र नहीं, बल्कि अवकाशपूर्ण शरीर की एक स्थिर प्रतीति।
So this loosens my identity with a dense, solid form?
तो यह सघन, ठोस रूप के साथ मेरे तादात्म्य को ढीला करता है?
It does, from within. Not the body within space, nor the body as space, but the body's very matter shot through with space — and, held steady, that recognition dissolves the felt density that bound awareness to the body.
करता है, भीतर से। न आकाश में शरीर, न शरीर आकाश-रूप, बल्कि शरीर का पदार्थ ही आकाश से आर-पार बिंधा हुआ — और, स्थिरता से थामे, वही पहचान उस अनुभूत सघनता को घोल देती है जिसने चेतना को शरीर से बाँध रखा था।
Why it works
This contemplation dissolves the body's solidity from within: every material of which it is made is seen as pervaded by space, more emptiness than substance. The verse stresses stability — held and repeated, "that contemplation becomes firm" (bhāvanā sthirā), so the spacious sense of the body is no longer a fleeting image but a settled perception, loosening identification with a dense physical form.
How to practice
- 1Bring awareness to the body and its substances — flesh, bone, fluid, all of it.
- 2Contemplate each of these as pervaded through and through by space (viyat) — porous, spacious, more void than solid.
- 3Let the felt solidity of the body give way to a sense of substance suffused with space.
- 4Return to this contemplation steadily until it becomes firm and natural. Rest in the spacious body.
The deeper story
This is the somatic complement to the great-space verses: not the body within space, nor the body as space, but the body's matter shot through with space. Modern ears hear an echo of matter being mostly emptiness; the verse's aim, though, is the steadying of a contemplation that dissolves the felt density binding awareness to the body.
Terms in this technique
- ākāśa
- Space, ether; the open expanse, inner and outer.
- śūnya
- Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
- bhāvanā
- Contemplative imagination; cultivating a state through felt imagery.
- cidākāśa
- The space of consciousness; the inner sky of awareness.
Sources consulted
- Jaideva Singh, Vijñānabhairava: The Manual for Self-Realization (Motilal Banarsidass, 1979)
- Bettina Bäumer, Vijñâna Bhairava: The Practice of Centering Awareness (Indica Books, 2011)
- Swami Lakshmanjoo, Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self Realization (Universal Shaiva Fellowship, 2007)