Drop "I" and "Mine"
When the props of "I" and "mine" are examined and let go, the mind goes to the supportless; meditating thus, you grow calm.
"मैं" और "मेरा" आदि प्रतीतियों को देखकर छोड़ देने पर मन निराधार में चला जाता है; उस ध्यान की प्रेरणा से साधक शान्त हो जाता 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.)
The whole weight of "me" and "mine" presses on me, Lord. Can that burden be set down?
"मैं" और "मेरा" का सारा बोझ मुझ पर दबाव डालता है, नाथ। क्या वह भार रखा जा सकता है?
Notice the constant inner assertions — "I am this", "this is mine" — and examine them. Look for the solid "I" and the real "mine" they claim, and find no fixed thing there.
भीतर के निरन्तर दावों को देखो — "मैं यह हूँ", "यह मेरा है" — और उन्हें जाँचो। उस ठोस "मैं" और सच्चे "मेरे" को खोजो जिनका वे दावा करते हैं, और वहाँ कोई स्थिर वस्तु मत पाओ।
And when those props are released?
और जब वे आधार छूट जाएँ?
Deprived of its two main supports, the mind goes to the supportless. Meditating from there, you grow calm — for the whole sense of a separate, owning self was built on just these two words.
अपने दो मुख्य आधारों से वंचित, मन निराधार में चला जाता है। वहाँ से ध्यान करते हुए, तुम शान्त हो जाती हो — क्योंकि एक पृथक्, स्वामी आत्मा का समूचा भाव इन्हीं दो शब्दों पर खड़ा था।
So this is not self-rejection, but seeing the self was never there?
तो यह आत्म-निषेध नहीं, बल्कि यह देखना है कि वह आत्मा थी ही नहीं?
Just so. "I and mine" is the knot of bondage. The supportless mind that remains is not deprived but free — consciousness resting in itself. That is why its fruit is peace.
ठीक वैसा ही। "मैं और मेरा" ही बन्धन की गाँठ है। जो निराधार मन शेष रहता है वह वंचित नहीं, मुक्त है — चेतना अपने में विश्रान्त। इसीलिए उसका फल शान्ति है।
Why it works
The contracted self is sustained by two constant assertions: "I" (ahaṃ) and "mine" (mama). This verse has you bring those very assertions into awareness and let them go; deprived of its two main supports, the mind "goes to the supportless" (nirādhāra), and meditating from there one becomes calm (śamī). It dismantles the ego at its grammatical roots.
How to practice
- 1Notice the constant inner assertions "I am this" and "this is mine".
- 2Examine them: look for the solid "I" and the real "mine" they claim — and find no fixed thing there.
- 3Let those props of self and ownership be released.
- 4As they fall away, the mind drops into the supportless (nirādhāra); rest in the calm (śama) that meditating thus brings.
The deeper story
Ahaṃ-mama — "I and mine" — is, across Indian thought, the knot of bondage. Releasing it here is not self-rejection but recognition: the supportless mind that remains is not a deprived mind but consciousness resting in itself, which is why the fruit is śama, peace.
Terms in this technique
- aham
- The sense of "I"; the self that is inquired into.
- ātman
- The true self; awareness as one’s own being.
- śūnya
- Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
- cit
- Consciousness itself, the aware principle.
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)