Energy Rising Like Lightning
See the energy flash upward like lightning, centre by centre, to a great arising at the crown.
ऊर्जा को बिजली की तरह चमकते हुए, चक्र-दर-चक्र ऊपर उठते देखो, शिखर पर महान उदय तक।
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.)
When my mind is dull and heavy, Lord, the subtle rays are hard to feel. Is there a swifter way to rouse the energy?
जब मेरा मन मन्द और भारी होता है, नाथ, सूक्ष्म किरणें अनुभव करना कठिन होता है। क्या ऊर्जा जगाने का कोई और तीव्र उपाय है?
Then let it flash. Imagine the inner energy as a bolt of lightning at the base of the spine, leaping suddenly upward, lighting each centre in turn as it climbs.
तो उसे कौंधने दो। भीतरी ऊर्जा को रीढ़ के मूल में बिजली की कौंध के रूप में सोचो, अचानक ऊपर की ओर उछलती हुई, चढ़ते-चढ़ते एक-एक चक्र को प्रकाशित करती हुई।
Lightning and gentle rays — which is the true teaching?
बिजली और कोमल किरणें — सच्चा उपदेश कौन-सा है?
Both are true; they are a matched pair. Where the dull need a sudden, vivid bolt to gather them, the calm may climb by subtle rays. Carry the lightning up to the crown, and let a great arising — mahodaya — open there.
दोनों सच्चे हैं; वे एक जोड़ी हैं। जहाँ मन्द को समेटने के लिए अचानक, सजीव कौंध चाहिए, वहाँ शान्त सूक्ष्म किरणों से चढ़ सकता है। बिजली को शिखर तक ले जाओ, और वहाँ एक महान उदय — महोदय — खुलने दो।
So awakening may come gradually, or in a single flash?
तो जागरण क्रमशः आ सकता है, या एक ही कौंध में?
Either way. The lightning is the very image of the sudden flash of recognition. Gather yourself in its brightness, then rest in the vast opening at the summit — the same summit the subtle rays climb to slowly.
दोनों तरह। बिजली तो पहचान की अकस्मात् कौंध का ही प्रतीक है। उसकी आभा में स्वयं को समेटो, फिर शिखर पर उस विशाल खुलाव में ठहरो — वही शिखर जहाँ सूक्ष्म किरणें धीरे-धीरे चढ़ती हैं।
Why it works
Where verse 28 makes the ascending energy ever finer, this verse makes it vivid and instantaneous — a bolt rising through the successive centres to a "great arising" at the crown. The dramatic image gathers a scattered or dull mind quickly; the culmination (mahodaya) is the same expansion of awareness beyond the body.
How to practice
- 1Imagine the inner energy as a flash of lightning at the base of the spine.
- 2Let it leap upward, illuminating each centre in turn, step by step.
- 3Carry it up about three fists above the base — toward and beyond the crown.
- 4At the top, let a great arising (mahodaya) open, and rest in that vast brightness.
The deeper story
Lightning (taḍit) is a classic image for the sudden flash of Shakti and of recognition (pratyabhijñā) itself in Kashmir Shaivism. The verse hints that awakening can be gradual (rays) or abrupt (lightning) — both belong to the one path the text keeps re-describing.
Terms in this technique
- kuṇḍalinī
- The coiled energy that rises through the central channel.
- suṣumnā
- The central subtle channel running through the spine.
- śakti
- Energy, the dynamic power of consciousness; Devi.
- tejas
- Light, brilliance, inner fire.
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)