Free of Like and Dislike
Cultivate neither attraction nor aversion to anything; freed from both, in the middle, Brahman flows forth.
किसी से न राग करो, न द्वेष; दोनों से मुक्त होते ही मध्य में ब्रह्म प्रसरित होता 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.)
I am pulled toward what I like and pushed from what I dislike, Lord, all day long. Is there rest from this tug?
मैं दिन-भर अपनी रुचि की ओर खिंचती और अरुचि से दूर ढकेली जाती हूँ, नाथ। इस खिंचाव से कोई विश्राम है?
Cultivate neither attraction nor aversion to anything. Through the day, notice the mind leaning into liking or pulling away in disliking — and, for this practice, feed neither.
किसी से न राग करो, न द्वेष। दिन-भर, मन को रुचि में झुकते या अरुचि में हटते देखो — और इस साधना के लिए, किसी को मत बढ़ाओ।
And resting between the two pulls?
और दोनों खिंचावों के बीच ठहरकर?
Free of both, the mind settles into the middle. And there, in that balanced seam, Brahman flows forth of itself — the ground of awareness, revealed when the see-saw of liking and disliking comes to rest.
दोनों से मुक्त, मन मध्य में बैठ जाता है। और वहाँ, उस संतुलित सीवन में, ब्रह्म स्वयं प्रसरित होता है — चेतना की भूमि, जो राग-द्वेष का झूला थमते ही प्रकट होती है।
So even-mindedness is not coldness, but an open channel?
तो समता उदासीनता नहीं, बल्कि एक खुली राह है?
An open channel. Attraction and aversion are the twin engines that keep the mind in motion and bound; dissolve them into the middle, and equanimity becomes the very door through which the absolute comes forward.
एक खुली राह। राग और द्वेष वे जुड़वाँ इंजन हैं जो मन को गतिमान और बँधा रखते हैं; उन्हें मध्य में विलीन करो, और समता ही वह द्वार बन जाती है जिससे परम सामने आता है।
Why it works
Attraction (rāga) and aversion (dveṣa) are the twin engines that keep the mind in motion and bound. This verse asks you to cultivate neither, anywhere — resting in the equipoise between them. Free of both pulls, the mind settles into the "middle" (madhya), and there Brahman "flows forth" (prasarpati) — the ground of awareness, revealed when the see-saw of liking and disliking comes to rest.
How to practice
- 1Through the day, notice the mind leaning into liking (rāga) or pulling away in disliking (dveṣa).
- 2For this practice, deliberately cultivate neither: do not feed attraction, do not feed aversion.
- 3Rest in the balanced middle between the two, free of both pulls.
- 4In that freedom from like-and-dislike, let Brahman flow forth of itself in the middle. Abide there.
The deeper story
Rāga and dveṣa are, in Indian psychology, root afflictions (kleśa) that drive all karma. Dissolving them into the middle is the master-key of madhya applied to the will: equanimity is not coldness but the open channel through which Brahman flows.
Terms in this technique
- madhya
- The middle, the centre, the gap between two states — a key VBT doorway.
- śūnya
- Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
- cit
- Consciousness itself, the aware principle.
- sākṣin
- The witness; awareness that observes without being touched.
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)