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IdentityLightVerse 137advanced

The Self That Illumines All

Everything is revealed by knowing, and the Self reveals all; since they are one in nature, knower and known shine as one.

सब कुछ ज्ञान से प्रकाशित होता है, और सबको आत्मा प्रकाशित करता है; एक ही स्वभाव होने से ज्ञान और ज्ञेय एक-रूप अनुभव होते हैं।

Source verse · Verse 137
ज्ञानप्रकाशकं सर्वं सर्वेणात्मा प्रकाशकः। एकमेकस्वभावत्वाज्ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं विभाव्यते॥
jñānaprakāśakaṃ sarvaṃ sarveṇātmā prakāśakaḥ | ekam ekasvabhāvatvāj jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ vibhāvyate
हिन्दीजो कुछ भी जाना जाता है, वह सब ज्ञान से प्रकाशित होता है; और उस सब को प्रकाशित करने वाला स्वयं आत्मा (चैतन्य) है। ज्ञान, ज्ञाता और ज्ञेय — एक ही स्वभाव (चैतन्य) के होने के कारण — पृथक् नहीं हैं। इस एकता को भावित करो: जानने वाला और जाना जाने वाला, दोनों एक ही प्रकाश की लहरें हैं।
EnglishEverything is revealed by knowing, and the Self reveals all; since they are one in nature, knower and known shine as one.
▶ Practice this technique10 / 20 min · eyes either

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.)

देवी · the Goddess

You speak of the light of awareness, Lord. Is the world I see lit by some other light, or by that?

आप चेतना के प्रकाश की बात करते हैं, नाथ। जो संसार मैं देखती हूँ वह किसी और प्रकाश से उद्भासित है, या उसी से?

भैरव · Bhairava

By that alone. Whatever you experience is "lit up" — made known — by awareness; and that revealing light is the Self. The Self illumines everything.

उसी से। जो कुछ भी तुम अनुभव करती हो वह चेतना से ही "उद्भासित" — ज्ञात — होता है; और वह प्रकाशक प्रकाश ही आत्मा है। आत्मा ही सब कुछ को प्रकाशित करती है।

देवी · the Goddess

Then are the knower and the known two different things?

तो क्या ज्ञाता और ज्ञेय दो भिन्न वस्तुएँ हैं?

भैरव · Bhairava

They share one and the same nature — consciousness. The knowing, the knower, and the known are of a single light; the apparent split between subject and object is not ultimate.

वे एक ही स्वभाव के हैं — चेतना। ज्ञान, ज्ञाता और ज्ञेय एक ही प्रकाश के हैं; ग्राह्य और ग्राहक के बीच का प्रतीत होता भेद अन्तिम नहीं।

देवी · the Goddess

So there is no gap between the seer and the seen?

तो द्रष्टा और दृश्य के बीच कोई अन्तर नहीं?

भैरव · Bhairava

No gap — only consciousness, shining as both. Rest in that unity, where the light that knows and the things known are recognised as a single radiance. Nothing stands outside it to be a truly separate object.

कोई अन्तर नहीं — केवल चेतना, दोनों के रूप में चमकती हुई। उसी एकता में ठहरो, जहाँ जानने वाला प्रकाश और जानी जाने वाली वस्तुएँ एक ही आभा के रूप में पहचानी जाती हैं। उससे बाहर खड़ी कोई सच्ची पृथक् वस्तु है ही नहीं।

Why it works

Everything that appears is revealed by knowing, and that revealing power is the Self — "the Self illumines all". Because the knower, the knowing, and the known are all of a single nature (eka-svabhāva) — consciousness — the apparent split between subject and object is not ultimate. Contemplating this, knower and known are "made manifest as one", and awareness recognises itself as the single light shining as both.

How to practice

  1. 1Notice that whatever you experience is "lit up" — made known — by awareness.
  2. 2See that this revealing light is the Self: the Self illumines everything.
  3. 3Contemplate that the knowing, the knower, and the known share one and the same nature — consciousness.
  4. 4Rest in that unity, where seer and seen are recognised as a single light.
Practice note. Subject and object look like two, but both are made of the one light of awareness. Hold them as one nature rather than as a gap to be crossed.

The deeper story

This is the prakāśa doctrine in brief: consciousness is the self-luminous light by which all else is known, and nothing stands outside it to be a truly separate object. The verse turns that metaphysics into contemplation — resting in the single nature of knower and known.

Terms in this technique

cit
Consciousness itself, the aware principle.
ātman
The true self; awareness as one’s own being.
tejas
Light, brilliance, inner fire.
aham
The sense of "I"; the self that is inquired into.

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)
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