The Space of the Armpits
Sit with the arms gently bent, and rest the mind in the open space of the armpits; peace comes by dissolution.
भुजाओं को अधमुड़ा रखकर बैठो, और मन को काँख के खुले अवकाश में टिकाओ; लय से शान्ति आती 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.)
Is there a place of rest hidden in the body that I have never thought to look, Lord?
क्या शरीर में कोई विश्राम-स्थान छिपा है जहाँ मैंने कभी देखने का सोचा ही नहीं, नाथ?
Sit upright, let both arms bend gently and held a little out, and bring awareness to the hollow, open space within the armpits.
सीधे बैठो, दोनों भुजाओं को कोमलता से मोड़कर थोड़ा बाहर रखो, और काँख के भीतर के खोखले, खुले अवकाश पर ध्यान लाओ।
The armpits? Such an unlikely place for the divine.
काँख? दिव्य के लिए कितना अनपेक्षित स्थान।
Unlikely, yet a real emptiness — a small, sheltered void the mind can sink into. Rest the mind in that quiet, enclosed space, and let it dissolve there.
अनपेक्षित, फिर भी एक सच्चा खालीपन — एक छोटा, सुरक्षित शून्य जिसमें मन उतर सकता है। मन को उस शान्त, बंद अवकाश में टिकाओ, और उसे वहीं विलीन होने दो।
And as the mind dissolves there?
और जैसे मन वहाँ विलीन होता है?
A settled peace comes. No special, sacred locus is required — even the armpit-hollow is a sky in which the mind can rest. Every void is the one void; that is why the humblest emptiness serves as well as the open heaven.
एक स्थिर शान्ति आती है। किसी विशेष, पवित्र स्थान की आवश्यकता नहीं — काँख का खोखला भी एक आकाश है जिसमें मन विश्राम कर सकता है। हर शून्य वही एक शून्य है; इसीलिए सबसे विनम्र खालीपन भी खुले स्वर्ग जितना ही काम देता है।
Why it works
With the arms slightly bent and held a little out, the armpits form a small enclosed space (kakṣa-vyoman). Resting the mind in this overlooked inner emptiness gives attention a quiet, contained void to dissolve into; that dissolution (laya) brings a spontaneous peace. It is a body-located version of the space-meditations, using a small, sheltered emptiness instead of the open sky.
How to practice
- 1Sit upright and let both arms bend gently, slightly away from the body.
- 2Bring awareness to the hollow, open space within each armpit (kakṣa-vyoman).
- 3Rest the mind in that quiet, enclosed emptiness — an unexpected inner space.
- 4As the mind dissolves into that space, let a settled peace come. Rest there.
The deeper story
The inclusion of so humble a "space" underlines the text's radical democracy of method: there is no special, sacred locus required — even the armpit-hollow is a vyoman, a sky, in which the mind can come to rest. Every void is the one void.
Terms in this technique
- ākāśa
- Space, ether; the open expanse, inner and outer.
- śūnya
- Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
- laya
- Dissolution, absorption; the merging of attention into its source.
- madhya
- The middle, the centre, the gap between two states — a key VBT doorway.
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)