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Truth is the appearance of the Supreme Brahman; Truth is the most excellent of all Tapas; every act is rooted in
Truth. Than Truth there is nothing more excellent. Therefore has it been said by Me that when the sinful Kali Age
is dominant, Kaula ways should be practised truthfully and without concealment - Mahanirvanatantra IV, 77-78,
Woodroffe translation
Shiva Sutra is a central text for Kashmir Shaivism. I first translated these mysterious verses in 1978, said to have
been revealed to a sage Vasugupta in a dream. Waking, he went to the summit of a nearby mountain, and found
a rock inscribed with the verses.
In 1979, Jaideva Singh produced a translation of the sutras, together with a long commentary and explanatory
material. (Shiva Sutras, Motilal Banarsidas, 1979). I recommend this work to any student. The translation is
probably far better too; but as my translation was written with the Shri Vidya in mind, I have decided to let it
stand or fall on its own.
Shiva Sutra is divided into three sections and gives the core of the inner yoga practice and philosophy not only of
Kashmir Shaivism but also of many other tantrik traditions.
First section
Second section
Third section
Notes
1. The Fourth, i.e. Shiva, without attributes is pure Consciousness. The three, that is Shakti is with attributes,
which are produced from the play of the three gunas. These three gunas manifest in a human as moon, sun, and
fire chakras -- the three areas of light which constitute the central nervous system.
2. Because Shiva wishes to know, He being one with Shakti is bound by knowledge, which is the very self of the
three gunas.
3. The yoni-divisions are the kalas, there being 16 of the Moon. The 15 represent the modifications of the Moon
in her waxing and waning, whilst the 16th which is Lalita- Tripurasundari herself is the Consciousness-Shakti.
4. The letters of the alphabet -- 36 consonants and 15 vowels -- constitute the Goddess in the form of Time. The
Matrika Chakra Viveka propounds the following doctrine in relation to the Shri Yantra:
(After a table in the introduction to Matrika Chakra Viveka). The letters of the alphabet are evolutes, and placed
in the different parts of the Shri Yantra, which is within the Wheel of Time itself. (As it represents the human
body).
5. Effort or endeavour is Bhairava himself.
6. The Shakti circle is composed of the three gunas, which form Her body. Every Shakti there is, emanates from
Her. Thus, in the Prayoga to the Bhavanopanishad, compiled by Bhaskararaya Machin, Her Body as manifested
through the different Nityas, Kalas, Grahas, Yoginis, mudras, Vashinis, tattvas are separately enumerated. As
She creates and maintains, She also dissolves.
7. The Fourth, the Turiya, Shiva Himself enjoys = eats, through the three states of wake, dream, and deep sleep
-- these three being subsequently developed in the next three sutras.
8. Knowledge, i.e. ordinary knowledge is the waking state. It is the Fourth alone who is the eternal omnipresent
witness, the atma, the essence. And all these three states here enumerated are based on the three gunas, and
therefore one is inseparable from the other. So that in the waking state there is dream and deep sleep, and so
on.
9. The dream state is false notion, that is to say imagination, which causes us to mislead a rope for a snake etc.
10. Want of discrimination is declared to be deep sleep, which is Maya, that is to say Kulakundalini herself, the
great artificer, She who plays, conceals, hides, reveals.
11. These three are eaten, consumed, by Shiva, that is to say He enjoys them, and is inseparable from them. As
he is one with the triple Shakti, He is therefore in them all.