1. We offer our praises to that Lord, the source of the glorious unfoldment of the Wheel of energies, to Him who, by opening and closing his eyes, makes the universe disappear and appear.

2. To that in which all that creation abides, to that out of which it emerges, to that no obstacle are found anywhere, since due to its own essence nothing can veil it.

3. Although that (spanda) spreads itself into the distinct states of waking, sleeping and others, which are in reality not distinct from it, it never leaves its own nature of subject who perceives.

4. It is evident that the forms of consciousness “I am happy, I am unhappy, I am attached” have their whirling existence somewhere else, where the canvas which links the states of happiness and others is being woven.

5. Where there is neither pain, nor pleasure, nor perceptible thing, nor perceiving agent, nor insensibility, there abides what exists in the supreme sense.

6-7. The Reality from which comes the unfoldment, the upholding and the resorbtion of the collectivity of organs associated with the interiorised Wheel of energies — unconscious collectivity which behaves as if it where conscious by itself — such a Reality, whose autonomy is innate and universally spread, should be scrutinized with zeal and respect.

8. It is certainly not goaded by his own desire that man acts, it is only through his contact with the power of the Self that he identifies to the Self.

9. As soon as ceases the agitation of the one who, having become powerless by his own particular impurity, lingers for tasks, the supreme state (reveals itself).

10. Then to him is revealed his own nature without artifice, whose characteristics are omniscience and omnipotence; through that he knows and he does everything he desires.

11. Where could the miserable flow come from for the one who remains wonder-struck while contemplating his own true nature of active sustainer?

12. Non-being is not an object of mystical experience, but in that state there is also no insensibility, since one later refers to it with the certainty that “this has existed”.

13. That is why this state, known as fictitious, is always like the deep sleep state. But it is not so for the Reality (of the spanda), which cannot be the object of memory.

14. By the expressions agent and action, two states (of that spanda) are here designated. The action can perish, but not the agent.

15. Only the effort directed towards the action which has to be accomplished is here annihilated. That effort being annihilated, the non-enlightened one thinks that he is himself also annihilated.

16. But the inner modality, which contains the qualities of omniscience etc., can never be annihilated under the pretext that there is no perception of “the other” .

17. The perfectly awakened has the uninterrupted perception of that (vibrant Reality) all the time in the three states, while the other one has it only at the beginning and at the end of these states.

18. The All-permeating, irremediably united to its supreme energy, shines in the two states (dream and waking) under the aspects of knowledge and knowable. Otherwise¹, he is consciousness itself.

19. The particular vibrations, starting with the qualities², which veil their essence through the original vibration that supports them, forever cease to lead astray the one who knows.

20. But these (particular vibrations), always ready to cover up their own basis, throw those whose intelligence is not well awakened into the awful whirlpool of reincarnations form which it is so difficult to escape.

21. So, the one who is always eager to discriminate the vibrant Reality has access without delay to the innate nature, even if he is in the waking state.

22. At the climax of fury, or carried away by joy, or frightened and not knowing anymore what to do, or running out of breath (to save his life, a yogi) arrives to the space where the spanda is well established.

23. Having firmly taken this (spanda) as a foundation, one establishes oneself in it, resolute to necessarily do everything it will dictate.

24. Taking rest in it, the inspired and expired breath, having left the field of Brahma's egg (the world), absorb themselves into the middle way on a upward path.

25. Then, in this vast ether where moon and sun³ are dissolved, (the yogi) whose mind is confused falls in a kind of dreamless sleep, while the awakened no longer has any veil.

26. When they have captured this power, the mantra, endowed with the power of the All-knowing, fulfill their duties like the sense organs of the incarnated beings.

27. And there, immaculate and tranquil, they vanish, united to the worshipper's thought; they then possess the nature of Shiva.

28-29. Since the individual is identical to all because he is the source of all things and he is conscious of it since he recognizes this identity (28), then, as far as speech, meaning and thought are concerned, there is no state which is not Shiva; it is the Subject who enjoys and only Him who always and everywhere stands under the appearance of what he enjoys.

30. Also, the one who holds this knowledge (that all is Shiva) and who, always alert, perceives the whole universe as a game, is liberated in this life time, there is no doubt about it.

31. This is the appearance of what is being contemplated in the heart of the one who contemplates; for the eager worshipper, oneness is identifying with (what is being contemplated).

32. This here is acquiring ambrosia, this is grasping the supreme Self, this is initiation to nirvâna bestowing Shiva's true nature.

33. Just as, during the waking state, by making the sun and the moon rise, (Shiva), who supports the universe, ardently solicited, grants satisfaction of desires rooted in their heart to the incarnated beings.

34. Just as, during the dream state, by standing at the junction, the Lord reveals without doubt more and more clearly those things towards which aspires the one whose loving attitude never ceases.

35. Otherwise, the free emanation, according to its nature, will continue, in the waking and dream states, (to delude) incessantly (the yogi) as much as the ordinary man.

36. In truth, as an object which is not directly perceived despite the attention put on it by thought becomes easier and easier to distinguish when we examine it through the effort of our own power,

37. In the same way, from the supreme point of view, whatever the form, the place or the state, the object presents itself without delay in this way to the yogi who seizes this power (of the spanda).

38. As soon as one has seized (this power), one accomplishes his tasks even if he is tired, and even if he is hungry, he also appeases his hunger.

39. If, in the body which takes that (vibrant Reality) as a support, omniscience and other powers appear, in the same way, by relying on one's own Self one will become such (omniscient) everywhere.

40. Indolence, the stealer, (creates trouble) in the body; its propagation is due to ignorance. If this one is “stolen” because of Awakening, how could that (indolence) then remain, when its cause is no more?

41. For him who applies himself to only one thought, that out of which “the other” comes, that is to be recognized as the Cosmic Awakening. But one has to experience it by oneself.

42. From there, immediately come supernatural light, sound, form and taste, causing agitation in the one who is bound to the body.

43. The one who remains still, diffusing (Consciousness) in all things as during the moment when we have the desire of seeing, then… But why say more, one will experience it by oneself.

44.Let him always remain well awake while perceiving the field of the senses with the help of knowledge (that all is Shiva), may he build all things in a single location, and nothing will torment him anymore.

45. Despite his true nature, if his glory is stolen by his limiting activity, and he himself is reduced to being an object of enjoyment for the totality of the energies produced by the multitude of sounds, he is called a bound being.

46. The irruption of reactions is for him the loss of the savour of supreme ambrosia; consequently, he is reduced to dependence and that (irruption) takes place in the field of the subtle elements.

47. And for him, these energies are always eager to veil his essence, because the reactions would not come forth if they where not intimately linked to the words.

48. That Shiva energy whose form is activity generates bondage when it abides in the bound being, but, when recognized as the way leading to the Self, it is it which confers the liberating perfection.

49. Hindered by the eight fold fortress generated by the subtle elements and endowed with thought, ego sense and intellect, the bound being is subjected to experiments caused by reactions coming from that (fortress).

50. Consequently, he reincarnates. Let us examine what could eliminate this passage from one life to another for him.

51. But when he roots himself in a single place (the spanda), then, controlling the appearance and the disappearance of this subtle body, he arrives at the state of subject who experiences an he becomes the Lord of the Wheel (of energies).

52. I pay homage to this marvellous “ word ” of the master with its extraordinary meaning; it is the boat taking us across the unfathomable ocean of doubt.

Notes

1. In the dreamless sleep of the awakened one, for, when all the knowable has disappeared, the omnipresent vibration has only one aspect: Consciousness. (See Kshemarâja's gloss of the stanza in L. Silburn's book, p. 93)

2. Luminosity, action, inertia (the gunas generally known as satva, rajas and tamas).

3. Inspired and expired breaths.

Many thanks to Marinette Bruno for her corrections and suggestions.

With the kind permission of Institut d'Études indiennes du Collège de France and of the heirs of Lilian Silburn.