individ-ual soul, and so he is all things because (page 89) he perceives his identity with the awareness (he has) of them.' The essential nature (svabhava) of whatever is perceived objectively (samvedya) (whether it belongs to the physical sphere) like a jar (or the mental), like the feeling of pleasure, consists of the awareness or the perceptive
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The Stanzas on Vibration
sciousness (samvedana) (the soul has of it).
Therefore, (the soul) perceives (his) identity with it, in the sense that (he realizes that he, as) consciousness, does not differ from it. It is because of this that 'everything,' all existing things, 'arise' and come into being, and so the soul is all things. The point is that it is by care-fully attending to (the nature and basis) of the commerce of the soul's daily life (vyavahara) that one realizes this reality (vastu) as it truly is.
Thus, (the soul) emits and brings into exis-tence his own object of cognition in the act of becoming conscious (of it). Only that which is perceived attains a specific nature of its own (in the field of manifestation), not one that which is not. Perceptibility (samvedyamanata) is the appearing (prakasamanata) (of things) accord-ing to (their) particular nature. While the shin-ing (or 'manifestedness' of thshin-ings) is not sepa-rate from the light (of consciousness), it is nothing apart from this. As some philosopher (nyayavadin) has said:
...because of consciousness, and also because it is an object of cognition in so far as it is not perceived to be otherwise...
Thus, whatever the individual soul perceives becomes his body. (From this point of view, the body) is not just a fixed, ordered arrangement of limbs (page 90) such as the head and hands.
Indeed, even in the case of (the physical body), it is only when (the individual) experiences it as an object (that appears to him to be an exten-sion of his own consciousness, that he can be said) to be an embodied being. Otherwise, at any other time (his experience of his own body) is like that of (any) sensory object separate (from him). Thus those who know reality have taught, in accord with tradition, that the body of the (individual soul) is of two sorts, (both equally considered to be bodies) as they share (the quality of) perceptibility in common. (One) consists of the gross physical elements (bhutat-maka), (while the other) is (manifest) existence (bhavatmaka). The individual soul forgets his true nature under the influence of the power of Maya and so, unreflective of his own nature, his power (of self-awareness) diminishes in the course of perceiving his object (vastu). (Thus), he is aware (of his) body merely as that which
possesses a head and hands, etc., because it is the locus (of his) conditioned egoity. (This body) is said to be that of the gross elements because it is created (sustained and destroyed).
The (body) of manifest existence (bhavatmaka) consists of sound and the like, that the individ-ual reflects upon as the objects of his senses, dis-tinct (from his physical body). (However), viewed as they are in reality, both are his body because they are equally objects of awareness.
The individual soul is said to transmigrate, subject as he is to the bondage of birth (and death), because he identifies himself (page 91) with the egoity of the transitory body, etc. This happens even though the individual soul is (in reality) all things, because he is not separate from the object of his awareness in the state of phenomenal creation, whose characterizing fea-ture is its perceptibility as an object. Thus because no such awareness develops of the true nature of the cognitive consciousness of things in themselves (vastusamvedana), he separates himself off from everything, (and all things) from one another in so far as each (appears) to derive its existence from a cause other than the Self.
However, when his ego-sense (ahamprati-patti) is firmly established in the essential nature of his authentic identity (atmasvabhava), which is distinct from the body, etc., and manifests in brilliant evidence to the clear vision that unfolds by the enlightened awareness generated (in him) by the rays of energy emitted by Siva, the Sun (of consciousness), that fall (upon him), (his true nature) is then made manifest by the powers of the reflective awareness (paramarsasakti) of the cognitive consciousness of things, just as they are in reality (yathavasthitavastusamvedana). Then he realizes Siva, W h o is the Wheel of Energies consisting of the manifestations of the wonder-fully diverse universe sketched out (in this way) by (his own) will alone (sankalpamatra).
The point is as follows. All things come into being because there is an abiding unity between consciousness and the object perceived. (In other words) the awareness of the identity (between consciousness and its object), brought about by the (inherent) power (bala) of the cognitive con-sciousness, (one has) of each individual entity (corresponds to their coming into being).
There-The Stanzas on Vibration with Brief Explanation and Extended Explanation fore, the individual soul is, in this sense, the
nature of all things. Moreover, in so far as (the soul) realizes (himself) to be the nature of all things, (he also realizes that) there is no state (of consciousness) that is not Siva, and therefore, that it is the enjoyer alone, who is none other than the Lord (Isvara), that always, and in every circumstance, abides as the object of his enjoy-ment over which he commands. So, in a nutshell, the essential point is that he whose state of awareness is such is liberated while yet alive.
(The author) (page 92) has established in these three verses that it is the Self alone that abides in the form of the universe, for there can be no other cause of the cosmic order (visvapra-panca). As one who has known the absolute
(Brahman) has said:
The ultimate conclusion the Vedanta reaches is that the Self is the Lord Who, through His own Maya, conceives Himself by Himself (to be diverse) and, again, that it is He Who awakens (Himself) from (the illusion) of relative distinctions.
The same has been said by someone else also through an ode (addressed to the Lord):
Stanza Thirty-One
Now that this (higher) reasoning (upapatti) has been well understood, (the master) goes on to say the following to explain how unity can be directly perceived (abhedopalabdhyupaya), and how (this insight serves to) purify every prac-tice, including (the recitation of) Mantra or its projection (nyasa) (onto the body):
T H I S I N D E E D I S T H E A R I S I N G O F T H A T OBJECT O F M E D I T A T I O N I N T H E M I N D O F T H E M E D I T A T O R , NAMELY, T H E A D E P T ' S REALIZATION O F H I S I D E N T I T Y W I T H I T BY T H E FORCE OF (HIS) I N T E N T .
If we could anywhere, at any time or in any way conceive of You apart from (Your universal) man-ifestation, then we could say that Your diversity (vicitrata) is due to diverse outer limitations (upadhi) (that reflect Your light) like crystal.
Let those who are most foolish maintain that the universe is (the product) of the conjuction of atoms or a transformation (of matter), or an illu-sion, or (merely) an apparent change (in the absolute), for ultimately (all these are just) con-ceptions here (in this world of divergent views).
Your (divine) power is not explained in this way.
O Siva, You alone shine as the Jewel of Consciousness, unique and marvellous. Your form, perfectly pure, (is surrounded by) the halo of the many varied rays of thought, that here also (in everyday life), unfold and withdraw at each instant (pratinimesa).
These stanzas (page 93) have been explained individually in the Brief Explanation beginning with the following words:
"This Self is indeed all things.
" T h u s . . . "
"He whose (mind is) thus (fixed) on his own n a t u r e . . . "
THE FOURTH FLOW called The Perception of Unity (page 94)
T H E BRIEF EXPLANATION The deposition (nyasa) of Mantra constitutes the arising of the object of meditation, namely, the Mantra, in the mind of the adept. It is the laying hold of its own nature (tadatmagraha) through the medium of (his) awareness of it. The adept's (insight into his) identity with the deity of the Mantra is the attainment of its essential nature, brought about by (his one-pointed) desire to utter it.
T H E EXTENSIVE EXPLANATION 'The arising of that' particular 'object of meditation' consists of the manifestation of the particular deity denoted by the Mantra (the adept utters) and is to recall to mind according to its (own) specific form. (The deity) is perceived in the specific form in which it is worshiped, and as the
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