Through 'not knowing' one is caught in the cycle of worldly existence (samsara) (Bodhapañcadaśikā v11)
Dec 29, 2025In this verse of the Bodhapañcadaśikā, Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals a striking truth: it is through not knowing—not seeing the true nature of time or our own awareness—that we become entangled in saṁsāra. And even this confusion, he explains, is not a mistake but part of the divine freedom (svātantrya) of Lord Shiva. Continuing from the previous teaching on the illusion of time, Swamiji shows how ignorance itself is crafted by the divine play, and how, for those who remain unaware of their own unknowing, this becomes the very source of fear and bondage.
This is the 11th verse and a continuation of the previous lecture on the Bodhapañcadaśikā by Abhinavagupta, which was about time.
यदेतस्यापरिज्ञानं तत्स्वातन्त्र्यं हि वर्णितम् ।
स एव खलु संसारो जडानां यो विभीषकः ॥११
yadetasyā-parijñānaṁ tat-svātantryaṁ hi varṇitam /
sa eva khalu saṁsāro jaḍānāṁ yo vibhīṣakaḥ // 11 //
Yadetasya aparijñānam. Now if we don’t understand like this, i.e. that this is only a trick, there is no time, actually, there is no span of time, it (only) appears like that. And if it were correct, then there would not have happened this difference . . . the difference of time. Only your one day is equal to 100 years of a mosquito. In one days time he is created, he protects, he does everything of his own, and he is destroyed.
ERNIE: [Then] 24 hours would be the same for everybody?
SWAMIJI: Yes, 24 hours according to your own cycle, 24 hours according to the cycle of Lord Śiva. No, not Śiva, Sadāśiva.18
And not knowing this, when you don’t know it (what?) . . .
BRUCE P: The difference.
SWAMIJI: . . . the difference, tat svātantryam, that too is the independent svātantrya [free will] of Lord Śiva. You should not go in the depth of why, why it is not understood. If it is not understood, that too is the svātantrya of Lord Śiva. Sa eva khalu saṁsāra, and that is the world.
That not knowing, not knowing in that way is saṁsāra, this existence of the world.
Jaḍānāṁ yo vibhīṣikaḥ. And those who are ignorant, they are terrified, it terrifies them. This kind of svātantrya, this kind of independent svātantrya of Lord Śiva, terrifies those who are ignorant. They cry.
BRUCE P: Not knowing that they don’t know?
SWAMIJI: No. They don’t know that they don’t know!
BRUCE P: They feel that they don’t know?
SWAMIJI: No they don’t feel. If they would feel ‘they don’t know’, then they would know. As soon as they feel that they don’t know they would know.
BRUCE P: Then what terrifies them?
SWAMIJI: Not knowing! Just not knowing, and not knowing that they are not knowing.
ERNIE: Pure ignorance
SWAMIJI: Pure ignorance. Not knowing that they are ignorant.
BRUCE P: How do they know that they are ignorant?
SWAMIJI: They don’t know. They think that they know, but they are ignorant. They know that they are living in saṁsāra.19 And they don’t know the difference of time; that this is different in each and every being. They don’t know that.
That not knowing, that is saṁsāra, and that too is the sweet will or svātantrya of Lord Śiva. He has created this not knowing also.
And this not knowing terrifies those who are ignorant. They are caught in that grip, they cry.
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18 In the state of Śiva ( Paramaśiva) there is no time. The concept of time only starts with the creation of Sadāśiva.
19 Saṁsāra – in the cycle of worldly existence.
Source: Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism: The Oral Teachings of Swami LakshmanjooKashmir Shaivism and the Transformation of Life - Six-part online series featuring Swami Lakshmanjoo’s revelation of “Fifteen Verses of Wisdom” the Bodhapancadashika. Coming soon!
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