The Magical Jewel of Devotion in Kashmir Shaivism – Stava Cintāmaṇi, as revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo, is one of the great devotional masterpieces of the Kashmir Shaivism tradition. Composed by the revered master Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa, its 120 verses are a profound expression of love and devotion to Lord Shiva as the Supreme Reality. Woven throughout the hymn are the philosophical depths of non-dual Kashmir Shaivism, revealing that devotion is not separate from knowledge, but its very heart. In this excerpt, Swami Lakshmanjoo shares the oral tradition's unique understanding of Māyā, drawing on the timeless wisdom passed down through the ancient masters of Kashmir Shaivism.
यस्याः प्राप्येत पर्यन्त-विशेषः कैर्मनोरथैः ।
मायामेकनिमेषेण मुष्णंस्तां पातु नः शिवः ॥७३॥
yasyāḥ prāpyeta paryanta-viśeṣaḥ kairmanorathaiḥ /
māyāmeka-nimeṣeṇa muṣṇaṁstāṁ pātu naḥ śivaḥ //73//
Let that Lord Śiva protect us (pātu naḥ śiva; naḥ means, us), let that Lord Śiva protect us from all sides, whose māyā, whose illusive energy of māyā, paryanta viśeṣaḥ kairmanor-athaiḥ prāpyeta, . . .
Paryanta viśeṣaḥ: Paryanta viśeṣaḥ means the last understanding of what really māyā is. Māyā is just the concealing nature of Lord Śiva, the concealing energy of Lord Śiva is māyā. But in fact, this concealing energy of māyā is just the svātantrya śakti of Lord Śiva.
ERNIE: His freedom.
SWAMIJI: It is only freedom! It is only freedom that He conceals His nature, out of His freedom, free will.
JOHN: He’s not forced by any karma or anything else to do that.
SWAMIJI: No, He conceals according to His play.
That is paryanta viśeṣaḥ, that is the ending quality of māyā, the last ending quality of māyā . . . what is that last ending?
JOHN: Svātantrya śakti.
SWAMIJI: Svātantrya śakti, entry in svātantrya śakti.
And that entry in svātantrya śakti of māyā, that is paryanta viśeṣaḥ; paryanta viśeṣaḥ, the last understanding of māyā, what māyā actually is.
It is said in the Pratyabhijñā darśan:
“Māyā is actually the energy of svātantrya śakti of Lord Śiva,
māyā is not ignorance.”
Actually, māyā is not ignorance; māyā is just the freedom of Lord Śiva. By His free will, He conceals His nature.
It is not that He has concealed His nature, and now He has not revealed His nature. Although it is revealed, at the same time, He makes ignorant persons feel that it is concealed. Actually, it is not concealed. This is the position of māyā.
Māyā is nothing, māyā is divine!
So, that is paryanta viśeṣaḥ; and kairmanorathaiḥ prāpyeta, and Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, all of these gods and sages and ṛṣis and yogis are craving for that last point of māyā’s understanding – what māyā is.
“And that māyā, that ignorance, eka nimeṣeṇa muṣṇaṁ, instantaneously You destroy that . . . that misunderstanding of māyā – let that Lord Śiva protect us in this way.”
Have you understood it?
JOACHIM: Yes.
SWAMIJI: Bas…[enough!]
ERNIE: Swamiji, in other schools, māyā is . . .
SWAMIJI: Māyā is very bad . . . very bad.
In our school, māyā is divine!
ERNIE: Is divine. And they hold that that is . . . what is it?
SWAMIJI: What is it?
For instance, Vedanta directs us: “don’t go to sex, don’t go . . .”
But in our School – see the beauty of Ellen, and divert your attention towards God consciousness, bas.
JOHN: This is ours, not theirs.
SWAMIJI: That’s ours, that’s ours! This māyā becomes svātantrya śakti then.
JOHN: And they would hold, to just reject everything?
SWAMIJI: If you find attachment, individual attachment, that is māyā – that you should leave. You should feel everything divine, then there is no māyā, there is svātantrya śakti.
ERNIE: No but, in the Buddhist School, they feel that it’s the absence of knowledge?
SWAMIJI: They feel that, yes.
JOACHIM: It is unreal, it is not reality.
SWAMIJI: It is not real.
ERNIE: It’s not real. In Vedānta, they hold that māyā is . . . ?
SWAMIJI: Ignorance.
JOHN: Yes, but in this particular illustration . . .
SWAMIJI: Not only in Ellen, I mean, anybody.
DEVOTEES: (laughter . . . )
JOHN: But in this particular one, for a Vedāntin to look at Ellen and see anything, that would just all be false [illusion].
SWAMIJI: Vedānta directs us that, “citra nikatam api naram na paśyati, you should not see, you must not see a woman, [even] a photograph of a woman!” What to say of seeing a woman and talking to her; it is a blunder [according to Vedānta].
ERNIE: But then, this is a very important difference in Shaivism, . . .
SWAMIJI: Yes.
ERNIE: . . . this concept of māyā.
SWAMIJI: In Shaivism everything is divine, if you feel like that.
[ END ]
Source: The Magical Jewel of Devotion in Kashmir Shaivism: Stava Cintamani,
revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo
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