CHAPTER IX.

DEVOTION TO ISVARA.

Ninth Stanza of the Hymn.

To Him whose eightfold body is all this moving and unmoving universe, appearing as earth, water, fire, air, akasa, the sun, the moon, and soul; beyond whom, supreme and all-pervading, there exists none else for those who investigate; to Him who is incarnate in the Teacher, to Him in the Effulgent Form Facing the South, to Him (Siva) be this bow!

Maya ceases by Devotion.

1. How can Maya of this sort cease?--To him who thus asks, Devotion to Isvara Is taught as the means to that end.

Devotion to Isvara in His visible forms.

2. Of the thirty-six tattvas or principles which are the bodies of Paramesvara, the eight forms are immediately perceived by all.

For the thirty-six principles enumerated in the Saiva-Agamas, see chapter, II, 31-42.

3. Inasmuch as manas cannot readily ascend to incomprehensible matters, the Guru teaches the contemplation of Sarvatman, of the Universal Self in the eight (visible) forms (mentioned in the ninth stanza).

The meaning of the ninth stanza may be explained as follows:

Unity of Macrocosm and Microcosm.

4. In the Brahmanda,--in the body of the Viraj,--as well as in the body of man, the aggregate of the thirty-six principles is present everywhere.

The visible universe is made up of the eight forms mentioned in the ninth stanza. The aggregate of the thirty-six principles constitutes the body of Mahesvara. This, again, is two-fold, the Adhidaiva and the Adhyatma, Cosmic and Personal. The. former constitutes Brahmanda, made up of the fourteen worlds; and the latter constitutes the pinda, the body of each individual. These two are one, as cause and effect, the one being evolved out of the other. The devotee should regard every principle in the individual or microcosmic body as one with the corresponding principle in the Brahmanda or macrocosm. He should also regard the Soul (Purusha) embodied in the former as one with the

[paragraph continues] Soul embodied in the latter. He should then contemplate Mahes'vara as the Self (Atman) common to both. When the antah-karana is steadied in the contemplation of the one Atman, the devotee, by the Grace of the Supreme Lord, intuits Him in His essential being, and attains the Supreme End. This whole process will be detailed below.

5. The microcosmic (vyashti) manas pervades this microcosmic body. Therefore, the individual body should be regarded as one with the universe.