Haracaritacintamani 30.p1

Om. Homage to Śiva, the venerable Guru! / Arranging the wondrous order by placement above and below, this order composed of virtue and vice pulses forth from You. / Therefore, O Lord of the universe, displaying freedom as the signified and the signifier, may Your divine power sprout in my heart through the attainment of ultimate beatitude! 1.

This little portion, proper to my own doctrine, is compiled by me / from treatises beginning with the Śivadharmottara for those who are devoted. 2.

Since the Omniscient One out of compassion taught the treatises / to grace all without remainder, truthfulness must be recognized in them. 3.

This Śaiva injunction is never a mere eulogy. / Whence could he whose action depends upon his own will speak falsely? 4.

Why would he whose lordship over all exists by virtue of his omniscience / speak untruth in the path of scripture? 5.

If the Lord wills entities standing otherwise to be otherwise, / they become just so, since agency consists of will. 6.

A wise man who, having resorted to multiplicity in various ways through the power of that Lord, / has become polluted by passion, hatred, delusion, and the like— 7.

—he speaks falsehood; who would act on his word? / But the Lord, who is undefiled by passion and the like, is a treasure-house of compassion: 8.

his most truthful word is the authority—such is the certainty. / Therefore, the statement of Maheśvara must be trusted by those purified through devotion. 9.

Then what darkness of terrible worldly existence would not turn away? / And as for the duties of Śiva that are proclaimed, such as meditation and worship, 10.

faith must be placed in them; without it, they are useless. / Mahādeva, who is complete in himself, is hard to reach even for Brahmā and others; 11.

yet through mere faith he is directly before his devotees, even mortals. / Not by bodily torment, nor by heaps of wealth 12.

is Mahādeva attained without faith, even by gods. / Whoever might give away all his possessions or his life without faith, 13.

he obtains not even the slightest fruit; faith alone is superior to that. / Worship of that great Lord should be performed by the faithful 14.

with water offerings, flowers, and the like; in that regard, the six-syllable mantra is singular. / That mantra is the seed of other mantras, granting all attainments. 15.

It is to be known as exceedingly subtle and having great meaning, like a banyan seed. / The God, transcending the three qualities, is the omniscient and all-doing Lord. 16.

All-pervading Śiva resides in the single-syllable mantra "Oṃ". / The subtle single-syllable faces beginning with Īśāna 17.

are situated in due order in the mantra "namaḥ śivāya". / Śiva is the signified, since he is immeasurable; the mantra is declared to be his signifier. 18.

This relation of signified and signifier between the two is beginningless. / And both in the Veda and in the Śaiva scriptures, this six-syllable mantra 19.

takes away the torment of worldly existence; and in the world it is five-syllable. / What need has he for many mantras or scriptures with extensive elaboration 20.

in whom the practice of the mantra "namaḥ śivāya" has been made firm? / All Śaiva teachings and whatever seats of learning there are 21.

do not equal a sixteenth part of the six-syllable mantra. / Here, the worship-material produced from the body of cows, 22.

beginning with milk, is supremely purifying and removes sin. / For cows, beginning with Nandā, were sent of old from his own abode by the Supreme Lord 23.

for the grace of the worlds; therefore they are excellent. / By the worship of the Supreme Lord, the worshiper gains the fruit; 24.

from becoming an instrument in this, even trees are superior to cliffs. / Whoever looks with devotion upon Śiva being worshiped or having been worshiped, 25.

and whoever rejoices upon hearing of it, obtains the desired fruit. / Whoever beholds Śiva worshiped, his sin perishes; 26.

he who bows down on the earth out of joy attains the Śaiva abode. / Whatever is given to Śiva, that gift yields great fruit. 27.

One should gradually instruct disciples and awaken devotees of Śiva / in accordance with the Śaiva scriptures; that is called the gift of knowledge. 28.

Just as there is no end to Śiva, whose nature is complete consciousness, / so there is no end to the bestowal of knowledge, whose nature is pure consciousness. 29.

The giver of knowledge obtains fortune, renown, and sacred prosperity in this world; / in the next world, the eight kinds of supernatural powers, and beyond that, the Śaiva state. 30.

He who, having studied even very pure knowledge, teaches an inferior doctrine, / that sinner, a destroyer of knowledge, goes to a terrible hell. 31.

Whoever, knowing it, brings down Śiva's knowledge whenever it is lost, / or refines it, that wise man is Maheśvara himself. 32.

Who is a father equal to him who, through the power of Śiva's knowledge, / rescues people submerged in the mud of worldly existence? 33.

No one is able to express the greatness of his merit. / For the grace of the world, Śiva has taken on his form. 34.

Which king would not venerate him who gradually extinguishes / one scorched by the fire of ignorance with the nectar of knowledge? / By his direction, these people become pure and devoted to righteousness. 35.

Whatever virtue the best man practices with devotion, / the world practices that very thing, out of authority and fear. 36.

Whoever, having written down a Śaiva treatise, presents the book, / he obtains the fruit of the gift of knowledge; of this there is no doubt. 37.

As many syllables as there are in the book of Śiva's knowledge, / for so many thousands of years the giver shall dwell in the city of Śiva. 38.

In whatever country a Śaiva treatise is worshiped and expounded by devotees, / in that place there shall be no calamities such as famine. 39.

There is good fortune and victory day by day for the king,
and the mind is fixed on dharma, with happiness for all city-dwellers. 40

Whoever transcribes a Śaiva scripture, causes it to be read, or gives it away,
that virtuous soul redeems his own lineage entirely. 41

Whoever gives food, clothing, and the like to a devotee of Śiva
attains supreme perfection, together with sons and grandsons. 42

Shoes, umbrella, loincloth, bed, covering, seat,
foot-washing, unction, bath, food, medicine, 43

incense, lamp, flowers, water, a book of Śiva, and a temple—
whichever faithful king gives [these] to a devotee of Śiva, 44

he, along with servants, sons, grandsons, and all friends,
attains the fruit of the gift of knowledge, which dispels hell. 45

Of all gifts, the gift of food is distinguished:
it produces immediate joy, is pleasing to the heart, and increases strength and intellect. 46

Blood, flesh, and semen are nourished by food;
from semen beings arise, and therefore this universe is food. 47

The giver of food is said to be the giver of life, and the giver of life is the giver of everything;
therefore, by bestowing food one obtains the fruit of all gifts. 48

Whatever accumulation of merit a person whose limbs are nourished by food and drink performs,
half of it belongs to that giver, and half to the performer—there is no doubt. 49

Whoever, having constructed according to the treatises a three-storeyed or five-storeyed
divine and auspicious city of Śiva, grants it to devotees of Śiva, 50

he disports at the end of the body in aerial cars yielding all desires,
accompanied by wife, friends, sons, servants, and the builders. 51

Having enjoyed qualities such as atomicity for a great length of time,
and then attaining the knowledge of yoga, he achieves imperishable liberation. 52

Master builders and others, trees, and those men who oversee them—
they go to the city of Rudra through the power of service to Śiva. 53

Courtesans of Rudra are to be understood as women of Śiva's sanctuaries;
those born from them, at the end of the body, obtain supreme heaven. 54

Whoever constructs a house of healing furnished with all requisites,
whether of one storey or two storeys, goes to the abode of Śiva. 55

Together with twenty-one generations of his family, along with servants and retinue,
he dwells in Śiva's city for as long as the moon and stars endure. 56

Since health is the means to dharma, wealth, pleasure, and liberation,
therefore, by the gift of health that group of four is given. 57

Just as an end to space is not found even by the gods,
the same is true for the merit of the gift of health—there is no doubt. 58

Therefore, a person afflicted by disease should be made well by discerning people,
especially a devotee of Śiva, with their body and with their wealth. 59

Thus service should be rendered with wealth by those possessed of riches,
but with the body alone, without deceit, by the poor seeking Śiva. 60

This fivefold sacrifice has been declared; therefore it is exalted:
the sacrifice of giving and the sacrifice of knowledge bestow the fruit of Śiva. 61

For the grace of devotees, by Maheśin in person
the sacrifice of meditation has been proclaimed as constant contemplation on Śiva. 62

Teaching, study, exposition, listening, and contemplation:
thus this sacrifice of meditation is proclaimed to be of five kinds. 63

There is no knowledge without meditation; there is no meditation for one who is not a yogin.
He who possesses both meditation and knowledge has crossed over the misfortunes of worldly existence. 64

Knowledge abundant in conceptual thoughts, defiled by attachment and other passions,
is not knowledge for purifying impurity; it becomes like turbid water. 65

For one who gradually contemplates worldly existence as insubstantial and exceedingly grievous,
knowledge becomes supremely clear, like water in the autumn season. 66

When it becomes serene, one-pointed, like a motionless ocean,
then it is called knowledge; anything else is ignorance. 67

Because he is bound by the fetters of ignorance, man is remembered as unliberated;
he is liberated by knowledge alone, as from darkness by light. 68

When ignorance exists, attachment and other passions arise, and under their sway dharma and adharma;
under the sway of dharma and adharma, a body is produced for man. 69

And when a body exists, man is conjoined with all afflictions;
therefore, for the pacification of afflictions, the wise man should resort to knowledge alone. 70

From knowledge comes the departure of ignorance; thence non-arising of attachment and the rest;
and from that, there indeed occurs the destruction of merits and sins. 71

And from their destruction, there will be no union with a body again;
and for the bodiless one, afflictions cease entirely on all sides. 72

Freed from afflictions, serene in soul, he is said to be liberated.
Therefore, all sufferings of embodied beings have their root in ignorance. 73

Just as a mirror becomes stainless when it is continually polished,
so through the practice of knowledge, a man's intellect becomes that supreme knowledge. 74

For the yogin who is sated with the nectar of knowledge and has accomplished what was to be done,
whose mind possesses knowledge, there is nothing whatsoever to be done. 75

Just as a blazing fire burns dry and moist alike,
so the fire of knowledge burns good and bad karma in a mere instant. 76

Through worship one obtains prosperity; through the fire sacrifice, the desired object;
through recitation of mantras, mental purity; but the contemplative obtains liberation through knowledge. 77

For the great soul meditating on the Supreme Lord for half a watch or a muhūrta,
omniscience and veneration in the world will arise. 78

If one engaged for the sake of the knowledge of yoga should perish from this [world],
having faith in Śiva and the guru, he reaches an auspicious world. 79

Having experienced bliss there, he is born in a family of yogins;
having obtained the knowledge of yoga there, he transcends cyclic existence. 80

Therefore, there is nothing higher than knowledge; the possessor of knowledge is Maheśvara incarnate. / He alone is the supreme recipient of gifts; of this there is no doubt.

What is given in the [proper] place, time, and recipient, according to rule and with faith, / the fruit of that indeed never perishes.

Because through the highest knowledge he delivers men from the ocean of worldly existence, / through protection and salvation from ignorance, he is considered the supreme recipient.

The fruit obtained by honoring ten million twice-born men learned in the Vedas / is obtained merely by offering alms to Śaiva yogins.

A Śaiva yogin who receives prepared alms from someone's house / can deliver that man's family even when it is sunk in the ocean of hell.

Seeing a Śaiva yogin arriving at a pious home, / the foodstuffs dance, thinking: "We too shall surely enter Śiva's mouth!"

Whether handsome or deformed, well-clothed or ill-clad, / one should not scrutinize a guest, suspecting him to be a prince of yogins.

The ignorant, dwelling in all forms of sin, who hate the devotees of Śiva, / fall headlong into the ocean of hell with their feet aloft.

Therefore, they should never be reviled by anyone at any time; / for from that revilement, hells cause terror even by their very recollection.

The speaker, the listener, the consenter, the instigator of revilement, / and he who associates with them—these five are bound for hell.

A devotee of Śiva is the supreme recipient; from giving to him comes the highest fruit. / But everything that is given to an unworthy recipient becomes fruitless.

Just as water in an unbaked earthen vessel is lost along with the vessel itself, / so a gift [given] to an unworthy recipient is lost along with the giver.

Just as one crossing water without a raft drowns, / so the ignorant giver and receiver fall downward.

The poor, the blind, the wretched, the orphaned, the young, the aged, the emaciated, and the sick / are recipients of compassion; through giving to them, fruit is attained.

If there were no greedy, deceitful, cruel, and harsh-speaking people, / where could charity, compassion, and forbearance be practiced intensely by the virtuous?

Giving, austerities, observances, sacrifices, gifts, oblations, and penance— / all performed even with great effort become vain for one who is prone to anger.

Friendliness, welcoming words, generosity, compassion, and lack of envy— / these five virtues bring great fruit to a gift.

When a gift is given by the good in a proper place, to a worthy recipient, and at a proper time, / its highest, abundant fruit shall last as long as the moon and stars.

Faith is indeed the mother incarnate of knowledge and virtuous action; / therefore, faith provides the highest fruit of a gift for the virtuous.

Whatever gift is offered with faith to a worthy recipient according to rule, / its fruit should be known as infinite, even if it is merely the size of the tip of a hair.

Wealth obtained through alchemy and the like is considered the best; / middling is that derived from learning, valor, and the like, or acquired through austerity and lineage.

That acquired through trade, commerce, and the like is declared the lowest. / That which is given, whether small or great, having stolen another's wealth,

is the lowest of the low, and on the contrary brings misfortune. / Now the gross accumulations of bonds that are the causes of hell

are described in brief, enacted through mind, speech, and body: / harboring thoughts of other men's wives and wealth, dwelling in the mind on evil,

and intent upon forbidden deeds—[this is the threefold mental sin; then] fourfold is the action of speech: / eating forbidden food, violence, falsehood, indulgence in lust,

and seizing another's possessions—[these are] the fourfold bodily action. / Reviling Śiva, reviling the guru, disparaging the knowledge of Śiva,

stealing the property of the deity, destroying the property of the guru, / and likewise taking away a book containing the knowledge of Śiva—

they declare these to be the six great sins whose fruit is immediate [damnation]. / There are other sins as well, accompanied by minor sins,

which Parameśvara has declared in the treatises to have terrible, dreadful fruits. / The divisions and subdivisions of these, out of fear of swelling the book,

are not written here; they should be learned elsewhere by the wise. / This is the path of evil-doers, exceedingly dreadful in the hells,

hard to cross on every side because of the terrifying messengers of Yama. / Bound by Yama's servants, bereft of sons, friends, and kin,

sinners grieve over their own deeds and weep. / Primarily, there are one hundred and forty hells;

there are many others too in which evil-doers reside. / Some are for the committers of great sins, some for the committers of sins,

and others for the committers of minor sins, according to their own actions. / Just as ores are refined in fire until their impurities are eliminated,

so a sinner is cleansed in hell until the exhaustion of his sins. / Those sinners who seize a temple of Śiva, a garden, / a water reservoir, a well, or a monastery reside there.

He who listens to revilement of the guru is cast into the fire of hell,

after Yama's servants have filled his ears with molten lac. / He who regularly eats without offering / to the deity, to the guru, or to a devotee of Śiva—

his mouth and tongue are filled in hell by Yama's servants / with hundreds of red-hot iron spikes,

and then with caustic liquid and burning, molten copper. / And there are other painful, diverse torments for evil-doers,

called the most terrible and extremely dreadful, resembling the fire at the end of the cosmic age, / hearing of which men of tender heart surely die.

Therefore, they are not described here; the wicked will see them for themselves. / Knowing this, the wise man should practice merit and avoid sin.

Through merit one certainly attains the good, and through sin the bad. / Those devotees who take refuge in Śaṅkara even for a single moment—

those men do not see the terrifying face of Yama. / Those, furthermore, who have surrendered to Parameśvara with their whole being,

are not stained by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not stained by water. / Therefore, with all one's being, [one should seek] knowledge, the sole means to attaining the nature of Śiva,

by which alone devotees cross over the dense ocean of worldly existence. / What purpose could be approved here that contradicts one's own established doctrine?

Sophistry may arise here and in the next world; one should avoid dry reasoning. / Therefore, only through the reasoning of scripture should the investigation of subtle truths

be undertaken by the wise man, not by mere inference. / The Lord is free from beginning, middle, and end, and naturally pure.

In the scriptures of Śiva, Śiva is to be known as omniscient and all-complete. / For, though scriptures are numerous, that stainless knowledge which was revealed by the omniscient Śiva

undoubtedly leads to attaining Him. / Moreover, instruction regarding dharma and adharma, and the discernment between bondage and liberation,

can never be accomplished by the wise without the scriptures of Śiva. / Therefore, the supreme Śiva is beginningless, omniscient, and all-complete.

He is the Lord, the protector of men from the ocean of cyclic existence, / for those who, imbued with devotion to Śiva, cultivate the knowledge of Śiva taught by Śiva.

Although being a revealed scripture is common [to all], why this hostility toward the scriptures of Śiva, / wherein liberation in a single birth is taught with ease?

Therefore, a person should always devote his practice to that alone, not elsewhere. / What wise man, neglecting what must be done, would resort to procrastination?

A man seeking honey goes far toward the mountain, step by step; / yet if he should see honey right near him, why would he go to the mountain?

In the same way, what wise man would abandon liberation attainable in a single birth that stands right before him, / and turn to that which requires many births?

If someone, having reflected for a long time on the words of instruction of Śambhu, who is supreme in compassion, / still does not abandon other philosophical systems, alas, alas, his birth is utterly in vain!

Thus ends the thirtieth chapter, named "The Recovery of the Dharma of Śiva and Other Teachings," in the Haracaritacintāmaṇi composed by the venerable great devotee of Maheśvara, Jayadratha.