Rasarnava 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

1.1

In whom is all, from whom is all, who is all, and who is everywhere, / and who is eternally composed of all—homage to him, the Self of all.

1.2

On the delightful peak of Kailāsa, adorned with diverse gems, / crowded with diverse trees and creepers, free from hidden contact,

1.3

The goddess Pārvatī, bowing her head / to the god of gods, seated comfortably, blue-throated, three-eyed, inquires:

1.4

The holy Devī said: / O god of gods, Great God, destroyer of Time and the body of Kāma, / destroyer of Kula, Kaula, Mahākaula, Siddhakaula, and the rest,

1.5

Through your grace everything has been heard, entirely understood. / If I am to be favored by you, if I am dear to you,

1.6

What is this liberation while living that has been indicated in all Tantras / but never revealed? O lord, you ought to explain.

1.7

The holy Bhairava said: / Excellent, excellent, fortunate one! Excellent, daughter of the mountain! / Well asked by you, O Devī, out of desire for the welfare of devotees.

1.8

The realization of identity with Śiva for one whose body is free from old age and death / is liberation while living, O great Devī, hard to attain even for the gods.

1.9

And that liberation which occurs upon the fall of the body is meaningless; / for when the body has fallen, O Devī, even a donkey is liberated.

1.10

If liberation lies in sexual agitation, why do donkeys not attain liberation? / And why are goats and bulls not liberated, O mother of the gaṇas?

1.11

Therefore, one should preserve the body through mercuries and rejuvenating alchemies. / If liberation came from the consumption of semen, urine, and feces,

1.12

Why are the species of dogs and pigs not liberated, O great Devī? / Even in the six systems of philosophy, liberation is shown to occur upon the fall of the body.

1.13

Yet like a myrobalan fruit in the palm of one's hand, it is not directly perceived. / Although it is not to be spoken, O ruler of gods, I shall tell you the truth.

1.14

Even a sacrificer with mantras who is devoid of sin can never retain the body; / retention of the body is difficult to attain, O ruler of gods, even for the gods.

1.15

What then of mortals dwelling upon the surface of the earth? / When duty is lost, whence comes virtue? When virtue is lost, whence comes ritual practice?

When ritual practice is lost, whence comes yoga? When yoga is lost, whence comes spiritual progress? / When spiritual progress is lost, whence comes liberation? And when liberation is lost, nothing remains.

1.17

The holy Devī said: / The essential nature of liberation while living has been heard by me, O god of gods; / tell me the means to it, if you have compassion for me.

1.18

The holy Bhairava said: / By the yoga of action, O ruler of gods, retention of the body is attained; / and the yoga of action is considered two-fold: mercury and the breath.

1.19

Swooned, it removes disease; calcined, it directly revives; / bound, it produces the faculty of sky-faring—both mercury and the breath, O Bhairavī.

1.20

Liberation comes from knowledge, O ruler of the gods; knowledge comes from the retention of breath; / there, O Devī, the body is steady, and in that steadiness mercury is sovereign.

1.21

Without delay, O Devī, the body becomes free from old age and death; / just as meditation of the mind is attained through the application of mercury.

1.22

Truly he attains knowledge accompanied by direct realization, O Devī; / and his mantras succeed, who consumes calcined mercury.

1.23

As long as there is no descent of spiritual power, as long as there is no severing of the fetters, / until then, how can his intellect be directed toward calcined mercury?

1.24

Those constantly devoted to liquor and meat, who delight in the vulva and phallus, / for them of ruined intellect, knowledge of mercury is exceedingly difficult to attain.

1.25

For those devoid of the Kula doctrine, not desiring the true philosophical system, / mercury does not succeed, O Devī; they drink a mirage.

1.26

The one who eats beef and drinks the divine liquor, / him I consider a kulīna and a knower of mercury; the others are vile.

1.27

There is no womb in the sense of the tradition; mercury is designated as the womb. / Through it one attains perfection; there is no perfection without mercury.

1.28

As long as one does not consume Hara's seed—mercury, pārada— / until then, whence is his liberation, whence is the retention of the body?

1.29

Those whose minds delight in liquor and meat, deluded by Śiva's māyā, / prattle: 'We are liberated; we will go to Śiva's abode.'

1.30

Those of dull intellect have no desire for the yoga of retention of the body; / by partial knowledge, O ruler of gods, the moving and unmoving world has been colored.

1.31

By which the faculty of sky-faring and Śiva-nature are attained in one's own body, / in such knowledge of mercury, practice constantly, O beloved.

1.32

The holy Devī said: / The descent of the lord of mercury and its majesty, O ruler of gods, / I wish to hear, O lord of gods; you ought to tell it according to reality.

1.33

The holy Bhairava said: / Well asked, O fortunate one, the secret beyond secrets by you, / which bestows grace, provides contemplation, and benefits the worlds.

1.34

You are the mother of all beings, and I am the eternal father; / and the fluid of us two, O Devī, arose from the great copulation.

1.35

Because of arising from self-will, O Devī, the glory pārada is celebrated; / and it is declared as pārada by the best practitioners for the highest goal.

1.36

This mercury is equal to me, O Devī, born from my every limb; / since it is the fluid of my body, it is therefore called rasa.

1.37

From seeing it, touching it, consuming it, and even remembering it, / and from worshiping it and giving it, a sixfold fruit is seen.

1.38

Whatever lingas there are on earth, such as Kedāra and others, / the merit gained from seeing them is gained from seeing mercury.

1.39

Mercury placed inside sandalwood, agallochum, camphor, and saffron, / swooned in the worship of Śiva, leads to the attainment of Śiva's proximity.

1.40

From consumption, O supreme ruler, mercury destroys the three kinds of sin; / likewise, it destroys the three kinds of afflictions and diseases born from the three humors.

1.41

Difficult to attain even by those proficient in Brahman, the supreme state is attained / through the lord of mercury situated within the pericarp of the heart's ether, O great goddess;

1.42

From remembering it, one is instantly freed from sins accumulated across other lifetimes.

1.43

Whatever fruit comes from the proper worship of thousands of self-manifest lingas, / that fruit is multiplied ten millionfold from worshiping a mercurial linga.

1.44

The alchemy of flight is base, the alchemy of caves is middling, / the alchemy of mantras is superior, but alchemy is the most superior.

1.45

Those having complete knowledge of mantra and tantra who defame the application of mercury / all go to hell, having destroyed their heap of merit.

1.46

Alchemical knowledge is the supreme knowledge, exceedingly difficult to obtain even in the three worlds; / since it brings enjoyment and liberation, it should therefore be imparted by those endowed with virtues.

1.47

One says: 'It exists'; another says: 'It does not exist.' / But to the believer comes perfection; it succeeds for him on earth.

1.48

He who, having the disposition of an unbeliever, says: 'It is not, it is not,' / for him there is no success, O beloved, even after hundreds of millions of lifetimes.

1.49

Even if liberated through knowledge of Brahman, that sinner who reviles mercury— / I shall not become his savior even in hundreds of millions of births.

1.50

This person is born as a dog, O Devī, for a thousand births, / then from mercury becomes a cat for three crores and a hundred thousand births, / a donkey for a hundred thousand births, and a crow for a hundred thousand births;

1.51

a worm for a hundred thousand births, a cock for a hundred thousand births, / and a vulture for a hundred thousand births—such a sinner who reviles mercury.

1.52

Whoever speaks with or touches the bodies of those who revile mercury / shall be afflicted with suffering for a thousand births.

1.53

And in the maturation of its potency, mercury is like the nectar of immortality; / therefore, beloved, mercury takes away birth, old age, and disease.

1.54

One should first propitiate the guru with a purified inner self; / when the guru is pleased, the rays [of transmission] bestow the lineage.

1.55

The foolish-minded person who performs the work without service to the guru— / his work comes to nothing, like wealth obtained in a dream.

1.56

One who performs the work as seen [directly from the master] attains gain at every step; / one should practice alchemy only when the guru is pleased, O beloved.

1.57

This instruction in the means of accomplishment yields both worldly enjoyment and liberation; / this great tantra, the Rasārṇava, is exceedingly rare to obtain.

1.58

It should be kept secret; once obtained by the grace of the guru for the accomplishment of the fruit, / having obtained the operations of mercury here, one must not indulge in egotism.

1.59

Permitted by the guru and having received the command that is the goad of mercury, / resorting to the Bhairava body, one should accomplish the Rasabhairava.

1.60

Thus the origin and the greatness of mercury have been told, O ruler of gods; / tell me, O goddess of gods, what else do you wish to hear?

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Rasārṇava — Sanskrit