Bondage and Liberation

The rishis asked

What is the nature of bondage and what is the nature of liberation? You who know everything, please tell us.

Suta replied

I will tell you about bondage and the means of gaining liberation; listen lovingly. A jiva is said to be bound if the eight bonds of Prakriti tie it down. A person freed from the eight bonds of Prakriti is called liberated. So being freed from the rule of Prakriti is liberation. When a bound jiva has been freed, he is called a liberated jiva. The eight bonds of Prakriti are intellect, ego, the one that has the gunas and the five tanmatras. These are Prakriti's attributes. A body arises from these eight attributes, and karma arises from the body. Another body comes from karma, and by karma there is birth. This happens again and again. The body is of three kinds, gross, subtle and causal. The gross engages in activity, the subtle enjoys the objects of the senses, and the causal enjoys the nature of the karma the jiva does. As fruits of that karma it enjoys joy and misery, the results of good and bad deeds. So a jiva is bound again and again in the ropes of karma. Bound to karma, the three bodies are constantly whirled like a wheel. To stop the wheel's turning, the maker of the wheel must be worshipped. Prakriti and its attributes are the giant wheel. Shiva is beyond Prakriti. Mahesha, beyond Prakriti, is the wheel's maker. As a child drinks or spits out water as he pleases, Shiva stands with the jiva and Prakriti and its attributes under his rule. Since he keeps all under his rule, he is called Shiva. Shiva alone is all-knowing, complete and free of desire. Maheshvara's mental powers are known as omniscience, contentment, understanding without beginning, independence, a power that is constant and never goes, and infinite capacity. So it is because of Shiva's powers that Prakriti and its attributes are under his rule. To win Shiva's favour, Shiva alone must be worshipped. He is complete and without desire; how can he be worshipped? Any task that follows his instructions pleases him. So, following Shiva's instructions, people worship his sign of the lingam, or his devotees. He must be worshipped with deeds, thoughts, words and wealth. Supreme Shiva Mahesha is beyond Prakriti. Through this worship he is truly pleased and shows the worshipper special favour. By Shiva's favour, karma and the other things gradually come under one's control; from karma up to Prakriti, everything comes under control. Such a person is called liberated, radiant, happy within his own self. This body is the result of karma, and by Parameshvara's favour this too comes under control. So the person lives in Shivaloka and is said to have gained salokya. When the tanmatras come under control, samipya with Samba is gained. In weapons and action he gains sayujya with Shiva. When he gains his great favours, the intellect also comes under control; the intellect is the working of Prakriti, so this is called sarshti. Then, by his great favours, Prakriti itself comes under control. Without effort he then gains Shiva's mental powers, Shiva's omniscience and capacity, and shines in his own self. Those skilled in the Vedas and agamas call this sayujya. So by first worshipping the lingam, one is gradually liberated. To gain Shiva's favour one must do the rites of Shiva's worship, always do rites for Shiva, austerities for Shiva and japa of Shiva's mantra, increasingly strive for knowledge of Shiva and meditate on Shiva. Until he goes to sleep and until the time of death, he must think of Shiva. One who wants what is auspicious must worship him with fresh flowers and other things.

The rishis said

Please tell us everything about the rules for worshipping Shiva with the lingam and other things.

Suta replied

Brahmanas, I will tell you accurately about worship of the lingam; listen. The first lingam is Pranava, which gives everything one wishes. If it is subtle and partless in form it is called subtle Pranava. The form with parts is called the gross lingam and is represented in the five-syllable mantra. Worship of these two is called austerity and both directly give liberation. There are many kinds of Purusha lingams formed from the elements of Prakriti; Shiva himself can tell of them in detail, since no one else knows. I know the lingams formed of earthly materials and I will tell you of those. The first is the Svayambhu lingam, the second the Bindu lingam, the third the Pratishthita lingam, the fourth the Chara lingam and the fifth the Guru lingam. When he is satisfied by the austerities of gods and rishis and wishes to show his presence, Sharva takes in his nada form the shape of a seed inside the earth. Having taken this stable form, he sprouts through the ground and shows himself. Since this arises through an act of self-creation it is called the Svayambhu lingam. If a devotee worships it, his knowledge increases of itself. On a silver or golden vessel, or the ground or an altar, the devotee can draw a lingam with his own hand. With the pure Pranava mantra he draws the lingam as a yantra and does its installation and invocation. This lingam has bindu and nada and can be fixed or portable. Though formed only in thought, doubtless this too follows Shiva's instruction. Shambhu is present wherever one believes he is and gives fruit. The devotee can draw the yantra with his own hand on anything natural and fixed. After invocation he can worship with the sixteen offerings, gain prosperity himself and, by practice, knowledge. To succeed in their selves, gods or rishis set up a lingam in a pure circle with mantras, using their own hands. Pure in thought they establish an excellent lingam. This Purusha lingam is called a Pratishthita lingam. One who worships it constantly gains Purusha's prosperity. Great brahmanas and very rich kings have artisans devise and set up lingams with mantras. Such a Pratishthita lingam may be made of natural or artificial things and yields prosperity and pleasures. One that is full of energy and permanent is called a Purusha lingam; one that is weak and temporary is called a Prakrita lingam. In the three worlds, an inner or Chara lingam is one progressively pictured in different parts of the body: the generative organ, navel, tongue, tip of the nose, tuft and waist. A mountain is called Purusha and the earth Prakriti. Trees are Purusha and creepers Prakriti. Shashtika rice is Prakriti, while shali rice and wheat are Purusha. Prosperity is Purusha and is known to give the eight siddhis, anima and the others. Believers say a woman's property and such things are Prakriti.

Among Chara lingams the Rasa lingam is called the foremost; Rasa lingams give brahmanas every wish. Auspicious Bana lingams give kshatriyas large kingdoms. Svarna lingams make vaishyas masters of great wealth. Auspicious Shila lingams are very purifying for shudras. A Sphatika or Bana lingam gives everyone everything desired. If one does not have the lingam suited to oneself, there is no harm in worshipping one meant for another. For women, especially those with husbands, a Parthiva lingam is to be used. For widows who still have pravritti, a Sphatika lingam is praised. Widows on the path of nivritti who follow excellent vows should worship a Rasa lingam, whether children, young or old. Pure Sphatika lingams give women every pleasure. For those on the path of pravritti, worship of seats gives everything desired on earth. Every kind of worship is done in a vessel. When the bath is over, a food offering of shali rice is made. When the worship is over, the lingam is covered and kept in a separate part of the house. After worship everyone is fed the food they are naturally used to eating.

For those on the path of nivritti, worship of a subtle lingam is recommended. The vibhuti is worshipped and the vibhuti is what is offered. After the worship, the lingam is always borne on the head. Vibhuti is of three kinds: from an ordinary fire, from the fire of Vedic rites, and from Shiva's fire. Ash from an ordinary fire is used to purify things made of clay, iron, silver and even grain. Articles of worship, sesame and other things, garments and so on must also be purified with ash, as must articles defiled by dogs. As is fitting, the ash is mixed with water or not. When Vedic rites are over, the ash is worn on the forehead. Since the rites were done with mantras and fire, the ash takes the form of the rites, so wearing it is like taking the rite into one's self. After chanting the Aghora mantra, bilva wood is burned; this is called Shiva's fire and the ash from it is ash from Shiva's fire. Cow dung and bovine products from a tawny cow are burned first. After that wood of shami, ashvattha, palasha, banyan, aragvadha or bilva is burned. When these are burned, that too is Shiva's fire, and the ash is that of Shiva's fire. Reciting Shiva's mantras, the wood is burned on a bed of darbha grass. After straining through a cloth, the ash is placed in a new pot. It is collected for one's own radiance. The word bhasma means something to be honoured and worshipped, and so Shiva acted accordingly earlier. A king collects taxes from his kingdom. In the same way people burn crops and live on their essence. The digestive fire burns the many foods eaten and, having burned them, the essence nourishes the body. Parameshvara Shiva is lord of the world display. In his own dominion he burns the world display and accepts the essence. Having burned it, Shiva smears the ashes on his own body. Through that guise of burning he takes the essence of the universe. That jewel is his own and Isha himself puts it on his body. The essence of space is in his hair, the essence of wind in the breath that flows from his mouth, the essence of fire in his heart, the essence of water in his waist and knees and all his other limbs. The Tripundra is the essence of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra, and so Maheshvara wears it as a mark on the lower part of his forehead. "Bha-vriddhi-sarvam-itimanyate-svayam": in this way he brings the essence of everything in the world display under his control. Since he brings everything under his control he is called Shiva. The word simha is used for one who does violence to all animals, but also for one to whom no animal can do violence; the word is derived that way. Likewise the word Shiva has a derivation: "Sh" stands for permanent happiness and bliss, "i" for Purusha and "va" for Shakti. When the sweet union of the three takes place, it is called Shiva. So a devotee must make his own self identical with Shiva and worship Shiva. The ash is first powdered and then applied as Tripundra. At worship it is mixed with water, but for purification it can be used without water. Night or day, man or woman, the devotee sips the water used for worship and wears the ash as Tripundra. A person who mixes ash with water and wears it as Tripundra while worshipping certainly gains the full fruits of worshipping Shiva. With mantras to Shiva, one who wears the ash moves outside the bounds of the ashramas. Such a person is devoted only to Shiva and is called one who follows Shiva's ashrama. Devoted to Shiva's vow, he does not observe any purification rites connected with birth or death. He wears ash on his forehead, or a mark of mud, applied with his own hand or by the guru's hand. This is the sign of being Shiva's devotee.

The image of a guru is that of one who obstructs all the gunas, and the word guru is derived accordingly. He obstructs deviations caused by rajas and the other gunas. Supreme Shiva is beyond the gunas and takes the form of the guru. He takes away transgressions caused by the gunas and makes one understand Shiva. That is why disciples call a guru trustworthy. So a learned person knows that the guru's body is the Guru lingam. Service to the guru amounts to worshipping the Guru lingam. It has been heard that service is by deeds, thoughts and words. Anything the guru has instructed must be done, whether one is able or not, even at the cost of life or wealth. Doing this purifies the self. So a disciple is called one worthy of being ordered. An excellent disciple offers everything to the guru, starting with his body. He first offers food to the guru and eats only after being commanded. Because he is worthy of being constantly instructed, a disciple is called a son. The tongue is like a generative organ, the mantra like semen, the ears like a womb sprinkled. Like a son, he is a son born through the mantra. So he must worship the guru like a father. The biological father immerses the son in samsara, but the guru is a father who kindles understanding and carries him across samsara. Knowing the difference between the two fathers, he must worship the guru. He must tend his limbs and give the guru the wealth and other things he has earned. He massages his feet. Every limb of the guru is like a lingam. He gives him riches and footwear, washes his feet and bathes him, and worships him with bathing, food offering and food. Worship of the guru is like worship of Shiva, the supreme self. He eats what the guru has left. All of this purifies his own self. The guru's leftover food should be thought of as water and cooked food left after being offered to Shiva. Brahmanas, as these are accepted by Shiva's devotee, that leftover food too must be accepted. If anything is taken without the guru's permission, all of it is counted as theft. One must be careful in accepting a guru. A guru must have special knowledge. One must try to free oneself from ignorance, and only a person with special knowledge can do that.

For success in completing a task, one must first calm all obstacles; only when obstacles are removed are all parts of a task successfully completed. So in all rites a learned person first worships Vighnesha, and to counter all obstacles worships all the gods. The first kind of obstacle is adhyatmika: fever, trouble in the joints and disease. The second kind is adhibhoutika: pishachas and jackals; infestations of termite hills; lizards and other creatures suddenly falling down; seeing tortoises, snakes and wicked women inside the house; untimely bearing by trees, women and cows; and other such untimely hardships. Adhidaivika obstacles are omens like a bolt of lightning, epidemics, smallpox, cholera, plague, typhus, an evil planet traversing the birth star, an evil conjunction of a planet in its own sign, and seeing nightmares. There can also be incidents of touching a dog, a chandala or an outcaste who has come to the house. When any of these happens, it signifies hardship. So, to calm such faults, an intelligent person performs a sacrifice for peace. For this a spot is chosen in a temple, a cow settlement, a shrine or the courtyard of one's own house. The place must be raised, two hastas high, and decorated by one's own hand. A bhara of paddy is spread there. A lotus is drawn in the middle and others in all directions. A new, huge pot with a thread tied round it is purified with guggula incense and placed in the centre, with similarly purified pots laid out in the eight directions. Bunches of mango leaves with stems and kusha grass are placed in the eight pots. They are purified with mantras and five different objects placed inside. An excellent jewel like blue sapphire is placed in each pot, one by one. With his wife, a learned person invites his acharya, who knows the rites. A golden image of Vishnu, Indra and the others is placed in each of the pots so that heads and chests emerge from the top. Vishnu is invoked and worshipped in the central pot. Starting from the east, with mantras, Indra and the others are invoked and worshipped one by one, addressed by name in the dative case, in order, ending with "namah." The acharya is used to invoke each. With the acharya, the assistant priests recite the mantras a hundred times. When the japa is over, oblations are offered into the fire west of the pot. Learned people do this a crore times, a hundred thousand, a thousand or 108 times. It can be done for one day, nine days or as long as the sun completes its circle, as is fitting for time and place. If the oblations are for peace, the kindling is from the shami tree; if for livelihood, palasha. Besides kindling, cooked food and ghee are used, calling a deity by name with a mantra and offering the oblation. Any article used at the start of the rite continues to be used until it is complete. At the end there are pronouncements of blessing, and the sanctified water is sprinkled on everyone. Then brahmanas are fed, as many as the oblations offered. Learned ones, the acharya and assistant priests are fed havishya. At the end of the oblations, so that everything stays beneficial, Aditya and the planets are worshipped. In order each assistant priest is given a fee and an excellent gem. After ten kinds of gifts, large gifts are made to others: boys invested with sacred threads, householders, forest dwellers lacking wealth, maidens, married women and widows. All the articles used in the rite are given to the acharya.

Yama is said to be lord of omens, epidemics and miseries, so to please him Kaladana is performed. An image of Kala is made in the form of a man, with a hundred or ten gold coins, holding a noose and a goad. With a fee, this golden image is given as a gift. For long life a gift of sesame is praised; to counter disease, ghee or a mirror is given. A thousand brahmanas must be fed; the poor can feed a hundred, and the very poor do it as they can. To calm bhutas, a great worship of Bhairava is done. At the end of the rite, a great bathing and food offering are made to Shiva, followed by feeding brahmanas on a large scale. Through such a sacrifice all faults are calmed. Every year in Phalguna such a rite of pacification should be done. When calamity is immediate, it is done at once or within a month. A person who has committed a major sin must worship Bhairava. If there is a great epidemic, the resolve is taken first. A person poor in every way gives a lamp. If he cannot manage even that, he bathes and gives nothing. A devotee bows to the sun and says the mantra 108 times; a learned person says it a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand or a crore times. Bowing is a form of sacrificing oneself that satisfies all gods. "I offer my intellect to your form and bow. Anything empty does not appeal to you. Without your glance on it, this body is nothing. Since I have bowed, my body is like empty space, without ego. You are the lord, I am your servant. So I am no longer empty now." As is fitting, one should think of bowing as sacrificing oneself. In this connection a food offering and betel leaves are offered to Shiva. Shiva is circled 108 times, and one should make others do it a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand or a crore times. Circling Shiva destroys every kind of sin at once. Ailment is the root of misery and sin the root of ailment. Dharma alone is said to dispel all sins. Any act of dharma done with Shiva in mind removes all sins. Among all acts of dharma for Shiva, circling leads the rest. Japa is a rite in which Pranava takes the form of circling. The pair of birth and death is called a wheel of maya. The pedestal where offerings are made is called Shiva's cycle of maya. Starting from the offering stone, one circles step by step until one reaches the offering stone again. Bowing is said to complete the circling. Birth and death begin with him, and prostrating is a form of surrender. So the pair of birth and death is offered up to Shiva's maya. When one offers this pair to Shiva, one is not born again. As long as one is under the control of bodily functions, a jiva is called bound. When one is no longer under the body's control, the learned call it liberation. The supreme cause, Shiva, sets the wheel of maya going. When the pair is offered to Shiva, Shiva himself wipes it clean. Shiva conceived the pair and it is offered to him. Learned ones, know that Shiva loves circling. Circling and bowing to Shiva, the supreme self, and worship with the sixteen offerings give fruit. There is no sin on the face of the earth that circling cannot destroy, so all sins should be destroyed with circling. A person worshipping Shiva should also be silent and have truthfulness and other qualities. He must follow rites, austerities, japa, meditation and knowledge each. By rites and the rest, prosperity, a divine body, knowledge, the dispelling of ignorance and nearness to Shiva are gained. The fruits are gained through the act and the darkness of ignorance is removed. By this understanding, birth itself is cleansed. Shiva's devotee does the rites as is fitting, depending on time, place and the state of his body and wealth. With wealth properly earned, a wise person lives in Shiva's region. He refrains from injuring beings and his mind is free of worry. Food cooked while chanting the five-syllable mantra is known to give happiness. Food that a poor person gets by begging also gives knowledge, and food begged by a poor devotee of Shiva increases devotion to Shiva. Yogis devoted to Shiva say that such food is like a sacrifice to Shambhu. By any means, wherever on earth, a devotee must always eat pure food. He keeps silent and does not reveal the secret. He does not reveal Shiva's greatness to one who is not a devotee, nor the secret of Shiva's mantra. No one other than Shiva knows it. Shiva's devotee always lives near Shiva's lingam. Learned ones, by resorting to a fixed lingam a person himself becomes steady. If one worships a portable lingam, one is certainly gradually liberated. Briefly, these are the excellent means to every kind of liberation. Vyasa spoke of this in earlier times, and in those ancient times I heard it from him. May all of us be fortunate. May our devotion to Shiva be steadfast. Learned ones, a man who constantly reads or hears this chapter gains knowledge of Shiva and Shiva's compassion.