9 - The unsullied (Nishkala) form of Shiva 

The Sages said: 

1. O Mahadeva, the Supreme God is unsullied, pure, eternal and devoid of activities. Hence, explain to us how you become identical with universe in form. 

Ishvara replied: 

2. O Brāhmaṇas, I am not the Universe (in reality). Nor does the universe exist without me. In this respect Māyā is the cause and she is supported by me in my Ātman. 

3. Māyā is a Shakti (a potency) which has neither beginning nor destruction. It is supported in the Avyakta (the unmanifest). This world is caused by it and is indeed born of Avyakta. 

4. They (the sages) say that the unmanifest which is bliss luminous and imperishable is the cause. I am the Supreme Brahman and nothing else exists without me. 

5. In my unity and diversity (or apparent identity and separateness from the universe) the expounders of the Vedas have decisively concluded my being universe-formed. 

6. I am that greatest Brahman, the eternal supreme Atman. O Brāhmaṇas. As I am said to be the non-cause, no fault can be attributed to Atman. 

7. The divine powers are infinite, unmanifest, permanent and established by Maya. The absolute Avyakta (unmanifest) which is abiding in the heavenly region (beyond the reach of this world) shines eternally. 

8. The unmanifest eternal Brahman which is without any beginning or end and which is permanent is united with Māyā and thereby is called diverse and divided though it is an undivided whole. 

9. Just as the manifestation of the Puruşha 's one power is not concealed or obscured by another, he functions through the power of knowledge without beginning, middle and the end. 

10. That is the supreme unmanifest, embellished with a halo of lustre. That is the imperishable light. That is the supreme abode of Vişhnu. 

11. Therein the entire universe is woven as if in the warp and woof of cloth. That alone is the entire universe, having realised this, one is liberated. 

12. Brahman is that entity from which words along with mind recede due to their inability to reach it. He who has realized the joy of the Brahman entertains no fear from anywhere at any time.1 

1. Taittiriya Up. II. 9.

13. I know this supreme Puruşha with the refulgence of the sun in front of me (v.l. beyond the darkness of ignorance). Having realized him as such, the knower is liberated (from Samsāra). Becoming identical with the Brahman, he enjoys perpetual bliss.2 

2. Shvetāśhvatara Up. III. 8 also, III. 21. 

14. Realizing that is his self from which there is nothing that is greater, and that is the supreme light of the luminaries stationed in the heaven, the knower becomes identical with the Brahman and attains perpetual bliss. 

15. Knowers of the Brahman (or Brāhmaṇas) who are established in the Brahman, proclaim that I am however impenetrable, subtle-bodied, joy of the Brahman and the immortal abode of the universe, and after attaining whom one never reverts to Samsāra. 

16. The lustre that appears to shine in heaven is the principle of the highest firmament of golden colour. The sages visualize it in their own supreme knowledge as the resplendent, pure (spotless) abode of heaven. 

17. Thereafter, the bold (self-possessed) men observe it, after experiencing the (cosmic) Atman directly in their individual Atman. Parameshthin, the lord himself, is the greatest one. The Lord has the bliss of Brahman. 

18. That one Lord is lying hidden in all living beings. He is omnipresent, the immanent soul of all living beings. The self-possessed men who see him as one (without a second) enjoy permanent bliss and not the others. 

19. He has heads and necks on all sides. He is the ultimate goal of all. He abides in the cavity of the heart of all living beings. That lord is omnipresent. There is nothing other than he. 

20. O leading sages, thus the knowledge pertaining to Ishvara has been related to you. It should be particularly guarded, as it is very difficult even for Yogis to attain.