spandakārikā - the 1st verse, wholeness

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

The spandakārikā-s is an offering from within the trika view¹ of Reality .... Spanda ( vibration/throb, ~motionless movement~) is considered the 4th school. This ( as with many other schools) has been extracted from the tantra-s¹ and āgama-s¹ found in śivāt-śāstra.

There are several commentaries¹ on the spandakārikā-s ( 53 kārikā-s/verses in total¹); the following 3 are of great interest ( to me).

• spandakārikā-s by vasugupta-ji ( the original work)
• spandanirṇaya by kṣemarāja – this is ‘nirṇaya’ or discussion, complete ascertainment
• spanda-sandoha by kṣemarāja – this is ‘doha’ or the milking ( doha = the milking of the whole herd); it is the ‘milking’ , extracting the most nourishing knowledge from the 1st kārikā offered in this great work. It is so much so that we are told that all of the śāstra’s essence ( milk) can be found in this one kārikā ( concise statement)

I mention these as it informs us we are in good company. I also have one side note. The spanda-sandoha was written first by kṣemarāja-ji. Due to the urging of his student
he followed up with his is full ‘nirṇaya’ or discussion on the total of the spandakārikā-s.

I stand on the shoulders of several others for their support on this matter i.e. svāmī lakṣman-jū, jaideva singh, the explanations and commentaries
of kṣemarāja , pradīpaka, john hughes, etc. All errors can only be attributed to me.

the 1st kārikā

यस्योन्मेषनिमेषाभ्यां जगतः प्रलयोदयौ।
तं शक्तिचक्रविभवप्रभवं शङ्करं स्तुमः॥१
yasyonmeṣanimeṣābhyāṁ jagataḥ pralayodayau|
taṁ śakticakravibhavaprabhavaṁ śaṅkaraṁ stumaḥ||1

At first glance, you may not see anything ~special~ about this 1st kārikā...
We praise (stu+maḥ) that (tam) śaṅkara (śaṅkaram) by whose (yasya) opening (and) shutting of his eyes (unmeṣa-nimeṣābhyām) appearance and dissolution (udayau & pralaya) of the world (jagataḥ); who is the source (prabhavam) of the glorious (vibhava) group/wheel (cakra) of powers (śakti) ||1

Yet with this 1^st line kṣemarāja-ji offers a whole book (spanda-sandoha) on this matter... What can be there? What is ‘hidden’ (gūḍha) within it? We are told that the essence of all śāstra's are contained in this one śloka.

Let me offer some of the insights that have been made available in a few upcoming posts.

इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

words

• Trika is = to non dual ( advitīya kaśmir śaivism) and is referred to as anuttara trika by abhinavagupta. It too has additional names:
  
  • ābhāsvasa paramārtha – the highest or whole truth (paramārtha) of all that is existing (ābhāsvasa)
  • advaita darśana – non-dual (advaita) view , doctrine , philosophical system, understanding (darśana)
  • svātantryavāda - explanation , exposition (vāda) of total and absolute independence (svātantrya)
  • pratyabhijnavāda -explanation , exposition (vāda) of spontaneous Self-recognition (pratyabhijna)
  • rahasysa sampradāya - the secret (rahasysa) tradition (sampradāya)
  • tryambaka sāmpradāya – the tradition (sampradāya) of tryambaka muni ( this tryambaka means 3 eyed, 3 leveled, even 3 mothers). Tryambakanātha was the son of durvāsā ṛiṣi.
  • trika śāsana or trika śāstra – trika teaching (śāsana) or trika scriptures (śāstra).

• Other commentaries (bhāṣya) on this work:
  
  • A vṛtti is offered by kallaṭa-ji, a student vasugupta - vṛtti is a commentary , comment , gloss ; it is too considered a style of composition; it also means ‘rolling down’.
  • The spandapradīpikā is offered bhaṭṭa utpala-ji – pradīpikā is pra + dīpikā or fulfilling (pra) + illumination (dīpikā) on the subject of spanda
  • A vivṛti is offered by rāmakaṇṭha-ji, a student of utpaladeva¹ who in turn was the grand teacher of abhinavagupa-ji. A vivṛti is making clear or manifest , explanation , exposition. Rāmakaṇṭha-ji informs us that his work closely follows the work offered by kallaṭa and his vṛtti.

• tantra definition – see this HDF post: http://hindudharmaforums.com/showthr...514#post128514
  
  • āgama-s - anything handed down; origin, acquisition of knowledge.
  • ā+gama ; ā = śiva + gama = march

• The 53 kārikā-s
  
  • tri-niḥṣyandaḥ within this śāstram: the 3 ‘sections’ (niḥṣyanda at times means chapter, yet svāmī lakṣman-jū advises us it means ‘flow’ or nis+ṣyanda) are the following:

· sva-rūpa spandaḥ with 25 verses (pañcaviṁśatyā).
· sahaja spandaḥ with 7 verses (saptabhiḥ).
· vibhūti spandaḥ with 19 verses (ekonaviṁśatyā)
· The last section offers conclusions with 2 verses

• FYI: niḥṣyanda = niḥ+ ṣyanda = nis+ṣyanda ; nis = out + ṣyanda = flowing, streaming
• Utpaladevācārya – utpala+deva+ācārya utpala = blossoming, any flower + deva = divine, of highest excellence + ācārya is the master, knowing or teaching the ācāra or rules, the spiritual guide. Utpaladevācārya was a luminary within kaśmir śaivism