Commentary on the text “Mahanirvana Tantra”
Om, I bow before You, Pure Reason, manifested in the Universe.
I bow before You, one in Your essence, who grants Liberation.
I bow before You, great, all-pervading Mind, without qualities.
You are the only refuge and the only object of worship.
The entire Universe is Your manifestation; You are its primal cause.
You are the sole creator, preserver, and destroyer of the world.
You alone are the unchanging sustainer of all, without qualities.
You are the most formidable and the most terrible,
You are the refuge of all beings and the best purifier.
You alone rule over the most powerful, the highest of the high, protector of protectors! Supreme Source, containing everything within Yourself and secretly present in everything! Inaccessible to the senses and at the same time absolutely true. Incomprehensible, immortal, the hidden Essence of everything, Lord of the entire Universe. Him alone do we contemplate, and on Him alone is our mind focused.
Protect us! Him alone, the witness of everything that happens in the Universe, do we worship. We seek protection in the one who is our only eternal Patron, the self-existent Lord, the vessel of safety in the ocean of Being!
This is a hymn to the Absolute. Whoever repeats it with a pure mind and body unites with the Absolute.
Interpretation of the hymn from the point of view of Laya Yoga
What do these words mean for us from the point of view of Laya Yoga? Laya Yoga is practiced not at the level of duality and not at the level of words, therefore this hymn should be interpreted from the point of view of Advaita as follows:
To bow before the immortal Reason means to enter into presence, when we let go of the egoistic “I” and enter the primordial Mind. This will be true bowing.
To see it as the only object of Refuge and the only object of worship means to enter contemplation (sahaja-tattva), to always see this contemplation, this state, as the genuine object of Refuge, and to always trust it.
To see it as the Refuge of all living beings means to constantly abide in the supreme nature and to understand that the primordial Mind and presence contain all beings within themselves.
To turn to Him for protection means that when difficulties or obstacles arise, we understand that there is nothing external, and that everything arises from awareness; that the best protection from anything, for example, from obstacles or hindrances, is abiding in this awareness, giving this awareness the strength and brightness that could change reality and remove obstacles.
Worship of the Supreme Source means that our small “I” must capitulate, surrender to this supreme “I.” When we enter the natural state, when we contemplate, the impulses of our ego remain, constantly trying to throw us off the equilibrium of contemplative balance. We must learn to surrender this small “I” and entrust it to this higher state. If we do this, then we truly become practitioners of Laya Yoga.
Practical application
This hymn is very auspicious, therefore in tantra it is recommended to recite it every evening or at moments when it is necessary to purify consciousness.
What does bhajan mandala mean? When we invoke the siddhas (Dattatreya or Gorakshanath), it means that we attune ourselves to absolute Consciousness, meditating on the absolute qualities of the saints, and that we regard all saints in unity, that is, as a manifestation of the Supreme Source.
