The Vijñāna Bhairava (विज्ञान भैरव)

Executive summary

The Vijñāna (विज्ञान) Bhairava is the tantra in which Bhairava answers the Goddess. One hundred and sixty-two numbered verses are sat here. Verse 139 says the teachings are a hundred and twelve more. Both counts stay. She has heard the great teachings and the doubt remains. He answers by naming a state of fullness, and then by a long series of attentions. A verse may name the breath, a meeting of lovers, a fall, or a sharp point. The sitting says what the words say and stops.

नेपालीमा

विज्ञानभैरव त्यो तन्त्र हो जसमा भैरवले देवीलाई जवाफ दिनुहुन्छ। यहाँ एक सय बासठ अङ्कित श्लोक समावेश गरिएका छन्। श्लोक १३९ ले अरू एक सय बाह्र उपदेश छन् भन्छ। दुवै गणना रहन्छन्। देवीले ठूला उपदेश सुन्नुभयो, तर शङ्का रह्यो। भैरवले पूर्णताको अवस्थाको नाम लिएर, अनि ध्यानका लामो शृङ्खलाले जवाफ दिनुहुन्छ। कुनै श्लोकले श्वास, प्रेमीको भेट, खस्नु वा तिखो बिन्दुको नाम लिन सक्छ। बैठकले शब्दले जे भन्छ त्यही भन्छ र रोकिन्छ।

Chapters

This is the Vijñāna Bhairava (विज्ञान भैरव), the tantra in which Bhairava (भैरव) answers the Goddess. The name is vijñāna (विज्ञान), a distinguishing knowledge, and Bhairava (भैरव). People also call it the Vijñāna (विज्ञान) Bhairava Tantra. It sits in the same Kashmir Śaiva (शैव) stream as the Śiva Sūtra (शिव सूत्र), and in the reading order it comes next.

The lines sat here are the 162 numbered śloka (श्लोक) of this text. Verse 139 says the teachings are a hundred, and twelve more. Some printed books number 163 śloka (श्लोक), because a half-line is given its own number. This book keeps the 162. The count of teachings and the count of śloka (श्लोक) are two counts. Both stay.

The Sanskrit follows the Kashmir text as transcribed for GRETIL by Marino Faliero in 1998. That file prints a broken character where verses 97, 106, and 107 read with an avagraha, and it breaks the ṇ (ण्) in maṇḍala (मण्डल), piṇḍa (पिण्ड), and kaṇṭha (कण्ठ). Verse 55 prints pināṃ (पिनां), and the word is pīnāṃ (पीनां). Those are the repairs. The English sentence and the Nepali sentence are this book's own.

How a sitting goes

One śloka (श्लोक) is one page. Read the Devanagari, then the words, then the sentence. The Nepali sentence says the same claim again, so you can hear it in the language you think in. śrī devy uvāca (श्री देव्युवाच) and bhairava uvāca (भैरव उवाच) are the speakers. They are not numbered. The sitting names them.

The pages give the words and what the verse claims. A verse may name the breath, a meeting of lovers, a fall, a pit, or a sharp point. The sitting stops at the sentence.

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