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ConsciousnessandFreedomaccordingtothe  SivaS utras 
SubhashC.Kak LouisianaStateUniversity BatonRouge,LA70803-5901,USA FAX:504.388.5200;Email: 
kak@ee.lsu.edu 
July18,1996 
Abstract 
Thelogicofmaterialistsciencefailswhenobserversareconsidered.Howcan inanimatematter,governedbyxedlaws,leadtomind?Tobringinconsciousnessasa separatecategorylikespace,time,matter,assuggestedbymanyphysicistsand neuroscientists,leadstofurtherparadox.Thisveryissuewasconsideredwithgreat subtletyintheVedictraditionofIndia.Hereweconsideroneofthelateclassicsofthis traditionthatdealswiththequestionofconsciousness,laws,andfreedom|thejustly famous  SivaS utrasc.800C.E..Wepresentanewtranslationofthe  SivaS utrasalong withacommentary. 
1 
 
 !p   !p   Et!pobB   v  td-y!p   Etc"ZAy. 
r upam . r upam . pratir upobabh uva tadasyar upam . praticaks . an .  aya Hebecametheoriginalformofeveryform Itishisformthatiseverywheretobeseen. -Rigveda6.47.18 
Introduction 
Ourknowledgeofthephysicalworldisbasedonempiricalassociations.Theseassociations revealthelawsofthephysicalworld.Buthowdowestudythenatureofconsciousness?There isnowaytoobserveone'sownawarenessbecauseweareawarethroughtheassociationswith thephenomenalworld.TheVedasdealpreciselywiththiscentralquestionofthenatureof knowledge.TheconsciousnessaspectoftheVedaswasemphasizedmostemphaticallyby Day ananda1824-1883andAurobindo1872-1950.Itisseenwithdirectnessinthe Upanishads.ForanoverviewoftheVedictraditionseetherecentbookcoauthoredbyme Feuersteinetal,1995;thisbooksummarizesnewinsightsfromarchaeologyandhistoryof science. Ithasbeenlessthanacenturythatthetheoriesofrelativityandquantumphysicshave broughttheobservercenterstageinphysics.Itisnotsurprising,therefore,thattheVedic ideas,withtheiremphasisoncognition,havebeenasourceofenduringinspirationinmodern science.Asiswellknown,theideaofbrahmanintheVedasbeingarepresentationofall possibilities,asinthestatement 
praj~ n anam . brahman 
,wastheinspirationintheconceptionof thewavefunctionofquantumtheorydenedasasumofallpossibilitesMoore,1989;Kak, 1995b. Modernsciencehashadgreatsuccessinexplainingthenatureofthephysicalworld.Butthese successeshavenotbroughtusanyclosertotheresolutionofthemysteryofconsciousness.In theapplicationofquantumtheorytothemacroworldandintheneuropsychological explorationsofthebrain,onecannotanylongerignorethequestionoftheobservere.g.Kak, 1995a,1995b,1996a,1996b,1996c.Thenotionthatthemindemergessomehowoutofthe complexityoftheconnectionsinsidethebrainistoosimplistictobetakenseriously.Itislike BaronM unchhausenpullinghimselfoutofthebogbyhisownbootstraps!Ifmindemerges frommatter,howdoesitobtainautonomy?Iftheworldisgovernedbylawsthenhowdowe havefreewill?Ifourautonomyfreewillisanepiphenomenonthenarewewalkingshadows? Shouldoneconsiderconsciousnesstobetheground-stuofreality?Ifthatissothenwhatis theconnectionbetweenconsciousnessandthephysicalworld? ThesearejustthequestionsthatwecomeacrossrepeatedlyintheIndiantradition.Isthere somethingtobelearntfromtheinsightsofthistradition? The 
AphorismsofShiva  SivaS utrasSS 
arealatereiterationoftheVedicviewof consciousness.Accordingtolegend,Vasuguptac.800C.E.inKashmir`saw'theaphorisms sutrasinhisdream.  SivaS utrasledtotheoweringoftheKashmirschoolofconsciousness KashmirShaivism.ItisduetoaveryclearexpositionoftheissuestheKashmirShaivism hascometobequiteinuentialincontemporaryscholarship. 2 
 
Inthispaperwepresentatranslation,alongwiththeSanskrittext,ofthe78aphorismsofthe SS.The78numberitselfhasaveryimportantsignicanceintheVedicsystemofknowledge maybeseenelsewheree.g.Kak1994,1995c.Thecommentaryprovidedinthispaperisnot basedonthecommentatorialtraditionfromwithinKashmirShaivismseee.g.JaidevaSingh, 1979;Dyczkowski,1992soasnottoburdenthereaderwiththeunfamiliarvocabularyofthe tradition.Ipresentmytranslation,aswellasmycommentary,inasmoderntermsaspossible. 
TheuniversalandtheindividualintheSS 
AccordingtoSStheindividualknowledgecomesfromassociations.Owingtothisour phenomenalknowledgecanonlybeintermsoftheassociationsoftheouterworld.Butthe associationsinthemselvesneedsomethingtobindthemtogether. 
1 
Thebindingenergyis calledmatrikam atr . k a.Itismatrikathatmakesitpossibleforustounderstandwordsor symbolsstrungtogetheraslanguage.Lackingmatrika,computerscannotunderstandlanguage orpictures. Universalconsciousness,asaunity,iscalledShivaorBhairava.Shivamakesitpossibleforthe materialassociationsofthephycisalworldtohavemeaning.Butthedomainoftheunionof Shivaandthephenomenalworldispuzzlingandastonishing1.12. ThisisarestatementofametaphorthatgoesbacktotheRigvedawherethemindisseenas twobirdsaresittingonatreewhereoneofthemeatsthesweetfruitandtheotherlookson withouteatingRV1.164.20;oneofthebirdsrepresentstheuniversalconsciousness,theother theindividualone.Thereisonlyonebird;theotherisjusttheimageoftherstenergizedby thefruit!Thereisaparadoxherewhichisleftunresolved.Butcertainlyrootconsciousness Shiva,prak asa,citiswhatmakesitpossibletocomprehend.Inlatertextsthecapacityof consciousnesstoreectonitselfiscalled 
vimarsa 
. Anothermetaphorthathasbeenusedelsewhereisthatofthesunofconsciousnessilluminating theassociationsinthemind.Whatfacilitatesthisilluminationisthepowerofthewill." Innateknowledgeistakentoemergefromthemind,whichisequatedwithmantra,takenhere tonotasaformulabuttheinherentcapacitytoreect.Mantraleadstotheknowledgeofthe realitythatliesbeyondmaterialassociations. Considersoundmademeaningfulintermsofstringsthat,aswords,havespecicassociations. Butwhataboutthe`meaning'ofelementarysounds?Thishappensasoneopensthe`crack' betweentheuniversalandtheindividual.Theindividualthengetstransformedintoastate whereknowledgeishisfood. Thedetachmentfromone'sownassociationsisthekeytotheknowledgeoftheself|the universalbeing.Oneissupposedtotakeoneselfasanoutsider.Byseparatingthesensesfrom thesourceofconsciousness,oneisabletoreachtotheheartoftheself. 
1 
Thisisthebindingproblemofneurosciencetowhichnosolution,withinthestandardscienticparadigm,isknownseeKak1995afordetails.
3 
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