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| The Bliss of Śakti-Union |
Abhinava now moves here by a very exact necessity. In the previous passage, he had already led the reader from the gathering of the sensory currents into the great middle, through Śakti-kṣobha, the melting of duality, ahantā as camatkāra, and finally into the recognition that this whole process is not merely bodily, but opens into the bliss of the Śiva-Śakti collision as Parābhaṭṭārikā herself.
Once that has been established, the next question arises naturally: if this bliss is not reducible to gross embodiment, then how dependent is it on the literal external presence of Śakti? This is the point at which Abhinava turns toward the Kaula register more explicitly. He now shows that even where the outer Śakti is absent, remembrance, bhāvanā, and the inner Śakti-touch can still stir vīrya and open bliss. In this way, he is not changing subjects, but unfolding the same doctrine further: from the direct experiential threshold into its specifically Kaula articulation, where erotic union, memory, inner contact, and finally cosmic manifestation are all read as expressions of one and the same supreme process.
Even without the external Śakti, bliss can arise through overwhelming remembrance and bhāvanā
anyatrāpi uktam
lehanāmanthanākoṭaiḥ strīsukhasya bharātsmṛteḥ |
śaktyabhāve'pi [bāhyaśaktyabhāvepi śāktasvarūpāveśe smaraṇapuraḥsaraṃ
bhāvanātiśayāt tanmayībhāvaḥ iti bhāvaḥ |] deveśi bhavedānandasaṃplavaḥ ||
“And elsewhere it has been said: ‘Through the overwhelming remembrance of a woman’s pleasure, aroused by repeated erotic stimulation, even in the absence of the external Śakti, O Goddess, there arises a flooding of bliss.’”
Abhinava’s point here is more precise than it may seem at first hearing. He is not saying that the external Śakti is absent and yet the same outer erotic acts are somehow literally occurring. The sense is that there has already been actual contact, actual stimulation, actual pleasure — and then, later, even when the external Śakti is absent, the force of that experience can still be reawakened through remembrance and intense bhāvanā. So the line is not contradictory. It is about the interior reactivation of a current first disclosed through embodied union.
That is why the gloss matters so much. It says that even in the absence of the outer Śakti, through remembrance as the forerunner and through an excess of bhāvanā, there is tanmayībhāva — becoming wholly of that nature, specifically as immersion in the very form of Śakti. So memory here is not a thin mental replay. It is not casual fantasy. It is a mode of re-entry into a previously disclosed force. What had once appeared through gross contact is now awakened inwardly.
This follows the previous chunk exactly. There Abhinava had already argued that the crucial point is not the bodily event as such, but the inner-touch bliss, the stirring of vīrya, and the recognition of the Śiva-Śakti collision as supreme reality. Once that is granted, it becomes possible to say what he says here: the outer partner is not the absolute cause. She is the manifesting occasion. The deeper process belongs to consciousness and Śakti themselves. Therefore, even when the external Śakti is absent, the current can still become active again.
The phrase bharāt smṛteḥ is important for this reason. This is not weak recollection. It is remembrance under force, under fullness, under the weight of experience. The memory retains charge. And because it retains charge, it can still participate in the stirring of vīrya and open toward bliss.
So the real thrust of the passage is this: Abhinava is loosening the process from crude dependence on the outer act without denying the act’s importance. He is not dismissing embodied union. He is showing that its deepest significance lies in the Śakti-process it reveals, and that this process can continue inwardly through remembrance and bhāvanā even when the gross external Śakti is absent. That is the first clear step into the specifically Kaula logic of this section.
The remembered touch acts within the middle channel and stirs vīrya through the inner Śakti-touch
iti | bharāt smaryamāṇo hi saṃsparśaḥ tatsparśakṣetre ca
madhyamākṛtrimaparātmakaśaktinālikāpratibimbitaḥ tanmukhyaśāktasparśābhāvepi
tadantarvṛttiśāktasparśātmakavīryakṣobhakārī bhavati ityabhiprāyeṇa |
“That is: the contact, when remembered with full force, and reflected in that field of contact within the middle channel — the channel of the non-artificial supreme Śakti — even in the absence of that principal external Śakti-touch, becomes productive of the stirring of vīrya through an inner Śakti-touch. Such is the intended sense.”
Now Abhinava explains exactly how the previous statement is possible. He does not leave it at the level of paradox or poetic suggestion. The reason bliss can arise even without the external Śakti is that the decisive factor is not the gross outer touch as such, but the way that touch becomes reflected inwardly in the middle channel. Once that happens, the process no longer depends entirely on literal external presence.
The crucial phrase here is madhyamā-kṛtrima-parātmaka-śakti-nālikā-pratibimbitaḥ. The remembered contact is reflected in the channel of the middle, which is of the nature of the supreme and non-artificial Śakti. That word akṛtrima matters. Abhinava is pointing to something not fabricated by imagination in the cheap sense. The inner process is not merely invented. It belongs to a more original layer of experience, one already rooted in the structure of consciousness itself. So remembrance does not work here because the mind is good at fantasy; it works because the prior contact has opened a real channel in which Śakti can continue to move.
That is why he can then say: even in the absence of the principal Śakti-touch — meaning the direct outer touch of the woman — there can still be antarvṛtti-śākta-sparśa, an inner operative Śakti-touch. And that inner touch is enough to become vīrya-kṣobha-kārī, productive of the stirring of potency. This is the real hinge of the passage. The remembered contact does not remain a pale image of what is absent. Once reflected in the middle, it becomes active. It can stir the same current inwardly.
This follows the previous point with complete precision. There Abhinava said that even in the absence of the external Śakti, remembrance and bhāvanā can lead to a flood of bliss. Here he gives the mechanism: the remembered contact is not inert memory; it is inwardly reflected in the middle channel and so becomes a living inner Śakti-touch. That is why the absence of the outer partner does not simply cancel the process.
At the same time, this is where the text becomes more exacting. Abhinava is not describing ordinary erotic memory in general. He is speaking from within a specific yogic and Kaula logic. What matters is not memory as such, but remembered contact becoming reflected in the middle and awakening inner Śakti-touch. Without that, one remains at the level of imagination and longing. With it, one is dealing with a subtler continuation of the same process earlier disclosed through embodied union.
So the force of this segment is very clean: the outer touch may be absent, but when the remembered contact is reflected in the middle channel of the supreme Śakti, it becomes inwardly effective. And that inward effectiveness is enough to stir vīrya again. This is the precise doctrinal bridge by which Abhinava shifts from gross union to interiorized Kaula realization.
The bliss that culminates in Śakti-absorption is the bliss of Brahman itself
tathā
śaktisaṃgamasaṃkṣobhaśaktyāveśāvasānakam |
yatsukhaṃ brahmatattvasya tatsukhaṃ [strīsaṅgānandāvirbhūtasamāveśānte yat
sukhaṃ tyaktastrīpuruṣāviparyālocanaṃ svātmamātraniṣṭhaṃ tat svākyamātmana eva
saṃbandhi nānyata āghātaṃ bhāvayet strīsaṅgamastu vyaktikāraṇamevetyarthaḥ |]
svākyamucyate ||
“And likewise: ‘The bliss which comes to its culmination in the absorption of Śakti, through the agitation produced by union with Śakti — that bliss is the bliss of the Brahman-principle; it is said to be one’s own.’ [That is: the bliss which appears at the end of absorption arising from the delight of union with woman, when the contrary thought of woman and man has been abandoned and it rests in one’s own Self alone — that is called one’s own, belonging only to oneself; one should not imagine it as coming from elsewhere. Union with woman is merely the manifesting cause.]”
Here Abhinava states the doctrinal nerve of the whole movement with unusual bluntness. The bliss in question is not merely associated with Brahman, not symbolically related to it, and not a lower pleasure later to be “used” for something higher. He says directly: the bliss that reaches its consummation in śaktyāveśa, the absorption or possession by Śakti, is itself the bliss of brahmatattva. That is the claim.
This follows exactly from the previous point. There he explained how, even in the absence of the principal external Śakti-touch, the remembered contact can become reflected in the middle channel and inwardly stir vīrya through inner Śakti-touch. Now he clarifies why that process matters: because its culmination is not ordinary sensuality preserved in subtler form, but entry into a bliss whose true nature is Brahman itself.
The gloss is crucial, because it prevents a crude reading. At the height of this bliss, one must abandon the oppositional consideration of woman and man — strī-puruṣa-vipary-ālocana. That means the dual structure belonging to erotic union is not the final truth of the event. It is the condition in which the process begins to become manifest, but not what ultimately defines it. When that dual consideration falls away, what remains is svātmamātra-niṣṭha — established in one’s own Self alone.
That is why Abhinava says svākyam: it is “one’s own.” Not in the egoic sense of private possession, but in the sense that this bliss belongs to the Self itself and is not something imported from an external source. The gloss makes this point ruthless: one should not think that the impact comes from elsewhere. Strīsaṅgama — union with woman — is only vyakti-kāraṇa, the manifesting cause. It brings forth, discloses, makes evident. But the bliss it discloses does not originate in the external partner as though she were a detachable object producing pleasure in another. Its source lies deeper.
This is where Abhinava’s Kaula position becomes both powerful and dangerous to misunderstand. The power lies in this: he refuses both prudish denial and sensual reduction. He does not deny that erotic union can disclose something real. But he also refuses to let that reality be trapped in the duality of male and female as such. The erotic event is a doorway, an unveiling occasion. Its culmination lies where that duality is outshone.
So this point should be read very carefully. He is not saying that any erotic pleasure whatsoever is already Brahman. He is saying that when the process matures into śaktyāveśa, and when the oppositional fixation on man/woman falls away, the bliss that remains is rooted in the Self alone. That is why it is called the bliss of Brahman. The union is not the source in the final sense. It is the event through which the deeper source becomes manifest.
Kaula instruction is to be given through intimacy and warmth
* * * * * (?) snehātkaulikamādiśet |*
“…one should impart the Kaula teaching through affection (sneha).”
After the strong doctrinal claim that the bliss culminating in Śakti-absorption is the bliss of Brahman itself, Abhinava inserts this brief but very telling line. It is short, but not secondary. In fact, it fits the flow very precisely. Once he has shown that the external union is not the final truth, that its role is to manifest something deeper rooted in the Self, the question of how such teaching is to be transmitted becomes inevitable. And here the answer is: through sneha.
That word matters. Sneha is not mere sentimentality, and not vague kindness. It carries warmth, affection, tenderness, intimacy, even a kind of viscous closeness. So Abhinava is not imagining Kaula transmission as something cold, bureaucratic, or merely doctrinal. Nor is he presenting it as a naked technical instruction detached from relationship. That would contradict the entire current of the passage. The teaching concerns the subtle transformation of energies that are easily degraded into objectification, fantasy, or gross sensuality. Therefore its transmission cannot be merely formal. It requires a certain warmth of relation.
This follows naturally from the preceding point. If the deepest truth of the erotic process is not external duality but Self-grounded bliss, then the one who instructs cannot simply hand over a technique. The point is too subtle for that. Without proper relation, what is being taught will almost inevitably collapse downward into misunderstanding. So this brief line functions almost like a protective seal: Kaula instruction must be given in the right human and initiatory atmosphere, not as dead information.
It is also worth noticing that this line quietly matches the structure of the doctrine itself. The passage has been moving from gross external contact toward subtler interior recognition. In the same way, instruction here is not framed as domination, command, or abstraction, but as something transmitted through warmth and nearness. That is fitting. A teaching about inner Śakti-touch cannot be authentically conveyed in a mode completely severed from living affective contact.
So even though the line is small, its placement is exact. After clarifying the true nature of the bliss in question, Abhinava reminds the reader that Kaula doctrine belongs to a certain mode of transmission: not cold explanation, not moralistic prohibition, not sensational display, but sneha — warmth, intimacy, affectionate nearness. That is how such a teaching is to be entrusted.
Vyāsa’s testimony: the great Brahma is the womb into which “I” place the seed
iti ca | mahāvīreṇa bhagavatā vyāsenāpi
mama [mama - parabrahmasvarūpasya mahat - sthūlaṃ yato vedyatayā
parāmṛśyamānaṃ garbhaṃ - saṃvillakṣaṇasvavīryasaṃkrāntim tataḥ - idantayā
parāmṛśyamānāt svabhāvāt | idamatra tātparyam - parabrahmasvarūpaṃ parāmṛśat
prakṛtilakṣaṇa tattvamavabhāsayāmi tasyedantāyāmapi citprakāśānupraveśaṃ vinā
prakāśamānatvābhāvāt brahmasvarūpatvaṃ vyavacchinnavedyasvarūpatvāt tu
sthūlam iti sakalajagadbhāvabhedakahetubhūtedantātmakaṃ mahadbrahma mama
jagatsisucārasikasya yonisthānīyam iti |] yonirmahadbrahma tasmin garbhaṃ dadhāmyaham
| saṃbhavaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ tato bhavati bhārata ||
“And likewise, by the great hero, the Blessed Vyāsa:
‘My womb is the great Brahma; into that I place the seed.
From that arises the coming-to-be of all beings, O Bhārata.’
[‘My’: of me, whose nature is Parabrahman. ‘Great’: gross, because it is apprehended as an object of knowledge. ‘Embryo/seed’: the transmission into it of my own potency, marked by consciousness. And from that, because its nature is apprehended under the form of “this.” The intention here is this: I make manifest the principle characterized as Prakṛti while touching it as of the nature of Parabrahman. Even in its “thisness,” it cannot shine without the entry of the light of consciousness. Therefore it is of the nature of Brahman; but because it is of the nature of a delimited object of knowledge, it is called gross. Thus the great Brahma, consisting in this “idam”-aspect, which is the cause of the differentiation of all states of the world, serves as the womb-place for me, the connoisseur of the universe.]”
Now the whole previous movement is opened out cosmically. Abhinava does not leave the matter at the level of erotic union, remembered touch, or even Śakti-āveśa. He brings in Vyāsa so that the reader cannot miss the scale of the claim. The same structure disclosed in Kaula experience is the structure of manifestation itself.
The verse itself is already strong: the great Brahma is the womb, and “I” place the seed into it. From that all beings arise. But gloss makes the metaphysical point sharper. Mahad brahma is called “great,” yet also “gross,” because it is grasped as something knowable, as an idam, a “this.” That means we are on the side of manifestation, objectivity, articulated display. Still, Abhinava refuses to let that side stand independently. Even this “thisness” cannot shine without the entry of cit-prakāśa, the light of consciousness. So the manifestive ground is not dead matter. Nor is it autonomous. It is womb-ground only because consciousness enters it with its own potency.
That is why the word garbha matters here. It is not just “embryo” in a biological sense. It is implantation, deposited seed, the transmission of conscious potency into the manifestive matrix. This directly continues the prior flow. Earlier, union with Śakti was said to be only the manifesting cause; the bliss itself belonged to the Self. Here too, the womb-ground is real, but what makes manifestation happen is the entry of conscious vīrya.
The gloss is also careful not to collapse everything into blank monism. The manifestive side is still called sthūla because it is delimited as knowable. Difference does arise. The world does articulate itself into many forms. But that differentiation never escapes consciousness, because without consciousness entering it, it would not appear at all.
So this closing citation does two things at once. First, it universalizes the Kaula logic: womb, seed, emergence are not confined to ritual or eros, but belong to the very coming-forth of all beings. Second, it protects the teaching from materialism: even the womb-ground of manifestation shines only through the entry of conscious light. That is why this is the right end for the chunk. What began in the subtle dynamics of Śakti-contact ends in the cosmology of manifestation itself.
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