Vijñāna-bhairava-tantra verse 38, Yukti #12 (I consider this to be an śāmbhava-upāya practice suitable for any level of practitioner, but Śivopādhyāya thinks it is only for experienced practitioners [see below]):
अनाहते पात्रकर्णेऽभग्नशब्दे सरिद्द्रुते |
शब्दब्रह्मणि निष्णातः परम् ब्रह्माधिगच्छति || ३८ ||
anāhate pātra-karṇe ’bhagna-śabde sarid-drute |
śabda-brahmaṇi niṣṇātaḥ param brahmādhigacchati || 38 ||
One who is steeped in the Absolute-that-is-vibration (śabda-brahman), [that is,] in the uninterrupted Unstruck Sound, [like] a rushing river in the vessel of the ear, attains the supreme Brahman. || 38 ||
Word-by-word analysis:
anāhata = unstruck [sound], the vibration that resonates without any contact of two things (here in locative case); pātra-karṇe = in the vessel of the ear; abhagna-śabde = uninterrupted sound; sarid-drute = rushing river; śabda-brahman = the Absolute in the form of sound/resonance; niṣṇātaḥ = skilled, steeped in, well-versed in, bathed in; param = supreme; brahma(n) = the Absolute; adhigacchati = s/he attains
My commentary: Here the Sanskrit is clear and straightforward, but it doesn’t seem to give us an actual practice. anāhata is the first word, and it means ‘unstruck’. This is the word commonly given for the heart chakra, the anāhata-cakra, because the heart cakra is the cakra of the unstruck sound, where the primordial resonance of OṂ is said to reside permanently, whether you perceive it or not. It is called ‘unstruck’ because it is the only vibration that resonates without any contact of anything with anything else. In general we make music and noise by striking things together (even if one of the two things is simply the breath), and here this resonance doesn’t require any such contact. It’s sui generis (to use a Latin phrase), spontaneously arising.
The verse seems to be saying that you can hear this all-pervasive but usually inaudible sound if you cup your hand to your ear just so, similar to what you might hear if you hold up the right kind of seashell to your ear. It’s a very quiet white noise, sound that’s happening on all frequencies simultaneously. The idea seems to be that hearing this subtle white noise helps you tune into the universal vibration, the all-pervasive fundamental tonic of existence, known variously as śabda-brahman (the Sound-Absolute), nāda (resonance), or praṇava (the “cosmic hum”).
Though I have marked this as an “all levels” practice, the commentator Śivopādhyāya says that this practice will be successful for one who has mastered dhāraṇā, dhyāna, and samādhi—the three innermost ‘limbs’ of the eightfold yoga of Patañjali, or of the sixfold yoga of Śaivism. The commentator says that one who is highly proficient in the śabda-brahman—the absolute in the form of resonance—necessarily is someone who has mastered dhāraṇā, dhyāna, and samādhi, which we could translate as concentration, meditation, and absorption. I’m not sure I agree.
What’s interesting here is that there really isn’t much of a technique at all, but rather the verse seems to be describing one of the fruits of practice, which could arise spontaneously for any practitioner at any time.
Curiously, the text uses a Vedāntic word for the absolute, namely brahman, and our Shaivite commentator seems not quite comfortable with this: he glosses śabda-brahman with nāda-bhaṭṭāraka, which is a much more Tantrik phrase, meaning something like “the most highly esteemed sacred resonance”. Then the original text says param brahmādhigacchati, “such a one attains the supreme Absolute.” We also see in the commentary this interesting phrase, samantāt sarveṣu pradeśeṣu nirgalite sravaṇagocaram, meaning to say this vibration is ‘melted’ into all regions equally. It’s non-local, pervading the entire auditory field, it’s not merely internal.
Simplified practice instructions:
(from the forthcoming set of VBT “flash cards,” designed by Jessica Molina)
ALTERNATE TRANSLATIONS:
a) One who is deeply versed and deeply bathed or steeped in Brahman in the form of sound, which is vibrating inside without any impact, which can be heard only by the ear that becomes competent by yoga, which goes on sounding uninterruptedly and which is rushing headlong like a river, attains to Brahman. (SINGH)
b) He attains the supreme Brahman who is deeply merged in the Brahman that is sound (śabda-brahman), which is the Unstruck Sound (perceived) within the cavity of the ear (that is like) the uninterrupted sound of a fast flowing river. (DYCZKOWSKI)
c) He attains the supreme Brahman who is deeply merged in the Brahman-that-is-Sound, which is vibrating within without striking and is perceived by the ear; this sound is uninterrupted like that of a waterfall. (BÄUMER)
d) One shall go to the transcendant Absolute if one merges/becomes familiar with the (immanent) Absolute as sound, flowing speedily (and) uninterruptedly inside the ear, spontaneously. (DUBOIS)
e) One, who is adept in listening to the unstruck sound in anahata, (which is) uninterrupted like a rushing river, attains the supreme state of Brahma by mastery of shabdabrahman, the form of Brahman as sound. (SATSANGI)
f) Bathe deeply in the continuous sound of a river flowing, or by closing the ears, hear the unstruck sound of God. One will then realize God. (CHAUDHRI)
g) On having been established in Word as the Reality to the extent as if the yogin had taken a holy bath in the river of sound flowing continuously and speedily while the word coming to him unstruck, he is enabled to understand the highest Reality as such. (Singh & Maheśvarānanda)
h) Il accède au brahman suprême celui qui baigne dans le brahman-Son, l’anaahata (logé) dans le réceptacle de l’oreille, son ininterrompu, précipité comme un fleuve. (SILBURN)
i) Celui qui se familiarise avec l’Immense (révélé comme) Parole spontanément (entendue) dans le creux de l’oreille – son ininterrompu s’écoulant (comme le flot) d’une rivière –, celui-là comprend l’Immense (en sa forme) ultime. (DUBOIS)
j) Wenn man ins Brahman-das-Laut-ist eintaucht, das als unangeschlagener Ton ohne Unterbrechung wie ein schnell fließender Strom in Innern des Ohres ertönt, dann erlangt man zum höchsten Brahman. (BÄUMER)
k) Jamás tañido, imperceptible al oído, ininterrumpido como un impetuoso torrente: quien se sumerge en el brahman-palabra (śabda-brahman) alcanza el brahman supremo. (FIGUEROA)
l) Enter the center of spontaneous sound that resonates on its own like the uninterrupted sound of a waterfall. Or, sticking your fingers in your ears, hear the sound of sounds and reach Brahman, the immensity. (ODIER)
m) Bathe in the center of sound, as in the continuous sound of a waterfall. Or, by putting fingers in ears, hear the sound of sounds. (REPS)
Śivopādhyāya’s Explication (c. 1700 CE):
This (sound) is “(heard) in the hollow of the ear”. It is not simply a (sound) similar to this one heard in the hollow of the ears, as some say, (but this sound itself), because in reality the adepts say that this spontaneous resonance (anāhata-dhvani) is actually audible in the ear.
“This (sound) flows (like the flow) of a river” whose flow is powerful.
Or: If one reads “is heard everywhere,” (as some manuscripts do) in place of “flows (like the flow) of a river,” that would mean that this (sound) is audible everywhere, that is to say, it comes from all directions (at the same time).
“It is uninterrupted,” means it is never interrupted day or night.
“It is unstruck” means that it is not produced by a shock/collision/impact with something, but that it arises from itself (svarasa).
“One who is steeped,” means who has practiced concentration, meditation, and absorption on this “Immense (revealed as) Word,” on this sublime intonation (nāda), this one will obtain “the Immense (in its ) Ultimate (form),” meaning that he will become the Immense himself. In unifying our attention on the spontaneous and uninterrupted resonance (anāhata-dhvani), our true nature reveals itself as ultimate space.
Ānandabhaṭṭa’s Moonlight (commentary c. 1650 CE):
The Immense as sound (śabda-brahman) is recognized in ten ways. By establishing oneself there, one obtains the Immense in its transcendence. What is this sound, this Word? It is not exterior, (for) it does not result from a collision between manifest forms, such as [the color] blue [which results from a certain frequency of light striking the retina], etc. It is therefore not found in the ear, for it is quite other than the coarse sounds. And this is why it is an uninterrupted sound. Its expression is not interrupted. It is a sound that is not produced from a collision, since it is the Immense as sound, the Lord as resonance. It flows like a river, like a rapid stream. Abiding steadily in it, one will become the Immense (brahman).
(Commentaries translated by David Dubois from Sanskrit to French, then translated by my student DaleAnn Gray into English, then edited [with reference to the original Sanskrit] by myself.)
* * *
VBT verse #39, Yukti #13 (an ānava-upāya practice suitable for all levels):
प्रणवादिसमुच्चारात् प्लुतान्ते शून्यभावानात् ।
शून्यया परया शक्त्या शून्यताम् एति भैरवि ॥ ३९ ॥
praṇavādi-samuccārāt plutānte śūnya-bhāvanāt |
śūnyayā parayā śaktyā śūnyatām eti bhairavi || 39 ||
O Goddess, by performing complete uccāra of the praṇava-mantra or [another bīja-mantra] and meditating on the still silent void-space at the end of its protracted sound, one enters into Spacious Openness by means of that Space which is the Supreme Power (Parā-śakti). || 39 ||
word-by-word breakdown: praṇava = the mantra OM or one of its variations such as HAUM; ādi = etc.; samuccāra = practice of the elevation of a bīja-mantra through the central channel (syn. of uccāra); pluta = protracted, prolonged, prolated, saturated; ante = at the end; śūnya = void, open space; bhāvana = meditating, contemplating, being with, feeling into; śūnyayā = by means of the void or space (but here the word śūnya appears in the feminine); parayā śaktyā = by means of the Supreme Power (in apposition with śūnyayā); śūnyatām = spaciousness, openness; eti = one goes to, one enters into, one attains; bhairavi = O Bhairavī.
My commentary:
Verse 39 teaches a foundational practice of classical Tantrik Yoga, namely, the practice of uccāra, which we can translate as “elevation” or “enunciation”, and which denotes the practice of raising a bījā-mantra through the central channel. It’s part of nāda-yoga, the yoga of sound. The practice is simple in its essence, but it has quite a few little details that can make it more powerful. In the verse, not much detail is given, precisely because this was already a well-known practice by the middle of the 9th century. Indeed, through the entire era of the flourishing of classical Tantra, from 700 to 1200, uccāra was a central practice of the tradition, and it continued all the way down to the present day (though is much less commonly found these days, and the word uccāra is almost never used for it).
The verse says that one should utilize the praṇava-mantra in this practice, or indeed any bījā-mantra you have received from a qualified teacher. To understand this better, we simply look to the commentary of Śivopādhyāya, who gives three praṇavas, three bījā-mantras that might be considered a praṇava. Praṇava literally means vibration, hum, or roar. One of my teachers defined it as “the quiet roar of the cosmic machine.” In practice, the word praṇava is used to denote foundational bījā-mantras. In each tantra, or indeed in each paramparā (lineage), there’s usually only one praṇava. Śivopādhyāya says the praṇava of the Vedas is OṂ, and the praṇava of Śiva is HŪṂ, and the praṇava of māyā is HRĪṂ. (It has to be understood here that in Tantra, the word māyā doesn’t have a negative connotation as it does for the Vedāntins. Here, māyā is the creative power of the absolute, the power of consciousness to project itself into diverse manifestation.)
The verse tells us that we sing the bīja-mantra, the praṇava, in a ‘protracted’ or prolonged fashion. Here that means devoting an entire exhale to the sacred syllable you have chosen. Now, a remnant of this practice does of course exist in modern yoga classes, in which many teachers say, “Let’s begin with three long OMs” and they sing each OṂ with a full exhale—that’s a pluta or protracted enunciation. Is this, then, the whole practice? Not at all. Here the subtle details make all the difference, and the most important of them is that in the practice of uccāra, one never closes ones lips—so there is no ‘m’ in the mantra, even though it’s spelled that way. In fact, the correct spelling is Ṃ, which in this context denotes a pure nasal, as in the French words un bon vin or the Portuguese bom. (Though those words are spelled with a final n or m, they actually have a pure nasal sound if you listen closely.) Rather than terminating at the lips with an m, the sound rises through the nasal cavity, all the up to the frontal sinuses in the region of the third eye (ājñā-cakra). That is exactly why OṂ is spelled Ong in some regions of India, such as in Bengal and in the Sikhi tradition of the Punjab (which is now of course global). In classical Tantra, you only pronounce OṂ similarly to ong when devoting a full exhale to the syllable, not when it’s part of a longer mantra.
But let me describe the practice from the beginning. In the full practice you breathe in and down to the pelvic floor—you bring the prāṇa all the way down to mūlādhāra, and then you do a gentle mūla-bandha, and then you begin the enunciation of the mantra from the pelvic floor. Feel or imagine that the bījā-mantra is rising from the base of the body through the central channel all the way up to the nasal cavity. If you’re a visual person, you can visualize the bījā-mantra as a single point of brilliant light rising through the central channel as you sing the mantra in this prolonged fashion. It’s traditional to visualize the nāda as bindu (the sound resonance as a point of light), but it’s also optional.
The mantra rises fairly rapidly through the central channel and then reaches the nasal cavity and then hovers there until you’re almost running out of air. This is because it is said in Tantrik Yoga that there is an energetic blockage in the subtle body above the palate and just below the third eye (in the upper part of the nasal cavity), and this blockage is called māyā-granthi, the knot of māyā, and here the term māyā specifically means “perceiving plurality instead of unity”. This psychic knot is also called rudra-granthi in some sources, but the term māyā-granthi emphasizes the fact that if you break through this blockage, you become capable of easily experiencing unity or oneness instead of separation or division. A powerful sound vibration can break up and even dissolve a blockage; and indeed, it can do so for any blockage within the central channel, not just the māyā-granthi. But the default place of pause in this practice is in the nasal cavity, because that granthi is considered most important ultimately. Additionally, vibrating the mantra in the nasal cavity has the wonderful side effect of increasing the production of nitric oxide, as shown by studies that examine the effect of prolonged humming (and uccāra resonates the nasal cavity more thoroughly than ordinary humming!). Nitric oxide has vasodilatory effects that can help lower blood pressure, reduce arterial stiffness, improve blood flow, improve respiratory function and response to exercise, and even help treat erectile dysfunction. It has also been shown to increase synaptic plasticity, reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. So the potential benefits to uccāra practice are many, in both physical and spiritual domains.
Lastly, the sound fades out from the third eye upward to the dvādaśānta point above the head. But even though the audible sound disappears, the subtle vibration of the mantra keeps rising up to the upper limit of its energy, about a foot above the head. Behind the middle of the forehead is what’s called the nirodhikā (for which see this post), which literally means the “impeder,” denoting a point that is difficult to pass, because such extraordinarily subtle awareness is needed. With a lot of uccāra practice, the practitioner learns to feel the subtle resonance of the mantra becoming ever more refined from nirodhikā to the dvādaśānta point above the head. There are actually nine levels of increasingly subtle resonance of the mantra (five of which are inaudible), for which see this post. For now it’s enough to know that when the sound dies out you continue to feel the mantric energy rise up above your head, and then you experience this moment of absolute stillness and silence at the very upper limit of the energy body. The verse refers to this with the word śūnya. We are invited to meditate on this silent stillness when even the subtlest resonance of the mantra has ceased: the verse calls this sublime meditation śūnya-bhāvanā.
Let’s return to the exact words of the verse: “by performing complete uccāra of the praṇava and meditating on the void at the end of its protracted sound [at the upper limit of the energy body], one enters into śūnyatā.” You might be familiar with the term śūnyatā from Buddhist traditions, but it’s also a central term in Śaiva Tantra. It is often translated as “emptiness,” but in yogic contexts (rather than philosophical ones) I think it’s more accurate to translate it as “spacious openness.”
How does one enter into this boundless spacious openness? By means of the Void (śūnyayā), which is the parā śakti, the Supreme Power. This phrasing is unusal, to say the least. Shakti is not usually identified with the Void, but it makes sense in this context, because the final three moments of uccāra, when the vibration reaches its subtlest phases, are called vyāpinī, samanā, and unmanā, all feminine words. Shakti is more usually identified with the first of these, vyāpinī, the All-pervasive, but here the VBT must be identifying Parā Shakti with unmanā, the ultimate level, literally the ‘transmental’. That level can appropriately be called śūnya, because it is beyond not only mind, but even time and space. So the scripture implicitly positions Parā Shakti as the ultimate divinity, beyond Shiva.
It’s worth noting that in the Trika lineage, specifically in the context of ritual, it’s said that the essence of Parā Devī, the Supreme Goddess, exists eternally at or just beyond the upper limit of the energy body, and indeed in Tantrik pūjā, we summon Parā Devī from the upper limit of the energy body down to the third eye, from which we then ‘beam’ her essence into the center of the maṇḍala. In other practices, we summon her essence from the upper limit of the energy body down into the heart center. To recap, by means of that pure Void which is the Supreme Power, one enters into this boundless spacious openness in the practice of uccāra.
Please watch the VIDEO presenting more details of the PRACTICE of uccāra:
Simplified practice instructions:
(from the forthcoming set of VBT “flash cards,” designed by Jessica Molina)
ALTERNATE TRANSLATIONS:
a) O Bhairavī, by perfect recitation of praṇava or the sacred syllable Auṁ, and by contemplating over the void at the end of the protracted phase of it and by the most eminent energy of the void, the yogī attains the void. (SINGH)
b) O Bhairavī, by uttering a praṇava and by meditating on the void at the end of (its) prolated sound, (the yogi) attains Emptiness by means of the Void which is (Śiva’s) supreme power. (DYCZKOWSKI)
c) O Bhairavī, by uttering the praṇava (mantra) and by meditating on the void at the end of the protracted sound, one attains the state of the Void by means of the Supreme Energy of the Void. (BÄUMER)
d) Ô Goddess! One shall go to emptiness throughout the empty power, the supreme power. (How ?) By realizing the empty (awareness) at the end of the long (sound) when spelling/rising (a Mantra) like 'Om', etc. (DUBOIS)
e) Bhairavī, one who repeats the Pranava (Aum) perfectly, while concentrating on the void for protracted periods, experiences the void, and by that void the transcendental shakti (is revealed). (SATSANGI)
f) O Goddess, chant AUM, etc. slowly. Concentrate on the void at the end of the protracted sound. Then with the supreme energy of the void, one goes to the Void. (CHAUDHRI)
g) The yogin is led to the state of void by the highest Power of void on account of articulation of sacred words like AUM in a way as to end in a protracted form with contemplation on the void. (Singh & Maheśvarānanda)
h) Si l’on récite la syllabe sacrée AUṂ ou toute autre (formule) et qu’on évoque le vide qui se trouve à la fin du son protracté, au moyen de cette éminente énergie du vide, O Bhairavi, on atteint la vacuité. (SILBURN)
i) On doit évoquer le vide à la fin de l’énonciation complète et prolongée du bourdonnement, etc. Grâce à la Puissance suprême, vide (comme l’espace), on atteint la vacuité, ô Bhairavi! (DUBOIS)
j) O Bhairavi, wenn man die heilige Silbe OM oder irgendeinen anderen (einsilbigen Mantra) vollkommen ausspricht und über die Leere am Ende des gedehnten Ausklangs meditiert, so erlangt man durch die höchste Energie der Leere den Zustand der Leere. (BÄUMER)
k) Si se recita la sílaba sagrada OM o cualquier otra, y al final de la vibración se concibe el vacío, gracias a la potencia suprema del vacío uno alcanza el estado de vacuidad, ¡oh, Bhairavi! (FIGUEROA)
l) O Bhairavī, sing OM, the mantra of the love union of Shiva and Shakti, slowly and consciously. Enter the sound, and when it fades away, slip into the freedom of being. (ODIER)
m) Intone a sound, as a-u-m, slowly. As sound enters soundfulness, so do you. (REPS)
n)
O Goddess Bhairavi! By means of the delicate and yet potent depth of inward and ever deepening pronunciation of one of the several ROOT MANTRIC SEEDS, duly and properly assigned and taught in the context of traditional Initiatory dispensation,
And further, by the constant and persistent and easeful deepening of the FEELING-CONTEMPLATION that opens to direct Yogic Perception a resonant space of Inner and pulsating VOIDNESS
WHEREIN the echoing and extended pulsation of the ever more subtle and ever more refined experience of the Mantric Seeds seems to end in the EXTENDED and prolonged Resonance,
And by means of the Extraordinary POTENCY that comes to be revealed as perpetually and natively and naturally present in that SUPREME VOIDNESS,
By means of the progressive, dedicated, fruitful, and grace-saturated MOVEMENT of Awareness as it glides on this ever more deliciously melting experience of the terminal and prolonged inner resonance of the Mantric Seed,
Then the Yogin truly ENTERS INTO, rises to, and subsumes his individual and separative and busily filled and agitated awareness in the Profound Serenity of the Great Space, the GREAT VOIDNESS, the Great Openness, the Great Freedom, the Great Settledness, the Great Beyond All!
(MULLER-ORTEGA; words in CAPS correspond to specific words in the original Sanskrit of the verse)
Śivopādhāya’s Explication:
“The praṇava etc.,” means different kinds of praṇava. The word “etc.” indicates what these sorts are, namely: the praṇava of the Vedas – OṂ; that of Śiva – HŪṂ; that of Māyā – HRĪṂ, etc. In the tantras, numerous manners (of enunciating) are thus taught.
Their “complete enunciation (samuccāra),” is brief, long or prolonged. For example, The Upaniṣad of the Peak of Atharva (Veda) says:
The moment of the fourth (part of the enunciation of the praṇava), of a duration of a half-measure, is like lightning, including all the phonemes (within it). It is the personal divinity, for this Oṃkār is made of four syllables and four aspects. Its audible (aspect) may be brief, long or prolonged.
Oṃ oṃ oṃ: having enunciated (the praṇava) three times, the fourth is an appeasement/soothing/calming, that (must be enunciated) in a prolonged way and in totality. Having pronounced this (prolonged) OṂ, one comes back to the light of the Self immediately.
One must enunciate by elongating the long syllables to the maximum time, like the resonance of an empty vessel. This phoneme is thus prolonged without limiting it to a (given) measure.
“At the end of the (prolonged) phoneme” in this manner, when the (prolonged) phoneme subsides (little by little), rising through the (nine) phases that one can discern, such as the Point (bindu) and so on, through meditating on the spacious void (of pure consciousness) as the void at the end (of the uccāra of the praṇava), one attains a state void of any knowable object—and through attaining that, “one attains emptiness due to the Supreme Power,” that is, the state of supreme Bhairava, void of all duality. In effect, by enunciating the half-measure (at the end of the praṇava) in a prolonged manner, the subtle resonances of the Point, of the Half-moon, etc., are produced, and for this very reason one is awakened to the undivided Immense through the Power that has arisen.
This very completeness is produced at the end of (this) prolonged enunciation, that is to say it manifests entirely as pure indivisible awareness as the upper half-measure, a space incapable of continuing to articulate (as an audible sound).
Regarding the intended sense of the praṇava, one can say that the three phonemes “a, u, m” taken separately are signifiers of the Immense (para-brahman) and the fourth, the ‘syllable’ which is the essence of the half-measure, articulates the reality of the Immense in its totality. According to the Aphorisms on Yoga:
The signifier of the Immense is the praṇava. (Yoga-sūtra 1.27)
According to this principle, the object of the half-measure is the Fourth domain beyond all modifications (such as these states of waking, of dream and of deep sleep), the one reality, consisting of undivided consciousness. That one reality, (seemingly) concealed by the distinct forms that in fact depend on what is to be contemplated, becomes enlivened for one who is ready for such contemplation. In that context (there arises) reflective contemplation of the highest divinity consisting of consciousness, which is overflowing with all aspects of being.
Or one could follow the principle according to which:
The words indicate the meaning of the (whole) discourse, (while) the phonemes indicate such and such aspect of it.
According to this principle, the praṇavas, bījas, etc., each contain an aspect of the totality. On the contrary (according to us), the expression is primary, and we hold that the praṇava is the signifier of the all-inclusive supreme Śiva, without a second. The sublime Puṣpadanta has said it (in the Śiva-mahimnaḥ Stotra, verse 27):
O you who offers a refuge (against the fears of existence),
The word OṂ designates you distinctly
Through the three phonemes “a”, etc.,
Which designate the three Vedas,
The three states (of consciousness),
The three worlds, the three gods,
Hidden by the subtle resonances,
It designates, taken in its totality,
Your fourth state beyond all distortion/corruption.
[My translation of the verse cited above is as follows:
When the aspects of the Word are unfolded, they express—by means of the three phonemes a, u, and m—the three Vedas, the three states (of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep), the three worlds, the three gods, and likewise. The Fourth (state)—Your radiant domain—is contained within these subtle resonances. O giver of refuge, you are invoked in your divisions and as a whole by the Word OM.]
Ānandabhaṭṭa’s Moonlight commentary:
If one briefly enunciates the praṇava or an equivalent and immediately pronounces it for a long time, then longer still – like the crowing of a rooster – there is an expansion (of the sound). Surpassing this resonance in an instant, one reposes in a state of emptiness, that is (comparable) to the enunciation of a void that transcends the void (as simple absence of objects). If one surpasses this vacuity, (in effect), if one exercises internalization (as immediate self-awareness), then it will be ultimate consciousness. This is the only possibility. There is no other.
(Commentaries translated by David Dubois from Sanskrit to French, then translated by my student DaleAnn Gray into English, then edited or in some cases entirely rewritten [with reference to the original Sanskrit] by myself.)