Skip to content

The Contemplation of the Five Attributes (Verse 132)

1. Exercise Title & Verse

The Contemplation of the Five Attributes (Dhāraṇā 109, Verse 132)

2. Sanskrit (IAST)

nityo vibhur nirādhāro vyāpakaś cākhilādhipaḥ / śabdān pratikṣaṇaṃ dhyāyan kṛtārtho 'rthānurūpataḥ // 132 //

3. English (Literal)

"Eternal (nityaḥ), omnipresent (vibhuḥ), supportless (nirādhāraḥ), all-pervasive (vyāpakaḥ), and the lord of all (akhilādhipaḥ)—by meditating on these words every instant in conformity with their meaning, one achieves fulfillment (kṛtārthaḥ)."

4. Main Commentary (Bhāṣya)

Padārtha — After Verse 131 turned the mind from the ordinary claims of "I" and "mine" toward the supportless ground behind them, this verse asks for a more sustained assumption of that same reality. It gives five exact contemplative terms: nitya (eternal, beyond time), vibhu (all-pervading, unrestricted in power and presence), nirādhāra (supportless, not resting on anything else), vyāpaka (pervading everything, free of spatial limitation), and akhilādhipa (the lord of all). Śabdān pratikṣaṇaṃ dhyāyan means these words are not to be visited occasionally but contemplated at every instant. Arthānurūpataḥ is the controlling instruction: the meditation must conform to the real meaning of the words, not merely their sound. Then one becomes kṛtārthaḥ—one whose true aim has been fulfilled.

Anvaya — "By meditating every instant on the words 'eternal, all-pervading, supportless, pervading all, lord of all' in exact conformity with what they actually mean, one becomes fulfilled."

Tatparya — This dhāraṇā newly contributes a discipline of continuous doctrinal contemplation. The verse does not ask you to notice one passing opening and drop into it; it asks you to keep re-shaping perception through five attributes of the absolute until the contracted self can no longer define itself by time, place, dependence, or subordination. If the words remain verbal, nothing happens. If their meaning saturates awareness, the mind is gradually forced to inhabit the same vastness those words denote.

Sādhana — Take one attribute at a time, or cycle through all five in sequence. When you contemplate nitya, do not mean "lasting a long time"; mean that which is untouched by before and after. When you contemplate vyāpaka, do not imagine a large object spread through space; mean that which is not outside anything. Keep the mind nirādhāram by refusing to let these words collapse into pious slogans or abstract theology. Hold them in uninterrupted continuity until their meaning becomes the atmosphere of awareness itself. That steady induction of meaning is the practice.

5. Jaideva Singh — The Logical

The essential reality of Śiva transcends time, space, and conceptual thought. The contemplation of nitya breaks the boundary of time; the contemplation of vyāpaka breaks the boundary of space. To meditate on nirādhāra is to realize a state that is nirvikalpa—utterly free from thought-constructs and totally independent. By pondering the direct implication of these five terms, the aspirant's mind becomes saturated with the essential reality of Bhairava, leading directly to Self-realization. This purely cognitive absorption classifies the practice as Śāktopāya.

6. Swami Lakshmanjoo — The Lineage

Continuity and the active induction of a specific perception are required here. The mind must be kept nirādhāram—completely without the attachment or support of ordinary, discriminating perceptions. To achieve this, intentionally induce the mind to perceive through these five specific words: eternal, all-pervading, support-less, everywhere, and the ruler of all objects. Meditate in absolute continuity on these meanings. By concentrating on the meaning in this exact way, the practitioner becomes kṛtārthaḥ—purposeful. The very purpose for which one was born into this field of repeated births and deaths is fulfilled.

7. Mark Dyczkowski & Christopher Wallis — Context & Philology

N/A — Neither Christopher Wallis nor Mark Dyczkowski provides direct, verse-specific commentary on this dhāraṇā in the available sources.

8. Daniel Odier — The Somatic Grounding

Odier renders the verse as an absorptive command: "Be that one and attain to Shiva/Shakti." Because this dhāraṇā operates through conceptual contemplation rather than physiological manipulation, the text offers no specific bodily hinge. The practice is the internal, conceptual assumption of limitlessness.

9. Paul Reps — The "Sudden Hit"

N/A — Reps' rendering for this verse ("As a hen mothers her chicks...") departs entirely from the Sanskrit instruction to contemplate the five attributes of Śiva. To maintain practice integrity, his translation is omitted here.

10. Upāya Type

Śāktopāya. Both Singh and Lakshmanjoo classify this as Śāktopāya, as it relies on the purification of thought and the continuous contemplation of specific, refined concepts (the five attributes) to induce the state of realization.

11. Resonance Check (Adhikāra)

This practice is suited for those with a strong intellectual and contemplative capacity. It requires the ability to hold an abstract concept (like "supportlessness" or "eternity") steadily in the mind until it transitions from a mere thought into a felt, unshakeable reality.

12. The "What Else?" — The Pitfall

The single most common trap is reducing this to rote mechanical chanting. The verse explicitly says arthānurūpataḥ—in conformity with their meaning. Merely repeating "eternal, omnipresent, supportless" like a parrot without actively invoking and tasting the vastness those words point to degrades the practice into empty noise.

13. Verse-Specific Glossary

  • nirādhāraḥ: Without support; self-existent. While typically applied to Śiva as requiring no foundation, here it serves as an instruction to keep the mind free from the support of ordinary, discriminating attachments.
  • kṛtārthaḥ: Having accomplished one's purpose or object; fulfilled. In this context, it means fulfilling the ultimate purpose of human incarnation—Self-realization.
  • pratikṣaṇam: Every instant, continuously. This emphasizes that the contemplation must be an unbroken stream, not a sporadic effort.
  • arthānurūpataḥ: In conformity with the meaning or sense. This is the crucial instruction preventing the practice from becoming mere mechanical repetition.
  • nirvikalpa: Free from thought-constructs. Singh invokes this to explain what is realized when contemplation of nirādhāra is carried through to its full depth.