मध्यविकासे युक्तिमाहविकल्पक्षय-शक्तिसंकोचविकास-वाहच्छेदाद्यन्तकोटिनिभालनादय इहोपायाः ॥ १८ ॥इह मध्यशक्तिविकासे विकल्पक्षयादय उपायाः ।प्रागुपदिष्टपञ्चविधकृत्यकारित्वाद्यनुसरणेन सर्वमध्यभूतायाः संविदो विकासो जायते - इति अभिहितप्रायम् ।उपायान्तरम् अपि तु उच्यते - प्राणायाम-मुद्राबन्धादिसमस्तयन्त्रणातन्त्रत्रोटनेन सुखोपायमेव हृदये निहितचित्तः उक्तयुक्त्या स्वस्थितिप्रतिबन्धकं विकल्पम् अकिंचिच्चिन्तकत्वेन प्रशमयन् अविकल्पपरामर्शेन देहाद्यकलुषस्वचित्प्रमातृतानिभालनप्रवणः अचिरादेव उन्मिषद्विकासां तुर्य-तुर्यातीतसमावेशदशाम् आसादयति ।यथोक्तम्विकल्पहानेनैकाग्र्यात्क्रमेणेश्वरतापदम् ।इति श्रीप्रत्यभिज्ञायाम् ।श्रीस्पन्देऽपियदा क्षोभः प्रलीयेत तदा स्यात्परमं पदम् ॥इति ।श्रीज्ञानगर्भेऽपिविहाय सकलाः क्रिया जननि मानसीः सर्वतो विमुक्तकरणक्रियानुसृतिपारतन्त्र्योज्ज्वलम् ।स्थितैस्त्वदनुभावतः सपदि वेद्यते सा परा दशा नृभिरतन्द्रितासमसुखामृतस्यन्दिनी ॥इति ।अयं च उपायो मूर्धन्यत्वात् प्रत्यभिज्ञायां प्रतिपादितत्वात् आदौ उक्तः ।शक्तिसंकोचादयस्तु यद्यपि प्रत्यभिज्ञायां न प्रतिपादिताः तथापि आम्नायिकत्वात् अस्माभिः प्रसङ्गात् प्रदर्श्यन्ते बहुषु हि प्रदर्शितेषु कश्चित् केनचित् प्रवेक्ष्यति इति ।शक्तेः संकोच - इन्द्रियद्वारेण प्रसरन्त्या एव आकुञ्चनक्रमेण उन्मुखीकरणम् ।यथोक्तम् आथर्वणिकोपनिषत्सु कठवल्ल्यां चतुर्थवल्लीप्रथममन्त्रेपराञ्चि खानि व्यतृणत्स्वयंभूस्तस्मात्पराङ्पश्यति नान्तरात्मन् ।कश्चिद्धीरः प्रत्यगात्मानमैक्षद् आवृत्तचक्षुरमृतत्वमश्नन् ॥इति ।प्रसृताया अपि वा कूर्माङ्गसंकोचवत् त्राससमये हृत्प्रवेशवच्च सर्वतो निवर्तनम् ।यथोक्तम्तदपोद्धृते नित्योदितस्थितिः ।इति ।शक्तेर्विकासः अन्तर्निगूढाया अक्रममेव सकलकरणचक्रविस्फारणेनअन्तर्लक्ष्यो बहिर्दृष्टिर्निमेषोन्मेषवर्जितः ।इति ।भैरवीयमुद्रानुप्रवेशयुक्त्या बहिः प्रसरणम् ।यथोक्तं कक्ष्यास्तोत्रेसर्वाः शक्तीश्चेतसा दर्शनाद्याः स्वे स्वे वेद्ये यौगपद्येन विष्वक् ।क्षिप्त्वा मध्ये हाटकस्तम्भभूतस्तिष्ठन्विश्वाधार एकोऽवभासि ॥इति ।श्रीभट्टकल्लटेनापि उक्तम्रूपादिषु परिणामात् तत्सिद्धिः ।इति ।शक्तेश्च संकोचविकासौ नासापुटस्पन्दनक्रमोन्मिषत्सूक्ष्मप्राणशक्त्या भ्रूभेदनेन क्रमासादितोर्ध्वकुण्डलिनीपदे प्रसरविश्रान्तिदशापरिशीलनम् अधःकुण्डलिन्यां च षष्ठवक्त्ररूपायां प्रगुणीकृत्य शक्तिं तन्मूल-तदग्र-तन्मध्यभूमिस्पर्शावेशः ।यथोक्तं विज्ञानभट्टारकेवह्नेर्विषस्य मध्ये तु चित्तं सुखमयं क्षिपेत् ।केवलं वायुपूर्णं वा स्मरानन्देन युज्यते ॥इति ।अत्र वह्निः अनुप्रवेशक्रमेण संकोचभूः विषस्थानम् प्रसरयुक्त्या विकासपदम् विषॢ व्याप्तौ इति अर्थानुगमात् ।वाहयोः - वामदक्षिणगतयोः प्राणापानयोः छेदो - हृदयविश्रान्तिपुरःसरम् अन्तः ककारहकारादिप्रायानच्कवर्णोच्चारेण विच्छेदनम् ।यथोक्तं ज्ञानगर्भेअनच्कककृतायतिप्रसृतपार्श्वनाडीद्वयच्छिदो विधृतचेतसो हृदयपङ्कजस्योदरे ।उदेति तव दारितान्धतमसः स विद्याङ्कुरो य एष परमेशतां जनयितुं पशोरप्यलम् ॥इति ।आदिकोटिः हृदयम् अन्तकोटिः द्वादशान्तः तयोः प्राणोल्लासविश्रान्त्यवसरे निभालनं - चित्तनिवेशनेन परिशीलनम् ।यथोक्तं विज्ञानभैरवेहृद्याकाशे निलीनाक्षः पद्मसंपुटमध्यगः ।अनन्यचेताः सुभगे परं सौभाग्यमाप्नुयात् ॥इति ।तथायथा तथा यत्र तत्र द्वादशान्ते मनः क्षिपेत् ।प्रतिक्षणं क्षीणवृत्तेर्वैलक्षण्यं दिनैर्भवेत् ॥इति ।आदिपदात् उन्मेषदशानिषेवणम् ।यथोक्तम्उन्मेषः स तु विज्ञेयः स्वयं तमुपलक्षयेत् ॥इति स्पन्दे ।तथा रमणीयविषयचर्वणादयश्च संगृहीताः ।यथोक्तं श्रीविज्ञानभैरवे एवजग्धिपानकृतोल्लासरसानन्दविजृम्भणात् ।भावयेद्भरितावस्थां महानन्दमयो भवेत् ॥गीतादिविषयास्वादासमसौख्यैकतात्मनः ।योगिनस्तन्मयत्वेन मनोरूढेस्तदात्मता ॥यत्र यत्र मनस्तुष्टिर्मनस्तत्रैव धारयेत् ।तत्र तत्र परानन्दस्वरूपं संप्रकाशते ॥इति ।एवमन्यदपि आनन्दपूर्णस्वात्मभावनादिकम् अनुमन्तव्यम् ।इत्येवमादयः अत्र मध्यविकासे उपायाः ॥ १८ ॥
In plain words
He gives the method for the unfolding of the centre: Here the means are the dissolving of vikalpa, the contraction and expansion of Śakti, the cutting of the two currents, attending to the first and last points, and the like. Here, in the unfolding of the central Śakti, the dissolving of vikalpa and the rest are the means. It has, in effect, already been said that saṃvid, the centre of all, unfolds by following the performing of the five kinds of act and the other teachings given before. But another means is also given. Breaking free of every constraint of technique, prāṇāyāma, mudrā, bandha and the rest, he sets the mind in the heart by an easy means alone. By the method stated, thinking of nothing at all, he stills vikalpa, which obstructs his abiding in himself; and, intent, through reflective awareness free of vikalpa, on attending to his being the knower that is his own cit, unstained by body and the rest, he soon reaches the state of samāveśa in turya and turyātīta, whose unfolding is opening out. As it is said: "By the loss of vikalpa, through one-pointedness, step by step, the state of the Lord." So in the Pratyabhijñā. In the Spanda too: "When agitation dissolves, then there is the supreme state." And in the Jñānagarbha: "O Mother, when people let go of every working of the mind on every side and abide by Your power, at once that supreme state is known, shining, freed from dependence on following the workings of the senses, pouring out the nectar of a joy unwearied and without equal." This means is given first because it is the highest and because it is taught in the Pratyabhijñā. The contraction of Śakti and the rest are not taught in the Pratyabhijñā, yet, since they belong to the tradition, we show them here in passing; for when many are shown, one person will enter by one and another by another. The contraction of Śakti is turning her upward by drawing her in, even as she flows out through the doors of the senses. As it is said in the first mantra of the fourth Vallī of the Kaṭhavallī, among the Upaniṣads of the Atharvaveda: "The Self-existent pierced the openings outward; so one looks outward, not within the self. A certain wise one, his eye turned back, attaining deathlessness, beheld the inner Self." Or it is the drawing back of her from every side even when she has gone out, like a tortoise drawing in its limbs, or like entering the heart in a moment of fear. As it is said: "When that is withdrawn, there is the abiding that is ever arisen." The expansion of Śakti, she who is hidden within, is, all at once, by opening wide the whole wheel of the senses, "the aim within, the gaze without, free of the closing and opening of the eyes," that is, by the method of entering the mudrā of Bhairava, her spreading outward. As it is said in the Kakṣyāstotra: "With the mind casting all the powers, sight and the rest, each on its own object, all at once and in every direction, You stand in the middle like a golden pillar and shine as the one support of the universe." Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa too has said: "Its accomplishment comes from transformation in form and the rest." Again, the contraction and expansion of Śakti: dwelling on the states of flowing out and coming to rest at the level of the upper kuṇḍalinī, reached step by step by piercing the brows with the subtle power of prāṇa that opens through the sequence of the quivering of the nostrils; and, in the lower kuṇḍalinī, which has the form of the sixth mouth, straightening the Śakti and entering, by touch, the ground of her root, her tip and her middle. As it is said in the Vijñānabhaṭṭāraka: "One should cast the mind, made of pleasure, into the middle between fire and poison, alone or filled with breath; one is joined with the ānanda of love." Here "fire" is the ground of contraction, by way of entering in; the place of "poison" is the level of expansion, by way of flowing out, following the sense of the root viṣḷ, "to pervade". Of the two currents, that is, of prāṇa and apāna, moving on the left and the right, the cutting is severing them, after first resting in the heart, by uttering within a letter without a vowel, such as ka or ha. As it is said in the Jñānagarbha: "For one who cuts the two side channels, stretched out and flowing, by a ka without a vowel, who holds the mind in the hollow of the heart lotus, and who has split blind darkness, there rises that shoot of Your knowledge which can bring forth the state of the Supreme Lord even in a bound one." The first point is the heart, the last point the dvādaśānta. Attending to them, at the moment prāṇa rises and comes to rest, is dwelling on them by settling the mind there. As it is said in the Vijñāna Bhairava: "With the senses dissolved in the space of the heart, dwelling in the middle of the closed lotus, with mind on nothing else, O lovely one, one gains the highest good fortune." And: "In whatever way, wherever, one should cast the mind into the dvādaśānta; for one whose activity wanes moment by moment, a singular state arises in days." By the words "and the like" the cultivation of the state of opening out is meant. As it is said: "That is to be known as the opening; one should observe it oneself." So in the Spanda. Likewise savouring delightful objects and the like are included. As the Vijñāna Bhairava itself says: "From the swelling of the ānanda of the savour of delight that eating and drinking bring, one should contemplate the state of fullness; one becomes made of great ānanda. For the yogin who becomes one with the unequalled joy of tasting objects such as song, through being made of it, when the mind is mounted there, there is identity with that. Wherever the mind finds contentment, there one should hold the mind; there, just there, the nature of supreme ānanda shines forth." Other means, such as contemplating one's own Self as full of ānanda, are to be understood likewise. These and the like are the means here for the unfolding of the centre.