Verse 3Dialogue
Is Bhairava Divided or Unified?
Devi
Here Devi is trying to understand whether Bhairava is made of separate parts or whether he is really one indivisible reality. She asks in several ways because the mystery is hard to phrase. The point is to know whether the divine is fragmented or whole.
विज्ञानभैरव तन्त्रम् वकं वा निात्मभेदेन भैरवे भैरवाकृतौ । विवशरोभेदवभन्नं वा वकं वा शविियात्मकम् ॥ ३ ॥
kiṃ vā nirātma-bhedena bhairave bhairavākṛtau | viveśa-roha-bhedena vibhinnaṃ vā kiṃ vā śivātmakam || 3 ||
Translation
Or is Bhairava, in Bhairava’s own form, divided by a distinction of selflessness? Or is he split by entering and rising distinctions? Or is he essentially Śiva?
Devi probes whether Bhairava is a divided entity or an undivided Śiva-nature.