Verse 5Dialogue
Beyond Para and Apara
Devi
Devi is asking whether the divine includes both the highest and lowest levels of reality. If you say he is only the highest, that seems too limited. She is testing whether the truth is bigger than neat categories.
विज्ञानभैरव तन्त्रम् परापरायाः सकलम् अपरायाश्च वा पुनः । पराया यदि तद्वत्स्यात् परत्वं तद् विरुध्यते ॥ ५ ॥
parāparāyāḥ sakalam aparāyāś ca vā punaḥ | parā yadi tadvat syāt paratvaṃ tad virudhyate || 5 ||
Translation
Is he all of the higher and the lower, or only the lower? If he were only the higher in that way, then his being supreme would be contradicted.
Devi questions whether Bhairava belongs to the highest state, the lower state, or both, and notes the contradiction in making him only one pole.