image credit: Zoltan Tasi
In the eighth verse of his Cidvilāsastava (‘Hymn to the Play of Consciousness’), Amṛtānanda contemplates the esoteric meaning of the ritual altar and the deity:
वेदिका हृदयपद्मकर्णिका चिन्मयी वसति तत्र देवता ।
यो हि तद्यजनकर्मकर्मठस्तस्य पाशभिदुरः स भैरवः ॥ ८ ॥
vedikā hṛdayapadmakarṇikā cinmayī vasati tatra devatā |
yo hi tadyajanakarmakarmaṭhas tasya pāśabhiduraḥ sa bhairavaḥ || 8 ||
“The ritual altar is the throne of the heart lotus. The deity that is consciousness dwells there. Bhairava destroys the limitations of the one who is devoted to the worship of that [deity of consciousness].” (translation by Ben Williams)
