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Anathma Sri Vigarhana Prakaranam
(Kritika nekoga, ki ni spoznal svojega Jaza)
Avtor: Adi Šankaračarja
Angleški prevod: P.R.Ramachander
Natipkal: Slavko (hvala)
Kaj potem, če ima izobrazbo, ki jo počastijo kralji?
Kaj potem, če je bogat in zelo spoštovan?
Kaj potem, če je užival z žensko lepega videza?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če nosi okrasje, kakor so zlate zapestnice?
Kaj potem, če se je odel s svilenimi oblačili?
Kaj potem, če ga je zadovoljila dobro pripravljena gostija?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če je obiskal nekaj lepih dežel?
Kaj potem, če ima številne dobro negovane sorodnike?
Kaj potem, če se je rešil žalosti revščine?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če se je okopal v sveti vodi, kakršna je Ganges?
Kaj potem, če je nekajkrat razdal 16 vrst daril?
Kaj potem, če je milijon krat zrecitiral svete psalme?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če so vsi člani njegove rodovine lepo ozaljšani?
Kaj potem, če si je po vsem telesu nanesel pepel?
Kaj potem, če nosi sveto ogrlico, kakršna je Rudrakša?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če je učene Brahmine zadovoljil s hrano?
Kaj potem, če je z žgalno daritvijo osrečil božanska bitja?
Kaj potem, če je njegova slava poznana širom sveta?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če je s stradanjem kaznoval svoje telo?
Kaj potem, če je s svojo sladko ženo dobil sina?
Kaj potem, če je obvladal vadbo pranajame?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če je v bitki porazil vse svoje sovražnike?
Kaj potem, če je skozi nove prijatelje okrepil svojo moč?
Kaj potem, če si je skozi jogo pridobil okultne moči?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če je peš prečkal ocean?
Kaj potem, če je sposoben zadržati dih?
Kaj potem, če v svoji dlani drži goro Meru?
Če se ne
zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če je spil strup, kakor da je mleko?
Kaj potem, če je pogoltnil ogenj kakor pokovko?
Kaj potem, če se podobno ptici giblje po nebu?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če je zadržal ogenj in ga nadzoruje?
Kaj potem, če je sposoben predreti trde kovine?
Kaj potem, če s pomočjo bajalice zna odkriti zaklade?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če kraljuje svetu?
Kaj potem, če zavlada nad vsemi bogovi?
Kaj potem, če postane glavar modrijanov?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če je z recitacijami sposoben vse nadzirati?
Kaj potem, če je sposoben natančno zadeti svoj cilj?
Kaj potem, če lahko vidi preteklost, sedanjost, prihodnost?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če zna preseči strasti in skrbi?
Kaj potem, če zna zajeziti svojo jezo?
Kaj potem, če se zna izviti iz objema lakomnosti?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če je sposoben razpršiti temo zablod?
Kaj potem, če se zmore otresti vsega svojega ponosa?
Kaj potem, če ga ne prizadeva zavist?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kaj potem, če je pridobil svet Brahme?
Kaj potem, če je videl svet Višnuja?
Kaj potem, če je vladal svetu Šive?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Kdorkoli, čigar srce vedno premišljuje
o spoznavanju lastnega jaza,
ta je edini primeren za samospoznanje.
Kajti drugi so z željami omamljeni
in ne uvidijo tega sveta,
zato se jim nikoli ne pojavi misel o samospoznanju.
Kaj potem, če je sposoben zadržati dih?
Kaj potem, če v svoji dlani drži goro Meru?
Če se ne zaveda svojega lastnega jaza.
Natipkal: Bojan (hvala)
Po spoštljivem poklonu Bogu in Guruju je Šri Šankara dejal, da si je zelo težko pridobiti človeško rojstvo. Individualna duša ( dživa ) gre skozi brezštevilna rojstva v obliki raznih drugih bitij preden se rodi kot človek. Celo ko se to zgodi, je nagnjenje do preučevanja svetih spisov, do doseganja razločevanja med Jazom in ne-Jazom, ter končno do doseganja osvoboditve rezultat vrlin, pridobljenih v številnih preteklih življenjih.
Tri stvari so zelo redke in so dosežene le po Božji milosti: lastnost biti človeško bitje v pravem pomenu besede ( ne zgolj roditi se kot človek ), silno hrepenenje po osvoboditvi in druženje z velikimi dušami ( mahatma ). Oseba, ki si kljub prednostim rojstva v omikani družini in študija Ved ne prizadeva za osvoboditev, zapravi svoje dragoceno življenje. Osvoboditve ni možno doseči skozi kopičenje bogastva ali vršenje obredov, zapisanih v Vedah, ali s pomočjo dobrih del, dokler se jih izvaja v želji dobiti neko osebno korist. Tega ne smemo razumeti v mislih, da je obrede in dobra dela potrebno opustiti. Nasprotno, Šri Šankara na mnogih mestih poudarja, da je v Vedah zapovedane akcije treba vršiti, da se doseže čistost duha. Če se taiste aktivnosti izvaja kot karma jogo, torej brez želje kakršnikoli osebni koristi za izvajalca in kot daritev Bogu, bodo pripeljale do čistosti duha. Celo dobra aktivnost, obredna ali posvetna, ki se jo izvrši z željo po dosegu neke osebne koristi ali zgolj slave, povzroča vezanost. Celo pridobitev vrlin z vršenjem dobrih del povzroči vezanost, ker se mora oseba ponovno roditi, da bi uživala rezultate svojih dobrih dejanj. Torej duhovni iskalec mora vršiti aktivnosti na ta način, da ne ustvarijo niti vrline (punja).
Gita pravi, da ‘nihče ne more obstajati niti za hip, ne da bi deloval’ ( B6, III, 5 ). Ker je opravljanje aktivnosti neogibno, jih mora posameznik vršiti tako, da ne ustvarjajo bodisi vrlino ali greh. Metoda za doseganje tega je karma joga. Šri Šankara v svojem komentarju Gite razloži, da je v izrazu karma joga beseda ´joga` uporabljena v smislu sredstvo za dosego združenosti z »Brahmanom«. Tako »karma joga« označuje aktivnost, ki je izvršena na ta način, da postane ‘sredstvo za združitev z Brahmanom’, kar je dejansko osvoboditev. Izjava iz Bhagavadgite (II,50) »yoga karmasukaušalam« Šri Sankara v svoji Bhašji (komentar) tolmači takole: »Joga je veščina delovanja«. Veščina je v preobražanju delovanja, ki je že po svoji naravi vzrok vezanosti, v sredstvo za odpravljanje vezanosti. To sredstvo je karma joga. Slednja prečisti duha. Samo čist duh se pravi, duh, ki je prost želja, pohlepa, samovšečnosti itd. je primeren za prejetje znanja o Jazu. Osvoboditev se doseže samo s pomočjo poznavanja svoje lastne resnične narave in nikakor ne s samimi dejanji, bodisi vedskimi ali posvetnimi. Za dosego znanja o Jazu mora človek opustiti koprnenje po posvetnih užitkih in pristopiti h guruju, ki je razsvetljena oseba. Potem bi skladno z njegovimi navodili moral poizvedeti o naravi Jaza. Človek, ki je v šibki svetlobi vrv zamešal (za) s kačo, se prestraši in vpije na pomoč. Njegov strah bo izginil samo, če bo ugotovil resnično naravo predmeta pred seboj z lučjo svetilke. Nobena akcija ne bo pomagala pregnati namišljene kače. Podobno mora človek sam poizvedeti o svoji lastni resnični naravi s poslušanjem svetih spisov prek svojega Guruja (šravanam), premišljevanjem o slišanem, da se odstrani dvome(mananam) in meditiranjem o naukih (nididhyaasanam).
Zakaj osvoboditev ne more biti rezultat katere koli akcije
Natipkal: Bojan (hvala)
Rezultati vseh dejavnosti spadajo zgolj v 4 kategorije:
proizvodnja, dosežek, sprememba in očiščenje. Brahman večno obstaja in ni
nekaj, kar je treba proizvesti. Mi smo vedno Brahman, celo kadar ga ne poznamo
in tako Ta ni nekaj, kar se doseže. Brahman večno obstaja kot nespremenljiv in
zato ni nekaj, kar bi se doseglo s spreminjanjem nečesa. On je tudi večno čist
zato se ga ne pridobi z očiščenjem nečesa. Kot vemo iz dejanske izkušnje ima
vse, kar nastane z delovanjem, svoj začetek in potemtakem tudi konec. Toda
osvoboditev je trajna. Iz vseh teh razlogov osvoboditev ne more biti rezultat
katere koli akcije. Osvoboditev ni nič drugega kakor odstranitev naše
nevednosti glede svoje lastne resnične narave. Neznanje se lahko odpravi le z
znanjem in z nobenim drugim sredstvom.
Duhovni iskalec si mora zagotoviti določeno predhodno usposobljenost, poznano
kot sadhana-čatuštaya, o čemer je govora v nadaljevanju.
4 predhodne zahteve (sadhana- čatuštaya)
Da bi poslušanje, premišljevanje in meditacija lahko obrodili sadove, mora iskalec predhodno pridobiti štiri sposobnosti:
(1) razločevanje med večnim in ne-večnim (nitja-anitja–vastu vivekah),
(2) odvezanost od vseh užitkov na tem svetu kakor tudi od
tistih iz višjih svetov, nebes
(iha- amutra – phalabhoga – viraagah),
(3) razvitost šestih vrlin, začenši z obvladovanjem uma (šamadišatkasampattih), in
(4) silno hrepenenje po osvoboditvi (mumukšutvam). Vsaka od teh je opisana spodaj.
a) Odtegniti duha od vseh čutnih užitkov s prepoznanjem njihove škodljivosti in ga ustaliti v cilju (t.j. Jazu) posameznika je šama.
b) Krotenje organov zaznavanja in delovanja (gjanendrija in karmendrija) je poznano kot dama.
c) Ko um preneha funkcionirati prek zunanjih organov, je to stanje uparati.
d) Zdržati vse težave brez stokanja ali zaskrbljenosti in to brez poskušanja zoperstavljanja tem se imenuje titikša.
e) Trdno prepričanje glede resnice svetih spisov in Gurujevih naukov šraddha.
f) Um, ki ostane trdno zasidran v neopisljivem Brahmanu je dosegel samaadhaano.
Od naštetih sta najpomembnejša nevezanost in hrepenenje po osvoboditvi. Samo, če sta ti dve vrlini močni bodo druge, npr. šamaa itd. obrodile sadove. Če nevezanost in želja po osvoboditvi nista zelo močni, bodo druge lastnosti tako neresnične kakor voda v prividu in s tem neuporabne.
V 32. kitici Vivekačudamani je rečeno: »Med raznimi sredstvi za osvoboditev je predanost ( bhakti ) najsijajnejše.« Toda beseda ´ bhakti` tu ni uporabljena v običajnem smislu predanosti osebnemu Bogu. V tej kitici sami je bhakti definirana kot neprestano premišljevanje o človekovi bistveni naravi ( sva-svarupa-anusandhanaa ). Glede na komentar Swamija Čandrašekara Bhartija ta beseda pomeni nididhjaasaan oz. poglobljeno ponavljajočo meditacijo na mahaavakjo, ki sledi sravani, poslušanju Gurujevega govora (šruti) in premišljevanja o tem, da bi se odpravilo vse dvome. V tem kontekstu se specifične pomene teh treh besed ( sravana, manana in nididhjaasaana ), kakor so podani v drugih avtoritativnih knjigah, lahko navede, saj imajo te besede zelo pomembno mesto v vedanti.
Natipkal: Bojan (hvala)
Guru mora biti dobro podkovan v svetih spisih, brezgrešen in prost želja. Gurujev duh je vedno čvrsto osredotočen na Brahmana. Je poln sočutja. Vedno je odločen pomagati drugim
brez pričakovanja poljubnega povračila. Učenec bi se moral približati Guruju s ponižnostjo in ga zaprositi za poduk o sredstvih za dosego osvoboditve. Guru takšnemu izbranemu iskalcu razkrije, da v resnici slednji ni nihče drug kakor vrhunski Jaz in da je vse trpljenje izkusil samo zaradi nepoznavanja svoje resnične narave. To nevednost se lahko odstrani z znanjem, ki ga bo porodilo pravilno poizvedbo v pomen, ki ga prineso Upanišade. Učenec nato postavi naslednjih sedem vprašanj:
1. Kaj je vezanost?
2. Kako je nastala?
3. Kako se nadaljuje?
4. Kako jo je možno izkoreniniti?
5. Kaj je nasprotje Jazu?
6. Kdo je vrhunska duša?
7. Kako lahko ločimo med obema?
3. KONČNI CILJ (izsek iz Radostno Življenje)
Natipkala: Irena (hvala)
Vsakdo želi doseči končni cilj. Hotenje poročiti se z nekom je takojšnji, vendar začasni cilj. Končni cilj je doseči zadovoljstvo.
Obstajata dve vrsti zadovoljstva. Eno je začasno in drugo je večno. Vsakogar zanima večno zadovoljstvo.
PRIMER: Če je glasbeni nastop dober, želimo, da traja v nedogled, zato da bi tako dolgo lahko bili srečni. Vendar se to ne zgodi. (Poleg tega, če bi se zgodilo, bomo vedeli, da glasbeni nastop ne more zagotoviti trajne sreče.)
Naše pričakovanje neminljive sreče oziroma večnega zadovoljstva ni napačno. Vendar mi ne poznamo celotnega pomena tega.
»Večno« pomeni tisto, kar traja za vedno. »Začasno« pomeni tisto, kar pride in gre. Kar pride, potemtakem ne more trajati večno. Da bi bilo »večno«, mora biti ves čas prisotno. Sreča mora (po tej logiki) biti narava denarja / imena / slave itd. Vemo, da ni.
PRIMER: Vroča voda v loncu, postavljena na gorilnik.
Vročina je narava ognja, zato je večno navzoča v njem. Vročina je začasna v primeru lonca in vode. V obeh je prisotna zaradi določenega pogoja (lonec, ki je na ognju) in če se ta pogoj spremeni, bo vročina izginila. Podobno kot če nas sreča obide zaradi neke okoliščine, bo čez čas, ko ta pogoj ne bo več izpolnjen, splahnela.
PRIMER: Poslovnež je srečen, ker je ustvaril velik dobiček.
Ko bo deležen velike izgube, bo srečo nadomestila silna žalost. Če želi večno srečo, ne more izhajati iz posla. Dejstvo je, da e more izhajati iz ničesar oziroma nikogar. Skratka, ne more priti. Nekdo lahko doseže večno srečo le skozi poglobljeno razumevanje.
Brž, ko je uresničil takšno večno zadovoljstvo, je človek dosegel končni cilj. Brez tega osnovnega razumevanja vsakdo v življenju zasleduje začasne cilje. To je kakor nakup vozovnice do naslednje postaje, upajoč, da bo tam našel zadovoljstvo. Vse življenje je zapravljeno za takšno brezumno potovanje in nazadnje človek lahko ugotovi, da ni prišel nikamor.
To je možno preveriti pri večini upokojencev. Čutili bodo veliko razočaranje, da niso mogli doseči umirjenega, srečnega in zadovoljnega življenja kljub trdemu delu tekom njihovega produktivnega življenja.
Vsakdo išče nemoten mir, trajno varnost in nepojemajočo srečo. Skratka, vsak hoče Radostno Življenje. Kljub temu pa niti ne vedo tega niti ne poznajo prave poti, ki jih bo pripeljala tja.
SADHANA PANCHAKAM (Duhovna praksa v petih kiticah)
Prevedel: Swami Chinmayananda
Objavil: Chinmaya Mission, Mumbai
Natipkala: Irena (hvala)
1. Vsakodnevno proučuj vede.
Marljivo opravljaj dolžnosti (karme), ki jih predpisujejo.
Vsa ta dela (karme) naj bodo kot čaščenje, posvečena Gospodu.
Odreci se vsem željam v duhu.
Izperi kopice grehov iz nedri.
Razberi, da so užitki čutnih reči (samsara) prerešetani z bolečino.
Z doslednim prizadevanjem išči višji Jaz.
Pobegni iz ujetništva »doma«.
2. Poišči druščino modrijanov.
Utrjen bodi v neomajni predanosti Gospodu.
Neguj vrline kakršna je mir itd.
Najdi si zatočišče pri odličnem mojstru (Sat–Guru).
Vsakodnevno služi njegovim lotosovim stopalom.
Obožuj »Om« (zvok) Nespremenljivega.
Poglobljeno prisluhni izrekom Upanišad.
3. Vselej premišljuj o pomenu Upanišadskih zapovedi in se zateci k Resnici o Brahmanu.
Ogibaj se sprijenim trditvam, a sledi razumnosti Šrutijev (Upanišad).
Vedno bodi zatopljen v občutje (bhava) – »jaz sem Brahman«.
Odpovej se ponosu.
Opusti lažno, zgrešeno zamisel - »jaz sem telo«.
Popolno se odpovej težnji po prerekanju z modrimi ljudmi.
4. Lakota ozdravi bolezni.
Vsakodnevno zaužij »zdravilo» z miloščino pridobljene hrane (Bikša).
Ne prosjači za okusno hrano.
Zadovoljen bodi s tem, kar ti izžreba življenje, kakor da je On tako namenil.
Zdrži vse pare nasprotij: vročino in mraz in podobno.
Izogni se praznemu govorjenju.
Bodi ravnodušen.
Reši se iz mreže prijaznosti drugih ljudi.
5. Radostno živi v samoti.
Utišaj svoj um v Najvišjem (Gospodu).
Povsod spoznaj in uglej Vseprežemajoči Jaz.
Razberi, da je končno vesolje projekcija Jaza.
S pravilno akcijo v sedanjosti premagaj učinke dejanj, izvršenih v preteklih življenjih.
Z modrostjo se odveži bodočih dejanj (Agami).
Izkusi in izčrpaj »Prarabdho« - sadove preteklih dejanj.
Odtlej živi zatopljen v občutje - »jaz sem Brahman«.
Natipkal: Dejan (hvala)
Možno, da je to najsijajnejša knjiga, ki opredeli predanost (bhakti). Napisal jo je Narada, ki je bil največji od vseh v smislu predanosti gospodu Narajanu.
1. Sedaj bom podrobno razložil, kaj je mišljeno pod izrazom predanost Bogu (bhakti).
2. Predanost Bogu je poosebljenje silne (najvišje) ljubezni do Njega.
3. Je tudi nesmrtna ali sladka kakor nektar (človeku prat tako podeli nesmrtnost).
4. Kdor jo pridobi postane popoln, nesmrten in zadovoljen.
5. Kdor jo pridobi, nima skrbi in želja, ne sovraži in ne uživa ter se ne vznemiri.
6. Kdor jo doseže, postane opit (omamljen, umirjen in opit z Jazom (dušo).
7. Ta predanost ne ustvarja želja, ker je po naravi vrsta odrekanja.
8. Opustitev družbenih in vedskih navad, vključno z religioznimi dejavnostmi, se uvršča med oblike takšnega odrekanja.
9. Biti eno z Njim in hkrati popolnoma ravnodušen do vseh stvari, ki so v nasprotju z Njim, se prav tako šteje za obliko takšnega odrekanja.
10. Žrtvovanje odvisnosti od česarkoli razen Njega je prvovrstnost- tisto, kar nima drugega kakor Njega.
11. V običajnem življenju in v smernicah vedskega je prvovrstno, če počnemo, kar je Zanj koristno.
12. Ko dosežemo to kakor skala trdno stabilno čvrstost, se (lahko) sledi vedskim predpisom.
13. Če tega ne storiš, obstaja možnost nazadovanja.
14. Drži se pravil sveta, dokler ne dosežeš stanja odrekanja, opravljaj dejavnosti kot so hranjenje, ki se mora nadaljevati dokler telo obstaja.
15. Naštete bodo različne definicije predanosti, kakor jo mnogi vidijo.
16. Močna želja, da se ga obožuje z ljubečo naklonjenostjo – za modrijana Baražara je »predanost«.
17. Za modrijana Gorga je »predanost« možna želja, da se posluša zgodbe v Njem.
18. Po modrijanu Sondilji, je predanost treba izvršiti brez konflikta za duševno srečo.
19. Vendar je po Naradovih besedah »predanost« opravljanje vseh dolžnosti v Njegovem imenu in Njemu v prid, in postati zelo žalosten, če se ti zgodi, da ga za sekundo pozabiš.
20. Ta »predanost« je kakor vsak od navedenih pogledov.
21. To je možno najbolje ilustrirati s »predanostjo« pastiric iz Gokula.
22. V njihovem primeru ni bila Njegova veličina prav nikdar pozabljena.
23. Kajti poljubna »predanost« pri kateri se pozablja Njegovo veličino, ja kakor nedovoljena ljubezenska afera.
24. Vsa dejanja, ki so rezultat te »predanosti« (ljubezni) se izvrši za nudenje in krepitev Njegovega zadovoljstva oziroma vsa dejanja takšne »predanosti« so namenjena edino za ugajanje Njemu.
25. Ta »predanost« je veliko sijajnejša od poti delovanja (karma) poti znanja (gjama) in poti disciplinirane kontemplacije (joga).
26. Iz preprostega razloga, ker je ta »predanost« kakor sad, pridobljen s katerokoli od teh metod.
28. Nekateri verjamejo, da je samo znanje pot do dosežka.
29. Nekateri verjamejo, da sta znanje in predanost neodvisna drug od drugega.
30. Brahmanov sin [modrijan Narada] je prepričan, da je »predanost« svoj lasten rezultat.
31. To je popolnoma enako bežnemu pogledovanju proti palači ali obveščenosti o razkošni gostiji.
32. Pogledovanje proti palači kralja ne osreči niti poslušanje o dobri hrani ne odpravi Njegove lakote. Podobno ti vedenje o »predanosti« prav nič ne pomaga. Biti moraš »predan«.
33. Torej vsi tisti, ki bi se želeli rešiti spon rojstev in vnovičnih rojstev bi morali zgolj vaditi »predanost«.
34. Učeni zatorej pojejo slavo rezultatom »predanosti«.
35. Ta »predanost« postane dovršena šele, ko žrtvujemo uživaške stvari in posvetne družbene stike.
36. Dovršena postane skozi nenehno ponavljanje svetih imen.
37. Če vselej poslušamo ali pojemo o oblikah Boga, prav tako doseže dovršenost.
38. Toda daleč najpomembnejši za dovršeno predanost sta milost velikih učenih ljudi in božja milost.
39. Težko je priti v druščino milosti velikih učenih ljudi, ne pridobi se je zlahka in ne gre nikdar v nič.
40. Druščina takšnih ljudi je dosegljiva samo po božji milosti.
41. Ne obstaja prav nikakršna razlika med Bogom in Njegovimi ljudmi – predanimi oboževalci.
42. Torej išči druščino silno učenih, kajti samo po tej metodi ti bo dosegljiva.
43. Prav tako se zmeraj izogibaj slabi druščini.
44. Kajti takšna druščina (slabih ljudi) vodi v strast, jezo, topost, izgubo spomina, izgubo modrosti in tako pelje v popoln propad.
45. Ti (jeza, strast, itd.) čeprav se v slabi druščini pojavijo kot majhni valovi, dobijo zagon in postanejo kakor morje.
46. Kdo lahko prečka? Kdo lahko prečka širjavo iluzije? Kdor je prost vseh posvetnih navezanosti, služi modrim ljudem in ne goji občutka »moje«, samo ta lahko preseže iluzije.
47. Kdor živi na svetem kraju v osami, kdor je raztrgal verige posvetnih navezanosti, kdor preseže vse karakteriziranje in kdor opusti tako užitke kakor tudi jogo, samo ta lahko preči ocean iluzij. [V osami – v osami od slabe družbe. Odrekajoč se udobju in zahtevam, postane povsem odvisen od Gospoda glede česarkoli, na da bi si neodvisno želel te stvari.]
48. Kdor žrtvuje rezultate delovanja, kdor se oddvoji od vseh dejanj in kdor žrtvuje dvoje nasprotij; denimo vročino-mraz, užitek-trpljenje, priznanje-žalitev itd., samo ta lahko prečka ocean iluzij.
49. Kdor opusti celo vede in doseže neomejeno ljubezen predanosti, samota lahko prečka ocean iluzij.
50. On prečka, le on prečka in še drugim pomaga preseči kopreno Maje.
51. Te skrajno ljubeznive predanosti ni možno definirati.
52. (Skrajna ljubezen) je kakor obnašanje mutca, saj ne pove, kaj čuti.
53. Zelo poredkoma so nekateri ljudje sposobni razložiti, kaj čutijo.
54. Ta ljubezen predanosti je brez vsakršne lastnine, brez vsakršnih želja in narašča z vsako sekundo, opisati pa jo je možno le, če se jo zares doživi.
55. Kdor ima to ljubezen predanosti, je sposoben videti samo Njega povsod, je sposoben vselej poslušati samo o Njem, je sposoben vedno govorit in razmišljati le o Njem.
56. Poznamo tri vrste predanosti glede na tip ljudi; satvični (čistega srca), radžasični (bojevniškega izgleda) in tamasični (nizkotni).
57. Vsaka izmed teh treh kategorij je boljša od tiste, ki ji sledi, ali z drugimi besedami – satvična bhakti je boljša od radžasične, ta pa je boljša od tamasične.
58. Ta pot predanosti je najlažja od poti za dosego Boga.
59. Ta pot predanosti je svoj lastni dokaz in ne potrebuje nekega drugega dokaza.
60. Je poosebljen mir in dokončna sreča.
61. Kdor vadi predanost, ne bi smel biti zaskrbljen glede posvetnih zadev, saj je vse svoje delovanje prepustil Bogu.
62. Potem ko predan človek doseže cilj, se ne sme izmikati posvetnemu delovanju, temveč ga izvajati, ne meneč se za rezultate.
63. Ne poslušaj zgodb, govoric ali vesti o ženskah, brezvercih in sovražnikih.
64. Žrtvuj egoizem in samopoveličevanje.
65. Če se po darovanju vseh dejanj Bogu povrnejo občutja jeze, ponosa in strasti, jih je prav tako potrebno darovati Njemu.
66. Ko se razbije tri razlike, pravkar izpostavljene, bi človek moral vedno služiti Njemu, kakor služabnik ali žena z neomadeževano ljubeznijo in vsekakor z neomadeževano ljubeznijo.
67. Samo tisti predani oboževalci so sijajni, katerim je On en in edini cilj.
68. Tisti predani oboževalci s solznimi očmi, s tresočim glasom in naježenimi lasmi vedno razpravljajo o Njem in so dar za Njegovo rodbino in svet.
69. Ti predani ljudje naredijo sveto vodo bolj sveto, iz dejanj dobra dejanja in svete spise še svetejše.
70. Kajti izpolnjeni so z Bogom.
71. Zaradi njih se duhovi veselijo, bogovi plešejo in svet dobi dobrega voditelja.
72. Znotraj njih ni ločevanja glede na kasto, znanje, izgled, rojstvo, bogastvo ali dejanja.
73. Kajti vse to je Njegovo.
74. Ti predani ljudje se ne bi smeli spuščati v pregovarjanje.
75. Na podlagi različnih izraženih mnenj, ni pri tem možno priti do nikakršnih sklepov.
76. Vedno bi morali poslušati in brati o predanosti, ter se lotevati dejanj za povečevanje takšne predanosti.
77. Morali bi dočakati dan, ko bodo sreča, žalost, želja in korist popolnoma pozabljeni, in kar naprej z ljubeznijo premišljevati o Njem vsako sekundo.
78. Strogo naj se držijo nenasilja, resnice, čistosti, sočutja in vere.
79. Vedno in v vseh okoliščinah, brez preusmerjanja svojega duha k drugim mislim naj molijo k Bogu.
80. Ko ga oboževalci na takšen način opevanega, se bo On pojavil pred njimi in jim poklonil spoznanje.
81. Za tistega, ki je v duhu, telesu in besedah iskren do Njega, je predanost najodličnejša pot. Je najodličnejša.
82. Čeprav je predanost ena lastnost, se izraža na 11 različnih načinov glede na posamične duše: 1. Hrepenenje, da se posluša o Njegovi veličini, 2. Hrepenenje, da se vidi Njegovo sijajno obliko, 3. Hrepenenje, da se ga stalno obožuje, 4. Hrepenenje, da se ga vedno spominja, 5. Hrepenenje, da se mu vedno služi kot suženj, 6. Hrepenenje po najtesnejšem prijateljstvu z Njim, 7. Hrepenenje, da se postane Njegova soproga, 8. Hrepenenje, da smo mu naklonjeni kakor starši, 9. Hrepenenje, da mu žrtvujemo svojo dušo, 10. Hrepenenje, da postanemo On, 11. Trpljenje zaradi Njegove odsotnosti celo za sekundo kakor ljubimec.
83. Vrhunsko predani oboževalci kakor za Vijasa, Šilka, Sandilja, Gorga, Višna, Koudinga, Seša, Udhava, Aruni, Bali, Hanumana in Vibišana enoglasno pravijo, ne da bi se menile za različno izražena mnenja, da je pot predanosti najodličnejša.
84. Kdor z najvišjo vero in zaupanjem razume gornje Naradove izreke, bo dosegel Boga, bo zagotovo dosegel Boga.
(kratek oddlomek iz Maharišijeve knjige: Znanost o Biti in umetnost življenja)
Natipkal: Rajko (hvala)
Izpolnitev človeškega življenja leži v doseganju božanske zavesti, Božje zavesti, ki združuje absolutne in relativne vrednosti življenja.
Zavest blaženosti absolutne Biti in relativne radosti raznolikega stvarstva morajo zaživeti skupaj. To pomeni izpolnitev življenja v kozmični zavesti.
Stanje kozmične zavesti pomeni tisto zavest, ki vsebuje izkušnjo relativnega področja skupaj s stanjem transcendentalne čiste Biti. To stanje kozmične zavesti je stanje, v katerem duh živi v večni svobodi in ostaja neomejen s tistim, kar doživlja med vso dejavnostjo zunanjega relativnega sveta.
Svet je aktivna plat božanskega; vse se dviguje kakor val na večnem oceanu zavesti blaženosti. Vsaka zaznava, slišanje vsake besede, dotik vsakega majhnega delčka in vonj česar koli, kar pač je v bližini, prinese val plime v oceanu večne blaženosti – ob vsakem vsaki pojavitvi misli, besede ali delovanja gre za dvig plime blaženosti.
V vsakem statičnem in dinamičnem stanju življenja ta božanska slava neizraženega, kakor ugotovimo, pleše v izraženem polju življenja. Absolut pleše v relativnem. Večnost prežema vsak trenutek minljivega obstoja. Življenje je dokončno izpolnjeno le tedaj, kadar je kozmična zavest osrediščena v predanosti Bogu. Takšno je stanje popolnosti življenja, v katerem se kozmično razvit človek dvigne do sfere predanosti.
Če posameznik ni kozmično razvit, če ta ne živi večnosti v vsvojih vsakodnevnih, prehodnih oziroma minljivih življenjskih dejavnostih, ne more prekipevati na ravni univerzalne ljubezni. Če posameznik ne prekipeva na ravni univerzalne ljubezni, kako je potem možno imeti univerzalno ljubezen v zgoščeni obliki?
Osebna ljubezen do matere in očeta ter soproge ali moža je zgolj simbol zgoščenega stanja univerzalne ljubezni, ki jo kozmično razvita duša doseže v stanju predanosti Bogu. Raven otrokove ljubezni do njegovih igrač, zabave in učenja se širi na te predmete, vendar svojo ljubezen v skoncentrirarni obliki namenja materi. Ta analogija pojasni stopnjo ljubezni, ko je človek predan Bogu po pridobitvi stanja kozmične zavesti. Otrokova nedolžna naklonjenost vsebuje določeno količino ljubezni, in ta ljubezen je zgoščena v ljubezni do svoje matere. Študent v svojem srcu čuti določeno količino ljubezni do raznih vej študija, toda vsa ta ljubezen se skoncentrira v ljubezni do učitelja. Podobno se določena količina ljubezni, ki se pretaka v moževem srcu, dotika celotnega poddročja življenja, toda v ljubezni do svoje soproge najde zgoščeno stanje vse svoje ljubezni.
Na isti način ima človek v kozmični zavesti brezmejno količino ljubezni, ki se pretake v vseh smereh do vsega in vsakogar. Ko se ta prekipevajoča, brezmejna kozmična univerzalna ljubezen skoncentrira v predanosti Bogu, tedaj je to zgoščeno stanje univerzalne ljubezni tolikšno (tako intenzivno), da življenju prinese dokončno izpolnjenost.
Stanje kozmične zavesti v predanosti Bogu je veliko bolj koncentrirano kakor poljubna ljubezen, do katere sploh lahko pride v kateri koli sferi obstoja. Živeti to stanje skoncentrirane univerzalne ljubezni je dokončna izpolnitev življenja. Tukaj je brezmejen tok ljubezni – ob videnju česarkoli, ob slišanju česarkoli, ob vonjanju česarkoli, ob okušanju česarkoli in ob dotikanju česarkoli. Toda celotno življenje v njegovi silni raznovrstnosti ni nič drugega kakor polnost ljubezni, blaženosti in zadovoljstva – večnega in absolutnega.
Do sposobnosti za izpolnitev pridemo z redno vadbo Transcendentalne meditacije, da bi pridobili kozmično zavest in se nato obrnili k izročanju sebe Bogu. Če ni doseženo stanje kozmične zavesti, se predanost v pravem pomenu besede ne začne, ne pomeni veliko. Človek, katerega srce se ne pretaka v univerzalni ljubezni, od predanosti nima velike koristi, ker predanost vodi do izročitve in izročitev pomeni izgubo posameznikove identitete in doseganje identitete Ljubljenega. Stezo ljubezni, stezo predanosti uspešno prehodijo le kozmično razvite duše.
………..se nadaljuje
Adi Sankaracharya's
Nirvanashatkam
Translated by S. N. Sastri
V pripravi: Matjaž
Introduction:
Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada has blessed posterity with a large number of
invaluable compositions. These can be grouped under three broad categories. The
first category, meant for the intellectually most advanced, comprises his
commentaries (Bhashya) on the Upanishads, Brahmasutra and the Bhagavadgita. The
second category consists of independent works, known as prakarana granthas,
which expound the gist of the Upanishads in simple language. These vary in
length from half a verse to one thousand verses. In the third category fall
devotional hymns.
Nirvanashatkam is a prakarana grantha consisting of six verses. Prakarana has
been defined in the Vishnu Dharmottara Purana thus:
“Prakarana is a text which explains some particular aspects of the Sastra and
deals with certain secondary questions arising out of the explanations given”.
The instruction emphatically conveyed by the six verses of Nirvanashatkam is
that identification with the body, mind, and senses is the root cause of all
sorrow and that it should be given up and one should realize one’s real nature
as none other than the supreme Brahman. This realization is what is known as
liberation.
1. I am not the mind, nor the intellect, nor the ego-sense, nor the store-house
of memories. I am not the ear, nor the tongue, nor the nose, nor the eyes. Nor
am I the sky (space), or the earth, or fire, or air. I am the supreme
auspiciousness of the form of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.
Note: In all these verses the term ’I’ stands for the pure atma. The mind is
defined thus in Brihadaranyaka upanishad, 1.5.3—“Desire, resolve, doubt, faith,
lack of faith, steadiness, unsteadiness, shyness, intelligence, fear—all these
are nothing but the mind”. The idea brought out here is that all emotions are
in the mind and not in the atma. A person identifies himself with his mind when
he says, “I desire this”, “I have resolved to do this”, etc. This verse points
out that this identification is wrong and is due to ignorance of the fact that
every one is in reality the atma or self, which is identical with the supreme
Brahman. The question arises, why have the intellect, ego-sense and the chittam
been mentioned separately, when they are all included in the mind itself? The
reason is that, though the mind is only one, it is given four different names
in Vedanta according to the four different functions performed by it. This has
been explained by Sri Sankara in Vivekachudamani in slokas 95 and 96 as below:
“The one antahkarana or inner organ is known by four different names, manas,
buddhi, ahankara and chittam according to the different functions. When the
mind cogitates it is called manas. When it comes to a decision it is called
buddhi. When it stores memories it is called chittam. When it identifies itself
with each of these functions it is known as ahankara. The manner in which these
functions take place can be explained by taking an illustration. I am walking
along the road and I see at a distance a person whose gait seems to resemble
that of a certain friend of mine, named Raman. I begin to debate whether the
person I see at a distance is Raman or not. This function of debating is what
is called ‘manas’. When he comes nearer and I am able to see his face clearly,
I compare it with the memory of the face of Raman stored in my mind. This
memory is ‘chittam’. If I find that the two tally, I decide that he is Raman
and I greet him. This function of deciding is called ‘buddhi’. The performer of
all these three functions is ‘I’, which is known as ‘ahankara’. The term
‘manas’ is also generally used to denote all these four collectively, when
these distinctions are not intended.
By the statement “I am not the mind, etc.”, we are asked not to identify
ourselves with these activities of the mind and to look upon ourselves as the
pure atma which is actionless and is a mere witness of the activities of the
mind. In this way we will not be affected by the joys and sorrows that arise in
the mind. In the Bhagavadgita, 3.27, the Lord says that all actions are
performed by the body, mind and senses, but because of delusion every one
thinks that he is the doer.
A person identifies himself with his body and his sense organs when he says, “I
am stout, I am fair-complexioned, I hear, I taste, I smell, I see, etc”. The
second line points out that this identification is also wrong and is due to
delusion. The body is made up of the five elements, space, air, fire, water,
and earth. By denying identification with these in the third line,
identification with the physical body is denied.
The last line says that we are none other that the supreme Brahman which is
existence-consciousness-bliss. The word Siva should not be mistaken to mean
Lord Siva. Those who want to attack Advaita interpret this as meaning that
Advaita asks the individual to arrogate to himself the status of God Himself.
This is a wrong understanding. The term ‘Siva’ is used here in the same sense
as in the Mandukya upanishad, 7, where it means ‘auspiciousness’ and denotes
the supreme Brahman. The identity declared by Advaita is not between the
individual or jiva as such and God. What Advaita says is that the jiva as well
as God are in reality none but the pure Brahman, with the vesture of the body,
mind and senses in the case of the jiva and Maya in the case of God. These
vestures are not real. When these unreal vestures are negated, what remains in
both cases is only the pure Brahman.
The body and mind have only empirical reality, i.e. they appear to be real only
until the dawn of self-knowledge. Atma, which is identical with Brahman, is
alone the absolute reality which is eternal and changeless. Thus the very
essence of Advaita Vedanta, namely, the identity of the jivatma and paramatma
is brought out in this verse and in all the subsequent verses.
2. I am not what is known as the life-breath, nor am I the five vital airs. I
am not the seven ‘dhatus’ or constituents of the body. I am not the five
sheaths. I am not speech, nor the hands, nor the feet. I am not the genital
organ, nor the organ of excretion. I am the supreme auspiciousness of the form
of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.
Note: The praana or life breath is given five names in Vedanta according to the
five functions performed by it. These are what are spoken of as the five vital
airs in this sloka. The five vital airs are praana, vyaana, apaana, samaana,
and udaana. These are described in Sri Sankara’s Bhashya on Prasnopanishad.
3.5, thus:--- He (praana) places apaana, a division of himself, in the two
lower apertures, as engaged in the work of ejecting the excreta. Praana
himself, who occupies the position of the sovereign, resides in the eyes and
the ears and issues out through the mouth and nostrils. In the navel is
samaana, which is so called because it assimilates all that is eaten or drunk,
distributes them equally in all parts of the body and effects digestion. Udaana,
another division of praana, moves throughout the body and functions upwards. It
leads the soul out of the body at the time of death and takes it to other
worlds according to one’s punya and paapa. Vyaana regulates praana and apaana
and is the cause of actions requiring strength. All these are only air and are
therefore insentient. Kathopanishad, 2.2.5 says, “Mortals do not live by praana
or apaana, but by something else on which these two depend”. They depend on the
atma which is what gives them sentiency. Here we are told not to identify
ourselves with the life-breath.
The seven dhatus are the constituents of the body such as marrow, fat, flesh,
blood, lymph, skin, and the cuticle.
The five sheaths: These are described in the Taittiriya upanishad. The physical
body is the outermost sheath. It is called the annamayakosha or sheath of food
because it is nourished by food. Within this is the praanamayakosha or sheath
of vital air, which is made up of the vital air with its five divisions and the
organs of action, namely, speech, hands, feet, the genitals and the organ of
excretion. The next inner sheath is the manomayakosha or sheath of the mind,
which is made up of the mind and the five organs of perception, namely, ear,
eye, and the senses of smell. taste, and touch. The next sheath is
vijnaanamayakosha or the sheath of the intellect. This consists of the
intellect or buddhi and the five organs of perception. The innermost sheath is
the anandamayakosha or sheath of bliss. This is the primal ignorance or avidya
which is the cause of transmigratory existence. These five sheaths constitute
the body-mind complex. The instruction is that we should not identify ourselves
with these which are all ephemeral and always undergoing changes.
The third line says that we are not the five organs of action. The last line is
the same as in the first sloka.
3. I do not have any aversion or attachment, nor do I have greed, delusion,
pride, or jealousy. I do not hanker after Dharma, wealth, pleasures, or
liberation (the four purushaarthas). I am the supreme auspiciousness of the
form of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.
Note: All the emotions such as likes, dislikes, greed, etc., belong to the mind
and so the atma has no connection with them. The rules of Dharma apply only
when there is identification with the body-mind complex. The atma has no desire
for wealth or pleasures. The atma is ever liberated. It is only when the atma
is identified with the body-mind complex that there is the notion of bondage and
it is only then that liberation has to be sought. The pure atma is ever free. A
person who has become totally free from identification with his body and mind
is already liberated. As far as the atma itself is concerned, it has neither
bondage nor liberation, just as there is neither day nor night in the sun
itself.
4. There is no such thing as merit or sin for me. Nor is there joy or sorrow. I
have no need for mantras, or pilgrimage, or Vedas, or sacrifices. I am neither
the enjoyed nor the enjoyer, nor enjoyment. I am the supreme auspiciousness of
the form of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.
Note: All these are only for the jiva who identifies himself with his body and
mind. The atma is pure, untainted, and actionless. Once a person has realized
that he is the pure atma, he has no need of mantras, pilgrimage, etc., because
there is nothing more to be attained. The joy and sorrow referred to in this
sloka are those which arise due to external circumstances. These have a
beginning and an end and these pertain only to the mind and not the atma. The
atma is of the very nature of supreme eternal bliss.
I am neither the enjoyed nor the enjoyer, nor enjoyment – What is enjoyed is an
object. So this means that the atma is not an object. The enjoyer is one who
performs an action, a doer. So this means that the atma is not a doer.
Enjoyment is an act. The atma s not an act.
5. I have no possibility of death, nor distinction of caste. I have no father,
nor mother. I have no birth. I have no relations, nor friend, nor guru, nor
disciple. I am the supreme auspiciousness of the form of consciousness-bliss. I
am the auspiciousness.
Note: All the relationships exist only as long as a person looks upon himself
as the body-mind complex. The atma is eternal and so it has no birth and no
death.
6. I am unconditioned (and so free from all attributes). I am formless. I am
all-pervading. I am beyond the organs. I am ever the same. There is neither
bondage nor liberation for me. I am the supreme auspiciousness of the form of
consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness.
Note: The pure atma is not conditioned or limited by the body and mind. The
atma, being identical with Brahman, is all-pervading and changeless. Bondage is
nothing but identification with the body and mind. This is due to ignorance of
our real nature. When this ignorance is destroyed by the knowledge of our real
nature it will be realized that there never was any bondage at all. It is not
as if every one is in bondage and becomes liberated on attaining
self-knowledge. Every one is in reality none other than the supreme Brahman
even before the dawn of self-knowledge. Liberation is not the production of a
new state that did not exist earlier. Liberation is only the realization that
one has always been Brahman but has been wrongly thinking of himself as a
limited being. This can be understood by taking the classic example of the rope
being mistaken for a snake. When a light is brought and it is found that there
is only a rope, no one will say that there was previously a snake, but now
there is only a rope. Similarly it is wrong to say that there was previously
bondage and after the dawn of knowledge there is liberation. In reality there
is neither bondage nor liberation, but both are attributed to the jiva due to
ignorance.
Adi
Sankaracharya's
ATMA BODHA
Translated by Swami Chinmayananda
Published by Chinmaya Mission, Mumbai
V pripravi: si morda ti prostovoljec
za tipkanje ?
1. I am composing the ATMA-BODHA, this treatise of the Knowledge of the Self,
for those who have purified themselves by austerities and are peaceful in heart
and calm, who are free from cravings and are desirous of liberation.
2. Just as the fire is the direct cause for cooking, so without Knowledge no
emancipation can be had. Compared with all other forms of discipline Knowledge
of the Self is the one direct means for liberation.
3. Action cannot destroy ignorance, for it is not in conflict with or opposed
to ignorance. Knowledge does verily destroy ignorance as light destroys deep
darkness.
4. The Soul appears to be finite because of ignorance. When ignorance is
destroyed the Self which does not admit of any multiplicity truly reveals
itself by itself: like the Sun when the clouds pass away.
5. Constant practice of knowledge purifies the Self (‘Jivatman’), stained by
ignorance and then disappears itself – as the powder of the ‘Kataka-nut’
settles down after it has cleansed the muddy water.
6. The world which is full of attachments, aversions, etc., is like a dream. It
appears to be real, as long as it continues but appears to be unreal when one
is awake (i.e., when true wisdom dawns).
7. The Jagat appears to be true (Satyam) so long as Brahman, the substratum,
the basis of all this creation, is not realised. It is like the illusion of
silver in the mother-of pearl.
8. Like bubbles in the water, the worlds rise, exist and dissolve in the
Supreme Self, which is the material cause and the prop of everything.
9. All the manifested world of things and beings are projected by imagination
upon the substratum which is the Eternal All-pervading Vishnu, whose nature is
Existence-Intelligence; just as the different ornaments are all made out of the
same gold.
10. The All-pervading Akasa appears to be diverse on account of its association
with various conditionings (Upadhis) which are different from each other. Space
becomes one on the destruction of these limiting adjuncts: So also the
Omnipresent Truth appears to be diverse on account of Its association with the
various Upadhis and becomes one on the destruction of these Upadhis.
11. Because of Its association with different conditionings (Upadhis) such
ideas as caste, colour and position are super-imposed upon the Atman, as
flavour, colour, etc., are super-imposed on water.
12. Determined for each individual by his own past actions and made up of the
Five elements – that have gone through the process of “five-fold self-division
and mutual combination” (Pancheekarana) – are born the gross-body, the medium
through which pleasure and pain are experienced, the tent-of-experiences.
13. The five Pranas, the ten organs and the Manas and the Buddhi, formed from
the rudimentary elements (Tanmatras) before their “five-fold division and
mutual combination with one another” (Pancheekarana) and this is the subtle
body, the instruments-of-experience (of the individual).
14. Avidya which is indescribable and beginningless is the Causal Body. Know
for certain that the Atman is other than these three conditioning bodies
(Upadhis).
15. In its identification with the five-sheaths the Immaculate Atman appears to
have borrowed their qualities upon Itself; as in the case of a crystal which
appears to gather unto itself colour of its vicinity (blue cloth, etc.,).
16. Through discriminative self-analysis and logical thinking one should
separate the Pure self within from the sheaths as one separates the rice from
the husk, bran, etc., that are covering it.
17. The Atman does not shine in everything although He is All-pervading. He is
manifest only in the inner equipment, the intellect (Buddhi): just as the
reflection in a clean mirror.
18. One should understand that the Atman is always like the King, distinct from
the body, senses, mind and intellect, all of which constitute the matter
(Prakriti); and is the witness of their functions.
19. The moon appears to be running when the clouds move in the sky. Likewise to
the non-discriminating person the Atman appears to be active when It is
observed through the functions of the sense-organs.
20. Depending upon the energy of vitality of Consciousness (Atma Chaitanya) the
body, senses, mind and intellect engage themselves in their respective
activities, just as men work depending upon the light of the Sun.
21. Fools, because they lack in their powers of discrimination superimpose on
the Atman, the Absolute-Existence-Knowledge (Sat-Chit), all the varied
functions of the body and the senses, just as they attribute blue colour and
the like to the sky.
22. The tremblings that belong to the waters are attributed through ignorance
to the reflected moon dancing on it: likewise agency of action, of enjoyment
and of other limitations (which really belong to the mind) are delusively
understood as the nature of the Self (Atman).
23. Attachment, desire, pleasure, pain, etc., are perceived to exist so long as
Buddhi or mind functions. They are not perceived in deep sleep when the mind
ceases to exist. Therefore they belong to the mind alone and not to the Atman.
24. Just as luminosity is the nature of the Sun, coolness of water and heat of
fire, so too the nature of the Atman is Eternity, Purity, Reality,
Consciousness and Bliss.
25. By the indiscriminate blending of the two – the Existence-Knowledge-aspect
of the Self and the thought-wave of the intellect – there arises the notion of
“I know”.
26. Atman never does anything and the intellect of its own accord has no
capacity to experience ‘I know’. But the individuality in us delusorily thinks
he is himself the seer and the knower.
27. Just as the person who regards a rope as a snake is overcome by fear, so
also one considering oneself as the ego (Jiva) is overcome by fear. The
ego-centric individuality in us regains fearlessness by realising that It is
not a Jiva but is Itself the Supreme Soul.
28. Just as a lamp illumines a jar or a pot, so also the Atman illumines the
mind and the sense organs, etc. These material-objects by themselves cannot
illumine themselves because they are inert.
29. A lighted-lamp does not need another lamp to illumine its light. So too,
Atman which is Knowledge itself needs no other knowledge to know it.
30. By a process of negation of the conditionings (Upadhis) through the help of
the scriptural statement ‘It is not this, It is not this’, the oneness of the
individual soul and the Supreme Soul, as indicated by the great Mahavakyas, has
to be realised.
31. The body, etc., up to the “Causal Body” – Ignorance – which are objects
perceived, are as perishable as bubbles. Realise through discrimination that I
am the ‘Pure Brahman’ ever completely separate from all these.
32. I am other than the body and so I am free from changes such as birth,
wrinkling, senility, death, etc. I have nothing to do with the sense objects
such as sound and taste, for I am without the sense-organs.
33. I am other than the mind and hence, I am free from sorrow, attachment,
malice and fear, for “HE is without breath and without mind, Pure, etc.”, is
the Commandment of the great scripture, the Upanishads.
34. I am without attributes and actions; Eternal (Nitya) without any desire and
thought (Nirvikalpa), without any dirt (Niranjana), without any change
(Nirvikara), without form (Nirakara), ever-liberated (Nitya Mukta) ever-pure
(Nirmala).
35. Like the space I fill all things within and without. Changeless and the
same in all, at all times I am pure, unattached, stainless and motionless.
36. I am verily that Supreme Brahman alone which is Eternal, Pure and Free,
One, indivisible and non-dual and of the nature of
Changeless-Knowledge-Infinite.
37. The impression “I am Brahman” thus created by constant practice destroys
ignorance and the agitation caused by it, just as medicine or Rasayana destroys
disease.
38. Sitting in a solitary place, freeing the mind from desires and controlling
the senses, meditate with unswerving attention on the Atman which is One
without-a-second.
39. The wise one should intelligently merge the entire world-of-objects in the
Atman alone and constantly think of the Self ever as contaminated by anything
as the sky.
40. He who has realised the Supreme, discards all his identification with the
objects of names and forms. (Thereafter) he dwells as an embodiment of the
Infinite Consciousness and Bliss. He becomes the Self.
41. There are no distinctions such as “Knower”, the “Knowledge” and the “Object
of Knowledge” in the Supreme Self. On account of Its being of the nature of
endless Bliss, It does not admit of such distinctions within Itself. It alone
shines by Itself.
42. When this the lower and the higher aspects of the Self are well churned
together, the fire of knowledge is born from it, which in its mighty
conflagration shall burn down all the fuel of ignorance in us.
43. The Lord of the early dawn (Aruna) himself has already looted away the
thick darkness, when soon the sun rises. The Divine Consciousness of the Self
rises when the right knowledge has already killed the darkness in the bosom.
44. Atman is an ever-present Reality. Yet, because of ignorance it is not
realised. On the destruction of ignorance Atman is realised. It is like the
missing ornament of one’s neck.
45. Brahman appears to be a ‘Jiva’ because of ignorance, just as a post appears
to be a ghost. The ego-centric-individuality is destroyed when the real nature
of the ‘Jiva’ is realised as the Self.
46. The ignorance characterised by the notions ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ is destroyed by
the knowledge produced by the realisation of the true nature of the Self, just
as right information removes the wrong notion about the directions.
47. The Yogi of perfect realisation and enlightenment sees through his “eye of
wisdom” (Gyana Chakshush) the entire universe in his own Self and regards
everything else as his own Self and nothing else.
48. Nothing whatever exists other than the Atman: the tangible universe is
verily Atman. As pots and jars are verily made of clay and cannot be said to be
anything but clay, so too, to the enlightened soul and that is perceived is the
Self.
49. A liberated one, endowed with Self-knowledge, gives up the traits of his
previously explained equipments (Upadhis) and because of his nature of
Sat-chit-ananda, he verily becomes Brahman like (the worm that grows to be) a
wasp.
50. After crossing the ocean of delusion and killing the monsters of likes and
dislikes, the Yogi who is united with peace dwells in the glory of his own
realised Self – as an Atmaram.
51. The self-abiding Jivan Mukta, relinquishing all his attachments to the
illusory external happiness and satisfied with the bliss derived from the
Atman, shines inwardly like a lamp placed inside a jar.
52. Though he lives in the conditionings (Upadhis), he, the contemplative one,
remains ever unconcerned with anything or he may move about like the wind,
perfectly unattached.
53. On the destruction of the Upadhis, the contemplative one is totally
absorbed in ‘Vishnu’, the All-pervading Spirit, like water into water, space
into space and light into light.
54. Realise That to be Brahman, the attainment of which leaves nothing more to
be attained, the blessedness of which leaves no other blessing to be desired
and the knowledge of which leaves nothing more to be known.
55. Realise that to be Brahman which, when seen, leaves nothing more to be
seen, which having become one is not born again in this world and which, when
knowing leaves nothing else to be known.
56. Realise that to be Brahman which is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute,
which is Non-dual, Infinite, Eternal and One and which fills all the quarters –
above and below and all that exists between.
57. Realise that to be Brahman which is Non-dual, Indivisible, One and Blissful
and which is indicated in Vedanta as the Immutable Substratum, realised after
the negation of all tangible objects.
58. Deities like Brahma and others taste only a particle, of the unlimited
Bliss of Brahman and enjoy in proportion their share of that particle.
59. All objects are pervaded by Brahman. All actions are possible because of
Brahman: therefore Brahman permeates everything as butter permeates milk.
60. Realise that to be Brahman which is neither subtle nor gross: neither short
nor long: without birth or change: without form, qualities, colour and name.
61. That by the light of which the luminous, orbs like the Sun and the Moon are
illuminated, but which is not illumined by their light, realise that to be
Brahman.
62. Pervading the entire universe outwardly and inwardly the Supreme Brahman
shines of Itself like the fire that permeates a red-hot iron-ball and glows by
itself.
63. Brahman is other than this, the universe. There exists nothing that is not
Brahman. If any object other than Brahman appears to exist, it is unreal like
the mirage.
64. All that is perceived, or heard, is Brahman and nothing else. Attaining the
knowledge of the Reality, one sees the Universe as the non-dual Brahman,
Existence-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute.
65. Though Atman is Pure Consciousness and ever present everywhere, yet It is
perceived by the eye-of-wisdom alone: but one whose vision is obscured by
ignorance he does not see It; as the blind do not see the resplendent Sun.
66. The ‘Jiva’ free from impurities, being heated in the fire of knowledge
kindled by hearing and so on, shines of itself like gold.
67. The Atman, the Sun of Knowledge that rises in the sky of the heart,
destroys the darkness of the ignorance, pervades and sustains all and shines
and makes everything to shine.
68. He who renouncing all activities, who is free of all the limitations of
time, space and direction, worships his own Atman which is present everywhere,
which is the destroyer of heat and cold, which is Bliss-Eternal and stainless,
becomes All-knowing and All-pervading and attains thereafter Immortality.
Who Am I? - (Nan Yar?)
The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Dr. T. M. P. Mahadevan from the original Tamil
Published by Sri Ramanashramam, Tiruvannamalai
V
pripravi: si morda ti prostovoljec za tipkanje ?
INTRODUCTION
"Who am I?" is the title given to a set of questions and answers
bearing on Self-enquiry. The questions were put to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
by one Sri M. Sivaprakasam Pillai about the year 1902. Sri Pillai, a graduate
in Philosophy, was at the time employed in the Revenue Department of the South
Arcot Collectorate. During his visit to Tiruvannamalai in 1902 on official
work, he went to Virupaksha Cave on Arunachala Hill and met the Master there.
He sought from him spiritual guidance, and solicited answers to questions
relating to Self-enquiry. As Bhagavan was not talking then, not because of any
vow he had taken, but because he did not have the inclination to talk, he
answered the questions put to him by gestures, and when these were not understood,
by writing. As recollected and recorded by Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai, there were
fourteen questions with answers to them given by Bhagavan. This record was
first published by Sri Pillai in 1923, along with a couple of poems composed by
himself relating how Bhagavan's grace operated in his case by dispelling his
doubts and by saving him from a crisis in life. 'Who am I?' has been published
several times subsequently. We find thirty questions and answers in some
editions and twenty-eight in others. There is also another published version in
which the questions are not given, and the teachings are rearranged in the form
of an essay. The extant English translation is of this essay. The present
rendering is of the text in the form of twenty-eight questions and answers.
Along with Vicharasangraham (Self-Enquiry), Nan Yar (Who am I?) constitutes the
first set of instructions in the Master's own words. These two are the only
prose-pieces among Bhagavan's Works. They clearly set forth the central
teaching that the direct path to liberation is Self-enquiry. The particular
mode in which the enquiry is to be made is lucidly set forth in Nan Yar. The
mind consists of thoughts. The 'I' thought is the first to arise in the mind.
When the enquiry ' Who am I?' is persistently pursued, all other thoughts get
destroyed, and finally the 'I' thought itself vanishes leaving the supreme
non-dual Self alone. The false identification of the Self with the phenomena of
non-self such as the body and mind thus ends, and there is illumination,
Sakshatkara. The process of enquiry of course, is not an easy one. As one
enquires 'Who am I?', other thoughts will arise; but as these arise, one should
not yield to them by following them , on the contrary, one should ask 'To whom
do they arise ?' In order to do this, one has to be extremely vigilant. Through
constant enquiry one should make the mind stay in its source, without allowing
it to wander away and get lost in the mazes of thought created by itself. All
other disciplines such as breath-control and meditation on the forms of God
should be regarded as auxiliary practices. They are useful in so far as they
help the mind to become quiescent and one-pointed.
For the mind that has gained skill in concentration, Self-enquiry becomes comparatively
easy. It is by ceaseless enquiry that the thoughts are destroyed and the Self
realized - the plenary Reality in which there is not even the 'I' thought, the
experience which is referred to as "Silence".
This, in substance, is Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi's teaching in Nan Yar (Who
am I?).
T. M. P. MAHADEVAN
University of Madras
June 30, 1982
Om Namo Bhagavathe Sri Ramanaya
Who Am I? - (Nan Yar?)
As all living beings desire to be happy always, without misery, as in the case
of everyone there is observed supreme love for one's self, and as happiness
alone is the cause for love, in order to gain that happiness which is one's
nature and which is experienced in the state of deep sleep where there is no
mind, one should know one's self. For that, the path of knowledge, the inquiry
of the form "Who am I?", is the principal means.
1 . Who am I ?
The gross body which is composed of the seven humours (dhatus), I am not; the
five cognitive sense organs, viz. the senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste,
and smell, which apprehend their respective objects, viz. sound, touch, colour,
taste, and odour, I am not; the five cognitive sense-organs, viz. the organs of
speech, locomotion, grasping, excretion, and procreation, which have as their
respective functions speaking, moving, grasping, excreting, and enjoying, I am
not; the five vital airs, prana, etc., which perform respectively the five
functions of in-breathing, etc., I am not; even the mind which thinks, I am
not; the nescience too, which is endowed only with the residual impressions of
objects, and in which there are no objects and no functioning's, I am not.
2. If I am none of these, then who am I?
After negating all of the above-mentioned as 'not this', 'not this', that
Awareness which alone remains - that I am.
3. What is the nature of Awareness?
The nature of Awareness is existence-consciousness-bliss
4. When will the realization of the Self be gained?
When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be
realization of the Self which is the seer.
5. Will there not be realization of the Self even while the world is there
(taken as real)?
There will not be.
6. Why?
The seer and the object seen are like the rope and the snake. Just as the
knowledge of the rope which is the substrate will not arise unless the false
knowledge of the illusory serpent goes, so the realization of the Self which is
the substrate will not be gained unless the belief that the world is real is
removed.
7. When will the world which is the object seen be removed?
When the mind, which is the cause of all cognition's and of all actions,
becomes quiescent, the world will disappear.
8. What is the nature of the mind?
What is called 'mind' is a wondrous power residing in the Self. It causes all
thoughts to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind.
Therefore, thought is the nature of mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no
independent entity called the world. In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and
there is no world. In the states of waking and dream, there are thoughts, and
there is a world also. Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web) out of
itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise the mind projects the world
out of itself and again resolves it into itself. When the mind comes out of the
Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears (to be real), the
Self does not appear; and when the Self appears (shines) the world does not
appear. When one persistently inquires into the nature of the mind, the mind
will end leaving the Self (as the residue). What is referred to as the Self is
the Atman. The mind always exists only in dependence on something gross; it
cannot stay alone. It is the mind that is called the subtle body or the soul
(jiva).
9. What is the path of inquiry for understanding the nature of the mind?
That which rises as 'I' in this body is the mind. If one inquires as to where
in the body the thought 'I' rises first, one would discover that it rises in
the heart. That is the place of the mind's origin. Even if one thinks
constantly 'I' 'I', one will be led to that place. Of all the thoughts that
arise in the mind, the 'I' thought is the first. It is only after the rise of
this that the other thoughts arise. It is after the appearance of the first
personal pronoun that the second and third personal pronouns appear; without
the first personal pronoun there will not be the second and third.
10. How will the mind become quiescent?
By the inquiry 'Who am I?'. The thought 'who am I?' will destroy all other
thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself
in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.
11. What is the means for constantly holding on to the thought 'Who am I?'
When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: 'To
whom do they arise?' It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each
thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this
thought arisen?". The answer that would emerge would be "To me".
Thereupon if one inquires "Who am I?", the mind will go back to its
source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated
practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source.
When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the sense-organs,
the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the heart, the names and
forms disappear. Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is
what is called "inwardness" (antar-mukha). Letting the mind go out of
the Heart is known as "externalisation" (bahir-mukha). Thus, when the
mind stays in the Heart, the 'I' which is the source of all thoughts will go,
and the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does, one should do
without the egoity "I". If one acts in that way, all will appear as
of the nature of Siva (God).
12. Are there no other means for making the mind quiescent?
Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means. If through other means it is
sought to control the mind, the mind will appear to be controlled, but will
again go forth. Through the control of breath also, the mind will become
quiescent; but it will be quiescent only so long as the breath remains
controlled, and when the breath resumes the mind also will again start moving
and will wander as impelled by residual impressions. The source is the same for
both mind and breath. Thought, indeed, is the nature of the mind. The thought
"I" is the first thought of the mind; and that is egoity. It is from
that whence egoity originates that breath also originates. Therefore, when the
mind becomes quiescent, the breath is controlled, and when the breath is
controlled the mind becomes quiescent. But in deep sleep, although the mind
becomes quiescent, the breath does not stop. This is because of the will of
God, so that the body may be preserved and other people may not be under the
impression that it is dead. In the state of waking and in samadhi, when the
mind becomes quiescent the breath is controlled. Breath is the gross form of
mind. Till the time of death, the mind keeps breath in the body; and when the
body dies the mind takes the breath along with it. Therefore, the exercise of
breath-control is only an aid for rendering the mind quiescent (manonigraha);
it will not destroy the mind (manonasa).
Like the practice of breath-control. meditation on the forms of God, repetition
of mantras, restriction on food, etc., are but aids for rendering the mind
quiescent.
Through meditation on the forms of God and through repetition of mantras, the
mind becomes one-pointed. The mind will always be wandering. Just as when a
chain is given to an elephant to hold in its trunk it will go along grasping
the chain and nothing else, so also when the mind is occupied with a name or
form it will grasp that alone. When the mind expands in the form of countless
thoughts, each thought becomes weak; but as thoughts get resolved the mind
becomes one-pointed and strong; for such a mind Self-inquiry will become easy.
Of all the restrictive rules, that relating to the taking of sattvic food in
moderate quantities is the best; by observing this rule, the sattvic quality of
mind will increase, and that will be helpful to Self-inquiry.
13. The residual impressions (thoughts) of objects appear wending like the
waves of an ocean. When will all of them get destroyed?
As the meditation on the Self rises higher and higher, the thoughts will get
destroyed.
14. Is it possible for the residual impressions of objects that come from
beginningless time, as it were, to be resolved, and for one to remain as the
pure Self?
Without yielding to the doubt "Is it possible, or not?", one should
persistently hold on to the meditation on the Self. Even if one be a great
sinner, one should not worry and weep "O! I am a sinner, how can I be saved?";
one should completely renounce the thought "I am a sinner"; and
concentrate keenly on meditation on the Self; then, one would surely succeed.
There are not two minds - one good and the other evil; the mind is only one. It
is the residual impressions that are of two kinds - auspicious and
inauspicious. When the mind is under the influence of auspicious impressions it
is called good; and when it is under the influence of inauspicious impressions
it is regarded as evil.
The mind should not be allowed to wander towards worldly objects and what
concerns other people. However bad other people may be, one should bear no
hatred for them. Both desire and hatred should be eschewed. All that one gives
to others one gives to one's self. If this truth is understood who will not
give to others? When one's self arises all arises; when one's self becomes
quiescent all becomes quiescent. To the extent we behave with humility, to that
extent there will result good. If the mind is rendered quiescent, one may live
anywhere.
15. How long should inquiry be practised?
As long as there are impressions of objects in the mind, so long the inquiry
"Who am I?" is required. As thoughts arise they should be destroyed
then and there in the very place of their origin, through inquiry. If one
resorts to contemplation of the Self unintermittently, until the Self is
gained, that alone would do. As long as there are enemies within the fortress,
they will continue to sally forth; if they are destroyed as they emerge, the
fortress will fall into our hands.
16. What is the nature of the Self?
What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul, and God
are appearances in it. like silver in mother-of-pearl, these three appear at
the same time, and disappear at the same time. The Self is that where there is
absolutely no "I" thought. That is called "Silence". The
Self itself is the world; the Self itself is "I"; the Self itself is
God; all is Siva, the Self.
17. Is not everything the work of God?
Without desire, resolve, or effort, the sun rises; and in its mere presence,
the sun-stone emits fire, the lotus blooms, water evaporates; people perform
their various functions and then rest. Just as in the presence of the magnet
the needle moves, it is by virtue of the mere presence of God that the souls
governed by the three (cosmic) functions or the fivefold divine activity
perform their actions and then rest, in accordance with their respective
karmas. God has no resolve; no karma attaches itself to Him. That is like
worldly actions not affecting the sun, or like the merits and demerits of the
other four elements not affecting all pervading space.
18. Of the devotees, who is the greatest?
He who gives himself up to the Self that is God is the most excellent devotee.
Giving one's self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without
giving room for the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self. Whatever
burdens are thrown on God, He bears them. Since the supreme power of God makes
all things move, why should we, without submitting ourselves to it, constantly
worry ourselves with thoughts as to what should be done and how, and what
should not be done and how not? We know that the train carries all loads, so
after getting on it why should we carry our small luggage on our head to our
discomfort, instead of putting it down in the train and feeling at ease?
19. What is non-attachment?
As thoughts arise, destroying them utterly without any residue in the very
place of their origin is non-attachment. Just as the pearl-diver ties a stone
to his waist, sinks to the bottom of the sea and there takes the pearls, so
each one of us should be endowed with non-attachment, dive within oneself and
obtain the Self-Pearl.
20. Is it not possible for God and the Guru to effect the release of a soul?
God and the Guru will only show the way to release; they will not by themselves
take the soul to the state of release. In truth, God and the Guru are not
different. Just as the prey which has fallen into the jaws of a tiger has no
escape, so those who have come within the ambit of the Guru's gracious look
will be saved by the Guru and will not get lost; yet, each one should by his
own effort pursue the path shown by God or Guru and gain release. One can know
oneself only with one's own eye of knowledge, and not with somebody else's.
Does he who is Rama require the help of a mirror to know that he is Rama?
21. Is it necessary for one who longs for release to inquire into the nature of
categories (tattvas)?
Just as one who wants to throw away garbage has no need to analyse it and see
what it is, so one who wants to know the Self has no need to count the number
of categories or inquire into their characteristics; what he has to do is to
reject altogether the categories that hide the Self. The world should be
considered like a dream.
22. Is there no difference between waking and dream?
Waking is long and a dream short; other than this there is no difference. Just
as waking happenings seem real while awake. so do those in a dream while
dreaming. In dream the mind takes on another body. In both waking and dream
states thoughts. names and forms occur simultaneously.
23. Is it any use reading books for those who long for release?
All the texts say that in order to gain release one should render the mind
quiescent; therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should be
rendered quiescent; once this has been understood there is no need for endless
reading. In order to quieten the mind one has only to inquire within oneself
what one's Self is; how could this search be done in books? One should know
one's Self with one's own eye of wisdom. The Self is within the five sheaths;
but books are outside them. Since the Self has to be inquired into by
discarding the five sheaths, it is futile to search for it in books. There will
come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned.
24. What is happiness?
Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not
different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through
our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it
experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its
own place and enjoys the happiness that is the Self. Similarly, in the states
of sleep, samadhi and fainting, and when the object desired is obtained or the
object disliked is removed, the mind becomes inward-turned, and enjoys pure
Self-Happiness. Thus the mind moves without rest alternately going out of the
Self and returning to it. Under the tree the shade is pleasant; out in the open
the heat is scorching. A person who has been going about in the sun feels cool
when he reaches the shade. Someone who keeps on going from the shade into the
sun and then back into the shade is a fool. A wise man stays permanently in the
shade. Similarly, the mind of the one who knows the truth does not leave
Brahman. The mind of the ignorant, on the contrary, revolves in the world,
feeling miserable, and for a little time returns to Brahman to experience
happiness. In fact, what is called the world is only thought. When the world
disappears, i.e. when there is no thought, the mind experiences happiness; and
when the world appears, it goes through misery.
25. What is wisdom-insight (jnana-drsti)?
Remaining quiet is what is called wisdom-insight. To remain quiet is to resolve
the mind in the Self. Telepathy, knowing past, present and future happenings
and clairvoyance do not constitute wisdom-insight.
26. What is the relation between desirelessness and wisdom?
Desirelessness is wisdom. The two are not different; they are the same.
Desirelessness is refraining from turning the mind towards any object. Wisdom
means the appearance of no object. In other words, not seeking what is other
than the Self is detachment or desirelessness; not leaving the Self is wisdom.
27. What is the difference between inquiry and meditation?
Inquiry consists in retaining the mind in the Self. Meditation consists in
thinking that one's self is Brahman, existence-consciousness-bliss.
28. What is release?
Inquiring into the nature of one's self that is in bondage, and realising one's
true nature is release.
SRI RAMANARPANAM ASTU
Adi Sankaracharya's
VIVEKACHUDAMANI
Translated by Swami Madhavananda
Published by Advaita Ashram, Kolkatta
V
pripravi: si morda ti prostovoljec za prevajanje in/ali tipkanje ?
1. I bow to Govinda, whose nature is Bliss Supreme, who is
the Sadguru, who can be known only from the import of all Vedanta, and who is
beyond the reach of speech and mind.
2. For all beings a human birth is difficult to obtain, more so is a male body;
rarer than that is Brahmanahood; rarer still is the attachment to the path of
Vedic religion; higher than this is erudition in the scriptures; discrimination
between the Self and not-Self, Realisation, and continuing in a state of
identity with Brahman – these come next in order. (This kind of) Mukti
(Liberation) is not to be attained except through the well-earned merits of a
hundred crore of births.
3. These are three things which are rare indeed and are due to the grace of God
– namely, a human birth, the longing for Liberation, and the protecting care of
a perfected sage.
4. The man who, having by some means obtained a human birth, with a male body
and mastery of the Vedas to boot, is foolish enough not to exert himself for
self-liberation, verily commits suicide, for he kills himself by clinging to
things unreal.
5. What greater fool is there than the man who having obtained a rare human
body, and a masculine body too, neglects to achieve the real end of this life ?
6. Let people quote the Scriptures and sacrifice to the gods, let them perform
rituals and worship the deities, but there is no Liberation without the
realisation of one’s identity with the Atman, no, not even in the lifetime of a
hundred Brahmas put together.
7. There is no hope of immortality by means of riches – such indeed is the
declaration of the Vedas. Hence it is clear that works cannot be the cause of
Liberation.
8. Therefore the man of learning should strive his best for Liberation, having
renounced his desire for pleasures from external objects, duly approaching a
good and generous preceptor, and fixing his mind on the truth inculcated by
him.
9. Having attained the Yogarudha state, one should recover oneself, immersed in
the sea of birth and death by means of devotion to right discrimination.
10. Let the wise and erudite man, having commenced the practice of the
realisation of the Atman give up all works and try to cut loose the bonds of
birth and death.
11. Work leads to purification of the mind, not to perception of the Reality.
The realisation of Truth is brought about by discrimination and not in the
least by ten million of acts.
12. By adequate reasoning the conviction of the reality about the rope is
gained, which puts an end to the great fear and misery caused by the snake
worked up in the deluded mind.
13. The conviction of the Truth is seen to proceed from reasoning upon the
salutary counsel of the wise, and not by bathing in the sacred waters, nor by
gifts, nor by a hundred Pranayamas (control of the vital force).
14. Success depends essentially on a qualified aspirant; time, place and other
such means are but auxiliaries in this regard.
15. Hence the seeker after the Reality of the Atman should take to reasoning,
after duly approaching the Guru – who should be the best of the knowers of
Brahman, and an ocean of mercy.
16. An intelligent and learned man skilled in arguing in favour of the
Scriptures and in refuting counter-arguments against them – one who has got the
above characteristics is the fit recipient of the knowledge of the Atman.
17. The man who discriminates between the Real and the unreal, whose mind is
turned away from the unreal, who possesses calmness and the allied virtues, and
who is longing for Liberation, is alone considered qualified to enquire after
Brahman.
18. Regarding this, sages have spoken of four means of attainment, which alone
being present, the devotion to Brahman succeeds, and in the absence of which,
it fails.
19. First is enumerated discrimination between the Real and the unreal; next
comes aversion to the enjoyment of fruits (of one’s actions) here and
hereafter; (next is) the group of six attributes, viz. calmness and the rest;
and (last) is clearly the yearning for Liberation.
20. A firm conviction of the mind to the effect that Brahman is real and the
universe unreal, is designated as discrimination (Viveka) between the Real and
the unreal.
21. Vairagya or renunciation is the desire to give up all transitory enjoyments
(ranging) from those of an (animate) body to those of Brahmahood (having
already known their defects) from observation, instruction and so forth.
22. The resting of the mind steadfastly on its Goal (viz. Brahman) after having
detached itself from manifold sense-objects by continually observing their
defects, is called Shama or calmness.
23. Turning both kinds of sense-organs away from sense-objects and placing them
in their respective centres, is called Dama or self-control. The best Uparati
or self-withdrawal consists in the mind-function ceasing to be affected by
external objects.
24. The bearing of all afflictions without caring to redress them, being free
(at the same time) from anxiety or lament on their score, is called Titiksha or
forbearance.
25. Acceptance by firm judgment as true of what the Scriptures and the Guru
instruct, is called by sages Shraddha or faith, by means of which the Reality
is perceived.
26. Not the mere indulgence of thought (in curiosity) but the constant
concentration of the intellect (or the affirming faculty) on the ever-pure
Brahman, is what is called Samadhana or self-settledness.
27. Mumukshuta or yearning for Freedom is the desire to free oneself, by
realising one’s true nature, from all bondages from that of egoism to that of
the body – bondages superimposed by Ignorance.
28. Even though torpid or mediocre, this yearning for Freedom, through the
grace of the Guru, may bear fruit (being developed) by means of Vairagya
(renunciation), Shama (calmness), and so on.
29. In his case, verily, whose renunciation and yearning for Freedom are
intense, calmness and the other practices have (really) their meaning and bear
fruit.
30. Where (however) this renunciation and yearning for Freedom are torpid, there
calmness and the other practices are as mere appearances, like water in a
desert.
31. Among things conducive to Liberation, devotion (Bhakti) holds the supreme
place. The seeking after one’s real nature is designated as devotion.
32. Others maintain that the inquiry into the truth of one’s own self is
devotion. The inquirer about the truth of the Atman who is possessed of the
above-mentioned means of attainment should approach a wise preceptor, who
confers emancipation from bondage.
33. Who is versed in the Vedas, sinless, unsmitten by desire and a knower of
Brahman par excellence, who has withdrawn himself into Brahman; who is calm,
like fire that has consumed its fuel, who is a boundless reservoir of mercy
that knows no reason, and a friend of all good people who prostrate themselves
before him.
34. Worshipping that Guru with devotion, and approaching him, when he is
pleased with prostration, humility and service, (he) should ask him what he has
got to know:
35. O Master, O friend of those that bow to thee, thou ocean of mercy, I bow to
thee; save me, fallen as I am into this sea of birth and death, with a
straightforward glance of thine eye, which sheds nectar-like grace supreme.
36. Save me from death, afflicted as I am by the unquenchable fire of this world-forest,
and shaken violently by the winds of an untoward lot, terrified and (so)
seeking refuge in thee, for I do not know of any other man with whom to seek
shelter.
37. There are good souls, calm and magnanimous, who do good to others as does
the spring, and who, having themselves crossed this dreadful ocean of birth and
death, help others also to cross the same, without any motive whatsoever.
38. It is the very nature of the magnanimous to move of their own accord
towards removing others’ troubles. Here, for instance, is the moon who, as
everybody knows, voluntarily saves the earth parched by the flaming rays of the
sun.
39. O Lord, with thy nectar-like speech, sweetened by the enjoyment of the
elixir-like bliss of Brahman, pure, cooling to a degree, issuing in streams
from thy lips as from a pitcher, and delightful to the ear – do thou sprinkle
me who am tormented by worldly afflictions as by the tongues of a forest-fire.
Blessed are those on whom even a passing glance of thy eye lights, accepting them
as thine own.
40. How to cross this ocean of phenomenal existence, what is to be my fate, and
which of the means should I adopt – as to these I know nothing. Condescend to
save me, O Lord, and describe at length how to put an end to the misery of this
relative existence.
41. As he speaks thus, tormented by the afflictions of the world – which is
like a forest on fire – and seeking his protection, the saint eyes him with a
glance softened with pity and spontaneously bids him give up all fear.
42. To him who has sought his protection, thirsting for Liberation, who duly
obeys the injunctions of the Scriptures, who is of a serene mind, and endowed
with calmness – (to such a one) the sage proceeds to inculcate the truth out of
sheer grace.
43. Fear not, O learned one, there is no death for thee; there is a means of
crossing this sea of relative existence; that very way by which sages have gone
beyond it, I shall inculcate to thee.
44. There is a sovereign means which puts an end to the fear of relative
existence; through that thou wilt cross the sea of Samsara and attain the
supreme bliss.
45. Reasoning on the meaning of the Vedanta leads to efficient knowledge, which
is immediately followed by the total annihilation of the misery born of
relative existence.
46. Faith (Shraddha), devotion and the Yoga of meditation – these are mentioned
by the Shruti as the immediate factors of Liberation in the case of a seeker;
whoever abides in these gets Liberation from the bondage of the body, which is
the conjuring of Ignorance.
47. It is verily through the touch of Ignorance that thou who art the Supreme
Self findest thyself under the bondage of the non-Self, whence alone proceeds
the round of births and deaths. The fire of knowledge, kindled by the
discrimination between these two, burns up the effects of Ignorance together
with their root.
48. Condescend to listen, O Master, to the question I am putting (to thee). I
shall be gratified to hear a reply to the same from thy lips.
49. What is bondage, forsooth ? How has it come (upon the Self) ? How does it
continue to exist ? How is one freed from it ? What is this non-Self ? And who
is the Supreme Self ? And how can one discriminate between them ? -- Do tell me
about all these.
50. The Guru replied: Blessed art thou ! Thou hast achieved thy life’s end and
hast sanctified thy family, that thou wishest to attain Brahmanhood by getting
free from the bondage of Ignorance !
51. A father has got his sons and others to free him from his debts, but he has
got none but himself to remove his bondage.
52. Trouble such as that caused by a load on the head can be removed by others,
but none but one’s own self can put a stop to the pain which is caused by
hunger and the like.
53. The patient who takes (the proper) diet and medicine is alone seen to
recover completely – not through work done by others.
54. The true nature of things is to be known personally, through the eye of
clear illumination, and not through a sage: what the moon exactly is, is to be
known with one’s own eyes; can others make him know it ?
55. Who but one’s own self can get rid of the bondage caused by the fetters of
Ignorance, desire, action and the like, aye even in a hundred crore of cycles ?
56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realisation
of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.
57. The beauty of a guitar’s form and the skill of playing on its chords serve
merely to please a few persons; they do not suffice to confer sovereignty.
58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the
Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal
enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.
59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is
unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been
known.
60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely
causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing
the true nature of the Self.
61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is
the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures,
Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one ?
62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utter the name of the medicine,
without taking it; (similarly) without direct realisation one cannot be
liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.
63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the
truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of
the word Brahman ? -- It would result merely in an effort of speech.
64. Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendour of
the entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely
saying, ‘I am an emperor’.
65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent
instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying
above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called
out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and
its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman,
followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted
arguments.
66. Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like,
personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage
of repeated births and deaths.
67. The question that thou hast asked today is excellent, approved by those
versed in the Scriptures, aphoristic, pregnant with meaning and fit to be known
by the seekers after Liberation.
68. Listen attentively, O learned one, to what I am going to say. By listening
to it thou shalt be instantly free from the bondage of Samsara.
69. The first step to Liberation is the extreme aversion to all perishable
things, then follow calmness, self-control, forbearance, and the utter
relinquishment of all work enjoined in the Scriptures.
70. Then come hearing, reflection on that, and long, constant and unbroken
meditation on the Truth for the Muni. After that the learned seeker attains the
supreme Nirvikalpa state and realises the bliss of Nirvana even in this life.
71. Now I am going to tell thee fully about what thou oughtst to know – the
discrimination between the Self and the non-Self. Listen to it and decide about
it in thy mind.
72. Composed of the seven ingredients, viz. marrow, bones, fat, flesh, blood,
skin and cuticle, and consisting of the following limbs and their parts – legs,
thighs, the chest, arms, the back and the head:
73. This body, reputed to be the abode of the delusion of ‘I and mine’, is
designated by sages as the gross body. The sky, air, fire, water and earth are
subtle elements. They –
74. Being united with parts of one another and becoming gross, (they) form the
gross body. And their subtle essences form sense-objects – the group of five
such as sound, which conduce to the happiness of the experiencer, the
individual soul.
75. Those fools who are tied to these sense-objects by the stout cord of
attachment, so very difficult to snap, come and depart, up and down, carried
amain by the powerful emissary of their past action.
76. The deer, the elephant, the moth, the fish and the black-bee – these five
have died, being tied to one or other of the five senses, viz. sound etc.,
through their own attachment. What then is in store for man who is attached to
all these five.
77. Sense-objects are even more virulent in their evil effects than the poison
of the cobra. Poison kills one who takes it, but those others kill one who even
looks at them through the eyes.
78. He who is free from the terrible snare of the hankering after
sense-objects, so very difficult to get rid of, is alone fit for Liberation,
and none else – even though he be versed in all the six Shastras.
79. The shark of hankering catches by the throat those seekers after Liberation
who have got only an apparent dispassion (Vairagya) and are trying to cross the
ocean of samsara (relative existence), and violently snatching them away,
drowns them half-way.
80. He who has killed the shark known as sense-object with the sword of mature
dispassion, crosses the ocean of Samsara, free from all obstacles.
81. Know that death quickly overtakes the stupid man who walks along the
dreadful ways of sense-pleasure; whereas one who walks in accordance with the
instructions of a well-wishing and worthy Guru, as also with his own reasoning,
achieves his end – know this to be true.
82. If indeed thou hast a craving for Liberation, shun sense-objects from a
good distance as thou wouldst do poison, and always cultivate carefully the
nectar-like virtues of contentment, compassion, forgiveness,
straight-forwardness, calmness and self-control.
83. Whoever leaves aside what should always be attempted, viz. emancipation
from the bondage of Ignorance without beginning, and passionately seeks to
nourish this body, which is an object for others to enjoy, commits suicide
thereby.
84. Whoever seeks to realise the Self by devoting himself to the nourishment of
the body, proceeds to cross a river by catching hold of a crocodile, mistaking
it for a log.
85. So for a seeker after Liberation the infatuation over things like the body
is a dire death. He who has thoroughly conquered this deserves the state of
Freedom.
86. Conquer the dire death of infatuation over thy body, wife, children etc.,
-- conquering which the sages reach that Supreme State of Vishnu.
87. This gross body is to be deprecated, for it consists of the skin, flesh,
blood, arteries and veins, fat, marrow and bones, and is full of other
offensive things.
88. The gross body is produced by one’s past actions out of the gross elements
formed by the union of the subtle elements with each other, and is the medium
of experience for the soul. That is its waking state in which it perceives
gross objects.
89. Identifying itself with this form, the individual soul, though separate,
enjoys gross objects, such as garlands and sandal-paste, by means of the external
organs. Hence this body has its fullest play in the waking state.
90. Know this gross body to be like a house to the householder, on which rests
man’s entire dealing with the external world.
91. Birth, decay and death are the various characteristics of the gross body,
as also stoutness etc., childhood etc., are its different conditions; it has
got various restrictions regarding castes and orders of life; it is subject to
various diseases, and meets with different kinds of treatment, such as worship,
insult and high honours.
92. The ears, skin, eyes, nose and tongue are organs of knowledge, for they
help us to cognise objects; the vocal organs, hands, legs, etc., are organs of
action, owing to their tendency to work.
93-94. The inner organ (Antahkarana) is called Manas, Buddhi, ego or Chitta,
according to their respective functions: Manas, from its considering the pros
and cons of a thing; Buddhi, from its property of determining the truth of
objects; the ego, from its identification with this body as one’s own self; and
Chitta, from its function of remembering things it is interested in.
95. One and the same Prana (vital force) becomes Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana and
Samana according to their diversity of functions and modifications, like gold,
water, etc.
96. The five organs of action such as speech, the five organs of knowledge such
as the ear, the group of five Pranas, the five elements ending with the ether,
together with Buddhi and the rest as also Nescience, desire and action – these
eight "cities" make up what is called the subtle body.
97. Listen – this subtle body, called also the Linga body, is produced out of
the elements before their subdividing and combining with each other, is
possessed of latent impressions and causes the soul to experience the fruits of
its past actions. It is a beginningless superimposition on the soul brought on
by its own ignorance.
98-99. Dream is a state of the soul distinct from the waking state, where it
shines by itself. In dreams Buddhi, by itself, takes on the role of the agent
and the like, owing to various latent impressions of the waking state, while
the supreme Atman shines in Its own glory – with Buddhi as Its only
superimposition, the witness of everything, and is not touched by the least
work that Buddhi does. As It is wholly unattached, It is not touched by any
work that Its superimpositions may perform.
100. This subtle body is the instrument for all activities of the Atman, who is
Knowledge Absolute, like the adze and other tools of a carpenter. Therefore
this Atman is perfectly unattached.
101. Blindness, weakness and sharpness are conditions of the eye, due merely to
its fitness or defectiveness; so are deafness, dumbness, etc., of the ear and
so forth – but never of the Atman, the Knower.
102. Inhalation and exhalation, yawning, sneezing, secretion, leaving this
body, etc., are called by experts functions of Prana and the rest, while hunger
and thirst are characteristics of Prana proper.
103. The inner organ (mind) has its seat in the organs such as the eye, as well
as in the body, identifying with them and endued with a reflection of the
Atman.
104. Know that it is egoism which, identifying itself with the body, becomes
the doer or experiencer, and in conjunction with the Gunas such as the Sattva,
assumes the three different states.
105. When sense-objects are favourable it becomes happy, and it becomes
miserable when the case is contrary. So happiness and misery are
characteristics of egoism, and not of the ever-blissful Atman.
106. Sense-objects are pleasurable only as dependent on the Atman manifesting
through them, and not independently, because the Atman is by Its very nature
the most beloved of all. Therefore the Atman is ever blissful, and never
suffers misery.
107. That in profound sleep we experience the bliss of the Atman independent of
sense-objects, is clearly attested by the Shruti, direct perception, tradition
and inference.
108. Avidya (Nescience) or Maya, called also the Undifferentiated, is the power
of the Lord. She is without beginning, is made up of the three Gunas and is
superior to the effects (as their cause). She is to be inferred by one of clear
intellect only from the effects She produces. It is She who brings forth this
whole universe.
109. She is neither existent nor non-existent nor partaking of both characters;
neither same nor different nor both; neither composed of parts nor an
indivisible whole nor both. She is most wonderful and cannot be described in
words.
110. Maya can be destroyed by the realisation of the pure Brahman, the one
without a second, just as the mistaken idea of a snake is removed by the
discrimination of the rope. She has her Gunas as Rajas, Tamas and Sattva, named
after their respective functions.
111. Rajas has its Vikshepa-Shakti or projecting power, which is of the nature
of an activity, and from which this primeval flow of activity has emanated.
From this also, mental modifications such as attachment and grief are
continually produced.
112. Lust, anger, avarice, arrogance, spite, egoism, envy, jealousy, etc., --
these are the dire attributes of Rajas, from which the worldly tendency of man
is produced. Therefore Rajas is a cause of bondage.
113. Avriti or the veiling power is the power of Tamas, which makes things
appear other than what they are. It is this that causes man’s repeated
transmigrations, and starts the action of the projecting power (Vikshepa).
114. Even wise and learned men and men who are clever and adept in the vision
of the exceedingly subtle Atman, are overpowered by Tamas and do not understand
the Atman, even though clearly explained in various ways. What is simply
superimposed by delusion, they consider as true, and attach themselves to its
effects. Alas ! How powerful is the great Avriti Shakti of dreadful Tamas !
115. Absence of the right judgment, or contrary judgment, want of definite
belief and doubt – these certainly never desert one who has any connection with
this veiling power, and then the projecting power gives ceaseless trouble.
116. Ignorance, lassitude, dullness, sleep, inadvertence, stupidity, etc., are
attributes of Tamas. One tied to these does not comprehend anything, but
remains like one asleep or like a stock or stone.
117. Pure Sattva is (clear) like water, yet in conjunction with Rajas and Tamas
it makes for transmigration. The reality of the Atman becomes reflected in
Sattva and like the sun reveals the entire world of matter.
118. The traits of mixed Sattva are an utter absence of pride etc., and Niyama,
Yama, etc., as well as faith, devotion, yearning for Liberation, the divine
tendencies and turning away from the unreal.
119. The traits of pure Sattva are cheerfulness, the realisation of one’s own
Self, supreme peace, contentment, bliss, and steady devotion to the Atman, by
which the aspirant enjoys bliss everlasting.
120. This Undifferentiated, spoken of as the compound of the three Gunas, is
the causal body of the soul. Profound sleep is its special state, in which the
functions of the mind and all its organs are suspended.
121. Profound sleep is the cessation of all kinds of perception, in which the
mind remains in a subtle seed-like form. The test of this is the universal
verdict, "I did not know anything then".
122. The body, organs, Pranas, Manas, egoism, etc., all modifications, the
sense-objects, pleasure and the rest, the gross elements such as the ether, in
fact, the whole universe, up to the Undifferentiated – all this is the
non-Self.
123. From Mahat down to the gross body everything is the effect of Maya: These
and Maya itself know thou to be the non-Self, and therefore unreal like the
mirage in a desert.
124. Now I am going to tell thee of the real nature of the supreme Self,
realising which man is freed from bondage and attains Liberation.
125. There is some Absolute Entity, the eternal substratum of the consciousness
of egoism, the witness of the three states, and distinct from the five sheaths
or coverings:
126. Which knows everything that happens in the waking state, in dream and in
profound sleep; which is aware of the presence or absence of the mind and its functions;
and which is the background of the notion of egoism. – This is That.
127. Which Itself sees all, but which no one beholds, which illumines the
intellect etc., but which they cannot illumine. – This is That.
128. By which this universe is pervaded, but which nothing pervades, which
shining, all this (universe) shines as Its reflection. – This is That.
129. By whose very presence the body, the organs, mind and intellect keep to
their respective spheres of action, like servants !
130. By which everything from egoism down to the body, the sense-objects and
pleasure etc., is known as palpably as a jar – for It is the essence of Eternal
Knowledge !
131. This is the innermost Self, the primeval Purusha (Being), whose essence is
the constant realisation of infinite Bliss, which is ever the same, yet
reflecting through the different mental modifications, and commanded by which
the organs and Pranas perform their functions.
132. In this very body, in the mind full of Sattva, in the secret chamber of
the intellect, in the Akasha known as the Unmanifested, the Atman, of charming
splendour, shines like the sun aloft, manifesting this universe through Its own
effulgence.
133. The Knower of the modifications of mind and egoism, and of the activities
of the body, the organs and Pranas, apparently taking their forms, like the
fire in a ball of iron; It neither acts nor is subject to change in the least.
134. It is neither born nor dies, It neither grows nor decays, nor does It
undergo any change, being eternal. It does not cease to exist even when this
body is destroyed, like the sky in a jar (after it is broken), for It is
independent.
135. The Supreme Self, different from the Prakriti and its modifications, of
the essence of Pure Knowledge, and Absolute, directly manifests this entire
gross and subtle universe, in the waking and other states, as the substratum of
the persistent sense of egoism, and manifests Itself as the Witness of the
Buddhi, the determinative faculty.
136.By means of a regulated mind and the purified intellect (Buddhi), realise
directly thy own Self in the body so as to identify thyself with It, cross the
boundless ocean of Samsara whose waves are birth and death, and firmly
established in Brahman as thy own essence, be blessed.
137. Identifying the Self with this non-Self – this is the bondage of man,
which is due to his ignorance, and brings in its train the miseries of birth
and death. It is through this that one considers this evanescent body as real,
and identifying oneself with it, nourishes, bathes, and preserves it by means
of (agreeable) sense-objects, by which he becomes bound as the caterpillar by
the threads of its cocoon.
138. One who is overpowered by ignorance mistakes a thing for what it is not;
It is the absence of discrimination that causes one to mistake a snake for a
rope, and great dangers overtake him when he seizes it through that wrong
notion. Hence, listen, my friend, it is the mistaking of transitory things as
real that constitutes bondage.
139. This veiling power (Avriti), which preponderates in ignorance, covers the
Self, whose glories are infinite and which manifests Itself through the power
of knowledge, indivisible, eternal and one without a second – as Rahu does the
orb of the sun.
140. When his own Self, endowed with the purest splendour, is hidden from view,
a man through ignorance falsely identifies himself with this body, which is the
non-Self. And then the great power of rajas called the projecting power sorely
afflicts him through the binding fetters of lust, anger, etc.,
141. The man of perverted intellect, having his Self-knowledge swallowed up by
the shark of utter ignorance, himself imitates the various states of the
intellect (Buddhi), as that is Its superimposed attribute, and drifts up and
down in this boundless ocean of Samsara which is full of the poison of
sense-enjoyment, now sinking, now rising – a miserable fate indeed!
142. As layers of clouds generated by the sun’s rays cover the sun and alone
appear (in the sky), so egoism generated by the Self, covers the reality of the
Self and appears by itself.
143. Just as, on a cloudy day, when the sun is swallowed up by dense clouds,
violent cold blasts trouble them, so when the Atman is hidden by intense
ignorance, the dreadful Vikshepa Shakti (projecting power) afflicts the foolish
man with numerous griefs.
144. It is from these two powers that man’s bondage has proceeded – beguiled by
which he mistakes the body for the Self and wanders (from body to body).
145. Of the tree of Samsara ignorance is the seed, the identification with the
body is its sprout, attachment its tender leaves, work its water, the body its
trunk, the vital forces its branches, the organs its twigs, the sense-objects
its flowers, various miseries due to diverse works are its fruits, and the individual
soul is the bird on it.
146. This bondage of the non-Self springs from ignorance, is self-caused, and
is described as without beginning and end. It subjects one to the long train of
miseries such as birth, death, disease and decrepitude.
147. This bondage can be destroyed neither by weapons nor by wind, nor by fire,
nor by millions of acts – by nothing except the wonderful sword of knowledge
that comes of discrimination, sharpened by the grace of the Lord.
148. One who is passionately devoted to the authority of the Shrutis acquires
steadiness in his Svadharma, which alone conduces to the purity of his mind.
The man of pure mind realises the Supreme Self, and by this alone Samsara with
its root is destroyed.
149. Covered by the five sheaths – the material one and the rest – which are
the products of Its own power, the Self ceases to appear, like the water of a
tank by its accumulation of sedge.
150. On the removal of that sedge the perfectly pure water that allays the
pangs of thirst and gives immediate joy, appears unobstructed before the man.
151. When all the five sheaths have been eliminated, the
Self of man appears – pure, of the essence of everlasting and unalloyed bliss,
indwelling, supreme and self-effulgent.
152. To remove his bondage the wise man should discriminate between the Self
and the non-Self. By that alone he comes to know his own Self as
Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute and becomes happy.
153. He indeed is free who discriminates between all sense-objects and the
indwelling, unattached and inactive Self – as one separates a stalk of grass
from its enveloping sheath – and merging everything in It, remains in a state
of identity with That.
154. This body of ours is the product of food and comprises the material
sheath; it lives on food and dies without it; it is a mass of skin, flesh,
blood, bones and filth, and can never be the eternally pure, self-existent
Atman.
155. It does not exist prior to inception or posterior to dissolution, but
lasts only for a short (intervening) period; its virtues are transient, and it
is changeful by nature; it is manifold, inert, and is a sense-object, like a
jar; how can it be one’s own Self, the Witness of changes in all things ?
156. The body, consisting of arms, legs, etc., cannot be the Atman, for one
continues to live even when particular limbs are gone, and the different
functions of the organism also remain intact. The body which is subject to
another’s rule cannot be the Self which is the Ruler of all.
157. That the Atman as the abiding Reality is different from the body, its
characteristics, its activities, its states, etc., of which It is the witness,
is self-evident.
158. How can the body, being a pack of bones, covered with flesh, full of filth
and highly impure, be the self-existent Atman, the Knower, which is ever
distinct from it ?
159. It is the foolish man who identifies himself with a mass of skin, flesh,
fat, bones and filth, while the man of discrimination knows his own Self, the
only Reality that there is, as distinct from the body.
160. The stupid man thinks he is the body, the book-learned man identifies
himself with the mixture of body and soul, while the sage possessed of
realisation due to discrimination looks upon the eternal Atman as his Self, and
thinks, "I am Brahman".
161. O foolish person, cease to identify thyself with this bundle of skin,
flesh, fat, bones and filth, and identify thyself instead with the Absolute
Brahman, the Self of all, and thus attain to supreme Peace.
162. As long as the book-learned man does not give up his mistaken
identification with the body, organs, etc., which are unreal, there is no talk
of emancipation for him, even if he be ever so erudite in the Vedanta
philosophy.
163. Just as thou dost not identify thyself with the shadow-body, the
image-body, the dream-body, or the body thou hast in the imaginations of thy
heart, cease thou to do likewise with the living body also.
164. Identifications with the body alone is the root that produces the misery
of birth etc., of people who are attached to the unreal; therefore destroy thou
this with the utmost care. When this identification caused by the mind is given
up, there is no more chance for rebirth.
165. The Prana, with which we are all familiar, coupled with the five organs of
action, forms the vital sheath, permeated by which the material sheath engages
itself in all activities as if it were living.
166. Neither is the vital sheath the Self – because it is a modification of
Vayu, and like the air it enters into and comes out of the body, and because it
never knows in the least either its own weal and woe or those of others, being
eternally dependent on the Self.
167. The organs of knowledge together with the mind form the mental sheath –
the cause of the diversity of things such as "I" and
"mine". It is powerful and endued with the faculty of creating
differences of name etc., It manifests itself as permeating the preceding, i.e.
the vital sheath.
168. The mental sheath is the (sacrificial) fire which, fed with the fuel of
numerous desires by the five sense-organs which serve as priests, and set
ablaze by the sense-objects which act as the stream of oblations, brings about
this phenomenal universe.
169. There is no Ignorance (Avidya) outside the mind. The mind alone is Avidya,
the cause of the bondage of transmigration. When that is destroyed, all else is
destroyed, and when it is manifested, everything else is manifested.
170. In dreams, when there is no actual contact with the external world, the
mind alone creates the whole universe consisting of the experiencer etc.
Similarly in the waking state also; there is no difference. Therefore all this
(phenomenal universe) is the projection of the mind.
171. In dreamless sleep, when the mind is reduced to its causal state, there
exists nothing (for the person asleep), as is evident from universal
experience. Hence man’s relative existence is simply the creation of his mind,
and has no objective reality.
172. Clouds are brought in by the wind and again driven away by the same
agency. Similarly, man’s bondage is caused by the mind, and Liberation too is
caused by that alone.
173. It (first) creates an attachment in man for the body and all other
sense-objects, and binds him through that attachment like a beast by means of
ropes. Afterwards, the selfsame mind creates in the individual an utter
distaste for these sense-objects as if they were poison, and frees him from the
bondage.
174. Therefore the mind is the only cause that brings about man’s bondage or
Liberation: when tainted by the effects of Rajas it leads to bondage, and when
pure and divested of the Rajas and Tamas elements it conduces to Liberation.
175. Attaining purity through a preponderance of discrimination and
renunciation, the mind makes for Liberation. Hence the wise seeker after
Liberation must first strengthen these two.
176. In the forest-tract of sense-pleasures there prowls a huge tiger called
the mind. Let good people who have a longing for Liberation never go there.
177. The mind continually produces for the experiencer all sense-objects
without exception, whether perceived as gross or fine, the differences of body,
caste, order of life, and tribe, as well as the varieties of qualification,
action, means and results.
178. Deluding the Jiva, which is unattached Pure Intelligence, and binding it
by the ties of body, organs and Pranas, the mind causes it to wander, with
ideas of "I" and "mine", amidst the varied enjoyment of
results achieved by itself.
179. Man’s transmigration is due to the evil of superimposition, and the
bondage of superimposition is created by the mind alone. It is this that causes
the misery of birth etc., for the man of non-discrimination who is tainted by
Rajas and Tamas.
180. Hence sages who have fathomed its secret have designated the mind as
Avidya or ignorance, by which alone the universe is moved to and fro, like
masses of clouds by the wind.
181. Therefore the seeker after Liberation must carefully purify the mind. When
this is purified, Liberation is as easy of access as a fruit on the palm of
one’s hand.
182. He who by means of one-pointed devotion to Liberation roots out the
attachment to sense-objects, renounces all actions, and with faith in the Real
Brahman regularly practices hearing, etc., succeeds in purging the Rajasika
nature of the intellect.
183. Neither can the mental sheath be the Supreme Self, because it has a
beginning and an end, is subject to modifications, is characterised by pain and
suffering and is an object; whereas the subject can never be identified with
the objects of knowledge.
184. The Buddhi with its modifications and the organs of knowledge, forms the
Vijnanamaya Kosha or knowledge sheath, of the agent, having the characteristics
which is the cause of man’s transmigration.
185. This knowledge sheath, which seems to be followed by a reflection of the
power of the Chit, is a modification of the Prakriti, is endowed with the
function of knowledge, and always wholly identifies itself with the body,
organs, etc.
186-187. It is without beginning, characterised by egoism, is called the Jiva,
and carries on all the activities on the relative plane. Through previous
desires it performs good and evil actions and experiences their results. Being
born in various bodies, it comes and goes, up and down. It is this knowledge
sheath that has the waking, dream and other states, and experiences joy and
grief.
188. It always mistakes the duties, functions and attributes of the orders of
life which belong to the body, as its own. The knowledge sheath is exceedingly
effulgent, owing to its close proximity to the Supreme Self, which identifying
Itself with it suffers transmigration through delusion. It is therefore a
superimposition on the Self.
189. The self-effulgent Atman, which is Pure Knowledge, shines in the midst of
the Pranas, within the heart. Though immutable, It becomes the agent and
experiencer owing to Its superimposition, the knowledge sheath.
190. Though the Self of everything that exists, this Atman, Itself assuming the
limitations of the Buddhi and wrongly identifying Itself with this totally
unreal entity, looks upon Itself as something different – like earthen jars
from the clay of which they are made.
191. Owing to Its connection with the super-impositions, the Supreme Self, even
thou naturally perfect (transcending Nature) and eternally unchanging, assumes
the qualities of the superimpositions and appears to act just as they do – like
the changeless fire assuming the modifications of the iron which it turns
red-hot.
192. The disciple questioned: Be it through delusion or otherwise that the
Supreme Self has come to consider Itself as the Jiva, this superimposition is
without beginning, and that which has no beginning cannot be supposed to have
an end either.
193. Therefore the Jivahood of the soul also must have no end, and its
transmigration must continue for ever. How then can there be Liberation for the
soul ? Kindly enlighten me on this point, O revered Master.
194. The Teacher said: Thou hast rightly questioned, O learned man ! Listen
therefore attentively: The imagination which has been conjured up by delusion
can never be accepted as a fact.
195. But for delusion there can be no connection of the Self – which is
unattached, beyond activity and formless – with the objective world, as in the
case of blueness etc., with reference to the sky.
196. The Jivahood of the Atman, the Witness, which is beyond qualities and
beyond activity, and which is realised within as Knowledge and Bliss Absolute –
has been superimposed by the delusion of the Buddhi, and is not real. And
because it is by nature an unreality, it ceases to exist when the delusion is
gone.
197. It exists only so long as the delusion lasts, being caused by
indiscrimination due to an illusion. The rope is supposed to be the snake only
so long as the mistake lasts, and there is no more snake when the illusion has
vanished. Similar is the case here.
198-199. Avidya or Nescience and its effects are likewise considered as
beginningless. But with the rise of Vidya or realisation, the entire effects of
Avidya, even though beginningless, are destroyed together with their root –
like dreams on waking up from sleep. It is clear that the phenomenal universe,
even though without beginning, is not eternal – like previous non-existence.
200-201. Previous non-existence, even though beginningless, is observed to have
an end. So the Jivahood which is imagined to be in the Atman through its
relation with superimposed attributes such as the Buddhi, is not real; whereas
the other (the Atman) is essentially different from it. The relation between
the Atman and the Buddhi is due to a false knowledge.
202. The cessation of that superimposition takes place through perfect
knowledge, and by no other means. Perfect knowledge, according to the Shrutis,
consists in the realisation of the identity of the individual soul and Brahman.
203. This realisation is attained by a perfect discrimination between the Self
and the non-Self. Therefore one must strive for the discrimination between the
individual soul and the eternal Self.
204. Just as the water which is very muddy again appears as transparent water
when the mud is removed, so the Atman also manifests Its undimmed lustre when
the taint has been removed.
205. When the unreal ceases to exist, this very individual soul is definitely
realised as the eternal Self. Therefore one must make it a point completely to
remove things like egoism from the eternal Self.
206. This knowledge sheath (Vijnanamaya Kosha) that we have been speaking of,
cannot be the Supreme Self for the following reasons - because it is subject to
change, is insentient, is a limited thing, an object of the senses, and is not
constantly present: An unreal thing cannot indeed be taken for the real Atman.
207. The blissful sheath (Anandamaya Kosha) is that modification of Nescience
which manifests itself catching a reflection of the Atman which is Bliss
Absolute; whose attributes are pleasure and the rest; and which appears in view
when some object agreeable to oneself presents itself. It makes itself
spontaneously felt by the fortunate during the fruition of their virtuous
deeds; from which every corporeal being derives great joy without the least
effort.
208. The blissful sheath has its fullest play during profound sleep, while in
the dreaming and wakeful states it has only a partial manifestation, occasioned
by the sight of agreeable objects and so forth.
209. Nor is the blissful sheath the Supreme Self, because it is endowed with
the changeful attributes, is a modification of the Prakriti, is the effect of
past good deeds, and imbedded in the other sheaths which are modifications.
210. When all the five sheaths have been eliminated by the reasoning on Shruti
passages, what remains as the culminating point of the process, is the Witness,
the Knowledge Absolute – the Atman.
211. This self-effulgent Atman which is distinct from the five sheaths, the
Witness of the three states, the Real, the Changeless, the Untainted, the
everlasting Bliss – is to be realised by the wise man as his own Self.
212. The disciple questioned: After these five sheaths have been eliminated as
unreal, I find nothing, O Master, in this universe but a Void, the absence of
everything. What entity is there left forsooth with which the wise knower of
the Self should realise his identity.
213-214. The Guru answered: Thou has rightly said, O learned man ! Thou art
clever indeed in discrimination. That by which all those modifications such as
egoism as well as their subsequent absence (during deep sleep) are perceived,
but which Itself is not perceived, know thou that Atman – the Knower – through
the sharpest intellect.
215. That which is perceived by something else has for its witness the latter.
When there is no agent to perceive a thing, we cannot speak of it as having
been perceived at all.
216. This Atman is a self-cognised entity because It is cognised by Itself.
Hence the individual soul is itself and directly the Supreme Brahman, and
nothing else.
217. That which clearly manifests Itself in the states of wakefulness, dream
and profound sleep; which is inwardly perceived in the mind in various forms as
an unbroken series of egoistic impressions; which witnesses the egoism, the
Buddhi, etc., which are of diverse forms and modifications; and which makes
Itself felt as the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute; know thou this Atman,
thy own Self, within thy heart.
218. Seeing the reflection of the sun mirrored in the water of a jar, the fool
thinks it is the sun itself. Similarly the stupid man, through delusion,
identifies himself with the reflection of the Chit caught in the Buddhi, which
is Its superimposition.
219. Just as the wise man leaves aside the jar, the water and the reflection of
the sun in it, and sees the self-luminous sun which illumines these three and
is independent of them;
220-222. Similarly, discarding the body, the Buddhi and the reflection of the
Chit in it, and realising the Witness, the Self, the Knowledge Absolute, the
cause of the manifestation of everything, which is hidden in the recesses of
the Buddhi, is distinct from the gross and subtle, eternal, omnipresent,
all-pervading and extremely subtle, and which has neither interior nor exterior
and is identical with one self – fully realising this true nature of oneself,
one becomes free from sin, taint, death and grief, and becomes the embodiment
of Bliss. Illumined himself, he is afraid of none. For a seeker after
Liberation there is no other way to the breaking of the bonds of transmigration
than the realisation of the truth of one’s own Self.
223. The realisation of one’s identity with Brahman is the cause of Liberation
from the bonds of Samsara, by means of which the wise man attains Brahman, the
One without a second, the Bliss Absolute.
224. Once having realised Brahman, one no longer returns to the realm of
transmigration. Therefore one must fully realise one’s identity with Brahman.
225. Brahman is Existence, Knowledge, Infinity, pure, supreme, self-existent,
eternal and indivisible Bliss, not different (in reality) from the individual
soul, and devoid of interior or exterior. It is (ever) triumphant.
226. It is this Supreme Oneness which alone is real, since there is nothing
else but the Self. Verily, there remains no other independent entity in the
state of realisation of the highest Truth.
227. All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is
nothing else but Brahman which is absolutely free from all the limitations of
human thought.
228. A jar, though a modification of clay, is not different from it; everywhere
the jar is essentially the same as the clay. Why then call it a jar ? It is
fictitious, a fancied name merely.
229. None can demonstrate that the essence of a jar is something other than the
clay (of which it is made). Hence the jar is merely imagined (as separate)
through delusion, and the component clay alone is the abiding reality in
respect of it.
230. Similarly, the whole universe, being the effect of the real Brahman, is in
reality nothing but Brahman. Its essence is That, and it does not exist apart
from It. He who says it does is still under delusion – he babbles like one
asleep.
231. This universe is verily Brahman – such is the august pronouncement of the
Atharva Veda. Therefore this universe is nothing but Brahman, for that which is
superimposed (on something) has no separate existence from its substratum.
232. If the universe, as it is, be real, there would be no cessation of the
dualistic element, the scriptures would be falsified, and the Lord Himself
would be guilty of an untruth. None of these three is considered either
desirable or wholesome by the noble-minded.
233. The Lord, who knows the secret of all things has supported this view in
the words: "But I am not in them" … "nor are the beings in
Me".
234. If the universe be true, let it then be perceived in the state of deep
sleep also. As it is not at all perceived, it must be unreal and false, like
dreams.
235. Therefore the universe does not exist apart from the Supreme Self; and the
perception of its separateness is false like the qualities (of blueness etc.,
in the sky). Has a superimposed attribute any meaning apart from its substratum
? It is the substratum which appears like that through delusion.
236. Whatever a deluded man perceives through mistake, is Brahman and Brahman
alone: The silver is nothing but the mother-of-pearl. It is Brahman which is
always considered as this universe, whereas that which is superimposed on the
Brahman, viz. the universe, is merely a name.
237-238. Hence whatever is manifested, viz. this universe, is the Supreme
Brahman Itself, the Real, the One without a second, pure, the Essence of
Knowledge, taintless, serene, devoid of beginning and end, beyond activity, the
Essence of Bliss Absolute – transcending all the diversities created by Maya or
Nescience, eternal, ever beyond the reach of pain, indivisible, immeasurable,
formless, undifferentiated, nameless, immutable, self-luminous.
239. Sages realise the Supreme Truth, Brahman, in which there is no
differentiation of knower, knowledge and known, which is infinite,
transcendent, and the Essence of Knowledge Absolute.
240. Which can be neither thrown away nor taken up, which is beyond the reach
of mind and speech, immeasurable, without beginning and end, the Whole, one’s
very Self, and of surpassing glory.
241-242. If thus the Shruti, in the dictum "Thou art That"
(Tat-Tvam-Asi), repeatedly establishes the absolute identity of Brahman (or
Ishwara) and Jiva, denoted by the terms That (Tat) and thou (Tvam)
respectively, divesting these terms of their relative associations, then it is
the identity of their implied, not literal, meanings which is sought to be inculcated;
for they are of contradictory attributes to each other – like the sun and a
glow-worm, the king and a servant, the ocean and a well, or Mount Meru and an
atom.
243. This contradiction between them is created by superimposition, and is not
something real. This superimposition, in the case of Ishwara (the Lord), is
Maya or Nescience, which is the cause of Mahat and the rest, and in the case of
the Jiva (the individual soul), listen – the five sheaths, which are the
effects of Maya, stand for it.
244. These two are the superimpositions of Ishwara and the Jiva respectively,
and when these are perfectly eliminated, there is neither Ishwara nor Jiva. A
kingdom is the symbol of a king, and a shield of the soldier, and when these
are taken away, there is neither king nor soldier.
245. The Vedas themselves in the words "now then is the injunction"
etc., repudiate the duality imagined in Brahman. One must needs eliminate those
two superimpositions by means of realisation supported by the authority of the
Vedas.
246. Neither this gross nor this subtle universe (is the Atman). Being
imagined, they are not real – like the snake seen in the rope, and like dreams.
Perfectly eliminating the objective world in this way by means of reasoning,
one should next realise the oneness that underlies Ishwara and the Jiva.
247. Hence those two terms (Ishwara and Jiva) must be carefully considered
through their implied meanings, so that their absolute identity may be
established. Neither the method of total rejection nor that of complete
retention will do. One must reason out through the process which combines the
two.
248-249. Just as in the sentence, "This is that Devadatta", the
identity is spoken of, eliminating the contradictory portions, so in the
sentence "Thou art That", the wise man must give up the contradictory
elements on both sides and recognise the identity of Ishwara and Jiva, noticing
carefully the essence of both, which is Chit, Knowledge Absolute. Thus hundreds
of scriptural texts inculcate the oneness and identity of Brahman and Jiva.
250. Eliminating the not-Self, in the light of such passages as "It is not
gross" etc., (one realises the Atman), which is self-established,
unattached like the sky, and beyond the range of thought. Therefore dismiss
this mere phantom of a body which thou perceivest and hast accepted as thy own
self. By means of the purified understanding that thou art Brahman, realise thy
own self, the Knowledge Absolute.
251. All modifications of clay, such as the jar, which are always accepted by
the mind as real, are (in reality) nothing but clay. Similarly, this entire
universe which is produced from the real Brahman, is Brahman Itself and nothing
but That. Because there is nothing else whatever but Brahman, and That is the
only self-existent Reality, our very Self, therefore art thou that serene,
pure, Supreme Brahman, the One without a second.
252. As the place, time, objects, knower, etc., called up in dream are all
unreal, so is also the world experienced here in the waking state, for it is
all an effect of one’s own ignorance. Because this body, the organs, the
Pranas, egoism, etc., are also thus unreal, therefore art thou that serene,
pure, supreme Brahman, the One without a second.
253. (What is) erroneously supposed to exist in something, is, when the truth
about it has been known, nothing but that substratum, and not at all different
from it: The diversified dream universe (appears and) passes away in the dream
itself. Does it appear on waking as something distinct from one’s own Self ?
254. That which is beyond caste and creed, family and lineage; devoid of name
and form, merit and demerit; transcending space, time and sense-object – that
Brahman art thou, meditate on this in thy mind.
255. That Supreme Brahman which is beyond the range of all speech, but
accessible to the eye of pure illumination; which is pure, the Embodiment of
Knowledge, the beginningless entity – that Brahman art thou, meditate on this
in thy mind.
256. That which is untouched by the sixfold wave; meditated upon by the Yogi’s
heart, but not grasped by the sense-organs; which the Buddhi cannot know; and
which is unimpeachable – that Brahman art thou, meditate on this in thy mind.
257. That which is the substratum of the universe with its various
subdivisions, which are all creations of delusion; which Itself has no other
support; which is distinct from the gross and subtle; which has no parts, and
has verily no exemplar – that Brahman art thou, meditate on this in thy mind.
258. That which is free from birth, growth, development, waste, disease and
death; which is indestructible; which is the cause of the projection,
maintenance and dissolution of the universe – that Brahman art thou, meditate
on this in thy mind.
259. That which is free from differentiation; whose essence is never
non-existent; which is unmoved like the ocean without waves; the ever-free; of
indivisible Form – that Brahman art thou, meditate on this in thy mind.
260. That which, though One only, is the cause of the many; which refutes all
other causes, but is Itself without cause; distinct from Maya and its effect,
the universe; and independent – that Brahman art thou, meditate on this in thy
mind.
261. That which is free from duality; which is infinite and indestructible;
distinct from the universe and Maya, supreme, eternal; which is undying Bliss;
taintless – that Brahman art thou, meditate on this in thy mind.
262. That Reality which (though One) appears variously owing to delusion,
taking on names and forms, attributes and changes, Itself always unchanged, like
gold in its modifications – that Brahman art thou, meditate on this in thy
mind.
263. That beyond which there is nothing; which shines even above Maya, which
again is superior to its effect, the universe; the inmost Self of all, free
from differentiation; the Real Self, the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute;
infinite and immutable – that Brahman art thou, meditate on this in thy mind.
264. On the Truth, inculcated above, one must oneself meditate in one’s mind,
through the intellect, by means of the recognised arguments. By that means one
will realise the truth free from doubt etc., like water in the palm of one’s
hand.
265. Realising in this body the Knowledge Absolute free from Nescience and its
effects – like the king in an army – and being ever established in thy own Self
by resting on that Knowledge, merge the universe in Brahman.
266. In the cave of the Buddhi there is the Brahman, distinct from the gross
and subtle, the Existence Absolute, Supreme, the One without a second. For one
who lives in this cave as Brahman, O beloved, there is no more entrance into
the mother’s womb.
267. Even after the Truth has been realised, there remains that strong,
beginningless, obstinate impression that one is the agent and experiencer,
which is the cause of one’s transmigration. It has to be carefully removed by
living in a state of constant identification with the Supreme Self. Sages call
that Liberation which is the attenuation of Vasanas (impressions) here and now.
268. The idea of "me and mine" in the body, organs, etc., which are
the non-Self – this superimposition the wise man must put a stop to, by
identifying himself with the Atman.
269. Realising thy own Inmost Self, the Witness of the Buddhi and its
modifications, and constantly revolving the positive thought, "I am
That", conquer this identification with the non-Self.
270. Relinquishing the observance of social formalities, giving up all ideas of
trimming up the body, and avoiding too mush engrossment with the Scriptures, do
away with the superimposition that has come upon thyself.
271. Owing to the desire to run after society, the passion for too much study
of the Scriptures and the desire to keep the body in good trim, people cannot
attain to proper Realisation.
272. For one who seeks deliverance from the prison of this world (Samsara),
those three desires have been designated by the wise as strong iron fetters to
shackle one’s feet. He who is free from them truly attains to Liberation.
273. The lovely odour of the Agaru (agalochum) which is hidden by a powerful
stench due to its contact with water etc., manifests itself as soon as the
foreign smell has been fully removed by rubbing.
274. Like the fragrance of the sandal-wood, the perfume of the Supreme Self,
which is covered with the dust of endless, violent impressions imbedded in the
mind, when purified by the constant friction of Knowledge, is (again) clearly
perceived.
275. The desire for Self-realisation is obscured by innumerable desires for
things other than the Self. When they have been destroyed by the constant
attachment to the Self, the Atman clearly manifests Itself of Its own accord.
276. As the mind becomes gradually established in the Inmost Self, it
proportionately gives up the desires for external objects. And when all such
desires have been eliminated, there takes place the unobstructed realisation of
the Atman.
277. The Yogi’s mind dies, being constantly fixed on his own Self. Thence
follows the cessation of desires. Therefore do away with thy superimposition.
278. Tamas is destroyed by both Sattva and Rajas, Rajas by Sattva, and Sattva
dies when purified. Therefore do way with thy superimposition through the help
of Sattva.
279. Knowing for certain that the Prarabdha work will maintain this body,
remain quiet and do away with thy superimposition carefully and with patience.
280. "I am not the individual soul, but the Supreme Brahman" –
eliminating thus all that is not-Self, do away with thy superimposition, which
has come through the momentum of (past) impressions.
281. Realising thyself as the Self of all by means of Scripture, reasoning and
by thy own realisation, do away thy superimposition, even when a trace of it
seems to appear.
282. The sage has no connection with action, since he has no idea of accepting
or giving up. Therefore, through constant engrossment on the Brahman, do away
with thy superimposition.
283. Through the realisation of the identity of Brahman and the soul, resulting
from such great dicta as "Thou art That", do away with thy
superimposition, with a view to strengthening thy identification with Brahman.
284. Until the identification with this body is completely rooted out, do away
with thy superimposition with watchfulness and a concentrated mind.
285. So long as even a dream-like perception of the universe and souls persists,
do away with thy superimposition, O learned man, without the least break.
286. Without giving the slightest chance to oblivion on account of sleep,
concern in secular matters or the sense-objects, reflect on the Self in thy
mind.
287. Shunning from a safe distance the body which has come from impurities of
the parents and itself consists of flesh and impurities – as one does an
outcast – be thou Brahman and realise the consummation of thy life.
288. Merging the finite soul in the Supreme Self, like the space enclosed by a
jar in the infinite space, by means of meditation on their identity, always
keep quiet, O sage.
289. Becoming thyself the self-effulgent Brahman, the substratum of all
phenomena – as that Reality give up both the macrocosm and the microcosm, like
two filthy receptacles.
290. Transferring the identification now rooted in the body to the Atman, the
Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, and discarding the subtle body, be thou
ever alone, independent.
291. That in which there is this reflection of the universe, as of a city in a
mirror – that Brahman art thou; knowing this thou wilt attain the consummation
of thy life.
292. That which is real and one’s own primeval Essence, that Knowledge and
Bliss Absolute, the One without a second, which is beyond form and activity –
attaining That one should cease to identify oneself with one’s false bodies,
like an actor giving up his assumed mask.
293. This objective universe is absolutely unreal; neither is egoism a reality,
for it is observed to be momentary. How can the perception, "I know
all", be true of egoism etc., which are momentary ?
294. But the real ‘I" is that which witnesses the ego and the rest. It
exists always, even in the state of profound sleep. The Shruti itself says,
"It is birthless, eternal", etc. Therefore the Paramatman is
different from the gross and subtle bodies.
295. The knower of all changes in things subject to change should necessarily
be eternal and changeless. The unreality of the gross and subtle bodies is
again and again clearly observed in imagination, dream and profound sleep.
296. Therefore give up the identification with this lump of flesh, the gross
body, as well as with the ego or the subtle body, which are both imagined by
the Buddhi. Realising thy own Self, which is Knowledge Absolute and not to be
denied in the past, present or future, attain to Peace.
297. Cease to identify thyself with the family, lineage, name, form and the
order of life, which pertain to the body that is like a rotten corpse (to a man
of realisation). Similarly, giving up ideas of agency and so forth, which are
attributes of the subtle body, be the Essence of Bliss Absolute.
298. Other obstacles are also observed to exist for men, which lead to
transmigration. The root of them, for the above reasons, is the first
modification of Nescience called egoism.
299. So long as one has any relation to this wicked ego, there should not be
the least talk about Liberation, which is unique.
300. Freed from the clutches of egoism, as the moon from those of Rahu, man
attains to his real nature, and becomes pure, infinite, ever blissful and
self-luminous.
301. That which has been created by the Buddhi extremely deluded by Nescience,
and which is perceived in this body as "I am such and such" – when
that egoism is totally destroyed, one attains an unobstructed identity with
Brahman.
302. The treasure of the Bliss of Brahman is coiled round by the mighty and
dreadful serpent of egoism, and guarded for its own use by means of its three
fierce hoods consisting of the three Gunas. Only the wise man, destroying it by
severing its three hoods with the great sword of realisation in accordance with
the teachings of the Shrutis, can enjoy this treasure which confers bliss.
303. As long as there is a trace of poisoning left in the body, how can one
hope for recovery ? Similar is the effect of egoism on the Yogi’s Liberation.
304. Through the complete cessation of egoism, through the stoppage of the
diverse mental waves due to it, and through the discrimination of the inner Reality,
one realises that Reality as "I am This".
305. Give up immediately thy identification with egoism, the agent, which is by
its nature a modification, is endued with a reflection of the Self, and diverts
one from being established in the Self – identifying thyself with which thou
hast come by this relative existence, full of the miseries of birth, decay and
death, though thou art the Witness, the Essence of Knowledge and Bliss
Absolute.
306. But for thy identification with that egoism there can never be any
transmigration for thee who art immutable and eternally the same, the Knowledge
Absolute, omnipresent, the Bliss Absolute, and of untarnished glory.
307. Therefore destroying this egoism, thy enemy - which appears like a thorn
sticking in the throat of a man taking meal – with the great sword of
realisation, enjoy directly and freely the bliss of thy own empire, the majesty
of the Atman.
308. Checking the activities of egoism etc., and giving up all attachment
through the realisation of the Supreme Reality, be free from all duality
through the enjoyment of the Bliss of Self, and remain quiet in Brahman, for
thou hast attained thy infinite nature.
309. Even though completely rooted out, this terrible egoism, if revolved in
the mind even for a moment, returns to life and creates hundreds of mischiefs,
like a cloud ushered in by the wind during the rainy season.
310. Overpowering this enemy, egoism, not a moment’s respite should be given to
it by thinking on the sense-objects. That is verily the cause of its coming
back to life, like water to a citron tree that has almost dried up.
311. He alone who has identified himself with the body is greedy after
sense-pleasures. How can one, devoid of the body-idea, be greedy (like him) ?
Hence the tendency to think on the sense-objects is verily the cause of the
bondage of transmigration, giving rise to an idea of distinction or duality.
312. When the effects are developed, the seed also is observed to be such, and
when the effects are destroyed, the seed also is seen to be destroyed.
Therefore one must subdue the effects.
313. Through the increase of desires selfish work increases, and when there is
an increase of selfish work, there is an increase of desire also. And man’s
transmigration is never at an end.
314. For the sake of breaking the chain of transmigration, the Sannyasin should
burn to ashes those two; for thinking of the sense-objects and doing selfish
acts lead to an increase of desires.
315-316. Augmented by these two, desires produce one’s transmigration. The way
to destroy these three, however, lies in looking upon everything, under all
circumstances, always, everywhere and in all respects, as Brahman and Brahman
alone. Through the strengthening of the longing to be one with Brahman, those
three are annihilated.
317. With the cessation of selfish action the brooding on the sense-objects is
stopped, which is followed by the destruction of desires. The destruction of
desires is Liberation, and this is considered as Liberation-in-life
318. When the desire for realising Brahman has a marked manifestation, the
egoistic desires readily vanish, as the most intense darkness effectively
vanishes before the glow of the rising sun.
319. Darkness and the numerous evils that attend on it are not noticed when the
sun rises. Similarly, on the realisation of the Bliss Absolute, there is
neither bondage nor the least trace of misery.
320. Causing the external and internal universe, which are now perceived, to
vanish, and meditating on the Reality, the Bliss Embodied, one should pass
one’s time watchfully, if there be any residue of Prarabdha work left.
321. One should never be careless in one’s steadfastness to Brahman. Bhagavan
Sanatkumara, who is Brahma’s son, has called inadvertence to be death itself.
322. There is no greater danger for the Jnanin than carelessness about his own
real nature. From this comes delusion, thence egoism, this is followed by
bondage, and then comes misery.
323. Finding even a wise man hankering after the sense-objects, oblivion
torments him through the evil propensities of the Buddhi, as a woman does her
doting paramour.
324. As sedge, even if removed, does not stay away for a moment, but covers the
water again, so Maya or Nescience also covers even a wise man, if he is averse
to meditation on the Self.
325. If the mind ever so slightly strays from the Ideal and becomes outgoing,
then it goes down and down, just as a play-ball inadvertently dropped on the
staircase bounds down from one step to another.
326. The mind that is attached to the sense-objects reflects on their
qualities; from mature reflection arises desire, and after desiring a man sets
about having that thing.
327. Hence to the discriminating knower of Brahman there is no worse death than
inadvertence with regard to concentration. But the man who is concentrated
attains complete success. (Therefore) carefully concentrate thy mind (on
Brahman).
328. Through inadvertence a man deviates from his real nature, and the man who
has thus deviated falls. The fallen man comes to ruin, and is scarcely seen to
rise again.
329. Therefore one should give up reflecting on the sense-objects, which is the
root of all mischief. He who is completely aloof even while living, is alone
aloof after the dissolution of the body. The Yajur-Veda declares that there is
fear for one who sees the least bit of distinction.
330. Whenever the wise man sees the least difference in the infinite Brahman,
at once that which he sees as different through mistake, becomes a source of
terror to him.
331. He who identifies himself with the objective universe which has been
denied by hundreds of Shrutis, Smritis and reasonings, experiences misery after
misery, like a thief, for he does something forbidden.
332. He who has devoted himself to meditation on the Reality (Brahman) and is
free from Nescience, attains to the eternal glory of the Atman. But he who
dwells on the unreal (the universe) is destroyed. That this is so is evidenced
in the case of one who is not a thief and one who is a thief.
333. The Sannyasin should give up dwelling on the unreal, which causes bondage,
and should always fix his thoughts on the Atman as "I myself am
This". For the steadfastness in Brahman through the realisation of one’s
identity with It gives rise to bliss and thoroughly removes the misery born of
nescience, which one experiences (in the ignorant state).
334. The dwelling on external objects will only intensify its fruits, viz.
furthering evil propensities, which grow worse and worse. Knowing this through
discrimination, one should avoid external objects and constantly apply oneself
to meditation on the Atman.
335. When the external world is shut out, the mind is cheerful, and
cheerfulness of the mind brings on the vision of the Paramatman. When It is
perfectly realised, the chain of birth and death is broken. Hence the shutting
out of the external world is the stepping-stone to Liberation.
336. Where is the man who being learned, able to discriminate the real from the
unreal, believing the Vedas as authority, fixing his gaze on the Atman, the
Supreme Reality, and being a seeker after Liberation, will, like a child,
consciously have recourse to the unreal (the universe) which will cause his
fall ?
337. There is no Liberation for one who has attachment to the body etc., and
the liberated man has no identification with the body etc. The sleeping man is
not awake, nor is the waking man asleep, for these two states are contradictory
in nature.
338. He is free who, knowing through his mind the Self in moving and unmoving
objects and observing It as their substratum, gives up all superimpositions and
remains as the Absolute and the infinite Self.
339. To realise the whole universe as the Self is the means of getting rid of
bondage. There is nothing higher than identifying the universe with the Self.
One realises this state by excluding the objective world through steadfastness
in the eternal Atman.
340. How is the exclusion of the objective world possible for one who lives
identified with the body, whose mind is attached to the perception of external
objects, and who performs various acts for that end ? This exclusion should be
carefully practised by sages who have renounced all kinds of duties and actions
and objects, who are passionately devoted to the eternal Atman, and who wish to
possess an undying bliss.
341. To the Sannyasin who has gone through the act of hearing, the Shruti
passage, "Calm, self-controlled." Etc., prescribes Samadhi for
realising the identity of the universe with the Self.
342. Even wise men cannot suddenly destroy egoism after it has once become
strong, barring those who are perfectly calm through the Nirvikalpa Samadhi.
Desires are verily the effect of innumerable births.
343. The projecting power, through the aid of the veiling power, connects a man
with the siren of an egoistic idea, and distracts him through the attributes of
that.
344. It is extremely difficult to conquer the projecting power unless the
veiling power is perfectly rooted out. And that covering over the Atman
naturally vanishes when the subject is perfectly distinguished from the
objects, like milk from water. But the victory is undoubtedly (complete and)
free from obstacles when there is no oscillation of the mind due to the unreal
sense-objects.
345. Perfect discrimination brought on by direct realisation distinguishes the
true nature of the subject from that of the object, and breaks the bond of
delusion created by Maya; and there is no more transmigration for one who has
been freed from this.
346. The knowledge of the identity of the Jiva and Brahman entirely consumes
the impenetrable forest of Avidya or Nescience. For one who has realised the
state of Oneness, is there any seed left for future transmigration ?
347. The veil that hides Truth vanishes only when the Reality is fully
realised. (Thence follow) the destruction of false knowledge and the cessation
of misery brought about by its distracting influence.
348. These three are observed in the case of a rope when its real nature is
fully known. Therefore the wise man should know the real nature of things for
the breaking of his bonds.
349-350. Like iron manifesting as sparks through contact with fire, the Buddhi
manifests itself as knower and known through the inherence of Brahman. As these
two (knower and known), the effects of the Buddhi, are observed to be unreal in
the case of delusion, dream and fancy, similarly, the modifications of the
Prakriti, from egoism down to the body and all sense-objects are also unreal.
Their unreality is verily due to their being subject to change every moment.
But the Atman never changes.
351. The Supreme Self is ever of the nature of eternal, indivisible knowledge,
one without a second, the Witness of the Buddhi and the rest, distinct from the
gross and subtle, the implied meaning of the term and idea "I", the
embodiment of inward, eternal bliss.
352. The wise man, discriminating thus the real and the unreal, ascertaining
the Truth through his illuminative insight, and realising his own Self which is
Knowledge Absolute, gets rid of the obstructions and directly attains Peace.
353. When the Atman, the One without a second, is realised by means of the
Nirvikalpa Samadhi, then the heart’s knot of ignorance is totally destroyed.
354. Such imaginations as "thou", "I" or "this"
take place through the defects of the Buddhi. But when the Paramatman, the
Absolute, the One without a second, manifests Itself in Samadhi, all such
imaginations are dissolved for the aspirant, through the realisation of the
truth of Brahman.
355. The Sannyasin, calm, self-controlled, perfectly retiring from the sense-world,
forbearing, and devoting himself to the practice of Samadhi, always reflects on
his own self being the Self of the whole universe. Destroying completely by
this means the imaginations which are due to the gloom of ignorance, he lives
blissfully as Brahman, free from action and the oscillations of the mind.
356. Those alone are free from the bondage of transmigration who, attaining
Samadhi, have merged the objective world, the sense-organs, the mind, nay, the
very ego, in the Atman, the Knowledge Absolute – and none else, who but dabble
in second-hand talks.
357. Through the diversity of the supervening conditions (Upadhis), a man is
apt to think of himself as also full of diversity; but with the removal of
these he is again his own Self, the immutable. Therefore the wise man should
ever devote himself to the practice of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, for the dissolution
of the Upadhis.
358. The man who is attached to the Real becomes Real, through his one-pointed
devotion. Just as the cockroach thinking intently on the Bhramara is
transformed into a Bhramara.
359. Just as the cockroach, giving up the attachment to all other actions,
thinks intently on the Bhramara and becomes transformed into that worm, exactly
in the same manner the Yogi, meditating on the truth of the Paramatman, attains
to It through his one-pointed devotion to that.
360. The truth of the Paramatman is extremely subtle, and cannot be reached by
the gross outgoing tendency of the mind. It is only accessible to noble souls
with perfectly pure minds, by means of Samadhi brought on by an extraordinary
fineness of the mental state.
361. As gold purified by thorough heating on the fire gives up its impurities
and attains to its own lustre, so the mind, through meditation, gives up its
impurities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, and attains to the reality of Brahman.
362. When the mind, thus purified by constant practice, is merged in Brahman,
then Samadhi passes on from the Savikalpa to the Nirvikalpa stage, and leads
directly to the realisation of the Bliss of Brahman, the One without a second.
363. By this Samadhi are destroyed all desires which are like knots, all work
is at an end, and inside and out there takes place everywhere and always the
spontaneous manifestation of one’s real nature.
364. Reflection should be considered a hundred times superior to hearing, and
meditation a hundred thousand times superior even to reflection, but the
Nirvikalpa Samadhi is infinite in its results.
365. By the Nirvikalpa Samadhi the truth of Brahman is clearly and definitely
realised, but not otherwise, for then the mind, being unstable by nature, is
apt to be mixed up with other perceptions.
366. Hence with the mind calm and the senses controlled always drown the mind
in the Supreme Self that is within, and through the realisation of thy identity
with that Reality destroy the darkness created by Nescience, which is without
beginning.
367. The first steps to Yoga are control of speech, non-receiving of gifts,
entertaining of no expectations, freedom from activity, and always living in a
retired place.
368. Living in a retired place serves to control the sense-organs, control of
the senses helps to control the mind, through control of the mind egoism is
destroyed; and this again gives the Yogi an unbroken realisation of the Bliss
of Brahman. Therefore the man of reflection should always strive only to
control the mind.
369. Restrain speech in the Manas, and restrain Manas in the Buddhi; this again
restrain in the witness of Buddhi, and merging that also in the Infinite Absolute
Self, attain to supreme Peace.
370. The body, Pranas, organs, manas, Buddhi and the rest – with whichsoever of
these supervening adjuncts the mind is associated, the Yogi is transformed, as
it were, into that.
371. When this is stopped, the man of reflection is found to be easily detached
from everything, and to get the experience of an abundance of everlasting
Bliss.
372. It is the man of dispassion (Vairagya) who is fit for this internal as
well as external renunciation; for the dispassionate man, out of the desire to
be free, relinquishes both internal and external attachment.
373. It is only the dispassionate man who, being thoroughly grounded in
Brahman, can give up the external attachment to the sense-objects and the
internal attachment for egoism etc.
374. Know, O wise man, dispassion and discrimination to be like the two wings
of a bird in the case of an aspirant. Unless both are there, none can, with the
help of either one, reach the creeper of Liberation that grows, as it were, on
the top of an edifice.
375. The extremely dispassionate man alone has Samadhi, and the man of Samadhi
alone gets steady realisation; the man who has realised the Truth is alone free
from bondage, and the free soul only experiences eternal Bliss.
376. For the man of self-control I do not find any better instrument of
happiness than dispassion, and if that is coupled with a highly pure
realisation of the Self, it conduces to the suzerainty of absolute
Independence; and since this is the gateway to the damsel of everlasting
liberation, therefore for thy welfare, be dispassionate both internally and
externally, and always fix thy mind on the eternal Self.
377. Sever thy craving for the sense-objects, which are like poison, for it is
the very image of death, and giving up thy pride of caste, family and order of
life, fling actions to a distance. Give up thy identification with such unreal
things as the body, and fix thy mind on the Atman. For thou art really the
Witness, Brahman, unshackled by the mind, the One without a second, and
Supreme.
378. Fixing the mind firmly on the Ideal, Brahman, and restraining the external
organs in their respective centres; with the body held steady and taking no
thought for its maintenance; attaining identity with Brahman and being one with
It – always drink joyfully of the Bliss of Brahman in thy own Self, without a
break. What is the use of other things which are entirely hollow ?
379. Giving up the thought of the non-Self which is evil and productive of
misery, think of the Self, the Bliss Absolute, which conduces to Liberation.
380. Here shines eternally the Atman, the Self-effulgent Witness of everything,
which has the Buddhi for Its seat. Making this Atman which is distinct from the
unreal, the goal, meditate on It as thy own Self, excluding all other thought.
381. Reflecting on this Atman continuously and without any foreign thought
intervening, one must distinctly realise It to be one’s real Self.
382. Strengthening one’s identification with This, and giving up that with
egoism and the rest, one must live without any concern for them, as if they
were trifling things, like a cracked jar or the like.
383. Fixing the purified mind in the Self, the Witness, the Knowledge Absolute,
and slowly making it still, one must then realise one’s own infinite Self.
384. One should behold the Atman, the Indivisible and Infinite, free from all
limiting adjuncts such as the body, organs, Pranas, Manas and egoism, which are
creations of one’s own ignorance – like the infinite sky.
385. The sky, divested of the hundreds of limiting adjuncts such as a jar, a
pitcher, a receptacle for grains or a needle, is one, and not diverse; exactly
in a similar way the pure Brahman, when divested of egoism etc., is verily One.
386. The limiting adjuncts from Brahma down to a clump of grass are all wholly
unreal. Therefore one should realise one’s own Infinite Self as the only
Principle.
387. That in which something is imagined to exist through error, is, when
rightly discriminated, that thing itself, and not distinct from it. When the
error is gone, the reality about the snake falsely perceived becomes the rope.
Similarly the universe is in reality the Atman.
388. The Self is Brahma, the Self is Vishnu, the Self is Indra, the Self is
Shiva; the Self is all this universe. Nothing exists except the Self.
389. The Self is within, and the Self is without; the Self is before and the
Self is behind; the Self is in the south, and the Self is in the north; the
Self likewise is above as also below.
390. As the wave, the foam, the whirlpool, the bubble, etc., are all in essence
but water, similarly the Chit (Knowledge Absolute) is all this, from the body
up to egoism. Everything is verily the Chit, homogeneous and pure.
391. All this universe known through speech and mind is nothing but Brahman;
there is nothing besides Brahman, which exists beyond the utmost range of the
Prakriti. Are the pitcher, jug, jar, etc., known to be distinct from the clay
of which they are composed ? It is the deluded man who talks of
"thou" and "I", as an effect of the wine of Maya.
392. The Shruti, in the passage, "Where one sees nothing else", etc.,
declares by an accumulation of verbs the absence of duality, in order to remove
the false superimpositions.
393. The Supreme Brahman is, like the sky, pure, absolute, infinite, motionless
and changeless, devoid of interior or exterior, the One Existence, without a
second, and is one’s own Self. Is there any other object of knowledge ?
394. What is the use of dilating on this subject ? The Jiva is no other than
Brahman; this whole extended universe is Brahman Itself; the Shruti inculcates
the Brahman without a second; and it is an indubitable fact that people of
enlightened minds who know their identity with Brahman and have given up their
connection with the objective world, live palpably unifold with Brahman as
Eternal Knowledge and Bliss.
395. (First) destroy the hopes raised by egoism in this filthy gross body, then
do the same forcibly with the air-like subtle body; and realising Brahman, the
embodiment of eternal Bliss – whose glories the Scriptures proclaim – as thy
own Self, live as Brahman.
396. So long as man has any regard for this corpse-like body, he is impure, and
suffers from his enemies as also from birth, death and disease; but when he
thinks of himself as pure, as the essence of good and immovable, he assuredly
becomes free from them; the Shrutis also say this.
397. By the elimination of all apparent existences superimposed on the soul,
the supreme Brahman, Infinite, the One without a second and beyond action,
remains as Itself.
398. When the mind-functions are merged in the Paramatman, the Brahman, the
Absolute, none of this phenomenal world is seen, whence it is reduced to mere
talk.
399. In the One Entity (Brahman) the conception of the universe is a mere
phantom. Whence can there be any diversity in That which is changeless,
formless and Absolute ?
400. In the One Entity devoid of the concepts of seer, seeing and seen – which
is changeless, formless and Absolute – whence can there be any diversity ?
401. In the One Entity which is changeless, formless and Absolute, and which is
perfectly all-pervading and motionless like the ocean after the dissolution of
the universe, whence can there be any diversity ?
402. Where the root of delusion is dissolved like darkness in light – in the
supreme Reality, the One without a second, the Absolute – whence can there be
any diversity ?
403. How can the talk of diversity apply to the Supreme Reality which is one
and homogeneous ? Who has ever observed diversity in the unmixed bliss of the
state of profound sleep ?
404. Even before the realisation of the highest Truth, the universe does not
exist in the Absolute Brahman, the Essence of Existence. In none of the three
states of time is the snake ever observed in the rope, nor a drop of water in
the mirage.
405. The Shrutis themselves declare that this dualistic universe is but a
delusion from the standpoint of Absolute Truth. This is also experienced in the
state of dreamless sleep.
406. That which is superimposed upon something else is observed by the wise to
be identical with the substratum, as in the case of the rope appearing as the
snake. The apparent difference depends solely on error.
407. This apparent universe has its root in the mind, and never persists after
the mind is annihilated. Therefore dissolve the mind by concentrating it on the
Supreme Self, which is thy inmost Essence.
408. The wise man realises in his heart, through Samadhi, the Infinite Brahman,
which is something of the nature of eternal Knowledge and absolute Bliss, which
has no exemplar, which transcends all limitations, is ever free and without
activity, and which is like the limitless sky, indivisible and absolute.
409. The wise man realises in his heart, through Samadhi, the Infinite Brahman,
which is devoid of the ideas of cause and effect, which is the Reality beyond
all imaginations, homogeneous, matchless, beyond the range of proofs,
established by the pronouncements of the Vedas, and ever familiar to us as the
sense of the ego.
410. The wise man realises in his heart, through Samadhi, the Infinite Brahman,
which is undecaying and immortal, the positive Entity which precludes all
negations, which resembles the placid ocean and is without a name, in which
there are neither merits nor demerits, and which is eternal, pacified and One.
411. With the mind restrained in Samadhi, behold in thy self the Atman, of
infinite glory, cut off thy bondage strengthened by the impressions of previous
births, and carefully attain the consummation of thy birth as a human being.
412. Meditate on the Atman, which resides in thee, which is devoid of all
limiting adjuncts, the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, the One without a
second, and thou shalt no more come under the round of births and deaths.
413. After the body has once been cast off to a distance like a corpse, the
sage never more attaches himself to it, though it is visible as an appearance,
like the shadow of a man, owing to the experience of the effects of past deeds.
414. Realising the Atman, the eternal, pure Knowledge and Bliss, throw far away
this limitation of a body, which is inert and filthy by nature. Then remember
it no more, for something that has been vomited excites but disgust when called
in memory.
415. Burning all this, with its very root, in the fire of Brahman, the Eternal
and Absolute Self, the truly wise man thereafter remains alone, as the Atman,
the eternal, pure Knowledge and Bliss.
416. The knower of Truth does no more care whether this body, spun out by the
threads of Prarabdha work, falls or remains – like the garland on a cow – for
his mind-functions are at rest in the Brahman, the Essence of Bliss.
417. Realising the Atman, the Infinite Bliss, as his very Self, with what
object, or for whom, should the knower of Truth cherish the body.
418. The Yogi who has attained perfection and is liberated-in-life gets this as
result – he enjoys eternal Bliss in his mind, internally as well as externally.
419. The result of dispassion is knowledge, that of Knowledge is withdrawal
from sense-pleasures, which leads to the experience of the Bliss of the Self,
whence follows Peace.
420. If there is an absence of the succeeding stages, the preceding ones are
futile. (When the series is perfect) the cessation of the objective world,
extreme satisfaction, and matchless bliss follow as a matter of course.
421. Being unruffled by earthly troubles is the result in question of
knowledge. How can a man who did various loathsome deeds during the state of
delusion, commit the same afterwards, possessed of discrimination ?
422. The result of knowledge should be the turning away from unreal things,
while attachment to these is the result of ignorance. This is observed in the
case of one who knows a mirage and things of that sort, and one who does not.
Otherwise, what other tangible result do the knowers of Brahman obtain ?
423. If the heart’s knot of ignorance is totally destroyed, what natural cause
can there be for inducing such a man to selfish action, for he is averse to
sense-pleasures ?
424. When the sense-objects excite no more desire, then is the culmination of
dispassion. The extreme perfection of knowledge is the absence of any impulsion
of the egoistic idea. And the limit of self-withdrawal is reached when the
mind-functions that have been merged, appear no more.
425. Freed from all sense of reality of the external sense-objects on account
of his always remaining merged in Brahman; only seeming to enjoy such
sense-objects as are offered by others, like one sleepy, or like a child;
beholding this world as one seen in dreams, and having cognition of it at
chance moments – rare indeed is such a man, the enjoyer of the fruits of
endless merit, and he alone is blessed and esteemed on earth.
426. That Sannyasin has got a steady illumination who, having his soul wholly
merged in Brahman, enjoys eternal bliss, is changeless and free from activity.
427. That kind of mental function which cognises only the identity of the Self
and Brahman, purified of all adjuncts, which is free from duality, and which
concerns itself only with Pure Intelligence, is called illumination. He who has
this perfectly steady is called a man of steady illumination.
428. He whose illumination is steady, who has constant bliss, and who has
almost forgotten the phenomenal universe, is accepted as a man liberated in
this very life.
429. He who, even having his mind merged in Brahman, is nevertheless quite
alert, but free at the same time from the characteristics of the waking state,
and whose realisation is free from desires, is accepted as a man liberated-in-life.
430. He whose cares about the phenomenal state have been appeased, who, though
possessed of a body consisting of parts, is yet devoid of parts, and whose mind
is free from anxiety, is accepted as a man liberated-in-life.
431. The absence of the ideas of "I" and "mine" even in
this existing body which follows as a shadow, is a characteristic of one
liberated-in-life.
432. Not dwelling on enjoyments of the past, taking no thought for the future
and looking with indifference upon the present, are characteristics of one
liberated-in-life.
433. Looking everywhere with an eye of equality in this world, full of elements
possessing merits and demerits, and distinct by nature from one another, is a
characteristic of one liberated-in-life.
434. When things pleasant or painful present themselves, to remain unruffled in
mind in both cases, through the sameness of attitude, is a characteristic of
one liberated-in-life.
435. The absence of all ideas of interior or exterior in the case of a
Sannyasin, owing to his mind being engrossed in tasting the bliss of Brahman,
is a characteristic of one liberated-in-life.
436. He who lives unconcerned, devoid of all ideas of "I" and
"mine" with regard to the body, organs, etc., as well as to his
duties, is known as a man liberated-in-life.
437. He who has realised his Brahmanhood aided by the Scriptures, and is free
from the bondage of transmigration, is known as a man liberated-in-life.
438. He who never has the idea of "I" with regard to the body,
organs, etc., nor that of "it" in respect of things other than these,
is accepted as one liberated-in-life.
439. He who through his illumination never differentiates the Jiva and Brahman,
nor the universe and Brahman, is known as a man liberated-in-life.
440. He who feels just the same when his body is either worshipped by the good
or tormented by the wicked, is known as a man liberated-in-life.
441. The Sannyasin in whom the sense-objects directed by others are engulfed
like flowing rivers in the sea and produce no change, owing to his identity
with the Existence Absolute, is indeed liberated.
442. For one who has realised the Truth of Brahman, there is no more attachment
to the sense-objects as before: If there is, that man has not realised his
identity with Brahman, but is one whose senses are outgoing in their tendency.
443. If it be urged that he is still attached to the sense-objects through the
momentum of his old desires, the reply is – no, for desires get weakened
through the realisation of one’s identity with Brahman.
444. The propensities of even a confirmed libertine are checked in the presence
of his mother; just so, when Brahman, the Bliss Absolute, has been realised,
the man of realisation has no longer any worldly tendency.
445. One who is constantly practising meditation is observed to have external
perceptions. The Shrutis mention Prarabdha work in the case of such a man, and
we can infer this from results actually seen.
446. Prarabdha work is acknowledged to persist so long as there is the
perception of happiness and the like. Every result is preceded by an action,
and nowhere is it seen to accrue independently of action.
447. Through the realisation of one’s identity with Brahman, all the
accumulated actions of a hundred crore of cycles come to nought, like the actions
of dream-state on awakening.
448. Can the good actions or dreadful sins that a man fancies himself doing in
the dream-state, lead him to heaven or hell after he has awakened from sleep ?
449. Realising the Atman, which is unattached and indifferent like the sky, the
aspirant is never touched in the least by actions yet to be done.
450. The sky is not affected by the smell of liquor merely through its
connection with the jar; similarly, the Atman is not, through Its connection
with the limitations, affected by the properties thereof.
451. The work which has fashioned this body prior to the dawning of knowledge,
is not destroyed by that knowledge without yielding its fruits, like the arrow
shot at an object.
452. The arrow which is shot at an object with the idea that it is a tiger,
does not, when that object is perceived to be a cow, check itself, but pierces
the object with full force.
453. Prarabdha work is certainly very strong for the man of realisation, and is
spent only by the actual experience of its fruit; while the actions previously
accumulated and those yet to come are destroyed by the fire of perfect
knowledge. But none of the three at all affects those who, realising their
identity with Brahman, are always living absorbed in that idea. They are verily
the transcendent Brahman.
454. For the sage who lives in his own Self as Brahman, the One without a
second, devoid of identification with the limiting adjuncts, the question of
the existence of Prarabdha work is meaningless, like the question of a man who
has awakened from sleep having any connection with the objects seen in the
dream-state.
455. The man who has awakened from sleep never has any idea of "I" or
"mine" with regard to his dream-body and the dream-objects that
ministered to that body, but lives quite awake, as his own Self.
456. He has no desire to substantiate the unreal objects, nor is he seen to
maintain that dream-world. If he still clings to those unreal objects, he is
emphatically declared to be not yet free from sleep.
457. Similarly, he who is absorbed in Brahman lives identified with that
eternal Reality and beholds nothing else. As one has a memory of the objects
seen in a dream, so the man of realisation has a memory of the everyday actions
such as eating.
458. The body has been fashioned by Karma, so one may imagine Prarabdha work
with reference to it. But it is not reasonable to attribute the same to the
Atman, for the Atman is never the outcome of work.
459. The Shrutis, whose words are infallible, declare the Atman to be
"birthless, eternal and undecaying". So, the man who lives identified
with That, how can Prarabdha work be attributed ?
460. Prarabdha work can be maintained only so long as one lives identified with
the body. But no one admits that the man of realisation ever identifies himself
with the body. Hence Prarabdha work should be rejected in his case.
461. The attributing of Prarabdha work to the body even is certainly an error.
How can something that is superimposed (on another) have any existence, and how
can that which is unreal have a birth ? And how can that which has not been
born at all, die ? So how can Prarabdha work exist for something that is unreal
?
462-463. "If the effects of ignorance are destroyed with their root by
knowledge, then how does the body live?" – it is to convince those fools
who entertain a doubt like this, that the Shrutis, from a relative standpoint,
hypothesise Prarabdha work, but not for proving the reality of the body etc.,
of the man of realisation.
464. There is only Brahman, the One without a second, infinite, without
beginning or end, transcendent and changeless; there is no duality whatsoever
in It.
465. There is only Brahman, the One without a second, the Essence of Existence,
Knowledge and Eternal Bliss, and devoid of activity; there is no duality
whatsoever in It.
466. There is only Brahman, the One without a second, which is within all,
homogeneous, infinite, endless, and all-pervading; there is no duality
whatsoever in It.
467. There is only Brahman, the One without a second, which is neither to be
shunned nor taken up nor accepted, and which is without any support, there is
no duality whatsoever in It.
468. There is only Brahman, the One without a second, beyond attributes,
without parts, subtle, absolute and taintless; there is no duality whatsoever
in It.
469. There is only Brahman, the One without a second, whose real nature is
incomprehensible, and which is beyond the range of mind and speech; there is no
duality whatsoever in It.
470. There is only Brahman, the One without a second, the Reality, the One
without a second, the Reality, effulgent, self-existent, pure, intelligent, and
unlike anything finite; there is no duality whatsoever in It.
471. High-souled Sannyasins who have got rid of all attachment and discarded all
sense-enjoyments, and who are serene and perfectly restrained, realise this
Supreme Truth and at the end attain the Supreme Bliss through their
Self-realisation.
472. Thou, too, discriminate this Supreme Truth, the real nature of the Self,
which is Bliss undiluted, and shaking off thy delusion created by thy own mind,
be free and illumined, and attain the consummation of thy life.
473. Through the Samadhi in which the mind has been perfectly stilled,
visualise the Truth of the Self with the eye of clear realisation. If the
meaning of the (Scriptural) words heard from the Guru is perfectly and
indubitably discerned, then it can lead to no more doubt.
474. In the realisation of the Atman, the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute,
through the breaking of one’s connection with the bondage of Avidya or
ignorance, the Scriptures, reasoning and the words of the Guru are the proofs,
while one’s own experience earned by concentrating the mind is another proof.
475. Bondage, liberation, satisfaction, anxiety, recovery from illness, hunger
and other such things are known only to the man concerned, and knowledge of
these to others is a mere inference.
476. The Gurus as well as the Shrutis instruct the disciple, standing aloof;
while the man of realisation crosses (Avidya) through Illumination alone,
backed by the grace of God.
477. Himself knowing his indivisible Self through his own realisation and thus
becoming perfect, a man should stand face to face with the Atman, with his mind
free from dualistic ideas.
478. The verdict of all discussions on the Vedanta is that the Jiva and the
whole universe are nothing but Brahman, and that liberation means abiding in
Brahman, the indivisible Entity. While the Shrutis themselves are authority
(for the statement) that Brahman is One without a second.
479. Realising, at a blessed moment, the Supreme Truth through the above
instructions of the Guru, the authority of the Scriptures and his own
reasoning, with his senses quieted and the mind concentrated, (the disciple)
became immovable in form and perfectly established in the Atman.
480. Concentrating the mind for some time on the Supreme Brahman, he rose, and
out of supreme bliss spoke as follows.
481. My mind has vanished, and all its activities have melted, by realising the
identity of the Self and Brahman; I do not know either this or not-this; nor
what or how much the boundless Bliss (of Samadhi) is !
482. The majesty of the ocean of Supreme Brahman, replete with the swell of the
nectar-like Bliss of the Self, is verily impossible to express in speech, nor
can it be conceived by the mind – in an infinitesimal fraction of which my mind
melted like a hailstone getting merged in the ocean, and is now satisfied with
that Essence of Bliss.
483. Where is the universe gone, by whom is it removed, and where is it merged
? It was just now seen by me, and has it ceased to exist ? It is passing
strange !
484. In the ocean of Brahman filled with the nectar of Absolute Bliss, what is
to be shunned and what accepted, what is other (than oneself) and what
different ?
485. I neither see nor hear nor know anything in this. I simply exist as the
Self, the eternal Bliss, distinct from everything else.
486. Repeated salutations to thee, O noble Teacher, who art devoid of
attachment, the best among the good souls and the embodiment of the essence of
Eternal Bliss, the One without a second – who art infinite and ever the
boundless ocean of mercy:
487. Whose glance, like the shower of concentrated moonbeams, has removed my
exhaustion brought on by the afflictions of the world, and in a moment admitted
me to the undecaying status of the Atman, the Bliss of infinite majesty !
488. Blessed am I; I have attained the consummation of my life, and am free
from the clutches of transmigration; I am the Essence of Eternal Bliss, I am
infinite – all through thy mercy !
489. I am unattached, I am disembodied, I am free from the subtle body, and
undecaying, I am serene, I am infinite, I am taintless and eternal.
490. I am not the doer, I am not the experiencer, I am changeless and beyond
activity; I am the essence of Pure Knowledge; I am Absolute and identified with
Eternal Good.
491. I am indeed different from the seer, listener, speaker, doer and
experiencer; I am the essence of Knowledge, eternal, without any break, beyond
activity, limitless, unattached and infinite.
492. I am neither, this nor that, but the Supreme, the illuminer of both; I am
indeed Brahman, the One without a second, pure, devoid of interior or exterior
and infinite.
493. I am indeed Brahman, the One without a second, matchless, the Reality that
has no beginning, beyond such imagination as thou or I, or this or that, the
Essence of Eternal Bliss, the Truth.
494. I am Narayana, the slayer of Naraka; I am the destroyer of Tripura, the
Supreme Being, the Ruler; I am knowledge Absolute, the Witness of everything; I
have no other Ruler but myself, I am devoid of the ideas of "I’ and
"mine".
495. I alone reside as knowledge in all beings, being their internal and
external support. I myself am the experiencer and all that is experienced –
whatever I looked upon as "this" or the not-Self previously.
496. In me, the ocean of Infinite Bliss, the waves of the universe are created
and destroyed by the playing of the wind of Maya.
497. Such ideas as gross (or subtle) are erroneously imagined in me by people
through the manifestation of things superimposed – just as in the indivisible
and absolute time, cycles, years, half-years, seasons, etc., are imagined.
498. That which is superimposed by the grossly ignorant fools can never taint
the substratum: The great rush of waters observed in a mirage never wets the
desert tracts.
499. I am beyond contamination like the sky; I am distinct from things
illumined, like the sun; I am always motionless like the mountain; I am limitless
like the ocean.
500. I have no connection with the body, as the sky with clouds; so how can the
states of wakefulness, dream and profound sleep, which are attributes of the
body, affect me ?
501. It is the Upadhi (superimposed attribute) that comes, and it is that alone
which goes; that, again, performs actions and experiences (their fruits), that
alone decays and dies, whereas I ever remain firm like the Kula mountain.
501. For me who am always the same and devoid of parts, there is neither
engaging in work nor cessation from it. How can that which is One,
concentrated, without break and infinite like the sky, ever strive ?
502. How can there be merits and demerits for me, who am without organs,
without mind, changeless, and formless – who am the realisation of Bliss
Absolute ? The Shruti also mentions this in the passage "Not
touched", etc.
503. If heat or cold, or good or evil, happens to touch the shadow of a man’s
body, it affects not in the least the man himself, who is distinct from the
shadow.
504. The properties of things observed do not affect the Witness, which is
distinct from the, changeless and indifferent – as the properties of a room (do
not affect) the lamp (that illumines it).
505. As the sun is a mere witness of men’s actions, as fire burns everything
without distinction, and as the rope is related to a thing superimposed on it,
so am I, the unchangeable Self, the Intelligence Absolute.
506. I neither do nor make others do any action; I neither enjoy nor make
others enjoy; I neither see nor make others see; I am that Self-effulgent,
Transcendent Atman.
507. When the supervening adjunct (Upadhi) is moving, the resulting movement of
the reflection is ascribed by fools to the object reflected, such as the sun,
which is free from activity – (and they think) "I am the doer",
"I am the experiencer", "I am killed, oh, alas!"
508. Let this inert body drop down in water or on land. I am not touched by its
properties, like the sky by the properties of the jar.
509. The passing states of the Buddhi, such as agency, experience, cunning,
drunkenness, dullness, bondage and freedom, are never in reality in the Self,
the Supreme Brahman, the Absolute, the one without a second.
510. Let there be changes in the Prakriti in ten, a hundred, or a thousand
ways, what have I, the unattached Knowledge Absolute, got to do with them ?
Never do the clouds touch the sky !
511. I am verily that Brahman, the One without a second, which is like the sky,
subtle, without beginning or end, in which the whole universe from the Undifferentiated
down to the gross body, appears merely as a shadow.
512. I am verily that Brahman, the One without a second, which is the support
of all, which illumines all things, which has infinite forms, is omnipresent,
devoid of multiplicity, eternal, pure, unmoved and absolute.
513. I am verily that Brahman, the One without a second, which transcends the
endless differentiations of Maya, which is the inmost essence of all, is beyond
the range of consciousness, and which is Truth, Knowledge, Infinity and Bliss
Absolute.
514. I am without activity, changeless, without parts, formless, absolute,
eternal, without any other support, the One without a second.
515. I am the Universal, I am the All, I am transcendent, the One without a
second. I am Absolute and Infinite Knowledge, I am Bliss and indivisible.
516. This splendour of the sovereignty of Self-effulgence I have received by
virtue of the supreme majesty of thy grace. Salutations to thee, O glorious,
noble-minded Teacher, salutations again and again !
517. O Master, thou hast out of sheer grace awakened me from sleep and
completely saved me, who was wandering, in an interminable dream, in a forest
of birth, decay and death created by illusion, being tormented day after day by
countless afflictions, and sorely troubled by the tiger of egoism.
518. Salutations to thee, O Prince of Teachers, thou unnamable Greatness, that
art ever the same and dost manifest thyself as this universe – thee I salute.
519. Seeing the worthy disciple, who had attained the Bliss of the self,
realised the Truth and was glad at heart, thus prostrating himself, that noble,
ideal Teacher again addressed the following excellent words:
520. The universe is an unbroken series of perceptions of Brahman; hence it is
in all respects nothing but Brahman. See this with the eye of illumination and
a serene mind, under all circumstances. Is one who has eyes ever found to see
all around anything else but forms? Similarly, what is there except Brahman to
engage the intellect of a man of realisation ?
521. What wise man would discard that enjoyment of Supreme Bliss and revel in
things unsubstantial ? When the exceedingly charming moon is shining, who would
wish to look at a painted moon ?
522. From the perception of unreal things there is neither satisfaction nor a
cessation of misery. Therefore, being satisfied with the realisation of the
Bliss Absolute, the One without a second, live happily in a state of identity
with that Reality.
523. Beholding the Self alone in all circumstances, thinking of the Self, the
One without a second, and enjoying the Bliss of the Self, pass thy time, O
noble soul !
524. Dualistic conceptions in the Atman, the Infinite Knowledge, the Absolute,
are like imagining castles in the air. Therefore, always identifying thyself
with the Bliss Absolute, the One without a second, and thereby attaining
Supreme Peace, remain quiet.
525. To the sage who has realised Brahman, the mind, which is the cause of
unreal fancies, becomes perfectly tranquil. This verily is his state of quietude,
in which, identified with Brahman, he has constant enjoyment of the Bliss
Absolute, the One without a second.
526. To the man who has realised his own nature, and drinks the undiluted Bliss
of the Self, there is nothing more exhilarating than the quietude that comes of
a state of desirelessness.
527. The illumined sage, whose only pleasure is in the Self, ever lives at
ease, whether going or staying, sitting or lying, or in any other condition.
528. The noble soul who has perfectly realised the Truth, and whose
mind-functions meet with no obstruction, no more depends upon conditions of
place, time, posture, direction, moral disciplines, objects of meditation and
so forth. What regulative conditions can there be in knowing one’s own Self ?
529. To know that this is a jar, what condition, forsooth, is necessary except
that the means of knowledge be free from defect, which alone ensures a
cognition of the object ?
530. So this Atman, which is an eternal verity, manifests Itself as soon as the
right means of knowledge is present, and does not depend upon either place or
time or (internal) purity.
531. The consciousness, "I am Devadatta", is independent of
circumstances; similar is the case with the realisation of the knower of
Brahman that he is Brahman.
532. What indeed can manifest That whose lustre, like the sun, causes the whole
universe – unsubstantial, unreal, insignificant – to appear at all ?
533. What, indeed, can illumine that Eternal Subject by which the Vedas and
Puranas and other Scriptures, as well as all beings are endowed with a meaning
?
534. Here is the Self-effulgent Atman, of infinite power, beyond the range of
conditioned knowledge, yet the common experience of all - realising which alone
this incomparable knower of Brahman lives his glorious life, freed from
bondage.
535. Satisfied with undiluted, constant Bliss, he is neither grieved nor elated
by sense-objects, is neither attached nor averse to them, but always disports
with the Self and takes pleasure therein.
536. A child plays with its toys forgetting hunger and bodily pains; exactly so
does the man of realisation take pleasure in the Reality, without ideas of
"I" or "mine", and is happy.
537. Men of realisation have their food without anxiety or humiliation by
begging, and their drink from the water of rivers; they live freely and
independently, and sleep without fear in cremation grounds or forests; their
clothing may be the quarters themselves, which need no washing and drying, or
any bark etc., the earth is their bed; they roam in the avenue of the Vedanta;
while their pastime is in the Supreme Brahman.
538. The knower of the Atman, who wears no outward mark and is unattached to
external things, rests on this body without identification, and experiences all
sorts of sense-objects as they come, through others’ wish, like a child.
539. Established in the ethereal plane of Absolute Knowledge, he wanders in the
world, sometimes like a madman, sometimes like a child and at other times like
a ghoul, having no other clothes on his person except the quarters, or
sometimes wearing clothes, or perhaps skins at other times.
540. The sage, living alone, enjoys the sense-objects, being the very
embodiment of desirelessness – always satisfied with his own Self, and himself
present at the All.
541. Sometimes a fool, sometimes a sage, sometimes possessed of regal
splendour; sometimes wandering, sometimes behaving like a motionless python,
sometimes wearing a benignant expression; sometimes honoured, sometimes
insulted, sometimes unknown – thus lives the man of realisation, ever happy
with Supreme Bliss.
542. Though without riches, yet ever content; though helpless, yet very
powerful, though not enjoying the sense-objects, yet eternally satisfied;
though without an exemplar, yet looking upon all with an eye of equality.
543. Though doing, yet inactive; though experiencing fruits of past actions,
yet untouched by them; though possessed of a body, yet without identification
with it; though limited, yet omnipresent is he.
544. Neither pleasure nor pain, nor good nor evil, ever touches this knower of
Brahman, who always lives without the body-idea.
545. Pleasure or pain, or good or evil, affects only him who has connections
with the gross body etc., and identifies himself with these. How can good or
evil, or their effects, touch the sage who has identified himself with the
Reality and thereby shattered his bondage ?
546. The sun which appears to be, but is not actually, swallowed by Rahu, is
said to be swallowed, on account of delusion, by people, not knowing the real
nature of the sun.
547. Similarly, ignorant people look upon the perfect knower of Brahman, who is
wholly rid of bondages of the body etc., as possessed of the body, seeing but
an appearance of it.
548. In reality, however, he rests discarding the body, like the snake its
slough; and the body is moved hither and thither by the force of the Prana,
just as it listeth.
549. As a piece of wood is borne by the current to a high or low ground, so is
his body carried on by the momentum of past actions to the varied experience of
their fruits, as these present themselves in due course.
550. The man of realisation, bereft of the body-idea, moves amid
sense-enjoyments like a man subject to transmigration, through desires
engendered by the Prarabdha work. He himself, however, lives unmoved in the
body, like a witness, free from mental oscillations, like the pivot of the
potter’s wheel.
551. He neither directs the sense-organs to their objects nor detaches them
from these, but stays like an unconcerned spectator. And he has not the least
regard for the fruits of actions, his mind being thoroughly inebriated with
drinking the undiluted elixir of the Bliss of the Atman.
552. He who, giving up all considerations of the fitness or otherwise of
objects of meditation, lives as the Absolute Atman, is verily Shiva Himself,
and he is the best among the knowers of Brahman.
553. Through the destruction of limitations, the perfect knower of Brahman is
merged in the One Brahman without a second – which he had been all along – becomes
very free even while living, and attains the goal of his life.
554. As an actor, when he puts on the dress of his role, or when he does not,
is always a man, so the perfect knower of Brahman is always Brahman and nothing
else.
556. Let the body of the Sannyasin who has realised his identity with Brahman,
wither and fall anywhere like the leaf of a tree, (it is of little consequence
to him, for) it has already been burnt by the fire of knowledge.
557. The sage who always lives in the Reality – Brahman – as Infinite Bliss,
the One without a second, does not depend upon the customary considerations of
place, time, etc., for giving up this mass of skin, flesh and filth.
558. For the giving up of the body is not Liberation, nor that of the staff and
the water-bowl; but Liberation consists in the destruction of the heart’s knot
which is Nescience.
559. If a leaf falls in a small stream, or a river, or a place consecrated by
Shiva, or in a crossing of roads, of what good or evil effect is that to the
tree ?
560. The destruction of the body, organs, Pranas and Buddhi is like that of a
leaf or flower or fruit (to a tree). It does not affect the Atman, the Reality,
the Embodiment of Bliss – which is one’s true nature. That survives, like the
tree.
561. The Shrutis, by setting forth the real nature of the Atman in the words,
"The Embodiment of Knowledge" etc., which indicate Its Reality, speak
of the destruction of the apparent limitations merely.
562. The Shruti passage, "Verily is this Atman immortal, my dear", mentions
the immortality of the Atman in the midst of things perishable and subject to
modification.
563. Just as a stone, a tree, grass, paddy, husk, etc., when burnt, are reduced
to earth (ashes) only, even so the whole objective universe comprising the body,
organs, Pranas, Manas and so forth, are, when burnt by the fire of realisation,
reduced to the Supreme Self.
564. As darkness, which is distinct (from sunshine), vanishes in the sun’s
radiance, so the whole objective universe dissolves in Brahman.
565. As, when a jar is broken, the space enclosed by it becomes palpably the
limitless space, so when the apparent limitations are destroyed, the knower of
Brahman verily becomes Brahman Itself.
566. As milk poured into milk, oil into oil, and water into water, becomes
united and one with it, so the sage who has realised the Atman becomes one in
the Atman.
567. Realising thus the extreme isolation that comes of disembodiedness, and
becoming eternally identified with the Absolute Reality, Brahman, the sage no
longer suffers transmigration.
568. For his bodies, consisting of Nescience etc., having been burnt by the
realisation of the identity of the Jiva and Brahman, he becomes Brahman Itself;
and how can Brahman ever have rebirth ?
569. Bondage and Liberation, which are conjured up by Maya, do not really exist
in the Atman, one’s Reality, as the appearance and exit of the snake do not
abide in the rope, which suffers no change.
570. Bondage and Liberation may be talked of when there is the presence or
absence of a covering veil. But there can be no covering veil for Brahman,
which is always uncovered for want of a second thing besides Itself. If there
be, the non-duality of Brahman will be contradicted, and the Shrutis can never
brook duality.
571. Bondage and Liberation are attributes of the Buddhi which ignorant people
falsely superimpose on the Reality, as the covering of the eyes by a cloud is
transferred to the sun. For this Immutable Brahman is Knowledge Absolute, the
One without a second and unattached.
572. The idea that bondage exists, and the idea that it does not, are, with
reference to the Reality, both attributes of the Buddhi merely, and never
belong to the Eternal Reality, Brahman.
573. Hence this bondage and Liberation are created by Maya, and are not in the
Atman. How can there be any idea of limitation with regard to the Supreme
Truth, which is without parts, without activity, calm, unimpeachable,
taintless, and One without a second, as there can be none with regard to the
infinite sky ?
574. There is neither death nor birth, neither a bound nor a struggling soul,
neither a seeker after Liberation nor a liberated one – this is the ultimate
truth.
575. I have today repeatedly revealed to thee, as to one’s own son, this
excellent and profound secret, which is the inmost purport of all Vedanta, the
crest of the Vedas – considering thee an aspirant after Liberation, purged of
the taints of this Dark Age, and of a mind free from desires.
576. Hearing these words of the Guru, the disciple out of reverence prostrated
himself before him, and with his permission went his way, freed from bondage.
577. And the Guru, with his mind steeped in the ocean of Existence and Bliss
Absolute, roamed, verily purifying the whole world – all differentiating ideas
banished from his mind.
578. Thus by way of a dialogue between the Teacher and the disciple, has the
nature of the Atman been ascertained for the easy comprehension of seekers
after Liberation.
579. May those Sannyasins who are seekers after Liberation, who have purged
themselves of all taints of the mind by the observance of the prescribed
methods, who are averse to worldly pleasures, and who are of serene minds, and
take a delight in the Shruti – appreciate this salutary teaching !
580. For those who are afflicted, in the way of the world, by the burning pain
due to the (scorching) sunshine of threefold misery, and who through delusion
wander about in a desert in search of water – for them here is the triumphant
message of Shankara pointing out, within easy reach, the soothing ocean of
nectar, Brahman, the One without a second – to lead them on to Liberation.