Let
there be peace and love among all beings of the universe. OM
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
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ALUTATIONS
to
that calm effulgence which is endless and unlimited
by space, time, etc., the pure consciousness which
can be known by experience only.
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2.
Neither one who is totally ignorant nor one who
knows the Truth is eligible to study this book.
Only he who thinks "I am bound; I must become free"
is entitled to study it.
3. Until one is definitely blessed by the
Supreme Lord he will not find either a proper Guru
or the right scripture.
4. Just as a steady boat, O Rama, is
obtained from a boatman, so also the method of
crossing the ocean of samsara [earthly
suffering] is learnt by associating with great
souls.
5. The great remedy for the long-lasting
disease of samsara is the enquiry, "Who am I?", "To
whom does this samsara belong?", which entirely
cures it.
6. Not a day should be spent in a place
which does not possess the tree of a wise knower of
Truth with its good fruit and cool shade.
7. The sages are to be approached even if
they do not teach. Even their talks in a light vein
contain wisdom.
8. The company of sages converts emptiness
into fullness, death into immortality and adversity
into prosperity.
9. If sages were concerned solely with their
own happiness with whom could those tormented by
the sorrows of samsara seek refuge?
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10. That
which is imparted, O good soul, to a worthy
disciple who has become dispassionate, is the real
wisdom; it is the real purport of the sacred texts
and is also the comprehensive wisdom.
11. Following the customary method of
teaching is only for preserving the tradition. Pure
awareness results solely from the clarity of the
disciple’s understanding.
12. The Lord cannot be seen with the help of
the sacred texts or the Guru. The self is seen by
the Self alone with the pure intellect.
13. All
the arts acquired by men are lost by lack of
practice, but this art of wisdom grows steadily
once it rises.
14. Just
as an ornament worn round the neck is considered
lost through forgetfulness and is gained when the
mistake is realised, so also the Self is attained
when the delusion is removed by the words of the
Guru.
15. He is indeed an unfortunate person who,
not knowing his own Self, takes pleasure in
sense-objects, like one who realises too late that
the food eaten by him was poisonous.
16. That perverted man who, even after
knowing that worldly objects are deceptive, still
thinks of them, is an ass not a man.
17. Even the slightest thought immerses a
man in sorrow; when devoid of all thoughts he
enjoys imperishable bliss.
18. Just as we experience the delusion of
hundreds of years in a dream lasting an hour, so
also we experience the sport of maya
[illusion] in our waking state.
19. He is a happy man whose mind is inwardly
cool and free from attachment and hatred and who
looks upon this world like a mere spectator.
20. He who has understood well how to
abandon all ideas of acceptance and rejection and
who has realised the consciousness which is within
the innermost heart – his life is
illustrious.
21. On the dissolution of the body, the
ether [consciousness] limited by the heart
[hridayam] alone ceases to exist. People
lament needlessly that the Self is extinct.
22. When pots are broken, the space within
them becomes unlimited. So also when bodies cease
to exist the Self remains Eternal and
unattached.
23. Nothing whatever is born or dies
anywhere at any time. It is Reality
[Brahman] alone appearing illusorily in the
form of the world.
24. The Self is more extensive than space;
it is pure, subtle, undecaying and auspicious. As
such how could it be born and how can it die?
25. All this is the tranquil, One without
beginning, middle or end, which cannot be said to
be existent or non-existent. Know this and be
happy.
26. O Rama, it is indeed nobler to wander
begging about the streets of the outcasts, an
earthen bowl in hand, than to live a life steeped
in ignorance.
27. Neither disease nor poison nor adversity
nor any other thing in the world causes more
suffering to men than such stupidity engendered in
their bodies.
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1. Just as
the great ocean of milk became still when the
Mandara Mountain [with which it was churned by
the Devas and the Asuras] became still, even so
the illusion of samsara comes to an end when the
mind is stilled.
2. Samsara rises when the mind becomes
active and ceases when it is still. Still the mind,
therefore, by controlling the breath and the latent
desires [vasanas].
3. This worthless, burnt out samsara is born
of one’s imagination and vanishes in the
absence of imagination. It is certain that it is
absolutely unsubstantial.
4. The idea of a live snake in a picture of
a snake ceases to be entertained when the truth is
known. Similarly, samsara ceases to exist when the
Truth is realised, even if it continues to
appear.
5. This long-living ghost of a samsara which
is the creation of the deluded mind of man and the
cause of his sufferings disappears when one ponders
over it.
6. O Rama, maya is such that it brings
delight through its own destruction; its nature is
inscrutable; it ceases to exist even while it is
being observed.
7. Dear boy, wonderful indeed is this maya
which deludes the entire world. It is on account of
it that the Self is not perceived even though it
pervades all the limbs of the body.
8. Whatever is seen does not truly exist. It
is like the mythical city of Gandharvas or a
mirage.
9. That which is not seen, though within us,
is called the Eternal and Indestructible Self.
10. Just as the trees on the bank of a lake
are reflected in the water, so also all these
varied objects are reflected in the vast mirror of
our consciousness.
11. This creation, which is a mere play of
consciousness, rises up, like the delusion of a
snake in a rope [when there is ignorance]
and comes to an end when there is right
knowledge.
12. Even though bondage does not really
exist, it becomes strong through desire for worldly
enjoyments; when this desire subsides bondage
becomes weak.
13. Like waves rising up from the ocean the
unstable mind rises out of the vast and stable
expanse of the Supreme Self.
14. It is because of that which always, of
its own accord, imagines everything quickly and
freely that this magical show of the world is
projected in the waking state.
15. This world, though unreal, appears to
exist and is the cause of lifelong suffering to an
ignorant person, just as a non-existent ghost is
the cause of fear to a boy.
16. One who has no idea of gold sees only
the bracelet. He does not at all have the idea that
it is merely gold.
17. Similarly towns, houses, mountains,
serpents, etc., are all in the eyes of the ignorant
man, separate objects. From the Absolute point of
view; this objective world is the subject [the
Self] Itself; it is not separate from the
Self.
18. The world is full of misery to an
ignorant man and full of bliss to a wise man. The
world is dark to a blind man and bright to one who
has eyes.
19. The bliss of a man of discrimination,
who has rejected samsara and discarded all mental
concepts, constantly increases.
20. Like clouds which suddenly appear in a
clear sky and as suddenly dissolve, the entire
universe appears in the Self and dissolves in
it.
21. He who reckons the rays as non-different
from the sun and realises that they are the sun
itself is stated to be nirvikalpa [the
undifferentiating man].
22. Just as the cloth, when investigated, is
seen to be nothing but thread, so also this world,
when enquired into, is seen to be merely the
Self.
23. This fascinating world rises like a wave
in the ambrosial ocean of consciousness and
dissolves in it. How then can it be different from
consciousness in the middle when it appears?
24. Just as the foam, the waves, the dew and
the bubbles are not different from water, even so
this world which has come out of the Self is not
different from the Self.
25. Just as a tree consisting of fruits,
leaves, creepers, flowers, branches, twigs and
roots, exists in the seed of the tree, even so this
manifest world exists in Reality.
26. Just as the pot ultimately goes back to
mud, waves into water and ornaments into gold, so
also this world which has come out of the Self
ultimately goes back to the Self.
27. The snake appears when one does not
recognise the rope; it disappears when one
recognises the rope. Even so this world appears
when the Self is not recognised; it disappears when
the Self is recognised.
28. It is only our forgetfulness of the
invisible Self which causes the world to appear
just as the ignorance of the rope causes the snake
to appear.
29. Just as the dream becomes unreal in the
waking state and the waking state in the dream, so
also death becomes unreal in birth and birth in
death.
30. All these are thus neither real nor
unreal. They are the effect of delusion, mere
impressions arising out of some past
experiences.
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THE
MARKS
OF
A
LIBERATED
PERSON
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1. The
knowledge of the Self is the fire that burns
up the dry grass of
desire. This indeed is what is called
samadhi, not mere
abstention from speech.
2. He who realises that the whole universe
is really nothing
but consciousness and remains quite calm is
protected by the
armour of Reality; he is happy.
3. The yogi who has attained the state which
is beyond
everything and remains always cool as the
full moon is
truly the Supreme Lord.
4. He who reflects in his innermost heart
upon the purport
of the Upanishads dealing with Reality and
is not moved
by joy and sorrow, is not tormented by samsara.
5. Just as birds and beasts do not take
shelter on a mountain
on fire, so also evil thoughts never occur to
a knower of
Reality.
6. Wise men also, like foolish men,
occasionally make
others angry, but they do so only in order to test
their ability to control their innate feelings
[that is to say to
see how far the anger of other persons will affect
them].
7. Just as the trembling of the body caused
by the imaginary
snake persists for some time even after
realising that
there is no snake, so also the effect of delusion
persists for
some time even after getting rid of all
delusions.
8. Just as a crystal is not stained by what
is reflected in
it, so also a knower of Truth is not really
affected by the result
of his acts.
9. Even while he is intent on outward
actions, the knower
of Truth always remains introverted and
extremely calm
like one asleep.
10. Firmly convinced of non-duality and
enjoying perfect
mental peace, yogis go about their work
seeing the
world as if it were a dream.
11. Let death come to the knower of
Truth today
or at the end of aeons; he remains untarnished
like gold
buried in mire.
12. He may cast off his body at Kashi
[Varanasi] or in the house
of an outcast [literally meaning one who cooks
dog’s flesh]. He, the
desireless one, is liberated at the very moment
he attains
knowledge of Reality.
13. To one who is desireless, the earth, O
Rama, is as
insignificant as the hoof-print of a cow, Mount
Meru, a
mound, space as much as contained in a casket and
the three
worlds a blade of grass.
14. Like an empty vessel in space, the
knower of Truth
is empty both within and without, while at
the same time
he is full within and without like a vessel
immersed in the
ocean.
15. He who neither likes nor dislikes the
objects seen
by him and who acts in the world like one
asleep, is
said to be a liberated person.
16. He who is free from the knots of desires
and whose
doubts have been set at rest is liberated even
when he is in
the body [jivanmukta]. Although he may seem
to be bound,
he is free. He remains like a lamp in a
picture.
17. He who has easily cast off all
his egoistic
tendencies and has abandoned even the object
of meditation, is
said to be liberated even when he is in
the body.
18. He who does not, like one blind,
recognise his relatives, who dreads attachment
as he would a
serpent, who looks upon sense-enjoyments
and diseases alike,
who disregards the company of women
as he would a blade
of grass and who finds no distinction
between a friend and
a foe, experiences happiness in this
world and the
next.
19. He who casts away from his mind all
objects of perception
and, attaining perfect quiescence, remains
still as
space, unaffected by sorrow, is a liberated man; he
is the
Supreme Lord.
20. The noble-hearted man whose desires of
the heart
have come to an end is a liberated man; it does
not matter
whether he does or does not practise
meditation or
perform action.
21. The idea of Self in the non-Self is
bondage. Abandonment
of it is liberation. There is neither
bondage nor
liberation for the ever-free Self.
22. If, by perceiving that the objects of
perception do
not really exist, the mind is completely freed
from them,
there ensues the Supreme bliss of liberation.
23. Abandonment of all latent tendencies is
said to be
"real liberation" by the wise; that is also
the faultless
method of attaining liberation.
24.
Liberation is not on the other side of the
sky, nor is
it in the nether world, nor on the earth;
the extinction
of the mind resulting from the eradication
of all
desires is regarded as liberation.
25. O Rama, there is no intellect, no
nescience, no mind
and no individual soul. They are all
imagined in
Reality.
26. To one who is established in what is
infinite, pure
consciousness, bliss and unqualified
non-duality, where
is the question of bondage or liberation,
seeing that
there is no second entity?
27. O Rama, the mind has, by its own
activity, bound
itself; when it is calm it is free.
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1.
Consciousness which is undivided imagines to itself
desirable objects and runs after them. It is then
known as the mind.
2. From this Omnipresent and Omnipotent
Supreme Lord arose, like ripples in water, the
power of imagining separate objects.
3. Just as fire born out of wind [fanned
into a flame] is extinguished by the same wind,
so also that which is born of imagination is
destroyed by imagination itself.
4. The mind has come into existence through
this imagination on account of forgetfulness. Like
the experience of one’s own death in a dream
it ceases to exist when scrutinised.
5. The idea of Self in what is not the Self
is due to incorrect understanding. The idea of
Reality in what is unreal, O Rama, know that to be
the mind.
6. "This is he", "I am this", "That is
mine", such ideas constitute the mind; it
disappears when one ponders over these false
ideas.
7. It is the nature of the mind to accept
certain things and to reject others; this is
bondage, nothing else.
8. The mind is the creator of the world, the
mind is the individual living principle; only that
which is done by the mind is regarded as done, not
that which is done by the body. The arm with which
one embraces the wife is the very arm with which
one embraces the daughter.
9. The mind is the cause of the objects of
perception. The three worlds depend upon it. When
it is dissolved, the world is also dissolved. It is
to be purified with effort.
10. The mind is bound by the latent
impressions. When there are no impressions it is
free. Therefore, O Rama, bring about quickly,
through discrimination, the state in which there
are no impressions.
11. Just as a streak of cloud appears to
stain the moon or a blotch of ink a lime-plastered
wall, so also the evil spirit of desire stains the
inner man.
12. O Rama, he who, with in-turned mind,
offers all the three worlds, like dried-grass, as
an oblation in the fire of knowledge, becomes free
from the illusions of the mind.
13. When one knows the real truth about
acceptance and rejection and does not think of
anything but abides in himself, abandoning
everything, his mind does not come into
existence.
14. The mind is terrible in the waking
state, gentle in the dream state, dull in deep
sleep and dead when not in any of these three
states.
15. Just as the powder of the kataka seed,
after precipitating the dirt in water, becomes
merged in the water, so also the mind after
removing all impressions itself becomes merged in
the Self.
16. The mind is samsara; the mind is also
said to be bondage; the body is activated by the
mind just as a tree is shaken by the wind.
17. Conquer your mind first, by pressing the
palm with the palm, grinding the teeth with the
teeth and twisting the limbs with the limbs.
18. Does not the fool feel ashamed to move
about in the world as he pleases and talk about
meditation when he is not able to conquer even the
mind?
19. The only God to be conquered is the
mind. Its conquest leads to the attainment of
everything. Without its conquest all other efforts
are fruitless.
20. To be unperturbed is the foundation of
blessedness. One attains liberation by it. To human
beings even the conquest of the three worlds,
without the conquest of the mind, is as
insignificant as a blade of grass.
21. Association with the wise, abandonment
of latent impressions, Self-enquiry, control of
breathing – these are the means of conquering
the mind.
22. To one who is shod with leather, the
earth is as good as covered with leather. Even so
to the mind which is full and undivided, the world
overflows with nectar.
23. The mind becomes bound by thinking "I am
not Reality"; it becomes completely released by
thinking "I am Reality".
24. When the mind is abandoned, everything
that is dual or single is dissolved. What remains
after that is the Supreme Reality, peaceful,
Eternal and free from misery.
25. There is nothing to equal the Supreme
joy felt by a person of pure mind who has attained
the state of pure consciousness and overcome
death.
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THE
DESTRUCTION
OF
LATENT
IMPRESSIONS
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1. O Rama,
this enquiry into the Self of the nature or "Who am
I?" is the fire which burns up the seeds of the
evil tree which is the mind.
2. Just as the wind does not affect the
creepers in a picture, so also afflictions do not
affect one whose understanding is fortified by
firmness and always reflected in the mirror of
enquiry.
3. The knowers of Truth declare that enquiry
into the Truth of the Self is knowledge. What is to
be known is contained in it like sweetness in
milk.
4. To one who has realised the Self by
enquiry, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are objects of
compassion.
5. To one who is fond of enquiring
constantly, "What is this vast universe?" and "Who
am I?", this world becomes quite unreal.
6. Just as in a mirage the idea of water
does not occur to one who knows that it is a
mirage, similarly latent impressions do not rise in
one whose ignorance has been destroyed by realising
that everything is Reality.
7. By the abandonment of latent impressions
or by the control of breathing, mind ceases to be
the mind. Practise whichever you like.
8. O pure soul, cherish the association of
sages and the true scriptures; you will attain the
state of Supreme consciousness not in the course of
months but days.
9. Latent impressions cease to be active
when one associates with sages, discards all
thoughts of samsara and remembers that the body has
to die.
10. O Raghava, even ignorant persons
convert, by the firmness of their conviction,
poison into nectar and nectar into poison.
11. When this body is taken to be real it
serves the purpose of a body, but when it is seen
to be unreal it becomes like unsubstantial
space.
12. O Rama, while lying on a soft bed you
wander about in all directions with a dream body;
but now in this waking state where is that
body?
13. Just as a respectable man avoids contact
with an outcast woman carrying dog’s flesh, so
also one should discard the thought "I am the
body", even if everything were to be lost.
14. When the aspirant thinks only of Reality
and remains calm and free from sorrows his egoity
dies of itself.
15. If one realises the unity of things
everywhere, one always remains tranquil, inwardly
cool and pure like space without the sense of
"I".
16. If inwardly one is cool, the whole world
will be cool, but if inwardly one is hot and
agitated, the whole world will be a burning
mass.
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1. I, the
pure, stainless and infinite consciousness beyond
maya, look upon this body in action like the body
of another.
2. The mind, the intellect, the senses,
etc., are all the play of consciousness. They are
unreal and seem to exist only due to lack of
insight.
3. Unmoved by adversity, a friend of all the
world in prosperity, without ideas of existence and
non-existence, I live free from misery.
4. Inactive am I, desireless, clear as the
sky, free from hankering, tranquil, formless,
everlasting and unmoving.
5. I have now clearly understood that the
five elements, the three worlds and I myself are
pure consciousness.
6. I am above everything; I am present
everywhere; I am like space; I am That which really
exists; I am unable to say anything beyond
this.
7. Let imaginary waves of universe rise or
fall in me who am the ocean of infinite
consciousness; there is no increase or decrease in
me.
8. How wonderful that in me, the infinite
ocean of consciousness, waves of individual souls
rise, sport for a while and disappear according to
their nature.
9. The world which has come into existence
on account of my ignorance has dissolved likewise
in me. I now directly experience the world as
Supreme bliss of consciousness.
10. I prostrate to myself who am within all
beings, the ever-free Self abiding as inner
consciousness.
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1. O
Raghava, be outwardly active but inwardly inactive,
outwardly a doer but inwardly a non-doer, and thus
play your part in the world.
2. O Raghava, abandon all desires inwardly,
be free from attachments and latent impressions, do
everything outwardly and thus play your part in the
world.
3. O Raghava, adopt a comprehensive view,
characterised by the abandonment of all objects of
contemplation, live in your innate Self, liberated
even while alive, and thus play your part in the
world.
4. Burn the forest of duality with the fire
of the conviction, "I am the one pure
consciousness" and remain happy.
5. You are bound firmly on all sides by the
idea, "I am the body". Cut that bond by the sword
of knowledge "I am consciousness" and be happy.
6. Discarding the attachment to non-Self,
regarding the world as a partless Whole,
concentrated and with attention turned inward,
remain as pure consciousness.
7. Remain always as pure consciousness which
is your constant true nature beyond the states of
waking, dream and deep sleep.
8. O mighty-armed, be always free from
mental concepts like the heart of a rock though not
insentient like it.
9. Do not
be that which is understood, nor the one who
understands. Abandon all concepts and remain what
you are.
10. Eliminate one concept by another and the
mind by the mind and abide in the Self. Is this so
difficult, O holy man?
11. Sever the mind, which has on account of
its cares become red hot, with the mind which is
like iron sharpened by the study of scriptures.
12. O Raghava, what have you to do with this
inert and dumb body? Why do you feel helpless and
miserable by joys and sorrows on account of it?
13. What a vast difference between the
flesh, blood, etc., [composing the body]
and you, the embodiment of consciousness! Even
after knowing this, why do you not abandon the idea
of Self in this body?
14. The mere knowledge that this body is
like a piece of wood or a clod of earth enables one
to realise the Supreme Self.
15. How strange that, while the Supreme
Reality is forgotten by men, the unreal nescience
appears very real to them.
16. It is again strange that while the
Supreme Reality is forgotten by men, the idea "This
is mine" is firmly held by them.
17. When you do your work, do it without
attachment, like a crystal which reflects the
objects before it but is not affected by them.
18. The conviction that "Everything is
Reality" leads one to liberation. Therefore, reject
entirely the idea of duality which is ignorance.
Reject it entirely.
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1. If you
separate yourself from the body and abide at ease
in consciousness you will become the sole Reality,
everything else appearing insignificant, like
grass.
2. After knowing That by which you know this
world, turn the mind inward and you will realise
the effulgence of the Self.
3. O Raghava, That by which you recognise
sound, taste, form and smell, know That as your
Self, the Supreme Reality, the Lord of lords.
4. O Raghava, That in which beings vibrate,
That which creates them, know that Self to be your
real Self.
5. After rejecting, through reasoning, all
that can be known as "non-Truth" what remains as
pure consciousness – regard That as your real
Self.
6. Knowledge is not separate from you, and
that which is known is not separate from knowledge.
Hence, there is nothing other than the Self,
nothing separate from it.
7. "All
that Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indra and others always
do is done by me, the embodiment of consciousness."
Think in this manner.
8. "I am the whole universe. I am the
undecaying Supreme Self. There is neither past nor
future apart from me." Reflect in this
manner.
9.
"Everything is the One Reality, pure consciousness,
the Self of all, indivisible and immutable."
Reflect in this manner.
10. "There
is neither "I" nor any other thing. Only Reality
exists, always full of bliss everywhere." Meditate
on this calmly.
11. The
sense of perceiver and perceived is common to all
embodied beings, but the yogi worships the one
Self.
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1. When
this assemblage of body, senses, etc., acts of its
own accord, there arises an idea "I am this". This
is the ego stained by the dirt of ignorance.
2. When the conviction that everything is
the space-like, all-pervasive consciousness becomes
firm, the ego comes to an end like a lamp without
oil.
3. Like a misguided brahmin, who abandons
his own nobility and adopts the life of a servant
[shudra], the Lord assumes the role of the
ego [jiva].
4. Just as a child sees an apparition
created by its own fancy, so also the stupid ego
creates, on account of delusion, this unreal body
and sees it as separate from him.
5. A child superimposes a real elephant on a
clay elephant and plays with it; even so, an
ignorant man superimposes the body, etc., on the
Self and carries on his activities.
6. The picture of a snake does not cause
fear of a snake when it is realised to be only a
picture. Similarly, when the jiva-snake is clearly
understood there is neither misery nor the cause of
misery.
7. The snake superimposed on a garland
merges in it; so also the sense of separateness
rising from the Self merges in the Self.
8. Although bracelets appear to be many, as
gold they are one. Similarly although the adjuncts
are many, the Self is really one.
9. Like the organs of the body and vessels
of clay, non-duality appears as duality
[multiplicity] in the form of the moving
and unmoving objects.
10. Just as a single face is reflected as
many in a crystal, in water, or in a mirror; so
also the one Self is reflected in the many
intellects or minds.
11. Just as the sky appears to be stained by
dust, smoke and clouds, so also the pure Self in
contact with the qualities of maya appears to be
soiled by them.
12. Just as metal in contact with fire
acquires the quality of fire [namely heat],
so also the senses, etc., in contact with the Self
acquire the quality of the Self.
13. Just as the invisible Rahu [from
Hindu mythology] becomes visible when it comes
in contact with the moon, even so the Self is known
by experiencing objects of perception.
14. When water and fire come together they
acquire the qualities of each other. Even so, when
the Self and the inert body come together the Self
looks like the non-Self and the non-Self looks like
the Self.
15. Just as fire thrown into a large sheet
of water loses its quality, so also consciousness
in contact with the unreal and the inert seems to
lose its real nature and becomes inert.
16. The Self is realised in the body only
with effort, like sugar from the sugarcane, oil
from sesame seeds, fire from wood, butter from a
cow and iron from ore [stone].
17. Like the sky seen in an unbroken
crystal, the Supreme Lord of the nature of
consciousness is seen to exist in all objects.
18. Just as a big lamp kept inside a vessel
made of precious stones illumines by its light both
outside and inside, so also the one Self illumines
everything.
19. Just as the sun’s reflection in a
mirror illumines other things, so also the
reflection of the Self in pure intellects illumines
other things.
20. That in which this wonderful universe
appears like a snake in a rope is the Eternal
luminous Self.
21. The Self is without beginning or end. It
is immutable existence and consciousness. It
manifests space, it is the source of the individual
self and higher than the highest.
22. The Self is pure consciousness, Eternal,
Omnipresent, Immutable and self-effulgent like the
light of the sun.
23. The Omnipresent Self, the substratum of
all, is non-different from the effulgent
consciousness, like heat from fire. It can only be
experienced, not known.
24. Pure consciousness without intellect,
the Supreme Self, the illuminator of all, the
indivisible, pervading everything within and
without, is the firm support of all.
25. The Self is Absolute consciousness. It
is pure awareness, undecaying, free from all ideas
of acceptance or rejection and not limited by
space, time or genus.
26. Just as the air in the universe pervades
everything, so also the Self, the Lord, abides
bodiless in everything.
27. The consciousness which exists in the
expanse of earth, in the ornaments, in the sky and
in the sun, exists also inside the worms lying in
their shells under the earth.
28. There is neither bondage nor liberation,
neither duality nor non-duality. There is only
Reality always shining as consciousness.
29. Awareness is Reality; the world is
Reality; the various elements are Reality; I am
Reality; my enemy is Reality; my friends and
relatives are Reality.
30. The idea of a consciousness and an
object of consciousness is bondage; freedom from it
is liberation. Consciousness, the object of
consciousness and everything else is the Self; this
is the gist of all systems of philosophy.
31. There is only consciousness here; this
universe is nothing but consciousness; you are
consciousness; I am consciousness; the worlds are
consciousness – that is the conclusion.
32. That which exists and That which shines
[or is known to exist] are all the Self;
anything else which seems to shine does not really
exist. Consciousness alone shines by itself. Ideas
of knower and known are idle postulates.
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1. Supreme
bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the
senses with their objects. The Supreme state is
That in which the mind is annihilated through
one-pointed enquiry.
2. The bliss arising from the contact of the
senses with their objects is inferior. Contact with
the sense-objects is bondage; freedom from it is
liberation.
3. Attain the pure state between existence
and non-existence and hold on to it; do not accept
or reject the inner or the outer world.
4. Depend always on that true Reality
between the sentient and the inert which is the
infinite space-like heart.
5. The belief in a knower and the known is
called bondage. The knower is bound by the known;
he is liberated when there is nothing to know.
6. Abandoning the ideas of seer, seen and
sight along with latent desires of the past, we
meditate on that Self which is the primal light
that is the basis of sight.
7. We meditate on the eternal Self, the
light of lights which lies between the two ideas of
existence and non-existence.
8. We meditate on that Self of
consciousness, the bestower of the fruits of all
our thoughts, the illuminator of all radiant
objects and the farthest limit of all accepted
objects.
9. We meditate on that Immutable Self, our
Reality, the bliss of which arises in the mind on
account of the close contact between the seer and
the seen.
10. If one meditates on that state which
comes at the end of the waking state and the
beginning of sleep, he will directly experience
undecaying bliss.
11. The rock-like state in which all
thoughts are still and which is different from the
waking and dream states, is one’s Supreme
state.
12. Like mud in a mud pot, the Supreme Lord
who is existence and space-like consciousness and
bliss exists everywhere, non-separate from
things.
13. The Self shines by itself as the one
boundless ocean of consciousness agitated by waves
of thought.
14. Just as the ocean is nothing but water,
the entire world of things is nothing but
consciousness filling all the quarters like the
infinite space.
15. Reality and space are alike as to their
invisibility, all-pervasiveness and
indestructibility, but Reality is also
consciousness.
16. There is only the one waveless and
profound ocean of pure nectar, sweet through and
through, blissful everywhere.
17. All this is truly Reality; all this is
Self. Do not cut up Reality into "I am one thing"
and "this is another".
18. As soon as it is realised that Reality
is all-pervasive and indivisible, this vast samsara
is found to be the Supreme Lord.
19. One who realises that everything is
Reality truly becomes Reality; who would not become
Immortal if he were to drink nectar?
20. If you are wise you would become Reality
by such conviction; if not, even if you are
repeatedly told it would be useless, like offerings
thrown on ashes.
21. Even if you have known the real Truth,
you have to practise always. Water will not become
clear by merely uttering the word "kataka
fruit".
22. If one has the firm conviction "I am the
Supreme Self called the undecaying Universal
Reality [Vasudeva] ", he is liberated;
otherwise he remains bound.
23. After eliminating everything as "not
this", not this", the Supreme being which cannot be
eliminated remains. Think "I am That" and be
happy.
24. Know always that the Self is Reality,
One and Whole. How can That which is indivisible be
divided into "I am the meditator" and "the other is
the object of meditation"?
25. When one thinks "I am pure
consciousness" it is called meditation, and when
even the idea of meditation is forgotten it is
samadhi.
26. The constant flow of mental concepts
relating to Reality without the sense of "I"
achieved through intense practice of Self-enquiry
[jnana] is what is called samprajnata
samadhi [meditation with concepts].
27. Let violent winds which characterise the
end of aeons [kalpas] blow; let all the
oceans unite, let the twelve suns burn
simultaneously, still no harm befalls one whose
mind is extinct.
28. That consciousness which is the witness
of the rise and fall of all beings, know that to be
the Immortal state of Supreme bliss.
29. Every moving or unmoving thing
whatsoever is only an object visualised by the
mind. When the mind is annihilated, duality is not
perceived.
30. That which is Immutable, auspicious and
tranquil, That in which this world exists, That
which manifests Itself as the mutable and immutable
objects – That is the sole consciousness.
31. Before discarding the slough the snake
regards it as itself, but when once it has
discarded it in its hole, it does not look upon it
as itself any longer.
32. He who has transcended both good and
evil does not, like a child, refrain from
prohibited acts from a sense of sin, nor does he do
what is prescribed from a sense of merit.
33. Just as a statue is contained in a
pillar, even if it is not actually carved out, so
also the world exists in Reality. Therefore, the
Supreme state is not a void.
34. Just as a pillar is said to be devoid of
the statue when it has not actually been carved
out, so also Reality is said to be void when it is
devoid of the impression of the world.
35. Just as still water may be said to
contain or not contain ripples, so also Reality may
be said to contain or not contain the world. It is
neither void nor existence.
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