Let
there be peace and love among all beings of the universe. OM
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
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HIS
work
by Shankaracharya, together with the Drik
Drisya Viveka, was translated into Tamil prose
by Bhagavan while he was still living in Virupaksha
Cave. It is a very free translation, even the order
of the paragraphs being changed to some extent.
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INTRODUCTION
BY
RAMANA
MAHARSHI
Every being in the world yearns to be always happy
and free from the taint of sorrow, and desires to
get rid of bodily ailments, etc., which are not of
its true nature. Further, everyone cherishes the
greatest love for himself, and this love is not
possible in the absence of happiness. In deep
sleep, though devoid of everything, one has the
experience of being happy. Yet, due to the
ignorance of the real nature of one's own being,
which is happiness itself, people flounder in the
vast ocean of material existence, forsaking the
right path that leads to happiness, and act under
the mistaken belief that the way to be happy
consists in obtaining the pleasures of this and the
other world.
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Unfortunately,
however, there is no such happiness which has not
the taint of sorrow. It is precisely for the
purpose of pointing out the straight path to true
happiness that Lord Shiva, taking on the guise of
Sri Shankaracharya, wrote the commentaries on the
Triple Canon [Prasthana Traya] of
the Vedanta, which extols the excellence of this
bliss; and that he demonstrated it by his own
example in life. These commentaries, however, are
of little use to those ardent seekers who are
intent upon realising the bliss of liberation but
have not the scholarship necessary for studying
them.
It is for such as these that Sri Shankara revealed
the essence of the commentaries in this short
treatise, The Crown Gem of Discrimination
[Vivekachudamani], explaining in detail
the points that have to be grasped by those who
seek liberation, and thereby directing them to the
true and direct path.
Sri Shankara begins by observing that it is hard
indeed to attain human birth, and that, having
attained it, one should strive to achieve the bliss
of liberation, which is really only the nature of
one's being. By jnana or spiritual knowledge alone
is this bliss to be realised, and jnana is achieved
only through vichara or steady enquiry. In order to
learn this method of enquiry, says Sri Shankara,
one should seek the Grace of a Guru; and he then
proceeds to describe the qualities of the Guru and
his disciple and how the latter should approach and
serve his master. He further emphasises that in
order to realise the bliss of liberation one's own
individual effort is an essential factor. Mere book
learning never yields this bliss; it can be
realised only through Self-enquiry or vichara,
which consists of sravana or devoted attention to
the precepts of the Guru, manana or deep
contemplation and nidhidhyasana or the cultivation
of equanimity in the Self.
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The three bodies,
are non-self and are unreal. The Self, that is the
Aham or "I" is quite different from them. It is due
to ignorance that the sense of Self or the
"I"-notion is foisted on that which is not Self,
and this indeed is bondage. Since from ignorance
arises bondage, from knowledge ensues liberation.
To know this from the Guru is sravana.
The process of manana, which is subtle enquiry or
deep contemplation, consists in rejecting the three
bodies consisting of the five sheaths
[physical, vital, mental, intellectual, and
blissful], as not "I" and discovering through
subtle enquiry of "Who am I?" that which is
different from all three and exists single and
Universal in the Heart as Aham or "I", just as a
stalk of grass is delicately drawn out from its
sheath. This "I" is denoted by the word tvam
[in the scriptural dictum "Tat Tvam Asi", "Thou
art That"].
The world of name and form is but an adjunct of Tat
or Brahman [Reality] and, having no
separate reality, is rejected as reality and
affirmed as nothing else but Brahman. The
instruction of the disciple by the Guru in the
scriptural saying [mahavakya] "Tat Tvam
Asi", which declares the identity of the Self and
the Supreme, is this upadesa [spiritual
guidance]. The disciple is then enjoined to
remain in the beatific state of Aham-Brahman,
[I - the Absolute]. Nevertheless, the old
tendencies of the mind sprout up thick and strong
and constitute an obstruction. These tendencies are
threefold and ego is their root. The ego flourishes
in the externalised and differentiating
consciousness caused by the forces of projection
due to rajas [restlessness], and veiling
due to tamas [dullness].
To fix the mind firmly in the Heart until these
forces are destroyed and to awaken with unswerving,
ceaseless vigilance the true and cognate tendency
which is characteristic of the Self [Atman]
and is expressed by sayings: "Aham Brahmasmi"
["I am Brahman"], and "Brahmaivaham"
["Brahman alone am I"] is termed
nidhidhyasana or Atmanusandhana, that is constancy
in the Self. This is otherwise called bhakti
[devotion], yoga and dhyana
[meditation].
Atmanusandhana has been compared to churning curds
in order to make butter, the mind being compared to
the churn, the Heart to the curds, and the practice
of concentration on the Self to the process of
churning. Just as butter is made by churning the
curds and fire by friction, so the natural and
changeless state of Nirvikalpa samadhi is produced
by unswerving vigilant concentration on the Self,
ceaseless like the unbroken flow of oil. This
readily and spontaneously yields that direct,
immediate, unobstructed, and Universal perception
of Brahman, which is at once knowledge and
experience and which transcends time and space.
This perception is Self-realisation. Achieving It
cuts the knot of the Heart. The false delusions of
ignorance, the vicious and age-long tendencies of
the mind which constitute this knot are destroyed.
All doubts are dispelled and the bondage of karma
is severed.
Thus in this Crown Gem of Discrimination Sri
Shankara has described samadhi or spiritual trance
which is the limitless bliss of liberation, beyond
doubt and duality, and at the same time has
indicated the means for its attainment. To attain
this state of freedom from duality is the real
purpose of life, and only he who has done so is a
jivanmukta, liberated while yet alive, not one who
has a mere theoretical understanding of what
constitutes Purushartha or the desired end and aim
of human endeavour.
Thus defining a jivanmukta, Sri Shankara declares
him to be free from the bonds of threefold karma
[sanchita, agami and prarabdha]. The
disciple attains this state and then relates his
personal experience. He who is liberated is indeed
free to act as he pleases, and when he leaves the
body, he abides in liberation and never returns to
this birth, which is death.
Sri Shankara thus describes realisation, that is
liberation, as twofold, jivanmukti [liberation
while alive] and videhamukti [liberation
after death], as explained above. Moreover, in
this short treatise, written in the form of a
dialogue between a Guru and his disciple, he has
considered many other relevant topics.
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Rejoice
eternally! The Heart rejoices at the feet of the
Lord, who is the Self, shining within as "I-I"
eternally, so that there is no alternation of night
and day. This will result in removal of ignorance
of the Self.
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Sri Shankara
Jagadguru shines as the form of Lord Shiva. In this
work, Vivekachudamani, he has expounded in
detail the heart of Vedanta and its meaning in
order that the most ardent of those qualified for
liberation may acquaint themselves with it and
attain Immortality.
Homage to the ever-blissful Sri Govinda Satguru who
is to be known only by the Ultimate Truth of
Vedanta and not by any other standard.
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It is
indeed very difficult to obtain a human body. Even
though one does, it is very difficult to become a
brahmin. Even if one becomes one, it is still more
difficult to walk in the path of vaidika dharma in
which the Vedas are chanted. Still more
difficult is it to become a perfect scholar, and
more difficult again to undertake enquiry into the
Self and the non-Self. Yet more difficult than all
this is to obtain wisdom born of experience of the
Self. Liberation in the form of abidance as the
Self, born of that wisdom, is not to be attained
except as a result of righteous actions performed
throughout countless crores of births. However,
even though all the above qualifications may not be
obtained, liberation is assured through the Grace
of the Lord if only three conditions are obtained:
that is a human birth, intense desire for
liberation, and association with sages.
If, by some great penance, that rarity, a human
body is obtained, with its ability to understand
the meaning of the scriptures, and yet, owing to
attachment to insentient things, effort is not made
to attain the Immutable state of liberation, which
is one's own true state, then indeed one is a fool
committing suicide. What greater fool is there than
one who does not seek his own good?
Liberation is not to be achieved through endless
cycles of time by reading the scriptures or
worshipping the gods or by anything else than
knowledge of the unity of Brahman and Atman
[Reality and Self]. Wealth or actions made
possible by wealth cannot produce the yearning for
liberation. Therefore the scriptures have rightly
declared that action can never produce liberation.
In order to obtain liberation one must heroically
renounce even the very desire for the pleasures of
this world. Then one must seek the perfect Guru who
is the embodiment of peace and must concentrate
one's mind and meditate ceaselessly on That into
which one is initiated. Such meditation leads to
abidance in the wisdom of the experience obtained.
Embarking in that ship of wisdom, one must ferry
over to the shore of liberation, away from that
self which is immersed in the ocean of samsara.
Therefore the courageous aspirant should give up
attachment to wife, sons and property and give up
all activity. By so doing he should free himself
from bondage to the cycle of birth and death and
seek liberation. Actions are prescribed only for
purification of the mind, not for realisation of
the Self. Knowledge of the Truth of the Self is
obtained only by Self-enquiry and not by any number
of actions. One who mistakes a rope for a serpent
is cast into fear thereby and his fear and distress
can be removed only by the knowledge that it is a
rope. A friend who knows this tells him so and he
investigates and finds that it is so. There is no
other way. Similarly, knowledge of Brahman is
obtained through initiation by the Guru and enquiry
into Truth. That Truth cannot be realised through
purificatory baths, offerings, breath-control, or
any other practice. He who seeks liberation through
knowledge of the Self must enquire into the Self
with the help of the perfect Guru who, being free
from desires, is a knower of Brahman and an ocean
of Grace. It is mainly through enquiry that he who
is competent achieves knowledge of the Self;
circumstance, time, and the Grace of the Lord are
but aids to the quest.
In order to be qualified for enquiry into the Self,
a man must have a powerful intellect and ability to
seize the essential and reject the inessential
besides the various qualities enumerated in the
scriptures. What are these? He must be able to
discriminate between the Real and the unreal. He
must have an unattached mind. He must ardently
desire liberation. And he must be tireless in
practice. Only such a one is qualified to enquire
into Brahman. The qualifications are enumerated as
follows:
1. Discrimination between the Real and the
unreal.
2. Disinclination to enjoy the fruits of
one's actions either in this or in any further
life.
3. The six virtues of tranquillity,
self-control, withdrawal, forbearance, faith and
concentration of the Self.
4. Intense yearning for liberation.
The aspirant must indeed have these qualities in
order to attain abidance in the Self; without them
there can be no realisation of the Truth. Let us
see what these are:
1. Discrimination between the Real and the
unreal is the firm conviction that Brahman alone is
the Truth and that the world is unreal.
2. We both observe and learn from the
scriptures that all pleasures experienced by
animate beings, from Brahma downwards, are
transient and impermanent and involve sorrows and
imperfections; giving up the desire for them is
vairagya or non-attachment.
3.[a] Tranquillity implies fixing
the mind upon its target by meditating frequently
on the imperfections of things and becoming
dissatisfied with them.
[b] Self-control means controlling
the outer and inner sense organs and fixing them in
their respective centres.
[c] Withdrawal means giving up all
outer activity by fixing the mind on its target so
firmly that it is not led by its previous
tendencies to dwell on objects.
[d] Forbearance means the endurance
of any sorrows that may befall without trying to
avoid them.
[e] Faith, which is the cause of
Self-realisation, is the outcome of firm conviction
of the Truth of Vedantic scriptures and of the
words of the Guru.
[f]
Concentration is making every effort to fix the
mind on the pure Brahman despite its wandering
nature. These are said to be the six qualifications
needed for the practice of samadhi
[Self-absorption].
4.
Intense yearning for liberation arises from the
desire to free oneself by realising one's true
nature, attaining freedom from the bondage of the
body and ego which is caused by ignorance. This
yearning may be of different grades. It may be only
dull or medium, but it may be highly developed by
means of the six qualifications mentioned above,
and in this case it can bear fruit. But if
renunciation and yearning are weak, the result may
be mere appearance like a mirage in the desert.
Of all the means leading to liberation, bhakti or
devotion is the best; and this bhakti means seeking
the Truth of one's own Self – so say the
sages.
The aspirant who possesses the necessary
qualifications and wishes to undertake Self-enquiry
must seek a Satguru and bow down to him with
humility, awe, and reverence and serve him in
various ways. The Satguru is one capable of
destroying the bondage of those who adhere to Him.
He is an ocean of immutable wisdom. His knowledge
is allcomprehensive. He is pure as crystal. He has
attained victory over desires. He is supreme among
the knowers of Brahman. He rests calmly in Brahman
like a fire that has consumed its fuel. He is an
endless reservoir of mercy. There is no explanation
why He is merciful; it is His very nature. He
befriends all sadhus who adhere to Him. To such a
Guru the disciple appeals: "I bow down to you, my
master, true friend of the helpless! I pray you to
help me cross the terrible ocean of bondage into
which I have fallen and by which I am overwhelmed.
A mere gracious look from you is a raft that will
save me. O flowing stream of Grace! I am shaken
violently by the winds of a perverse fate. I do not
know which way to turn. I am tormented by the
unquenchable fire of samsara that burns around me.
I continually pray to you to calm me by the nectar
of your Grace. Sadhus such as you who abide ever in
peace, are great and magnanimous and constantly
benefit the world, like the season of spring. Not
only have they themselves crossed the ocean of
samsara, but they can calm the fears of others.
Just as the world after being heated by the burning
rays of the sun is calmed by the cool and gracious
rays of the moon, so also it is in your nature to
give protection for no reason whatever to people
like me who have taken refuge with you from the
ocean of samsara. Indeed, being helpless and having
no other refuge, I have cast on you the burden of
protecting me from this samsara of birth and death.
O Lord! The flames of the conflagration of
individual being have scorched me; cool me through
the outpouring of your gracious words. Your words
bring peace, being born of your experience of
divine bliss. Blessed are they that have even
received your gracious glance. Blessed are they who
have become acceptable to you. How shall I cross
the ocean and what means is there? I do not indeed
know what is my fate. You alone must protect me,
setting me free from this sorrow of samsara."
The disciple thus takes refuge with the Guru, as
enjoined by the scriptures. He waits upon the Guru,
unable to bear the burning winds of samsara. His
mind grows calm through following
the Guru's bidding. The teacher, that is, the
knower of
Brahman, casts upon him his gracious glance and
touches his
Soul inwardly, giving him assurance of protection:
"My learned
disciple, have no fear. No harm shall come to
you hereafter.
I will give you a single mighty means by
which you can
cross this terrible, fathomless ocean of samsara
and thus
obtain Supreme bliss. By this means, world
renouncing sadhus
have crossed it and your bondage also shall
be destroyed
here and now. The scriptures declare: "The
means of
liberation for seekers are faith, devotion,
meditation, and yoga."
You too shall obtain these means, and if you
practise them
constantly shall be set free from the bondage to
the body caused
by ignorance. You are eternally of the nature
of Paramatma
and this bondage of samsara, of non-Self,
has come upon
you only through ignorance. It will be
utterly destroyed
by knowledge born of enquiry into the Self."
Gazing on the Guru who says this, the disciple
asks: "O master,
what is bondage? How did it come, how does it
survive, and how is it to be destroyed? What is the
non-Self? And what, indeed,
is the Self? And what is discrimination between
Self and
non-Self? Graciously bless me with answers to
these questions,
so that by hearing your replies I may be
blessed."
To this request of the disciple the master answers:
"Dear soul!
If you have felt the desire to be the Self, free
from the bondage
caused by ignorance, you are indeed blessed.
You have
achieved life's purpose. You have sanctified
thereby your whole
line. Just as sons and other relations pay off the
debts of a
father, so there are others who will free one from
bearing a
burden on one's head. But the distress caused by
hunger can be
cured only by eating for oneself, not by others
eating for one.
And if you are sick you must take medicine and keep
a proper diet
yourself; no one else can do it for you.
Similarly, bondage
comes to you through your own ignorance and
can only be
removed by yourself. However learned a man
may be, he
cannot rid himself of the ignorance born of desire
and fate,
except by realising Brahman with his own
Infinite knowledge.
How does it help you if others see the moon?
You must open
your eyes and see it for yourself. Liberation
cannot be
obtained through Sankhya [Vedic
philosophy], yoga, ritual, or learning but
only through
knowledge of the oneness of Brahman and
Atman. Just
as the beautiful form of the veena
[instrument] and the music of its
strings only give
pleasure to people, but confer no kingdom
on them, so also
plausible words, clever arguments, ability
to expound
the scriptures, and the erudition of the learned
only give
pleasure for the moment. Even study of the
scriptures is useless
since it does not give the desired result. Once
one knows the
Truth of the Supreme, study of the
scriptures becomes
unnecessary because there is nothing more to
be gained.
Therefore one must pass over the great forest of
the Shastras
[spiritual treatise], which only yields
confusion of mind, and must instead
actually experience
the Self through the Guru, who is a knower of
Reality. To one who is bitten by the serpent of
ignorance, salvation
can come only from the elixir of
Self-knowledge and
not from the Vedas, scriptures,
incantations, or any other remedies.
Just as a person's sickness is not removed
without taking
medicine, so too his state of bondage is not
removed by
scriptural texts such as "I am Brahman" without his
own direct
experience of the Self. One does not become a king
by merely
saying, "I am a king", without destroying one's
enemies and
obtaining the reality of power. Similarly, one does
not obtain
liberation as Brahman Itself by merely repeating
the scriptural
text "I am Brahman", without destroying the
duality caused
by ignorance and directly experiencing the Self.
A treasure
trove hidden under the ground is not obtained
by merely
hearing about it, but only by being told by a
friend who
knows it, and then digging and removing the slab
that hides it
and taking it out from below the ground.
Similarly, one
must hear about one's true state from a Guru who
knows Brahman,
and then meditate upon It and experience It
directly through
constant meditation. Without this, the true form
of one's own
Self, that is hidden by maya ["that which is
not"], cannot be realised through
mere argumentation. Therefore, those who are
wise themselves
make every effort to remove the bondage of
individual existence
and obtain liberation, just as they would
to get rid of some
disease.
"Beloved
disciple, the question that you have put is of
the utmost
importance and acceptable to realised souls well
versed in the
scriptures. It is like an aphorism bearing a
subtle meaning
and understandable to him who craves
liberation. Listen
to this reply with a calm and undisturbed mind
and your
bonds will be cut asunder at once. The primary
means of
obtaining liberation is vairagya
[dispassion]. Other qualities such as
tranquillity, self-control, forbearance, and
renunciation of activity can come later, later
again the hearing of Vedantic Truth, and still
later, meditation on that Truth. Finally
comes perpetual
and prolonged meditation on Brahman. This
gives rise to
Nirvikalpa samadhi, through which is attained
the strength
for direct realisation of the Supreme Self. This
power of
direct realisation enables the discriminating soul
to experience
the bliss of liberation here and now. Such is
the sadhana
[spiritual practice] leading to
liberation.
Now I shall tell you about discrimination between
Self and
non-Self. Listen and keep it firmly in mind. Of
these two I
shall speak first about the non-Self.
"The brain,
bones, fat, flesh, blood, skin, and semen
are the seven
factors that constitute the gross body. So say
those who
know. The feet, thighs, chest, shoulders, back,
head, etc., are
its members. People regard it as "I" owing to the
mind's attachment
to it. It is the primary attraction to all, and
the most
obvious. It is made up of ether, air, fire, water,
and earth which,
as the subtle essences, form sense objects, and
the groups of
five such as sound, touch, sight, taste and smell.
The ego [jiva] being intent on pleasure,
regards these as means of
enjoyment. Foolish and ignorant persons are bound
to sense objects
by the rope of desire, attracted according to the
power of
their karma which leads them up and down and
causes them
to wander in distress. The serpent and deer die
through attachment
to sound, the elephant through attachment to
touch, the
fish through attachment to taste, and the bee
through attachment
to smell. If these die through attachment to a
single sense,
what must be the fate of man, who is attached to
all five? The
evil effects of sense objects are more harmful
than the
poison of the cobra, [in Sanskrit this is a
play of words, as vishaya means sense objects and
visha poison] because poison only kills him who
takes it, whereas sense objects bring destruction
to him who sees them or even thinks of them. He
alone obtains liberation who,
with the sharp sword of detachment, cuts the strong
rope of love
for sense objects and so frees himself from
them. Otherwise,
even though a man be well versed in all the
six shastras,
he will not obtain liberation. Desire, like a
crocodile, instantly
seizes the aspirant after liberation who tries to
cross the
ocean of samsara and reach the shore of liberation
without firm
detachment, and straightaway drags him down into
the ocean.
Only that aspirant who kills the crocodile with
the keen
sword of detachment can cross the ocean and safely
reach the
shore of liberation. He who, lacking good sense,
enters upon
one path after another of attachment to sense
objects, experiences
ever greater distress until he is finally
destroyed. But
he who exerts control over himself, walks on the
path of discrimination
laid down by the Guru and attains his goal.
This indeed is the
Truth. Therefore, if you really want
liberation cast
away the pleasure of sense objects as though they
were poison.
Hold firmly to the virtues of contentment,
compassion, forgiveness,
sincerity, tranquillity, and self-control. Give
up all
actions performed out of attachment to the body,
and strive ceaselessly
for liberation from the bondage caused by
ignorance. This body
is finally consumed, whether by earth,
fire, beasts, or
birds. He who, forgetting his real nature,
mistakes this body
for the Self, gets attached to it and
cherishes it
and by so doing becomes the murderer of the Self.
He who still
cares for the body while seeking the Self, is like
one who catches
hold of a crocodile to cross a river. Infatuation
with the body
is indeed fatal to the aspirant after liberation.
Only he who
overcomes this infatuation attains
liberation. Therefore,
you too must overcome infatuation for the
body and for
wife and children. Then you will attain
liberation, i.e.,
the Supreme state of Vishnu which the great sages
have attained.
This gross body is very much to be deprecated,
consisting as it does of skin, flesh, blood,
arteries and veins, fat,
marrow and bones, and is full of urine and excreta.
It is produced
by one's own past actions out of the gross
elements. The
subtle elements unite together to produce these
gross elements.
Thus it becomes a habitation for the enjoyment
of pleasures
by the ego, like his home for a householder. It is
in the waking
state that the ego experiences the gross body. It
is in this
state alone that it can be experienced, when the
Self, though
really separate from it, is deluded into
identifying Itself with
it and, through the external organs, enjoys the
various wonderful
gross objects of pleasure such as garlands,
sandal paste,
woman, etc... Know that the whole of outward
samsara comes
upon the Spirit [Purusha] through the
medium of the gross
body. Birth, growth, old age, decay, and death are
its characteristics.
Childhood, boyhood, youth, and old age are
its stages. Castes
and orders of life are ordained for it. It
is also
subject to different modes of treatment, to honour
and dishonour,
and is the abode of various diseases.
"The ears, skin, eyes, nose, and tongue are organs
of knowledge
because they enable us to cognise objects.
The vocal
organs, hands, feet, etc., are organs of action
because they
perform their respective modes of action. The
internal organ [mind] is single in itself
but is variously named mind, intellect, ego, or
desire [chitta]. Mind is the faculty of
desire or repulsion. Intellect is the faculty of
determining the Truth of things. The ego is the
faculty which identifies itself with the body as
self. Desire [chitta] is the faculty that
seeks for pleasure.
Just as gold and silver are shaped into various
forms, so the
single life breath becomes prana, apana, vyana,
udana, samana.
The group of five elements [ether, fire, water,
air, earth],
the group of five organs of knowledge [ears,
eyes, skin, nose,
tongue], the group of five organs of action
[vocal organs, hands,
feet, anus, genitals], the group of five vital
airs [prana, apana, vyana, udana, samana],
the group of four internal organs [chitta,
manas, buddhi, ahankara], all these
together compose
the subtle body called the city of eight
constituents. Being
possessed of desires, it is produced out of the
elements prior
to their subdivision and mutual combination. The
soul has
brought this beginningless superimposition upon
itself by its
actions. This state of experience is the dream
state. In this
state the mind functions of its own accord,
experiencing itself
as the actor, due to its various tendencies and to
the effect of
experiences of the waking state. In this state the
Self, shining
with its own light, is superimposed upon the
mind without
being attached to its actions and remains a
mere Witness.
Just as the axe and other tools of the carpenter
are only the
means for his activities, so this subtle body is
only the
means for the activities of the Self which is ever
aware. The
internal organs perform all their actions owing to
the mere
proximity of the Self, whereas the Self
remains unaffected
and untouched by these actions. Good or bad
eyesight is due to
the state of the eyes, deafness to the ears,
and so on; they do
not affect the Self, the knower. Those who
know say that
inhalation, exhalation, yawning, sneezing,
etc., are
functions of the life-breath, as also are hunger
and thirst. The
inner organ [mind], with the light of
reflected consciousness,
has its seat in the outer organs, such as
the eye, and
identifies itself with them. This inner organ is
the ego. The
ego is the actor and enjoyer, identifying itself
with the body
as "I". Under the influence of the three gunas
it assumes
the three states of waking, dream and deep
sleep. When
sense objects are to its liking it becomes happy,
when not,
unhappy. Thus, pleasure and pain pertain to the ego
and are not
characteristics of the ever-blissful Self. Objects
appear to be
pleasant because of the Self and not because of any
inherent bliss that is in them. The Self has no
grief in it. Its bliss, which is independent of
objects, is experienced by everyone in the state of
deep sleep and therefore it is dear to everyone.
This is borne out by the authority of the
Upanishads and by direct perception,
tradition, and inference.
"The Supreme [Brahman] has a wonderful
shakti [power or energy] known as "the
undifferentiated", "ignorance", "maya", etc... She
is of the form of the three gunas. Her existence is
inferred by those of understanding from the effects
produced by her. She is far superior to all
objectivity and creates the entire
universe. She is neither being nor non-being,
neither does she
partake of the nature of both. She is neither
composed of parts
nor indivisible nor both. She is neither form nor
formless nor
both. She is none of these. Such as she is, she
is indescribable.
She is also beginningless. Yet just as the
deluded fear
of a snake in a piece of rope is removed by
recognising the rope
as such, so too maya may be destroyed by
integral knowledge
of Brahman. She has her three gunas which are
to be known
from their effects. Rajas, whose colour is red, is
of the nature
of activity and is the power of projection. It is
the original
cause of all activity. From it arise the
mental modifications
that lead to desires and sorrows. Lust,
anger, grasping,
pride, hatred, egotism are all tendencies
characteristic of
rajas. This projecting power is the cause of
bondage because it
creates outward or worldly tendencies. Tamas, whose
colour is
black, is the veiling power. It makes things appear
other than what
they are. Through its alliance with the power of
projection, it
is the original cause of man's constant rebirth. He
who is enveloped
by this veiling power, wise or learned though
he may be,
clever, expert in the meaning of the scriptures,
capable of
wonderful achievements, will not be able to grasp
the Truth of
the Self, even though the Guru and others clearly
explain it in
various ways. Being under the sway of that veiling
power, he
esteems things which bear the imprint of delusion
and ignorance and achieves them. Even though he is
taught, he who is
enveloped by this veiling power still lacks the
clear knowledge and
understanding without which it cannot be removed;
he always
remains in doubt and comes to decisions contrary to
the Truth. At
the same time, the power of projection makes
him restless.
Ignorance, indolence, inertia, sleepiness, omission
of the
discharge of duties, and stupidity are the
characteristics of tamas.
One who has these qualities does not
comprehend anything
but is like a sleeping man or a stone. Now, coming
to sattva,
whose colour is white: although this is quite clear
like pure
water, yet it gets murky if mixed with rajas and
tamas. The
Self shines through sattva just as the sun
illumines the entire
world of matter. Even from mixed sattva virtuous
qualities result,
such as modesty, yama and niyama, faith, devotion
and the
desire for devotion, divine qualities and turning
away from the
unreal. From the clarity of pure sattva
results Self-realisation,
Supreme peace, never failing contentment,
perfect happiness,
abiding in the Self which is the fount of
Eternal bliss. The
undifferentiated power which is spoken of as
a compound of the
three gunas is the causal body of the Soul.
Its state is that of
deep sleep in which all the sense organs and
functions of the
mind are at rest. In this state all
perceptions cease
and the mind in its subtle seed-like form
experiences Supreme
bliss. This is borne out by the universal
experience, "I slept
soundly and knew nothing."
"The above is a description of the non-Self. These
things do not
pertain to the Self: the body, the sense organs,
the mind, the
ego and its modes, happiness due to sense
objects, the
elements from ether downwards, and the whole world
up to the
undifferentiated maya. All this is non-Self. From
mahat [cosmic
intelligence] down to the gross body,
everything is the
effect of maya. Know these to be the non-Self.
These are all
unreal like a mirage in the desert.
"Now I am going to tell you about the real nature
of the Supreme
Self, by realising which, man attains liberation
and is freed
from bondage. That realisation of "I" is indeed
the Self
which is experienced as "I-I" shining of its own
accord, the
Absolute Being, the Witness of the three states of
waking, dream,
and deep sleep, distinct from the five sheaths,
aware of the
mental modes in the waking and dream states, and
of their
absence in the state of deep sleep. That Self sees
all of its
own accord but is never seen by any of these. It
gives light to
the intellect and ego but is not enlightened by
them. It pervades
the universe and by its light all this insentient
universe is
illumined, but the universe does not pervade it
even to the slightest
extent. In its presence the body, senses, mind
and intellect
enter upon their functions as if commanded by it.
By that
unbroken knowledge, all things from the ego to the
body, objects
and our experience of them, occur and are
perceived. By
it life and the various organs are set in motion.
That inner Self,
as the primeval Spirit, Eternal, ever-effulgent,
full and Infinite
bliss, single, indivisible, Whole and living,
shines in everyone
as the witnessing Awareness. That Self in
its splendour,
shining in the cavity of the Heart as the
subtle, pervasive
yet unmanifest ether, illumines this universe
like the sun.
It is aware of the modifications of the mind and
ego, of the
actions of the body, sense organs and life-breath.
It takes
their form as fire does that of a heated ball of
iron; yet it undergoes
no change in doing so. This Self is neither
born nor
dies, it neither grows nor decays, nor does it
suffer any change.
When a pot is broken the space inside it is not,
and similarly,
when the body dies, the Self in it remains Eternal.
It is
distinct from the causal maya and its effects. It
is pure knowledge.
It illumines Being and non-being alike and
is without
attributes. It is the Witness of the intellect in
the waking,
dream, and deep sleep states. It shines as "I-I",
as ever-present, direct experience. Know that
Supreme Self by means of a one-pointed mind and
know "This "I" is Brahman". Thus through the
intellect you may know the Self in yourself, by
yourself, and by this means cross the ocean of
birth and death and become one who has achieved his
life purpose and ever remain as the Self.
"Mistaking the body or not-I for the Self or I, is
the cause of all misery, that is, of all bondage.
This bondage comes through ignorance of the cause
of birth and death, for it is through
ignorance that men regard these insentient bodies
as real,
mistaking them for the Self and sustaining them
with sense
objects and finally getting destroyed by them, just
as the
silkworm protects itself by the threads that it
emits, but is finally
destroyed by them. For those who mistake the
rope for a
serpent, the integral pure effulgence of the
pristine state is
veiled by tamas, just as the dragon's head covers
the sun in an
eclipse, and as a result, the Spirit
[Purusha] forgets his reality.
He is devoured by the dragon of delusion
and, mistaking
the non-Self for the Self, is overpowered by
mental states
and submerged in the fathomless ocean of samsara
full of the
poison of sense enjoyments, and, now sinking,
now rising,
he finds no way of escape. Such are the torments
caused by the
projecting power of rajas together with the veiling
of tamas.
Just as the layers of clouds caused by the rays of
the sun
increase until they hide the sun itself, so the
bondage of ego
caused by ignorance in the Self expands until it
hides that very
Self. Just as frost and cold winds torment one on a
wintry day
when the sun is hidden by clouds, so too when
tamas covers
the Self, the projecting power of rajas deludes
the ignorant
into mistaking the non-Self for the Self and
torments them
with many sorrows. So it is by these two powers
alone that
the Self has been brought into bondage. Of this
tree of samsara,
tamas is the seed, the "I am the body" idea is the
shoot, desire is the young leaf, activity the water
that makes it grow,
the body the trunk, a man's successive lives the
branches, the
sense organs the twigs, sense objects the flowers,
and diverse
sorrows caused by activity the fruit. The ego is
the bird
sitting in the tree and enjoying its fruit.
"This bondage of the non-Self, born of ignorance,
causing endless sorrow through birth, death, and
old age, is without beginning, yet its complete
destruction can be brought about in the way that I
will tell you. Have faith in the Vedas and
perform all the actions prescribed by them without
seeking for any gain from doing so. This will give
you purity of mind. With this pure mind, meditate
incessantly and by doing so you will directly know
the Self. This Self-knowledge is the keen sword
that cuts asunder the bonds. No other weapon or
contrivance is capable of destroying them, nor wind
nor fire nor countless actions.
"The Self is covered over by the five sheaths
caused by the power
of ignorance. It is hidden from sight like the
water of a pond
covered with weeds. When the weeds are removed
the water is
revealed and can be used by man to quench his
thirst and
cool him from the heat. In the same way, by process
of elimination,
you should with keen intellect discard the
objective five
sheaths from the Self as "not this, not
this". Know
the Self distinct from the body and from all forms,
like a stalk
of grass in its sheaths of leaf. Know It as
Eternal, pure, single
in its essence, unattached, with no duties to
perform, ever
blissful and self-effulgent. He who is liberated
realises that
all objective reality, which is superimposed on the
Self as the
idea of a serpent is on the rope, is really no
other than the Self,
and he himself is the Self. Therefore the wise
aspirant should
undertake discrimination between the Self and
the non-Self.
Of the five sheaths [food, life-breath, mind,
intellect, and
bliss], the gross body is created out of food,
increasing by eating it and perishing when there is
none. It is the sheath of
food. Compounded of skin, blood, flesh, fat,
marrow, excreta,
and urine, it is most filthy. It has no existence
before birth
or after death but appears between them. It
undergoes change
every moment. There is no set law governing
that change.
It is an object, like a pot, is insentient and has
a variety of
forms. It is acted upon by other forces. The Self,
on the other
hand, is distinct from this body and is single,
Eternal, and
pure. It is indestructible, though the body with
its limbs is
destroyed. The Self is the Witness who knows
the characteristics
of the body, its modes of activity and its
three states.
It is self-aware and directs the body. Such being
the contrast
between the body and the Self, how can the body
be the Self?
The fool thinks of it as the Self. The man of
wise action
with some measure of discrimination, takes body
and soul
together for "I", but the really wise man who
conducts the
enquiry with firm discrimination knows himself
always as the
Supreme Brahman, the Being which is of its own
nature. The
"I am the body" idea is the seed of all sorrow.
Therefore, just
as you do not identify yourself with your shadow
body, image
body, dream body, or the body that you have in
your imagination,
cease also to associate the Self in any way
with the body
of skin, flesh, and bones. Make every effort to
root out this
error and holding fast to the knowledge of reality
as the
Absolute Brahman, destroy the mind and obtain
Supreme peace.
Then you will have no more births. Even a
learned scholar
who perfectly understands the meaning of
Vedanta has
no hope of liberation if, owing to delusion, he
cannot give
up the idea of the non-existent body as the
Self.
"Now we come to the vital body of prana, which is
the life-breath with the five organs of action. The
aforementioned sheath of food enters upon its
course of activity when filled by this vital force.
It is nothing but a modification of air, and like
air it enters into the body and comes out of it. It
does not know its own desires and antipathies or
those of others. It is eternally dependent on the
Self. Therefore the vital body cannot be the
Self.
"The mental sheath is the mind with its organs
of knowledge.
This is the cause of the wrong concept of the
Self as "I"
and "mine". It is very powerful, being endowed
with diversity
of thought-forms, beginning with the "I"-thought.
It fills and
pervades the vital sheath. The ever-blazing fire
of the mental
sheath is consuming this whole world, lit by
the five
sense organs as sacrificial priests, fed by sense
objects as the
fuel, and kept ablaze by the latent tendencies.
There is no ignorance
apart from the mind. It is the cause of the
bondage of
birth and death. With the emergence of the mind
everything arises,
and with its subsidence everything ceases. In the
dream state,
in which there are no objects, the mind creates its
dream world
of enjoyers and others, by its own powers.
Similarly, all
that it perceives in the waking state is its own
display. It is the
experience of all that nothing appears when the
mind subsides
in deep sleep. Therefore the bondage of samsara
is only
superimposed on the Self by the mind. Actually it
has no reality.
Just as the wind gathers the clouds in the sky and
then disperses
them, so the mind causes the bondage but also
causes liberation.
The mind first creates in man an attachment to
the body and
to all sense objects, with the result that he is
bound by his
attachment like a beast tethered by a rope. Under
the influence
of rajas and tamas it is enfeebled and
entangles man
in desire for the body and objects, but under the
influence of
sattva it breaks away from rajas and tamas and
attains to non-attachment
and discrimination and rejects sense objects
as though they were
poison. Therefore the wise seeker after
liberation must
first establish himself in discrimination
and desirelessness.
The mind is a great tiger roaming wild in the huge
jungle of sense objects. Therefore aspirants should
keep away
from it. It is only the mind that conjures up
before the Self
subtle and gross objects and all the variations of
body, caste,
and station in life, qualities and action, causes
and effects.
So doing, it tempts and deludes the Self, which
is really
unattached pure intelligence, binding it by the
qualities of
body, senses, and life and deluding it with the
idea of "I" and
"mine" in the fruits of action that it creates. By
means of this
false representation, the mind creates the myth of
samsara [bondage]
for the spirit. This is the primal cause of the
sorrow of
birth and death which binds those who are subject
to the faults
of rajas and tamas and lack discrimination. Just as
cloud masses
revolve through the air, so does the whole
world revolve
through the delusion of the mind. Therefore,
those who
know reality declare that the mind is ignorance. He
who seeks
liberation must examine his mind by his own
efforts and
once the mind is purified by such introspection
liberation is
obtained and appears obvious and natural. Out of
desire for liberation
you should root out all other desires,
renounce activity
and take to perpetual preoccupation with
Truth [through
sravana and manana] which will lead on to
perpetual meditation [nididhyasana].
Then alone can the waves of the mind be
stilled. Therefore
even this mind sheath cannot be the real
Self, since it has a
beginning and an end, and is subject to
modifications and
characterised by pain and grief, and is an
object of
perception.
"The intellect with the five organs of knowledge is
the vijnana
maya sheath and is also the cause of bondage for
the spirit.
It is a modification of the unmanifest,
beginningless Self
which has assumed the form of the ego and conducts
all activities
through the reflected light of consciousness. It
is the
conscious agent of activity and its attributes are
intelligence and
actions. It regards the body and senses as "I" and
their mode of life, duties, actions, and qualities
as "mine". It performs
good or evil actions as dictated by its
previous tendencies,
and as a result of these actions attains to higher
or lower
regions and wanders there until it is attracted to
rebirth in
some enticing womb. It experiences the states of
waking, dream,
and deep sleep and the pleasant and painful fruits
of its
actions. Within this sheath of knowledge, the Self
throbs as the
self-effulgent Light, the Supreme Soul,
homogeneous, the
Truth, all-pervasive, complete, immutable, the
Supreme Lord.
Yet the Self assumes limitations through the
false superimposition
of the intellect on it in this sheath,
because this
is close to it, and in fact the closest of its
adjuncts. As a result
it is deluded into thinking that it is this sheath.
Just as a pot
might seem to be different from its clay, so it
imagines itself
to be different from itself, to be the agent and
the enjoyer, and
seems to be limited in such ways, although it is
like the fire
in a ball of hot iron, unaffected by the shape of
the ball."
In answer to the Guru, the disciple says: "Master,
I accept your
statement that, whether through delusion or not,
the Supreme
Self has come to regard itself as the ego. But
since this
superimposition of the ego-concept is
beginningless, it cannot
be supposed to have an end either. How, then,
can there be
liberation? But if there is no liberation the
ego-concept becomes
Eternal and bondage also becomes Eternal.
Pray enlighten
me on this point."
To this the master replies: "That is a good
question, my learned
disciple. Now listen with one-pointed mind to
my explanation.
Whatever has been conjured up by delusion
must be
examined in the pure light of reason. Things appear
real as long
as the delusion lasts and perish as unreal and
non-existent as
soon as it passes, just like illusion of a serpent
seen in a piece
of rope and appearing real as long as the illusion
lasts. Really the Self is unattached, actionless,
characterless, immutable,
formless, being-consciousness-bliss
[sat-chit-ananda], the inner
Witness. It has no
sort of relationship with anything. To think
that it has is a
mere delusion like the appearance of blue in
the sky. The false
attitude of the ego to the Self is due to
the relationship
with the beginningless false vehicle, but even
this sense of
relationship is the result of delusion. Although
this attitude
of the ego to the Self is without a beginning,
that does not
make it real. Just as water becomes clear as soon
as the dirt
is removed from it, so is it with the Self when
the effects
of the ego and its false adjuncts are dropped from
it and
ignorance disappears through discrimination between
Self and
non-Self. Then appears the true self-effulgent
knowledge of
the oneness of God and Self.
"The discarding of the beginningless ignorance with
its cause and
effects and bodies and states, is like the ending
of the
beginningless non-existence, or the ending of a
dream when the
waking state supervenes. Liberation from the
bondage of the
false ego concept can never come about except
through knowledge
acquired by discrimination between the Self
and the
non-Self. Therefore you also must discriminate in
order to
remove the non-existent ego. Even this intellectual
sheath is subject
to change, insentient, a part of a whole, and an
object of
perception and therefore it cannot be the Atman.
Can the non-eternal
ever become Eternal?
"Coming now to the sheath of bliss: this is only
a modification
of ignorance on which the Supreme Self is
reflected. It
reveals itself at will in all three states,
waking, dreaming,
and deep sleep, and yields the different modes
of bliss from
perceiving, obtaining, and experiencing things.
It is
experienced effortlessly by all to some extent in
deep sleep, but
sadhus who have practised discrimination,
experience the bliss of it perpetually without
effort and its fullness in the deep
sleep state. However, even this sheath of bliss
cannot be the
Supreme Self, since it is subject to change and
possesses attributes.
It is the effect of past good deeds and a
modification of
prakriti and it abides in the other sheaths which
are themselves
also modifications. If, by the rejection of
false ideas,
all five sheaths are eliminated, the Self alone
is experienced
as "I-I". It alone remains, Whole and
Self-aware, distinct
from the five sheaths, the Witness of the three
states, self-effulgent,
immutable, untainted, everlasting bliss. It
is like
Devadatta [random name taken simply as an
illustration] who neither is the pot nor
partakes of its nature but is only the witness. The
Self is not the five sheaths, which are objects,
nor does It partake of their nature, but is a mere
Witness of them."
To this the disciple replies: "O master, after
rejecting the five sheaths as unreal, I find
nothing remaining except the Void, so what is there
to be known as "I-I", as the Truth of the
Self?"
The Guru replies: "O learned one, you are skilful
in discrimination and have spoken the Truth. The
rule of enquiry or perception is: "That which is
perceived by something else has the latter for its
witness. When there is no agent of perception there
can be no question of the thing having been
perceived at all." Accordingly, the Self, as
Awareness, cognises not only itself but also the
existence of the ego with its various modifications
of the transient names and forms and their
nescience. Therefore it is the Self which is their
Witness. Beyond It there is nothing to know. It is
aware of Itself through Its
own effulgence and so is Its own Witness. It is
single and immutable
in the waking, dream, and deep sleep states.
It makes
Itself known as being-consciousness-bliss and is
self-effulgent in the Heart as "I-I". Through your
keen intellect, know
this Eternal blissful Awareness to be the Self or
"I". The fool
takes the reflection of the sun in the water of a
pot to be the
sun; the wise man eliminates pot, water, and
reflection and
knows the sun in the sky as it really is, single
and unaffected,
but illuminating all three. In the same way
the fool,
through error and misperception, identifies himself
with the ego
and its reflected light experienced through the
medium of the
intellect. The wise and discriminating man
eliminates body,
intellect, and reflected light of consciousness,
and probes deeply
into his real Self which illuminates all three,
while remaining
uniform in the ether of the Heart. Thereby
he realises
the Eternal Witness which is Absolute
knowledge, illuminating
all. It is subtle and all-pervasive, neither
being nor
non-being, with neither inside nor outside, and
is self-effulgent.
Realising this, he is set free from the
impurities of
the ego. He has no more birth or death. He is free
from sorrow
and becomes the immutable essence of
established bliss.
The jnani who, through experience, has realised
his Self to
be the Brahman as it really is, as Truth, knowledge
[jnana], endless
bliss, the single essence, Eternal, boundless,
pure, unattached,
and indivisible, not only does not return to
bondage but
is that Brahman Itself, the Advaita. That is to say
that knowledge
of the identity of Brahman and Self is the
prime cause
of release from bondage. For him who aspires
after liberation
there is no other way of release from bondage
but knowledge
of the identity of Brahman and Self.
Therefore you
too, by your own experience, know your Self as
always "I am
Brahman", "Brahman am I", "Brahman alone am I".
"Since there is nothing other than Brahman, it is
the Supreme
Advaita. The pot which is made of clay, has no
other form
than that of the clay. No one can show the pot
except by means
of the clay. The pot is only a delusion of the
imagination and exists only in name, since it has
no other reality than that of
the clay. Similarly the whole universe is a
superimposition [of
form] on the Brahman although it seems to be
separate from
it. The substratum of Brahman appears through
the delusion
of the superimposition. The latter is really
non-existent, like
the serpent seen in the rope. The manifest
is only an
illusion. The silver seen in the substratum of
the mother-of-pearl
has no existence apart from it but is the
mother-of-pearl
itself. Similarly, manifestation has no
existence apart from
its substratum of Brahman. Whatever,
O sadhu, appears to
the deluded as the manifested world of
names and forms, on
account of their ignorance and wrong
knowledge, whatever
objectivity appears as real, all this, when
truly realised as it
is, is the effect of Brahman, and is
superimposed on the
substratum of Brahman. Only owing to
delusion it appears
to be real and it is Brahman, its
substratum, which
appears to be superimposed on it. Really all these
names and
forms are nothing at all. They are a myth pure and
simple and
have no existence apart from their substratum of
Brahman. They
are nothing but the being-consciousness-bliss
which neither
rises nor sets. If it were contended that the
manifested world
has any existence apart from Brahman, that
would impair
the infinity of Brahman. It would also contradict
the authority
of the Atharva Veda which declares in
unequivocal terms,
"All this world is indeed Brahman". It would also
make out the
omniscient Lord as having uttered a falsehood
when He said:
"All these elements are not in Me. I, the
indivisible Whole,
am not in them." The mahatmas, who are true
sadhus, would
not countenance these contradictions. Furthermore,
the outer
world does not exist in the state of deep sleep,
and, if investigated,
it is seen to be unreal, like the dream
world. Therefore
any such statement made by fools as that the
manifested world has
its own existence apart from its substratum of
Brahman, is as false as the idle words of a
man talking
in his sleep. It is Brahman Itself which
shines everywhere,
uniform and complete. This Truth the
enlightened [jnanis]
know as the One without a second, formless,
inactive, unmanifest,
never to be destroyed, having no beginning
or end. It is
Truth, absolute purity, the essence of pure bliss.
It contains
none of the internal differences which are the
creation of
maya. It is Eternal, continuous, immaculately pure,
spotless, nameless,
undifferentiated, self-effulgent, beyond the
triads of
knower-knowledge-known, absolute, pure,
unbroken consciousness,
ever-shining.
"My beloved disciple, this Self can neither be held
nor given up.
It is beyond perception and utterance. It is
immeasurable without
beginning or end. This infinity of
Brahman is my Self
and yours and that of other individuals.
Great texts such as
"That thou art" reveal the identity between
the Brahman known as
"That" and the individual known as
"thou". The identity
is not shown by the literal meaning of
"That" and "thou".
The literal meaning of "That" is Ishwara's
maya which is the
cause of the universe, and the literal
meaning of
"thou" is the five sheaths of the ego. These are
non-existent superimpositions,
the cause and effect of non-existent
phantoms. Their
qualities are opposite to each other, like
the sun and
the glowworm, the king and the slave, the ocean
and the well,
Mount Meru and the atom. There can be no
identity between
Brahman and the individual in the literal sense
of "That" and
"thou", and it is not in this way that the
scriptures postulate
the identity.
[The science of the secondary meaning of words
is called lakshana
and is of three kinds. The first is called
jahat-ajahat-lakshana.
In the first, the primary sense of a term
is rejected and the
secondary retained; in the second, the primary
sense is retained and the secondary rejected; in
the third,
the primary sense is only partly rejected and
partly retained.]
[This passage in brackets is inserted by the
editor.] Of these three, we can omit the first
two as being of
no use for our purpose and take the third.
According to this,
in a text such as "He is that Devadatta" we
eliminate the contradictory
aspects of Devadatta manifested at different
places and times,
and concentrate on the identity of Devadatta
himself irrespective
of place and time. Similarly, in the text
in question, we
eliminate the non-existent, objective,
contradictory
attributes of "That" and "thou" as "not this,
not this"
[am I]. You can do this on the authority of
the Vedas which
reject the duality superimposed on Brahman, and
also by your
own intelligence. If attributes such as a shield
for a royal
person and a badge of ownership for a slave are
removed, both
alike belong to the genus man. Similarly the text
[about "That"
and "thou"] declares the natural identity
between Ishwara and
the individual in their residuary aspect of
consciousness apart
from the forms of Ishwara and individual. There is
no contradiction
in this, since consciousness is the
unbroken, single
essence of both. Through the touch of the
mahatmas, know
this blessed identity of Brahman and Self by
rejecting as
"not I" the non-existent body. Know by your own
clear intellect
that Brahman is your Self, self-existent, subtle
as the ether,
ever-radiant, True, Awareness, bliss,
indivisible and
Whole.
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"Truly, "Thou art
That", the Self that is non-dual Brahman, pure and
exquisitely serene, the Truth apart from which
nothing is. This is so because, even in this waking
state, the world and the body with its sense and
the ego which, owing to ignorance, seems to be
separate from the Self, and the life breath are
pure myth. "Thou art That" because in the dream
state, time, space and objects and the knower of
them are all created
by sleep and are purely illusory. "Thou art
That" because
this whole world emanates from Brahman,
which alone
IS, and is Brahman itself, just as pots come from
clay and are
clay itself and indeed are made of clay. That
Brahman is
untouched by the sixfold changes of birth, youth,
growth, old
age, decay, and death. It has no caste or custom,
tribe or family,
name or form. It is without attributes. It has
neither merit
nor demerit, neither mental nor physical
afflictions. It is
free from the six evils of hunger, thirst, sorrow,
delusion, old
age and death. It has no time, space or
objectivity. It cannot be
described by words. The gross mind cannot reach it.
It can be
comprehended only by the eye of wisdom and
experienced in
the Heart of the yogi, in his very being, not by
the use of any
organ. It is the substratum of the illusory world
that seems to
be superimposed on it. It is the cause of the
emanation, preservation,
and reabsorption of the world. It is the
supreme cause,
which itself has no cause; all the worlds of name
and form are
its effects, and yet it is distinct from cause and
effect. It is
distinct from being and non-being. Although, owing
to delusion,
it appears like gold in its varying aspects of
name and form
and its modifications, yet it has no name or
form, no
attributes or modifications. It contains no
disequilibrium. It
is still, like a waveless ocean. It is Eternal,
formless, spotless, incomparable,
ever free, indestructible, pure, without
beginning. It is
that beyond which there is nothing. It is
complete, not
compounded of elements or of parts. It is
being-consciousness-bliss,
uniform, indivisible bliss. It is
single in essence.
That Brahman which is all this, "That thou
art". Meditate on
the Truth [of this] in your Heart
continuously, without
break, calmly, with reason and keen intellect.
Thus you will
obtain essential knowledge free from doubt, as
clear as
water in the palm of the hand. Knowledge in the
body with its faculties is like a king in the midst
of his vast army, and that
knowledge is the Self and is Brahman. Know this
by discrimination.
Regard all other separate things as This
Itself and
remain ever as this Self. Thus remaining, you will
attain bliss
and peace of Being.
"In the cavity of the intellect is the single Truth
of Brahman, distinct from being and non-being. He
who remains eternally as that Truth Itself is never
drawn back again to birth in the body.
"Although a man knows this to be true, the feeling
of "I am the
doer", "I am the enjoyer" arises strongly in him
owing to the
bondage [samsara] caused by the mighty,
beginningless vasanas
[innate tendencies] which often obstruct
him. Curb these
tendencies the moment they arise, by your own
efforts, by
abiding firmly in the Self, by a vision of the
Self. Sages such
as Vasishta have declared that the withering of the
vasanas is
indeed liberation. Realisation of the Self as it is
does not come
through tendencies to worldly or sense activity
or through
prolonged study of the scriptures. To those who
seek deliverance
from the prison or ocean of samsara, the
above threefold
tendencies are iron fetters, say those who
are realised.
Therefore attachment to the world, the
scriptures, and
the body must be given up and it must be fully
realised that
the body is sustained by the force of prarabdha
[past karma].
You should, therefore, courageously renounce
these attachments
and strive energetically to overcome tamas
by the power
of sattva and rajas, then rajas through mixed
sattva, then
mixed sattva through pure sattva. You should do
this with a
firm and calm mind, helped by the great texts such
as "That thou
art" which proclaim the identity between the
individual self and
Brahman. Seek by reasoning and experience
to get rid of the vasanas, so that you may have
firm faith in Brahman and completely root out from
the body and
senses, the feeling of "I" and "mine" which
constantly appears
as a result of the superimposition. This is to be
done by firm
abidance in the one indivisible Self in the Heart
and by
meditating on the unceasing experience of knowledge
of the unity
of Brahman and Self thus: "I am not the ego. I
am the
unceasing perfection of Brahman experienced as I,
the Witness
of thought forms." This meditation must be
persisted in
until the ego sense is completely rooted out from
the body without
a vestige, and the world of individuals appears
like a dream.
He who meditates has no work to do except beg
and perform
his natural functions. He must never forget the
Self by
giving room for worldly speech and sense
objects. Sandalwood
is fragrant by nature, but its fragrance is
masked by a
bad smell when it comes into contact with water and
is revealed
when it is rubbed. Constant practice of meditation
is this
rubbing. The latent tendencies of the mind are
removed, only
to the extent to which it abides in the Self. It is
by such constant
abidance in the Self that the mind of the yogi
is destroyed.
And by the destruction of the mind the outer
non-self tendencies
of the Heart are utterly eradicated. Then
the experience of
the Supreme Self, which was formerly veiled
by the magic of the
vasanas, shines forth of its own accord
like the fragrance
of uncontaminated sandal-paste.
"In whatever way it may be examined, the ego with
all its faculties
turns out to be unreal, a momentary limitation,
inert, insentient
and incapable of realising the One. The
Supreme Self
is different from both gross and subtle bodies. It
is the Witness
of the ego with its faculties and exists always,
even in deep
sleep. The texts say: "It is birthless and
deathless." It is immutable
and distinct alike from being and non-being.
The ego can
never be the real Self, the true meaning of "I".
Keep aloof
from this impure body as you would from an outcast.
Give up the sense of "I" in the gross body and all
attachment due
to the mind, attachments to name and form, tribe
and family,
caste and social order. Give up also the attachment
to the subtle
body and its nature and sense of being the
doer. Find
the feeling of "I" in the Self, which is Truth,
knowledge, and
Eternity. Just as the air in a pot is part of the
air outside, so conceive
of the Self as that self-effulgent Brahman which
is the
substratum of all, in which the world is seen
reflected like a
city in a mirror or like shadows cast. Think of
yourself as "That
I am", without parts, without form, without
activity, without
duality, unending, being-consciousness-bliss.
Know the Self
as it really is. Give up this false physical self
just as an
actor gives up his role and remains himself. By
knowledge acquired
through Self-enquiry discard both microcosm
and macrocosm
as unreal and, abiding in the unbroken
stillness, remain
ever at rest in the perfect bliss as unqualified
Brahman. Thus
obtain Supreme peace, which is the purpose of
life.
"Though various obstacles contribute to the bondage
of the soul,
the primary cause of them all is the rising of
the false
ego-sense. It is through the superimposition of the
ego on the
Self that this bondage of birth, death and sorrow
has come upon
you who are by nature
being-consciousness-bliss, of
boundless glory, Eternal, single in essence,
unchanging. By
nature you have no such bondage. Just as there can
be no sound
health so long as the effect of a little poison in
the body continues,
so there can be no liberation so long as
identification with
the ego continues. Knowledge of the identity of the
self with
Brahman is clearly revealed as soon as the ego
is completely
destroyed without residue, together with the
illusion of
multiplicity caused by the veiling of tamas.
Therefore, by
investigation into the nature of the
unattached Self,
discover the Truth of your own Self, complete,
perfect, self-effulgent
and ever-blissful. He who is freed from the ego
shines eternally as the Self, like the full moon,
radiant when delivered
from the dragon's head [of eclipse]. In the
field of the
Heart the terrible cobra of the ego is coiled round
the bliss of
the Self to which it denies access with the
threefold hood
of the gunas. These three fearful heads of the
serpent of ego
are to be severed, in accordance with the
scriptures, only by
great courage with the mighty sword of actual
experience of
the Self. He who has thus destroyed the
three-hooded serpent
can obtain and enjoy the vast treasure of the bliss
of Brahman.
Therefore you, too, give up the "I"-sense in the
ego, which
appears like being and assumes that it is the
doer, whereas
it is only the reflected light of the Self. Turn
inwards all
the thought-forms that adhere to the ego. He is an
enemy of
yours, so kill him with the sword of knowledge. He
has been
harming you like a thorn in your throat while
eating. Give
up all desires in order to realise your state as
the Supreme Self.
Enjoy the kingdom of the Self, be perfect, be still
in the stillness
of the immutable state of Brahman.
"The ego may in this way be killed, but if thought
is given to
it even for a moment it revives and engages in
activity, driving
a man before it as the wind drives winter
clouds. Remember
that he who associates the "I"-sense with the
body and its
faculties is bound while he who does not is
liberated.
"Thoughts of sense objects create a sense of
differentiation and
thereby cause the bondage of birth and death.
Therefore no
quarter should be given to the ego, who is the
enemy who has
such thoughts. Just as a withered lime tree puts
out new leaves
if watered, so the ego revives through thoughts of
sense objects.
The increase of effects makes their seed or
cause flourish,
while the decay of effects destroys their cause
also; therefore
you should first destroy the effects. If
thoughts, which
are the effect, flourish, the ego with its
tendencies, which is the cause, also flourishes.
From thoughts, outer activities
arise, and from these two together the
tendencies develop
and create the bondage to which souls are subject.
In order to
escape from this, thoughts, activity, and
tendencies must
all three be abolished. The best way of doing this
is to hold
firmly to the view that, "All this that appears as
separate names
and forms is Brahman Itself." This view must be
held to at
all times and places and in all states. Firm
holding to this attitude
reduces activity, and this results in a decline
of thoughts,
which in turn destroys the latent
tendencies. Destruction
of the latent tendencies is indeed
deliverance. Therefore
develop this helpful tendency to regard
everything as
Brahman. The result will be that the frail
tendencies of the ego
will disappear like darkness before the sun. Just
as darkness
with all its dismal effects disappears before the
rising sun,
so bondage with all its sorrows will pass away
without a trace
when the sun of advaitic experience rises.
Therefore regard
all objective manifestation as Brahman and hold
firm in a
state of peace [samadhi] and inner and
outer beatitude [nischala
bhava] as long as the bondage due to your
past destiny
[karma] lasts. While doing so, always
remember: "That immovable
bliss of Brahman itself am I."
"This abidance as Brahman must never be relaxed,
for if it is,
a false notion of Truth will result which is indeed
death, as says
Bhagavan Sri Sanatsujata, the son of Brahma. Such
a false
notion of Truth due to swerving from the state of
abidance in
Truth introduces delusion; from delusion arises
the attribution
of "I" to the ego and its objects, from this
bondage, and
from bondage sorrow. Therefore there is no
greater misfortune
for the enlightened than wrong understanding
and swerving
from Reality. Just as water plants, though
removed from
a pool of water, do not stay at the side but cover
it over again,
so if a man is exteriorised, even though he may be
enlightened, if maya [illusion] once begins
to shroud him he will
be swayed in numerous ways by the false intellect.
This is due
to his lapse from watchfulness, his forgetting of
his true
state, his going out towards sense objects. He is
like a man
swayed and dominated by a lewd woman, of whom he
is enamoured.
If, through wrong understanding and swerving
from Reality, a
man's consciousness slips even the least bit
from the target of
his own Self, it will enter into outer
things and
leap from one to another as a ball slips from your
hand and
rolls down a flight of stairs. It will begin to
consider outer experiences
good for it and thence will arise the desire
to enjoy
them. That will lead to participation in them,
which in turn
will destroy his abidance in the Self, with the
result that he
will sink into depths from which he can never more
arise and
will be destroyed. Therefore there is no greater
danger in Brahman-consciousness than wrong
understanding, which means swerving from one's true
state. Only he who has the Eternal state of
consciousness [nishta] obtains realisation
[siddhi] and so renounces the manifestation
[sankalpa] born of pramada [wrong
understanding] and of relaxation from practice.
Such wrong understanding is the cause of all
spiritual decline [anartha]. Therefore be
the swarupa nishta who abides ever in the Self.
"He who has attained liberation in the state of
Brahman while still alive will shine so in his
bodiless state also. It says in the Yajur
Veda: "He who has even the slightest sense of
differentiation is always afraid!" He who sees any
attributes of differentiation, however small, in
the absolute Brahman, will for that reason remain
in a state of terror. He who locates the "I"-sense
in the insentient body and its objects, so despised
by the various scriptures and their commentaries,
will experience sorrow after sorrow like the sinner
who commits unlawful acts. We can see from the
discrimination between thieves and honest men that
he who is devoted to truth escapes misfortune and
achieves success, while he who is devoted to
falsehood perishes. [This refers to trial by
ordeal, placing a hot iron in the hand of a
suspected thief, who is burnt if guilty but not if
innocent.] We also see that shutting out
external objects gives the mind a clear perception
of the Self, which in turn results in the
destruction of the bondage of samsara. Therefore
the abandonment of all objective reality is the way
to deliverance. If a man discriminates between
Truth and non-truth in quest of liberation and
discovers the Truth of the Supreme Lord through the
authority of the scriptures, will he then, like a
child, run after nonexistent chimera, knowing them
to be the cause of his destruction? None would do
so. Therefore he who discriminates must also
renounce and cease to seek after externals which
feed those lower tendencies that cause bondage. He
should erase all sorrows due to ignorance by the
experience "I am that Supreme Brahman alone, which
is being-consciousness-bliss" and should abide ever
in his true state, which is bliss. One who is in
the waking state is not dreaming and one who is in
the dream state is not awake; the two are mutually
exclusive. Similarly, one who is not attached to
the body has deliverance and one who is has
not.
"A liberated being is one who sees himself as
single and the Witness both within and without the
world of things moving and unmoving, as the
substratum of all. By his Universal consciousness
experienced through the subtle mind, he has removed
all the vehicles and he remains as the Absolute
Whole. Only such a one is liberated, and he has no
attachment to the body. There is no other means of
liberation than this blessed realisation that "All
is one Self". And this "All is One" attitude is to
be obtained by perpetual abidance in the Self and
rejection of objects without attachment to them.
How can a man reject objective reality if he has
the "I am the body" idea and is attached to outer
things and always performing actions dictated by
them? It is impossible. Therefore renounce all
actions based on karma and dharma and, with
knowledge of the tattva, abide permanently in the
Self. Prepare your mind for immersion in perpetual
bliss. This effort will enable you to reject
objective reality. It is in order to obtain this
sarvatma bhava [attitude that all is the
Self] that the scriptural text "Shanto dantha"
[calm and self-controlled] prescribes
Nirvikalpa samadhi [ecstatic trance] for
those seekers who have taken a vow of Chandrayana
[regulation of the increase and decrease of
food intake through two successive fortnights]
and have also performed sravana [hearing of the
text "That thou art"]. A scholar who has not
had a firm experience of Nirvikalpa samadhi,
however learned he may be, will not be capable of
destroying the ego and its objective reality
together with all the accumulated tendencies of his
previous births.
"It is the projecting power of maya together with
its veiling power which unites the soul with the
ego, the cause of delusion, and, through its
qualities, keeps a man vainly dangling like a
ghost. If the veiling power is destroyed the Self
will shine of Itself, and there will be no room
either for doubt or obstruction. Then the
projecting power also will vanish, or even if it
persists, its persistence will only be apparent.
But the projecting power cannot disappear unless
the veiling power does. Only when the subject is
perfectly distinguished from objects, like milk
from water, will the veiling power be
destroyed.
"Pure discrimination born of perfect knowledge
distinguishes the subject from the object and
destroys the delusion due to ignorance. The man of
discrimination distinguishes the Real from the
unreal, reasoning as follows: "Like iron combining
with fire, the intellect combines with ignorance to
obtain a fictitious unity with the Self which
is Being, and
projects itself as the world of seer, sight, and
seen. Therefore
all these appearances are false, like a
delusion, dream
or imagination. All sense objects from the ego down
to the body
are also unreal, being modifications of
prakriti, subject
to change from moment to moment. Only the
Self never
changes. The Self, distinct from the body, distinct
from being
and non-being, the Witness of the intellect and
the meaning
implied by the "I"-sense, single, Eternal,
indivisible, is
indeed the Supreme Self of Eternal bliss
incarnate."
"In this way he discriminates between Truth and
untruth and,
in doing so, discovers the true Self. With the eye
of illumination,
he obtains actual realisation of the Self
and experiences
this "I" as the indivisible knowledge of
absolute Brahman.
Thereby he destroys the veiling power and the
false knowledge
and other sorrows that have been created by
the projecting
power, just as the fear of a snake falls away
as soon as
one perceives the reality of the rope [that one
took to be a
snake]. Being freed from these ills, he obtains
abidance in a
state of perfect peace. Thus, only when one
obtains realisation
of the supreme identity through Nirvikalpa
samadhi will
ignorance be destroyed without vestige and the knot
of the Heart
loosed. How can there be any seed of samsara
still remaining
in the liberated soul who has realised the
Supreme identity
with the utter destruction of the forest of
ignorance by
the fire of knowledge of oneness of Self and
Brahman? He
has no more samsara, no more rebirth and death.
Therefore the
discriminating soul must know the Atma tattva in
order to be
freed from the bondage of samsara.
"All forms of creation and imagination appearing as
you, I, this,
etc., are a result of the impurity of the
intellect. They seem to exist in the absolute,
attributeless Supreme Self, but in
the state of absorption [samadhi] and
experience of Brahman
they cease to exist. Also the Self seems to be
divisible owing
to differences in the vehicles, but if these are
removed it
shines single and complete. Perpetual concentration
is necessary
in order to dissolve these differentiations in
the Absolute.
The wasp's grub that renounces all activity
and meditates
constantly upon the wasp becomes a wasp, and
in the same
way the soul that longs for Brahman with
one-pointed meditation
becomes the Supreme Self through the power
of its
meditation and perpetual abidance in Brahman, in
the absolute
stillness. So persevere constantly in meditation
on Brahman,
and as a result the mind will be cleansed of
the stain of
the three gunas until it becomes perfectly pure
and resumes
its state, when it is ripe for dissolution in
Brahman like
salt in water. It is like gold being cleansed of
its alloy and returning
to the purity of its true state through being put
in a furnace.
Only in such purity of mind can Nirvikalpa
samadhi be
obtained, and therewith the essential bliss of
identity. Through
this samadhi all the knots of the vasanas are
loosened and
all past karmas destroyed so that the Light of the
Self is experienced
without effort, inwardly and outwardly, and
at all places
and times. Thus the subtle Brahman is
experienced in
the single and subtle mental mode of samadhi by
those of subtle
intellect, and in no other way, by no gross
outlook, can it
be experienced. Similarly the sage who has inner
and outer senses
controlled, in Solitude and equanimity,
obtains experience
of the all-pervading Self through perpetual
concentration and
thus, getting rid of all mental creations
caused by the
darkness of ignorance, becomes actionless
and without
attributes and remains eternally in the bliss
of Brahman
Himself. Only he is liberated from the
bondage of
samsara who, having obtained Nirvikalpa samadhi,
perceives the mind, senses, and objects, the ears
and sound, etc.,
to inhere in the Self, and not he who speaks only
from theoretical
wisdom. Brahman can be clearly experienced
without any barrier
only through Nirvikalpa samadhi, for apart
from that the mental
mode always fluctuates, leading from
one thought to
another. Therefore control the senses and
mind and
abide firmly in the Self. Utterly destroy the
darkness of ignorance
and its cause through experience of the one
Self and
abide ever as the Self. Reflection on Truth heard
is a hundred
times more potent than hearing It, and abiding in
It is a
hundred thousand times more potent than reflection
on It. What
limit, then, can there be to the potency obtained
through Nirvikalpa
samadhi?
"Restraint of speech, not accepting anything from
others, conquest
of desire, renunciation of action, continence,
and solitude
are all aids in the early stages of this Samadhi
Yoga. Solitude
helps to quieten the senses, and thereby the
mind also.
Stillness of mind destroys the tendencies and
thereby gives
perpetual experience of the essential bliss of
Brahman. Therefore
the yogi must always exert himself to restrain
the mind. The
breathing must subside into the mind, the
mind into the
intellect, the intellect into the Witness, and by
knowing the
Witness as the fullness of the unqualified Supreme
Self perfect
peace is obtained.
"He who meditates becomes that aspect of his being
to which the
consciousness is drawn; if to the body, he becomes
body, if to
the senses he becomes senses, if to the
life-breath, he becomes that,
if to the mind or intellect, he becomes mind or
intellect. Therefore,
rejecting all these, the consciousness should
subside and
obtain peace in Brahman, which is Eternal
bliss.
"He who, through desire for liberation, has
attained perfect freedom
from desires is able to abide in the Self and get
rid of all attachments, inner as well as outer, and
he alone achieves inner
and outer renunciation. Moreover, it is only he who
is without
desires, who has perfect non-attachment and so
obtains samadhi
and through samadhi the certainty that he has
won to tattva
jnana, which brings liberation. He who has
attained liberation
has attained Eternal bliss. Therefore complete
nonattachment is
the only path for him who aspires to the bliss
of union with
the bride of liberation. Non-attachment
combined with
Self-knowledge wins the kingdom of
deliverance. Non-attachment
and knowledge are like the wings of a bird
needed for ascending
the mount of deliverance, and if either
of them is lacking
it cannot be attained. Therefore renounce
the desire for
things, which is like poison; give up
attachment to
caste, group, social position, and destiny, cease
to locate the
"I"-sense in the body; be ever centred upon the
Self; for in truth
you are the Witness, the stainless Brahman.
"The Self in the form of Brahman, Witness of all
finite beings,
self-effulgent, shines eternally as "I-I" in the
sheath of vijnana,
distinct from the five sheaths. Being experienced
as "I", it
shines as the true form of the Self, the direct
experience of
the great texts. Fix your Heart constantly on this
Brahman, which
is the goal. Let the senses remain in their
centres, keep the
body steady by remaining indifferent to it; and
practise the
meditation "I am Brahman, Brahman am I", allowing
no other
thoughts to come in. Gradually still the mind by
practice of
the unbroken flow of beatitude. Realise the
identity of Self and
Brahman and drink the nectar of Brahman bliss in
Eternal joy.
What use are base thoughts of body and world, which
are non-Self?
Give up these non-Self thoughts, which are the
cause of all
sorrow. Hold firm to the Self, the seat of bliss,
as "I" and no
longer ascribe the "I"-sense to the ego and its
attributes. Be
absolutely indifferent to them and meditate
perpetually on
the Self, which is the cause of liberation.
"A pot, a huge earthen jar for storing grain, and a
needle are
all separate things, but when they are cast away
there remains
only the single expanse of ether. Something which
is falsely
imagined to exist on the substratum of something
else has no
reality apart from the real thing, just as a snake
imagined in a
piece of rope has not. Wave, foam, bubble, and
whirlpool if
examined are all found to be simply water. Pots of
various sizes
and shapes are nothing other than clay, and in fact
are clay.
Similarly, you should reject the limitations of
body, senses,
life-breath, mind, and ego, which are merely
illusory. Only
fools perceive and speak of "I", "you", "it" and so
forth out of
delusion and folly, being drunk with the wine of
illusion [maya].
Even their perception of multiplicity is contained
in being-consciousness-bliss,
in the perfect purity of Self which,
as Brahman, shines
as one indivisible whole, like the vast
ether. All
superimpositions such as body and ego-sense,
from Brahman
down to a boulder, which are perceived as the
world, are
really nothing other than the one Self. They are
merely the
display of prakriti and the Self as pure Being. The
one Supreme
Self, unbroken and homogeneous, exists as east,
west, south
and north, inner and outer, up and down,
everywhere. He
himself is Brahma; He himself is Vishnu, Shiva,
Indra, gods and
men, and everything. What more is there to
say? Everything
from [the threefold appearance of] personal
God, individual
being, and world down to the minutest atom
is merely a
form of Brahman. In order to remove the
superimposition of
mithya [the false], the scriptures
declare "There
is no duality at all" [Brahman is one without a
second]; therefore
you yourself are the non-dual Brahman,
spotless like
the ether, without inner or outer, without
attributes, changeless,
timeless, without dimensions or parts. What
else is there
to know? The scriptures declare: "So long as
the individual
regards the corpse of his body as "I" he is impure
and subject to various ills such as birth, death
and sickness. Remove
all objective reality superimposed on the Self
by illusion
and know yourself as pure, immutable Shiva; then
you will become liberated, the Brahman which is
without action and is indivisible Perfection." The
enlightened who have attained Supreme knowledge
shine as being- consciousness-bliss, homogeneous
Brahman, having utterly renounced objective
reality. Therefore you too, reject your
gross, impure body
and the subtle body that wavers like the
wind and the
"I"-sense in them and regard yourself as
being-consciousness-bliss,
as declared by Vedanta, and thus
remain forever as
the very Brahman.
"The scriptures declare that: "Duality is of the
nature of illusion
[maya] and only non-duality is the Supreme
Truth." It is
our experience that the diversity created by
the consciousness
ceases to exist in deep sleep in which the
consciousness is
absorbed in bliss. Those who are wise and
discriminating know
that the proverbial serpent has no
existence apart from
the substratum of the rope, nor the water
of a mirage apart
from the barren ground. It is our experience
that when the
mentality assumes the nature of the Self and
becomes one with the
attributeless Supreme Self, mental
manifestation
ceases. All these magical creations which
the illusion
of the mind sets forth as the universe are found
to have no
real existence and become untrue when the
Truth behind
them is realised as Brahman itself. In the
non-dual Brahman
the threefold reality of seer, sight, and seen
does not
exist. It is the substratum into which ignorance,
the root cause
of the illusion of multiplicity, is absorbed, like
darkness into
light. Like oceans that endure to the end of the
cycle of time,
the Truth of Brahman remains single, complete,
absolute purity,
inactive, unqualified, changeless, formless.
Where, then,
can be talk of duality or diversity in the
homogeneity of Brahman? When in a state of samadhi,
the enlightened jnani experiences
in the Heart as "I-I" the homogeneous
completeness of that
Brahman which is Eternal, the bliss of
knowledge
incomparable, unattached, formless,
inactive, unqualified,
immutable, characterless, nameless, and free
from bondage.
It is still, like the ether – and yet nothing
can be compared
to it. It has no cause and is not an effect. It is
beyond imagining.
It is to be achieved only through realisation on
the authority
of the Vedanta. The Truth of It abides in the
Heart and is
experienced constantly as I. It is free from birth,
old age, and
death. In itself it is Eternal. It is Eternal,
tranquil, and undifferentiated;
it is vast and still like a calm ocean
without a
shore. In order not to fall back into samsara,
practise Nirvikalpa
samadhi by concentration on Brahman, which
is experienced
in the Heart as our own radiant Self, free
from all
limitations and as being-consciousness-bliss. This
will destroy
the individual consciousness which is the cause of
all error,
and thus you can unravel the knot of the Heart
which causes
the ills of birth and death. Thus will you obtain
the glory of
unbroken bliss, being Self-realised, and by doing
so achieve
the purpose of human life, a boon so rare to
obtain.
"The Self-realised yogi, knowing his true nature,
the great mahatma,
shows his wisdom by rejecting his body,
regarding it
as a corpse, as the mere shadow of his being,
existing only owing
to past destiny. Such a great mahatma knows
himself to be
the unbroken bliss of the Self. He has utterly
consumed the
body and its attributes in the fire of Brahman,
which is Eternal,
immutable Truth. Having thus consumed his
body and
remaining with his consciousness ever immersed in
the ocean of
bliss which is Brahman, he himself is
Eternal knowledge
and bliss. How then should he care to nourish
or sustain
his body or be attached to it, feeding as he does
on the Eternal
nectar of Brahman, inwardly and outwardly? Just as
the cow does not care about the garland round its
neck, so too he
does not care whether the body, bound by the
strings of past
karma, lives or dies. So you too reject this inert,
impure body
and realise the pure and Eternal Self of wisdom.
Give no more
thought to the body. Who would care to take
back what he
has once vomited?
"Knowledge of a mirage keeps one away from it,
and ignorance
that it is a mirage leads one to seek it.
Similarly, knowledge
leads to the path of release and ignorance leads
to worldly
pursuits. The achievement of Self-knowledge or
Self-realisation frees
a man from the ills arising from error and
brings him Eternal
contentedness and unequalled bliss eternally
experienced;
ignorance, on the other hand, pushes him
into objective
experience of error and misery. How then
should the
wise man, who has severed the knot of the Heart
with the sword
of wisdom, continue to perform the various vain
actions which
occupied him during the time of his delusion?
What cause
could induce him to activity?
"Knowledge leads to non-attachment; Solitude
and abandonment
of home lead to knowledge; the bliss of
Self-experience and
tranquillity results from cessation of
activity. If
these results are not obtained step by step, the
previous steps
become invalid. The perfection of non-attachment is
when previous tendencies to seek enjoyment no
longer arise. The perfection of knowledge is when
the "I"-sense no longer pertains to the body. The
perfection of solitude is when thoughts subside
through perpetual striving and, dissolving in
Brahman, no longer turn outwards.
"Do not differentiate between Self and Brahman or
between world
and Brahman. On the authority of the Vedas
realise "I am Brahman". Attain the pure beatitude
of oneness and establish the pure consciousness
immovably in Brahman so that you become dissolved
in Brahman. Being ever Brahman, renounce
objective reality and let your enjoyments be
witnessed or known
by others, like the state of sleeping
children. Renounce
activity and, with the purity of primal
Being, abide in
Eternal enjoyment of pure bliss. Although
your mind is
dissolved and you are like one forgetful of
the world,
remain ever awake, and yet like one who is not
awake. Remain
indifferent to the body and senses and outer
things that
follow you like a shadow. Be one who discriminates,
free from the
stain of samsara and from tendencies and
sense objects.
Retain consciousness without thought. Retain
form, though
formless. Have no likes and dislikes in what
is experienced
at the moment and no thought of what may
happen in the
future. Give up all thought of inner and outer
and concentrate
permanently on the blissful experience of
Brahman. Through the
power of knowledge maintain perfect
equanimity in the
face of all opposites such as vice and
virtue, likes
and dislikes, or praise and blame whether by sadhus
or by the
wicked. The dedicated sage is like a river emptied
into the
ocean, untouched by the attack of sense objects,
absorbed in
the Self, and it is only such a one who attains
realisation while
still in the body. He alone is worshipful and reaps
the reward of
worthy actions. All his innate tendencies have
been destroyed
by his knowledge of identity with Brahman and
no renewal of
samsara can be ascribed to him. Just as even
the most
lustful person never thinks of enjoying his own
mother, so
the sage who experiences the perfection of Brahman
never turns
back to samsara. If he does, then he is not a sage
who has known
Brahman but only an outward-turning fool.
"Identity with Brahman is the fire of knowledge
which burns up
sanchita karma [destiny stored up for future
lives] and agami karma
[destiny being created in this life].
Sanchita karma is destroyed
because it can no longer cause birth in higher or
lower worlds once the sage has awakened from the
illusion of activity in
which he harvested merit and demerit through
countless ages. And
agami karma can no longer affect him because he
knows himself
to be established as the Supreme Brahman,
indifferent as
the ether to the effects of karma. There is ether
in a pot containing
alcohol, but is it affected by the smell of the
alcohol? Not
at all. Having spoken of the sanchita and agami
karmas of the
sage, it now remains to explain how his prarabdha
karma [that
part of past karma which is to be experienced in
this life] is also
a myth. Although ever absorbed in his true state,
he is sometimes
seen to experience the fruits of his past actions
or to take
part in outer activity; so people say that he is
not free from karma
since he must reap the good and bad effects of past
action. Does
not the rule that there is fruit of past action
where there is destiny
and no fruit where there is no destiny apply to the
sage also?
They argue: if one shoots an arrow at an animal,
thinking it to
be a tiger, but it later turns out to be a cow, can
the arrow be recalled?
Once shot, it will certainly have to kill the cow.
So too, they
say, destiny that started on its course prior to
the dawn of enlightenment
must produce its effects, so that the sage is
still subject
to prarabdha karma only and must experience its
effects. However,
the scriptures declare such prarabdha to be
unreal, because
a man who has awakened from a dream experience
does not go
back into the same dream, or desire to cling to the
dream experiences
or the body and environment of the dream as "I"
and "mine".
He is perfectly free from the dream world and happy
in his
awakened state, whereas a man who retains any
attachment to
the dream cannot be said to have left the state of
sleep. In the same
way, one who has realised the identity of Brahman
and Self sees
nothing else. He eats and excretes but as though in
a dream. He
is beyond all limitations and associations. He is
the Absolute
Brahman Itself. The three kinds of karma do not
affect him in
the least, so how can one say that only prarabdha
karma affects him? Is one who has awakened still
dreaming? Even if it were
said that prarabdha karma affects the sage's body,
which has
been constructed from the result of past karma,
that would only
affect him so long as he had the "I am the body"
idea, but once
that is gone, prarabdha cannot be attributed to
him, since he
is the Self, not born of karma, beginningless,
pure, and described
by the scriptures as "Unborn, Eternal, and
deathless". But
to attribute prarabdha to the body, which is unreal
and a figment
of illusion, is itself an illusion. How can an
illusion be born,
live, and die as reality? It may be asked why,
then, should the
scriptures refer to a nonexistence prarabdha? It
may also be asked
how the body can continue to exist through
knowledge after
the death of ignorance and its effects. To those
who are so misguided
and under the influence of false ideas, the
explanation is
given that the scriptures admit that the sage has
illusory prarabdha
only as a concession for the sake of argument and
not to
postulate that the sage has a body and faculties.
In him is visible
the eternally established state of non-dual
Brahman, beyond
mental or verbal description and definition,
without beginning
or end, integral being-consciousness-bliss,
stabilised, homogeneous,
never to be rejected or obtained, subtle,
inwardly and
outwardly complete, with no substratum, beyond the
gunas, without
colour, form, or change, as pure Being. Nothing at
all is to be
seen there of what obtains here. It is only by
knowledge of this
oneness in the Heart through Atma Yoga, by
renouncing enjoyment
and the very desire for enjoyment, that dedicated
sages who
have peace and self-control obtain supreme
deliverance.
"Therefore, my son, if you too, by the eye of
wisdom obtained
through unwavering samadhi, discover beyond
all doubt the
Supreme Self of perfect bliss which is your
original nature,
you will no longer have any doubts about what
you have
heard. Cast out, therefore, the delusion created by
the mind and become a sage, a realised man who has
attained the purpose
of life. The teacher, like the scriptures,
gives instructions
common to all, but each person must
experience bondage
and deliverance, hunger and satisfaction,
sickness and
health for himself; others can only infer it from
him. Similarly,
he who discriminates must cross the ocean of
birth and
death by his own efforts through the Grace of the
Supreme Lord.
Thus obtaining release from bondage, which is
due only to
ignorance, remain as being-consciousness-bliss. The
scriptures, reason, the words of the Guru, and
inner experience are the means you have to use for
this.
"The essence of the Vedantic scriptures may be
condensed into the following points:
"First: In me, the unmoving Brahman, all that seems
different is utterly without reality. I alone am.
This is called the standpoint of elimination
[bedha drishti].
"Second: The dream and all else that appears in me
as the result
of magic is an illusion. I alone am the Truth. This
is called the
standpoint of illusion [mithya
drishti].
"Third: All that appears as form apart from the
sea, that is the
bubble and the wave, is the sea. All that is seen
in a dream is
seen in him who sees the dream. Similarly, in me as
in the ocean
or the man who dreams, all that seems separate
from me is
myself. This is called the standpoint of resolving
[the effect
into its cause] [pravilapa
drishti].
"Reject the outer world by any of these three means
and recognise
him who sees it to be Infinite, pure,
homogeneous Brahman,
who is the Self. He who has thus realised
Brahman is
liberated. Although all three of these viewpoints
are aids to realisation,
the third, in which one conceives everything
as one's own
Self, is the most powerful. Therefore, knowing the
indivisible Self to be one's own Self, by one's own
experience, one
must abide in one's own true nature, beyond any
mental form.
What more is there to say? The whole world and
all individuals
are really Brahman, and abidance as that
indivisible Brahman
is itself deliverance. This is the essence
and conclusion
of all the Vedas. The scriptures are the
authority for
this."
The disciple realised the Truth of the Self through
these words
of the Guru, through the authority of the
scriptures and by
his own understanding. He controlled his sense
organs and, becoming
one-pointed, remained for a short time absorbed
in unswerving
samadhi in that Supreme Self. Then he rose
up and spoke
thus to his Guru:
"O master of the Supreme experience, incarnation of
the Supreme
peace, of Brahman, of the Eternal essence of
non-duality, endless
ocean of Grace, I bow down to You."
Then, prostrating, he begins to tell of his own
experience: "Through
the Grace of the blessed sight of you the
affliction due
to the evil of birth is over and in an instant I
have attained the
blissful state of identity. By realisation of the
identity of Brahman
and Self my feeling of duality has been
destroyed and
I am free from outer activity. I cannot
discriminate between
what is and what is not. [This does not imply
that the disciple is in a state of ignorance,
unable to differentiate
between reality and illusion, but, on the contrary,
that he is now established
in the non-duality beyond all opposites, even the
opposite of being and
non-being.] Like the iceberg in the ocean, I
have become absorbed bit by bit into the ocean of
the bliss of Brahman until I have become that ocean
itself, whose nature and extent my intellect fails
to plumb. How can one conceive
of the vastness of this ocean of Brahmic bliss full
of the divine
essence, how to describe it in words? The world
that was perceived a moment ago has entirely
vanished. Where has
it gone? By whom has it been removed? Into what has
it been
dissolved? What a wonder is this! In this vast
ocean of Brahmic
bliss full of divine experience, what is there to
reject or
accept, to see, hear or know, apart from its own
Self? I alone
am the Self of bliss. I am unattached; I have
neither a gross
nor a subtle body. I am indestructible; I am
perfect stillness;
I am neither the doer nor the enjoyer; I undergo
no change.
Action is not mine. I am not the seer or the
hearer, the
speaker, the doer, or the enjoyer. I am neither
things experienced
nor things not experienced but he who
illumines both.
I am the void, within and without. I am beyond
compare. I am
the spirit of old. I am without beginning. There is
no creation
in me of "I" or "you", or "this" or "that". I am
both within
and without all the elements as the conscious ether
in them and
also as the substratum on which they are. I
am Brahma, I
am Vishnu, I am Rudra, I am Isa, I am Sadasiva.
I am beyond
Ishwara. [Even Ishwara, the personal God, is a
condensation or manifestation of Absolute Being and
therefore to some extent a limitation. Even this is
transcended in the state without impurities,
without any ego-sense.] I am the
all-comprehensive Witness, the indivisible,
homogeneous Brahman, Infinite, Eternal Being
Itself, unbroken Whole Perfection, existence,
Eternal, pure, enlightened, liberated, and of
Supreme bliss. What were formerly experienced as
separate things and as experiencerexperience-
experienced I now find to be all in myself. Even
though the waves of the world arise owing to maya,
as a wind rises
and subsides, they arise and subside in me who is
the unbounded ocean of bliss.
"Fools who are condemned for their errors wrongly
ascribe body
and other ideas to me who is formless and
immutable. It is
like dividing illimitable, formless time into parts
such as year, half-year and season. Just as the
earth is not made wet by
the waves of mirage, so destruction cannot touch me
in any way,
for I am unattached like the ether, separate from
all that I
illumine, like the sun, motionless as a
mountain, boundless
as the ocean. Just as the ether is unaffected by
the clouds,
so am I by the body; how then can it be my nature
to wake up,
dream, and sleep, as the body does? It is only
the bodily
limitations [upon Being] that come and go,
act and reap
the fruits of action, that are born, exist and
dissolve. How
can I perform karma, choose activity or withdrawal,
reap the fruits of merit or demerit, I who am like
the fixed mountain mentioned in the Puranas,
who is ever motionless, indivisible, complete and
perfect, like the ether, who is one perfect Whole
without senses, consciousness, form, or
change? If a
man's shadow is cold or hot or has good or evil
qualities, that
does not affect the man at all; and in the same way
I am beyond
virtues and vices. The scriptures also declare
this. Just as
the nature of a house does not affect the light
within it, so
too, objective characteristics cannot affect Me who
is their Witness,
distinct from them, changeless, and untouched.
Just as the
sun witnesses all activity, so am I the Witness of
this whole
objective world. Just as fire pervades iron, so do
I permeate
and enlighten the world; and at the same time I
am the
substratum on which the world exists like the
imaginary serpent
in a piece of rope. Being the self-effulgent "I", I
am not the
doer of anything nor he who causes it to be done. I
am not the
eater nor he who causes anything to be eaten; I am
not the seer
nor he who causes anything to be seen.
"It is the superimposed adjunct that moves. This
movement of
the reflected consciousness is ascribed by the
ignorant to the
consciousness itself. So too, they say that I am
the doer, the
enjoyer, that I, alas, am them. Being inactive like
the sun [in
causing growth upon the earth], being the Self
of the forms and elements, I remain untouched by
the reflected light of consciousness.
It makes no difference to me if this body
drops down on
earth or in water. The qualities of the reflected
light of
consciousness no more affect me than the shape of a
pot affects
the ether inside it. States and functions of the
intellect such
as doing, enjoying, understanding, being
dull-witted or drunk,
bound or liberated, do not affect me since I am
the pure
non-dual Self. The duties [dharmas] arising
from prakriti in
their thousands and hundreds of thousands no more
affect me
than the shadow cast by clouds affect the ether. I
am that in
which the whole universe from prakriti down to
gross matter appears
as a mere shadow, that which is the substratum,
which illumines
all, which is the Self of all, is of all forms, is
all-pervasive
and yet distinct from all, that which is all void,
which is
distinct without any of the attributes of maya,
that which is scarcely
to be known by the gross intellect, which is
ether itself,
which has neither beginning nor end, which is
subtle, motionless,
formless, inactive, immutable, that pure
Brahman in
its natural state, unbroken, Eternal, true, aware,
endless, self-subsistent
bliss, non-dual Brahman.
"Master, I was perplexed in the nightmare forest of
samsara, of
birth, old age, and death, caused by maya,
distressed by the tormenting
episodes in it and terrified by the tiger of the
ego. You
awakened me from that nightmare by your Grace and
saved me,
bringing me Supreme bliss. Great master! By the
glory of your
Grace even I have obtained the empire of real
Being. I have
become blessed and have accomplished the purpose
of this life.
Redeemed from the bondage of birth and death, I
realise the
reality of my Being, which is the entire ocean of
bliss. Oh, it
is all the glory of your Grace, O Supreme
master! Obeisance
again and again to your blessed feet which, being
in the form
of the pure bliss of consciousness, are seen as
the whole of
creation. Obeisance for ever and ever!"
The Supreme master is thus addressed with a
jubilant heart by the disciple who bows at his feet
after realising the Truth of the One Being, the
Supreme bliss. He replies: "Just as he who has eyes
has nothing to do but delight in forms, so he who
knows Brahman has no other satisfying use for his
intellect than experience of the Brahman reality.
Who would care to look at a painted moon when the
full moon shines in all
its splendour for our delight? No one who has
true knowledge
can give up the essence to find delight in what
is unreal.
There is neither satisfaction nor banishment of
sorrow in the
experience of unreality, therefore a man must
make every
effort to see with the eye of realisation and with
the mind in a
state of perfect peace to see his own Self as
Brahman, as
the Truth of non-duality shining as the Self of the
whole universe.
He must meditate on this and concentrate
ceaselessly on
the Self. Then he will enjoy unbroken experience
of essential
bliss and this alone will satisfy him. It is the
intellect which
causes restlessness, appearing as a city in the
clouds in the
attributeless whole of the conscious Self, and so
the intellect
must achieve absolute stillness and this will
give Eternal
bliss and serenity in Brahman. When stillness
and silence
have been attained there will be contentment and
peace. Perfect
silence free from latent tendencies is the only
means of
experiencing Eternal bliss for the mahatma, for he
who knows
Brahman, who has realised the Self and
experiences unbroken
bliss.
"The sage who has thus realised the supreme Brahman
will ever
delight in the Self with unobstructed
thought-current. He comes
and goes, stands, sits, and lies down, performs
whatever actions
he will, with no need to observe place, time,
posture, direction,
rules of yama or other stages of yoga or positions
for concentration.
What need is there for rules such as yama for
realising one's Self? No external discipline is
needed to know one's
Self as "I am Brahman", just as "Devadatta"
[taken here simply as a specimen name.]
needs no outer technique to know himself as such.
This ever existent Self
shines of its own accord when the mind is pure,
just as a pot
is naturally seen when the eyesight is not
defective. There is
no need to consider the purity of place or time for
abiding in
the Self. Just as the world is illumined by the
sun, so all the universes
and the Vedas, Shastras,
Puranas and various elements
are illumined by
Brahman, who is also consciously
self-effulgent. How
can this Brahman be illumined by any
low nonexistent
non-self? This Supreme Self is
self-effulgent with
manifold powers [shakti], incapable of
being known by anyone,
and yet is experienced by everyone as the "I-I" in
the Heart. It
is in realising this Atman that the knower of
Brahma is released from bondage, and when released
he knows the contentment of experiencing the
essence of Eternal bliss. This perfection of his
beauty is beyond imagining. He feels no happiness
or sorrow on account of outer conditions, whether
agreeable or disagreeable, and has no likes or
dislikes. He accepts
like a child all conditions that surround him owing
to the
desires of others. Just as an innocent boy is
absorbed in his
game without worrying about hunger, thirst, or
physical distress,
so is the sage absorbed in the play of his own
Self without
ego-consciousness and delights permanently in
the Self.
Ascending in the chariot of his body, he who enjoys
the wide
expanse of pure consciousness begs his food
without any
thought or feeling of humiliation, drinks the water
from rivers,
wraps himself in clothes that have not been washed
or dried, or
in the bark of trees, or goes naked. No code or
rule of
conduct binds him, for he is permanently free.
Although sleeping
on the ground like a child or madman, he remains
ever fixed in Vedanta. Mother Earth is the flowery
couch on which
he lies. He sleeps without fear in the forest or
cemetery, for
his sport and pleasure are in Brahman. He who is
the Universal
Self assumes at will countless forms and has
countless
experiences. In one place he behaves like an
idiot, in
another like a learned man, and in third like one
deluded. Again,
in one place he moves about as a man of peace,
in another as
a king, in another as a beggar eating out of
his hand for
want of a bowl. At one place he is seen to be
adored, at
another decried. Thus he lives everywhere and the
Truth behind
him cannot be perceived by others. Although he
has no riches
he is eternally in bliss. Although others may
not help him
he is mighty in strength. Although he may not
eat, he is
eternally satisfied. He looks on all things with an
equal eye.
Though acting, it is not he who acts; though
eating, it is not
he who eats; though he has a body, he is bodiless.
Though individualised,
he is the One Indivisible whole. Knowing
Brahman and
liberated while yet in the body, he is not
affected by
likes and dislikes, joys and sorrows, auspicious
and inauspicious
things, natural to the common man who is
attached to the
body. Although the sun is never really
caught by the
dragon's head [in an eclipse], it seems to
be, and fools who
do not know the Truth say: "Look! The sun is
caught!" Similarly
they say that he who knows Brahman, has a
body, but
that is their delusion, because although he seems
to have a
body he is in no way affected by it. The body of
the liberated man,
although free from bondage, exists in one place
or another,
like the sloughed skin of a snake. The body of
a liberated
man, like a log of wood tossed up and down by
the current
of a river, may sometimes be immersed in
pleasure owing
to his prarabdha but even though this is so, due to
the effects
of latent tendencies in prarabdha, as with the body
of a worldly
person, he still remains the Witness in his state
of inner silence, the hub of the wheel, free from
desire and aversion
and utterly indifferent. He neither attaches the
senses to the
objects that give pleasure nor detaches them. The
fruits of his
actions do not affect him in the slightest, since
he is completely
drunk with the unbroken experience of the
nectar of
bliss. He who knows Brahman is the Absolute Self,
the Supreme
Lord, with no need for special forms of
meditation. Of
this there is no doubt.
"He who knows Brahman has achieved the purpose of
life and is
eternally liberated as Brahman, even though living
in the body
and using its faculties. Indeed, he realises the
state of Brahman
even with the destruction of the body and its
adjuncts. It
is like an actor on the stage who is the same
individual whether he
wears a mask or not. It makes no difference to a
tree whether the
place where its dead leaf falls is auspicious or
not, whether it
is a river, a canal, a street, or a temple of
Shiva. Similarly, it does
not affect the sage where his body, already burnt
in the fire
of knowledge, is cast away. The
being-consciousness-bliss of the Self does not
perish with the body, breath, intellect, and sense
organs any more than a tree does with its leaves,
flowers, and fruit. The scriptures also declare:
"Only that which is finite and mutable can perish,"
and also: ‘"The Self, which is established
consciousness, is Truth and is imperishable." The
sage is Brahman in the perfect bliss of
non-duality; he is established in Truth, which is
Brahman. How then can it matter where and
when he sheds his
body, which is a vehicle of skin, flesh and
impurities? Getting
rid of the body, the staff and the water-pot
[of the
mendicant] is not really liberation; liberation
as understood
by the sages really means loosing the knot
of ignorance
in the Heart.
"Just as a stone, a tree, a straw, grain, a mat,
pictures, a pot and so on, when burned, are reduced
to earth [from which they came], so the
body and its sense organs, on being burnt
in the fire of
knowledge, become knowledge and are absorbed
in Brahman, like
darkness in the light of sun. When a pot is
broken the space
that was in it becomes one with space; so
too when the
limitation caused by the body and its adjuncts
is removed,
the sage realised during life, shines as
Brahman, becoming
absorbed in the Brahman he already was, like
milk in milk,
water in water, or oil in oil, and is radiant as
the one Supreme
Self. Thus, when the sage who abides as
Brahman, which
is pure Being, obtains his disembodied absolute
state he is
never again reborn. How can there be rebirth for a
sage who
abides as Brahman, his body and its limitations
burnt by the
fire of knowledge, the identity of individual and
Supreme? The
existence of all that is either affirmed or denied
in the one
substratum of the indestructible, unattached,
non-dual, Absolute
Self depends only on the mind, just as the
appearance or
disappearance of the imaginary snake in a piece of
rope has no
basis in reality. Bondage and liberation are
creations of
maya, superimpositions upon the Brahman imagined
by the mind
without any existence in reality. It is a fool
who blames
the sun for his own blindness. It is impossible to
argue that
bondage [samsara] is caused by the veiling
power [tamas] of
maya and liberation by its destruction, since there
is no differentiation
in the Self. Such an argument would lead to
a denial of
the Truth of non-duality and an affirmation of
duality. This
would be contrary to the authority of the
scriptures. How can
there be any display of maya in non-dual Brahman,
which is
perfect stillness, one whole like the ether,
spotless, actionless,
unstained, and formless? The scriptures even
proclaim aloud:
"There is in truth no creation and no destruction;
no one is bound, no one is seeking liberation, no
one is on the way to deliverance. There are none
liberated. This is the Absolute Truth." My dear
disciple, this, the sum and substance of all the
Upanishads, the secret of secrets, is
my instruction
to you. You also may impart it to one who
aspires after
liberation, only be careful to examine him several
times to make
sure that he has real detachment and is free from
all the sins
and impurities of this dark age."
On hearing these words from the Guru, the disciple
bows down to him several times and then takes leave
and goes home in a state of bliss. The master also,
immersed in the ocean of bliss, wanders about the
land in order to purify it.
Thus has been revealed the true nature of the Self
in the form of a dialogue between the Guru and his
disciple, as any who seek liberation can easily
understand. May these useful instructions be
followed by those who have faith in the authority
of the scriptures and who aspire after liberation,
by those advanced seekers who perform their
prescribed duties without caring for the fruits of
their actions and have thus cleansed themselves of
mental impurities, who are not attached to the
comforts of samsara and who have attained a state
of equanimity. Souls wandering about in the wild
and terrible forest of samsara are oppressed by the
torment of thirst caused by the terrific heat of
the threefold evil, [1. adhyatmika, 2.
adhibhoutika, 3. adhidaivika] and are then
deluded by the mirage of water. The great master
Shankara Bhagavatpadacharya wishes to inform them
of the existence close at hand of an ocean of sweet
water, the bliss of non-duality, so that they may
obtain relief, and has blessed them with his
Vivekachudamani, "The Crown Gem of
Discrimination", which will confer on them the
Eternal bliss of liberation. This is beyond
doubt.
OM
Peace, Peace, Peace.
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