Vivekachudamani – Nature of the Self – Discussion – Verses 213-225   «   »

Vivekachudamani – Nature of the Self – Discussion – Verses 213-225   «   »

श्रीगुरुरुवाच
सत्यमुक्तं त्वया विदन्निपुणोऽसि विचारणे ।
अहमादिविकारास्ते तदभावोऽयमप्यनु ॥ २१३ ॥
सर्वे येनानुभूयन्ते यः स्वयं नानुभूयते ।
तमात्मानं वेदितारं विद्दि बुद्ध्या सुसूक्ष्मया ॥ २१४
213-214. The Guru answered: Thou has rightly said, O learned man ! Thou art clever indeed in discrimination. That by which all those modifications such as egoism as well as their subsequent absence (during deep sleep) are perceived, but which Itself is not perceived, know thou that Ātman – the Knower – through the sharpest intellect.
Notes: The argument is this: The Atman as the eternal Subject must remain always. Otherwise there being no Subject, knowledge itself will be impossible. Even in the Sushupti state there must be the eternal Subject behind to record the blissful memory of that state. To take a familiar example: In a bioscope there must be the screen to allow the moving pictures to coalesce and form a connected whole. Motion presupposes rest. So the ever-changing Prakriti must have behind it the immutable Atman.
Through the sharpest intellect—An echo of Katha Upanishad I. iii. 12. *?*în«i*3»î?Tní írrr^rá sîptjs^ ir^xii
तत्साक्षिकं भवेत्तत्तद्यद्यद्येनानुभूयते ।
कस्याप्यननुभूतार्थे साक्षित्वं नोपयुज्यते ॥ २१५ ॥
tatsākṣikaṃ bhavettattadyadyadyenānubhūyate |
kasyāpyananubhūtārthe sākṣitvaṃ nopayujyate || 215 ||
215. That which is perceived by something else has for its witness the latter. When there is no agent to perceive a thing, we cannot speak of it as having been perceived at all.
असौ स्वसाक्षिको भावो यतः स्वेनानुभूयते ।
अतः परं स्वयं साक्षात्प्रत्यगात्मा न चेतरः ॥ २१६ ॥
asau svasākṣiko bhāvo yataḥ svenānubhūyate |
ataḥ paraṃ svayaṃ sākṣātpratyagātmā na cetaraḥ || 216 ||
216. This Ātman is a self-cognised entity because It is cognised by Itself. Hence the individual soul is itself and directly the Supreme Brahman, and nothing else.
जाग्रत्स्वप्नसुषुप्तिषु स्फुटतरं योऽसौ समुज्जृम्भते
प्रत्यग्रूपतया सदाहमहमित्यन्तः स्फुरन्नैकधा ।
नानाकारविकारभागिन इमान् पश्यन्नहंधीमुखान्
नित्यानन्दचिदात्मना स्फुरति तं विद्धि स्वमेतं हृदि ॥ २१७ ॥
jāgratsvapnasuṣuptiṣu sphuṭataraṃ yo’sau samujjṛmbhate
pratyagrūpatayā sadāhamahamityantaḥ sphurannaikadhā |
nānākāravikārabhāgina imān paśyannahaṃdhīmukhān
nityānandacidātmanā sphurati taṃ viddhi svametaṃ hṛdi || 217 ||
217. That which clearly manifests Itself in the states of wakefulness, dream and profound sleep; which is inwardly perceived in the mind in various forms as an unbroken series of egoistic impressions; which witnesses the egoism, the Buddhi, etc., which are of diverse forms and modifications; and which makes Itself felt as the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute; know thou this Ātman, thy own Self, within thy heart.
Notes: According to live Sankhya Philosophy, the whole universe, as it appears to us, is a mixture of-Purusha and Prakriti—of something which impinges on or gives the suggestion to our minds, and of the mind which reacts, and covers it, as it were, with a coating of its own. In other words, everything we perceive is this unknown something plus the mind; or to put it briefly, X+mind. Vedanta substitutes Brahman for Purusha and postulates a Nescience as the inscrutable power of Brahman, which covers the real nature of Brahman and makes It think as if It were subject to all sorts of change and limitation. Atman is only another name of Brahman. So, whenever we perceive a thing, from any mental impression, it must be the Atman and nothing else that we perceive. Only in our ignorance we fail to grasp the real nature of the thing experienced (the Atman), and call it under various names and forms. So, our egoism, our intellect, and all mental slates are manifestations of the Atman and Atman alone.
घटोदके बिम्बितमर्कबिम्बम्
आलोक्य मूढो रविमेव मन्यते ।
तथा चिदाभासमुपाधिसंस्थं
भ्रान्त्याहमित्येव जडोऽभिमन्यते ॥ २१८ ॥
ghaṭodake bimbitamarkabimbam
ālokya mūḍho ravimeva manyate |
tathā cidābhāsamupādhisaṃsthaṃ
bhrāntyāhamityeva jaḍo’bhimanyate || 218 ||
218. Seeing the reflection of the sun mirrored in the water of a jar, the fool thinks it is the sun itself. Similarly the stupid man, through delusion, identifies himself with the reflection of the Chit caught in the Buddhi, which is Its superimposition.
Notes: Chit—the Atman which is Knowledge Absolute
घटं जलं तद्गतमर्कबिम्बं
विहाय सर्वं विनिरीक्ष्यतेऽर्कः ।
तटस्थ एतत्त्रितयावभासकः
स्वयंप्रकाशो विदुषा यथा तथा ॥ २१९ ॥
ghaṭaṃ jalaṃ tadgatamarkabimbaṃ
vihāya sarvaṃ vinirīkṣyate’rkaḥ |
taṭastha etattritayāvabhāsakaḥ
svayaṃprakāśo viduṣā yathā tathā || 219 ||
219. Just as the wise man leaves aside the jar, the water and the reflection of the sun in it, and sees the self-luminous sun which illumines these three and is independent of them;
Notes: Independent —these being merely its reflections, which serve to suggest the real sun.
देहं धियं चित्प्रतिबिम्बमेवं
विसृज्य बुद्धौ निहितं गुहायाम् ।
द्रष्टारमात्मानमखण्डबोधं
सर्वप्रकाशं सदसद्विलक्षणम् ॥ २२0 ॥
नित्यं विभुं सर्वगतं सुसूक्ष्मं
अन्तर्बहिःशून्यमनन्यमात्मनः ।
विज्ञाय सम्यङ्निजरूपमेतत्
पुमान् विपाप्मा विरजो विमृत्युः ॥ २२१ ॥
220-222. Similarly, discarding the body, the Buddhi and the reflection of the Chit in it, and realising the Witness, the Self, the Knowledge Absolute, the cause of the manifestation of everything, which is hidden in the recesses of the Buddhi, is distinct from the gross and subtle, eternal, omnipresent, all-pervading and extremely subtle, and which has neither interior nor exterior and is identical with one self – fully realising this true nature of oneself, one becomes free from sin, taint, death and grief, and becomes the embodiment of Bliss. Illumined himself, he is afraid of none. For a seeker after Liberation there is no other way to the breaking of the bonds of transmigration than the realisation of the truth of one’s own Self.
Notes: Hidden……Buddhi—It is the purified Buddhi which catches a glimpse of the Atman.
The sense of various Sruti passages of Advaitic import is reproduced in these Slokas. The reader
is specially ferred to the Brihadáranyaka III. viii. &, iva II. 2. and SvetâsvaUua III. 8.
ब्रह्माभिन्नत्वविज्ञानं भवमोक्षस्य कारणम् ।
येनाद्वितीयमानन्दं ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते बुधैः ॥ २२३ ॥
brahmābhinnatvavijñānaṃ bhavamokṣasya kāraṇam |
yenādvitīyamānandaṃ brahma sampadyate budhaiḥ || 223 ||
223. The realisation of one’s identity with Brahman is the cause of Liberation from the bonds of Samsara, by means of which the wise man attains Brahman, the One without a second, the Bliss Absolute.
ब्रह्मभूतस्तु संसृत्यै विद्वान्नावर्तते पुनः ।
विज्ञातव्यमतः सम्यग्ब्रह्माभिन्नत्वमात्मनः ॥ २२४ ॥
brahmabhūtastu saṃsṛtyai vidvānnāvartate punaḥ |
vijñātavyamataḥ samyagbrahmābhinnatvamātmanaḥ || 224 ||
224. Once having realised Brahman, one no longer returns to the realm of transmigration. Therefore one must fully realise one’s identity with Brahman.
सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म विशुद्धं परं स्वतःसिद्धम् ।
नित्यानन्दैकरसं प्रत्यगभिन्नं निरन्तरं जयति ॥ २२५ ॥
satyaṃ jñānamanantaṃ brahma viśuddhaṃ paraṃ svataḥsiddham |
nityānandaikarasaṃ pratyagabhinnaṃ nirantaraṃ jayati || 225 ||
225. Brahman is Existence, Knowledge, Infinity, pure, supreme, self-existent, eternal and indivisible Bliss, not different (in reality) from the individual soul, and devoid of interior or exterior. It is (ever) triumphant.

Vivekachudamani – Introduction
1: Devoted Dedication
2: Glory of Spiritual Life
3: Unique Graces in Life
4-7: Miseries of The Unspiritual Man
8-13: Means of Wisdom
14-17: The Fit Student
18-30: The Four Qualifications
31: Bhakti – Firm and Deep
32-40: Courtesy of Approach and Questioning
41-47: Loving Advice of the Guru
48-49: Questions of the Disciple
50: Intelligent Disciple – Appreciated
51-55: Glory of Self-Effort
56-61: Knowledge of the Self-Its Beauty
62-66: Direct Experience – Liberation
67-71: Discussion on Questions Raised
72-75: Gross Body
76-82: Sense Objects a Trap – Man Bound
83-86: Fascination for Body Criticised
87-91: Gross Body Condemned
92: Organs of Perception and Action
93-94: Inner Instruments
95: The Five Pranas
96-101: Subtle Body – Effects
102: Functions of Prāna
103-105: Ego Discussed
106-107: Infinite Love – the Self
108-110: Māyā – Pointed Out
111-112: Rajoguņa – Nature and Effects
113-116: Tamoguņa – Nature and Effects
117-119: Sattvaguņa – Nature and Effects
120-121: The Causal Body – Its Nature
122-123: Not-Self – Description
124-135: The Self – Its Nature
136: Advice for Self-control
137-142: What is Bondage – The Reply
143-144: The Powers – Agitation and Veiling
145-146: Bondage in Action
147-153: Ātman and Anātman – Discrimination
Negation of the Kośas
154-164: – Annamaya kośa (Food sheath)
165-166: – Prņamaya kośa (Vital air sheath)
167-183: – Manomaya kosa (Mental sheath)
184-188: – Vijnanamaya kośa (Intellectual sheath)
189-191: Ātman – Unattached
192-193: What is Liberation? – Disciple
194-206: Self-Knowledge gives Liberation
207-210: Anandamaya kośa (Bliss sheath)
211: Ātman – Other than the Five Kośas
212: What is Ātman? – Disciple
213-225: Nature of the Self – Discussion
226-236: All Manifestation Absolute
237-240: Brahman – Its Nature
241-249: That Thou Art – Explanation
250-253: Attitude in Meditation
254-266: Aids to Meditation
267-276: Give up Vāsanās – the Method
277-292: End Superimposition – The Means
293-297: The Perceived I’ Factor – False
298-309: Condemnation of the Ego
310-319: Actions, Thoughts and Vāsanās – Renounce
320-329: Total Vigilance – Its Price
330-338: In the One, No Plurality
339-348: Spiritual Growth – the Secret
349-353: Cause-Effect – False
354-372: Samadhi – Its Nature
373-378: Fully Detached – Samadhi Easy
379-383: Meditation – the Technique
384-397: Continuous Attention to Self
398-406: No Diversity in Reality
407-413: Ātma-vicāra – Contemplation
414-418: Give up Perceptions
419-425: The Science of Reality – Its Benefits
426-445: Signs of a Realised Seer
446-464: Prārabdha for a Saint
465-471: There is No Plurality
472-479: Experience of Selfhood
480-520: Practice of Knowledge – Disciple
521-575: Final Words of Advice
576-578: Blessed Disciple Liberated
579-581: The Glory of the Textbook

Sri Adi Sankaracharya

Links
Sri Adi Sankaracharya’s Vivekachudamani – Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda
Transcript of Swami Paramarthananda’s classes on Vivekachudamani

Vivekachudamani – Verses 213-225 – Vivekachudamani Verses 213-225 – By Adi Sankaracharya – In Sanskrit with English Meaning, Transliteration, Translation, Commenary, Lyrics, Audio – Vivekachudamani-213-225