ADHYAATMA VIDYAA & ADHYAATMA UPANISHAD--KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCIENCE OF SPIRITUAL SELF

ADHYAATMA VIDYAA & ADHYAATMA UPANISHAD--KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCIENCE OF SPIRITUAL SELF

(Compilation for   a discourse by N. R. Srinivasan,   Nashville, TN, USA, June 2020)

 

Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both”--Carl Sagan. 

Though Hindu Americans boast themselves as drawn from Intellectuals from India why do they cling to Hindu religion but not Sanatana Dharma? Please listen to The Mother.

“Religions are based on creeds which are spiritual experience brought down to a level where they become  easier  to grasp, but at the cost of their integral purity and truth. The time of religions is over. We have entered the age of universal spirituality, of spiritual experience in its initial purity”--The Mother

 ADHYAATMA VIDYAA--INSIGHT INTO THE SELF

“Adhyaatma Upanishad is excxlusively devoted to Adhyaatma Vidya in simple   and straight language. In fact all the Upanishads are well known   for what is known as adhyatma vidyaa, meaning thereby, an insight into the Self, the wisdom of the Self, and knowledge of the Self – an experience which cannot, in any manner whatsoever, alienate itself into other than what it is! In the commentary on the Brahma Sutra, Acharya Shankara, perhaps while expounding the meaning of the fourth sutra, he makes a reference to three kinds of 'selves'--(Eekshatyadhikaranam--gaunachennaatmasabdaat)

There is a self which we pursue through the sense organs, which is the object-self – the vishaya, the anaatmantatva, the gaunatman as it is usually called, the secondary self. On one side it is known as the gaunatman– the object of attraction, love, affection, attachment; then this body, which is called the mithyatman--false Self. But, the perceiver is neither the gaunatman nor the mithyatman.

Apart from these two mentioned: the false Atman – namely, the gaunatman, and the mithyatman – the bodily individuality on the one side that is the mithyatman and the external object which is the gaunatman, there is a third one which is the true Self, called mukhyatman. This is the true Self into which we apparently sink in the state of deep sleep. The unity with this Self is the work of yoga. When we say "we have to practice yoga" and "we want Self-realization", we are aiming at the realization of God. When we make statements like this, we are actually, knowingly or unknowingly, referring to this Universal Self which is within us and without us. It is within us as our knowing consciousness; it is without us as the basis for the appearance of all the forms: nama-rupa prapancha (World of names and forms).

When consciousness, when spirit, is beheld through the sense organs, it may look like material objects. But, it has to be beheld through itself. The soul has to behold itself through itself, by itself, and cannot be visualized through any external instrumentality, because thereby it ceases to be what it is. When the Self is attempted to be beheld through sense organs, it becomes anatman – it is an object – and you are an object for me, and am I an object for you in ordinary sense perception. But, basically, we are ripples and waves, as it were, of a vast sea of awareness which is commonly present everywhere, that is – asti, bhati, priya, satchitananda svarupa. The unity with it is yoga. Various systems of practice have been advocated for the purpose of this communion of the apparent form of ours with the true form of ours.

Our true being is astitva – pure being, which is one with consciousness. Asti, bhati, priya, nama and rupa are supposed to be the fivefold features of everything in the world. Asti means 'be-ness' – 'be' – everything 'is'; bhati – everything is known; priya – everything can be a desirable thing. It has a name because it is nama. It has a form, and it is rupa. But the nama and the rupa – name-form complex – is not the real character of anything.

The world, which is visualized as a medley of names and forms, is not the true nature of it. But the astitva and the bhatitva and the priyatva – the satchidananda rupa, as we call it, the true universality that is behind the diversity of forms, is the true Self. So even when we look at things, we are actually looking at the Universal Self – wrongly, because we behold it through the sense organs.

Because of the detection of the evil in the attachment to things, the evil of there being no such pleasure as expected in the objects, the evil of there being no possibility of the Self being another object outside itself, and the evil of there being no chance of the indivisible Self being divisible as the subject and the object – detecting this threefold evil, at least, the person becomes vigilant.

The yoga of concentration commences with this analysis of the situation of Selfhood – the true Selfhood independent on the gaunatva and the mithyatva thereof; and when yoga commences, there is concentration automatically, spontaneously arising, on the true nature of the Self, the all-pervading nature of the Self. This is the bhakti yoga method of pouring out love on that which is everywhere – God all-pervading, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. The divine object of meditation is all-consuming, but the object of sense is not all-consuming. It is a subtle subterfuge adopted by the sense organs to deceive the Self, to defeat its purpose, and to give it nothing in the end, like a dacoit's operation. But, the true Self which is ubiquitous God Almighty, who is the all-Paramatman, all-including Paramatman, is the consuming Self. So the love of the devotee is poured upon an all-consuming, all-inclusive, all-blessing – paramatmatattva, wherein is the analytical method, and  the Self, or the meditator itself is beheld in the Self that is all-pervading.” --Gist from the speeches of Atma Swami Krishnanda on Adhyaatma Vidyaa. (for full text see the appendix)

Om ityaatmmanam unjeeta says the Veda mantra. Pranava stands for Supreme Truth. An aspirant for liberation after having meditated upon the Supreme practicing Sayaasa-yoga should concentrate his thoughts on Self (Him) uttering syllable Om.  Yoga is 'all-life' in one sense. Every form of life is capable of transmutation into the true yoga of the Self. God is pervading everywhere – in every particle of sand, in every nucleus of an atom. That being the case, it should be possible to visualize God in anything and convert any form into the true substance thereof, and transmute our perceptions into an insight of the Self.

We may commit the mistake of thinking that we are inside the body. Pure Consciousness is not inside anything – it is all things.   Consciousness is all-pervading; it cannot be confined to one individuality only. It will require sublimation of Intellectual faculties to a point of heightened awareness, elevating awareness to become all-encompassing and all-inclusive that would end the subject-object dichotomy. The only way to understand GOD would be to become one.

A spiritual speaker after acquiring fair scriptural knowledge of Upanishads resort to Parayana (daily chanting) and then Meditation. Here two Upanishads come handy--Mahanarayana Upanishad (MNU) and Adhyatma Upanishad. Before starting chanting mantras in the sacrewd reading called Parayana, it is obligatory we should at least know the meaning of the mantras we chant.   Mantropanishad MNU is a difficult text compared to Adhyatma Upanishad. Adhyaatma Upanishad is a direct encounter with spirituality. There are no doctrines in it; there are only experiences of the fulfilled ones. In it there is no discussion of that which is born out of curiosity or inquisitiveness, no. In it there are hints to those who are full of longing for liberation from those who have already attained liberation. Therefore this Upanishad is very popular with Swami Raja Nish of OSHO and there are many videos available on it.  

ADHYAATMA UPANISHAD

Adhyatma Upanishad (Adhyātma) or Adhyatmopanishad is one of the 108 Upanishadic Hindu scriptures, written in Sanskrit. It is one of the 19 Upanishads under the Shukla Yajurveda.  It is classified as a Samanya (non-sectarian) Upanishad.  It is also known as Ṭurīyāṭīṭa Avaḍhūṭa Upanishaḍ. The Upanishad expounds on the nature of Brahman.  

The Adhyatma-upanishad extolls Brahman and expounds its nature as limitless and all-pervading within this universe. It describes the eternal form of Brahman and it is equated with Narayana (Vishnu) who resides in the soul. 

The Adhyatma Upanishad describes the eternal form of Brahman, the unborn (Aja) one who remains within the recess of the heart. His body is represented as the earth (Prithvi), water (Apa), fire (Agni), air (Vayu), ether (Akasha), mind (Manas), intellect (Buddhi), sense of self (ahamkara), Subconscious mind or memory (chitta), unmanifestated (Avyakta), indestructible (akshara), and Death (mrityu), all of these elements act within themselves, and within the body without one's awareness. Brahman is then equated with the god Narayana (Vishnu) who resides in the soul and cleans everything and washes away all misdeeds.

Indian spiritual guru Osho authored a commentary named Finger Pointing to the Moon on the Adhyatma Upanishad, which was first published by its original Sanskrit name in Hindi in 1976. Seventeen talks were given at a meditation camp at Mount Abu, Rajasthan. In this beautiful series on the seeds of wisdom, the upanishads, Osho says, “ Adhyaatma Upanishad is a direct encounter with spirituality. There are no doctrines in it; there are only experiences of the fulfilled ones. In it there is no discussion of that which is born out of curiosity or inquisitiveness, no. In it there are hints to those who are full of longing for liberation from those who have already attained liberation”

Contents of Adhyatmopanishad by K. Narayanasavami Iyer

The One Aja (unborn) is ever located in the cave (of the heart) within the body. (Pṛthivī) the earth is His body; though He pervades the earth, it does not know Him. The waters are His body; though He pervades the waters, they do not know Him. Agni is His body; though He pervades agni, it does not know Him. Vāyu is His body; though He pervades vāyu, it does not know Him. Ākāś is His body; though He pervades ākāś, it does not know Him. Manas is His body; though He pervades manas, it does not know Him. Buddhi is His body; though He pervades buddhi, it does not know Him. Ahaṅkāra is His body; though He pervades ahaṅkāra, it does not know Him. Citta is His body; though He pervades citta, it does not know Him. Avyakta is His body; though He pervades avyakta, it does not know Him. Akṣara is His body; though He pervades akṣara, it does not know Him. Mṛtyu is His body; though He pervades mṛtyu, it does not know Him. He who is the inner soul of all creatures and the purifier of sins, is the one divine Lord Nārāyaṇa.

The wise should through the practice of deep meditation of Brahman leave off the (recurrent) conception of "I" and mine" in the body and the senses which are other than Ātmā. Having known himself as Pratyagātmā, the witness of buddhi and its actions, one should ever think "So’ham" ("I am That") and leave off the idea of Ātmā in all others. Shunning the pursuits of the world, the body and the Śāstras, set about removing the false attribution of self.

In the case of a Yogin staying always in his own Ātmā, his mind perishes having known his Ātmā as the Ātmā of all, through inference, Vedas and self-experience. Never giving the slightest scope to sleep, worldly talk, sounds, etc., think of Ātmā, (in yourself) to be the (supreme) Ātmā. Shun at a distance like a caṅdāla (the thought of) the body, which is generated out of the impurities of parents and is composed of excreta and flesh. Then you will become Brahman and be (in a) blessed (state).

O Sage, having dissolved (Jīva-) Ātmā into Paramātmā with the thought of its being partless, like the ether of a jar in the universal ether, be ever in a state of taciturnity. Having become that which is the seat of all Ātmās and the self-resplendent, give up the macrocosm and microcosm like an impure vessel. Having merged into Cidātmā, which is ever blissful, the conception of "I" which is rooted in the body, and having removed the (conception of) Liṅga (here the sign of separateness), become ever the Kevala (alone). Having known "I am that Brahman" in which alone the universe appears like a town in a mirror, become one that has performed (all) his duty, O sinless one. The ever-blissful and the self-effulgent One Being freed from the grip of ahaṅkāra attains its own state, like the spotless moon becoming full (after eclipse).

With the extinction of actions, there arises the extinction of cintā. From it arises the decay of vāsanās; and from the latter, arises mokṣa; and this is called Jīvanmukti. Looking upon everything in all places and times as Brahman brings about the destruction of vāsanās through the force of vāsanās of sāttvic nature. Carelessness in Brahmaniṣṭhā by (or meditation of Brahman) should not in the least be allowed (to creep in). Knowers of Brahman style (this) carelessness, in Brāhmic science, as death (itself). Just as the moss (momentarily) displaced (in a tank) again resumes its original position, in a minute, so Māyā envelops even the wise, should they be careless (even for a moment). He who attains the Kaivalya state during life becomes a Kevala even after death of his body. Ever devoted to samādhi, become a nirvikalpa (or the changeless one), O Sinless One! The granthi (or knot) of the heart, full of ajñāna, is broken completely only when one sees his Ātmā as secondless through nirvikalpa samādhi.

Now, having strengthened the conception of Ātmā and well given up that of "I" in the body, one should be indifferent as he would be towards jars, cloth, etc. From Brahma down to a pillar, all the upādhis are only unreal. Hence one should see (or cognize) his Ātmā as all-full and existing by itself (alone). Brahma is Swayam (Ātmā); Viṣṇu is Ātmā; Rudra is: Ātma; Indra is Ātmā; all this universe is Ātmā and there is nothing but Ātmā. By expelling (from the mind) without any remainder all objects which are superimposed on one's Ātmā, one becomes himself Parabrahman the full, the secondless and the actionless. How can there be the heterogeneity of the universe of saṅkalpa and vikalpa in that One Principle which is immutable, formless and homogeneous? When there is no difference between the seer, the seen, and sight, there being the decayless and Cidātmā, full like the ocean at the end of a Kalpa and effulgent, all darkness, the cause of false perception, merges in it. How can there be heterogeneity in that one supreme Principle which is alike? How can there be heterogeneity in the highest Tattva which is One? Who has observed any heterogeneity in suṣupti (the dreamless sleep), where there is happiness only? This vikalpa has its root in citta only. When citta is not, there is nothing. Therefore unite the citta with Paramātman in its Pratyāgātmic state. If one knows Ātmā as unbroken bliss in itself, then he drinks always the juice (or essence) of bliss in his Ātmā, whether internally or externally.

The fruit of vairāgya is bodha (spiritual wisdom); the fruit of bodha is uparati (renunciation); śānti (sweet patience) is attained out of the enjoyment of the bliss of one's Ming, and this śānti is the fruit of uparati. If the latter in each of these is absent, the former is useless. Nivṛtti (or the return path) leads to the highest contentment and (spiritual) bliss is said to be beyond all analogy. That which has Māyā as its upādhi is the womb of the world; that true one which has the attribute of omniscience, etc., and has the variegated mystery is denoted by the word "Tat" (that). That is called Apara (the other or inferior) which shines through meditation upon the idea and the world asmat  and the consciousness of which is developed by antaḥkaraṇa. By separating the upādhis Māyā and avidyā from Para and Jīva (cosmic and human Ātmās respectively), one realises Parabrahman which is partless and Saccidānanda. Making the mind dwell upon such sentences (or ideas) as the above constitutes śravaṇa (hearing). It becomes manana (contemplation) when such ideas are quieted (in one) through logical reasoning. When (their) meaning is confirmed through these (two processes), the concentration of the mind on it alone constitutes nididhyāsana. That is called samādhi in which the citta, rising above the conception of the contemplator and contemplation, merges gradually into the contemplated, like a light undisturbed by the wind. Even the mental states are not known (at the time when one is within the scope of Ātmā). But they are only inferred from the recollection which takes place after samādhi. Through this samādhi are destroyed crores of karmas which have accumulated during cycles of births without beginning and pure dharma is developed.

Knowers of Yoga call this samādhi, dharma-megha (cloud), inasmuch as it showers nectarine drops of karma in great quantities, when all the hosts of vāsanās are destroyed entirely through this, and when the accumulated karmas, virtuous and sinful, are rooted out. Then that in which speech was hidden till now, appears no longer so, and shines as Sat; and direct cognition reveals itself, like the myrobalan in the palm of the hand. Vairāgya begins from where the vāsanās cease to arise towards objects of enjoyment. The cessation of the rising of the idea of "I" is the highest limit of buddhi; uparati begins from where the mental states once destroyed do not again arise. That ascetic is said to possess Sthitaprajñā who enjoys bliss always and whose mind is absorbed in Brahman that is formless and actionless. That state of mind is termed prajñā that realises the oneness of Brahman and Ātmā after deep inquiry, and that has the vṛtti of nirvikalpa and cinmātra. He who possesses this always is a Jivanmukta.

He is a Jivanmukta who has, neither the conception of "I" in the body and the senses, nor the conception of another (different from himself) in everything else. He is a Jivanmukta who sees through his prajñā no difference between his own Ātmā and Brahman as well as between Brahman and the universe. He is a Jivanmukta who preserves equanimity of mind, either when revered by the good or reviled by the vicious. One who has cognized the true nature of Brahman is not subject to rebirth as before. But were he so subjected, then he is not a true knower, the knowing of Brahman being external only. A man is subject to prārabdha so long as he is affected by pleasure, etc. The attainment of a result is always preceded by action; and nowhere is it without karma. Through the cognition "I am Brahman" are destroyed the karmas accumulated during hundreds of crores of previous births, like the actions in the dreaming state (that are destroyed) during the waking state.

An ascetic having known himself as associateless and indifferent like ether, is not at all affected by any of his karmas at any time. Just as the ether is not affected by the alcoholic smell through its contact with a pot, so Ātmā is not affected by the guṇas produced by its upādhi. The prārabdha karma that has begun to act before the dawn of jñāna is not checked by it; and one should reap its fruit, as in the case of an arrow discharged at a target. An arrow that is discharged towards an object with the idea that it is a tiger, does not stop when it (the tiger) is found to be a cow; but it (even) pierces the mark through its speed, without stopping. When one realises his Ātmā as free from old age and death, then how will prārabdha affect him? Prārabdha accomplishes (its work) only when one considers his body as Atma. This conception of Ātmā as body is not at all a desirable one; so it should be given up along with prārabdha, since it is simply a delusion to attribute prārabdha to this body. How can there be reality to that which is superimposed upon another? How can there be birth to that which is not real? How can there be death to that which is not born? How can there be prārabdha to that which is unreal? The Veda speaks of prārabdha in an external sense only, to satisfy those foolish persons that doubt, saying: "If jñāna can destroy all the results of ajñāna (such as body, etc.), then whence is the existence of this body to such a one?" but not to inculcate to the wise the existence of the body.Ātmā is all-full, beginningless, endless, immeasurable, unchangeable, replete with Sat, Chit, and Ānanda, decayless, the one essence, the eternal, the differentiated, the plenum, the endless, having its face everywhere, the one that can neither be given up nor taken up, the one that can neither be supported nor be made to support, the guṇaless, the actionless, the subtle, the changeless, the stainless, the indescribable, the true nature of one's Ātmā, above the reach of speech and mind, the one full of Sat, the self-existent, the immaculate, the enlightened, and the incomparable; such is Brahman, one only without a second. There are not in the least many.

He who knows his Ātmā himself through his own cognition, as the one who is not restricted by any, is a Siddha (one that has accomplished his object), who has identified his Ātmā with the one changeless Ātmā. Whither is this world gone, then? How did it appear? Where is it absorbed? It was seen by me just now, but now it is gone. What a great miracle! What is fit to be taken in? and what to be rejected? What is other (than Ātmā)? And what is different (from It)? In this mighty ocean of Brahman full of the nectar of undivided bliss, I do not see, hear, or know anything. I remain in my Ātmā only and in my own nature of Sat, Ānandarūpa. I am an asaṅga (or the associateless). I am an asaṅga. I am without any attributes. I am Hari (the Lord taking away sin). I am the quiescent, the endless, the all-full and the ancient. I am neither the agent nor the enjoyer.

I am the changeless and the decayless. I am of the nature of pure enlightenment. I am the one and the perpetual bliss.

This science was imparted to Apāntaratama who gave it to Brahma, Brahma gave it to Ghora-Aṅgiras. Ghora-Aṅgiras gave it to Raikva, who gave it to Rāma. And Rāma gave it to all beings. This is the teaching of Nirvāṇa; and this is the teaching of the Vedas; yea, this is the teaching of the Vedas. Thus ends the Upaniṣad.

 Adhyatma Upanishad--Translation by Dr.K.G.Warrier

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते । पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥  ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥  

Om̃ pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ pūrṇātpūrṇamudacyate ।

pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya pūrṇamevāvaśiṣyate ॥

Om̃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ॥

Om! That (Brahman) is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. (Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe), It remains as the infinite (Brahman) alone.
Om! Let there be Peace in me! Let there be Peace in my environment! Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me!

हरिः ॐ ॥  अन्तःशरीरे निहितो गुहायामज एको नित्यमस्य  पृथिवी शरीरं यः पृथिवीमन्तरे संचरन्यं पृथिवी न वेद ।   यस्यापःशरीरं यो अपोऽन्तरे संचरन्यमापो न विदुः|  यस्य तेजः शरीरं यस्तेजोऽन्तरे संचरन्यं तेजो न वेद ।  यस्य वायुः शरीरं यो वायुमन्तरे संचरन्यं वायुर्न वेद ।  यस्याकाशः शरीरं य आकाशमन्तरे संचरन्यमाकाशो न वेद ।  यस्य मनः शरीरं यो मनोऽन्तरे संचरन्यं मनो न वेद | यस्य बुद्धिः शरीरं यो बुद्धिमन्तरे संचरन्यं बुद्धिर्न वेद ।  यस्याहंकारः शरीरं योऽहंकारमन्तरे संचरन्यमहंकारो न वेद | यस्य चित्तं शरीरं यश्चित्तमन्तरे संचरन्यं चित्तं न वेद ।   यस्याव्यक्तं शरीरं योऽव्यक्तमन्तरे संचरन्यमव्यक्तं न वेद यस्याक्षरं शरीरं योऽक्षरमन्तरे संचरन्यम्क्षरं न वेद ।  यस्य मृयुः शरीरं यो मृत्युमन्तरे संचरन्यं मृत्युर्न वेद ।  स एष सर्वभूतान्तरात्मापहतपाप्मा दिव्यो देव एको नारायणः ।  

Hariḥ Om̃ ॥ antaḥśarīre nihito guhāyāmaja eko nityamasya

pṛthivī śarīraṃ yaḥ pṛthivīmantare saṃcaranyaṃ pṛthivī na veda ।

yasyāpaḥśarīraṃ yo apo'ntare saṃcaranyamāpo na viduḥ ।

yasya tejaḥ śarīraṃ yastejo'ntare saṃcaranyaṃ tejo na veda ।

yasya vāyuḥ śarīraṃ yo vāyumantare saṃcaranyaṃ vāyurna veda ।

yasyākāśaḥ śarīraṃ ya ākāśamantare saṃcaranyamākāśo na veda ।

yasya manaḥ śarīraṃ yo mano'ntare saṃcaranyaṃ mano na veda ।

yasya buddhiḥ śarīraṃ yo buddhimantare saṃcaranyaṃ buddhirna veda ।

yasyāhaṃkāraḥ śarīraṃ yo'haṃkāramantare saṃcaranyamahaṃkāro na veda

yasya cittaṃ śarīraṃ yaścittamantare saṃcaranyaṃ cittaṃ na veda ।

yasyāvyaktaṃ śarīraṃ yo'vyaktamantare saṃcaranyamavyaktaṃ na veda ।

yasyākṣaraṃ śarīraṃ yo'kṣaramantare saṃcaranyamkṣaraṃ na veda ।

yasya mṛyuḥ śarīraṃ yo mṛtyumantare saṃcaranyaṃ mṛtyurna veda ।

sa eṣa sarvabhūtāntarātmāpahatapāpmā divyo deva eko nārāyaṇaḥ ।

In the cave of the body is eternally set the one unborn. The earth is His body. (Though) moving within the earth, the earth knows Him not. The eater is His body. (Though) moving within the water, the water kn/ows Him not. The fire is His body. (Though) moving within the fire, the fire knows Him not. The air is His body. (Though) moving within the air, the air knows Him not. The ether is His body. Though moving within the mind, the mind knows Him not. The intellect is His body. (Though) moving within the intellect, the intellect knows Him not. The ego is His body. (Though) moving within the ego, the ego knows Him not. The mind-stuff is His body. (Though) moving within the mind-stuff, the mind-stuff knows Him not. The unmanifest is His body. (Though) moving within the unmanifest, the unmanifest knows Him not. The imperishable is His body. (Though) moving within the imperishable, the imperishable knows Him not. The Death is His body. Though) moving within Death, Death knows Him not. He, then, is the inner-self of all beings, sinless, heaven-born, luminous, the sole Narayana.

अहं ममेति यो भावो देहाक्षादावनात्मनि ।    अध्यासोऽयं निरस्तव्यो  विदुषा ब्रह्मनिष्ठया ॥ १॥  

ahaṃ mameti yo bhāvo dehākṣādāvanātmani । adhyāso'yaṃ nirastavyo

viduṣā brahmaniṣṭhayā ॥ 1॥

Superimposition is the thought-“I am and mine” are the body, the senses, etc., which are all other than the Self. Through devotion to Brahman, the wise man should repudiate it--1.

ज्ञात्वा स्वं प्रत्यगात्मानं बुद्धितद्वृत्तिसाक्षिणम् ।  सोऽहमित्येव तद्वृत्त्या स्वान्यत्रात्म्यमात्मनः ॥ 2  ||

jñātvā svaṃ pratyagātmānaṃ buddhitadvṛttisākṣiṇam ।

so'hamityeva tadvṛttyā svānyatrātmyamātmanaḥ ॥ 2॥

Knowing oneself to be the subject, the witness of intellect and its operations, reject the idea of the Self being other than the subject identifying the “I” with that (the subject)--2

लोकानुवर्तनं त्यक्त्वा त्यक्त्वा देहानुवर्तनम् ।   शास्त्रानुवर्तनं त्यक्त्वा स्वाध्यासापनयं कुरु ॥ ३॥  

lokānuvartanaṃ tyaktvā tyaktvā dehānuvartanam ।

śāstrānuvartanaṃ tyaktvā svādhyāsāpanayaṃ kuru ॥ 3॥

Rejecting conformity with the world, the body, and the Shastras, remove superimposition on the Self--3

स्वात्मन्येव सदा स्थित्या मनो नश्यति योगिनः ।     युक्त्या श्रुत्या स्वानुभूत्या ज्ञात्वा सार्वात्म्यमात्मनः ॥ ४॥  

svātmanyeva sadā sthityā mano naśyati yoginaḥ ।

yuktyā śrutyā svānubhūtyā jñātvā sārvātmyamātmanaḥ ॥ 4॥

The mind of the Yogin perishes as he stays without intermission in the Self alone, knowing, through reasoning, Shruti, and experience, that one is the Self of all beings--4

निद्राया लोकवार्तायाः शब्दादेरात्मविस्मृतेः ।  क्वचिन्नवसरं दत्त्वा चिन्तयात्मानमात्मनि || ५॥   

 nidrāyā lokavārtāyāḥ śabdāderātmavismṛteḥ ।

kvacinnavasaraṃ dattvā cintayātmānamātmani ॥ 5॥

Without granting for a moment even a toe-hold for sleep, gossip, verbal exchanges, etc., and self-forgetfulness, meditate on the Self in the self--5

मातापित्रोर्मलोद्भूतं मलमांसमयं वपुः । त्यक्त्वा चण्डालवद्दूरं ब्रह्मभूय कृती भव || ६॥  

mātāpitrormalodbhūtaṃ malamāṃsamayaṃ vapuḥ ।

tyaktvā caṇḍālavaddūraṃ brahmabhūya kṛtī bhava ॥ 6॥

Casting the body far aside, the offspring of parental exudations, as its status is no better than that of an outcast, and becoming Brahman, seek fulfilment-

घटाकाशं महाकाश इवात्मानं परात्मनि ।   विलाप्याखण्डभावेन तूष्णीं भव सदा मुने ॥ ७॥  

ghaṭākāśaṃ mahākāśa ivātmānaṃ parātmani ।

vilāpyākhaṇḍabhāvena tūṣṇīṃ bhava sadā mune ॥ 7॥

Dissolve the self in the supreme Self as the pot-space is dissolved in infinite space; then, as the Infinite be silent forever, O sage!--7

सप्रकाशमधिष्ठानं स्वयंभूय सदात्मना ।  ब्रह्माण्डमपि पिण्डाण्डं त्यज्यतां मलभाण्डवत् ॥ ८॥  

svaprakāśamadhiṣṭhānaṃ svayaṃbhūya sadātmanā ।

brahmāṇḍamapi piṇḍāṇḍaṃ tyajyatāṃ malabhāṇḍavat ॥ 8॥

Having become the self-luminous Substratum, as Being, reject both the macrocosm and the microcosm which are but abodes of impurities--8

चिदात्मनि सदानन्दे देहरूढामहंधियम् । निवेश्य लिङ्गमुत्सृज्य केवलो भव सर्वदा ॥ ९ ॥  

chidātmani sadānande deharūḍhāmahaṃdhiyam ।

niveśya liṅgamutsṛjya kevalo bhava sarvadā ॥ 9॥

Locating the body-bound I-sense in the ever-blissful spiritual Self, renounce the subtle body; eternally be the Absolute--9

यत्रैष जगदाभासो दर्पणान्तःपुरं यथा । तद्ब्रह्माहमिति ज्ञात्वा कृतकृत्यो भवानघ ॥ १०॥  

yatraiṣa jagadābhāso darpaṇāntaḥpuraṃ yathā ।

tadbrahmāhamiti jñātvā kṛtakṛtyo bhavānagha ॥ 10॥

Knowing “I am that Brahman” in which this world appear (exists) like a city reflected in a mirror, find fulfilment, O sinless one!--10

अहंकारग्रहान्मुक्तः स्वरूपमुपपद्यते । चन्द्रवद्विमलः पूर्णः सदानन्दः स्वयंप्रभः ॥ ११॥  

ahaṃkāragrahānmuktaḥ svarūpamupapadyate ।

chandravadvimalaḥ pūrṇaḥ sadānandaḥ svayaṃprabhaḥ ॥ 11॥

Liberated from the grip of egoism, like the moon (after the eclipse), full, ever blissful, self-luminous, one attains one’s essence--11

क्रियानाशाद्भवेच्चिन्तानाशोऽस्माद्वासनाक्षयः । वासनाप्रक्षयो मोक्षः सा जीवन्मुक्तिरिष्यते ॥ १२॥  

kriyānāśādbhaveccintānāśo'smādvāsanākṣayaḥ ।

vāsanāprakṣayo mokṣaḥ sā jīvanmuktiriṣyate ॥ 12॥

The destruction of actions leads to that of thought; thence results the dwindling of innate impulses (to act). The obliteration of innate impulses is liberation; it is held to be freedom in life--12

सर्वत्र सर्वतः सर्वब्रह्ममात्रावलोकनम् । सद्भावभावानादाढ्याद्वासनालयमश्नुते ॥ १३॥  

sarvatra sarvataḥ sarvabrahmamātrāvalokanam ।

sadbhāvabhāvānādāḍhyādvāsanālayamaśnute ॥ 13॥

At all places and by all means, perceiving everything as Spirit, one achieves the dissolution of innate impulses as it strengthens the attitude of universal good will--13

प्रमादो ब्रह्मनिष्ठायां न कर्तव्यज़् कदाचन । प्रमादो मृत्युरित्याहुर्विद्यायां ब्रह्मवादिनः ॥ १४॥  

pramādo brahmaniṣṭhāyāṃ na kartavyaja़ kadācana ।

pramādo mṛtyurityāhurvidyāyāṃ brahmavādinaḥ ॥ 14॥

Never should one be heedless in devotion to Brahman;” heedlessness is death” so aver the philosophers of Brahman in regard to (this) science—14

यथापकृष्टं शैवालं क्षणमात्रं न तिष्ठति । आवृणोति तथा माया प्राज्ञं वापि पराङ्मुखम् ॥ १५॥  

yathāpakṛṣṭaṃ śaivālaṃ kṣaṇamātraṃ na tiṣṭhati ।

āvṛṇoti tathā māyā prājñaṃ vāpi parāṅmukham ॥ 15॥

Just as a pulled-up water-reed stays not still, even for a moment, so does ceaselessly Maya  envelops even a wise man if he averts his face (from the Truth)--15

जीवतो यस्य कैवल्यं विदेहोऽपि स केवलः । समाधिनिष्ठतामेत्य निर्विकल्पो भवानघ ॥ १६॥  

jīvato yasya kaivalyaṃ videho'pi sa kevalaḥ ।

samādhiniṣṭhatāmetya nirvikalpo bhavānagha ॥ 16॥

Whosoever wins absoluteness while alive continues to be absolute even after death. Rooted in concentration, O sinless one, remain steadfast—16      

अज्ञानहृदयग्रन्थेर्निःशेषविलयस्तदा ।  समाधिना विकल्पेन यदाद्वैतात्मदर्शनम् ॥ १७॥  

ajñānahṛdayagrantherniḥśeṣavilayastadā ।

samādhinā vikalpena yadādvaitātmadarśanam ॥ 17॥

With the vision of the non-dual Self through unwavering concentration comes the dissolution without residue of the knots of ignorance in the heart--17

अत्रात्मत्वं दृढीकुर्वन्नहमादिषु संत्यजन् । उदासीनतया तेषु तिष्ठेद्घटपटादिवत् ॥ १८॥  

atrātmatvaṃ dṛḍhīkurvannahamādiṣu saṃtyajan ।

udāsīnatayā teṣu tiṣṭhedghaṭapaṭādivat ॥ 18॥

Strengthening the sense of Self vis--“vis this vision, and rejecting it vis” vis the ego, etc., remain indifferent to them all, as to objects like pots and clothes--18

ब्रह्मादिस्तम्बपर्यन्तं मृषामात्रा उपाधयः । ततः पूर्णं स्वमात्मानं पश्येदेकात्मना स्थितम् ॥ १९ ॥  

brahmādistambaparyantaṃ mṛṣāmātrā upādhayaḥ ।

tataḥ pūrṇaṃ svamātmānaṃ paśyedekātmanā sthitam ॥ 19॥

All things from Brahma down to clumps of grass are nothing but unreal adjuncts. Distinct from the, see one’s Self existing as the immutable plenum--19

स्वयं ब्रह्मा स्वयं  विष्णुः स्वयमिन्द्रः स्वयं शिवः । स्वयं विश्वमिदं सर्वं स्वस्मादन्यन्न किंचन ॥ २० ॥  

svayaṃ brahmā svayaṃ viṣṇuḥ svayamindraḥ svayaṃ śivaḥ ।

svayaṃ viśvamidaṃ sarvaṃ svasmādanyanna kiṃcana ॥ 20॥

One’s Self is Brahma, Vishnu, Indra and Shiva; this entire world is one’s Self; other than this Self, there is nothing--20

स्वात्मन्यारोपिता शेषाभासवस्तुनिरासतः । स्वयमेव परंब्रह्म पूर्णमद्वयमक्रियम् ॥ २१॥

svātmanyāropitā śeṣābhāsavastunirāsataḥ ।

svayameva paraṃbrahma pūrṇamadvayamakriyam ॥ 21॥

After repudiating all objective appearances superimposed on one’s Self, one remains alone as the supreme Brahman, full, non-dual, without stirring--21

असत्कल्पो विकल्पोऽयं विश्वमित्येकवस्तुनि ।  निर्विकारे निराकारे निर्विशेषे भिदा कुतः ॥ २२॥  

asatkalpo vikalpo'yaṃ viśvamityekavastuni ।

nirvikāre nirākāre nirviśeṣe bhidā kutaḥ ॥ 22॥

The world is a postulation, as good as non-existent, in the one Reality that is immutable, form-less, unqualified; whence is difference?--22

द्रष्टृदर्शनदृश्यादिभावशून्ये निरामये ।  कल्पार्णव इवात्यन्तं परिपूर्णे चिदात्मनि ॥ २३॥  

draṣṭṛdarśanadṛśyādibhāvaśūnye nirāmaye ।

kalpārṇava ivātyantaṃ paripūrṇe cidātmani ॥ 23॥

(In the one Reality) devoid of distinctions like the percipient, perception, and the perceived, and of all sufferings, in the absolutely full, spiritual, Self, like unto the ocean at the time of cosmic dissolution, (whence is difference)?--23

तेजसीव तमो यत्र विलीनं भ्रान्तिकारणम् । अद्वितीये परे तत्त्वे निर्विशेषे भिदा कुतः ॥ २४॥  

tejasīva tamo yatra vilīnaṃ bhrāntikāraṇam ।

advitīye pare tattve nirviśeṣe bhidā kutaḥ ॥ 24॥

Darkness implicit in It as in light is the cause of delusion. Whence is difference in the supreme non-dual and unqualified Reality.--24

एकात्मके परे तत्त्वे भेदकर्ता कथं वसेत् ।  सुषुप्तौ सुखमात्रायां भेदः केनावलोकितः ॥ २५ ॥  

ekātmake pare tattve bhedakartā kathaṃ vaset ।

suṣuptau sukhamātrāyāṃ bhedaḥ kenāvalokitaḥ ॥ 25॥

In this uniform and supreme Reality, how can the agent of differences dwell? In deep sleep that is nothing but bliss who has perceived difference?--25

चित्तमूलो विकल्पोऽयं चित्ताभावे न कश्चन ।  अतश्चित्तं समाधेयि प्रत्यग्रूपे परात्मनि ॥ २६ ॥  

chittamūlo vikalpo'yaṃ cittābhāve na kaścana ।

ataśchittaṃ samādheyi pratyagrūpe parātmani ॥ 26॥                                                          

This perception of difference is rooted in the mind (of the percipient); there is none of it in the absence of the mind. Therefore, concentrate the mind on the supreme Self as the subject.--26

अखण्डानन्दमात्मानं विज्ञाय स्वस्वरूपतः ।  बहिरन्तः सदानन्दरसास्वादनमात्मनि ॥२७ ॥  

akhaṇḍānandamātmānaṃ vijñāya svasvarūpataḥ ।

bahirantaḥ sadānandarasāsvādanamātmani ॥ 27॥

Upon realizing the Self that is impartite bliss as one’s own essence (there follows) the savoring of the timeless bliss that is the Self, both externally and internally.—27

वैराग्यस्य फलं बोधो बोधस्योपरतिः फलम् । स्वानन्दानुभवच्छान्तिरेषैवोपरतेः फलम् ॥ २८ ॥  

vairāgyasya phalaṃ bodho bodhasyoparatiḥ phalam ।

svānandānubhavacchāntireṣaivoparateḥ phalam ॥ 28॥

Of detachment the fruit is knowledge: of knowledge the fruit is withdrawal. Experience of Self as bliss leads to peace; again, peace is the fruit of withdrawal.--28

यद्युत्तरोत्तराभावे पूर्वरूपं तु निष्फलम् ।  निवृत्तिः परमा तृप्तिरानन्दोऽनुपमः स्वतः ॥ २९ ॥  

yadyuttarottarābhāve pūrvarūpaṃ tu niṣphalam ।

nivṛttiḥ paramā tṛptirānando'nupamaḥ svataḥ ॥ 29॥

Without the consequent states, the precedent ones are fruitless, indeed. Cessation is supreme satisfaction; matchless bliss is spontaneous.--29

मायोपाधिर्ज गद्योनिः सर्वज्ञत्वादिलक्षणः । पारोक्ष्यशबलः सत्याद्यात्मकस्तत्पदाभिधः ॥ ३० ॥  

māyopādhirjagadyoniḥ sarvajñatvādilakṣaṇaḥ ।

pārokṣyaśabalaḥ satyādyātmakastatpadābhidhaḥ ॥ 30॥

The expressed sense of the word tat (God) has Maya for His adjunct; He is the world-cause. He is characterized by omniscience, etc.; is tinged by transcendence, and is essentially Truth and so forth.--30

आलम्बनतया भाति योऽस्मत्प्रत्ययशब्दयोः । अन्तःकरणसंभिन्नबोधः स त्वंपदाभिधः ॥ ३१ ॥  

ālambanatayā bhāti yo'smatpratyayaśabdayoḥ ।

antaḥkaraṇ’asaṃbhinnabodhaḥ sa tvaṃpadābhidhaḥ ॥ 31॥

The expressed sense of the word ”Tvam” shines forth as the content of the idea and expression “I”; it is awareness blended with  the mind (the inner organ of perception).

मायाविद्ये विहायैव उपाधी परजीवयोः । अखण्डं सच्चिदानन्दं परं ब्रह्म विलक्ष्यते ॥ ३२॥  

māyāvidye vihāyaiva upādhī parajīvayoḥ ।

akhaṇḍaṃ saccidānandaṃ paraṃ brahma vilakṣyate ॥ 32॥

Only through the exclusion of Maya and Avidya, the adjuncts of God and Jiva is the supreme Spirit, the impartite Being, Consciousness and Bliss, indicated.--32

इत्थं वाक्यैस्तथार्थानुसन्धानं श्रवणं भवेत् । युक्त्या संभावितत्वानुसन्धानं मननं तु तत् ॥ ३३॥

 itthaṃ vākyaistathārthānusandhānaṃ śravaṇaṃ bhavet yuktyā saṃbhāvitatvānusandhānaṃ mananaṃ tu tat ॥ 33 //

“To listen”, thus is to pursue by means of sentences their import. On the other hand, “thinking” consists in perceiving its consistency with reason.--33

ताभ्यं निर्विचिकित्सेऽर्थे चेतसः स्थापितस्य यत् । एकतानत्वमेतद्धि निदिध्यासनमुच्यते ॥ ३४ ॥  

tābhyaṃ nirvicikitse'rthe cetasaḥ sthāpitasya yat ।

ekatānatvametaddhi nididhyāsanamucyate ॥ 34॥

 “Meditation” is indeed the exclusive attention of the mind fixed on (the import) rendered indubitable through listening and thinking--34

ध्यातृध्याने परित्यज्य क्रमाद्ध्येयैकगोचरम् । निवातदीपवच्चित्तं समाधिरभिधीयते ॥ ३५ ॥  

dhyātṛdhyāne parityajya kramāddhyeyaikagocaram ।

nivātadīpavaccittaṃ samādhirabhidhīyate ॥ 35॥

“Concentration” is said to be the mind which, outgrowing the dualism between the meditator and meditation, gradually dwells exclusively on the object (of meditation) and is like a flame in a windless spot.--35

वृत्तयस्तु तदानीमप्यज्ञाता आत्मगोचराः । स्मरणादनुमीयन्ते व्युत्थितस्य समुत्थिताः ॥ ३६ ॥  

vṛttayastu tadānīmapyajñātā ātmagocarāḥ ।

smaraṇādanumīyante vyutthitasya samutthitāḥ ॥ 36॥

Mind’s modifications in regard to the Self are un-cognized in that state; they are (only) inferred as past, after quitting the state of Samadhi.--36

अनादाविह संसारे संचिताः कर्मकोटयः । अनेन विलयं यान्ति शुद्धो धर्मो विवर्धते ॥ ३७ ॥  

anādāviha saṃsāre saṃcitāḥ karmakoṭayaḥ ।

anena vilayaṃ yānti  śuddho dharmo vivardhate ॥ 37॥

Crores of karmas, accumulated in this beginning-less trans-migratory life, are dissolved by means of concentration: (then) pure virtue begins to flourish.--37

धर्ममेघमिमं प्राहुः समाधिं योगवित्तमाः । वर्षत्येष यथा धर्मामृतधाराः सहस्रशः ॥ ३८ ॥  

dharmameghamimaṃ prāhuḥ samādhiṃ yogavittamāḥ ।

varṣatyeṣa yathā dharmāmṛtadhārāḥ sahasraśaḥ ॥ 38॥

The best knowers of Yoga call this concentration the cloud of virtues, since it rains the flood-waters of virtue in a thousand streams.--38

अमुना वासनाजाले निःशेषं प्रविलापिते । समूलोन्मूलिते पुण्यपापाख्ये कर्मसंचये ॥ ३९ ॥   

amunā vāsanājāle niḥśeṣaṃ pravilāpite  ।

samūlonmūlite puṇyapāpākhye karmasaṃcaye ॥ 39॥

वाक्यमप्रतिबद्धं सत्प्राक्परोक्षावभासिते । करामलकमवद्बोधपरोक्षं प्रसूयते ॥ ४० ॥  

 vākyamapratibaddhaṃ satprākparokṣāvabhāsite ।

karāmalakamavadbodhaparokṣaṃ prasūyate ॥ 40॥

When the load of innate impulses is dissolved without residue by means of this (cloud of virtues) and heaps of karmans, good and evil, are totally eradicated, the major text, which at first shone forth immediately, now unobstructed, yields immediate awareness as (clear) as the myrobalan in the palm (of one’s hand).—39 & 40

वासनानुदयो भोग्ये वैराग्यस्य तदावधिः । अहंभावोदयाभावो बोधस्य परमावधिः || ४१॥  

 vāsanānudayo bhogye vairāgyasya tadāvadhiḥ ।

ahaṃbhāvodayābhāvo bodhasya paramāvadhiḥ ॥ 41॥

The non-occurrence of the impulse (to enjoy, etc.,) in regard to the objects of enjoyment marks the acme of detachment. The highest pitch of awareness is (marked by) the non-occurrence of the egoistic sense.--41

लीनवृत्तेरनुत्पत्तिर्मर्यादोपरतेस्तु सा ।  

līnavṛtteranutpattirmaryādoparatestu sā ।  

The acme of withdrawal is (marked by) the non-occurrence of (even) the latent impulse (to enjoy)—42A\

स्थितप्रज्ञो यतिरयं यः सदानन्दमश्नुते ॥ ४२ ॥  

sthitaprajño yatirayaṃ yaḥ sadānandamaśnute ॥ 42॥

He is the ascetic of steadfast wisdom who enjoys bliss forever—42B

ब्रह्मण्येव विलीनात्मा निर्विकारो विनिष्क्रियः । ब्रह्मात्मनोः शोधितयोरेकभावावगाहिनि ॥ ४३॥  

brahmaṇyeva vilīnātmā nirvikāro viniṣkriyaḥ ।

brahmātmanoḥ śodhitayorekabhāvāvagāhini ॥ 43॥

निर्विकल्पा च चिन्मात्रा वृत्तिः प्रज्ञेति कथ्यते ।

nirvikalpā cha chinmātrā vṛttiḥ prajñeti kathyate ।

Whose self is merged in Brahman alone; who is immutable and quiescent. Wisdom (prajna) is defined as the unwavering spiritual mode whose content is the unity of Brahman and Atman purged (of all adjuncts).—43& 44A

सा सर्वदा भवेद्यस्य स जीवन्मुक्त इष्यते || ४४ ||

sā sarvadā bhavedyasya sa jīvanmukta iṣyate ॥ 44॥

Whosoever possesses it (wisdom) without a break is liberated in life;--44B

देहेन्द्रियेष्वहंभाव इदंभावस्तदन्यके । यस्य नो भवतः क्वापि स जीवन्मुक्त इष्यते ॥ ४५॥  

dehendriyeṣvahaṃbhāva idaṃbhāvastadanyake ।

yasya no bhavataḥ kvāpi sa jīvanmukta iṣyate ॥ 45॥

Who has no conceit of “I” in regard to body and senses; nor the conceit of objects in regard to things other than “them” who is free from these two conceits in regard to anything whatsoever is liberated-in-life;--45

न प्रत्यग्ब्रह्मणोर्भेदं कदापि ब्रह्मसर्गयोः । प्रज्ञया यो विजानाति स जीवन्मुक्त इष्यते ॥ ४६॥  

na pratyagbrahmaṇorbhedaṃ kadāpi brahmasargayoḥ ।

prajñayā yo vijānāti sa jīvanmukta iṣyate ॥ 46॥

Who, in his wisdom, perceives no difference between the subject and Brahman; who neither refers to the creator nor creation is liberated in life.

साधुभिः पूज्यमानेऽस्मिन्पीड्यमानेऽपि दुर्जनैः । समभावो भवेद्यस्य स जीवन्मुक्त इष्यते ॥ ४७ ॥  

sādhubhiḥ pūjyamāne'sminpīḍyamāne'pi durjanaiḥ ।

samabhāvo bhavedyasya sa jīvanmukta iṣyate ॥ 47॥

Whose attitude is the same both when he is honored by the virtuous and when he is persecuted by the wicked is liberated in life.--47

विज्ञातब्रह्मतत्त्वस्य यथापूर्वं न संसृतिः अस्ति चेन्न स विज्ञातब्रह्मभावो बहिर्मुखः ॥ ४८ ॥  

vijñātabrahmatattvasya yathāpūrvaṃ na saṃsṛtiḥ ।

asti cenna sa vijñātabrahmabhāvo bahirmukhaḥ ॥ 48॥

He who has realized the truth of Brahman no longer transmigrates, as hitherto; if he does, this truth has not been realized by him; he is but an extrovert.--48

सुखाद्यनुभवो यावत्तावत्प्रारब्धमिष्यते । फलोदयः क्रियापूर्वो निष्क्रियो नहि कुत्रचित् ॥ ४९॥ 49.

sukhādyanubhavo yāvattāvatprārabdhamiṣyate ।

phalodayaḥ kriyāpūrvo niṣkriyo nahi kutracit ॥ 49॥

As long as the experience of pleasure, etc., lasts, so long operative karmas from the past are held to persist. (Causal) actions precede the occurrence of effects; never is this unpreceded by actions--49

अहं ब्रह्मेति विज्ञानात्कल्पकोटिशतार्जितम् ।संचितं विलयं याति प्रबोधात्स्वप्नकर्मवत् ॥ ५०॥  

ahaṃ brahmeti vijñānātkalpakoṭiśatārjitam ।

saṃcitaṃ vilayaṃ yāti prabodhātsvapnakarmavat ॥ 50॥

Consequent on the experience “I am Brahman”, karmas accumulated in the course of aeons are dissolved, even as the actions in dreams are, upon waking up.--50

स्वमसङ्गमुदासीनं परिज्ञाय नभो यथा । न श्लिष्यते यतिः किंचित्कदाचिद्भाविकर्मभिः ॥ ५१॥ 

 svamasaṅgamudāsīnaṃ parijñāya nabho yathā ।

na śliṣyate yatiḥ kiṃcitkadācidbhāvikarmabhiḥ ॥ 51॥

Just as nothing clings to space, so to the sage, who knows the Self to be unattached and indifferent, future actions cling not in the least degree--51

न नभो घटयोगेन सुरागन्धेन लिप्यते । तथात्मोपाधियोगेन तद्धर्मे नैव लिप्यते ॥ ५२ ॥  

na nabho ghaṭayogena surāgandhena lipyate ।

tathātmopādhiyogena taddharme naiva lipyate ॥ 52॥

Just as space is unaffected by the smell of liquor though it touches the pot (containing the liquor), so is Self  unaffected  by the  attributes of Its adjuncts--52

ज्ञानोदयात्पुरारब्धं कर्म ज्ञानान्न नश्यति ।  अदत्त्वा स्वफलं लक्ष्यमुद्दिश्योत्सृष्टबाणवत् ॥ ५ ३ ॥  

jñānodayātpurārabdhaṃ karma jñānānna naśyati ।

adattvā svaphalaṃ lakṣyamuddiśyotsṛṣṭabāṇavat ॥ 53॥

Karmas done before the dawn of knowledge perish not as a result of that knowledge; they must produce their proper effect even as an arrow shot to hit a target (stops not before hitting it)--53

व्याघ्रबुद्ध्या विनिर्मुक्तो बाणः पश्चात्तु गोमतौ । न तिष्ठति भिनत्त्येव लक्ष्यं वेगेन निर्भरम् ॥ ५४ ॥  

 vyāghrabuddhyā vinirmukto bāṇaḥ paścāttu gomatau ।

na tiṣṭhati bhinattyeva lakṣyaṃ vegena nirbharam ॥ 54॥

The arrow discharged (to hit) what was taken for a tiger stops not, though, alter, (the target) is known to be a cow; the target is hit with full force--54

अजरोऽस्म्यमरोऽस्मीति य आत्मानं प्रपद्यते । तदात्मना तिष्ठतोऽस्य कुतः प्रारब्धकल्पना ॥ ५५ ॥  

ajaro'smyamaro'smīti ya ātmānaṃ prapadyate ।

tadātmanā tiṣṭhato'sya kutaḥ prārabdhakalpanā ॥ 55॥

“I am un-ageing”; “I am immortal” --how can one who knows his Self to be such and lives that knowledge fabricate operative past actions?--55

प्रारब्धं सिद्ध्यति तदा यदा देहात्मना स्थितिः । देहात्मभावो नैवेष्टः प्रारब्धं त्यज्यतामतः ॥ ५६  ॥  

prārabdhaṃ siddhyati tadā yadā dehātmanā sthitiḥ ।

dehātmabhāvo naiveṣṭaḥ prārabdhaṃ tyajyatāmataḥ ॥ 56॥

Then only is operative past action real when one mistakes one’s Self to be the body. The treatment of the body as Self is improper; therefore reject (the notion) of operative past action.--56

प्रारब्धकल्पनाप्यस्य देहस्य भ्रान्तिरेव हि ॥ ५७  ॥  

prārabdhakalpanāpyasya dehasya bhrāntireva hi ॥ 57॥\

The fabrication of operative past actions is also, indeed, a delusion due to this bod--57

अध्यस्तस्य कुतस्तत्त्वमसत्यस्य कुतो जनिः । अजातस्य कुतो नाशः प्रारब्धमसतः कुतः ॥ ५८  

adhyastasya kutastattvamasatyasya kuto janiḥ ।

ajātasya kuto nāśaḥ prārabdhamasataḥ kutaḥ ॥ 58॥

How can the superimposed be real? How can the unreal be born? How can the unborn perish? How can the unreal own operative past actions?—58

ज्ञानेनाज्ञानकार्यस्य समूलस्य लयो यदि ।  तिष्ठत्ययं कथं देह इति शङ्कावतो जडान् ।  समाधातुं बाह्यदृष्ट्या प्रारब्धं वदति श्रुतिः || ५९ || न तु देहादिसत्यत्वबोधनाय विपश्चिताम् ।  परिपूर्णमनाद्यन्तमप्रमेयमविक्रियम् ॥ ६०  ॥  

jñānenājñānakāryasya samūlasya layo yadi ।

tiṣṭhatyayaṃ kathaṃ deha iti śaṅkāvato jaḍān ।

samādhātuṃ bāhyadṛṣṭyā prārabdhaṃ vadati śrutiḥ ॥ 59॥

na tu dehādisatyatvabodhanāya vipaścitām ।

paripūrṇamanādyantamaprameyamavikriyam ॥ 60॥

To answer the dull-witted (who) doubtfully ask how this body persists if the entire effects of nescience with their cause are destroyed by knowledge, Shruti, with an outward eye, propounds the theory of operative past actions; not to suggest to the wise that the body, etc., are real.—59-60

पत्यगेकरसं पूर्णमनन्तं सर्वतोमुखम् ॥ ६१॥  

sadghanaṃ cidghanaṃ nityamānandaghanamavyayam ।

pratyagekarasaṃ pūrṇamanantaṃ sarvatomukham ॥ 61॥

A total plenum, without beginning and end, measure and change.
Massed being and intelligence, massed eternal bliss, undiminishing,

अहेयमनुपादेयमनाधेयमनाश्रयम् ।  निर्गुणं निष्क्रियं सूक्ष्मं निर्विकल्पं निरञ्जनम्  || 62 ||

aheyamanupādeyamanādheyamanāśrayam ।

nirguṇaṃ niṣkriyaṃ sūkṣmaṃ nirvikalpaṃ nirañjanam ॥ 62॥

With the sole savor of the subject, full, endless, behold all, neither to be shunned nor seized, neither to be held nor propped--62

अनिरूप्यस्वरूपं यन्मनोवाचामगोचरम् ।  सत्समृद्धं स्वतःसिद्धं शुद्धं बुद्धमनोदृशम् ॥ ६३ ॥  

anirūpyasvarūpaṃ yanmanovācāmagocaram ।

satsamṛddhaṃ svataḥsiddhaṃ śuddhaṃ buddhamanodṛśam ॥ 63॥

Beyond inert forces and actions, subtle, certain, unblemished whose essence is beyond thought, beyond mind and words;--63

स्वानुभूत्या स्वयं ज्ञात्वा स्वमात्मानमखण्डितम् ।  स सिद्धः सुसुखं तिष्ठ निर्विकल्पात्मनात्मनि ॥ ६४ ॥  

svānubhūtyā svayaṃ jñātvā svamātmānamakhaṇḍitam ।

sa siddhaḥ susukhaṃ tiṣṭha nirvikalpātmanātmani ॥ 64॥

Existent, a plenitude, self-proven, pure, awake and matchless. One only is non-dual Brahman; here is no plurality at all.--64

क्व गतं केन वा नीतं कुत्र लीनमिदं जगत् ।  अधुनैव मया दृष्टं नास्ति किं महदद्भुतम् ॥   ६५   ॥ 

kva gataṃ kena vā nītaṃ kutra līnamidaṃ jagat ।

adhunaiva mayā dṛṣṭaṃ nāsti kiṃ mahadadbhutam ॥ 65॥

kva gataṃ where did it go? 

kena vā nītaṃ - by whom it was taken?

kutra līnamidaṃ jagat – where did this world disappear?

adhunaiva mayā dṛṣṭaṃ - just now I have seen it

nāsti – and now it does not exist

kiṃ mahadadbhutam – isn’t this a great surprise?  || 65 ||

किं हेयं किमुपादेयं किमन्यत्किं विलक्षणम् ।  अखण्डानन्दपीयूषपूर्णब्रह्ममहार्णवे ॥ ६६॥

kiṃ heyaṃ kimupādeyaṃ kimanyatkiṃ vilakṣaṇam ।

akhaṇḍānandapīyūṣapūrṇabrahmamahārṇave ॥ 66॥

Kiṃ heyaṃ - what needs to be rejected?

kimupādeyaṃ - what is to be accepted ?

kimanyat – what is other than this ?

kiṃ vilakṣaṇam - what is different from it ?

akhaṇḍānandapīyūṣapūrṇabrahmamahārṇave –

-in this Great Ocean of Brahman which is nectar like never-ending, undivided source of joy || 66 ||

न किंचिदत्र पश्यामि न शृणोमि न वेद्म्यहम् ।  स्वात्मनैव सदानन्दरूपेणास्मि स्वलक्षणः ॥ ६७॥ 

na kiṃcidatra paśyāmi na śṛṇomi na vedmyaham ।

svātmanaiva sadānandarūpeṇāsmi svalakṣaṇaḥ ॥ 67॥

na kiṃcidatra paśyāmi na śṛṇomi na vedmyaham । - In this, I do not see anything else, I do not hear anything else, I do not know any other existence.

svātmanaiva sadānandarūpeṇāsmi svalakṣaṇaḥ - I exist in my own Blissful Self always – by the grace of my own glory - this is my peculiarity. || 67 ||

असङ्गोऽहमनङ्गोऽहमलिङ्गोऽहं हरिः ।  प्रशान्तोऽहमनन्तोऽहं परिपूर्णश्चिरन्तनः ॥ ६८॥ 

asaṅgo'hamanaṅgo'hamaliṅgo'haṃ hariḥ ।

praśānto'hamananto'haṃ paripūrṇaścirantanaḥ ॥ 68॥

asaṅgo'hamanaṅgo'hamaliṅgo'haṃ hariḥ ।

asango aham – I am free from all attachments

anango aham – I have no parts – I am the Whole

alingo aham – I have no marks or blemishes

harih – I am all-encompassing Harih

praśānto'ham – I am serene and calm

ananto'haṃ - I am Infinite

paripūrṇaś - I am perfect and Complete

cirantanaḥ - I am existing forever.  || 68 ||

अकर्ताहमभोक्ताहमविकारोऽहमव्ययः ।  शुद्ध बोधस्वरूपोऽहं केवलोऽहं सदाशिवः ॥ ६९॥  

akartāhamabhoktāhamavikāro'hamavyayaḥ ।

śuddha bodhasvarūpo'haṃ kevalo'haṃ sadāśivaḥ   ॥ 69॥

akartā aham  - I do not claim ownership of anything

abhoktāham – I am not the enjoyer

avikāro'ham- I am without any modification

avyayaḥ  - I am ever the same

śuddha bodhasvarūpo'haṃ - I am the unblemished awakened  Self

 kevalo'haṃ - I am the Absolute One

sadāśivaḥ -  -(I am) Shiva, always Auspicious ॥ 69॥

एतां विद्यामपान्तरतमाय ददौ । अपान्तरतमो ब्रह्मणे ददौ ।  ब्रह्मा घोराङ्गिरसे ददौ ।   घोराङ्गिरा रैक्वाय ददौ  रैक्वो रामाय ददौ ।  रामः सर्वेभ्यो भूतेभ्यो ददावित्येतन्निर्वाणानुशासनं.|वेदानुशासनं वेदानुशासनमित्युपनिषत्

etāṃ vidyāmapāntaratamāya dadau । apāntaratamo brahmaṇe dadau ।

brahmā ghorāṅgirase dadau । ghorāṅgirā raikvāya dadau । raikvo rāmāya dadau । rāmaḥ sarvebhyo bhūtebhyo dadāvityetannirvāṇānuśāsanaṃ

vedānuśāsanaṃ vedānuśāsanamityupaniṣat ॥

To Apantaratamas was this science imparted. He imparted it to Brahma, who passed it on to Ghorangiras. The latter gave it to Raikva and Raikva to Rama. Rama imparted it to all beings.

This is the injunction in regard to Nirvana; this is the injunction of the Vedas, of the Vedas. This is the secret Teaching.

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।  पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥    

Om̃ pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ pūrṇātpūrṇamudacyate ।

pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya pūrṇamevāvaśiṣyate ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥   हरिः ॐ तत्सत् ॥  

Om Shantih! Shantih! Shantih!

Om! That (Brahman) is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. (Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe), It remains as the infinite (Brahman) alone. 

Om!  Let there be Peace in me! Let there be Peace in my environment! Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me!

इति अध्यात्मोपनिषत्समाप्ता ॥  

So ends Adhyaatmopanishat ||

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

[The contents by K. Narayanasvami Iyer, Translaion by Dr. K. G. Warrier and wisdom Thoughts of Swami Krishnanada on Atma Vidyaa reproduced from Internet made available at one-source  for the purpose of series of discourses, Parayana (chanting) and meditatation  is  gratefully acknowledged.]

APPENDIX

ADHTYATMA VIDYA & ADVAITA VEDANTA IN YOGA VASISHTHA

Yoga Vasistha is famous as one of the historically popular and influential texts   of Hinduisam Other names of this text are Maha Ramayana, Arsha Ramayana, Vasiṣṭha Ramayana Yogavasistha-Ramayana and Jnanavasistha.

Yoga Vasistha teachings are structured as stories and  with a  philosophical foundation similar to those found in Advaita Vedanta, is particularly associated with drsti-srsti subschool of Advaita which holds that the "whole world of things is the object of mind". The text is notable for   non duality and its discussion of Yoga.

The complete text contains over 29,000 verses.  The short version of the text is called Laghu Yogavasistha and contains 6,000 verses. The text is structured as a discourse of sage Vasiashtha  to Prince Raa. 

The philosophy and ideas presented in Yoga Vasistha mirror those of found in Advaita Vedanta of Adi Shankara, but neither mention the other, which probably means that the author(s) of Yoga Vasistha were scholars who lived in the same century as Shankara, placing the text in about 7th- to early 8th-century. The shorter summary version of the text is attributed to the Kashmiri scholar Abhinanda, who has been variously dated to have lived in 9th- or 10th-century.

The Yoga Vasistha is a syncretic work, containing elements of Vedanta, Yoga, Samkhya, Saiva Siddhanta, Jainism and Mahayana Buddhism, thus making it, according to Chapple, "a Hindu text par excellence, including, as does Hinduism, a mosaic-style amalgam of diverse and sometimes opposing traditions. It is likely that thi e vauthor of this text has been influenced by Rama Gita  but modelled vafter Bhagavad Gita!

The text consists of six books:

• Book 1: titled Vairagya-prakaranam (Exposition of dispassion), which opens with Rama frustrated with the nature of life, human suffering and disdain for the world.
• Book 2: titled Mumukshuvayahara-prakaranam (Exposition of the behavior of the seeker), which describes, through the character of Rama, the desire for liberation, the nature of those who seek such liberation, and the need for self-effort in all spiritual pursuits.
• Book 3: titled Utpatti-prakaranam (Exposition of the arising and birth), describes the birth of all creation as well as the birth of spiritual side of Rama.
• Book 4: titled Sthiti-prakaranam (Exposition of the existence and settling), describes the nature of world and many non-dualism ideas with numerous stories.  It emphasizes free will and human creative power.
• Book 5: titled Upashama-prakaranam (Exposition of the patience and tranquility), discusses meditation to dissolution of false dualism, to feel oneness and its powers in liberating the individual.
• Book 6:  itled Nirvana-prakaranam (Exposition of the freedom and liberation), the last book describes the state of an enlightened and blissful Rama. The last book also has large sections on Yoga.

The Nirnaya Sagar version of Yoga Vasistha manuscript has 1146 verses in the first Book, 807 in second, 6304 verses in third, 2414 verses in the fourth book, 4322 in the fifth, while the last is longest with 14296 verses, for a cumulative total of 29,289 verses.  

Yoga Vasistha: Eternal Wisdom of Rishi Vashista

After embarking on a long and tiresome pilgrimage Prince ‪‎Rama of Ayodhya found himself disillusioned with the world. He was overwhelmed by the pains of the people he met during his travel and found the world around him to be gruesome. He was not sure why the world and life were so “unfair.” He had so many questions which every time he tried to answer them himself landedhim in an abyss of confusion. The ones close to him weren’t of any help. Eventually, his enthusiasm in his duties fell steeply, causing great concern to his father and King of ‪Ayodhya – ‪Dasharatha. The concerned king sought help from his ‪Rajaguru Vashistha. ‪Yoga ‎Vashistha is the name of the very document which contains the complete record of the imaginery dialogue between Rama and Vashistha. The text however is believed to be authored by a Rama-bhakta scholar  around 7th or 8th century dedicted toSri Rama and his Guru Sage Vasishtha.  Originally in ‪Vedic Sanskrit, a great many translations available today have failed miserably to bring out the perfectly rational ideas and views present in it. The following are some of the key teachings retranslated by U. Mahesh Prabhu.

1. True wisdom is that with which can we convert our emptiness into fullness, overcome the fear of death with the true idea of immortality and convert adversity into prosperity.
2. Sage is he who is absolute and beyond selflessness, who works for universal welfare. If sages became concerned solely with their own happiness with whom could those tormented by the sorrows are to seek refuge?
3. Dispassion is the true sign of a sage living in wisdom; it is the real purport of the sacred texts and is also the comprehensive wisdom.
4. Wisdom grows steadily in a person once (s) he recognizes its importance and dedicates his/her life to it.
5. (S) He is a happy whose mind is inwardly cool and free from attachment and hatred and who looks upon this world as if a mere spectator.
6. A person who has understood well how to abandon all ideas of acceptance and rejection and who has realized the consciousness which is within the innermost heart – the life of such a person is truly illustrious.
7. When a pot has broken the space within it becomes unlimited. So also when bodies cease to exist the Self remains eternal and unattached.
8. Neither disease nor poison nor adversity nor any other thing in the world cause more suffering to people than such stupidity engendered in their bodies.
9. Even though bondage does not really exist, it becomes strong through the desire for worldly objects; when this desire subsides bondage becomes weak.

The world is full of misery to an ignorant man and full of bliss to a wise man. The world is dark to a blind man and bright to one who has eyes.Just as the dream become unreal in the waking state and the waking state in the dream, so also death becomes unreal in birth and birth in death.

10. All these are thus neither real nor unreal. They are the effect of delusion, mere impression arising out of some past experiences.
11. Just as a crystal is not stained by what is reflected in it, so also the person who knows the truth is not really affected by the result of his acts.
12. Even while he is intent on outward actions (the person who knows the truth) always remain introverted and extremely calm like one asleep.
13. Firmly convinced of non-duality and enjoying perfect mental peace, Yogis go about their work seeing the world as if it were a dream.
14. Let death come to the person who knows the truth; today or at the end of eons; (s)he remains untarnished like gold buried in mine.
15. (S)he may cast off his body at Kashi or in the house of an outcast. The one who has known eternal knowledge is liberated at the very moment of knowing.
16. To one who is bereft of desires the earth is hoof-print of a cow, Mount Meru a mound, space as much contained in a casket and the three worlds a blade of grass.
17. The man with a noble heart, whose desire has come to an end, is truly a liberated man; it does not matter whether or not he practices meditation or action.
18. The idea of the self is bondage. Abandonment of it is liberation. There is neither bondage nor liberation for the ever-free self.
19. O, Rama, there is neither intellect nor mind, neither nescience nor mind, neither individual nor soul. These are the concepts born out of mind.
20. O Rama, the mind has by its own activity bound itself – when it’s calm it’ll be free.
21. The consciousness which is undivided imagines to itself desirable objects and runs after them. It is then known as the mind.
22. Just as fire born out of the wind is extinguished by the same wind, so also that which is born out of imagination is destroyed by imagination itself.
23. The mind has come into existence through this imagination on account of forgetfulness. Like the experience of one’s own death in a dream, it ceases to exist when scrutinized.
24. The idea of the self in what is not the self is due to incorrect understanding. The idea of reality in what is unreal, O Rama, know that to be the mind.
25. “This is his”, “I am this”, “That is mine” such ideas constitute the mind; it disappears when one ponders over these false ideas.
26. It is the nature of the mind to accept certain things and to reject others; this is bondage – nothing else.
27. The mind is the creator of the world; the mind is the individual (Purusha); only that which is done by the mind is regarded as done, not that which is done by the body. The arm with which one embraces the wife is the very arm which embraces the daughter.
28. The mind is the cause of objects of perception. The three worlds depend on it. When it is dissolved the world is also dissolved. It is to be cured (i.e. purified) with effort.
29. The mind is bound by latent impressions (Vasanas). When there are no impressions it is free. Therefore, O Rama, bring about quickly, through discrimination, the state in which there are no impressions.
30. O Rama, he who, with an inturned mind, offers all the three worlds, like dried grass, as an oblation in the fire of knowledge, becomes free from the illusions of the mind.
31. When one knows the real truth about acceptance and rejection and does not think of anything but abides in himself, abandoning everything, his mind does not come into existence.
32. The mind is Ghoram (terrible) in the waking state, Santam (gentle) in the dream state, Mudham (dull) in deep sleep and dead when not in any of these three states.
33. The only element to be conquered is the mind. Its conquest leads to the attainment of everything. Without its conquest all other efforts are fruitless.
34. To be unperturbed is the foundation of bliss. One attains liberation by it. To human beings, even the conquest of the three worlds, without the conquest of the mind, is as insignificant as a blade of grass.
35. Association with the wise, abandonment of the latent impressions, self-inquiry, control of breathing – these are the means of conquering the mind.
36. The one who is shod with leather the earth is as good as covered with leather. Even so to the mind which is full; the world overflows with nectar.
37. When the mind is abandoned, everything that is dual or single is dissolved. What remains after that is the Supreme Brahman, peacefu, eternal and free from misery.
38. There is nothing to equal the supreme joy felt by a person of pure mind who has attained the state of pure consciousness and overcome death.
39. To one who has realized the self by inquiry, Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva are objects of compassion.
40. By abandonment of the latent impressions or by the control of breathing mind ceases to be the mind – practice whichever you like.
41. O Rama, cherish the association of sages and the true scriptures; you will attain the state of Supreme Consciousness not in the course of months but days.
42. Latent impressions cease to exist when one associate with sages, discards all thoughts of Samsara (world) and remembers that the body has to die.
43. O Rama, even ignorant with the firmness of their conviction convert poison into potion and potion into poison.
44. If one realizes the unity of things everywhere, one always remains tranquil, inwardly cool and pure like space without the idea of the self.
45. If one is cool inwardly the whole world will be cool, but when one is hot the whole world will be a burning mass.
46. Unmoved by adversity, a friend of all world in prosperity, without ideas of existence and non-existence, I live free from misery.
47. Inactive, desire-less, clear as the sky, free from hankering, tranquil, formless, everlasting and unmoving – this is me.
48. I am above everything, I am present everywhere, I am like space, I am that which really exist, I am unable to say anything beyond this.
49. Let imaginary waves of universe rise or fall in me, the ocean infinite consciousness, there’ll no increase or decrease in me.
50. How wonderful that in me, the infinite ocean of consciousness, waves of Jivas (individual soul) arises, sport for a while and disappear according to their nature.
51. The world which has come into existence on account of my ignorance has dissolved likewise in me. I now directly experience the world as the supreme bliss of Consciousness.
52. I prostrate to myself who am within all being, the ever free Self-abiding as inner consciousness.
53. O Raghava, be outwardly active but inwardly inactive, outwardly a doer but inwardly a non-doer and thus play your part in this world.
54. O Rama, abandon all desires inwardly, be free from attachments and latent impressions do everything outwardly and thus play your part in the world.
55. O Rama, adopt a comprehensive view, characterized by the abandonment of all objects of contemplation, live in your innate self, liberated even while alive and thus play your part in this world.
56. Burn the forest of duality with the fire of the conviction, ‘I am the one Pure Consciousness’ and remain happy.
57. You are bound firmly on all sides by the idea that “I am a body.” Cut that bound by the sword of knowledge. Know that you are Consciousness and be happy.
58. Do not be that which is understood, nor the one who understands. Abandon all concepts and remain what you are.
59. Eliminate one concept by another and the mind by the mind and abide in the Self. Is this so difficult?
60. Sever the mind, which has on account of its cares become red hot, with the mind which is like Iron sharpened by the study of Vedic scriptures.
61. The mere knowledge that this body is like a piece of wood or a clod of earth, enables one to realize the supreme self.
62. If you separate yourself from the body and abide at ease in Consciousness you will become one, with everything else appearing insignificant like a grass.
63. Knowledge is not separate from you and that which is known is not separate from knowledge. Hence there is nothing other than the self, nothing separate from it.
64. Know for once that you are the whole universe, the undecaying Supreme self, there is neither past nor future apart from you.
65. The sense of perceiver and perceived is common to all embodied beings, but the Yogi worships oneself (not one’s ego).
66. The self is realized in the body only with effort; like sugar from the sugarcane, oil from sesame seeds, fire from wood, flutter from cow and iron from stones.
67. The self is without a beginning or end.
68. The self is absolute consciousness. It is pure awareness, un-decaying, free from all ideas of acceptance or rejection and not limited by space, time or genus.
69. There is neither bondage nor liberation, neither duality nor non-duality. There is only Brahman always shining as Consciousness.
70. Awareness is Brahman, the world is Brahman, the various elements are Brahman; I am Brahman; my enemy is Brahman, my friends and relatives are Brahman. 
71. There is only consciousness here; this universe is nothing but consciousness, you are consciousness, I am consciousness, the worlds are consciousness – this is the conclusion.
72. Consciousness alone shines by itself. Ideas of knower and the known are idle postulates.
73. Supreme Bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the senses with their objects. The supreme state is that in which the mind is annihilated through one-pointed inquiry.
74. The bliss arising from the contact of the senses with their objects is inferior. Contact with the sense objects is bondage. Freedom from them alone is liberation.
75. Attain the pure state between existence and non-existence and hold on to it; do not accept or reject the inner or the outer world.
76. The belief in a knower and the known is called bondage. The knower is bound by the known; he is liberated when there is nothing to know.
77. One who realizes that everything is Brahman truly becomes a Brahman.

 ADHYAATMA VIDYAA--THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SELFTop of Form

•  

[Swamiji Krisahnananda leads the audience in chanting]

The Upanishads are well known for what is known as adhyatma vidya, meaning thereby, an insight into the Self, the wisdom of the Self, knowledge of the Self – an experience which cannot, in any manner whatsoever, alienate itself into other than what it is. Our experience in this world today, normally speaking, is involved in what can be designated as anatman, the non-Self as it is called, because it is our daily experience – an experience of what we are not. We see the world; we see people; we see human relations. And, all that we can consider as 'life', in today's parlance, is far removed from the true Self.

The characteristic of a Self is what usually eludes the grasp of the sense organs in their search for the Self, of a true satisfaction of themselves. In this world of anatman, or non-Self, we are actually searching for the Self – very mysteriously, maybe very unfortunately. Though inasmuch as the world appears as an object of our sense organs, it has to be considered as an anatman, or a not-Self. The intention behind our pursuit of the anatman is actually the pursuit of the Atman. Unknowingly, groping in the dark as it were, we are searching for our own selves, and search for the Atman in a locality where it is not.

The characteristic of the world has to be distinguished from the characteristic of selfhood. This peculiar distinction between the two principles is what becomes difficult for the mind and the senses to grasp. And it is precisely this difficulty that compels the senses, together with the mind, to run in a direction totally opposite to the Self – though for the purpose of the grasp of the Self only. In the commentary on the Brahma Sutra, Acharya Shankara, perhaps while expounding the meaning of the fourth sutra, he makes a reference to three kinds of 'selves', to which we have made some reference earlier in our sessions.

That is to say, there is a self which we pursue through the sense organs, which is the object-self – the vishaya, the anatmantatva, the gaunatman as it is usually called, the secondary self. An object of affection is also an object of such attraction and self-identification, in an empirical way, that it mostly passes for the Self. The object of love, which is called the gaunatman – is apparently a kind of self for that state of affairs where the concerned object is erroneously attempted to be identified with the true Self – erroneously because of the fact that what is outside the Self cannot be identified with the Self.

The outside-ness of the object is the difficulty involved in the actual possession, identification, and the expected enjoyment thereof. All objects which are beloved to the sense organs are incapable of that identification which they are actually expecting in their adventure or pursuits. The sense organs externalize the consciousness: parcaci khani vytranat svayambhus tasmat paran pasyati nantaratman. The force of the movement of the senses is so very powerfully extrovert that the consciousness, which otherwise cannot be so extroverted, is charged with this velocity of movement in an externalized fashion; and the Self also moves – as it were, though not really – in the direction of an outside object; envelops it, as it were, in terms of the activity of the mind, and is supposed to feel itself in that object in a totally inverted fashion – topsy-turvy fashion. The king, acting as a fool, as it were, in a drama – the Atman becomes the fool, to some extent we may say, in a metaphorical style, when it begins to behold itself in what is it-not. The whole of our life in this world is this picture of dramatic activity of the sense organs – a tomfoolery, we may say. This is the whole of life. It is the pursuit of a twofold non-Atman. On one side it is known as the gaunatman, to which I made reference just now – the object of attraction, love, affection, attachment; then this body, which is called the mithyatman.

This is the whole of life in the world. All our projects and plans of work in the world, throughout the day and the night, concern themselves with values that are related to the physical body, which is the mithyatman, and related to all things connected to the body, namely, the gaunatman. The protection of this body, the ego-individuality, and the protection simultaneously of everything that is connected with this bodily individuality – we may say family circumstances, for instance, and every other related object and condition conducive to the satisfaction of the ego-individuality – is the picture of empirical life.

In one sense, we may say this world is a dream. It is a dream because it is a drama played by consciousness in the same manner as it plays it or enacts it in the well-known dream world. An otherwise impossible phenomenon takes place, namely, the projection of a Self in the location of the non-Self. It is well known that the Self cannot become the non-Self. The very meaning attached to the word 'Self' is such that it cannot become what it is not; and non-externality is the characteristic of the Self. Consciousness cannot become unconsciousness. It cannot see itself as a distant object, separated by space and time. That is, beholding consciousness as an object of itself, as it were, is an impossibility, logically speaking; according to common sense also it is contrary. But such a thing happens in dream. The perceiver of the dream becomes the perceived object also – a well-known phenomenon, into which region we need not traverse now.

A similar structural involvement takes place in the waking world. The structure of dream is the same as the structure of waking. That is, the pattern of the operation of consciousness in dream is similar to the pattern in waking. There has to be a location which perceives; and that perceiver has to be a center of awareness. There has to be another thing that is outside, which is the object thereof. And there must be a medium of perception: pranamana, a pryatakshana for the time being. The same is the structure of waking awareness. There is an object that is known in the world with all its contents; and there is a subject: yourself, myself, everyone from one's own point of view is the perceiver of the world. But, the perceiver is neither the gaunatman nor the mithyatman.

The body is constituted of the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether – prithvi, jal, tejo, vayu, akash. The object that is perceived also is constituted of the very same elements. It is as if a material embodiment collides with another material embodiment. In the language of the Bhagavad Gita: gunah guneshu vartante. The three gunas of prakriti, which constitute all bodies, subjectivity as well as objectivity, are unconscious in their nature. Prakriti is non-conscious. And all the bodies constituted of the prakriti – the physical body of ours, and the embodied form of all objects – are equally constituted of the gunatraya: sattva, rajas, tamas. By an analysis of our experience, we will know that neither the body nor the mental operations are actually the conscious principle. A consciousness that is responsible for the vision of life is not that body, not even the mind. The avasthatraya vishesana will tell us that, though in the waking condition we appear to be physically conscious, we are not so conscious in dream; there is only a mental operation taking place. But in the deep sleep state, even the mind subsides, but we exist still. We exist – just that much onlyand nothing more can be said about ourself in that state: asti tevo bala dhavya. That particular essentiality of our being, which is the true self of ours, can be designated only as asti – It is.

What were we in the state of deep sleep? We were! But what were we? What were we at that time? The definition of that particular state is impossible because there is no quality or adjunct which can be associated with that condition, which was just be-ness. But, it was a state of be-ness associated with awareness. We are generally unconscious in the state of sleep. But, the usual well-known analysis and comparison of the waking state with the sleeping condition brings out the fact that the memory that we have of our having slept the previous day is accountable only on the acceptance of the fact of there being something like consciousness even in the state of deep sleep. Because, no memory is possible unless there was a preceding experience, and experience is always associated with consciousness. Unconscious experience is un-thought off.

So there is a mysterious stifled consciousness, as it were, in the state of deep sleep; that is our essential nature. It is because of the fact of our having sunk into that essential nature of ours in sleep, we feel refreshed and vigorous when we wake up from sleep – strong in ourselves, more strong than we would feel even with a good lunch given to us, because the nearer we go to ourselves, the happier we are, and the more comfort it is that we feel in ourselves.

What is the illustration amounting to? The point that is made out here in the analysis of the three states is that we are neither the body, nor the mind; we are pure Awareness. But, what are the characteristics of this awareness? It has only one characteristic, if at all we can call it one – namely, indivisibility. It cannot be divided into parts. There cannot be a fraction of consciousness; it is a whole by itself. The imagination, even a supposition of there being such a thing as a fraction or a division in consciousness, implies the presence of consciousness – even in that gap that is so imagined. The finitude of consciousness is unthinkable because a consciousness of finitude implies the acceptance of the exceeding of that consciousness beyond the fact of finitude. The awareness of finitude is the acceptance of Infinitude.

This analysis is the proof of the fact of our essentially being infinite in our nature. Our true being is astitva – pure being, which is one with consciousness. It is sat and chit – not 'and', but sat-chit – as an indivisible compound. And that being-consciousness, which we are, which is the true Self of ours, which is not the gaunatman and which is not the mithyatman, is not merely beness-consciousness, sat-chit, it is also indivisible in nature. That is to say, it is non-finite.  It is not located somewhere. It is not true that it is inside our body. It is ubiquitous – all-pervading – because the notion of its being in one place is impossible unless it exceeds itself from the very notion of that finitude. Because of this fact, it is unthinkable how consciousness can become an object and can become a gaunatman, which is actually what is happening in daily life. This is the reason why we say the world is like a dream. Because, in dream, the actuality of selfhood becomes an apparent externality of objecthood; the apparent nature of the object-perception in dream makes it a dream. Otherwise we would not call it a dream at all; it is a reality by itself. The dream character of what we call 'dream' arises because of it being impossible for a perceiving consciousness to become other than what it is. Because consciousness is infinite, it cannot become an object of itself. Infinitude cannot have an object before it.

Thus, on this foundation of an analysis of the indivisibility of consciousness, the infinity of consciousness, it will follow – the infinitude of the perceiver of anything in the world. Thus, the world cannot stand as an object in front of consciousness. But, it has stood as an object; we see it before us. But, if it can be conceived as a really existing thing there, in front of our perceiving consciousness, as an object thereof, certainly we should describe this world as a dream object, because having known that our true perceiving awareness is infinite in its nature, the world cannot stand before it as an outside something. So the outside-ness of the world is dreamy in its nature but it has a reality of its own from another point of view – namely, the astitva, which is the character of the infinitude of consciousness, is at the back of even the so-called appearance of the world.

Appearance cannot be there unless there is a reality behind it. The so-called analogy of the snake in the rope points out that the appearance of the snake is possible only if there is the reality of the rope. So, there is something real even behind the appearance of the world. That is the thing that summons consciousness in the direction of sense-perception – raga-dvesha. It is the Infinite actually that is summoning the Infinite in all forms of perception, even love and hatred. This is a psychological blunder actually taking place in usual perceptions, which are afflicted with sorrow from beginning to end, due to which reason this world-perception is characterized by Maharishi Patanjali as a kleshta vritti. It is a painful operation of the psyche, painful because of the fact it is wrongly beholding things – not as they are, but as they are not.

Apart from these two mentioned: the false Atman – namely, the gaunatman, and the mithyatman – the bodily individuality on the one side that is the mithyatman and the external object which is the gaunatman, there is a third one which is the true Self, called mukhyatman. This is the true Self into which we apparently sink in the state of deep sleep. The unity with this Self is the work of yoga. When we say "we have to practice yoga" and "we want Self-realization", we are aiming at the realization of God. When we make statements like this, we are actually, knowingly or unknowingly, referring to this Universal Self which is within us and without us. It is within us as our knowing consciousness; it is without us as the basis for the appearance of all the forms: nama-rupa prapancha.

Asti, bhati, priya, nama and rupa are supposed to be the fivefold features of everything in the world. Asti means 'be-ness' – 'be' – everything 'is'; bhati – everything is known; priya – everything can be a desirable thing. It has a name because it is nama. It has a form, and it is rupa. But the nama and the rupa – name-form complex – is not the real character of anything.

The particular configuration of personality is due to a peculiar permutation and combination of the three gunas of prakriti. And the combination factor changes from one time to another time, from one birth to another birth, from one cycle to another cycle, so that no individuality can be said to be encased in a particular formation only. Hence, nama-rupa prapancha is not a final reality, it is a fluxation; it is a transitory movement; it changes from moment to moment – not merely from day to day; it is a continuous flow – like a flame of a lamp or the movement of a river, as they usually say. The world, which is visualised as a medley of names and forms, is not the true nature of it. But the astitva and the bhatitva and the priyatva – the satchidananda rupa, as we call it, the true universality that is behind the diversity of forms, is the true Self. So even when we look at things, we are actually looking at the universal Self – wrongly, because we behold it through the sense organs.

When consciousness, when spirit, is beheld through the sense organs, it may look like material objects. But, it has to be beheld through itself. The soul has to behold itself through itself, by itself, and cannot be visualized through any external instrumentality, because thereby it is ceases to be what it is. When the Self is attempted to be beheld through sense organs, it becomes anatman – it is an object – and you are an object for me, and am I an object for you in ordinary sense perception. But, basically, we are ripples and waves, as it were, of a vast sea of awareness which is commonly present everywhere, that is – asti, bhati, priya, satchitananda svarupa. The unity with it is yoga. Various systems of practice have been advocated for the purpose of this communion of the apparent form of ours with the true form of ours.

The apparent form is infested with various components which are the building bricks of the individuality of a person: the body, which is made up of the five elements; the pranas; the sense organs; the mind, with its different functions; the buddhi, the intellect; and there is a causal sheath inside called anandamaya kosha. The consciousness is hidden inside, as it were, covered with a bushel, by a smoke, completely smothered by the activity of this accretion so-called, which is the well-known pancha kosha: annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijnanamaya, anandamaya. The extrication of our true Self from involvement of these accretions is the work of yoga. The schools of yoga differ in the manner of the handling this particular matter.

One thing is common among all the yogas – namely, it is necessary for every student of yoga to realize the error committed by consciousness in its involvement objectively, through names and forms. So, freedom from raga-dvesha is supposed to be the first step in the practice of yoga. Love and hatred is a psychological error, because there is no point in our loving anything individually exclusively, or hating also anything exclusively, because of the well-known fact that all forms which we love or hate are configurations of same triguna of prakriti: rajas, sattva, tamas.

This segregation of forms into the desirable and the undesirable is the work of the peculiar operation of karmic potencies in our body, in our mind, in our pancha-koshas, namely – prarabdha karma. A particular potential called prarabdha is said to be responsible for the manufacture of this body, this body-mind complex. It is so manufactured, so constituted and so formed, as to be fitted into the structure of certain objective relations only and not to all formations in the world. This is the reason why certain persons have certainlikes and certain other persons have certain other likes. So there is no universal like or universal dislike known anywhere. It is totally a relative apprehension of the psyche of people.

Knowing this fact, it is essential for the yoga student to gradually learn the art of what is known as pratyahara, or the withdrawal of the powers of the sense organs, together with the mind, in order to centre it in the Self. The difficulty in the practice of this art of self-withdrawal is well known because the senses are vehement in their nature: indriyani pramathini haranti prasabham manah. Wind-like, gale-like, tempest-like, tornado-like – the senses force the consciousness to go out of itself and behold itself in something other than itself in the form of objects. The power of the action of the sense-organs is such that it is impossible ordinarily for anyone to be free from this impulse. So when we wake up in the morning, we open our eyes and we look outward. No one beholds anything inward. The eyes, which are instruments of visual perception, are made as the means of the surge of this consciousness outwardly due to the desire to see, desire to hear, desire to smell, desire to touch, and desire to taste.

The whole of our life is a bundle of this fivefold desire. We work hard for the fulfilment of these various forms, the fivefold desire, until the body mechanism gets worn out, it gets rusted, and the psyche, which is the manufacturer of the prarabdha karma, feels that this instrument is of no utility anymore; it is shed. This is what we call death. But the desire is not over. It does not mean that on the death of the body the desire also dies. It is not taking place like that. The desire potential will again erupt, like a tendril of a plant, in another form altogether, and another set of karmas, a new group of prarabdhas, will be taken out from the original sanchita – the abode of karma, the reservoir of karmas – and new birth takes place.

Hence, it is impossible to get rid of this torture of moving in this cycle of birth and death merely by getting on with the world as we generally do.  A herculean effort is called for here – day in and day out – with great deliberation of reason, application of the higher reason by analysis, by power of will, by sequestration, isolation, contemplation, even fasting where it is necessary when the senses are very turbulent, and vigilance, day in and day out. 'Vigilance' is the most important, is the watchword of the yoga student – vigilance in the sense that he does not become unwary of the movement of the senses, subtly in the direction of their own particular objects, in spite of the great effort of withdrawal, concentration.

By philosophical self-analysis in the manner we have conducted now, the mind can be taught the lesson that it is futile on its part to pursue pleasure in the world – which is not going to fulfil its promises. The world can promise many things, but it can fulfil not a single promise. That is the nature of this world. So is the delusion of life. It is running after these promises which are expected to be fulfilled. Never will any object of desire extinguish the desire thereof: na jado kamah kamana upabhogye nishamyati – the desire cannot be extinguished by a fulfilment of desire. It increases, like flaming fire on which you pour molten butter. The yogi, therefore, is vigilant in the observation of the movement of the senses in the direction of their objects.

Because of the detection of the evil in the attachment to things, the evil of there being no such pleasure as expected in the objects, the evil of there being no possibility of the Self being another object outside itself, and the evil of there being no chance of the indivisible Self being divisible as the subject and the object – detecting this threefold evil, at least, the person becomes vigilant. The yoga of concentration commences with this analysis of the situation of Selfhood – the true Selfhood independent on the gaunatva and the mithyatva thereof; and when yoga commences, there is concentration automatically, spontaneously arising, on the true nature of the Self, the all-pervading nature of the Self.

This is the bhakti yoga method of pouring out love on that which is everywhere – God all-pervading, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. It becomes bhakti, or devotion, or love, when the devout student pours out the whole of the personality on that deity which is beheld everywhere as one's own God. The devotee's God is the only God, because of the fact that there cannot be another God outside that God. Hence, it is an all-consuming object. The divine object of meditation is all-consuming, but the object of sense is not all-consuming. It is a subtle subterfuge adopted by the sense organs to deceive the Self, to defeat its purpose, and to give it nothing in the end, like a dacoit's operation. But, the true Self which is ubiquitous God Almighty, who is the all-Paramatman, all-including Paramatman, is the consuming Self. So the love of the devotee is poured upon an all-consuming, all-inclusive, all-blessing – paramatmatattva, wherein is the analytic method,  the Self, or the meditator itself is beheld in the Self that is all-pervading.

The all-pervading nature of the Self precludes a separate existence of the meditating principle. The will comes in as an active force of operation to assist the reason in the meditational practice. So reason, will and emotion or feeling come together as an insight. An intense longing arises in the whole personality at the time of the concentration of consciousness on that great ideal of yoga.

Intense longing is usually not a common feature in our daily life. We long for things, no doubt, but we do not so intensely long for one thing independently of other things. We always exclude certain other things. There is a parochial attachment even in our so-called longing for the worthwhile things of life. But, this longing is not parochial, it is not one-sided, it is not exclusive. Here is an inclusive awakening of the whole of oneself in the totality of one's being. All the koshas rise up in their cooperative activity with the surge of the Self in the direction of what it actually seeks. It is the Atman seeking Brahman, we may say in one sentence.

The yoga student, in a seated posture, collects the energies which are physical, neural, muscular, sensory, psychic and rational, as well as emotional, together into a menstruum, as it were, converting them into a liquid of operation, and he stands there as a 'total person' – strong in will, strong in understanding, strong in feeling and strong in aspiration. The practice has to be continued. How long is it to be continued? – is a question that is raised in some place in the Brahma Sutras. Humorous is the answer: you continue it   till death, or continue it until you attain your attain your goal, whichever is earlier. Anyway, this is to say that sadhana is to be continued forever and ever.

In most cases, the realisation does not come in one birth. Maybe it is possible in one birth – if the ardour is so very genuine, burning is the longing, and insatiable is the desire for God, no other thing distracts the mind, you want nothing else, flaming is the aspiration. If that is the case – so genuine is the longing – the realisation of God, the Self, can occur in this very life. But mostly, the difficulties being manifold: manushyanam sahasreshu kaschidyatati siddhaye – very few in this world will actually feel the need for God, and even among those who feel the need, some one will really succeed in this great attainment; this is a well-known caution exercised to us in the words of the Bhagavad Gita. But tasya ham sulabaha also it is said in one place: "I am easy of approach." But, to whom is He sulabha? Who is nityayukta, who is perpetually united with that ideal, to that perpetually united spirit, this attainment is easy, simple, and possible in this very life. Because it is our own Self, it has to be not a very difficult affair. It is our Self, it is me that I am pursuing finally. It is not somebody that I am pursuing and I am asking for. How is it difficult for me to know my Self? But, that is exactly the difficulty of it.

The nearer an object is, the more difficult it becomes to understand; and, the most difficult object is myself. I can investigate scientifically the structure and pattern of everything in the world, but I cannot know myself – because there is no means of knowing myself. There are instruments of perception and observation and experiment in scientific fields. Where is the instrument for observation and experimentation of my Self? The higher Self has to act here as the means, if at all you call it a means, to withdraw this lower self into Itself: uddhared atman atmanam. The absence of any external medium or instrument in the operation here becomes the actual difficulty. The Self is the knower, the Self is the seeker, and it is also the sought; here is the difficulty. Most difficult indeed, because the subject and the object are identical here – the one who seeks is also the one that is sought. But it should be easy also, because it is so near. It is an ascharaya, great wonder: ascharyavat pasyati kaschid enam ascharyavad vadati tathaiva canyah. Ascharya – a wonder, this is a great wonder indeed; very difficult because it is very near, it is me only, but very easy because it is me only.

This is the intriguing situation of the true selfhood of a person. Yet, the glory that is ahead of us, the magnificence of it, and the necessity for it, and it being the only Truth of existence, should preclude the possibility of any hindrance on the path, and should enable us to gird up our loins for this purpose. Yoga is 'all-life' in one sense. Every form of life is capable of transmutation into the true yoga of the Self. God is pervading everywhere – in every particle of sand, in every nucleus of an atom. That being the case, it should be possible to visualize God in anything and convert any form into the true substance thereof, and transmute our perceptions into an insight of the Self.

Thus is the glory thereof, the difficulty mentioned, and also the quickness of the achievement made practicable because of its imperative necessity in one's life. Glorious is yoga, and that is perhaps going to be, and it ought to be, the principle occupation of every person in life. Yoga is all-life.

Om purnamadah purnamidam purnaat purnamaduchyate
purnasya purnamaadaaya purnameva 'vasishyate
Om santih santih santih.