Swami Sivananda About Perfect Renunciation

Vedanta does not want you to renounce the world. It wants you to change your mental attitude and give up this false, illusory `I-ness' and `mine-ness'. The snake charmer removes only the two poisonous fangs of the cobra. The snake remains the same. It hisses, raises its hood and shows its fangs. In fact, it does everything as before.

The snake charmer has changed his mental attitude towards the snake. He has a feeling now that it has no poisonous fangs. Even so, you must remove the two poisonous fangs of the mind, namely, `I-ness' and `mine-ness' only. Then you can allow the mind to go wherever it likes. Then you will always have the feeling of the presence of God.

You must also renounce the attachment to renunciation, which is very deep-rooted. You must renounce the idea: "I have renounced everything; I am a great renunciate". This attachment of aspirants is a greater evil than that of the householders: "I am a landlord; I am a brahmana, etc."

Not by shaving the head, not by dress, not by egoistic action is liberation to be attained. He who possesses wisdom is a real sanyasin (monk). Wisdom is the sign of a sanyasin. The wooden staff does not make a sanyasin. He is the real sanyasin of wisdom who is conscious of his absolute nature even in his dreams just as he is during the waking period. He is the greatest knower of Brahman. He is the greatest of sanyasins.

Perfect renunciation is born of discrimination. Dispassion should not be mild and half-hearted. It should be a burning flame of disgust for everything that is seen and that is not seen. Nothing but the state of final liberation is to be the ideal for attainment. There should be no desire for wife, husband, children and worldly activity. The aspirant must be encircled by the fence of dispassion on all sides.

Action is for the man of the world, the wisdom is for the sanyasin who has risen above worldliness. Only the man of renunciation with knowledge attains Brahman, and none else. Without perfect renunciation, it is impossible to pursue the path of the knowledge of Brahman.

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Important Couplets From Maitreya Upanishad

Translated by Prof. A. A. Ramanathan
Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai

I-8. When the mind is calmed down into its source and goes in the true path, the results dependent on activities are unreal as the objects of the senses are confounded (i.e. actions performed do not affect him as he is without attachment).

I-9. It is the mind that constitutes worldly life; this should be purified. As the mind, so the things appear coloured by it; this is the eternal secret.

I-10. By the purity of the mind one destroys (the effect of) good and bad actions. When with a pure mind one remains in the Self one enjoys inexhaustible bliss.

I-11. If a person’s mind, which is well attached to the region of the sense-objects, were turned towards Brahman, who will not be released from bondage ?

I-12-14. One should feel the supreme Lord to be present in the midst of the lotus of one’s heart as the spectator of the dance of the intellect, as the abode of supreme love, as beyond the range of mind and speech, as he rescue ship scattering all worry (of those sinking in the sea of worldly life), as of the nature of effulgent Existence alone, as beyond thought, as the indispensable, as incapable of being grasped by the (active) mind, possessing uncommon attributes, the immobile, steady and deep, neither light nor darkness, free from all doubts and semblance, and is consciousness consisting of the final beatitude.

I-17. Those ignorant people who stick to castes and orders of life obtain the (worthless) fruit of their respective actions. Those who discard the ways of caste, etc., and are happy with the bliss of the Self become merged in Brahman (lit. Purushas).

I-18. The body consisting of various limbs and observing the (rules of) castes and orders has a beginning and an end and is only a great trouble. Free of attachment to one’s children, etc., and the body, one should live in the endless supreme happiness.

II-3. True knowledge consists of seeing non-different (in all); deep meditation consists of the mind freed from thinking on sensory objects; bathing is the removal of impurity in the mind and cleansing consists of controlling the senses.

II-4. He should imbibe the nectar, Brahman, go about for alms to preserve the body, and becoming devoted to the one (Brahman) live in the solitary place of oneness free from duality.Thus should a wise man spend his life; he alone will attain liberation.

II-5. This body is born and it has death; it has originated from the impure secretions of the mother and father; it is the abode of joy and sorrow and it is impure. Bathing in the form of discarding attachment to it is ordained when one touches it with the idea that it belongs to one.

II-9. Viewing the body as ‘I’ and mine is smearing oneself with faeces and urine in the place of cosmetics. Thus pure cleansing has been spoken of (in the verses above). Cleansing (the body) with mud and water is (the external one) practised in the world.

II-10. Cleansing which purifies the mind consists of the destruction of the three inborn tendencies (loka-vasana, shastra-vasana and deha-vasana); (real) cleansing is said to be by washing with mud and water in the form of (true) knowledge and dispassion (Jnana and Vairagya).

II-12. After embracing renunciation of his own accord the wise man shall move away from his native place and live far away, like a thief who has been released from prison.

II-13. No sooner has (the ascetic) moved away from the son of ego, the brother of wealth, the home of delusion and the wife of desires than he is liberated (from worldly bondage); there is no doubt about it.

II-14-15. How shall I perform the twilight worship (Sandhya, i.e., there is no need for it) when the mother of delusion is (just) dead and the son of true awakening is born, causing two-fold impurity ? How can I perform twilight worship when the bright sun of consciousness ever shines in the sky of the heart and it never sets or rises ? (i.e. there is no twilight at all and hence there is no scope for worship).

II-17. There is liberation for those who are free from doubts; there is no emancipation even at the end of repeated births for those whose minds are invaded by doubts (about the non-duality of the Atman). Hence one should have faith.

II-19. One, to whom all primary desires, etc., (such as for wife, wealth and progeny) appear like vomit and who has discarded pride in his body, is entitled to renunciation.

II-21. He who renounces worldly life for amassing wealth (contributed by rich disciples) or for the sake of (assured) boarding and clothing or for a stable position (as the head of a monastery) is doubly fallen (i.e. he has neither the full pleasures of worldly life nor liberation); he does not deserve final beatitude.

II-23. A fool in vain takes (theoretical) delight in Brahman without practically experiencing it (as I am Brahman), like the joy of tasting fruits found in the branch of a tree reflected (in a lake).

II-26. Even learned people have their minds deluded by the illusion created by me and without realizing me, the Atman, who am omnipresent, they but wander like cows to fill the wretched belly !

III-14. I am not the world, I witness all and I am devoid of eyes, etc., I am immense, I am awake, I am serene and I am Hara (Shiva).

Source: http://www.celextel.org/108upanishads/maitreya.html

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Important Couplets From Garbha Upanishad

Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier
Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai

The body is fivefold in nature (the five elements), existing in the five, depending on the six (tastes of food), connected with the six qualities (kama etc.,), seven Dhatus, three impurities, three Yonis (of excretion) and four kinds of food.

Why say ‘Fivefold in nature ?’ The five elements Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Ether. In this body, whatever is hard is of Earth, liquid is water, warm is fire, whatever moves about is air and space-enclosed is ether. The function of the Earth is to support, water is to consolidate (digestion etc.,). Fire is to see, wind is for moving, Ether is to give space (for vital functions).

The eyes are used in seeing form, ears for sound, tongue for taste, the skin and nose for touch and smell respectively; genital for pleasure, Apana is for evacuation (of bowels). The person cognises through the intellect, wills with the mind and speaks with the tongue.

The six-fold support is the six tastes (of food): sweet, acid, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent.

8. The embryo lying (in the womb) for (a day) and night is a confused mass; after seven days it becomes a bubble; after a fortnight, a mass and in a month, it hardens. In two months develops the region of the head; in three months, the feet; in the fourth, belly and hip; in the fifth, the backbone; in the sixth, nose, eyes and ears; in the seventh the embryo quickens with life and in the eighth month, it becomes complete.

9. By the dominance of the father’s semen, the child becomes male; the mother’s – female. When equal, a eunuch. If, at the time of impregnation, the parents are agitated, the child will be blind, crippled, hunch-backed or stunted in growth. If the couple have vital-air-trouble, the semen enters in two parts resulting in twins.

10. In the eighth month, in conjunction with the five vital airs the Jiva gets the capacity to know its past affairs (of past births), conceives of the imperishable Atman as Om, through perfect knowledge and meditation. Having known Om he sees in the body the eight Prakritis derived from it the five elements, mind, intellect and ego and the sixteen changes [see Prasnopanishad].

11. The body becomes complete in the ninth month and remembers the past birth. Actions done and not done flash to him and he recognises the good and bad nature of Karma.

19. Why is the body so called ? It has three fires: the Kosthagni ripens all that is eaten; the Darsanagni helps one see colour etc., the Jnanagni is the mind which helps perform good and bad deeds.

Source: http://www.celextel.org/108upanishads/garbha.html

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Important Couplets From Akshi Upanishad

Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier

Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai

5-6. Always one hesitates as regards the instinctive actions of the unregenerate; one never refers to what may compromise others, but attends to their righteous deeds. One does gentle deeds that pain none; always dreads sin and avoids all forms of sense-gratification.

7. Such a one’s speech is informed by affection and love; it is lovely and fit, with due regard to time and place.

8. With proper thought, act and speech, one waits upon the virtuous. Getting them from all conceivable sources, one studies the Shastras.

9-10(a). Then one attains the first stage of Yoga. Whoever entertains such thoughts as regards the crossing of transmigratory life is said to have attained a state of Yoga. The rest are said to be just ‘noble’ (arya).

10(b)-11. Coming to the next stage of Yoga, called ‘Analysis’ (vichara), the sadhaka resorts to the foremost scholars, well-known for their serious interpretations of Sruti and Smriti, good conduct, fixed attention, contemplation and activities.

18. As a result of his meritorious actions, the righteous (sadhaka) passes his time in the delights of detachment, repeatedly studying the positive Shastras.

23. ‘Enjoyments and non-enjoyments are dread diseases; possessions are great disasters. All contacts just promote separation. Sufferings are diseases of thoughts’.

27. The first stage that occurs is sweet on account of the satisfaction and joy (that attend it). The sadhaka (puman) has just stepped into the sequence of states. The first is an ambrosial sprout.

28. The first stage is the internal, cleansed, birth-place of the other stages. Thence one attains the second and third stages.

29. Among these, the all-pervading third (stage) is superior. Here the sadhaka has outgrown all proneness to imagine (and get ensnared).

30. Those who reach the fourth (stage) after the dwindling of nescience through the exercises of the three stages look on all things with the same eye.

31. When non-duality is established and duality dissolved, those who have reached the fourth stage look upon the phenomenal world as a dream.

32. The first three states are said to be the waking state; the fourth is called the dream state. And the mind dissolves like the fragments of an autumnal cloud.

34. Reaching the fifth stage called ‘deep sleep’, the sadhaka remains as pure non-dual being, all particulars having completely vanished.

35. Having reached the fifth stage, one stays consolidated in deep sleep, joyful, inwardly awake, all dual appearances gone.

36. Looking inwards, even when attending to outer things, he appears always indrawn, being extremely exhausted.

37. Practising in this fifth stage, free from all innate impulses, one reaches, as a matter of course, the sixth stage named ‘the Fourth’.

38. Where there is neither the non-existent nor the existent, neither the ‘I’ nor the non-‘I’, with all analytic thinking gone, one stays alone, totally fearless, in non-duality.

40. Having dwelt in the sixth stage, he shall reach the seventh. The state of disembodied liberation is called the seventh stage of Yoga.

47-48. Therefore, thou sinless one, renouncing everything, be devoted to Truth. Think: I am Brahman, solid Intelligence and Bliss, free from impurity, holy, lifted above mind and words, beyond the darkness of ignorance, beyond all appearances. This is the secret doctrine.

Source: http://www.celextel.org/108upanishads/akshi.html

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Important Couplets From Aitareya Upanishad

Translated by Swami Gambhirananda
Published by Advaita Ashram, Kolkatta

I-i-1: In the beginning this was but the absolute Self alone. There was nothing else whatsoever that winked. He thought, “Let Me create the worlds.”

I-i-2: He created these world, viz. ambhas, marici, mara, apah. That which is beyond heaven is ambhas. Heaven is its support. The sky is marici. The earth is mara. The worlds that are below are the apah.

I-i-3: He thought, “These then are the worlds. Let Me create the protectors of the worlds.” Having gathered up a (lump of the) human form from the water itself, He gave shape to it.

I-i-4: He deliberated with regard to Him (i.e. Virat of the human form). As He (i.e. Virat) was being deliberated on, His (i.e. Virat'’) mouth parted, just as an egg does. From the mouth emerged speech; from speech came Fire. The nostrils parted; from the nostrils came out the sense of smell; from the sense of smell came Vayu (Air). The two eyes parted; from the eyes emerged the sense of sight; from the sense of sight came the Sun. The two ears parted; from the ears came the sense of hearing; from the sense of hearing came the Directions. The skin emerged; from the skin came out hair (i.e. the sense of touch associated with hair); from the sense of touch came the Herbs and Trees. The heart took shape; from the heart issued the internal organ (mind); from the internal organ came the Moon. The navel parted; from the navel came out the organ of ejection; from the organ of ejection issued Death. The seat of the procreative organ parted; from that came the procreative organ; from the procreative organ came out Water.

I-ii-1: These deities, that had been created, fell into this vast ocean. He subjected Him (i.e. Virat) to hunger and thirst. They said to Him (i.e. to the Creator), “Provide an abode for us, staying where we can eat food.”

I-ii-2: For them He (i.e. God) brought a cow. They said, “This one is not certainly adequate for us.” For them He brought a horse. They said, “This one is not certainly adequate for us.”

I-ii-3: For them He brought a man. They said “This one is well formed; man indeed is a creation of God Himself”. To them He said, “Enter into your respective abodes”.

I-ii-4: Fire entered into the mouth taking the form of the organ of speech; Air entered into the nostrils assuming the form of the sense of smell; the Sun entered into the eyes as the sense of sight; the Directions entered into the ears by becoming the sense of hearing; the Herbs and Trees entered into the skin in the form of hair (i.e. the sense of touch); the Moon entered into the heart in the shape of the mind; Death entered into the navel in the form of Apana (i.e. the vital energy that presses down); Water entered into the limb of generation in the form of semen (i.e. the organ of procreation).

I-iii-1: He thought, “This, then, are the senses and the deities of the senses. Let Me create food for them.

I-iii-2: He deliberated with regard to the water. From the water, thus brooded over, evolved a form. The form that emerged was verily food.

I-iii-3: This food, that was created, turned back and attempted to run away. He tried to take it up with speech. He did not succeed in taking it up through speech. If He had succeeded in taking it up with the speech, then one would have become contented merely by talking of food.

I-iii-4: He tied to grasp that food with the sense of smell. He did not succeed in grasping it by smelling. If He had succeeded in grasping it by smelling, then everyone should have become contented merely by smelling food.

I-iii-5: He wanted to take up the food with the eye. He did not succeed in taking it up with the eye. If He had taken it up with the eye, then one would have become satisfied by merely seeing food.

I-iii-6: He wanted to take up the food with the ear. He did not succeed in taking it up with the ear. If He had taken it up with the ear, then one would have become satisfied by merely by hearing of food.

I-iii-7: He wanted to take it up with the sense of touch. He did not succeed in taking it up with the sense of touch. If He had taken it up with touch, then one would have become been satisfied merely by touching food.

I-iii-8: He wanted to take it up with the mind. He did not succeed in taking it up with the mind. If He had taken it up with the mind, then one would have become satisfied by merely thinking of food.

I-iii-9: He wanted to take it up with the procreative organ. He did not succeed in taking it up with the procreative organ. If He had taken it up with the procreative organ, then one would have become satisfied by merely ejecting food.

I-iii-10: He wanted to take it up with Apana. He caught it. This is the devourer of food. That vital energy which is well known as dependent of food for its subsistence is this vital energy (called Apana).

I-iii-11: He thought, “How indeed can it be there without Me ?” He thought, “Through which of the two ways should I enter ?” He thought, “If utterance is done by the organ of speech, smelling by the sense of smell, seeing by the eye, hearing by the ear, feeling by the sense of touch, thinking by the mind, the act of drawing in (or pressing down) by Apana, ejecting by the procreative organ, then who (or what) am I ?”

II-i-1: In man indeed is the soul first conceived. That which is the semen is extracted from all the limbs as their vigour. He holds that self of his in his own self. When he sheds it into his wife, then he procreates it. That is its first birth.

II-i-3: She, the nourisher, becomes fit to be nourished. The wife bears that embryo (before the birth). He (the father) protects the son at the very start, soon after his birth. That he protects the son at the very beginning, just after birth, thereby he protects his own self for the sake of the continuance of these worlds. For thus is the continuance of these worlds ensured. That is his second birth.

Source: http://www.celextel.org/108upanishads/aitareya.html

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Swami Sivananda About Glory Of The Self

Believe in the self. Draw power from within. Dive deep into the source and come back quite refreshed and invigorated. Have unshakable faith that nothing can ever overpower these. Chant Om Om Om when gloom tries to overpower these. Rejoice in thy own self. Have contentment in thy own self. Never seek happiness from outside.

A timid man is unfit for the attainment of Self-realisation. Have no attachment for this mortal body of flesh and bone. Cast if off like slough, just as the snake throws away its skin. Be prepared to give up the body at any moment. Make a strong resolve: I will die or realise the self.

Do not lose heart when you are in adverse circumstances. Become a real hero and fight your enemies within - the mind, indriyas (senses), vasanas (tendencies), samskaras (mental impressions) and trisnas (cravings) which have robbed you of your atmic jewel. The spiritual battlefield demands great valour, patience, perseverance, strength, courage and skill. Temptations will manifest without a moment's notice - you will be bewildered. There may be no time to detect them, so always be on the alert.

You came alone, naked and weeping. You will go alone, naked and weeping. Then why are you proud of your false wealth and false knowledge? Become humble, meek. You will conquer the world with humility. Become pure in thought, word and deed. This is the secret of spiritual life.

Birth and death, bondage and freedom, pleasure and pain, gain and loss - all are mental creations. Transcend the pairs of opposites. You were never born; you will never die. Thou art the immortal Self always. Thou art ever free in the three periods of time. It is the physical body that comes and goes. The Self is all-full, all-pervading, infinite and part-less.

Recognise that you are the living truth, that you are inseparable from that one essence, the substratum of all these illusory names and forms, these false, shadowy appearances. Get firmly established in Brahman. Now you are invulnerable.

Rely on your own self, your inner spiritual strength. Do not depend on money, friends or anyone. Friends, when put to the test, will desert you. Lord Buddha never even trusted his own disciples. Become absolutely free.

Source: Sivananda Daily Reading for 26 November

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Important Couplets From Adhyatma Upanishad

Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier
Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai

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.

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).

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

10. Knowing 'I am that Brahman' in which this world appearance (exists) like a city reflected in a mirror, find fulfilment, O sinless one!

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

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.

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

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?

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.

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;

Source: http://www.celextel.org/108upanishads/adhyatma.html

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Important Couplets From Mandukya Upanishad

Translated by Vidyavachaspati V. Panoli

2. All this is certainly Brahman. This Self is Brahman. This Self, as such, is possessed of four quarters.

3. (The Self) seated in the waking state and called Vaisvanara who, possessed of the consciousness of the exterior, and seven limbs and nineteen mouths, enjoys the gross objects, is the first quarter.

4. (The Self) seated in the state of dream and called Taijasa who, possessed of the consciousness of the interior, and seven limbs and nineteen mouths, enjoys the subtle objects, is the second quarter.

5. Where the sleeper desires not a thing of enjoyment and sees not any dream, that state is deep sleep. (The Self) seated in the state of deep sleep and called Prajna, in whom everything is unified, who is dense with consciousness, who is full of bliss, who is certainly the enjoyer of bliss, and who is the door to the knowledge (of the preceding two states), is the third quarter.

7. The Fourth is thought of as that which is not conscious of the internal world, nor conscious of the external world, nor conscious of both the worlds, nor dense with consciousness, nor simple consciousness, nor unconsciousness, which is unseen, actionless, incomprehensible, uninferable, unthinkable, indescribable, whose proof consists in the identity of the Self (in all states), in which all phenomena come to a cessation, and which is unchanging, auspicious, and non-dual. That is the Self; that is to be known.

MANDUKYA KARIKA OF GAUDAPADA

I. AGAMA PRAKARANA

1. I bow to that Brahman who pervades the entire world by a diffusion of the rays of knowledge that pervade all things that are moving and unmoving, who after having enjoyed (in the waking state) all objects of enjoyment that are gross, and who again, after having drunk (in the state of dream) all objects born of desire and illumined by the intellect, reposes while experiencing bliss Himself and making us all enjoy by (His own) Maya, and who, through an attribution of Maya, is the fourth in number, and is supreme, immortal and unborn.

I-7. Those who think of creation hold it as the manifestation of God's power; while others regard creation as same as dream and illusion.

I-8. Creation is the mere will of the Lord, say those who thought out well the (process of) creation, but those who rely upon time hold that the birth of beings is from time.

I-15. Dream belongs to him who perceives wrongly and sleep to him who knows not Reality. When the false notion of these two comes to an end, the state of Turiya is attained.

II. VAITATHYA PRAKARANA

II-4. There is the unreality of the objects even in the waking state. Just as they are unreal in dream, so also are they unreal in the waking state. the objects (in dream) differ owing to the location within the body owing to the spatial limitation.

II-5. The wise say that the states of waking and dream are same, in view of the similarity of the objects (seen in both the states) and in view of the well-known ground of inference.

II-11. If the objects of both the states be unreal, who comprehends all these and who again imagines them?

II-12. The self-luminous Self, by Its own Maya imagines Itself by Itself and It alone cognises all objects. This is a settled fact of the Vedanta-texts.

II-17. Just as a rope, the nature of which is not known in the dark, is imagined to be things such as a snake, a water-line, etc., so too is the Self imagined (as various things).

II-31. Just as dream and magic, as well as a city in the sky, are seen (to be unreal), so too, is this universe seen (to be unreal) from the Vedanta-texts by the wise.

II-32. There is no dissolution, no origination, none in bondage, none possessed of the means of liberation, none desirous of liberation, and none liberated. This is the ultimate truth.

II-37. The ascetic should be free from praise and salutation and also from rituals. The body and the Self should be his support and he should depend upon what chance brings.

III. ADVAITA PRAKARANA

III-38. Where there is no thought whatever, there is no acceptance or rejection. Then knowledge, rooted in the Self, attains the state of birthlessness and sameness.

III-40. For all the Yogis, fearlessness, cessation of misery, awareness and everlasting peace, depend upon the control of their mind.

III-44. The mind that is in deep sleep should be awakened and the mind that is distracted should be brought back to tranquillity again. One should know the mind as passion-tinged, and should not disturb it when it has attained the state of equillibrium.

IV. ALATASANTI PRAKARANA

IV-39. Having seen unreal things in the waking state, one, deeply impressed, sees those very things in dream. Likewise, having seen unreal objects in dream, one does not see them when awake.

IV-92. All souls are, by nature, illumined from the very beginning, and their characteristics are well ascertained. He, for whom there is thus the freedom from want of further acquisition of knowledge, is considered to be fit for immortality.

IV-94. There cannot ever be any purification for those who always tread the path of duality. They follow the path of difference, and speak of diversity and are, therefore, considered to be mean.

IV-99. The knowledge of the one who is enlightened and all-pervasive, does not enter into objects. And so the souls also do not enter into objects. This fact was not mentioned by the Buddha.

Source: http://www.celextel.org/108upanishads/mandukya.html

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Important Couplets From Katha Upanishad

Readers are requested to listen to Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami gari pravachanamulu in telugu.

There are totally 26 Volumes and each volume contains 6 Videos.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=KathaUpanishad+Volume26&aq=f

Note: Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami supports Swami Vivekananda statement that "Say it is our nature and never say it is our duty what ever we do".

Ignorance is Mithya which means it is like a mirage where though it is not there it seems to be there in us.

Prasanth Comment: It means All great service oriented people who do charities etc do those things because it is their nature but unfortunately they pretend that saying it is their duty.

Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says Repitiion of god name we get anthakarana suddi means mind may get purified but we donot know ourselves.

Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says in whatever branch like medicine,science etc there is no one having 100% knowledge. Also a person who is a doctor may not have any knowledge in I.T etc.

So there is no one in this universe who is having knowledge in everything.

Translated by Vidyavachaspati V. Panoli

1-I-27. Man cannot be satisfied with wealth. If we need wealth, we shall get it if we only see thee. We shall live until such time as thou wilt rule. But the boon to be asked for (by me) is that alone.

1-II-2. The preferable and the pleasurable approach man. The intelligent one examines both and separates them. Yea, the intelligent one prefers the preferable to the pleasurable, (whereas) the ignorant one selects the pleasurable for the sake of yoga (attainment of that which is not already possessed) and kshema (the preservation of that which is already in possession).

1-II-5. Living in the midst of ignorance and deeming themselves intelligent and enlightened, the ignorant go round and round staggering in crooked paths, like the blind led by the blind.

1-II-16. This syllable (Om) indeed is the (lower) Brahman; this syllable indeed is the higher Brahman; whosoever knows this syllable, indeed, attains whatsoever he desires.

1-II-18. The intelligent Self is not born, nor does It die. It did not come from anywhere, nor did anything come from It. It is unborn, eternal, everlasting and ancient, and is not slain even when the body is slain.

1-II-22. The intelligent one having known the Self to be bodiless in (all) bodies, to be firmly seated in things that are perishable, and to be great and all-pervading, does not grieve.

Note: Sri Sundara chaitanya Swami says buddha is a great mahatma but did not attain gnana.Nachiketudu attained poornam where as buddha attained sunyam unfortunately.

Reason for buddha's failure is he did not have proper Guru.

Charuvaka,jain and buddha are hence can be categorized in Nasitakvam i.e atheism.

Buddha may have attained peacefullness but peacefullness is not equal to gnana.

If sitting under tree will attain gnana then first tree should attain gnanam.

Also as few suggested jumping into fire(agni) also does not bring jnana.

Note : Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says world is mithya and body is temporary.

Note all are favour to us always. Example: We may not like to eat Gulab Jamun when our close relative is undergoing some operation as our mind is disturbed.

Note: Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says buddha's teachings are equal to tank-bund philosphy as they say everything is sunyam.

Atma is never born or died. Only jnana is born for few blessed people.


1-II-23. The Self cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, not by intelligence nor by much hearing. Only by him who seeks to know the Self can It be attained. To him the Self reveals Its own nature.

1-II-24. None who has not refrained from bad conduct, whose senses are not under restraint, whose mind is not collected or who does not preserve a tranquil mind, can attain this Self through knowledge.

1-III-3. Know the Self to be the master of the chariot, and the body to be the chariot. Know the intellect to be the charioteer, and the mind to be the reins.

1-III-4. The senses they speak of as the horses; the objects within their view, the way. When the Self is yoked with the mind and the senses, the wise call It the enjoyer.

Note: Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swamy says there is no need to kill desires and more over no one can achieve it as well. So desires turned towards god and for the purpose of god are fine.

1-III-9. But the man who has a discriminating intellect as his driver, and a controlled-mind as the reins, reaches the end of the path – that supreme state of Vishnu.

Note: "In Volume 10 Part 2" Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says few devotees of Ramana Maharshi are misinterpreting ramana maharshi teachings as ideally there is no need to ask ourselves "Who Am i" always as only if we forget who we are then we ask the question which is ideally not required.

Also he denied the statement if some people who says "Atma is Guru".

Note: Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says even in dead bodies also there is atma.In that sense there is no place/time where there is no atma.

He again says There is no need to kill the mind.


1-III-10. The sensory objects are subtler than the senses, and subtler than the sensory objects is mind. But intellect is subtler than mind and subtler than intellect is Mahat (the Hiranyagarbha).

1-III-11. The unmanifested (avyakta) is subtler than Mahat (Hiranyagarbha) and subtler than the unmanifested is Purusha. There is nothing subtler than Purusha. That is the end, that is the supreme goal.

Note: Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says for peacefullness there is nothing to be done as our nature is peace.

Only when thoughts arise and we attach to those thoughts then trouble arises.


1-III-16. Narrating and hearing this eternal story of Nachiketas told by Death, the intelligent man attains glory in the world of Brahman.

Note: Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says even though we are intelligent,hear pravachanams,do charities,nama japa etc still we may not attain jnana till we have that right desire to attain moksha.

So the reason or cause is important why we are doing all the above activities.

2-I-4. Knowing that great and all-pervading Self by which one sees (the objects) both in the sleep and the waking states, the intelligent man grieves no more.

2-I-12. The Purusha, of the size of a thumb, dwells in the body. (Realizing Him as) the Lord of the past and the future, one does not (henceforward) want to protect oneself. This verily is that (thou seekest).

Note: Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says even though likes and deslikes varies between person and person but we need to make sure that every jiva likes him/herself always.

Even people who do suicide also likes them as they believe that current state of living is not good and hence they do suicide believing in better way of life.

2-III-7. The mind is subtler than the senses; subtler than the mind is the intellect; Mahat (Hiranyagarbha) is subtler than the intellect; subtler than Mahat is Avyakta (Unmanifested).

2-III-8. But subtler than Avyakta is Purusha, all-pervading and without a linga (distinguishing mark) indeed, knowing whom a mortal becomes freed and attains immortality.

Note: Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says it is wrong to see atma in external form in the form of jyothi,deepam etc.

He also said that it is veda mata is important and permanent and there can be 100 ramana maharshi,adi sankara born every time but veda mata is permanent.

Note: Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says Acharya Rajeneesh only gives his personal experiences but not according to scriptures.

Source: http://www.celextel.org/108upanishads/katha.html

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Important Couplets From Annapurna Upanishad

Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier

Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai

I-13. Delusion appears five-fold; it will be presently set forth. Due to the first delusion, Jiva and God appear to have different forms.

I-14. Due to the second, the attribute of agency dwelling in the Self appears to be real. The third (consists in) deeming the Jiva associated with the three bodies as having attachment.

I-15. The fourth takes the world-cause (God) to be mutable. The fifth delusion ascribes reality to the world as distinguished from its cause. Then, also, in the mind flashes the cessation of the five-fold delusion.

I-40. Consider in your mind: who am I ? How is all this (brought about) ? How do death and birth (happen) ? Thus (considering) will you earn the great benefit (of investigation).

II-8-9. The mind that clings not to acts, thoughts, and things, to wanderings and reckonings of time, but reposes in Consciousness alone, finding no delight anywhere, even when turned toward some objects, revels in the Self.

II-12. The quiescent state of the attenuated mind, free from all objective reference, is said to be the deep sleep in wakefulness.

II-14. Having attained the indestructible status in this fourth stage, one reaches a non-blissful poise (as it were), its nature being invariably delightful.

II-23. Liberation is not on the top of the sky; not in the nether world; not on the earth. The dwindling of mind in which all desires dry up is held to be liberation.

II-35. Here is the supreme Self whose essence is the light of Consciousness without beginning or end; the wise hold this luminous certitude to be the right knowledge.

III-7. The five openings, eyes and so forth, known as the sense organs of cognition, I am watching carefully with my mind.

III-8. O you sense-organs ! Slowly give up your mood of agitation. Here I am, the divine spiritual Self, the witness of all.

IV-4. Whatever objects are present in the world are (held to be) of the stuff of nescience. How can the great Yogin, who has dispelled nescience, plunge into them ?

IV-7. Only influenced by some desire does man work for miraculous powers. The perfect man, seeking nothing, can have no desire whatsoever.

IV-8. When all desires dry up, O sage, the Self is won. How can the mindless (sage) desire miraculous powers ?

IV-12. Dead is his mind who is unmoved in joy and sorrow, and whom nothing jerks out of equality, even as breaths stir not a mighty mountain.

IV-16. The nature of mind, know, is folly, O sinless one ! When that perishes one’s real essence, mindlessness, is (won).

IV-26. That eternally self-shining Light, illuminating the world, is alone the witness of this world, the Self of all, the pure One.

IV-48. Being continuously free from latent impressions, when the mind ceases to ponder there arises mindlessness that yields supreme tranquillity.

IV-79. As long as the latent impressions are not attenuated, the mind is not tranquillised; as long as the knowledge of truth is not won, whence can come mental tranquillity ?

IV-80. As long as the mind is not tranquil, Truth cannot be known; so long as the knowledge of Truth is not won whence can mental tranquillity come ?

V-3. The knower digests (whatever) food he eats – (whether it is) impure, unwholesome, defiled through contact with poison, well-cooked or stale, as though it were ‘sweet’ (i.e. a hearty meal).

V-4. The (wise) know liberation to be the renunciation of (all) attachment: non-birth results from it. Give up attachment to objects; be liberated in life, O sinless one !

V-16. Where latent impressions remain in solution there is ‘deep sleep’; it does not make for perfection. Where the impressions are seedless, there is ‘the Fourth’ that yields perfection.

V-70. ‘This is fine; this is not ! -- such (feeling) is the seed of your extended sorrow. When that is burned in the fire of impartiality, where is the occasion for sorrow ?

V-77. Just as space is called ‘Pot-space’ (and) ‘great space’, so, due to delusion, is the self called Jiva and Ishvara in two ways.

V-102. The cause of bondage is mental construction; give that up. Liberation comes through the absence of mental construction; practise it intelligently.

V-106. In the multitude of objects, moving and stationery, extending from grass, etc.; upto the living bodies, let there be nothing that gives you pleasure.

V-116. O twice born, perform acts, remaining in deep slumber in wakefulness itself. Having internally renounced everything, act externally as occasion arises.

V-120. Whoever studies the Annapurnopanishad with the blessing of (one’s) teacher become a Jivanmukta, and by himself altogether Brahman – This is the Upanishad.

Source: http://www.celextel.org/108upanishads/annapurna.html

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Final Part -- Important Couplets From Adi Sankaracharya's VIVEKACHUDAMANI

Translated by Swami Madhavananda And Published by Advaita Ashram, Kolkatta

234. If the universe be true, let it then be perceived in the state of deep sleep also. As it is not at all perceived, it must be unreal and false, like dreams.

258. That which is free from birth, growth, development, waste, disease and death; which is indestructible;which is the cause of the projection, maintenance and dissolution of the universe – that Brahman art thou,meditate on this in thy mind.

266. In the cave of the Buddhi there is the Brahman, distinct from the gross and subtle, the Existence Absolute, Supreme, the One without a second. For one who lives in this cave as Brahman, O beloved, there is no more entrance into the mother’s womb.

268. The idea of "me and mine" in the body, organs, etc., which are the non-Self – this superimposition the wise man must put a stop to, by identifying himself with the Atman.

271. Owing to the desire to run after society, the passion for too much study of the Scriptures and the desire to keep the body in good trim, people cannot attain to proper Realisation.

276. As the mind becomes gradually established in the Inmost Self, it proportionately gives up the desires for external objects. And when all such desires have been eliminated, there takes place the unobstructed realisation of the Atman.

300. Freed from the clutches of egoism, as the moon from those of Rahu, man attains to his real nature, and becomes pure, infinite, ever blissful and self-luminous.

309. Even though completely rooted out, this terrible egoism, if revolved in the mind even for a moment,returns to life and creates hundreds of mischiefs, like a cloud ushered in by the wind during the rainy season.

311. He alone who has identified himself with the body is greedy after sense-pleasures. How can one,devoid of the body-idea, be greedy (like him) ? Hence the tendency to think on the sense-objects is verily the cause of the bondage of transmigration, giving rise to an idea of distinction or duality.

317. With the cessation of selfish action the brooding on the sense-objects is stopped, which is followed by the destruction of desires. The destruction of desires is Liberation, and this is considered as Liberation-in-life.

322. There is no greater danger for the Jnanin than carelessness about his own real nature. From this comes delusion, thence egoism, this is followed by bondage, and then comes misery.

359. Just as the cockroach, giving up the attachment to all other actions, thinks intently on the Bhramara and becomes transformed into that worm, exactly in the same manner the Yogi, meditating on the truth of the Paramatman, attains to It through his one-pointed devotion to that.

368. Living in a retired place serves to control the sense-organs, control of the senses helps to control the mind, through control of the mind egoism is destroyed; and this again gives the Yogi an unbroken realisation of the Bliss of Brahman. Therefore the man of reflection should always strive only to control the mind.

373. It is only the dispassionate man who, being thoroughly grounded in Brahman, can give up the external attachment to the sense-objects and the internal attachment for egoism etc.

388. The Self is Brahma, the Self is Vishnu, the Self is Indra, the Self is Shiva; the Self is all this universe.Nothing exists except the Self.

431. The absence of the ideas of "I" and "mine" even in this existing body which follows as a shadow, is a characteristic of one liberated-in-life.

471. High-souled Sannyasins who have got rid of all attachment and discarded all sense-enjoyments, and who are serene and perfectly restrained, realise this Supreme Truth and at the end attain the Supreme Bliss through their Self-realisation.

500. I have no connection with the body, as the sky with clouds; so how can the states of wakefulness,dream and profound sleep, which are attributes of the body, affect me ?

536. A child plays with its toys forgetting hunger and bodily pains; exactly so does the man of realisation take pleasure in the Reality, without ideas of "I" or "mine", and is happy.

574. There is neither death nor birth, neither a bound nor a struggling soul, neither a seeker after Liberation nor a liberated one – this is the ultimate truth.

Source: http://www.celextel.org/adisankara/vivekachudamani.html

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Part 1 -- Important Couplets From Adi Sankaracharya's VIVEKACHUDAMANI

Translated by Swami Madhavananda And Published by Advaita Ashram, Kolkatta

2. For all beings a human birth is difficult to obtain, more so is a male body; rarer than that is Brahmanahood;rarer still is the attachment to the path of Vedic religion; higher than this is erudition in the scriptures;discrimination between the Self and not-Self, Realisation, and continuing in a state of identity with Brahman –these come next in order. (This kind of) Mukti (Liberation) is not to be attained except through the well-earned merits of a hundred crore of births.

3. These are three things which are rare indeed and are due to the grace of God – namely, a human birth,the longing for Liberation, and the protecting care of a perfected sage.

23. Turning both kinds of sense-organs away from sense-objects and placing them in their respective centres, is called Dama or self-control. The best Uparati or self-withdrawal consists in the mind-function ceasing to be affected by external objects.

46. Faith (Shraddha), devotion and the Yoga of meditation – these are mentioned by the Shruti as the immediate factors of Liberation in the case of a seeker; whoever abides in these gets Liberation from the bondage of the body, which is the conjuring of Ignorance.

51. A father has got his sons and others to free him from his debts, but he has got none but himself to remove his bondage.

62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utter the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realisation one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

69. The first step to Liberation is the extreme aversion to all perishable things, then follow calmness,self-control, forbearance, and the utter relinquishment of all work enjoined in the Scriptures.

84. Whoever seeks to realise the Self by devoting himself to the nourishment of the body, proceeds to cross a river by catching hold of a crocodile, mistaking it for a log.

96. The five organs of action such as speech, the five organs of knowledge such as the ear, the group of five Pranas, the five elements ending with the ether, together with Buddhi and the rest as also Nescience, desire and action – these eight "cities" make up what is called the subtle body.

97. Listen – this subtle body, called also the Linga body, is produced out of the elements before their subdividing and combining with each other, is possessed of latent impressions and causes the soul to experience the fruits of its past actions. It is a beginningless superimposition on the soul brought on by its own ignorance.

104. Know that it is egoism which, identifying itself with the body, becomes the doer or experiencer, and in conjunction with the Gunas such as the Sattva, assumes the three different states.

105. When sense-objects are favourable it becomes happy, and it becomes miserable when the case is contrary.So happiness and misery are characteristics of egoism, and not of the ever-blissful Atman.

119. The traits of pure Sattva are cheerfulness, the realisation of one’s own Self, supreme peace,contentment, bliss, and steady devotion to the Atman, by which the aspirant enjoys bliss everlasting.

137. Identifying the Self with this non-Self – this is the bondage of man, which is due to his ignorance, and brings in its train the miseries of birth and death. It is through this that one considers this evanescent body as real, and identifying oneself with it, nourishes, bathes, and preserves it by means of (agreeable) sense-objects, by which he becomes bound as the caterpillar by the threads of its cocoon.

145. Of the tree of Samsara ignorance is the seed, the identification with the body is its sprout, attachment its tender leaves, work its water, the body its trunk, the vital forces its branches, the organs its twigs, the sense-objects its flowers, various miseries due to diverse works are its fruits, and the individual soul is the bird on it.

160. The stupid man thinks he is the body, the book-learned man identifies himself with the mixture of body and soul, while the sage possessed of realisation due to discrimination looks upon the eternal Atman as his Self, and thinks, "I am Brahman".

161. O foolish person, cease to identify thyself with this bundle of skin, flesh, fat, bones and filth, and identify thyself instead with the Absolute Brahman, the Self of all, and thus attain to supreme Peace.

162. As long as the book-learned man does not give up his mistaken identification with the body, organs,etc., which are unreal, there is no talk of emancipation for him, even if he be ever so erudite in the Vedanta philosophy.

169. There is no Ignorance (Avidya) outside the mind. The mind alone is Avidya, the cause of the bondage of transmigration. When that is destroyed, all else is destroyed, and when it is manifested, everything else is manifested.

170. In dreams, when there is no actual contact with the external world, the mind alone creates the whole universe consisting of the experiencer etc. Similarly in the waking state also; there is no difference. Therefore all this (phenomenal universe) is the projection of the mind.

171. In dreamless sleep, when the mind is reduced to its causal state, there exists nothing (for the person asleep), as is evident from universal experience.Hence man’s relative existence is simply the creation of his mind, and has no objective reality.

174. Therefore the mind is the only cause that brings about man’s bondage or Liberation: when tainted by the effects of Rajas it leads to bondage, and when pure and divested of the Rajas and Tamas elements it conduces to Liberation.

181. Therefore the seeker after Liberation must carefully purify the mind. When this is purified, Liberation is as easy of access as a fruit on the palm of one’s hand.

211. This self-effulgent Atman which is distinct from the five sheaths, the Witness of the three states, the Real, the Changeless, the Untainted, the everlasting Bliss – is to be realised by the wise man as his own Self.

218. Seeing the reflection of the sun mirrored in the water of a jar, the fool thinks it is the sun itself. Similarly the stupid man, through delusion, identifies himself with the reflection of the Chit caught in the Buddhi, which is Its superimposition.

227. All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.

233. The Lord, who knows the secret of all things has supported this view in the words: "But I am not in them" … "nor are the beings in Me".

Source: http://www.celextel.org/adisankara/vivekachudamani.html

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Final Part - Important Couplets From Vedanta Panchadasi By Sri Vidyaranya Swami

Translated by Swami Swahananda Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai

93. Just as many objects are seen in a picture, so the various names and forms exist in Brahman. By negating both names and forms, one can understand that what remains is existence, consciousness and bliss.

94. Even though a man standing on the bank of a river sees his body reflected upside down in the water, he nevertheless identifies himself with his own body in the shore; similarly an aspirant after realisation of Brahman should know himself as Brahman.

96. Different mental creations are formed every moment, while those which pass are
lost for ever. The objects of the practical world should be looked upon similarly.

97. Childhood is lost in youth and youth is lost in old age. The father once dead does not return. The day which is past never comes back.

100. As the big rock lying in the bed of a river remains unmoved, though the water flows over it, so also while names and forms constantly change, the unchanging Brahman does not become otherwise.

102. Without seeing the mirror it is impossible to see the objects reflected in it.
Similarly wherefrom can there be any knowledge of names and forms without a
knowledge of their substratum, which is existence, consciousness and bliss ?

103. Having learnt of Brahman as existence, consciousness and bliss, one should fix the mind firmly on Him and should restrain it from dwelling on names and forms.

XIV. THE BLISS OF KNOWLEDGE

13. As water does not stick to the leaves of a lotus so after realisation future actions cannot stick to the knower.

15. Sri Krishna says: ‘Just as a blazing fire reduces the fuel to ashes, so, O Arjuna,the fire of knowledge burns up all actions’.

16. ‘He who has no notion of I-ness and whose mind is not tainted by desire for results of action is not really a killer even if he kills people; he is not bound by his actions’.

42. Let the ignorant people of the world perform worldly actions and desire to
possess wives, children and wealth. I am full of supreme bliss. For what purpose
should I engage myself in worldly concerns ?

XV. THE BLISS OF OBJECTS

7. (Another Shruti says): ‘The supreme Self, though one only, exists in every object.
Like the moon reflected in water, though one It appears as many’.

35. May the Lord who is both Hari and Hara ever be pleased by this ‘Bliss of
Brahman’ and may He protect all creatures who take refuge in Him and are pure in
heart.

Source: http://www.celextel.org/othervedantabooks/panchadasi.html

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Part 8 - Important Couplets From Vedanta Panchadasi By Sri Vidyaranya Swami

Translated by Swami Swahananda Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai

9. Thus even in the mutual love between husband and wife the incentive is one’s
own desire for happiness.

10. A child, when kissed by its father, may cry, being pricked by the latter’s bristly beard, still its father goes on kissing the child – it is not for its sake but for his own.

12. A merchant forces his bullock, though unwilling, to carry a load. He loves the bullock for his own sake, how can it be for the bullock’s ?

60. A son is dearer than wealth, the body dearer than the son, the sense-organs dearer than the body, life and mind dearer than the sense organs and the Self is supremely dearer than life and mind.

65. When a married couple desire to have a son and do not have one, they are
disappointed and miserable. After conception, a miscarriage or the pain of labour
causes sorrow.

66. When a son is born he may suffer from diseases or from the position of the
planets at his birth, or he may be stupid or obstinate, or after the investiture of
sacred thread, he may study nothing or if he is learned, he may remain unmarried.

67. Again he may start pursuing the wives of others, or he may have an unwieldy
family and remain in poverty, or he may grow wealthy and yet die in his youth.
Infinite are the sorrows of parents.

68. Having considered all this, the disciple must abstain from forming an attachment
to other things. He should focus his love on the Self and contemplate It day and
night.

83. Knowing that for some Yoga is difficult and for some others knowledge, the great
Lord Sri Krishna speaks of these two paths.

XIII. THE BLISS OF NON-DUALITY

10. So the illusive appearance of the world in the partless bliss can be explained.
Like the power of a magician, the power of Maya may be said to bring the objective
world into being.

14. “The supreme Brahman is eternal, perfect, non-dual and omnipotent”, so says
the Veda and Vasistha supports this.

18. ‘Just as a tree with its fruits, leaves, tendrils, flowers, branches, twigs and roots is latent in the seed, so does this world abide in Brahman’.

20. ‘O Rama, when the all-pervasive, eternal and infinite Self assumes the power of
cognition, we call it the mind’

21. ‘O Prince, first arises the mind, then the notion of bondage and release and then the universe consisting of many worlds. Thus all this manifestation has been fixed or settled (in human minds), like the tales told to amuse children’.

27. ‘Thus to those who have no discrimination the world appears to be real like the
tale repeated to the child’.

35. The pot is not different from the clay, as it has no existence apart from the clay; it is neither identical with the clay, as in the unmoulded clay it is not perceived.

47. Though a man appears head downwards when reflected in water, he is not so.
No one would ever mistake it for the real person standing on the bank.

48. According to the doctrine of the non-dualists, such knowledge (i.e., the
knowledge of the unreality of the superimposed thing, the world), gives liberation,
the supreme goal of life. As the substratum clay is not rejected, the appearance of a
pot in it is accepted.

49. In an actual modification of the substratum, when milk is turned into curd (for
example), the former form, milk, disappears. But in the modification of clay into a
pot or gold into an ear-ring, the substratum does not change.

50. (Doubt): When a pot is broken into pieces, they do not resemble the original
clay, for broken pieces only are seen. (Reply): It is not so, for when reduced to
powder they do. The persistence of gold in the ear-ring is very clear.

62. The nature of Brahman is existence, consciousness and bliss, whereas the nature of the world is name and form. In the Nrisimha-Uttara-Tapaniya Upanishad existence, consciousness and bliss are said to be the ‘indications’ of Brahman.

64. After creating names and forms Brahman remains established in His nature, i.e.,
remains as immutable as ever, says the Purusha Sukta. Another Shruti says that
Brahman as the Self reveals names and forms.

65. Another Shruti says that before creation the universe was unmanifest and that
afterwards it became manifest as name and form. Here Maya, the inexplicable power
of Brahman, is referred to as ‘unmanifest’.

69. Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: ‘O descendant of Bharata, beings are unmanifest in the beginning, manifest in the present and unmanifest again at the end’.

79. Both name and form are without any real existence because they are subject to
creation and destruction. So know them as superimposed by the intellect on
Brahman, just as waves and foam are on the ocean.

86. Just as in the sleeping state a power inherent in the Jiva gives rise to impossible dreams, so the power of Maya inherent in Brahman, projects, maintains and destroys the universe.

90. In a sleeping man various dreams are created; similarly the power of Maya
creates diverse appearances in the immutable Brahman.

92. Brahman characterised as existence, consciousness and bliss is the common
basis of both the animate and inanimate objects; they differ only in their names and
forms.

Source: http://www.celextel.org/othervedantabooks/panchadasi.html

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Part 7 - Important Couplets From Vedanta Panchadasi By Sri Vidyaranya Swami

Translated by Swami Swahananda Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai

49. The eagle rushes only to its nest hoping to find rest there. Similarly the Jiva eager only to experience the bliss of Brahman rushes to sleep.

55. Just as what happens outside in the street may be called external and what is done inside the house internal, so the experiences of the waking state may be called external and the dreams produced inside the mind and the nervous system may be called internal.

56. The Shruti says: ‘In sleep even a father is no father’. Then in the absence of all worldly ideas the Jivahood is lost and a state of pure consciousness prevails.

58. A text of the Atharva Veda says: ‘In the state of deep sleep, when all the objects of experience have been absorbed and only darkness (Tamas) prevails, the Jiva
enjoys bliss’.

59. A man from deep sleep remembers his happiness and ignorance and says: ‘I was sleeping happily; I knew nothing then’.

60. Recollection presupposes experience. So in sleep there was experience. The bliss
experienced in dreamless sleep is revealed by consciousness itself which also reveals
the undifferentiated ignorance (Ajnana) covering bliss in that state.

69. The self (Chidabhasa) in the waking and dream states, is connected or
associated with various sheaths such as Vijnanamaya and appears as many (i.e.,
plays various roles). In the deep sleep state, however, they get merged and become
latent like a dough of many (powdered) wheat-grains.

72. In the enjoyment of the bliss of Brahman in deep sleep, the consciousness
reflected in ignorance is the means. Prompted by its Karma, good or bad, the Jiva
gives up the enjoyment of bliss and goes out to the waking state.

74. For a short time after the waking up the impression of the bliss of Brahman enjoyed during sleep continues. For he remains for some time calm and happy,without taking any interest in the enjoyment of external objects.

75. Then, impelled by his past actions ready to bear fruits, he begins to think of duties and their implementation entailing sufferings of many kinds and gradually forgets the bliss of Brahman experienced (a few minutes before).

77. (Objection): Well, if a mere state of quietude were enjoyment of the bliss of
Brahman then the lazy and the worldly would achieve the end of their life. What then
is the use of the teacher and the scriptures ?

78. (Reply): Your contention would be correct, if he realised that the bliss that he
experienced was the bliss of Brahman. But who can know Brahman that is so
immensely profound without the help of the teacher and the scripture ?

79. (Objection): I know what Brahman is from what you yourself have said. Why then am I without the bliss of realisation ? (Reply): Listen to the story of a man who like yourself imagined that he was wise.

80. This man, hearing that a large reward was offered to anyone who knew the four
Vedas, said, ‘I know from you that there are four Vedas. So give me the reward’.

81. (Objection): He knew the number, not the text, of the Vedas fully. (Reply): You
too have not known Brahman fully.

82. (Objection): Brahman is by nature indivisible and is bliss absolute, untouched by
Maya and its effects. How can you speak of the knowledge of Brahman as complete
or incomplete ?

83. (Reply): Do you simply say the word ‘Brahman’ or do you see its meaning ? If
you know only the word, it remains for you to acquire knowledge of its meaning.

92. In the waking state the Jiva gets identified with the body, as fire with a red-hot ball of iron. As a result of this he comes to feel with certainty: ‘I am a man’.

116. ‘Mind has been described as of two types, pure and impure. The impure is that which is tainted by desires, the pure is that which is free from desires’.

117. ‘The mind alone is the cause of bondage and release. Attachment to objects leads to bondage and freedom from attachment to them leads to release’.

125. A man carrying a burden on his head feels relief when he removes the load;similarly a man freed from worldly entanglements feels he is in rest.

132. The knower of truth, experiencing the bliss of Brahman in the waking state experiences it also in the dreaming state, because it is the impressions received in the waking state that give rise to dreams.

XII. THE BLISS OF THE SELF

5. Yajnavalkya instructed this by pointing out to his beloved wife, Maitreyi, that ‘a wife does not love her husband for his sake’.

6. The husband, wife or son, riches or animals, Brahmanahood or Kshatriyahood, the
different worlds, the gods, the Vedas, the elements and all other objects are dear to
one for the sake of one’s own Self.

7. A wife shows affection to her husband when she desires his company; the
husband too reciprocates but not when he is engaged in worship or afflicted with
illness, hunger and so forth.

8. Her love is not for her husband’s sake but for her own. Similarly the husband’s
love also is for his own satisfaction and not for hers.

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Part 6 - Important Couplets From Vedanta Panchadasi By Sri Vidyaranya Swami

Translated by Swami Swahananda Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai

48. Or, if he has no worldly desires, he is born in a family of Yogis who have pure
intellect due to their practice of enquiry into the nature of Brahman, for such a birth is hard to obtain.

81. A student, diligent in reciting the Vedas, reads or recites them even in his dreams through the force of habit. Similarly, one who practises meditation, continues it even in his dreams.

84. A woman devoted to a paramour, though engaged in household duties, will all
the time be dwelling in mind on the pleasures with him.

85. While enjoying in mind the pleasure of the company of her lover, her household
duties though not much disturbed, are managed indifferently.

86. The woman with attachment to a paramour cannot fully do the work as a woman attached to her domestic duties does, with enthusiasm.

91. If he controls and concentrates his mind, he is a meditator and not a knower of
truth. To know a pot the mind need not be controlled.

95. Once the nature of the Self has been conclusively determined, the knower can
speak of it, think of it or meditate on it at will.

96. (Doubt): The knower too, like a meditator, forgets worldly affairs in his
contemplation. (Reply): Let him forget. This forgetfulness is due to his meditation
and not because of his knowledge of the Self.

97. Meditation is left to his will, for his release has been achieved through
knowledge. From knowledge alone comes release. This the scriptures announce with
drum-beats.

98. (Doubt): If a knower does not meditate, he would be drawn to external affairs.
(Reply): Let him happily engage himself in them. What is the objection for a knower
to be so engaged ?

99. (Doubt): This sort of reasoning is wrong, for there the scriptures will be violated.

(Reply): If so, what is right reasoning please ? (Doubt): Right reasoning is to follow the injunctions and prohibitions of the scriptures. (Reply): But they do not apply to the enlightened.

100. All these injunctions and prohibitions are meant for those who believe
themselves to belong to a certain caste or station and stage of life.

102. The clear-sighted knower from whose heart all attachment has vanished is a
liberated soul whether he performs or not concentration or action.

103. He whose mind is free from all desires or former impressions has nothing to
gain from either action or inaction, meditation (Samadhi) or repetitions of holy
formulas.

104. The Self is associationless and everything other than the Self is a display of the magic of Maya. When a mind has such a firm conviction, wherefrom will any desire
or impression come in it ?

130. Those who give up meditation on the attributeless Brahman and undertake
pilgrimages, recitations of the holy formulas and other methods, may be compared
to ‘those who drop the sweets and lick the hand’.

X. THE LAMP OF THE THEATRE

9. That consciousness which reveals at one and the same time the agent, the action
and the external objects is called ‘witness’ in the Vedanta.

10. The witness, like the lamp in a dancing hall, reveals all these as ‘I see’, ‘I hear’,‘I smell’, ‘I taste’, ‘I touch’ as pieces of knowledge.

11. The light in the dancing hall uniformly reveals the patron, the audience and the
dancer. Even when they are absent, the light continues to shine.

12. The witness-consciousness lights up the ego, the intellect and the sense-objects.
Even when ego etc., are absent, it remains self-luminous as ever.

13. The unchangeable witness is ever present as self-luminous consciousness; the intellect functions under its light and dances in a variety of ways.

14. In this illustration the patron(sponsrer) is the ego, the various sense-objects are the audience, the intellect is the dancer, the musicians playing on their instruments are the sense-organs and the light illumining them all is the witness-consciousness.

15. As the light reveals all the objects remaining in its own place, so the witnessconsciousness,itself ever motionless, illumines the objects within and without (including the operations of the mind).

XI. THE BLISS OF YOGA

21. As the happiness derived from sense-objects is covered by thousands of afflictions, it is misery only. There is therefore no happiness in the limited.

37. Our happiness and misery, however, are not to be known by inference; both
their presence and absence are directly experienced.

39. If sleep does not produce an experience of bliss why do people make so much efforts to procure soft beds etc., ?

42. But the happiness experienced in deep sleep is not obtained from any object. A man may go to sleep expecting to be happy, but before long he experiences a happiness of a higher order.

45. To remove that weariness the Jiva rushes towards his real Self and becoming
united with it experiences the bliss of Brahman in sleep.

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Part 5 - Important Couplets From Vedanta Panchadasi By Sri Vidyaranya Swami

Translated by Swami Swahananda Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai

244. After a man has realised the nature of the rope, the trembling caused by the
erroneous idea of the snake disappears gradually only and the idea of the snake still
sometimes haunts him when he sees a rope in darkness.

247. In the example already cited, the tenth man, who may have been crying and
beating his head in sorrow, stops lamenting on realising that the tenth is not dead;
but the wounds caused by beating his head take a month gradually to heal.

255. Let the ignorant people of the world perform worldly actions and desire to possess wives, children and wealth. I am full of supreme bliss. For what purpose should I engage myself in worldly concerns ?

279. The realm of duality, destroyed by knowledge, may still be perceived by the
senses, but such perception does not affect illumination. A living rat cannot kill a cat;then how can it do so when dead ?

VIII. THE LAMP OF KUTASTHA

21. That consciousness which witnesses the interval between the disappearance and the rise of successive Vrittis and the period when they do not exist and which is itself unmodifiable and immutable, is called Kutastha.

37. The Upanishad says that the Self (Atman) thought: ‘This body with the organs
cannot live without me’, and so cleaving the centre of the skull it entered into the
body and started experiencing the changeable states (e.g., wakeful, dreaming etc.,).

39. The Self becomes the ego identifying itself with the body composed of the five
elements and when the body perishes (once for all) the ego too perishes with it.
Thus said Yajnavalkya to Maitreyi.

40. ‘This Self is not perishable’ – thus the Shruti differentiates the Kutastha from
everything else. ‘The Self is associationless’ – such statements sing the everdetached state of Kutastha.

41. The passage which says that the body only dies and not the Jiva does not mean
that he is released but only that he transmigrates.

43. A man may be mistaken for the stump of a tree; but the notion of the stump is destroyed when the man is known to be a man. Similarly, when the Jiva knows ‘I am Brahman’, his notion ‘I am Buddhi (the ego-consciousness in the mind)’ is destroyed.

48. The consciousness, the substratum on which the illusion of Chidabhasa together
with the body and the sense organs is superimposed, is known as Kutastha in
Vedanta.

57-58. As the support of the unreal world, its nature is existence; as it cognises all insentient objects, its nature is consciousness; and as it is always the object of love,its nature is bliss. It is called Shiva, the infinite, being the means of revelation of all objects and being related to them as their substratum.

63. When we sleep, our dreams create even Jiva and Ishvara. What wonder is there then that the Great Maya creates them in the waking state ?

IX. THE LAMP OF MEDITATION

14. After indirectly knowing the one indivisible homogeneous Brahman from the books on Vedanta, one should meditate on or think repeatedly ‘I am Brahman’.

15. Without realising Brahman to be one’s own Self, the general knowledge of Him
derived through the study of the scriptures, viz., ‘Brahman is’, is here called indirect knowledge, just as our knowledge of the forms of Vishnu etc., is called.

16. One may have knowledge of Vishnu from scriptures as having four arms etc., but if one does not have a vision of Him, he is said to have only indirect knowledge,inasmuch as he has not seen Him with his eyes.

18. From the scripture a man may have a conception of Brahman as existence,
consciousness and bliss but he cannot have a direct knowledge of Brahman unless
Brahman is cognised as the inner witness in his own personality.

33. If a person does not realise the Self even after practising till death, he will surely realise it in a future life when all the obstacles will have been eliminated.

34. Knowledge will arise either in this birth or the next, says the author of the
Brahma Sutras. The Shruti also says that there are many who listen to the teachings
on non-duality and yet do not realise in this life.

35. By virtue of the practice of spiritual enquiry in a previous birth, Vamadeva had realisation even while in his mother’s womb. Such results are also seen in the case of studies.

36. In spite of reading many times a boy may not be able to memorise something,but sometimes, next morning, without any further study, he remembers all that he has read.

47. Because of his practice of enquiry such a Yogi enters into the heaven of the
meritorious and then if he is not freed from desires, he is born again in a pious and
prosperous family.

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Part 4 - Important Couplets From Vedanta Panchadasi By Sri Vidyaranya Swami

Translated by Swami Swahananda Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai

222. (Reply): These two meanings do not accord with the Advaita view. They
postulate a difference between Jiva and Ishvara, but in the Advaita doctrine there is
no distinction between ‘That’ and ‘Thou’. Statements appearing to make such a
distinction are only steps towards understanding of non-duality.

235. The Shruti declares that in fact there is no destruction and no origination; none in bondage and none engaged in practice for liberation; no aspirant for liberation and none liberated. This is the transcendental truth.

236. Maya is said to be the desire-fulfilling cow. Jiva and Ishvara are its two calves.Drink of its milk of duality as much as you like, but the truth is non-duality.

261. Owing to lack of true discrimination a man identifies egoism with the Self, and then thinks: ‘May this object be mine’, and so forth. This is called desire.

274. The man who is attached to objects is troubled by the world; happiness is enjoyed by the unattached. Therefore give up attachment if you desire to be happy.

283. Without the knowledge of Reality even perfect detachment and complete
withdrawal from worldly actions cannot lead to liberation. A man endowed with
detachment and withdrawal, but failing to obtain illumination, is reborn in the
superior worlds because of great merit.

284. On the other hand by the complete knowledge of the Reality a man is sure to
have liberation, even though his detachment and withdrawal are wanting. But then
his visible sufferings will not come to an end owing to his fructifying Karma.

VII. THE LAMP OF PERFECT SATISFACTION

20. When a man is as firmly convinced of his identity with Brahman as an ordinary
man is convinced of his identity with the body, he is liberated even if he does not
wish for it.

22. The Self is ever cognised. We speak of Its being known directly or indirectly,
being known or unknown, as in the illustration of the tenth man.

23. The tenth man counts the other nine, each of whom is visible to him, but forgets himself the tenth, though all the time seeing himself.

24. Being himself the tenth, he does not find him. ‘The tenth is not visible, he is
absent’, so he says. Intelligent people say that this is due to his presence being
obscured by ignorance or Maya.

129. If you give up food, you will not live; but will you not be alive if you give up
studies (other than scriptures)? So why so much insistence on pursuing such
studies?

130. (Doubt): How then the ancient knowers like Janaka administered kingdoms ?
(Reply): They were able because of their conviction about the truth. If you have that,then by all means engage yourself in logic or agriculture or do whatever you like.

131. Once he is convinced of the unreality of the world, a knower, with mind undisturbed, allows his fructifying Karma to wear out and engages himself in worldly affairs accordingly.

147. ‘The desires are never quelled by enjoyment but increase more like the flame of a fire fed on clarified butter’.

162. When a man is neither willing nor unwilling to do a thing but does it for the
feelings of others and experiences pleasure and pain, it is the result of ‘fructifying Karma through the desire of others’.

163. (Doubt): Does it not contradict the text at the beginning of this chapter which
describes the enlightened man as desireless ? (Reply): The text does not mean that
desires are absent in the enlightened man, but that desires arising in him
spontaneously without his will produce no pleasure or pain in him, just as the
roasted grain has no potency.

164. Roasted grain though looking the same cannot germinate; similarly the desires
of the knower, well aware of the unreality of objects of desire cannot produce merit
and demerit.

168. That which is not destined to happen as a result of our past Karma will not happen; that which is to happen must happen. Such knowledge is a sure antidote to the poison of anxiety; it removes the delusion of grief.

191. There is therefore no contradiction between the two statements in the
scriptures that ‘desires are a sign of ignorance’ and that ‘the wise man may have
desires’, because the desires of a wise man are too weak to bind.

193. Many Shruti texts declare that a husband loves his wife not for her sake and the wife loves him not for his sake, but for their own sake.

198. When King Janaka asked Yajnavalkya about the nature of the Self, the sage
first told him of the sheath of intellect and then, pointing out its inadequacy (to be the Self), ended in teaching him of the immutable Kutastha.

211. It is common experience that the states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep are distinct from one another, but that the experiencing consciousness is the same.

213. ‘When a man realises his identity with that Brahman which illumines the worlds
of the waking, dreaming and sleeping states, he is released from all bonds’.

214. ‘One should consider the Self to be the same in the waking, dreaming and sleeping states. That Atman which knows itself as beyond the three states is free from rebirth’.

215. ‘That Self which is not subject to experience in any of the three states, which can be called pure consciousness, the witness, the ever blissful and which is neither the enjoyer nor the enjoyment or the object of enjoyment, That I am’.

225. The subtle body is affected on the one hand by desire, anger and so forth and
on the other by inner and outer control, peace of the mind and serenity of the
senses. The presence of the former affections and the absence of the latter lead to
misery.

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Part 3 - Important Couplets From Vedanta Panchadasi By Sri Vidyaranya Swami

Translated by Swami Swahananda Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai

102. The Yogis postulate the existence of Ishvara. Prakriti functions owing to the proximity of consciousness and Ishvara is the controller of Prakriti. He is quite distinct from and superior to the Jivas, says the Shruti.

108. It is a fact that the Jivas, too, are not affected by sufferings etc., as they too are unattached; but when they fail to comprehend their real nature, they imagine that they are affected by sufferings, works and so forth.

116. So say people who worship the creator Brahma for obtaining children and quote
passages which say, ‘Brahma created the people’.

117. The Bhagavatas call Vishnu the only Ishvara because the lotus-born Brahma
issued from the navel of Vishnu.

118. The Saivas on the authority of their Agamas declare Shiva alone to be Ishvara,
as according to a tradition in the Puranas, Vishnu in spite of all his efforts could not discover the feet of Shiva.

119. The followers of the creed of Ganesha say that the elephant-faced Lord is the
only Ishvara for Shiva in order to conquer the demons of the three cities worshipped
Ganesha.

120. There are many other sects which try to declare their own favourite deity to be
the supreme. They quote hymns from Shruti and alleged traditions in support of their
views.

121. So every entity from the Inner Ruler to inert objects is considered as Ishvara by someone or other, for we find that even the sacred fig tree, the sun-plant and the
bomboo etc., are worshipped by the people as family deities.

143. Even if all the learned people of the world try to determine the nature of this world, they will find themselves confronted at some stage or other by ignorance.

144. Tell us, if you can, how the body and senses came out of the seed, or how
consciousness was born in the foetus. What answers will you give to these questions
?

146. In the end you will have to say, ‘I do not know’. Therefore the wise declare this world to be like a magic show.

147. What can be more magical than the fact that the seed in the uterus becomes a conscious individual, that it develops head, hands, feet and other organs, that it passes through the states of childhood, youth and old age and that it perceives, eats,smells, hears, comes and goes ?

152. As the tree is latent in the seed, so the waking and dreaming worlds are implicit in deep sleep. Similarly, the impressions of the entire universe are latent in Maya.

185. The creation and destruction of the world are comparable to day and night, to
the waking and sleeping states, to the opening and closing of the eyes and the
activity and quiescense of the mind.

199. There are two types of Shruti text describing the creation of the world either as a gradual evolution or as instantaneous. There is no contradiction, for the dream
world sometimes arises gradually out of deep sleep, but at other times it arises
instantaneously.

200. Hiranyagarbha or Sutratman, otherwise called the subtle-body, is the totality of
the subtle bodies of all Jivas. He conceives Himself as the totality of all egos or ‘I’ - consciousnesses, like the threads of a piece of cloth; and He is said to be endowed with the powers of volition, conation and cognition.

209. In whatever form Ishvara is worshipped, the worshipper obtains the appropriate
reward through that form. If the method of worship and the conception of the
attributes of the deity worshipped are of a high order, the reward also is of a high
order; but if otherwise, it is not.

210. The Liberation, however, can be obtained through the knowledge of reality and not otherwise. The dreaming does not end until the dreamer awakes.

216. From the worshippers of objects like grass to the followers of Yoga, all have
wrong ideas about Ishvara. From the materialist Charvakas to the followers of
Sankhya, all have confused ideas about Jiva.

219. Therefore the aspirants to liberation should never engage themselves in
disputations about the nature of Jiva and Ishvara. They ought to practise
discrimination and realise the reality of Brahman.

220. (Doubt): Such disputation is a means to the understanding of Brahman.
(Reply): It may be so, but be careful to avoid being drowned helplessly in the sea of
confusion.

221. (Doubt): All right, but the Vedantins must accept the Sankhya doctrine that Jiva
and Ishvara are associationless, pure consciousness and eternal and the Yoga
doctrine that Jiva and Ishvara, referred to as ‘thou’ and ‘that’ respectively in the
dictum ‘That thou art’, are of a pure nature.

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