The Quintessence of Vedanta

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Harsha: Thank you Madhya for your most recent message on Self-Realization on

. The issues you raise and insights you offer are profound indeed.

In that spirit I am forwarding Ramji's post from Advaitin which will be of great

interest to some. It focuses on Self-Realization. Offered in fellowship and

great joy.

 

Ram Chandran <chandran

 

The Quintessence of Vedanta

 

The "Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangrah" by Acharya Sankara is a

compendium and a precise restatement of all that has been thought of and

set down about the Self from a purely philosophical view point. The

compendium contains 1006 Sanskrit verses. The translation of these

verses was originally by Swami Tattwananda and later revised by Swami

Jagadananda of the Ramakrishna Mission with a view to make it simpler

for the general public. Verses 866 to 898 contain the description of

Self-Realization. This posting hopefully will answer the questions

raised by few regarding "Self" and the Advaitic explanation of

Self-realization. During the rest of the year, I am planning to post

the translation of other verses from this book. Those who want to buy

this book should contact Nataraja Book Store from where I bought this

book. Use the Search Engine to find the Web Page for the bookstore.

 

The Quintessence of Vedanta (Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangrah) By

Swami Tattwananda.

Publisher: Sri Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama, P. 0. Kalady, Dt.

Ernakulam, Kerala State, India

 

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Description of Self-Realization according to Acharya Sankara

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866. Speaking of the Atman, the sruti says, 'I am the pure, inmost,

Atman, untouched by ignorance, and ever existent. I am at once tranquil

and limitless. I am an ocean of eternal bliss.

 

867. 1 have existed prior to all else. I am without beginning. All which

may be comprehended by means of words and by the mind, that I am. I am

comprehended only by the sruti. Pure knowledge, Perfect and indivisible

-such is my nature. (That which speech does not illumine, but which

illumines speech, know that alone to be Brahman: not this which people

worship here. Kena Upanishad: 1. 1, 4.)

 

868. 1 differ from the known and I am other than the unknown. I am free

from mAyA and all its effects. 1 am the witnessing consciousness; I am

pure knowledge, ever effulgent.

 

869 1 am neither the effect nor the cause of anything: Within me and

around me there is nothing other than the infinite Atman. Old age, decay

and death are - not for me. I am imperishable, for I an, bliss eternal;

I am , the one without a second. [He transformed Himself in accordance

with each form: that form of his was for the sake of making him known.

The Lord On account of mAyA notions superimposed by ignorance, is

perceived as manifold. This self, the perceiver of everything is

Brahman. (Brihadaranyakaopanishad II 5.19)]

 

870. I am Brahman which is at once the supreme light, and the supreme

reality, and which is in no way other than the innermost Atman, which is

indivisible, and, ever pure, which is of the nature of satchidananda,

and 'which is comprehended only by what the srutti: says.

 

871. It is in this way that the man of renunciation should meditate

through all the diverse modifications of the mind, upon the nature of

pure existence as the sole object of thought, in so far as it is

indirectly presented through the words of the sruti. In the first

instance,, one begins with the following concept: 'I am the witness of.

the desires that arise in me.' Then step by step, one comes to realize,

as pointed out by the sruti. 'I am pure.' It is in this way that one

should meditate upon the Atman -with entire devotion. Such is the

process by which one attains savikalpa. samAdhi, in association with the

words of the sruti.

 

873. Where the mind functions no longer, where there are no objects of

knowledge, and where the Atman, the witnessing consciousness, is the

sole reality, there arises the experience of nirvikalpa samadhi.

 

874. One who has practised savikalpa samadhi for a long time becomes at

long last fit to attain nirvikalpa samadhi, by virtue of the residual

impression Of what he, has practised previously, at an earlier stage.

 

875. It is certain that one who is solely intent upon the realization of

Brahman in nirvikalpa samadhi becomes the eternal Brahman. For such the

vicious cycle of birth and death has come to an end. Such a person

attains the bliss that knows no obstacles, but which is eternal in

nature, changeless and continuous.

 

876. Rare indeed are the knowers of Brahman; ior they are not other than

Brahman. They are not conscious of anything within them such as the

idea'of 'I and mine'; nor are they conscious of anything outside them

such as 'this or that'. They are lost, as it were, in the infinite ocean

of bliss, -which is the bliss of the inmost Atman, and they remain for

ever absorbed in a grand silence.

 

877. They are indeed the most fortunate who have lost their

individuality in that Supreme Being. They alone are liberated, even

though they might, seem 'to be embodied beings as far as the others are

concerned.'

 

878. All these three types of samadhi, the savikalpa, either in

association with the objects of knowledge, or with the sruti, and the

nirvikalpa should be practised diligently. By such diligent observance,

all that is within oneself, and all that which is without, become

negated; and it is only then that all duality,comes to an end.

879. I shall now recapitulate briefly the nature of the samadhi. Listen

with attention. The Supreme Brahman is of the nature of

existence-knowledge-bliss and is the substratum of all.

 

880. The universe of name and form seems to exist only in so far as it.

is superimposed upon Brahman. In reality, it is upon the triune nature

of Brahman as satchidananda that they have their being.

 

881. In addition to these three, two different attributes are added'

from the world of phenomena viz. name and form. All these five entities

become blended together. Thus name, form, existence, consciousness and

bliss become intermingled.

 

882. Those who are unenlightened,, mix together the real and the unreal:

and they refer to the combination of the two as 'this universe'. It is

as though one should put together the diverse factors such as coldness,

whiteness, taste, liquidity, and the name 'wave' and describe it all

together and say, 'This is a wave'.

 

883. It is only by superimposing the name and the form that people say,

'This is a wave'. It is in the same

way that people , superimpose name and. form up on rahman also. , But

when these superimpositions are

taken' away, what remains is Brahman alone.

884. Therefore a man of renunciation should separate name and form from

Brahman, in order to realize Brahman Which is of the nature of

existence-consciousness-bliss by means of concentration,

 

885. It is in this way that by merging everything in Brahman that the

man of renunciation becomes convinced, and knows for. certain. 'I am

-undoubtedly the -supreme Brahman, non-dual, of the nature ' of

existence-knowledge-bliss, and that which constitutes the substratum of

all names and forms.

 

886. Neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor air, nor space, nor their

products constitute Brahman. As for me, I am none other than the

non-dual Brahman, who is pure existence, and the substratum of all.

 

887. 1 am neither sound, nor form nor touch, nor smell, nor taste, nor

even anything other than these. I am none other than the supreme

non-dual Brahman, who is pure existence and the substratum of all.

 

888. Neither the dravyas, nor the gunas, nor the kriyas, nor jati nor

visesha, nor anything else constitute Brahman. Therefore I am none other

than the supreme non-dual Brahman who is pure existence and the

substratum of all. [Dravyas or substances, according to vaiseshikas are

nine in number. They are earth. water, light, air, other, time, space,

soul and mind. Gunas or qualities are twenty four in number. They are

color, taste, smell, touch, sound, number, magnitude. distinctness,

conjunction; disjunction. remoteness, fluidity, viscosity, tendency,

merit and demerit. Kriyas or actions are f ive. They are throwing

upward, throwing down-ward, contraction. expansion and locomotion. Jati

or class distinguishes one object from another object; Visesha is the

eternal distinction, or the inherent nature of each of the nine dravyss]

 

889. 1 am neither the body, nor the senses , nor the vital force, nor

the mind, nor the intellect, nor the - thinking faculty, nor, the ego. I

am none other than the non-dual Brahman who is pure existence and the

substratum of all.

 

890. Neither space nor time, nor the directions, nor other things. nor

the gross word, nor the subtle constitute Brahman. I am none other than

the non-dual Brahman, 'who is pure existence, and is the substratum of

all.

 

891- The wise man who is ever absorbed in the practice Of concentration,

and to whom the whole of the external world of knowledge becomes blended

in the consciousness of Brahman, knows at all times, whether he is

walking, or-standing or lying down, that in reality the universe of name

and form is none other than Brahman, who alone exists and is the

substratum of all.

 

892- One should therefore meditate in the following manner; 'I am

Brahman, the non-dual Supreme bliss'. One should merge in Brahman' all

name and form, for they are superimposed on Brahman.

 

893. That unchanging, formless, untainted Brahman, who knows no sorrow

and who is without a beginning and an end, and is all-pervading, That I

am; and there is no doubt about it.

 

894. One should meditate in the following manner: 'I am Brahman, who is

taintless, who is free from fear; and also free from the three kinds of

limitations imposed by time, space, and the nature of things, and who is

ever blissful, imperishable and free.'

 

895. One should therefore meditate in the following manner: I am Brahman

who is free from all attributes, whose nature is not reflected in

anything else, who is ever free, who undergoes no change, and who is of

the nature of pure knowledge, and of nothing else, and who is ever

existing.'

 

896 One should therefore, meditate thus: ‘I am Brahman, who is ever

pure, who is untainted by ignorance; who is realizable only by means of

the right knowledge of Brahman, who is the supreme, the inmost and

indivisible, the self-effulgent.'

 

897. One, should therefore meditate, in the following manner: 'I am the

supreme non-dual Brahman, whose nature is very subtle, who is pure

existence, the absolute, the greatest of .the great and ever pure.'

 

:898. One who thus meditates upon that 'pure reality whose nature is

indicated by such expressions as

being devoid of change and the like, has one's mind established in

Brahman, the goal.