107492708 Adi Sankara Bouquet of Nondual Texts

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SOCIETY OF ABIDANCE IN TRUTH

COPYRIGHT 2006 BY THE

SOCIETY OF ABIDANCE IN TRUTH

PRINTED IN SOUTH KOREA

FIRST EDITION 2006

ISBN: 0-9703667-2-8

FORALL INQUIRIES CONTACT THE PUBLISHER:

Society of Abidance in TruthSAT

1834 Ocean StreetSanta Cruz, California 95060 USA

(831) 425-7287

www.SATRamana.org

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Contents

Acknowledgements.......................................................... ix

Notes on Translation........................................................ xii

Introduction...................................................................... xv

b]aNauicNTaNaMa(Brahm0nucintanamMeditation on Brahman .................................................. 1

AETaParMa(Advaita-pa&ca-ratnamThe Nondual Pentad of Gems.......................................... 36

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SvPaaNauSa&DaaNaak==Ma(Svar$p0nusandh0n094akamThe Octet of the Inquiry Into Ones Own Nature ..........225

Ba]jaNaavl=IMaal=aBrahma-j&0n0val#-m0l0The Rows of Garlands of Brahman Knowledge ............239

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ix

Acknowledgements

The translators and SAT would like to express gratitudeand appreciation to:

Adi Sankara, the great sage who composed these won-drous holy texts.

Sri Ramana Maharshi, the great sage whose exposition ofSelf-Knowledge makes the teachings contained herein easy torealize.

All those who have preserved these precious teachingsover the centuries, in written form and within themselves.

Sasvati, for her continuing gracious efforts to see that theseworks of Advaita Vedanta are preserved and presented, formaking the environment well-suited for the translators con-centrated work, for the books layout and design, and for see-ing to the printing of it.

Ganesh Sadasivan and his wife Dhanya, for their generousofferings that provided the funds for this publication and fortheir support of SAT.

Sangeeta Raman, Raman Muthukrishnan, Navneet Ayer,Ganesh Sadasivan, and Sasvati, for their careful proofreading

efforts. Ganesh Sadasivan for his review of the translation andtext and for suggestions pertaining thereto.

All those, too numerous to mention here individually,

who continue to support SAT in its consecrated work of pre-serving and disseminating the teachings of Advaita Vedanta,

especially the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.


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Obeisance to Adi Sankara,Who is the One Absolute,Who enlightens our mind,

Who brings joy to our heart.To Him we are eternally grateful.

Its scent emanates,filling our hearts with ecstacy,

Upon exhalationwe seek Its fragrance again.

Its radiant beauty fills our mindswith divine bliss,

If we turn from It,we seek to gaze upon It again.

Its essence permeates our very core,And we rejoice in the quintessence of our

singular, infinite and eternal identity

The One Reality

The Bouquet of Nonduality.

Om Tat Sat

SasvatiSankara Jayanti, 2005

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Notes on Translation

Translation of profound spiritual works from Sanskrit toEnglish may be regarded as a fusion of a linguistic science andan art. It is inherently approximate, while the essential mes-sage of unambiguous true Knowledge remains forever tran-scendent of both thought and word.

In this compendium of sacred works by Adi Sankara, thetranslation has been attempted with an eye to that essentialmessage and to the presentation in English of the original lit-eral meaning as much as is possible. In addition, an attempthas been made to follow the actual order of the Sanskrit wordsand phrases as closely as the English language allows. Thishas been done to such an extent that we have chosen to pres-ent that which was actually composed by the great sage inflawless Sanskrit even at the expense of elegance of the newlanguage. Therefore, at a first cursory glance, some awkward-ness of phrasing may appear in the English at points, but med-itation upon the meaning thus conveyed will result in an inte-rior Knowledge that more than compensates for the lack ofEnglish eloquence in such translated verses.

Some words and phrases employed by Sri Sankara carrythe possibility of multiple interpretations. In such cases, theword-for-word portion of each translated verse displays thepossible meanings distinguished by commas. Therefore, it ispossible for the avid reader to insert these various meanings inthe English verse in substitution of the meaning selected by thetranslators to derive multiple nuances of meaning that may becontained in the original. In some cases, these multiple mean-ings have been incorporated within parentheses immediately

following the selected meaning in the final English verse.Aside from its usual usage, capitalization has beenemployed to aid the reader in identifying terms that signify theAbsolute or Self-Realization. Terms and phrases in parenthe-sis represent alternative translations of the immediately pre-ceding word or phrase, explanation of the preceding term, or

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additional information that may be clarifying for the reader.Brackets signify an insertion made by the translators consid-ered to be necessary to render the verse comprehensible inEnglish or to enable the verse to conform to the basic rules ofthe English language.

Any mistakes that may appear herein are entirely the faultof the assistant translator and do not reflect any mistake in theflawless, original texts of Sri Sankara or in the meticulous,devoted, selfless work of the primary translator, the late Dr. H.Ramamoorthy.

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xv

Advaita-Prakarana-ManjariIntroduction

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The teachings by Sri Sankara are of a timeless value, as they

deal with the highest wisdom concerning the nature of onesown Self, revealing that if this Self be realized as it truly, innate-

ly is, it is Brahman, itself, without the least differentiation. This,ones true nature, apart from which there is no individual or

object, is indivisible, formless, unborn, imperishable, and of thenature of Being-Consciousness-Bliss.

Ignorance regarding the Self is the cause of imaginedbondage. Such ignorance, which is of the quality of veilingand projection, manifests as misidentification with what is notones real identity and attachment to objects, that is, confusionregarding what is real and what is not. Knowledge of the Selfalone ends such ignorance, revealing the unreal nature of itsforms and of the ignorance itself. If the Knowledge impartedin these teachings of Sri Sankara is fully realized, thereremains no illusion or delusion, no object or individual, nocreation and no birth, no bondage and no ignorance, no onebound and no one ignorant. Brahman alone is, and That youare. That is the sole-existent Reality.

Illusion, being unreal, has no power to sustain or destroyitself. The superimposition of that which is not real upon thatwhich is real lends seeming sustenance to that which has neveractually come to be. Destruction of illusion can be only by thatwhich is not of the illusion, yet for the homogenous Absolute

Reality, Brahman, which alone is the Self, there is never anysuch thing as illusion. Therefore, in Truth, there is no creationof illusion and no destruction of illusion. Nevertheless, theforever unmanifested Reality, which is the Knowledge itself,displays itself as the power of that Knowledge, both in termsof its shining, or revelation, and its blissfully liberating nature.This is the light and power of Sankaras word. What could bemore powerful than Reality, Being, and what could be moreluminous than Consciousness, which is the Knowledge? AsSelf-Knowledge is not to be delusively imagined to be per-ceptual, conceptual, or divisible into a triad of knower, know-ing, and known, it is nondual in nature, and its omnipotence,omnipresence, and omniscience are due to the illimitable,formless, eternal, Self, which is one without a second.Therefore, while the Truth is most eloquently taught in

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Silence, as declared and exemplified in Sri Ramana Maharshiand in Sri Sankara himself, and as depicted in the form ofDakshinamurti, that same Truth alone, without any diminu-tion, is the meaning, power, and revelation of what has beenuttered and written by such a great sage as Adi Sankara.

Presented here is a small bouquet of nondual spiritualtexts selected among the many that Sri Sankara bequeathed tohumanity as one of the means of instruction in these essentialteachings. The central focus of them is Self-Knowledge, andthe manner of exposition of spiritual instruction found in themis similar to that contained in Sri Sankaras Svatmanirupanam,translated into English and published by SAT in 2002.Tremendous, immeasurable depth is found in the Knowledgeso succinctly, tersely expressed in the verses that composethese sacred texts. The reader must meditate deeply upon theirsignificance by a profound inquiry to know his own Self inorder to fully comprehend that which is imparted in theseteachings.

The emphasis on knowing oneself and the invariable iden-tification of the author of these verses, Sankara, with the Selfis the very same as that found in Sri Ramana Maharshi and histeachings. Differences and degrees can be conceived of ajnana(ignorance), but it is not possible for there to be degrees or dif-ferences of Jnana (Knowledge). For the same reason, there

cannot be differences of jnani-s, sages of Self-Knowledge, for,in this Knowledge, there is no individuality whatsoever, andan utter absence of misidentification with the body, its attrib-utes, its activities, and such is implicit in Self-Realization.Brahman, or the Self, is the only identity of one who has real-ized. Indeed, one who has realized, may be regarded as onlya euphemism, for Brahman alone knows and is Brahman. Thespiritual identity of Dakshinamurti, Adi Sankara, and SriRamana Maharshi is thus self-evident to those who know, justas it is revealed in the teachings themselves. Thus, theMaharshi has said in his introduction to his Tamil translationof Sri Sankaras Atmabodha, Can Sankara, the enlightener ofthe Self, be different from ones own Self? Who but he doesthis day, abiding as the inmost Self in me, speak this in theTamil language? (The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi,

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third edition 1968, Sri Ramanasramam) In addition, in theMaharshis invocation to his Tamil translation (entitled

Dakshinamurti Tottiram) of Adi Sankaras DakshinamurtiStotram (Dakshinamurti Ashtakam), For the peace of thesteadfast, best of sages to be steadily established, shining as

the south-facing form, shining in his nature that is silence,expounding, in this stotra, the nature of the Self, Lord Sankaraabides in me. If one, being enlightened by these essentialteachings of nondual Self-Knowledge, realizes the Self as hisonly identity and as the only reality, he, himself, then is bliss-fully abiding at the very source of this highest wisdom and isthat source, himself, for he who listens is, himself, the one whospeaks, he who reflects is, himself, the light of his contempla-tion, and he who meditates is, himself, That upon which heseeks to meditate. He remains absorbed in That which he, him-self, is. He abides as the eternal Brahman, while remainingwith a heart overflowing with gratitude toward sages such asSankara who, in the infinitude of Grace and with the all-see-ing eye of Knowledge, has so clearly enunciated the nature ofthe Self and the means to realize it, liberating those whoapproach his teachings with devotion, humility, perseverance,detachment, discrimination, the burning desire for Liberation,and other such spiritual qualities from the illusory fetters, thefear caused by dualism, and the sorrowful delusion that is born

of imagination.

May our salutations be to this Adi Sankara.

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Introduction toBrahmanucintanam(Meditation on Brahman)

elf-Knowledge is the Realization of Brahman. Differencesare imagined in ignorance of ones own identity.

Meditation for Self-Knowledge consists of deep inquiry toknow the Self as it is, free of misidentification. In this sacredset of verses, Sri Sankara has revealed this meditation of iden-tity with Brahman, which is ones true and only Being. Any

supposed identity other than that which is thus revealed hereby the Acharya should be negated by the deep inquiry to deter-mine who one really is and abandoned as being only of thenature of imagination. Brahman, formless and eternal, is aloneones nature. This Self is unborn. For the unborn there is neverany creation. The Self alone is. That sole-existent Self isrevealed, with supreme Knowledge and Grace, by AdiSankara, who is, himself, that Self, that Brahman.

Glorious is Sankara, who is certain of being Brahman.Glorious is Sankara, who knows Brahman as I, who is neverotherwise, and who, therefore, cannot be bound.

Glorious is Sankara, the Supreme Brahman, of the nature ofConsciousness, the wholly unattached and the ever unaf-fected, realized by those who persevere in Knowledge.

Glorious is Sankara, not different from Brahman, who revealsthe way to realize the Supreme Brahman, and who is med-itated upon by those who abide in Brahman.

Glorious is Sankara, who is the illimitable, continuous

Awareness and who is colorless, birthless, and beyond allstages.

Glorious is Sankara, who is Brahman, which is all, the ever-existent One that is the Self of all the gods.

Glorious is Sankara, who does not conceive of difference.

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Glorious is Sankara, who is the ever-liberated, undifferenti-ated Being-Consciousness-Bliss, with no trace of sorrow.

Glorious is Sankara, who is transcendent of action and whoseKnowledge does not change with the motions of the body.

Glorious is Sankara, who is ever happy and the teachings of

whom, in a moment, destroy all darkness, causing one toabide in identity with Brahman.

Glorious is Sankara, who is like a sun ever risen, devoid of theignorance that creates the objective illusion.

Glorious is Sankara, the undivided One, from whom allappears.

Glorious is Sankara, the immaculate One, into whom alldissolves.

Glorious is Sankara, who is all-pervasive and free from allillusion and individuality.

Glorious is Sankara, the unborn and imperishable, the immortalsanctuary for all, the Infinite, Bliss itself, who is the Onerevealed in the scriptures.

Glorious is Sankara, eternal and undifferentiated, who isdoubtless, formless, immutable, and of the nature ofBeing-Consciousness-Bliss beyond the sheaths.

Glorious is Sankara, who is the ever unattached, non-individualized, Supreme Lord, and by whose Realityand Light the senses move.

Glorious is Sankara, who is the blemishless Self that is free ofbeginning, middle, and end and who is never in bondage.

Glorious is Sankara, who is Brahman and has not a trace ofsamsara and whose spiritual instruction should always bepracticed and realized.

Glorious is Sankara, by whose Knowledge one becomes Thatwhen one ardently practices.

Glorious is Sankara, by the practice of whose teachings allfaults are destroyed and all that is wondrous is attained.

Glorious is Sankara, the practice of whose teachings bestowsLiberation while alive, transcendent of the body, senses,and prana.

Glorious is Sankara, who reveals that the I is not the mindor the ego or anything elemental.

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Glorious is Sankara, who is transcendent of all sensations,who is beyond space, who is not veiled by illusion, andwho, being free from thought, cannot be remembered.

Glorious is Sankara, who is Consciousness, the solitaryWitness of all, who is Siva, the One that alone is, in whom

all are created, sustained, and destroyed.Glorious is Sankara, who is without duality, who is infinite,

who knows all, the Lord of all before whom there is noother power.

Glorious is Sankara, who is Truth-Knowledge-Bliss, thechangeless Brahman, which is the only existence of themeditator and the meditation, and in whom this entire uni-verse is known as false.

Glorious is Sankara, who is the samsara-less Brahmanrevealed by the Vedanta-s and the Gurus.

Glorious is Sankara, who is bodiless, who does not possess abody, the everlasting ancient One, the One that alone is,Brahman, apart from which there is nothing.

Glorious is Sankara, who liberates all who meditate on Hisnature, the only One existing in all beings, if only the mindis absorbed in That.

Glorious is Sankara, who has composed this Meditation onBrahman (Brahmanucintam).

Glorious is Sankara.

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)) b]aNauicNTaNaMa( ))

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Brahm0nucintanam

Meditation on Brahman

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AhMaev Par& b] vaSaudeva:YaMaVYaYaMa( )wiTa SYaaiiTaae Mau==ae b WvaNYaQaa >aveTa( )) 1 ))

aham-eva-para% brahma v0sudev0khyam-avyayamiti sy0n-ni*cito mukto baddha ev0nyath0 bhavet

aham evaI am, indeed, paramSupreme brahmaBrahman v0sudeva3Vasudeva, Supreme Being0khyamcalled avyayamchangeless itithus sy0tshould be ni*cita3in certitude mukta3theLiberated baddha3a bound one evaindeedanyath0otherwise bhavetwill be

I am, indeed, the Supreme Brahman,Called the Supreme Being, changeless;Thus should be in certitude the Liberated;Otherwise, he will be one bound, indeed.

(Alternative translation for fourth line:One bound, indeed, will be otherwise.)

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AhMaev Par& b] iNaiTa& icta icNTYaTaaMa( )icd]UPaTvadSaTvadbaDYaTvaTPa[YaTa" )) 2 ))

aham-eva para% brahma ni*cita% citta cintyat0mcid-r$patv0d-asa^gatv0d-ab0dhyatv0t-prayatnata3

aham evaI am, indeed, paramSupreme brahmaBrahman ni*citam cittawith a firm mind, with asettled mind, with a mind of certainty, with anunopposed mind cintyat0mlet this be contem-plated, thought cit r$patv0tbeing of the nature ofConsciousness asa^gatv0tbeing attachmentlessab0dhyatv0tbeing unaffected prayatnata3bypersevering effort

I am, indeed, the Supreme Brahman.Let this be contemplated with a mind of

certainty,Being of the nature of Consciousness, being

without attachment,Being unaffected, [and] by persevering effort.

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AhMaev Par& b] Na cah& b]


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SavaeRPaaiDaiviNaMauR& cETaNYa& c iNarNTarMa( )Ta]ahiMaiTa jaTva k===Qa& vaveTa( )) 4 ))

sarvop0dhi-vinirmukta% caitanya% ca nirantaramtad-brahm0ham-iti j&0tv0 katha% var80*ram# bhavet

sarva up0dhi vinirmuktamfree from all limitationscaitanyam caAwareness and nirantarampause-less, uninterrupted tat brahmathat BrahmanahamI am itithus j&0tv0having known kathamhowvar8a 0*ram#one who observes the rules ofcastes and orders of life bhavetcan become

Free of all limitationsAnd with uninterrupted Awareness,Having known thus that I am Brahman,How can one become one who observes castes

and orders of life?

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Ah& b]aiSMa Yaae ved Sa Sav&==R >aviTa iTvdMa( )Naa>aUTYaa wRXaTae devaSTaeZaaMaaTMaa >avei Sa" )) 5 ))

aha% brahm0smi yo veda sa sarva% bhavati tvidamn0bh$ty0 #*ate dev0s-te90m-0tm0 bhaved-dhi sa3

aham brahma asmiI am Brahman yo vedaonewho knows sa3 sarva% bhavatihe becomes all tuindeed idamthis na abh$ty0by not being non-existent #*atebecome the Lord((##**vvaarraa)) dev03thegods te90mtheir 0tm0Self bhavetbecomes dhiestablished, fix the mind on (another version:bhavet hiindeed becomes, because) sa3he

One who knows, I am Brahman,He becomes all this;By not being nonexistent, the gods become the

Lord (Isvara);Their Self, indeed, he becomes.

(Alternative translation of the fourth line:Because their Self he becomes.)

(Alternative translation of the fourth line: [As]their Self he becomes established.)

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ANYaae_SaavhMaNYaae_SMaqTYauPaaSaTae Yaae_NYadevTaaMa( )Na Sa ved Narae Ba] Sa devaNaa& YaQaa PaXau" )) 6 ))

anyos0v-aham-anyosm#ty-up0sate yonya-devat0mna sa veda naro brahma sa dev0n0% yath0 pa*u3

anya3 asauthis one is different aham anya3 asmiI am one different itithus up0sateworships,acknowledges, serves, is devoted to, contemplatesupon ya3he who anya devat0mother gods na sa3vedahe does not knownara3man brahmaBrahman sa3he dev0n0mamong the gods yath0like pa*u3beast, tethered animal, individual inbondage

This one is different; I am different,He who thus contemplates upon (worships, is

devoted to) other gods,That man does not know Brahman.He is like a beast (one in bondage) among the

gods.

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AhMaaTMaa Na CaaNYaae_iSMa b]Evah& Na Xaaek==>aak( )SaidaNaNdPaae_h& iNaTYaMau==Sv>aavvaNa( )) 7 ))

aham-0tm0 na c0nyosmi brahmaiv-0ha% na *okabh0ksac-cid-0nanda-r$poha% nitya-mukta-svabh0vav0n

aham 0tm0I am the Self na ca anya3 asmiI amnot anyone different brahma eva ahamI am,indeed, Brahman na *okabh0knot having anyportion of sorrowsat-cit-0nanda-r$pa3 ahamI amof the nature of Being-Consciousness-Bliss nityamukta3ever, eternally liberated svabh0va-v0none

with the own nature of, innate state of being

I am the Self; I am not anyone different.I am, indeed, Brahman, not having any portion of

sorrow.I am of the nature of Being-Consciousness-Bliss.I am of the innate nature that is ever liberated.

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AaTMaaNa& SaTaTa& b] Sa&>aaVYa ivhriNTa Yae )Na TaeZaa& duZk*===Ta& ik& icuZk*==TaaeTQaa Na caPad" )) 8 ))

0tm0na% satata% brahma sa%bh0vya viharanti yena te90% du9k1ta% ki%cid-du9k1totth0 na c0pada3

0tm0namoneself satatamalways brahmaBrahmansambh0vyahaving that conviction, consideringviharanti yethose who move about, roam nate90mnot for them du9k1tamwrong, evil, wickedactions ki%citin the least du9k1ta utth03arisingfrom wrong, wicked, evil actions na ca 0pada3andno dangers, distress, misfortune

Those who move about having the convictionThat oneself is always Brahman,Not for them in the least are there any wrong

actions,And there are no dangers (distress) arising out of

wrong actions.

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AaTMaaNa& SaTaTa& b] Sa&>aaVYa ivhreTSau%Ma( )+a

107492708 Adi Sankara Bouquet of Nondual Texts

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