Sri RAM GITA (VEDA VYASA)

Sri RAM GITA (VEDA VYASA)

INTRODUCTION Adyathma Ramayan is authored by Maha Rishi Veda Vyasa and is the part of Brahmanda Purana. It tries to analyze the spiritual side of Ramayana and has many prayers addressed to deities as well as philosophic conversations. Among these are two stretches of intimate conversation between Rama and Lakshmana, one in Aaranya Kanda and the other in Uthara Kanda. But in Uthara Kanda, the conversation between them is more philosophical and enlightening and is popularly known as Rama Gita. ‘Sri Rama expounds the spiritual quest of Lakshmana in a different order. He explains that all that is perceived by the senses and mind is Maya. I and mine, you and yours are Maya. Maya is endowed with two powers; the veiling and the projecting causing ignorance. Ignorance leads a person to attachments, with a sense of doer-ship, pride of ownership, and causes much pain and suffering to the individual. True knowledge, the right understanding that all is Lord’s grace, helps the individual realize that the Lord dwells in all animate and inanimate things around us. The three Gunas, that constitute the nature of everything i.e. Sattva (goodness) Rajas (energetic) and Tamas (laziness) also come under the sway of the Lord’s Maya. The eradication of the influences of Maya leads the individual to achieve Jnana (knowledge) and Viragya (detachment or dispassion). Vairagya is attained when the individual performs any action without the thought of doer-ship and without any concern for the fruits of actions. It is not easy to achieve Vairagya, however it is possible by the practicing of virtues. The individual (Jiva), through the discipline of Yoga and by the control of the mind, attains spiritual wisdom and accepts that it is the Lord (Shiva) who controls all our actions. The individual is then free from bondages and is rewarded with liberation. This is what the Vedas also proclaim. The easiest path that any seeker can follow without much preparation is total devotion (Bhakti) to the Lord. True knowledge, the spiritual wisdom of the Lord with or without form, depends upon Bhakti. A true seeker will be able to attend to even his household duties peacefully by constantly focusing ones thoughts on the Lord. There are nine paths of devotion which will detach the individual from worldly objects and bring the seeker closer to the Lord. They are: Sravana (Listening to Lord’s praises and stories, Kirtana (Chanting the Lord’s name), Smarana (Constantly thinking of the Lord), Padasevana (Prostrating to the feet of the Lord), Archana (Worshipping an image of the Lord), Vandana (Prostrating with respect to the Lord), Dasya (Accepting the Lord as your Master and offering devout service), Sakhya (Considering the Lord as your friend),and Atmanivedanam (Surrendering oneself to the Lord)’. Rama Gita by Swami Chaitanyananda RAMA GITA (Canto V of Uttara Kanda in Srimad Adhyatma Ramayana, by Maha Rishi Veda Vyasa a dialogue between Uma and Mahaeshwara) Sri Mahadeva Uvacha: 1. After that Lord Rama, the best of Raghus, who established His glorious fame in the form of Ramayana for the well-being of the world through His divine and auspicious body, acted according to the norms established by the ancient Rajareshis. 2. At the request of the large hearted son of Sumithra, Rama with graciousness narrated the ancient story, of the great king Nruga who was cursed by a Brahmin to take an animal birth. 3. Once, the son of Sumitra whose mind had been purified by devotion, approached, with reverence, Lord Rama whose lotus like feet Lakshmi adores, sitting in solitude, after prostrating and with all humility requested Him; 4. You are Pure Knowledge; You are the Self of all embodied beings; You are the Lord in truth; and You are without form. O You of great wisdom! You are known to those who have knowledge for their vision, and whose minds are ever attached to Your lotus feet, like a black bee to the lotus flower. 5. O Lord! I take refuge at Your lotus feet which secure emancipation from the course of worldly life, and are cherished by yogis. Do You teach me that knowledge whereby I may speedily and with ease, cross this impassible ocean of ignorance. (nescience) 6. On hearing the prayer of the son of Sumitra, Rama, the ornament of kings and destroyer of the sorrow of his devotees, with a joyful heart, communicated to him that knowledge which is declared by the Vedas, for the purpose of removing the whole of nescience. Sri Ramachandra Uvacha: 7.Having, in the beginning accomplished all the duties which are enjoined for one’s own caste and order, and having thereby purified one’s mind, and acquired the necessary qualifications for knowledge, let one approach a wise preceptor for the purpose of acquiring Brahma-vidya (Knowledge of the Self). 8. All work results in incarnation. For one, who is attached to it, come Dharma and its contrary, leading to happiness and misery. Thence, arises the body and from it again work. In this way, like a wheel, the course of worldly life revolves without an end. 9. The root cause of it is ignorance (ajnana). For the purpose of warding off this course of worldly life, removal of ignorance or nescience is the only means. Knowledge alone is capable of destroying this nescience. Action cannot destroy it as it is born of nescience, and is not it’s contrary. 10. Destruction of nescience or of attachment follows performance of action. On the contrary, it leads to further action with its commitment to perishable and transient results, leading to the round of birth and re-birth without end. Let the Sage, therefore, avoid action, and devote himself to knowledge and meditation on the truths of the Vedanta. 11. One who objects to this approach says: Action is also enjoined by the Vedas as conducive to the highest end of man like knowledge. For one who has a body, performance of action is enjoined, and it becomes ultimately the helpmate of Vidya (Knowledge). 12. The Veda has declared cessation from action to be sinful. Let the aspirant after emancipation, therefore, always engage in action. But, replies the Sage: Vidya is certain in its results, and independent. It does not stand in need of any helping agent even in thought. 13. The advocate of Vedic rites rejoins: Even though (knowledge) is true in its results, yet Vedic sacrifice also requires other helping agents like time, place, etc for its accomplishment. In the same manner does Vidya, illuminated by Karma performed, lead to emancipation in a special manner. 14. Some, who are disputants in logic, maintain this combination of knowledge and action as conducive to emancipation. This is an untruth because it involves a patent contradiction. Work flourishes through the notion of ‘I’ in the body. On the contrary, knowledge arises from the sublation of the notion of ‘I’ in the body and the like. 15. The final condition of the Manas (mind) which follows the realization of the truths of the Vedanta, leading to pure knowledge, is called Vidya by the wise. Work arises from its adjuncts in the shape of actors, instruments, time, place and the rest. On the contrary, Vidya destroys all actors, instruments and the like. 16. Let the man of wisdom, therefore, renounce all work. On account of its being opposed to knowledge, there can be no combination of knowledge and work. Having withdrawn his senses from all objects let the Sage be ever engaged in realization of his own self (Atman). 17. As long as, under the influence of Maya, there is any sense of ‘I’ in the body and the like, so long is there the binding force of injunctions of the Veda regarding action. Having sublated the whole of it through the saying of not this, not this, and knowing the Supreme-Self, let him renounce all action. 18. When that knowledge which destroys the notion of separation of the Supreme Self from the embodied Self arises in the purified internal organ, then Maya together with its off-shoots, which give rise to birth, rebirth and action (Karma), forthwith disappears. 19. Having once been destroyed by knowledge, how shall it be capable of showing its activity, leading to further incarnation? When it has been destroyed by realized knowledge which is pure and without duality, how shall it (nescience) ever again arise? 20. When nescience (Avidya), once destroyed, cannot spring forth anew, how can then there be any notion of ‘I am the doer’? Therefore, independent of everything else, knowledge (Vidya) requires nothing for its fructification. It alone is sufficient for the purpose of securing emancipation (Moksha). 21. The Sruti of the Taitiriya-Upanisad has reverently declared this renunciation of all action. ‘This alone is Moksha’ is also the declaration of the Sruti of the Vajasaneyi-Upanisad. Therefore, knowledge alone, and not action, is the means of emancipation. 22. The Vedantin questions, ‘you have shown the equality of sacrificial action with knowledge, but without giving any illustration thereof. The fruits of the two are distinct. Sacrificial action is accomplished through various instruments like actor, instruments and the like; but knowledge is not accomplished by these but by other means’. 23. It is only the intellect of one who superimposes the Self upon the Not-self that cherishes the notion of sin in the non- performance of action. The intellect of the Sage has no such notion. Therefore, by the wise, action which is enjoined as obligatory should be renounced, as it is for those whose minds are attached to the fruit of action. 24. Let one, who is endowed with faith, through a purified mind and the grace of his preceptor, know the unity of the supreme with the embodied Self through the great saying Thou art That, and be happy and unmoved like the Meru Mountain. 25. In the beginning, one is to realize the significance of the saying Tat Twam Asi, (That art Thou) free from all doubt and uncertainly, and also the meaning of each of the three words Tat Twam and Asi which it consists of. The word Tat signifies the Supreme Self with Its attributes of omniscience and the like, the word Twam the embodied self and the word Asi (is) connects the two. 26. Having sublated the adjuncts of the embodied self as the internal-ever- present self with the notion of ‘I’ attached, and of the Supreme Self as the not- present self with the notion of the (unseen) attached, and retaining the intelligent nature of the two and their final significance as illustrated in the indirect application (Lakshana) described below, let one abide in the unity of one’s own self. 27. The jahat lakshana is not possible here on account of the unity of the two ‘Selfs’. The ajahat lakshana is also not possible on account of contradiction. On the contrary, just as in the saying ‘he is the same person whom I saw’, both kinds of lakshana enter, in the same manner as both kinds of lakshana enter in the unity of the two, the Tat and the Twam as free from all faults. 28 The gross adjunct of the Atman is the body composed of the five elements of the earth, water, fire, air and space, in their combination with each other. It is the place of enjoyment of the fruit of action as well as of happiness, misery and the like, having a beginning and an end, and born of Maya. 29. The wise know the subtle body as consisting of the mind, the intellect, the five organs of perception, the five of action, and the vital airs born of the five elements in their original state of purity, and to be other than the gross body. It is the vehicle of enjoyment of the enjoyer, when he is associated with a gross body. This body is also other than the self. 30. The beginning-less incomprehensible Maya is the chief body of the Lord. Through superimposition, He appears to be differentiated as the Supreme Self and the embodied self. Let one, therefore, gradually realize one’s self through sublation of all adjuncts. 31. Like a piece of crystal appearing to be red on account of its proximity to a red flower, this self (embodied) appears to be of the form of the five sheaths because of proximity to them. When the great saying ‘This Purusa Is Unattached’ is fully reflected upon, It (the Purusa) is known to be unattached, unborn, and without a second 32. The states of the intellect (buddhi), also seen here as three- fold, namely, waking, dream and deep sleep states of consciousness, are such on account of its combination with the attributes of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. They are not the true states of the Supreme Self, for one category does not abide when the other is present. Therefore they are all unreal, and cannot be of the nature of the Supreme Self, which is unity and bliss itself. 33.So long as the intellect (buddhi), having for its root the attributes of darkness and activity (rajas and tamas), partakes of the nature of ignorance, and functions as ‘I’ in this conglomeration of the body, the organs of senses, the vital airs, the intelligent principle (Cit) and the Atman, so long does the Samsara flourish. 34. Let one, having sublated the whole of the phenomenal world through not this, not this, and having, by a mind residing in pure sattva (goodness), tasted the nectar of the intelligent atman, renounce the world, like one leaving a fruit after having sucked off the juice. 35. The self never dies nor is born, nor is it subject to increase or decrease. It is never new (or old), beyond all additions to its greatness, of the nature of bliss itself, self-illumined, all pervading and without a second. 36. When such is the nature of the self, which is all intelligence, all bliss, how can the Samsara, which is full of sorrow, appear to exist in it, or for it? It appears to exist from nescience and superimposition of the attributes of the Not-self upon the Self. On the arising of knowledge, this world disappears instantly; being its contrary, it cannot live (stay) in the same place. 37. The wise call it superimposed which, although different from one thing, is yet imposed upon another, through illusion. Just as the rope is not the snake, yet it is mistaken for it; in the same way, the world that is superimposed upon the Supreme Self is taken to be the Supreme Self, though it is not, that is happy, miserable, born, dying, etc. 38. In the Atman (self) which is the cause of all, which is free from imperfection, which is the one supreme Brahman, which is without contradictions, which is free from all modifications to the basic principle, and which is above Maya, the superimposition of the notion of ‘I’ is the first superimposition. 39. The functions of the intellect, in the shape of desire and the like, attachment and happiness and the like, are the causes of the world process in its epitome; for in the condition of deep sleep, when all these functions of the waking consciousness cease, the Supreme Self is cognized by us as of the nature of Bliss itself. 40. In buddhi (conditioned intelligence) created through beginning-less reflection of nescience, the chit is called the embodied self (Jiva). In truth, the atman is separate from the being, its witness. Unconditioned by buddhi, the Jiva is Tat (the Brahman). 41. The atman (chit) and the buddhi (intellect) appear each to partake of the attributes of the other through mutual connection. The intelligent nature of the self appears in the buddhi and the non-intelligent nature of the buddhi in the self. The cause of this connection is the combined reflection of the embodied self and the sense organs in the buddhi, like the contact of fire with iron which makes the iron reflect and radiate heat. 42. Having, in the company of the preceptor and the declaration of the Veda, realized the nature of supreme knowledge, let the Sage see the Supreme Self as free from all adjuncts and renounce all that is non-intelligent and the cause of this worldly life. 43. ‘I am of the nature of light; I am unborn; I am without a second; highly effulgent am I; very pure am I, the embodiment of absolute knowledge; free from all defect, I am full; I am bliss itself; and I am no doer of action. 44. Ever free am I; of incomprehensible power am I; my knowledge transcends the senses; free from modification am I; unlimited, unfathomable am I; I am He who is ever realized, in their own selves by the wise devoted to the study of the Veda’. 45. In this manner, with intellect directed to no other object, always contemplating upon one’s own atman, one acquires purity of thought whereby, in a short time, one renounces all actions which cause rebirth, together with nescience, the root cause thereof, like a sick person overcoming disease by taking the elixir of life. 46. Sitting in a lonely place, with all senses withdrawn from their objects, with a mind brought under control, with the internal organ purified, rising above all means of knowledge except realization of self through introspection, having one’s eye directed towards Jnana (supreme knowledge) and wisdom alone, and abiding in one’s own self, let one think only of the Self (Atman). 47. All this universe is in truth the Supreme Self. Let the sage therefore merge it in the Self, the cause of all causes. He who has done so abides in his own self which is full and bliss itself. For him, the Brahman alone is within and without. 48. Before the attainment of Samadhi (transcendence of the three states of human consciousness), let the seeker contemplate this entire universe, mobile and immobile, as nothing but Aum. Aum is the expression, and the universe is the thing expressed. This meditation is also possible in the condition of nescience, not on the arising of true knowledge. 49-50-51.The letter A in AUM expresses the Viswa, the letter U expresses the Taijas , and the letter M expresses the Prajna. All the Vedas know Him as AUM. Let the Sage merge the Viswa represented by A in the Taijas represented by U, into which it often abides. Then let him merge the Taijas into Prajna represented by M, the last letter of the Pranava. Let him then merge Prajna in the Supreme Chitghana, the Intelligence Absolute, for the Prajna is the cause of the other two, Viswa and Taijas, leading to it. Let him, then, ever realize as ‘I am the Supreme Self, ever free of all adjuncts, and ever pure’. 52. To the yogi, who has practised samadhi in this manner, who has completely withdrawn all his senses from their objects, who has conquered all enemies in the shape of desire, anger, avarice, delusion, fear and lassitude, and who has subdued (as it were, by his devotion) the Lord of six attributes Himself, (to such yogi) I become visible. 53. Having in this way reached the state of realization of the Supreme Self, having found his happiness in his own self, and having forgotten all, the sage sits, ever abiding in his own effulgent nature, in the bliss of his own atman, free from all limitation, unfathomable as the ocean without a wave to ruffle its surface. 54. Thus meditating upon his own self, day and night, let the sage abide free from all bonds, till the exhaustion of the karma which gave him this present incarnation. On the dissolution of the body, he is absorbed into Me. 55. Knowing the course of worldly life to be the cause of fear and sorrow in the beginning, middle and end, and having renounced all that appertains to the karma-kanda (the component of rites) of the Sastras, let the sage devote himself to the contemplation of Me who is the Self of all beings. 56.On the realization of the unity of his own self with the Self of all, he becomes one with my own Self, like the water of the ocean, when poured into the ocean, becoming the ocean, the milk poured into milk, becoming milk, the ether transferred into ether, becoming ether, the air passed into air, becoming air. 57. In this manner, even though living in the world for the exhaustion of his Karma, the Sage realizes, through the declaration of the Vedas and the process of reasoning, the world as a thing to be got rid of, and false, like the appearance of two moons in the sky or the turning of the quarters through defect of sight. If it does so, it will disappear from view, on the disappearance of ignorance, the cause thereof. 58. So long as one does not see all as one’s own self, let one be ever devoted to My worship. Ever do I abide in the heart of one who is endowed with deep faith, and has great devotion to Me. 59. This essence of all the Vedas, this great mystery, has, my dear, been declared by Me to you after great consideration. The Sage, who meditates upon it, is freed from his load of impurities that very moment. 60. My brother! This entire seen universe is nothing but Maya (nescience). Having withdrawn your mind from it, and purified it through contemplation upon Me alone, will you be happy, free from all sorrow, and full of bliss! 61. He, who through a purified mind, meditates on Me, thinking of Me sometimes as above all attributes, as possessing no attributes or as possessed of attributes such as omniscience, becomes my own Self and sanctifies, by the dust of his feet, all the three worlds, like the sun which purifies the world by its light. 62. This wisdom which is the one essence of all the Vedas has been thus sung by Me, whose glory all the Upanisads (Vedanta) declare. He, who reads them with devotion and faith in his guru (preceptor), gets emancipation, and attains to my own Form if he believes in My saying. (Courtesy: Srimad Adhyatma Ramayana, by Maha Rishi Veda Vyasa) COMPILED BY CHAMAN LAL GADOO

Sri RAM GITA (YOG VASISHTA SARA)

Sri RAM GITA (YOG VASISHTA SARA)

YOG VASISHTA SARA (THE ESSENCE OF YOGA VASISHTA) INTRODUCTION The Brihat (the great) Yoga Vasishta or Yoga Vasishta Maha Ramayana as it is also called is a work of about 32,000 Sanskrit couplets, traditionally attributed to Valmiki, the author of Srimad Ramayana. It is a dialogue between Sage Vasishta and Sri Rama, during which Advaita (the doctrine of non-duality) in its pure form of Ajatavada (theory of nonorigination) is expounded, with illustrative stories in between. This vast work was abridged some centuries ago by Abhinanda Pandita, a Kashmiri scholar, into 6,000 couplets, which go by the name of Laghu Yoga Vasishta. This is a masterpiece in itself, like the original Brihat. Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi used to refer to Yoga Vasishta frequently and has even incorporated six couplets from it in His Supplement to Forty Verses (verses 21 to 27). A further condensation of this work was made long ago, by an unknown author, into about 230 couplets, divided into ten chapters, as Yoga Vasishta Sara (Essence of Yoga Vasishta), of which this translation is presented for the first time. CHAPTER ONE - DISPASSION 1. Salutations to that calm effulgence which is endless and unlimited by space, time etc., the pure consciousness which can be known by experience only. 2. Neither one who is totally ignorant nor one who knows it (i.e. Truth) is eligible to study this book. Only he who thinks 'I am bound; I must become free' is entitled to study it. 3. Until one is definitely blessed by the Supreme Lord he will not find either a proper Guru or the right scripture. 4. Just as a steady boat, O Rama is obtained from a boatman, so also the method of crossing the ocean of samsara is learnt by associating with great souls. 5. The great remedy for the long-lasting disease of samsara is the enquiry, 'Who am I?, to whom does this samsara belong?,' which entirely cures it. 6. Not a day should be spent in a place which does not possess the tree of a wise knower of Truth with its good fruit and cool shade. 7. The sages are to be approached even if they do not teach. Even their talks in a light vein contain wisdom. 8. The company of sages converts emptiness into fullness, death into immortality and adversity into prosperity. 9. If sages were concerned solely with their own happiness with whom could those tormented by the sorrows of samsara seek refuge? 10. That which is imparted, O good soul, to a worthy disciple who has become dispassionate, is the real wisdom; it is the real purport of the sacred texts and is also the comprehensive wisdom. 11. Following the customary method of teaching is only for preserving the tradition. Pure awareness results solely from the clarity of the disciple's understanding. 12. The Lord cannot be seen with the help of the sacred texts or the Guru. The self is seen by the Self alone with the pure intellect. 13. All the arts acquired by men are lost by lack of practice, but this art of wisdom grows steadily once it rises. 14. Just as an ornament worn round the neck is considered lost through forgetfulness and is gained when the mistake is realized, so also the Self is attained (when the delusion is removed) by the words of the Guru. 15. He is indeed an unfortunate person who, not knowing his own Self takes pleasure in sense-objects, like one who realizes too late that the food eaten by him was poisonous. 16. That perverted man who, even after knowing that worldly objects are deceptive, still thinks of them, is an ass not a man. 17. Even the slightest thought immerses a man in sorrow; when devoid of all thoughts he enjoys imperishable bliss. 18. Just as we experience the delusion of hundreds of years in a dream lasting an hour, so also we experience the sport of maya in our waking state. 19. He is a happy man whose mind is inwardly cool and free from attachment and hatred and who looks upon this (world) like a mere spectator. 20. He who has understood well how to abandon all ideas of acceptance and rejection and who has realized the consciousness which is within the innermost heart -his life is illustrious. 21. On the dissolution of the body, the ether (consciousness) limited by the heart (hridayam) alone ceases to exist. People lament needlessly that the Self is extinct. 22. When pots, etc. are broken the space within them becomes unlimited. So also when bodies cease to exist the Self remains eternal and unattached 23. Nothing, whatever is born or dies anywhere at any time. It is Brahman alone appearing illusorily in the form of the world. 24. The Self is more extensive than space; it is pure, subtle, undecaying and auspicious. As such how could it be born and how can it die? 25. All this is the tranquil, One without beginning, middle or end, which cannot be said to be existent or non-existent. Know this and be happy. 26. O Rama, it is indeed nobler to wander begging about the streets of the outcasts (chandalas), an earthen bowl in hand, than to live a life steeped in ignorance. 27. Neither disease nor poison nor adversity nor any other thing in the world causes more suffering to men than such stupidity engendered in their bodies. CHAPTER TWO UNREALITY OF THE WORLD 1. Just as the great ocean of milk became still when the Mandara Mountain (with which it was churned by the Devas and the Asuras) became still, even so the illusion of samsara comes to an end when the mind is stilled. 2. Samsara rises when the mind becomes active and ceases when it is still. Still the mind, therefore, by controlling the breath and the latent desires (vasanas). 3. This worthless (lit. burnt out) samsara is born of one's imagination and vanishes in the absence of imagination. It is certain that it is absolutely unsubstantial. 4. The idea of a (live) snake in a picture of a snake ceases to be entertained when the truth is known. Similarly samsara ceases to exist (when the Truth is realized), even if it continues to appear. 5. This long-living ghost of a samsara which is the creation of the deluded mind of man and the cause of his sufferings disappears when one ponders over it. 6. O Rama, maya is such that it brings delight through its own destruction; its nature is inscrutable; it ceases to exist even while it is being observed. 7. Dear boy, wonderful indeed is this maya which deludes the entire world. It is on account of it that the Self is not perceived even though it pervades all the limbs of the body. 8. Whatever is seen does not truly exist. It is like the mythical city of Gandharvas (fata morgana) or a mirage. 9. That which is not seen, though within us, is called the eternal and indestructible Self. 10. Just as the trees on the bank of a lake are reflected in the water, so also all these varied objects are reflected in the vast mirror of our consciousness. 11. This creation, which is a mere play of consciousness, rises up, like the delusion of a snake in a rope (when there is ignorance) and comes to an end when there is right knowledge. 12. Even though bondage does not really exist, it becomes strong through desire for worldly enjoyments; when this desire subsides bondage becomes weak. 13. Like waves rising up from the ocean the unstable mind rises out of the vast and stable expanse of the Supreme Self. 14. It is because of that which always, of its own accord, imagines (everything) quickly and freely that this magical show (of the world) is projected in the waking state. 15. This world, though unreal, appears to exist and is the cause of life-long suffering to an ignorant person, just as a (non-existent) ghost (is the cause of fear) to a boy. 16. One who has no idea of gold sees only the bracelet. He does not at all have the idea that it is merely gold. 17. Similarly towns, houses, mountains, serpents, etc. are all in the eyes of the ignorant man, separate objects. From the absolute point of view; this objective (world) is the subject (the Self) itself; it is not separate (from the Self). 18. The world is full of misery to an ignorant man and full of bliss to a wise man. The world is dark to a blind man and bright to one who has eyes. 19. The bliss of a man of discrimination, who has rejected samsara and discarded all mental concepts, constantly increases. 20. Like clouds which suddenly appear in a clear sky and as suddenly dissolve, the entire universe (appears) in the Self and (dissolves in it). 21. He who reckons the rays as non-different from the sun and realizes that they are the sun itself is stated to be nirvikalpa (the undifferentiating man). 22. Just as the cloth, when investigated, is seen to be nothing but thread, so also this world, when enquired into, is (seen to be) merely the Self. 23. This fascinating world rises like a wave in the ambrosial ocean of consciousness and dissolves in it. How then can it be different from it (i.e. consciousness) in the middle (i.e. when it appears)? 24. Just as the foam, the waves, the dew and the bubbles are not different from water, even so this world which has come out of the Self is not different from the Self. 25. Just as a tree consisting of fruits, leaves, creepers, flowers, branches, twigs and roots, exists in the seed of the tree, even so this manifest world exists in Brahman. 26. Just as the pot (ultimately) goes back to mud, waves into water and ornaments into gold, so also this world which has come out of the Self (ultimately) goes back to the Self. 27. The snake appears when one does not recognise the rope; it disappears when one recognises the rope. Even so this world appears when the Self is not recognised; it disappears when the Self is recognised. 28. It is only our forgetfulness of the invisible Self which causes the world to appear just as (the ignorance of the) rope (causes the) snake to appear. 29. Just as the dream becomes unreal in the waking state and the waking state in the dream, so also death becomes unreal in birth and birth in death. 30. All these are thus neither real nor unreal. They are the effect of delusion, mere impressions arising out of some past experiences. CHAPTER THREE THE MARKS OF A LIBERATED PERSON (JIVANMUKTA) 1. The knowledge of the Self is the fire that burns up the dry grass of desire. This indeed is what is called samadhi, not mere abstention from speech. 2. He who realizes that the whole universe is really nothing but consciousness and remains quite calm is protected by the armour of Brahman; he is happy. 3. The yogi who has attained the state which is beyond everything and remains always cool as the full moon is truly the Supreme Lord. 4. He who reflects in his innermost heart upon the purport of the Upanishads dealing with Brahman and is not moved by joy and sorrow, is not tormented by samsara. 5. Just as birds and beasts do not take shelter on a mountain on fire, so also evil (thoughts) never occur to a knower of Brahman. 6. Wise men also, like foolish men, (occasionally) make others angry, (but they do so only) in order to test their ability to control their innate feelings (that is to say to see how far the anger of other persons will affect them). 7. Just as the trembling (of the body) caused by the (imaginary) snake persists (for some time) even after realising that there is no snake, so also the effect of delusion persists (for some time) even after getting rid of all delusions. 8. Just as a crystal is not stained by what is reflected in it, so also a knower of truth is not really affected by the result of his acts. 9. Even while he is intent on outward actions (the knower of Truth) always remains introverted and extremely calm like one asleep. 10. Firmly convinced of non-duality and enjoying perfect mental peace, yogis go about their work seeing the world as if it were a dream. 11. Let death come to him (the knower of truth) today or at the end of aeons; he remains untarnished like gold buried in mire. 12. He may cast off his body at Kashi or in the house of an outcaste (lit. one who cooks dog's flesh). He, the desireless one, is liberated at the very moment he attains knowledge (of Brahman). 13. To one who is desireless, the earth, O Rama, is (as insignificant as) the hoof-print of a cow, Mount Meru, a mound, space as much as contained in a casket and the three worlds a blade of grass. 14. Like an empty vessel in space (the knower of Truth) is empty both within and without, while at the same time he is full within and without like a vessel immersed in the ocean. 15. He who neither likes nor dislikes the objects seen by him and who acts (in the world) like one asleep, is said to be a liberated person. 16. He who is free from the knots (of desires) and whose doubts have been set at rest is liberated even when he is in the body (jivan mukta). Although he may seem to be bound, he is free. He remains like a lamp in a picture. 17. He who has easily (lit. as if in sport) cast off all his egoistic tendencies and has abandoned even the object of meditation, is said to be liberated even when he is in the body. 18. He who does not, like one blind, recognise (lit. leaves far behind) his relatives, who dreads attachment as he would a serpent, who looks upon sense-enjoyments and diseases alike, who disregards the company of women as he would a blade of grass and who finds no distinction between a friend and a foe, experiences happiness in this world and the next. 19. He who casts away from his mind all objects of perception and, attaining perfect quiescence, remains still as space, unaffected by sorrow, is a liberated man; he is the Supreme Lord. 20. The noble-hearted man whose desires of the heart have come to an end is a liberated man; it does not matter whether he does or does not practise meditation or perform action. 21. The idea of Self in the non-Self is bondage. Abandonment of it is liberation. There is neither bondage nor liberation for the ever-free Self. 22. If, by perceiving that the objects of perception do not really exist, the mind is completely freed (from those objects) there ensues the supreme bliss of liberation. 23. Abandonment of all latent tendencies is said to be the best (i.e. real) liberation by the wise; that is also the faultless method (of attaining liberation). 24. Liberation is not on the other side of the sky, nor is it in the nether world, nor on the earth; the extinction of the mind resulting from the eradication of all desires is regarded as liberation. 25. O Rama, there is no intellect, no nescience, no mind and no individual soul (jiva). They are all imagined in Brahman. 26. To one who is established in what is infinite, pure consciousness, bliss and unqualified non-duality, where is the question of bondage or liberation, seeing that there is no second entity? 27. O Rama, the mind has, by its own activity, bound itself; when it is calm it is free. CHAPTER FOUR DISSOLUTION OF THE MIND 1. Consciousness which is undivided imagines to itself desirable objects and runs after them. It is then known as the mind. 2. From this omnipresent and omnipotent Supreme Lord arose, like ripples in water, the power of imagining separate objects. 3. Just as fire born out of wind (fanned into a flame) is extinguished by the same wind, so also that which is born of imagination is destroyed by imagination itself. 4. The mind has come into existence through this (imagination) on account of forgetfulness. Like the experience of one's own death in a dream it ceases to exist when scrutinised. 5. The idea of Self in what is not the Self is due to incorrect understanding. The idea of reality in what is unreal, O Rama, know that to be the mind (chittam). 6. 'This is he', 'I am this', 'That is mine', such (ideas) constitute the mind; it disappears when one ponders over these false ideas. 7. It is the nature of the mind to accept certain things and to reject others; this is bondage, nothing else. 8. The mind is the creator of the world, the mind is the individual (purusha); only that which is done by the mind is regarded as done, not that which is done by the body. The arm with which one embraces the wife is the very arm with which one embraces the daughter. 9. The mind is the cause of (i.e. produces) the objects of perception. The three worlds depend upon it. When it is dissolved the world is also dissolved. It is to be cured (i.e. purified) with effort. 10. The mind is bound by the latent impressions (vasanas). When there are no impressions it is free. Therefore, O Rama, bring about quickly, through discrimination, the state in which there are no impressions. 11. Just as a streak of cloud stains (i.e. appears to stain) the moon or a blotch of ink a lime-plastered wall, so also the evil spirit of desire stains the inner man. 12. O Rama, he who, with in-turned mind, offers all the three worlds, like dried-grass, as an oblation in the fire of knowledge, becomes free from the illusions of the mind. 13. When one knows the real truth about acceptance and rejection and does not think of anything but abides in himself, abandoning everything, (his) mind does not come into existence. 14. The mind is terrible (ghoram) in the waking state, gentle (santam) in the dream state, dull (mudham) in deep sleep and dead when not in any of these three states. 15. Just as the powder of the kataka seed, after precipitating the dirt in water, becomes merged in the water, so also the mind (after removing all impressions) itself becomes merged (in the Self ). 16. The mind is samsara; the mind is also said to be bondage; the body is activated by the mind just as a tree is shaken by the wind. 17. Conquer your mind first, by pressing the palm with the palm, grinding the teeth with the teeth and twisting the limbs with the limbs. 18. Does not the fool feel ashamed to move about in the world as he pleases and talk about meditation when he is not able to conquer even the mind? 19. The only god to be conquered is the mind. Its conquest leads to the attainment of everything. Without its conquest all other efforts are fruitless. 20. To be unperturbed is the foundation of blessedness (Sri). One attains liberation by it. To human beings even the conquest of the three worlds, without the conquest of the mind, is as insignificant as a blade of grass. 21. Association with the wise, abandonment of latent impressions, self-enquiry, control of breathing -these are the means of conquering the mind. 22. To one who is shod with leather the earth is as good as covered with leather. Even so to the mind which is full (i.e. undivided) the world overflows with nectar. 23. The mind becomes bound by thinking 'I am not Brahman'; it becomes completely released by thinking 'I am Brahman'. 24. When the mind is abandoned (i.e. dissolves), everything that is dual or single is dissolved. What remains after that is the Supreme Brahman, peaceful, eternal and free from misery. 25. There is nothing to equal the supreme joy felt by a person of pure mind who has attained the state of pure consciousness and overcome death. CHAPTER FIVE THE DESTRUCTION OF LATENT IMPRESSIONS 1. O Rama, this enquiry into the Self of the nature or 'Who am I?' is the fire which burns up the seeds of the evil tree which is the mind. 2. Just as the wind does not affect the creepers in a picture, so also afflictions do not affect one whose understanding is fortified by firmness and (always) reflected in the mirror of enquiry. 3. The knowers of truth declare that enquiry into the truth of the Self is knowledge. What is to be known is contained in it like sweetness in milk. 4. To one who has realized the Self by enquiry Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are objects of compassion. 5. To one who is fond of enquiring (constantly), 'What is this vast universe?' and 'Who am I?' this world becomes quite unreal. 6. Just as in a mirage the idea of water does not occur to one who knows (that it is a mirage), even so latent impressions do not rise in one whose ignorance has been destroyed by realizing that everything is Brahman. 7. By the abandonment of latent impressions or by the control of breathing, mind ceases to be the mind. Practise whichever you like. 8. O pure soul, cherish the association of sages and the true scriptures; you will attain the state of Supreme Consciousness not in the course of months but days. 9. Latent impressions cease to be active when one associates with sages, discards all thoughts of samsara and remembers that the body has to die. 10. O Raghava, even ignorant persons convert, by the firmness of their conviction, poison into nectar and nectar into poison. 11. When this body is taken to be real it serves the purpose of a body, but when it is seen to be unreal it becomes like space (i.e. unsubstantial). 12. O Rama, while lying on a soft bed you wander about in all directions with a dream body; but now (in this waking state) where is that body? 13. Just as a respectable man avoids contact with an outcast woman carrying dog's flesh, so also one should discard the thought 'I-am-the-body', even if everything were to be lost. 14. When the aspirant (sadhu) thinks only of Brahman and remains calm and free from sorrows his egoity dies of itself. 15. If one realizes the unity of things everywhere, one always remains tranquil, inwardly cool and pure like space without the sense of 'I'. 16. If inwardly one is cool the whole world will be cool, but if inwardly one is hot (i.e. agitated) the whole world will be a burning mass. CHAPTER SIX MEDITATION ON THE SELF 1. I, the pure, stainless and infinite Consciousness beyond maya, look upon this body in action like the body of another. 2. The mind, the intellect, the senses, etc. are all the play of Consciousness. They are unreal and seem to exist only due to lack of insight. 3. Unmoved by adversity, a friend of all the world in prosperity, without ideas of existence and nonexistence, I live free from misery. 4. Inactive am I, desireless, clear as the sky, free from hankering, tranquil, formless, everlasting and unmoving. 5. I have now clearly understood that the five elements, the three worlds and I myself are pure Consciousness. 6. I am above everything; I am present everywhere; I am like space; I am that which (really) exists; I am unable to say anything beyond this. 7. Let imaginary waves of universe rise or fall in me who am the ocean of infinite Consciousness; there is no increase or decrease in me. 8. How wonderful that in me, the infinite ocean of consciousness, waves of jivas (individual souls) rise, sport for a while and disappear according to their nature. 9. The world which has come into existence on account of my ignorance has dissolved likewise in me. I now directly experience the world as supreme bliss of consciousness. 10. I prostrate to myself who am within all beings, the ever-free Self abiding as inner Consciousness. CHAPTER SEVEN METHOD OF PURIFICATION 1. O Raghava, be outwardly active but inwardly inactive, outwardly a doer but inwardly a non-doer, and thus play your part in the world. 2. O Raghava, abandon all desires inwardly, be free from attachments and latent impressions, do everything outwardly and thus play your part in the world. 3. O Raghava, adopt a comprehensive view, characterised by the abandonment of all objects of contemplation, live in your innate Self, liberated even while alive (jivan-mukta), and thus play your part in the world. 4. Burn the forest of duality with the fire of the conviction, 'I am the one pure Consciousness' and remain happy. 5. You are bound firmly on all sides by the idea, I am the body'. Cut that bond by the sword of knowledge 'I am Consciousness' and be happy. 6. Discarding the attachment to non-Self, regarding the world as a partless (whole), concentrated and with attention turned inward, remain as pure Consciousness. 7. Remain always as pure Consciousness which is your constant (i.e. true) nature beyond the states of waking, dream and deep sleep. 8. O mighty-armed, be always free from mental concepts like the heart of a rock though not insentient like it. 9. Do not be that which is understood, nor the one who understands. Abandon all concepts and remain what you are. 10. Eliminate one concept by another and the mind by the mind and abide in the Self. Is this so difficult, O holy man? 11. Sever the mind, which has on account of its cares become red hot, with the mind which is like iron sharpened by the study of scriptures. 12. O Raghava, what have you to do with this inert and dumb body? Why do you feel helpless and miserable by joys and sorrows on account of it? 13. What a vast difference between the flesh, blood, etc. (composing the body) and you, the embodiment of consciousness! Even after knowing this why do you not abandon the idea of Self in this body? 14. The mere knowledge that this body is like a piece of wood or a clod of earth enables one to realize the Supreme Self. 15. How strange that, while the real Brahman is forgotten by men, the unreal called avidya (nescience) appears very real to them (lit. struts about before them). 16. It is again strange that while the Supreme Brahman is forgotten by men, the idea 'this is mine' called avidya is firmly held by them (lit. strongly confronts them). 17. When you do your work do it without attachment even as a crystal which reflects the objects before it (but is not affected by them). 18. The conviction that everything is Brahman leads one to Liberation. Therefore reject entirely the idea of duality which is ignorance. Reject it entirely. CHAPTER EIGHT WORSHIP OF THE SELF 1. If you separate yourself from the body and abide at ease in Consciousness you will become one (the sole Reality), everything else appearing (insignificant) like grass. 2. After knowing that by which you know this (world) turn the mind inward and then you will see clearly (i.e. realize) the effulgence of the Self. 3. O Raghava, that by which you recognise sound, taste, form and smell, know that as your Self, the Supreme Brahman, the Lord of lords. 4. O Raghava, that in which beings vibrate, that which creates them, know that Self to be your real Self. 5. After rejecting, through reasoning, all that can be known as 'non-truth' what remains as pure Consciousness - regard that as your real Self. 6. Knowledge is not separate from you and that which is known is not separate from knowledge. Hence there is nothing other than the Self, nothing separate (from it). 7. 'All that Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indra and others always do is done by me, the embodiment of Consciousness' - think in this manner. 8. 'I am the whole universe. I am the undecaying Supreme Self. There is neither past nor future apart from me' - reflect in this manner. 9. 'Everything is the One Brahman, pure Consciousness, the Self of all, indivisible and immutable' reflect in this manner. 10. 'There is neither I nor any other thing. Only Brahman exists always full of bliss everywhere.' - meditate on this calmly. 11. The sense of perceiver and perceived is common to all embodied beings, but the Yogi worships the One Self. CHAPTER NINE EXPOSITION OF THE SELF 1. When this assemblage of body, senses, etc. acts of its own accord there arises an idea 'I am this.' This is the jiva (ego) stained by the dirt of ignorance. 2. When the conviction that everything is the space-like (i.e. all pervasive) Consciousness becomes firm the jiva comes to an end like a lamp without oil. 3. Like a misguided Brahmin, who abandons his own nobility, and adopts the life of a Sudra, the Lord assumes the role of the jiva. 4. Just as a child sees an apparition (created by its own fancy), so also the stupid jiva creates, on account of delusion, this unreal body and sees it (as separate from him). 5. A child superimposes a (real) elephant on a clay elephant and plays with it; even so, an ignorant man superimposes the body, etc., on the Self and carries on his activities. 6. The picture of a snake does not cause fear of a snake when it is realised to be only a picture. Similarly when the jiva-snake is clearly understood there is neither misery nor the cause of misery. 7. The snake superimposed on a garland merges in it; so also the sense of separateness rising from the Self merges in the Self. 8. Although bracelets, etc. appear to be many, as gold they are one. Similarly although the adjuncts are many, the Self is really one. 9. Like the organs of the body and modifications of clay (i.e. vessels of clay) non-duality appears as duality (i.e. multiplicity) in the form of the moving and unmoving objects. 10. Just as a single face is reflected as many in a crystal, in water, or in ghee or in a mirror; so also the (one) Self is reflected in the (many) intellects (or minds). 11. Just as the sky is (i.e. appears to be) stained by dust, smoke and clouds, so also the pure Self in contact with the qualities of maya is (i.e. appears to be) soiled by them. 12. Just as metal in contact with fire acquires the quality of fire (namely heat), so also the senses, etc. in contact with the Self acquire the quality of the Self. 13. Just as the invisible Rahu becomes visible when it is seized by the moon (i.e., comes in contact with the moon), even so the Self is known by experiencing objects of perception. 14. When water and fire come together they acquire the qualities of each other. Even so when the Self and the inert body come together the Self looks like the non-Self and the non-Self looks like the Self. 15. Just as fire thrown into a large sheet of water loses its quality, so also Consciousness in contact with the unreal and the inert seems to lose its real nature and becomes inert. 16. The Self is realised in the body only with effort, like sugar from the sugarcane, oil from sesame seeds, fire from wood, butter from a cow and iron from stones (i.e. ore). 17. Like the sky seen in an unbroken crystal, the Supreme Lord of the nature of consciousness is seen (i.e. exists) in all objects. 18. Just as a big lamp kept inside a vessel made of precious stones illumines by its light both outside and inside, so also the one Self illumines (everything). 19. Just as the sun's reflection in a mirror illumines (other things), so also the reflection of the Self in pure intellects illumines (other things). 20. That in which this wonderful universe appears like a snake in a rope is the eternal luminous Self. 21. The Self is without beginning or end. It is immutable Existence and Consciousness. It manifests space, it is the source of the jiva and higher than the highest. 22. The Self is pure Consciousness, eternal, omnipresent, immutable and self-effulgent like the light of the sun. 23. The omnipresent Self, the substratum of all, is non-different from the effulgent Consciousness like heat from fire. It can only be experienced (not known). 24. Pure Consciousness without intellect, the Supreme Self, the illuminator of all, the indivisible, pervading (everything) within and without, is the firm support (of all). 25. The Self is absolute Consciousness. It is pure awareness, undecaying, free from all ideas of acceptance or rejection and not limited by space, time or genus. 26. Just as the air in the universe pervades everything, so also the Self, the Lord, abides bodiless (in everything). 27. The Consciousness which exists in the expanse of earth, in the ornaments, in the sky and in the sun, exists also inside the worms lying in their shells under the earth. 28. There is neither bondage nor liberation, neither duality nor non-duality. There is only Brahman always shining as Consciousness. 29. Awareness is Brahman; the world is Brahman; the various elements are Brahman; I am Brahman; my enemy is Brahman; my friends and relatives are Brahman. 30. The idea of a consciousness and an object of consciousness is bondage; freedom from it is liberation. Consciousness, the object of consciousness and everything else is the Self; this is the gist of all systems of philosophy. 31. There is only consciousness here; this universe is nothing but consciousness; you are consciousness; I am consciousness; the worlds are consciousness - that is the conclusion. 32. That which exists and that which shines (i.e. is known to exist) are all the Self; anything else which seems to shine does not (really) exist. Consciousness alone shines by itself. Ideas of knower and known are idle postulates. CHAPTER TEN NIRVANA 1. Supreme Bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the senses with their objects. The supreme state is that in which the mind is annihilated through one-pointed enquiry. 2. The bliss arising from the contact of the senses with their objects is inferior. Contact with the sense objects is bondage; freedom from it is liberation. 3. Attain the pure state between existence and nonexistence and hold on to it; do not accept or reject the inner or the outer world. 4. Depend always on that true reality between the sentient and the inert which is the infinite space-like heart. 5. The belief in a knower and the known is called bondage. The knower is bound by the known; he is liberated when there is nothing to know. 6. Abandoning the ideas of seer, seen and sight along with latent desires (vasanas) of the past, we meditate on that Self which is the primal light that is the basis of sight. 7. We meditate on the eternal Self, the light of lights which lies between the two ideas of existence and non-existence. 8. We meditate on that Self of consciousness, the bestower of the fruits of all our thoughts, the illuminator of all radiant objects and the farthest limit of all accepted objects. 9. We meditate on that immutable Self, our reality, the bliss of which arises in the mind on account of the close contact between the seer and the seen. 10. If one meditates on that state which comes at the end of the waking state and the beginning of sleep, he will directly experience undecaying bliss. 11. The rock-like state in which all thoughts are still and which is different from the waking and dream states, is one's supreme state. 12. Like mud in a mud pot the Supreme Lord who is existence and space-like consciousness and bliss exists everywhere non-separate (from things). 13. The Self shines by itself as the one boundless ocean of consciousness agitated by waves of thought. 14. Just as the ocean is nothing but water the entire world of things is nothing but consciousness filling all the quarters like the infinite space. 15. Brahman and space are alike as to their invisibility, all-pervasiveness and indestructibility, but Brahman is also consciousness. 16. There is only the one waveless and profound ocean of pure nectar, sweet through and through (i.e. blissful) everywhere. 17. All this is truly Brahman; all this is Atman. Do not cut up Brahman into 'I am one thing' and 'this is another.' 18. As soon as it is realised that Brahman is allpervasive and indivisible this vast samsara is found to be the Supreme Lord. 19. One who realises that everything is Brahman truly becomes Brahman; who would not become immortal if he were to drink nectar? 20. If you are wise you would become this (Brahman) by such conviction; if not, even if you are repeatedly told it would be (useless like offerings) thrown on ashes. 21. Even if you have known the real truth you have to practise always. Water will not become clear by merely uttering the word kataka fruit. 22. If one has the firm conviction 'I am the Supreme Self called the undecaying Vasudeva' he is liberated; otherwise he remains bound. 23. After eliminating everything as 'not this', 'not this', the Supreme Being (lit. state) which cannot be eliminated remains. Think 'I am That' and be happy. 24. Know always that the Self is Brahman, one and whole. How can that which is indivisible be divided into 'I am the meditator' and 'the other is the object of meditation'? 25. When one thinks 'I am pure consciousness' it is called meditation and when even the idea of meditation is forgotten it is samadhi. 26. The constant flow of mental concepts relating to Brahman without the sense of 'I' achieved through intense practice of Self Enquiry (jnana) is what is called samprajnata samadhi (meditation with concepts). 27. Let violent winds which characterise the end of aeons (kalpas) blow; let all the oceans unite, let the twelve suns burn (simultaneously), still no harm befalls one whose mind is extinct. 28. That consciousness which is the witness of the rise and fall of all beings, know that to be the immortal state of supreme bliss. 29. Every moving or unmoving thing whatsoever is only an object visualised by the mind. When the mind is annihilated duality (i.e. multiplicity) is not perceived. 30. That which is immutable, auspicious and tranquil, that in which this world exists, that which manifests itself as the mutable and immutable objects -that is the sole consciousness. 31. Before discarding the slough the snake regards it as itself, but when once it has discarded it in its hole it does not look upon it as itself any longer. 32. He who has transcended both good and evil does not, like a child, refrain from prohibited acts from a sense of sin, nor does he do what is prescribed from a sense of merit. 33. Just as a statue is contained in a pillar (i.e. block) even if it is not actually carved out, so also the world exists in Brahman. Therefore the Supreme State is not a void. 34. Just as a pillar is said to be devoid of the statue when it has not actually been carved out, so also Brahman is said to be void when it is devoid of the impression of the world. 35. Just as still water may be said to contain or not contain ripples, so also Brahman may be said to contain or not contain the world. It is neither void nor existence. Courtesy: SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI TEACHINGS COMPILED BY CHAMAN LAL GADOO

Sri RAM GITA (YOG VASISHTA SARA, PART II)

Sri RAM GITA (YOG VASISHTA SARA, PART II)

(THE ESSENCE OF YOGA VASISHTA) CHAPTER FIVE THE DESTRUCTION OF LATENT IMPRESSIONS 1. O Rama, this enquiry into the Self of the nature or 'Who am I?' is the fire which burns up the seeds of the evil tree which is the mind. 2. Just as the wind does not affect the creepers in a picture, so also afflictions do not affect one whose understanding is fortified by firmness and (always) reflected in the mirror of enquiry. 3. The knowers of truth declare that enquiry into the truth of the Self is knowledge. What is to be known is contained in it like sweetness in milk. 4. To one who has realized the Self by enquiry Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are objects of compassion. 5. To one who is fond of enquiring (constantly), 'What is this vast universe?' and 'Who am I?' this world becomes quite unreal. 6. Just as in a mirage the idea of water does not occur to one who knows (that it is a mirage), even so latent impressions do not rise in one whose ignorance has been destroyed by realizing that everything is Brahman. 7. By the abandonment of latent impressions or by the control of breathing, mind ceases to be the mind. Practise whichever you like. 8. O pure soul, cherish the association of sages and the true scriptures; you will attain the state of Supreme Consciousness not in the course of months but days. 9. Latent impressions cease to be active when one associates with sages, discards all thoughts of samsara and remembers that the body has to die. 10. O Raghava, even ignorant persons convert, by the firmness of their conviction, poison into nectar and nectar into poison. 11. When this body is taken to be real it serves the purpose of a body, but when it is seen to be unreal it becomes like space (i.e. unsubstantial). 12. O Rama, while lying on a soft bed you wander about in all directions with a dream body; but now (in this waking state) where is that body? 13. Just as a respectable man avoids contact with an outcast woman carrying dog's flesh, so also one should discard the thought 'I-am-the-body', even if everything were to be lost. 14. When the aspirant (sadhu) thinks only of Brahman and remains calm and free from sorrows his egoity dies of itself. 15. If one realizes the unity of things everywhere, one always remains tranquil, inwardly cool and pure like space without the sense of 'I'. 16. If inwardly one is cool the whole world will be cool, but if inwardly one is hot (i.e. agitated) the whole world will be a burning mass. CHAPTER SIX MEDITATION ON THE SELF 1. I, the pure, stainless and infinite Consciousness beyond maya, look upon this body in action like the body of another. 2. The mind, the intellect, the senses, etc. are all the play of Consciousness. They are unreal and seem to exist only due to lack of insight. 3. Unmoved by adversity, a friend of all the world in prosperity, without ideas of existence and nonexistence, I live free from misery. 4. Inactive am I, desireless, clear as the sky, free from hankering, tranquil, formless, everlasting and unmoving. 5. I have now clearly understood that the five elements, the three worlds and I myself are pure Consciousness. 6. I am above everything; I am present everywhere; I am like space; I am that which (really) exists; I am unable to say anything beyond this. 7. Let imaginary waves of universe rise or fall in me who am the ocean of infinite Consciousness; there is no increase or decrease in me. 8. How wonderful that in me, the infinite ocean of consciousness, waves of jivas (individual souls) rise, sport for a while and disappear according to their nature. 9. The world which has come into existence on account of my ignorance has dissolved likewise in me. I now directly experience the world as supreme bliss of consciousness. 10. I prostrate to myself who am within all beings, the ever-free Self abiding as inner Consciousness. CHAPTER SEVEN METHOD OF PURIFICATION 1. O Raghava, be outwardly active but inwardly inactive, outwardly a doer but inwardly a non-doer, and thus play your part in the world. 2. O Raghava, abandon all desires inwardly, be free from attachments and latent impressions, do everything outwardly and thus play your part in the world. 3. O Raghava, adopt a comprehensive view, characterised by the abandonment of all objects of contemplation, live in your innate Self, liberated even while alive (jivan-mukta), and thus play your part in the world. 4. Burn the forest of duality with the fire of the conviction, 'I am the one pure Consciousness' and remain happy. 5. You are bound firmly on all sides by the idea, I am the body'. Cut that bond by the sword of knowledge 'I am Consciousness' and be happy. 6. Discarding the attachment to non-Self, regarding the world as a partless (whole), concentrated and with attention turned inward, remain as pure Consciousness. 7. Remain always as pure Consciousness which is your constant (i.e. true) nature beyond the states of waking, dream and deep sleep. 8. O mighty-armed, be always free from mental concepts like the heart of a rock though not insentient like it. 9. Do not be that which is understood, nor the one who understands. Abandon all concepts and remain what you are. 10. Eliminate one concept by another and the mind by the mind and abide in the Self. Is this so difficult, O holy man? 11. Sever the mind, which has on account of its cares become red hot, with the mind which is like iron sharpened by the study of scriptures. 12. O Raghava, what have you to do with this inert and dumb body? Why do you feel helpless and miserable by joys and sorrows on account of it? 13. What a vast difference between the flesh, blood, etc. (composing the body) and you, the embodiment of consciousness! Even after knowing this why do you not abandon the idea of Self in this body? 14. The mere knowledge that this body is like a piece of wood or a clod of earth enables one to realize the Supreme Self. 15. How strange that, while the real Brahman is forgotten by men, the unreal called avidya (nescience) appears very real to them (lit. struts about before them). 16. It is again strange that while the Supreme Brahman is forgotten by men, the idea 'this is mine' called avidya is firmly held by them (lit. strongly confronts them). 17. When you do your work do it without attachment even as a crystal which reflects the objects before it (but is not affected by them). 18. The conviction that everything is Brahman leads one to Liberation. Therefore reject entirely the idea of duality which is ignorance. Reject it entirely. CHAPTER EIGHT WORSHIP OF THE SELF 1. If you separate yourself from the body and abide at ease in Consciousness you will become one (the sole Reality), everything else appearing (insignificant) like grass. 2. After knowing that by which you know this (world) turn the mind inward and then you will see clearly (i.e. realize) the effulgence of the Self. 3. O Raghava, that by which you recognise sound, taste, form and smell, know that as your Self, the Supreme Brahman, the Lord of lords. 4. O Raghava, that in which beings vibrate, that which creates them, know that Self to be your real Self. 5. After rejecting, through reasoning, all that can be known as 'non-truth' what remains as pure Consciousness - regard that as your real Self. 6. Knowledge is not separate from you and that which is known is not separate from knowledge. Hence there is nothing other than the Self, nothing separate (from it). 7. 'All that Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indra and others always do is done by me, the embodiment of Consciousness' - think in this manner. 8. 'I am the whole universe. I am the undecaying Supreme Self. There is neither past nor future apart from me' - reflect in this manner. 9. 'Everything is the One Brahman, pure Consciousness, the Self of all, indivisible and immutable' reflect in this manner. 10. 'There is neither I nor any other thing. Only Brahman exists always full of bliss everywhere.' - meditate on this calmly. 11. The sense of perceiver and perceived is common to all embodied beings, but the Yogi worships the One Self. CHAPTER NINE EXPOSITION OF THE SELF 1. When this assemblage of body, senses, etc. acts of its own accord there arises an idea 'I am this.' This is the jiva (ego) stained by the dirt of ignorance. 2. When the conviction that everything is the space-like (i.e. all pervasive) Consciousness becomes firm the jiva comes to an end like a lamp without oil. 3. Like a misguided Brahmin, who abandons his own nobility, and adopts the life of a Sudra, the Lord assumes the role of the jiva. 4. Just as a child sees an apparition (created by its own fancy), so also the stupid jiva creates, on account of delusion, this unreal body and sees it (as separate from him). 5. A child superimposes a (real) elephant on a clay elephant and plays with it; even so, an ignorant man superimposes the body, etc., on the Self and carries on his activities. 6. The picture of a snake does not cause fear of a snake when it is realised to be only a picture. Similarly when the jiva-snake is clearly understood there is neither misery nor the cause of misery. 7. The snake superimposed on a garland merges in it; so also the sense of separateness rising from the Self merges in the Self. 8. Although bracelets, etc. appear to be many, as gold they are one. Similarly although the adjuncts are many, the Self is really one. 9. Like the organs of the body and modifications of clay (i.e. vessels of clay) non-duality appears as duality (i.e. multiplicity) in the form of the moving and unmoving objects. 10. Just as a single face is reflected as many in a crystal, in water, or in ghee or in a mirror; so also the (one) Self is reflected in the (many) intellects (or minds). 11. Just as the sky is (i.e. appears to be) stained by dust, smoke and clouds, so also the pure Self in contact with the qualities of maya is (i.e. appears to be) soiled by them. 12. Just as metal in contact with fire acquires the quality of fire (namely heat), so also the senses, etc. in contact with the Self acquire the quality of the Self. 13. Just as the invisible Rahu becomes visible when it is seized by the moon (i.e., comes in contact with the moon), even so the Self is known by experiencing objects of perception. 14. When water and fire come together they acquire the qualities of each other. Even so when the Self and the inert body come together the Self looks like the non-Self and the non-Self looks like the Self. 15. Just as fire thrown into a large sheet of water loses its quality, so also Consciousness in contact with the unreal and the inert seems to lose its real nature and becomes inert. 16. The Self is realised in the body only with effort, like sugar from the sugarcane, oil from sesame seeds, fire from wood, butter from a cow and iron from stones (i.e. ore). 17. Like the sky seen in an unbroken crystal, the Supreme Lord of the nature of consciousness is seen (i.e. exists) in all objects. 18. Just as a big lamp kept inside a vessel made of precious stones illumines by its light both outside and inside, so also the one Self illumines (everything). 19. Just as the sun's reflection in a mirror illumines (other things), so also the reflection of the Self in pure intellects illumines (other things). 20. That in which this wonderful universe appears like a snake in a rope is the eternal luminous Self. 21. The Self is without beginning or end. It is immutable Existence and Consciousness. It manifests space, it is the source of the jiva and higher than the highest. 22. The Self is pure Consciousness, eternal, omnipresent, immutable and self-effulgent like the light of the sun. 23. The omnipresent Self, the substratum of all, is non-different from the effulgent Consciousness like heat from fire. It can only be experienced (not known). 24. Pure Consciousness without intellect, the Supreme Self, the illuminator of all, the indivisible, pervading (everything) within and without, is the firm support (of all). 25. The Self is absolute Consciousness. It is pure awareness, undecaying, free from all ideas of acceptance or rejection and not limited by space, time or genus. 26. Just as the air in the universe pervades everything, so also the Self, the Lord, abides bodiless (in everything). 27. The Consciousness which exists in the expanse of earth, in the ornaments, in the sky and in the sun, exists also inside the worms lying in their shells under the earth. 28. There is neither bondage nor liberation, neither duality nor non-duality. There is only Brahman always shining as Consciousness. 29. Awareness is Brahman; the world is Brahman; the various elements are Brahman; I am Brahman; my enemy is Brahman; my friends and relatives are Brahman. 30. The idea of a consciousness and an object of consciousness is bondage; freedom from it is liberation. Consciousness, the object of consciousness and everything else is the Self; this is the gist of all systems of philosophy. 31. There is only consciousness here; this universe is nothing but consciousness; you are consciousness; I am consciousness; the worlds are consciousness - that is the conclusion. 32. That which exists and that which shines (i.e. is known to exist) are all the Self; anything else which seems to shine does not (really) exist. Consciousness alone shines by itself. Ideas of knower and known are idle postulates. CHAPTER TEN NIRVANA 1. Supreme Bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the senses with their objects. The supreme state is that in which the mind is annihilated through one-pointed enquiry. 2. The bliss arising from the contact of the senses with their objects is inferior. Contact with the sense objects is bondage; freedom from it is liberation. 3. Attain the pure state between existence and nonexistence and hold on to it; do not accept or reject the inner or the outer world. 4. Depend always on that true reality between the sentient and the inert which is the infinite space-like heart. 5. The belief in a knower and the known is called bondage. The knower is bound by the known; he is liberated when there is nothing to know. 6. Abandoning the ideas of seer, seen and sight along with latent desires (vasanas) of the past, we meditate on that Self which is the primal light that is the basis of sight. 7. We meditate on the eternal Self, the light of lights which lies between the two ideas of existence and non-existence. 8. We meditate on that Self of consciousness, the bestower of the fruits of all our thoughts, the illuminator of all radiant objects and the farthest limit of all accepted objects. 9. We meditate on that immutable Self, our reality, the bliss of which arises in the mind on account of the close contact between the seer and the seen. 10. If one meditates on that state which comes at the end of the waking state and the beginning of sleep, he will directly experience undecaying bliss. 11. The rock-like state in which all thoughts are still and which is different from the waking and dream states, is one's supreme state. 12. Like mud in a mud pot the Supreme Lord who is existence and space-like consciousness and bliss exists everywhere non-separate (from things). 13. The Self shines by itself as the one boundless ocean of consciousness agitated by waves of thought. 14. Just as the ocean is nothing but water the entire world of things is nothing but consciousness filling all the quarters like the infinite space. 15. Brahman and space are alike as to their invisibility, all-pervasiveness and indestructibility, but Brahman is also consciousness. 16. There is only the one waveless and profound ocean of pure nectar, sweet through and through (i.e. blissful) everywhere. 17. All this is truly Brahman; all this is Atman. Do not cut up Brahman into 'I am one thing' and 'this is another.' 18. As soon as it is realised that Brahman is allpervasive and indivisible this vast samsara is found to be the Supreme Lord. 19. One who realises that everything is Brahman truly becomes Brahman; who would not become immortal if he were to drink nectar? 20. If you are wise you would become this (Brahman) by such conviction; if not, even if you are repeatedly told it would be (useless like offerings) thrown on ashes. 21. Even if you have known the real truth you have to practise always. Water will not become clear by merely uttering the word kataka fruit. 22. If one has the firm conviction 'I am the Supreme Self called the undecaying Vasudeva' he is liberated; otherwise he remains bound. 23. After eliminating everything as 'not this', 'not this', the Supreme Being (lit. state) which cannot be eliminated remains. Think 'I am That' and be happy. 24. Know always that the Self is Brahman, one and whole. How can that which is indivisible be divided into 'I am the meditator' and 'the other is the object of meditation'? 25. When one thinks 'I am pure consciousness' it is called meditation and when even the idea of meditation is forgotten it is samadhi. 26. The constant flow of mental concepts relating to Brahman without the sense of 'I' achieved through intense practice of Self Enquiry (jnana) is what is called samprajnata samadhi (meditation with concepts). 27. Let violent winds which characterise the end of aeons (kalpas) blow; let all the oceans unite, let the twelve suns burn (simultaneously), still no harm befalls one whose mind is extinct. 28. That consciousness which is the witness of the rise and fall of all beings, know that to be the immortal state of supreme bliss. 29. Every moving or unmoving thing whatsoever is only an object visualised by the mind. When the mind is annihilated duality (i.e. multiplicity) is not perceived. 30. That which is immutable, auspicious and tranquil, that in which this world exists, that which manifests itself as the mutable and immutable objects -that is the sole consciousness. 31. Before discarding the slough the snake regards it as itself, but when once it has discarded it in its hole it does not look upon it as itself any longer. 32. He who has transcended both good and evil does not, like a child, refrain from prohibited acts from a sense of sin, nor does he do what is prescribed from a sense of merit. 33. Just as a statue is contained in a pillar (i.e. block) even if it is not actually carved out, so also the world exists in Brahman. Therefore the Supreme State is not a void. 34. Just as a pillar is said to be devoid of the statue when it has not actually been carved out, so also Brahman is said to be void when it is devoid of the impression of the world. 35. Just as still water may be said to contain or not contain ripples, so also Brahman may be said to contain or not contain the world. It is neither void nor existence. Courtesy: SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI TEACHINGS COMPILED BY CHAMAN LAL GADOO

Sri RAM GITA (YOG VASISHTA SARA, PART I)

Sri RAM GITA (YOG VASISHTA SARA, PART I)

(THE ESSENCE OF YOGA VASISHTA) INTRODUCTION The Brihat (the great) Yoga Vasishta or Yoga Vasishta Maha Ramayana as it is also called is a work of about 32,000 Sanskrit couplets, traditionally attributed to Valmiki, the author of Srimad Ramayana. It is a dialogue between Sage Vasishta and Sri Rama, during which Advaita (the doctrine of non-duality) in its pure form of Ajatavada (theory of nonorigination) is expounded, with illustrative stories in between. This vast work was abridged some centuries ago by Abhinanda Pandita, a Kashmiri scholar, into 6,000 couplets, which go by the name of Laghu Yoga Vasishta. This is a masterpiece in itself, like the original Brihat. Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi used to refer to Yoga Vasishta frequently and has even incorporated six couplets from it in His Supplement to Forty Verses (verses 21 to 27). A further condensation of this work was made long ago, by an unknown author, into about 230 couplets, divided into ten chapters, as Yoga Vasishta Sara (Essence of Yoga Vasishta), of which this translation is presented for the first time. CHAPTER ONE - DISPASSION 1. Salutations to that calm effulgence which is endless and unlimited by space, time etc., the pure consciousness which can be known by experience only. 2. Neither one who is totally ignorant nor one who knows it (i.e. Truth) is eligible to study this book. Only he who thinks 'I am bound; I must become free' is entitled to study it. 3. Until one is definitely blessed by the Supreme Lord he will not find either a proper Guru or the right scripture. 4. Just as a steady boat, O Rama is obtained from a boatman, so also the method of crossing the ocean of samsara is learnt by associating with great souls. 5. The great remedy for the long-lasting disease of samsara is the enquiry, 'Who am I?, to whom does this samsara belong?,' which entirely cures it. 6. Not a day should be spent in a place which does not possess the tree of a wise knower of Truth with its good fruit and cool shade. 7. The sages are to be approached even if they do not teach. Even their talks in a light vein contain wisdom. 8. The company of sages converts emptiness into fullness, death into immortality and adversity into prosperity. 9. If sages were concerned solely with their own happiness with whom could those tormented by the sorrows of samsara seek refuge? 10. That which is imparted, O good soul, to a worthy disciple who has become dispassionate, is the real wisdom; it is the real purport of the sacred texts and is also the comprehensive wisdom. 11. Following the customary method of teaching is only for preserving the tradition. Pure awareness results solely from the clarity of the disciple's understanding. 12. The Lord cannot be seen with the help of the sacred texts or the Guru. The self is seen by the Self alone with the pure intellect. 13. All the arts acquired by men are lost by lack of practice, but this art of wisdom grows steadily once it rises. 14. Just as an ornament worn round the neck is considered lost through forgetfulness and is gained when the mistake is realized, so also the Self is attained (when the delusion is removed) by the words of the Guru. 15. He is indeed an unfortunate person who, not knowing his own Self takes pleasure in sense-objects, like one who realizes too late that the food eaten by him was poisonous. 16. That perverted man who, even after knowing that worldly objects are deceptive, still thinks of them, is an ass not a man. 17. Even the slightest thought immerses a man in sorrow; when devoid of all thoughts he enjoys imperishable bliss. 18. Just as we experience the delusion of hundreds of years in a dream lasting an hour, so also we experience the sport of maya in our waking state. 19. He is a happy man whose mind is inwardly cool and free from attachment and hatred and who looks upon this (world) like a mere spectator. 20. He who has understood well how to abandon all ideas of acceptance and rejection and who has realized the consciousness which is within the innermost heart -his life is illustrious. 21. On the dissolution of the body, the ether (consciousness) limited by the heart (hridayam) alone ceases to exist. People lament needlessly that the Self is extinct. 22. When pots, etc. are broken the space within them becomes unlimited. So also when bodies cease to exist the Self remains eternal and unattached 23. Nothing, whatever is born or dies anywhere at any time. It is Brahman alone appearing illusorily in the form of the world. 24. The Self is more extensive than space; it is pure, subtle, undecaying and auspicious. As such how could it be born and how can it die? 25. All this is the tranquil, One without beginning, middle or end, which cannot be said to be existent or non-existent. Know this and be happy. 26. O Rama, it is indeed nobler to wander begging about the streets of the outcasts (chandalas), an earthen bowl in hand, than to live a life steeped in ignorance. 27. Neither disease nor poison nor adversity nor any other thing in the world causes more suffering to men than such stupidity engendered in their bodies. CHAPTER TWO UNREALITY OF THE WORLD 1. Just as the great ocean of milk became still when the Mandara Mountain (with which it was churned by the Devas and the Asuras) became still, even so the illusion of samsara comes to an end when the mind is stilled. 2. Samsara rises when the mind becomes active and ceases when it is still. Still the mind, therefore, by controlling the breath and the latent desires (vasanas). 3. This worthless (lit. burnt out) samsara is born of one's imagination and vanishes in the absence of imagination. It is certain that it is absolutely unsubstantial. 4. The idea of a (live) snake in a picture of a snake ceases to be entertained when the truth is known. Similarly samsara ceases to exist (when the Truth is realized), even if it continues to appear. 5. This long-living ghost of a samsara which is the creation of the deluded mind of man and the cause of his sufferings disappears when one ponders over it. 6. O Rama, maya is such that it brings delight through its own destruction; its nature is inscrutable; it ceases to exist even while it is being observed. 7. Dear boy, wonderful indeed is this maya which deludes the entire world. It is on account of it that the Self is not perceived even though it pervades all the limbs of the body. 8. Whatever is seen does not truly exist. It is like the mythical city of Gandharvas (fata morgana) or a mirage. 9. That which is not seen, though within us, is called the eternal and indestructible Self. 10. Just as the trees on the bank of a lake are reflected in the water, so also all these varied objects are reflected in the vast mirror of our consciousness. 11. This creation, which is a mere play of consciousness, rises up, like the delusion of a snake in a rope (when there is ignorance) and comes to an end when there is right knowledge. 12. Even though bondage does not really exist, it becomes strong through desire for worldly enjoyments; when this desire subsides bondage becomes weak. 13. Like waves rising up from the ocean the unstable mind rises out of the vast and stable expanse of the Supreme Self. 14. It is because of that which always, of its own accord, imagines (everything) quickly and freely that this magical show (of the world) is projected in the waking state. 15. This world, though unreal, appears to exist and is the cause of life-long suffering to an ignorant person, just as a (non-existent) ghost (is the cause of fear) to a boy. 16. One who has no idea of gold sees only the bracelet. He does not at all have the idea that it is merely gold. 17. Similarly towns, houses, mountains, serpents, etc. are all in the eyes of the ignorant man, separate objects. From the absolute point of view; this objective (world) is the subject (the Self) itself; it is not separate (from the Self). 18. The world is full of misery to an ignorant man and full of bliss to a wise man. The world is dark to a blind man and bright to one who has eyes. 19. The bliss of a man of discrimination, who has rejected samsara and discarded all mental concepts, constantly increases. 20. Like clouds which suddenly appear in a clear sky and as suddenly dissolve, the entire universe (appears) in the Self and (dissolves in it). 21. He who reckons the rays as non-different from the sun and realizes that they are the sun itself is stated to be nirvikalpa (the undifferentiating man). 22. Just as the cloth, when investigated, is seen to be nothing but thread, so also this world, when enquired into, is (seen to be) merely the Self. 23. This fascinating world rises like a wave in the ambrosial ocean of consciousness and dissolves in it. How then can it be different from it (i.e. consciousness) in the middle (i.e. when it appears)? 24. Just as the foam, the waves, the dew and the bubbles are not different from water, even so this world which has come out of the Self is not different from the Self. 25. Just as a tree consisting of fruits, leaves, creepers, flowers, branches, twigs and roots, exists in the seed of the tree, even so this manifest world exists in Brahman. 26. Just as the pot (ultimately) goes back to mud, waves into water and ornaments into gold, so also this world which has come out of the Self (ultimately) goes back to the Self. 27. The snake appears when one does not recognise the rope; it disappears when one recognises the rope. Even so this world appears when the Self is not recognised; it disappears when the Self is recognised. 28. It is only our forgetfulness of the invisible Self which causes the world to appear just as (the ignorance of the) rope (causes the) snake to appear. 29. Just as the dream becomes unreal in the waking state and the waking state in the dream, so also death becomes unreal in birth and birth in death. 30. All these are thus neither real nor unreal. They are the effect of delusion, mere impressions arising out of some past experiences. CHAPTER THREE THE MARKS OF A LIBERATED PERSON (JIVANMUKTA) 1. The knowledge of the Self is the fire that burns up the dry grass of desire. This indeed is what is called samadhi, not mere abstention from speech. 2. He who realizes that the whole universe is really nothing but consciousness and remains quite calm is protected by the armour of Brahman; he is happy. 3. The yogi who has attained the state which is beyond everything and remains always cool as the full moon is truly the Supreme Lord. 4. He who reflects in his innermost heart upon the purport of the Upanishads dealing with Brahman and is not moved by joy and sorrow, is not tormented by samsara. 5. Just as birds and beasts do not take shelter on a mountain on fire, so also evil (thoughts) never occur to a knower of Brahman. 6. Wise men also, like foolish men, (occasionally) make others angry, (but they do so only) in order to test their ability to control their innate feelings (that is to say to see how far the anger of other persons will affect them). 7. Just as the trembling (of the body) caused by the (imaginary) snake persists (for some time) even after realising that there is no snake, so also the effect of delusion persists (for some time) even after getting rid of all delusions. 8. Just as a crystal is not stained by what is reflected in it, so also a knower of truth is not really affected by the result of his acts. 9. Even while he is intent on outward actions (the knower of Truth) always remains introverted and extremely calm like one asleep. 10. Firmly convinced of non-duality and enjoying perfect mental peace, yogis go about their work seeing the world as if it were a dream. 11. Let death come to him (the knower of truth) today or at the end of aeons; he remains untarnished like gold buried in mire. 12. He may cast off his body at Kashi or in the house of an outcaste (lit. one who cooks dog's flesh). He, the desireless one, is liberated at the very moment he attains knowledge (of Brahman). 13. To one who is desireless, the earth, O Rama, is (as insignificant as) the hoof-print of a cow, Mount Meru, a mound, space as much as contained in a casket and the three worlds a blade of grass. 14. Like an empty vessel in space (the knower of Truth) is empty both within and without, while at the same time he is full within and without like a vessel immersed in the ocean. 15. He who neither likes nor dislikes the objects seen by him and who acts (in the world) like one asleep, is said to be a liberated person. 16. He who is free from the knots (of desires) and whose doubts have been set at rest is liberated even when he is in the body (jivan mukta). Although he may seem to be bound, he is free. He remains like a lamp in a picture. 17. He who has easily (lit. as if in sport) cast off all his egoistic tendencies and has abandoned even the object of meditation, is said to be liberated even when he is in the body. 18. He who does not, like one blind, recognise (lit. leaves far behind) his relatives, who dreads attachment as he would a serpent, who looks upon sense-enjoyments and diseases alike, who disregards the company of women as he would a blade of grass and who finds no distinction between a friend and a foe, experiences happiness in this world and the next. 19. He who casts away from his mind all objects of perception and, attaining perfect quiescence, remains still as space, unaffected by sorrow, is a liberated man; he is the Supreme Lord. 20. The noble-hearted man whose desires of the heart have come to an end is a liberated man; it does not matter whether he does or does not practise meditation or perform action. 21. The idea of Self in the non-Self is bondage. Abandonment of it is liberation. There is neither bondage nor liberation for the ever-free Self. 22. If, by perceiving that the objects of perception do not really exist, the mind is completely freed (from those objects) there ensues the supreme bliss of liberation. 23. Abandonment of all latent tendencies is said to be the best (i.e. real) liberation by the wise; that is also the faultless method (of attaining liberation). 24. Liberation is not on the other side of the sky, nor is it in the nether world, nor on the earth; the extinction of the mind resulting from the eradication of all desires is regarded as liberation. 25. O Rama, there is no intellect, no nescience, no mind and no individual soul (jiva). They are all imagined in Brahman. 26. To one who is established in what is infinite, pure consciousness, bliss and unqualified non-duality, where is the question of bondage or liberation, seeing that there is no second entity? 27. O Rama, the mind has, by its own activity, bound itself; when it is calm it is free. CHAPTER FOUR DISSOLUTION OF THE MIND 1. Consciousness which is undivided imagines to itself desirable objects and runs after them. It is then known as the mind. 2. From this omnipresent and omnipotent Supreme Lord arose, like ripples in water, the power of imagining separate objects. 3. Just as fire born out of wind (fanned into a flame) is extinguished by the same wind, so also that which is born of imagination is destroyed by imagination itself. 4. The mind has come into existence through this (imagination) on account of forgetfulness. Like the experience of one's own death in a dream it ceases to exist when scrutinised. 5. The idea of Self in what is not the Self is due to incorrect understanding. The idea of reality in what is unreal, O Rama, know that to be the mind (chittam). 6. 'This is he', 'I am this', 'That is mine', such (ideas) constitute the mind; it disappears when one ponders over these false ideas. 7. It is the nature of the mind to accept certain things and to reject others; this is bondage, nothing else. 8. The mind is the creator of the world, the mind is the individual (purusha); only that which is done by the mind is regarded as done, not that which is done by the body. The arm with which one embraces the wife is the very arm with which one embraces the daughter. 9. The mind is the cause of (i.e. produces) the objects of perception. The three worlds depend upon it. When it is dissolved the world is also dissolved. It is to be cured (i.e. purified) with effort. 10. The mind is bound by the latent impressions (vasanas). When there are no impressions it is free. Therefore, O Rama, bring about quickly, through discrimination, the state in which there are no impressions. 11. Just as a streak of cloud stains (i.e. appears to stain) the moon or a blotch of ink a lime-plastered wall, so also the evil spirit of desire stains the inner man. 12. O Rama, he who, with in-turned mind, offers all the three worlds, like dried-grass, as an oblation in the fire of knowledge, becomes free from the illusions of the mind. 13. When one knows the real truth about acceptance and rejection and does not think of anything but abides in himself, abandoning everything, (his) mind does not come into existence. 14. The mind is terrible (ghoram) in the waking state, gentle (santam) in the dream state, dull (mudham) in deep sleep and dead when not in any of these three states. 15. Just as the powder of the kataka seed, after precipitating the dirt in water, becomes merged in the water, so also the mind (after removing all impressions) itself becomes merged (in the Self ). 16. The mind is samsara; the mind is also said to be bondage; the body is activated by the mind just as a tree is shaken by the wind. 17. Conquer your mind first, by pressing the palm with the palm, grinding the teeth with the teeth and twisting the limbs with the limbs. 18. Does not the fool feel ashamed to move about in the world as he pleases and talk about meditation when he is not able to conquer even the mind? 19. The only god to be conquered is the mind. Its conquest leads to the attainment of everything. Without its conquest all other efforts are fruitless. 20. To be unperturbed is the foundation of blessedness (Sri). One attains liberation by it. To human beings even the conquest of the three worlds, without the conquest of the mind, is as insignificant as a blade of grass. 21. Association with the wise, abandonment of latent impressions, self-enquiry, control of breathing -these are the means of conquering the mind. 22. To one who is shod with leather the earth is as good as covered with leather. Even so to the mind which is full (i.e. undivided) the world overflows with nectar. 23. The mind becomes bound by thinking 'I am not Brahman'; it becomes completely released by thinking 'I am Brahman'. 24. When the mind is abandoned (i.e. dissolves), everything that is dual or single is dissolved. What remains after that is the Supreme Brahman, peaceful, eternal and free from misery. 25. There is nothing to equal the supreme joy felt by a person of pure mind who has attained the state of pure consciousness and overcome death. CHAPTER FIVE THE DESTRUCTION OF LATENT IMPRESSIONS 1. O Rama, this enquiry into the Self of the nature or 'Who am I?' is the fire which burns up the seeds of the evil tree which is the mind. 2. Just as the wind does not affect the creepers in a picture, so also afflictions do not affect one whose understanding is fortified by firmness and (always) reflected in the mirror of enquiry. 3. The knowers of truth declare that enquiry into the truth of the Self is knowledge. What is to be known is contained in it like sweetness in milk. 4. To one who has realized the Self by enquiry Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are objects of compassion. 5. To one who is fond of enquiring (constantly), 'What is this vast universe?' and 'Who am I?' this world becomes quite unreal. 6. Just as in a mirage the idea of water does not occur to one who knows (that it is a mirage), even so latent impressions do not rise in one whose ignorance has been destroyed by realizing that everything is Brahman. 7. By the abandonment of latent impressions or by the control of breathing, mind ceases to be the mind. Practise whichever you like. 8. O pure soul, cherish the association of sages and the true scriptures; you will attain the state of Supreme Consciousness not in the course of months but days. 9. Latent impressions cease to be active when one associates with sages, discards all thoughts of samsara and remembers that the body has to die. 10. O Raghava, even ignorant persons convert, by the firmness of their conviction, poison into nectar and nectar into poison. 11. When this body is taken to be real it serves the purpose of a body, but when it is seen to be unreal it becomes like space (i.e. unsubstantial). 12. O Rama, while lying on a soft bed you wander about in all directions with a dream body; but now (in this waking state) where is that body? 13. Just as a respectable man avoids contact with an outcast woman carrying dog's flesh, so also one should discard the thought 'I-am-the-body', even if everything were to be lost. 14. When the aspirant (sadhu) thinks only of Brahman and remains calm and free from sorrows his egoity dies of itself. 15. If one realizes the unity of things everywhere, one always remains tranquil, inwardly cool and pure like space without the sense of 'I'. 16. If inwardly one is cool the whole world will be cool, but if inwardly one is hot (i.e. agitated) the whole world will be a burning mass. Courtesy: SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI TEACHINGS COMPILED BY CHAMAN LAL GADOO