1.Then Rama, the best of the Raghu race, the redeemer of the world, after his meritorious career described in Ramayana began to live a life as the princely saints had done before.
2.Asked by the intelligent Lakshmana, Rama related the very ancient moral stories, and then that of the wanton King Nrga, who was reborn a reptile by the curse of a Brahmana.
3.Once when the mighty Rama was alone and sita was serving His lordship’s feet, Lakshmana of pure sentiment bowed down to him reverently and spoke supplicantly.
4.O, most wise! thou art incorporeal and supreme Lord, thou art personified pure wisdom, thou the Antaryamin(knowest thou the minds of all), thou art visible only to those who love thy lotus‐like feet, as a bee loves to suck the nectar and who have thy knowledge for their aim.
5.O, Lord! I seek refuge with my lotus feet, which release from the bondage of Samsara, and which are contemplated by Yogins; those who practice concentration of mind.Teach me so that Imay easily and speedly cross over the unbounded ocean of nescience(Avidya).
6.Having heard all that Lakshmana said, the best of the rulers, the pure minded, the remover all miseries of those who seek shelter, viz Rama, in order to remove the darkness of Ajnana, preached the Jnana Yoga, expounded by the Vedas.
7.Man should first discharge the prescribed duties of his caste (Varna) and stage (Ashrama), and thereby having secured purity of mind, and well equipped himself with the necessary means (Sadhanas, of higher aim) then approach the Guru (spiritual teacher) for the attainment of devine knowledge (self‐knowledge).
8.This birth is the result of prior actions. Man influenced by by senses seeks pleasure and pain and does good and bad actions respectively. His actions will result in rebirth; when born, man does actions again. The world is consequently termed a rotation.
9.Avidya (nescience) is the chief cuase of this phenomenon. The Vedanta philosophy enjoins its removal. The knowledge of self alone destroys Ajnana.Action (Karma) cannot destroy Ajnana because action is born of ignorance; so, self‐knowledge must naturally destroy Ajnana completely.
10.Action neither destroys ignorance nor diminishes attachment; on the contrary it germinates evil action which again is incapable of warding off Samsara (worldliness). The wise man should therefore seek divine knowledge.
11.Question: Karma(action) is obtained in the Vedas like divine knowledge, as the means of salvation, and both are mentioned as duties of man; also action is related as the support of knowledge.
12.Moreover the Vedas state that renouncing action is sin and that man desirous to attain perfection should therefore always to acion. Answer: Not so. Knowledge is verily competent to accomplish the object independently.
13.Question: This seems wrong. As the result of the Yajna (sacrifice) is non‐eternal, although it requires various ritual ceremonies for its completion, so should knowledge require the help of good actions ordained in the Vedas to enable it to procure Moksa (Salvation)
14.Answer: What some disputes argue as above is distinctly inconsistent with reason, because action cannot be performed without egoism, that is to say, action is sprung from the attachment alone Brahma‐vidya is gained.
15.The Brahmakara‐vrtti of mind which is the result of contemplationof the supreme, is called divine knowledge. Action is born of the combination of ritual rites, while knowledge destroys action.
16.Knowledge and action being very contrary in result cannot be together; the wise should therefore entirely renounce action, and always keeping aloof from the objects of senses, should contemplate on the self.
17.So long as one believes himself as body etc. though Ajnana, he should perform good actions; but when the teachings of the Vedas and the transitoriness of the entire universe are established in his mind, then he has come to know the self.Afterwords he should renounce action completely.
18.When the luminous divine wisdom, the remover of differentiation between the Supreme and the individual Self, enlightens the mind‐stuff, then the Maya with its component parts which is the cause of transmigration, at once diasppears.
19.How can the Maya(illusion) produce an effect when once destroyed by self‐knowledge expounded in the Vedas? For Avidya once annihilated by secondless and pure technology, will not be born again.
20.If Avidya will not appear again, how can the understanding ‘I do this’ appear? The independent knowledge therefore does not want any help, and is singly adopted to procure perfection.
21.The Taittiriya Upanishad clearly inculates that all well‐known Sakama actions should be renounced, and Vajasaneyin (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad) moreover lays down that the means to attain Moksa is Self‐knowledge and not action.
22.O! opponent. Thou hast placed sacrificial rituals on one and the same footing; but thou hast given no example in proof of thy allegation. Sacrifice is of various kinds and bears diversified results; but the Self‐knowledge is quite contrary to it.
23.‘I am sinful’ is felt by one having corporeal and not spiritual ideas; but not by the philosopher who knows the real nature of Atman(self) as being identical with the supreme Brahman. The learned though attached to actions should therefore carefully eschew all actions calculated to satiate one’s desires even hough recommended by the Vedas.
24.with pure mind and true faith having learnt identity of individual (microcosm) and universal Self (Macrocosm) by means of Mahavakya (profound saying) ‘That thou art’ from the merciful and gracious Guru, he will become firm like Meru mountain and gain happiness.
25.In order to know the meaning of the Mahavakya it is necessary at first to find out the meaning of each word: ’Tat’ means the supreme Brahman,’Tvam’ means the individual Self, and ‘Asi’ means art. Thus both are united as one by the word ‘Asi’.
26.Near and distant and other similar opposite virtues of individual self and supreme Brahman should be left out; Spirituality of both should be taken by means of accurate description, and thus understand that ‘Thou art Self’ without duality.
27.As the supreme Self and the individual Self are of one nature, so Tygalaksana will not consequently apply, and as some of their qualities are opposed to each other. Ajahallaksana will be inappropriate; therefore Bhagatyagalaksana should be appropriately used in their case.
28.The material body made up of five elements, each sub‐divided int sub parts,which is the result of the actions of past birth and is the medium of enjoing pleasure and pain, which is born and which dies and that is created by Maya is the outer disguise of the Self.
29.Made up of five elements which are not sub‐divided,included mind, intellect, ten senses, five Pranas (force of activity), the organ of feeling pleasure and pain, the subtle body is known as linga Sarira, (Astral body) the inner disguise of the Self, say the wise.
30.Again Maya which, though unborn and uncommentable, is the cause of this cosmos, and is the principal and subtle body of the Atman, since the individual Self appears to the distinct from the universal self owing to Upadhis.Therefore one should realize their identity by keen of spiritualism.
31.As crystal looks colored when placed near a colored object, so does the Self appear to take the form of the five sheaths in which it is apparently enveloped; but if the matter is fully considered, It (Atman) will be clearly seen to be untained, unborn, and secondless.
32.The threefold state of the intellect of three qualities, caused by dream etc., also seem to be in the self. But as they are opposed to one another, consequently they are simply false representation in the Supreme, which is Absolute, Bliss, Eternal, and All‐pervading.
33.As long as the function of intellect undercover of Avidya, works incessantly in the combination of the body, the senses, the breath, the mind and the Self, so long does the world continue to exist.
34.According to the Sruti ‘not this, not this’ having expelled the world and all from his mind, tasted the sweet of the true happiness, one should renounce the world, just as he does a fruit after having sucked the lovely juice.
35.Never will the Self die nor is born, never decreaseth nor increaseth. He is Bliss, free from illusion, self‐luminous, All‐pervading, and Secondless.
36.Why does this visible world appear full of sorrow, if Self is consciousness and Bliss in essence? Answer: by false attribution owing to Ajnana; but it disappears at once as soon as the knowledge shines. Because Jnana (Self‐knowledge) and Ajnana (ignorance) cannot be in one place united together as they are opposed to each other. When cause (Ajnana) disappears its effect (visible world) also vanishes
37.Mistaking one thing for another is pronounced Adhyasa (wrong supposition), says the wise, like mistaking a rope etc. For a serpent.Similarly the world is being mistaken owing to Avidya in Para‐Brahman (supreme Self).
38.In the all‐knowledge, all‐creator, Pervading self, free from pain, void of illusion, the secondless, aloof from the visible, this egoism is the false attribution that is first formed.
39.All pairs of opposite qualities, such as pleasure and pain, good and bad, desire and indifference which are source of transmigration, are virtually the characteristics of intellect; but owing to wrong supposition they seem to appear in the Self. Had they been the attributes of Self, the qualities would appear to us also during Susupti, (sound sleep) where the functions of intellect do not exist.
40.The light of the Supreme, shadowed (reflected) in intellect, which is born of beginningless Maya is called Soul.The supreme Self is a witness of the intellect and is quite distinct from it as well as its qualities, while the soul is one and the same as Self.
41.As the soul, the shadow (reflection) of the supreme Spirit, and mind accompanied by the senses live in one place, both appear to have contracted each other’s animate and inanimate qualities by false attribution like an iron ball made red ho in fire.
42.One who has acquired knowledge of Self by learning the Vedas and from his Guru, he having described the faultless Self in himself, should abandon all the inanimate objects, which appear to him in the Self.
43.I am Self luminous, unborn, one without a second, knowable only by Jnana yogins, pure, All knower, free from miseries, All‐in‐all, Bliss, and unchangeable.
44.I am eternal, imancipation, of unchangeable powers, unable to be felt by senses, not liable to change, and infinite.The wise who study Vedas, bear me in mind day and night.
45.Thus always who meditates on the Self as undivided, he attains perfection, and that knowledge at ones destroys ignorance and its sequels, just as a tonic does ailment.
46.Sitting in solitude having restrained his senses from their objects, and completely controlled his mind, with pure conscience, having the knowledge of the Supreme as his object in abiding in the secondless Self, he should meditate upon the Para‐Brahman.
47.Having dissolved the universe, illumined by God, in Atman the fundamental cause of all, he sits satisfied and happy and doesnot know the things outside or inside.
48.Before entering into the Samadhi, the movable and immovable world should be looked upon us Omkara which means the world as is clearly indicated in the Sastras.The cause of this birth is Avidya (nescience), but disappears when knowledge shines.
49.Omkara is composed of three letters ‘A’ denotes Purusa or Visva ‘U’ denotes Taijasa and ‘M’ Prajna, according to the Vedas. This occurs to the mind before the commencement of Samadhi, and not after Self‐knowledge illumines.
50.One should dissolve the (Visva) in and again (Taijasa) in (‘A’ in ‘U’ and ‘U’ in ‘M’).
51.Having dissolved Prajna in the supreme Spirit he should contemplate ‘I am Brahman’ the object of knowledge, free from deception, the faultless, the eternal, the supreme Lord (Pra‐Brahman).
52.Thus always established in the supreme Self, having forgotten his worldly connections, happy in the Self, evidently the form of Divine pleasure he has attained emancipation and he resembles a calm vast ocean.
53.He who thus continually observes Samadhi in this manner, and has renounced objects of his passions which are his enemies and has attained the six attributes of Atman, can always see Me.
54.Thus contemplating on the Self day and night, the Saint detached from all attachments should remain without egoism dependant on his fat (Prarabdha Karma).He eventually enters in Me.
55.Having believed the beginning, the middle, and the end of the world source of fear and sorrow, and renouncing all the Sakama actions, he should worship me as the supreme Spirit who dwells in all the beings.
56.Having contemplated on the Self as undivided, he then becomes identical with Me, just as water in ocean, milk in milk, air in air, and sky in sky.
57.Throughout his stay among people he looks upon it as an illusion, which fact is born out by the Vedas as well as logic; just as the moon appears of different forms to some, and also sometimes a mistake happens about the true direction of Dis (space).
58.So long as he does not see the Self in every object, he should constantly worship the Supreme. I am day and night visible to my faithful devotee in his own conscience.
59.My dear! I have, after determining told thee the secrets (rahasyam) of the Vedas, collectively. The wise who will consider over and follow them, will be released from bondage immediately.
60.Brother! the world thou seest is nothing but an illusion. Renounce all from thy mind, by means of worshipping Me, thou shouldst live happily (free from pain), and with peace of mind.
61.Whoever now and then heartily worships Me, with or without attributes, he attains Me; just as the sun sanctifies the three worlds, by touching them with the dust of his feet.
62.Whoever, with faith in Me and in his spiritual Teacher, studies attentively this condensed philosophy of the Vedas, stated by me who am One and knowable by the Vedanta philosophy, he shall enter in Me, is, in fact becomes one with Me.
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2.Asked by the intelligent Lakshmana, Rama related the very ancient moral stories, and then that of the wanton King Nrga, who was reborn a reptile by the curse of a Brahmana.
3.Once when the mighty Rama was alone and sita was serving His lordship’s feet, Lakshmana of pure sentiment bowed down to him reverently and spoke supplicantly.
4.O, most wise! thou art incorporeal and supreme Lord, thou art personified pure wisdom, thou the Antaryamin(knowest thou the minds of all), thou art visible only to those who love thy lotus‐like feet, as a bee loves to suck the nectar and who have thy knowledge for their aim.
5.O, Lord! I seek refuge with my lotus feet, which release from the bondage of Samsara, and which are contemplated by Yogins; those who practice concentration of mind.Teach me so that Imay easily and speedly cross over the unbounded ocean of nescience(Avidya).
6.Having heard all that Lakshmana said, the best of the rulers, the pure minded, the remover all miseries of those who seek shelter, viz Rama, in order to remove the darkness of Ajnana, preached the Jnana Yoga, expounded by the Vedas.
7.Man should first discharge the prescribed duties of his caste (Varna) and stage (Ashrama), and thereby having secured purity of mind, and well equipped himself with the necessary means (Sadhanas, of higher aim) then approach the Guru (spiritual teacher) for the attainment of devine knowledge (self‐knowledge).
8.This birth is the result of prior actions. Man influenced by by senses seeks pleasure and pain and does good and bad actions respectively. His actions will result in rebirth; when born, man does actions again. The world is consequently termed a rotation.
9.Avidya (nescience) is the chief cuase of this phenomenon. The Vedanta philosophy enjoins its removal. The knowledge of self alone destroys Ajnana.Action (Karma) cannot destroy Ajnana because action is born of ignorance; so, self‐knowledge must naturally destroy Ajnana completely.
10.Action neither destroys ignorance nor diminishes attachment; on the contrary it germinates evil action which again is incapable of warding off Samsara (worldliness). The wise man should therefore seek divine knowledge.
11.Question: Karma(action) is obtained in the Vedas like divine knowledge, as the means of salvation, and both are mentioned as duties of man; also action is related as the support of knowledge.
12.Moreover the Vedas state that renouncing action is sin and that man desirous to attain perfection should therefore always to acion. Answer: Not so. Knowledge is verily competent to accomplish the object independently.
13.Question: This seems wrong. As the result of the Yajna (sacrifice) is non‐eternal, although it requires various ritual ceremonies for its completion, so should knowledge require the help of good actions ordained in the Vedas to enable it to procure Moksa (Salvation)
14.Answer: What some disputes argue as above is distinctly inconsistent with reason, because action cannot be performed without egoism, that is to say, action is sprung from the attachment alone Brahma‐vidya is gained.
15.The Brahmakara‐vrtti of mind which is the result of contemplationof the supreme, is called divine knowledge. Action is born of the combination of ritual rites, while knowledge destroys action.
16.Knowledge and action being very contrary in result cannot be together; the wise should therefore entirely renounce action, and always keeping aloof from the objects of senses, should contemplate on the self.
17.So long as one believes himself as body etc. though Ajnana, he should perform good actions; but when the teachings of the Vedas and the transitoriness of the entire universe are established in his mind, then he has come to know the self.Afterwords he should renounce action completely.
18.When the luminous divine wisdom, the remover of differentiation between the Supreme and the individual Self, enlightens the mind‐stuff, then the Maya with its component parts which is the cause of transmigration, at once diasppears.
19.How can the Maya(illusion) produce an effect when once destroyed by self‐knowledge expounded in the Vedas? For Avidya once annihilated by secondless and pure technology, will not be born again.
20.If Avidya will not appear again, how can the understanding ‘I do this’ appear? The independent knowledge therefore does not want any help, and is singly adopted to procure perfection.
21.The Taittiriya Upanishad clearly inculates that all well‐known Sakama actions should be renounced, and Vajasaneyin (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad) moreover lays down that the means to attain Moksa is Self‐knowledge and not action.
22.O! opponent. Thou hast placed sacrificial rituals on one and the same footing; but thou hast given no example in proof of thy allegation. Sacrifice is of various kinds and bears diversified results; but the Self‐knowledge is quite contrary to it.
23.‘I am sinful’ is felt by one having corporeal and not spiritual ideas; but not by the philosopher who knows the real nature of Atman(self) as being identical with the supreme Brahman. The learned though attached to actions should therefore carefully eschew all actions calculated to satiate one’s desires even hough recommended by the Vedas.
24.with pure mind and true faith having learnt identity of individual (microcosm) and universal Self (Macrocosm) by means of Mahavakya (profound saying) ‘That thou art’ from the merciful and gracious Guru, he will become firm like Meru mountain and gain happiness.
25.In order to know the meaning of the Mahavakya it is necessary at first to find out the meaning of each word: ’Tat’ means the supreme Brahman,’Tvam’ means the individual Self, and ‘Asi’ means art. Thus both are united as one by the word ‘Asi’.
26.Near and distant and other similar opposite virtues of individual self and supreme Brahman should be left out; Spirituality of both should be taken by means of accurate description, and thus understand that ‘Thou art Self’ without duality.
27.As the supreme Self and the individual Self are of one nature, so Tygalaksana will not consequently apply, and as some of their qualities are opposed to each other. Ajahallaksana will be inappropriate; therefore Bhagatyagalaksana should be appropriately used in their case.
28.The material body made up of five elements, each sub‐divided int sub parts,which is the result of the actions of past birth and is the medium of enjoing pleasure and pain, which is born and which dies and that is created by Maya is the outer disguise of the Self.
29.Made up of five elements which are not sub‐divided,included mind, intellect, ten senses, five Pranas (force of activity), the organ of feeling pleasure and pain, the subtle body is known as linga Sarira, (Astral body) the inner disguise of the Self, say the wise.
30.Again Maya which, though unborn and uncommentable, is the cause of this cosmos, and is the principal and subtle body of the Atman, since the individual Self appears to the distinct from the universal self owing to Upadhis.Therefore one should realize their identity by keen of spiritualism.
31.As crystal looks colored when placed near a colored object, so does the Self appear to take the form of the five sheaths in which it is apparently enveloped; but if the matter is fully considered, It (Atman) will be clearly seen to be untained, unborn, and secondless.
32.The threefold state of the intellect of three qualities, caused by dream etc., also seem to be in the self. But as they are opposed to one another, consequently they are simply false representation in the Supreme, which is Absolute, Bliss, Eternal, and All‐pervading.
33.As long as the function of intellect undercover of Avidya, works incessantly in the combination of the body, the senses, the breath, the mind and the Self, so long does the world continue to exist.
34.According to the Sruti ‘not this, not this’ having expelled the world and all from his mind, tasted the sweet of the true happiness, one should renounce the world, just as he does a fruit after having sucked the lovely juice.
35.Never will the Self die nor is born, never decreaseth nor increaseth. He is Bliss, free from illusion, self‐luminous, All‐pervading, and Secondless.
36.Why does this visible world appear full of sorrow, if Self is consciousness and Bliss in essence? Answer: by false attribution owing to Ajnana; but it disappears at once as soon as the knowledge shines. Because Jnana (Self‐knowledge) and Ajnana (ignorance) cannot be in one place united together as they are opposed to each other. When cause (Ajnana) disappears its effect (visible world) also vanishes
37.Mistaking one thing for another is pronounced Adhyasa (wrong supposition), says the wise, like mistaking a rope etc. For a serpent.Similarly the world is being mistaken owing to Avidya in Para‐Brahman (supreme Self).
38.In the all‐knowledge, all‐creator, Pervading self, free from pain, void of illusion, the secondless, aloof from the visible, this egoism is the false attribution that is first formed.
39.All pairs of opposite qualities, such as pleasure and pain, good and bad, desire and indifference which are source of transmigration, are virtually the characteristics of intellect; but owing to wrong supposition they seem to appear in the Self. Had they been the attributes of Self, the qualities would appear to us also during Susupti, (sound sleep) where the functions of intellect do not exist.
40.The light of the Supreme, shadowed (reflected) in intellect, which is born of beginningless Maya is called Soul.The supreme Self is a witness of the intellect and is quite distinct from it as well as its qualities, while the soul is one and the same as Self.
41.As the soul, the shadow (reflection) of the supreme Spirit, and mind accompanied by the senses live in one place, both appear to have contracted each other’s animate and inanimate qualities by false attribution like an iron ball made red ho in fire.
42.One who has acquired knowledge of Self by learning the Vedas and from his Guru, he having described the faultless Self in himself, should abandon all the inanimate objects, which appear to him in the Self.
43.I am Self luminous, unborn, one without a second, knowable only by Jnana yogins, pure, All knower, free from miseries, All‐in‐all, Bliss, and unchangeable.
44.I am eternal, imancipation, of unchangeable powers, unable to be felt by senses, not liable to change, and infinite.The wise who study Vedas, bear me in mind day and night.
45.Thus always who meditates on the Self as undivided, he attains perfection, and that knowledge at ones destroys ignorance and its sequels, just as a tonic does ailment.
46.Sitting in solitude having restrained his senses from their objects, and completely controlled his mind, with pure conscience, having the knowledge of the Supreme as his object in abiding in the secondless Self, he should meditate upon the Para‐Brahman.
47.Having dissolved the universe, illumined by God, in Atman the fundamental cause of all, he sits satisfied and happy and doesnot know the things outside or inside.
48.Before entering into the Samadhi, the movable and immovable world should be looked upon us Omkara which means the world as is clearly indicated in the Sastras.The cause of this birth is Avidya (nescience), but disappears when knowledge shines.
49.Omkara is composed of three letters ‘A’ denotes Purusa or Visva ‘U’ denotes Taijasa and ‘M’ Prajna, according to the Vedas. This occurs to the mind before the commencement of Samadhi, and not after Self‐knowledge illumines.
50.One should dissolve the (Visva) in and again (Taijasa) in (‘A’ in ‘U’ and ‘U’ in ‘M’).
51.Having dissolved Prajna in the supreme Spirit he should contemplate ‘I am Brahman’ the object of knowledge, free from deception, the faultless, the eternal, the supreme Lord (Pra‐Brahman).
52.Thus always established in the supreme Self, having forgotten his worldly connections, happy in the Self, evidently the form of Divine pleasure he has attained emancipation and he resembles a calm vast ocean.
53.He who thus continually observes Samadhi in this manner, and has renounced objects of his passions which are his enemies and has attained the six attributes of Atman, can always see Me.
54.Thus contemplating on the Self day and night, the Saint detached from all attachments should remain without egoism dependant on his fat (Prarabdha Karma).He eventually enters in Me.
55.Having believed the beginning, the middle, and the end of the world source of fear and sorrow, and renouncing all the Sakama actions, he should worship me as the supreme Spirit who dwells in all the beings.
56.Having contemplated on the Self as undivided, he then becomes identical with Me, just as water in ocean, milk in milk, air in air, and sky in sky.
57.Throughout his stay among people he looks upon it as an illusion, which fact is born out by the Vedas as well as logic; just as the moon appears of different forms to some, and also sometimes a mistake happens about the true direction of Dis (space).
58.So long as he does not see the Self in every object, he should constantly worship the Supreme. I am day and night visible to my faithful devotee in his own conscience.
59.My dear! I have, after determining told thee the secrets (rahasyam) of the Vedas, collectively. The wise who will consider over and follow them, will be released from bondage immediately.
60.Brother! the world thou seest is nothing but an illusion. Renounce all from thy mind, by means of worshipping Me, thou shouldst live happily (free from pain), and with peace of mind.
61.Whoever now and then heartily worships Me, with or without attributes, he attains Me; just as the sun sanctifies the three worlds, by touching them with the dust of his feet.
62.Whoever, with faith in Me and in his spiritual Teacher, studies attentively this condensed philosophy of the Vedas, stated by me who am One and knowable by the Vedanta philosophy, he shall enter in Me, is, in fact becomes one with Me.
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