RIGHT KNOWLEDGE -- SECRET OF VEDANTA - SHANKARACHARYA

THIS IS CHAPTER 17 OF UPADESHA SAHASRI, PART II
(METRICAL) OF SHANKARAGHARYA

83. The Self cannot be accepted or rejected by Itself or others, 
nor does It accept or reject anyone else. This is right 
Knowledge.

84. For this Knowledge which is the subject of all the Vedantas,

 produces the conviction that the Self is Brahman. One 

becomes perfectly free from the bondage of this transmigratory 

existence when one achieves it.

85. This Knowledge which is the supreme purifier and the 

greatest secret of all the Vedas and gods is revealed here 

(in this chapter).

86. This supreme and secret Knowledge should not be 

imparted to one who has not controlled oneself, but should be 

given to a disciple who is obedient and dispassionate.

RIGHT KNOWLEDGE

1. The Self is to be known. It is beyond everything knowable as there exists nothing else except It. I bow down to that pure, all knowing and omniscient One which is to be known.

2. I always bow down to those teachers who are conversant with words, sentences and sources of Knowledge and who, like lamps, have shown clearly to us Brahman, the secret of the Vedas.

3. I bow down to my teacher whose words fell (in to my ears) and destroyed ignorance (in me) like the sun's rays falling on darkness and destroying it. I shall now state the reasoning leading to the right conclusion about the Knowledge of Brahman.

4. There is no other attainment higher than that of the Self. For that is the purpose for which the teachings of the Vedas, the Smriti and the actions (described in the work portion of the Vedas) are there.

5. The acquisition on the part of oneself considered to be a source of happiness produces the opposite result also. It is for this reason that the Knowers of Brahman say that the greatest acquisition is that of the Self as it is eternal.

6. Of the nature of being always attained, the Self does not depend on anything else in order to be acquired. The acquisition that depends on other things (e.g. effort etc.) is due to ignorance (and so vanishes when the means to which it is due vanish.)

7. The conception (of the existence) of the non-Self is what is called ignorance, the destruction of which is known to be liberation. This destruction is possible by means of Knowledge only, which is incompatible with ignorance. (Compatible with ignorance), actions cannot destroy it.

8.That actions produced by desires caused by ignorance gives rise to results which are perishable, and that Knowledge produces an imperishable result are known on the evidence of the Vedas.

9. The learned know the Vedas to be one continuous whole the only purpose to which is to demonstrate one thing viz., Knowledge in as much as the oneness of the Self is to be known by the understanding of the Vedic sentences.

10. (One may object that Brahman and the individual Self are different from each other as they are the meanings of two words which are not synonymous. The object is not reasonable) in as much as one has to know the difference between the words from that between their meanings and the difference between their meanings from that between the words. (Therefore the objector is led to the fallacy of reciprocal dependence. So no difference between them can be accepted, there being no Vedic evidence.) (Objection): As the Sruti states three things besides the Self viz. names, forms and actions (it evidently supports the existence of things other than the Self).

11-12. (Reply): As they are interdependent like a painting and a description of it, they are unreal. So the whole of the universe is really non-existent but exists only for a deluded intellect.

13. It is, therefore, reasonable that this universe is unreal. Existence-Knowledge only is real. Existing prior to everything, it is both the knower and the known. It is the form only that is unread.

14-15. Existence-Knowledge through which all things in dream are known is the knower. It is the same entity that is known in dream by Maya. It is the same Consciousness through which one sees, hears, speaks, smells, tastes, touches and thinks in that state is respectively called the eye, ear, the larynx, the auditive organ, the tongue, the organ of touch and the mind. Similarly, it is the same Consciousness that becomes in dream the other organs also functioning variously.

16. Just as the same jewel assumes different colours owing to its proximity to different (coloured) things, so, Pure Consciousness assumes different forms on account various adjuncts which are superimposed on It (in dream).

17. As in dream so in the waking state different forms are superimposed on this Consciousness. It manifests the objects of the intellect when It performs actions produced by desires due to delusion.

18. The events in the waking state are similar to those in dream. The ideas of the interior and exterior in the former state are as unreal as in the latter like reading and writing depending on each other.

19. When the Self manifests different objects, It desires to have them; and accordingly there arises in it a determination (to acquire those objects). It then meets with those particular results of actions done according to particular desires followed by particular determination.

20. Unperceived in deep sleep but perceived (in waking and dream) by those only who are ignorant, the whole of this universe is an outcome of Ignorance and therefore unreal.

21. It is said that in the Sruti that the consciousness of the oneness of the individual Self and Brahman) is Knowledge, and that of a difference (between them) is Ignorance. Knowledge is, therefore demonstrated in the scriptures with great care.

22. When the mind becomes purified like a mirror, Knowledge is revealed in it. Care should, therefore, be taken to purify the mind by Yama, Niyama sacrifices and religious austerities.

23. The best austerities regarding the body, the mind and speech should be practiced in order to purify the mind. The controlling of the mind and emaciating of the body in different seasons should be undertaken.

24. The attainment of the one pointed ness of the mind and the senses is the best of austerities. It is superior to all religious duties and all other austerities.

25. Sensuous perceptions are to be regarded as the waking state. Those very perceptions revealed in sleep as impressions constitute the dream state. The absence of perception and their impressions is known as to be deep sleep. (The witness of three states) one's own Self should be regarded as the supreme Goal to be realised.

26. What is called deep sleep, darkness or ignorance is the seed of the waking and dream states. It gets perfectly burnt by the fire of Self-Knowledge and it no more produces effects, like a burnt seed that does not germinate.

27. That one seed called Maya is evolved into the three states which come one after another again and again. The Self, the Substratum of Maya though only one and immutable, appears to be many, like reflection of the sun in water.

28. Just a the one seed, called Maya, is regarded as different according to different states such as, the undifferentiated dream etc. so, the Self appears to be different in waking and dream bodies, (both individual and aggregate) like reflection of the moon in water.

29. Just as a magician comes and goes on an elephant (created by his own magic), so, the Self, though devoid of all motion, appears to be undergoing conditions such as, the undifferentiated, dreams etc.

30. Just as (in the above example) there is no elephant or its driver, but there stands the magician different from them, so, there are no undifferentiated etc. nor their knower. The Witness which is always of the nature of Pure Consciousness is different from them.

31. There is no magic for the people of right vision or for the magician himself. It is only for the people of clouded vision that magic exists. Hence one, not really a magician, wrongly appears to be so.
{So it is the ignorant only that wrongly believes that Brahman is the wielder of Maya which is equally non-existent both for men of Knowledge and for Brahman.}

32. The Self should be regarded as Brahman in accordance with the Srutis, The Self is immediate; All knots of the heart are torn asunder, If not and so on.

33. (Objection): It is not perceived by the senses as It is devoid of sound etc. Again how can It be perceived by the intellect as It is different from pleasure and so on?

34. (Reply): Just as Rahu, though invisible, is seen in the moon (during an eclipse) and the reflections (of the moon etc.) are seen in the water, so, the Self, though omnipresent, is perceived in the intellect.

35. Just as the reflection and the heat of the sun, found in the water, do not belong to it, so, Consciousness, though perceived in the intellect, is not its quality; for It is of a nature opposite to that of the intellect.

36-37. The Self whose Consciousness never goes out of existence is called the Seer of seeing when it illumines that modification of the intellect which is connected with the eye, and similarly t is called the Hearer of hearing (and so on). The Unborn One called the thinker for thought when It illumines that modification of the mind which is independent of external objects. It is called the knower as Its power of Consciousness never fails; so the Sruti says, the Seeing of the Seen is not destroyed.

38. That the Self is immutable is known from the Srutis, as if It were at rest and It moves as it were. That It is pure is known from other Srutis: The thief in this state and Unattached.

39. The Self is conscious even in deep sleep as well as in the waking and dream as Its power of Consciousness never ceases to exist and as It is changeless. It is only in the objects of knowledge that there is a difference (in dreamless sleep) as the Sruti says, when there is.

40. The consciousness of objects (which arises out of the functioning of the eye etc.) is immediately known; for it depends on an intervening reflection of the Self (in order to be known). As it is the Self of (phenomenal) consciousness Brahman is immediately known.

41. Just as a second lamp is not necessary in order to illumine a lamp, so, a second consciousness is not necessary to make known Pure Consciousness which is of the nature of the Self.

42. The Self is not an object (of knowledge). There is no change or many-ness in It. It is, therefore, capable of neither being accepted nor rejected by Itself or by anyone else.

43. Why should a man have even the lesser fear who knows that he is the Self comprising the interior and exterior, beyond birth, death, decay and old age?

44. It is only before the negation of the idea of caste etc. on the evidence of the Sruti Not large, the ascertainment of the nature of the Self, on the authority of the sentences “Thou Art That', and before the demonstration of the Self (to one), on the part of (the knowledge portion of) the Vedas, that Vedic actions are to be performed (and not afterwards).

45. Caste etc. given up with the giving up of the previous body do belong to the body only and not to the Self. For the very same reason of being perishable the body is also not the Self.

46. The conceptions of 'me' and 'mine' with regard to the non-Self, the body etc. are due to Ignorance and should be renounced by means of Self-knowledge as there is the Sruti of the Asuras.

47. Just as the duty of observing defilement for ten days (following child birth or the death of a kinsman) is refrained from when one becomes a wandering religious mendicant; so, the duties belonging to particular castes etc. comes to an end when right Knowledge is achieved.

48. A man of Ignorance reaps the results of those actions done according to particular desires followed by particular determinations. But when the desires of a man of self-knowledge vanish he becomes immortal.

49. The outcome of the ascertainment of the real nature of the Self is cessation of actions etc. The Self is neither an end nor means. It is, according to the Smriti, eternally extended.

50. Four things are only the results of actions viz., the production, acquisition, transformation and purification of something. They produce no other results. All actions with their accessories should, therefore, be given up.

51-52. One desirous of attaining Truth withdraw in to the Self the love that he has for external persons or things. For, this love, secondary to that for the Self, is evanescent and entails pain. He then should take refuge in a Teacher, a knower of Brahman, who is tranquil, free, bereft of actions and established in Brahman as the Sruti and Smriti say, one having a Teacher knows and Know that.

53. That Teacher should immediately take the disciple in the boat of Knowledge of Brahman across the great ocean of darkness which is within him - the disciple who is of a one-pointed mind and endowed with the qualities of a (true) disciple.

54. The powers of seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, thinking, knowing and so on, though of the nature of Pure Consciousness, differ on account of adjuncts.

55. Just as the sun illumines the world with it rays which are from growth and decay, so, the Self always knows all things in general and all particular things and is pure.

56. Appearing to be in the body owing to Ignorance and, therefore, appearing to be of the same size as the body, the Self is regarded as different from things other than the body (and possessed of its qualities) like the moon etc. reflected in water and appearing to be possessed of tits qualities.

57. One who merges the gross external objects experienced in the waking state in the subtle objects experienced in dreams, and these again in ignorance and then comes to know the Consciousness of the Self attains Brahman and has to follow any path northern or southern.

58. Having thus renounced the three states of the undifferentiated etc. one gets across the great ocean of ignorance, for one is by nature established in the Self without qualities, pure, awakened and free.

59. One is not born again when one knows that one is unborn, deathless, devoid of old age, free from fear, pure and knowing all particular things and things in general.

60. How can one be born again who has known the oneness of the Self and Brahman and is sure of the non-existence of the seed called ignorance stated before?

61. When the Witness is discriminated from the intellect etc. which are unreal, It does not identify Itself again with the gross or the subtle body as before, just as butter raised from milk and thrown into it does not get mixed with it again.

62. One becomes free from fear when one knows that one is Brahman which is Existence, Knowledge and Infinite, beyond the five sheaths consisting of food etc. and which is described in Sruti as not perceivable and so on.

63. That knower of the Truth of the Bliss of the Self has no cause of fear whatsoever. For, afraid of him, the organ of speech, the mind, fire and so on act regularly.

64. Whom should the knower of the Self salute if he is established in his own Glory which is infinite, non-dual and beyond name etc? Actions then have no utility from him.

65-66. The externally conscious individual which is one with the aggregate of the Gross bodies and the individual which is conscious internally only and on with the aggregate of the subtle bodies are both merged in the individual experiencing deep sleep which is one with the undifferentiated.
As the three states viz. deep sleep etc. has words only for their support they are unreal. The truthful man, therefore, who knows that he is Existence-Brahman, gets liberated.

67. I have no knowledge or ignorance in Me as I am of the nature of homogeneous Consciousness only, just as there is no day or night in the sun which is of the nature of light only.

68. As the truth of the scriptures may never be doubted one should always remember one identified with Brahman has nothing to accept or reject.

69. A man is never born again who knows that he is one only in all beings like the ether and that all beings are in him.

70. The Self is pure and self-effulgent having by nature no interior, exterior, middle or anything else anywhere, according to the Sruti, devoid of the interior or exterior.

71. The Self is a non-dual (and left over) by the negation of the universe according to the Sruti, 'Not this, not this'. It should be known as described in the Sruti, 'Unknown knower' and never otherwise.

72. If one knows that one is the supreme Brahman, the Self of all, one should be regarded as the Self of all beings according to the Sruti, 'their Self'.

73. The individual becomes adorable by gods and free from being under their control (unlike beasts under men), if he clearly knows the supreme Self, the shining One to be himself.

74. The Truthful man who has renounced everything unreal does not get bound again when he knows that he is always Consciousness, the eternally existing Self devoid of everything like the ether.

75. Those are to be pitied who know the supreme Brahman to be otherwise. Those, on the other hand, who know It to be not different from themselves are established in the Self and are their own masters. They have all the gods under their control.

76-77. Give up all connection with caste etc. all actions and all talk regarding the non-Self. Always meditate on the pure Self, the all-comprehensive Principle, as Aum. The Self, which like a causeway protects everything established (such as, castes, order of life etc.) and which, untouched by day and night, is in all directions, horizontal, upward and downward, and free from unhappiness, is of the nature of eternal consciousness.

78. One should know oneself to be the Supreme Brahman free from all bondage, merit and demerit, past and future, and also from cause and effect.

79. The self is regarded as the doer of everything though It is a non-doer. It is pure. It runs ahead of those that run, though it does not move at all. It appears to be many though unborn. For It possesses all power by Maya.

80. Without action, a non-agent and one without a second, I, the universal Self, make the world go round like a king who is only a witness or like the loadstone which moves iron by its proximity only.

81. One should have the conception that one is Brahman which is without qualities, without actions, Eternal, free from duality, free from unhappiness, pure, awakened and free.

82. Having gained a perfect knowledge of bondage and liberation with their causes (viz. Ignorance and Knowledge respectively) having acquired a complete understanding of causes and effects which are objects of knowledge and are (therefore) to be negated and having properly known the one supreme and pure Truth (to be the Self) which is beyond all objects of knowledge, known in the Vedanta and taught by the Sruti and the teacher, a knower of Brahman stands freed from the fear of being born again, becomes all and all-knowing, goes beyond grief and delusion and has the acme of his life fulfilled.

83. The Self cannot be accepted or rejected by Itself or others, nor does It accept or reject anyone else. This is right Knowledge.

84. For this Knowledge which is the subject of all the Vedantas, produces the conviction that the Self is Brahman. One becomes perfectly free from the bondage of this transmigratory existence when one achieves it.

85. This Knowledge which is the supreme purifier and the greatest secret of all the Vedas and gods is revealed here (in this chapter).

86. This supreme and secret Knowledge should not be imparted to one who has not controlled oneself, but should be given to a disciple who is obedient and dispassionate.

87. As there is no equivalent which a disciple may offer to the teacher for imparting to him Self-knowledge one should always possess the qualities of a disciple, achieve Knowledge and thus get across the ocean of transmigratory existence.

88. I bow down to that All-knowing and Al-powerful One who is of the nature of consciousness and besides whom there is nothing else viz. a knower, knowledge or an object of knowledge.

89. I bow down to my most adorable Teacher who is all-knowing and has, by imparting Knowledge to me, saved me from the great ocean of births and deaths, filled with Ignorance.

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OM NAMO GURUDEVA

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