Swami chinmayananda sadana-panchakam

by

Adi Shankara

With Commentary from

Swami Chinmayananda

© Central Chinmaya Mission Trust

Published By Central Chinmaya Mission Trust

Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Powai Park, Bombay 400 072.

Sadana Panchakam by Shankara – Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda

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SADANA PANCHAKAM Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda

(THE QUINTESSENCE OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICE)

In these five verses Sankara enumerates some 40 items that constitute the “Vedantic Sadhana”. Ritualism can be a discipline only in the field of the many – Dwaita. In Adwaita there cannot be a sadhana in the form of worship, invocation, surrender or sacrifice. Yet, the student who is entangled in his mind-intellect-equipment is still in the level of the ego (jiva-bhav). He is to be shown the path by which he can steadily raise his vision into the Yonder, beyond the frontiers of the many (BMI1 and OET) into the One Self, the State of “Peace that passeth all understanding”.

Acharya Sankara in these five simple-looking verses lovingly lists the ways and means which can readily be followed by all Vedantin students, seeking direct experience of the Divine State, beyond the mind, the Spring of Consciousness. Any seeker who sincerely follows these pointers surely will not miss his way and wander into the labyrinth of futile, self-defeating, negative arguments and false conclusions.

Sankara shows here the great Path to Truth the Path that was trodden by all the innumerable Masters of the Vedas and the Upanisads.

Verse 1:

v:ðd:ð en:tym:D:iy:t:aö t:dÙedt:ö km:üsv:n:ØÅiy:t:aö

t:ðn:ðS:sy: ev:D:iy:t:am:p:ec:et:H kamy:ðm:et:sty:jy:t:am:Î .

p:ap::òG:H p:erD:Üy:t:aö B:v:s:ØK:ð d:ð\::ð|n:Øs:nD:iy:t:am:

Aatm:ðcCa vy:v:s:iy:t:aö en:j:g:àha¶:ÜN:üö ev:en:g:ümy:t:am:Î ..

Vedo nitymadhiyatam taduditam karma svanusthiyatam Tenesasya vidhiyatamapacitih kamye matistyajyatam |

Papaughah paridhuyatam bhavasukhe doso anusandhiyata- Atmeccha vyavasayatam nijagrhatturnam vinirgamyatam ||

1 BMI – Body, Mind, Intellect. PFT – Perceiver, Feeler, Thinker. OET – Objects,


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Study the Vedas daily. Perform diligently the duties (Karmas) ordained by them. Dedicate all those actions (Karmas) as worship unto the Lord. Renounce all desires in the mind. Wash away the hoards of sins in the bosom. Recognise that the pleasures of sense-objects (samsar) are riddled with pain. Seek the Self with consistent endeavour. Escape from the bondage of “home”.

In this opening verse Sankara lists some eight items to make up the Spiritual programme for a Vedantic student.

1. “Vedo-nityam-adhiyatam — Study the Vedas daily.”

To read and reflect upon the invigorating ideas of the Upanisads is to keep the student’s bosom inspired at all moments. The seeker also has to live in this very same world of enchanting sense-objects, amidst other members of the community, who are constantly living in indulgence. To live among such people, amidst such objects, which can and do actually give a temporary passing spurt of joy, and to deny them entirely and always is difficult unless the seeker’s mind is constantly kept inspired by the larger vision of the Higher Essence of life. Scriptures alone are the exclusive literature that holds up the spiritual vision in a compelling language. Hence the need for daily reading of the end portion of the Vedas, called the Upanisads.

2. “Taduditam karmasvanushthiyatam—Perform diligently the duties ordained by them”

A passive study, or even intelligent reflections are not sufficient in this Subjective Science. These must be followed by a dynamic involvement of the seeker’s personality with these ideas, in his everyday life. The Karmas (duties) prescribed by the Upanisads, the way-of-life suggested by the Upanishad Rishis, must be faithfully lived. A life of intelligent self-control at all levels is consistently insisted upon. A life of minimum mental and intellectual dissipation in the world of objects-emotions-thoughts must be pursued so that the mind’s vitalities are always conserved very zealously.

3. “Tenesasya vidhiyatam apachitih— Dedicate all these Karmas as your worship of the Lord” –

Dedication here is the surrender of ego and ego centric desires, with a sense of God-dedication. The idea of “I” and its selfish desires as “I want” are the factors in our inner personality that enhance the Vasana deposits within us. Selfish actions bring about more and more mental hang-ups. To surrender ourselves and our selfish desires at His Altar, and to work in the world is the simple way of liquidating and flushing out the accumulated

“tendencies” (V¡san¡s), the shackling of our inner personality with our own mental hang-ups.


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4. “Kamye matistyajyatam—Renounce all desires in the mind.”

So long as the mind is proddled with endless desires, the thoughts in the mind storm forth to gush into the fields of sense gratifications. A mind that is thus rendered “extrovert” will not be available for deep study and for continuous reflections upon the Scriptural ideas studied. Without depth-reflections the higher states of contemplation upon the Nature of the Reality will be ineffectual, and so the student, even after years of honest efforts may yet find himself disappointingly not progressing on the spiritual path.

5. “Papaughah paridhuyatam—Wash away the hoards of sins in the bosom.”

An action is initiated in the present when our equipments (BMI) meet the environments prescribed by the fields of experiences (OET). But no action can be considered as ended as soon as the physical contact has concluded. In time the action exhausts itself in its results. This salient fact is generally overlooked by the superficial observers of life. As an end-product of every selfish act a “tendency” is left in our personality which prompts us to repeat

similar acts. These “tendencies” so accumulated from our past actions are called “V¡san¡s”,

(or Samskaras). These “V¡san¡s”, that create within more and more mental agitations, and drag our attention out into the ever-changing dance of the finite (OET), are called “sins”. Through selfless dedicated actions performed with an inner personality sincerely God-centred, these

“V¡san¡s” can be exhausted and thus our bosom can become washed clean of all our “sins”.

6. “Bhavasukhe dosho’nusandhiyatam— Recognise that the pleasures of sense-objects (samsar) are riddled with pain –

Surely nobody can deny that there is pleasure in the sense-objects. They certainly have satisfactory does of joy in them. Only defect is that this joy-spark is preceded and is immediately followed by a large amount of pain and sorrow, disgust and disappointment. To acquire the objects and to create the conducive atmosphere, for their enjoyments is a long chain of endless strife and struggle, at once very exhausting and extremely fatiguing. Then comes the actual moment of pleasure ever so fleeting! This is followed always by disgust disappointments, sense of tiredness and even regret. To recognise these is to realise that true and enduring joy is not in the sense indulgences. Once this false hope is removed, mind’s expectations for joy and the consequent unbridled cascading of mind’s attention into the outer world of tempting sense-objects quietens and even ceases totally. It is the false notion that there is joy in the sense-world that makes the mind erupt with its agitations and appetities.

7. “Atmeccha vyavasiyatam— Seek the Self with consistent endeavour.”

When once the mind is thus tamed from its wild and thoughtless onrush into the sense field of objects and is effectively curbed, please don’t allow the mind to quiet. Mind cannot remain for long in a state of suspended animation, in a stationary stagnation. The mind released from


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the outer world must be immediately re-employed in contemplating upon the nature of the Self within, the Spring of Consciousness in us.

8. “Nijagrihat-turnam vinirgamyatam—Escape from the bondage of ‘home’.”

Home is the safe shelter in which we remain and contact the world all around us. The equipments of matter (BMI) constitute the ‘home’ of the Self now, from wherein we gather our experiences during our constant transactions with the world outside (OET). At this moment, in our identifications with our “home” (BMI), we behave as though we are a helpless physical, mental and intellectual personality (PFT), a limited ego (jeeva), totally under the tyranny of our own body and its lusts, our mind and its passions, and our intellect and its restlessness, Acharya Sankara cries out: ‘Escape from the bondage of this ‘home’ once for ever”. End your ego-sense (PFT attitude) and come to awake into the ampler fields of the Infinite Consciousness – God-consciousness.

Verse 2:

s:¤H s:ts:Ø ev:D:iy:t:aö B:g:v:t::ð B:eVt:dáüZa D:iy:t:aö

S:anty:aedH p:erc:iy:t:aö dáZt:rö km:aüS:Ø s:nty:jy:t:am:Î .

s:e¾¾an:Øp:s:py:üt:aö )et:edn:öt:tp:adÙka s:ðvy:t:aö

b:ÒÉòkax:rm:Ty:üt:aö Â:Øet:eS:r:ðv:aVy:ö s:m:akNy:üt:am:Î ..

Sangam Satsu vidhiyatam bhagavato bhaktirdrdha dhiyatam Santyadih pariciyatam drdhataram karmasu santyajyatàm | Sadvidvanupasarpyatam pratidinam tatpaduka sevyatam

brahmaikaksaramarthyatam srutisirovakyam samakarnyatam ||

Seek companionship with Men-of-Wisdom. Be established in firm devotion to the Lord. Cultivate the virtues such as Shanti, etc. Eschew all desire-ridden actions. Take shelter at a Perfect Master (Guru). Everyday serve His Lotus-feet. Worship “OM” the Immutable. Listen in depth, the Upanishadic declarations.

9. “Sangah satsu vidhiyatam— Seek companionship with Men-of-wisdom.”

Generally this is translated as “be attached to” (Sangah) wise (sat) men. A mere physical “nearness” to, or even an emotional ‘attachment’ with, great men is not sufficient for their wisdom to flow into us. A complete companionship is needed: we must study, and learn to adore and admire the ideas and ideals preached and lived by the masters. This way our inner personality grows in size and depth, in its subtle sensitivity and reach. Then alone the wisdom in the wise masters can flow and fill our hearts.


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It is indeed a rare and unique chance, if we get at all, to meet a Wise-man, a man of spiritual perfection. Such men are rare. But we can have their constant companionship indirectly when we study the scriptural literature which they had left for posterity as rich and sacred heritage.

10. “Bhagavato bhaktir-dridha dhiyatam—Be established in firm devotion to the Lord.”

Love when turned towards the higher is called “devotion”. In devotion mind integrates and grows in its inherent powers. In love for the baser things mind gets shattered and disintegrated. To turn our love towards the Altar of the Lord is to turn the thoughts towards Him with effortless ease; for our thoughts always gravitate easily and readily towards our love! When devotion for the Lord gains in its depth and sincerity, more and more of our thoughts run steadily towards the Lord in our hearts. Our meditation becomes constant and continuous. We get ready to sacrifice easily everything that stands between us and our beloved Lord. To turn towards the one is devotion; to run after the man is love.

11. “Santyadih parichiyatam dridhataram—Cultivate qualities like Shanti, etc.”

These are essentially techniques for controlling the mind through one’s sense-organs into the sense-objects (Shanti), and for controlling the gush of sense-stimuli from the outer-world into our mind, through the sense-organs (Danti). In each one of us the senses are the door-ways through which our mind runs out to roam among sense pleasures, and also the inlets through which the sense-stimuli gush in, to raise storms of passions in our mind. When these two are controlled, the mind is not disturbed by the sense-objects, nor the mind is made to heave by the influx of the tempting stimuli. When mind is calm our intellect gathers a greater brilliancy, a sharper comprehension. Such a ‘purified’ mind-intellect is the ‘inner-instrument’ for longer contemplation and deeper meditation.

12. “Karmasu santyajyatam—Avoid all desire-ridden actions.”

Actions by themselves are harmless .. but when they are “desireless” they can flush out our

personality of all our V¡san¡s. When actions are performed with selfish desires, they tend to

gather more and more the ‘tendencies’ (v¡san¡s) and they in their turn can initiate endless other actions each riddled with a growing amount of desires, passions, appetities and lusts. The end-result of all these is to cloud the potential Divinity in an individual, his total cultural breakup, hurtling him down the dignity of a man into the dark abysm of ugly pain-generating levels of sheer animalism..

13. “Sadvidvan-upasarpyatam—Surrender to a perfect Master.”

A perfect Master is not merely an erudite scholar in the Upanisads (Srothriyah) but must also

be well established in the divine experience (Brahm¡ -Nishtah). A mere book-knowledge is not sufficient to communicate this subjective Science to the seekers and to help them move out of


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their gloom and sorrows into the Light of Realisation. Surrender to such a Guru. Carefully note here that Acharya Sankara has never asked us to “seek” a Guru, which we cannot. In our present state of imperfection even if we meet one we may not be able to recognise him as such. Therefore let us surrender ourselves to the way-of-life indicated in the Upanisads and the Bhagawat Geeta – let us truly surrender ourselves to the Rishis of the Upanishads and the Lord of the Divine Song, the Geeta. To attune our thoughts and actions to the declarations of the masters in the scriptures is the only true surrender unto the Guru.

14. “Pratidinam tatpaduka sevyatam—Daily serve his Sandals.”

Service of the Guru must be a continuous way-of-life and this service is not a physical ‘seva’ but must be our dutiful service to his Sandals (Paduka). The Guru stands on his Paduka. Serve that upon which the Guru stands, the ‘platform’ he represents, the programme of devotion he preaches. Let us day by day strive to live in constant and sincere contemplation of the one Infinite Self, which is everywhere expressed as the life that is throbbing in every living organism.

15. “Brahmaikaksharam arthyatam—Worship ‘OM’ the Immutable ”

The Supreme Self, the timeless Essence, the One Infinite Truth, that expresses as this Universe of names and forms, is indicated in the Vedas by the sound-symbol OM. This is not a mere name; OM is not Truth; OM indicates Truth. Your name is not you – your name indicates you – you are separate from your name. The National Flag is not the nation – the idol indicates the ideal. Thus OM indicates a State of Consciousness other than our present ego-state (PFT), and the students in Vedanta are advised to worship OM as a symbol of the Self, for their mental ‘purification’. By chanting, doing japa and by devotedly adoring the OM-symbol, our mind gathers its wandering rays from the jostling, oscillating world of things, beings and happenings, and mind becomes quiet, vigilant and alert. Such an alert and vigilant but quiet mind is the instrument for steady and deep meditation. Therefore, Sankara insists that Vedantic students would do well if daily they worship OM, the Immutable.

16. “Sruti-siro-vakyam samakarnyatam—Listen in depth, the Upanishadic declarations”

The Upanishads contain the entire mystic knowledge of the Hindus, the Subjective-Science of the Self, the Life. “Hear” the Upanishads directly from a teacher giving discourses upon them and indirectly by our attentive study, and we can gain a superficial work-meaning of the statements. But the Rishis are trying to point out by these chosen sacred words a State in yourself which is to be explored and experienced by each of us all by ourselves. This discovery of our own “Spring of Consciousness” in ourselves can happen only when our minds ride upon the Upanishadic statements and we learn to glide into the Timeless, the Supreme State of Consciousness Divine. The cardinal declarations in the Upanishads are


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vehicles upon which mind can take-off into the worlds of contemplation and learn to land safely upon the fields of the infinite.

Verse 3:

v:aVy:aT:üÁ: ev:c:y:üt:aö Â:Øet:eS:rH p:x:H s:m:aÂ:iy:t:aö

dÙst:kaýts:Øev:rmy:t:aö Â:Øet:m:t:st:k:ðý|n:Øs:nD:iy:t:am:Î .

b:ÒÉòv:aesm: ev:B:avy:t:am:hrhg:üv:üH p:erty:jy:t:aö

dðhð|hmm:et:,jJy:t:aöb:ØD:j:n:òv:üdH p:erty:jy:t:am:Î..

Vakyarthasca vicaryatam srutisirah paksah samasriyatam Dustarkat suviramyatam srutimatastarko anusandhiyatam | Brahmaivasmi vibhavyatam aharahargarvah parityajyatam

Dehehaham matirujjhyatam budhajanairvadah parityajyatam ||

Reflect ever upon the meaning of the Upanishadic commandments, and take refuge in the Truth of Brahman. Avoid perverse arguments but follow the discriminative rationale of the sruti. Always be absorbed in the attitude (Bhav) – “I am Brahman”. Renounce pride. Give up the delusory misconception. “I am the body”. Give up totally the tendency to argue with wise men.

17. “Vakyarthascha vicharyatam— Constantly reflect upon the meaning of the Upanishadic Commandments.”

We have four pithy statements which are considered by the Rishis as the very commandments, and in their embrace they hold the entire spiritual wisdom of the Vedas.

They are: (1) the definition of Truth: “Consciousness is Brahman” (Prayanam Brahm¡); (2) the statement of advice (Upadesh); “That Thou Art” (Tat Twam Asi) (3) the statement of direct

experience (Anubhava): “This Ëtman is Brahman” (Ayam ãtmã Brahm¡); and (4) the roar of realisation: “I am Brahman” (Aham Brahmasmi). All of them, in their togetherness, uplift a mind that is steadily contemplating upon this deeper and subtler implication. Consciousness is the One Life-spark that plays through all creatures and this is the God, the Lord, the one Substratum from which the Universe has risen, in which the Universe exists and plays, and into which alone ultimately all names and forms merge. This consciousness in you is your own true nature: this is the essential Subject. All the rest are its objects perceived. It alone is the perceiving Light of Consciousness, the Self. The meditator must come to “experience” for himself, in moments of deep and total meditation, that he is not the body-mind-intellect-

complex but, “this Self in me (Ëtman) is the One Self everywhere (Brahman). After this depth awakening the sense of individuality ends, and the realised seeker roars in the silence of his


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fulfilment “I am Brahman” – Sankara prescribes that students of Vedanta should constantly reflect upon the untold significances of these four Great Commandments.

18. “Sruti-sirah-pakshah samasriyatam —And take refuge in the Truth of Brahman.”

As limited mortal individuals we are now recognising ourselves to be the body and the mind. As an ego, the individualised-Self (jeeva), pants to rediscover its own apparently lost peace and bliss by acquiring, possessing, embracing and enjoying the world of sense-objects outside (OET). A true seeker should constantly “take refuge”, even if he has no direct experience, in the thought that “I am not this body”, and live in the silent attitude that “I am the one Self”. Divorce the body-mind-intellect mistress, and get wedded to the Self within, which is the one Self everywhere.

19. “Dustarkat-suviramyatam—Avoid perverse arguments.”

Arguments can be extremely constructive and also completely destructive – right arguments can throw more and more light upon the path to be pursued and the goal to be reached, and wrong arguments can bring in confusing banks of mists blinding our path and veiling our goal. Avoid such unnecessary perverse arguments raised by people who have no faith in the Upanishads, no subtlety of perception to feel the Unseen Lord playing all around us at all times. This needs sensitivity, and an inner equipment reduced by its passions and lusts will not have the necessary equipoise to detect the play of the Ultimate Reality.

20. “Srutimatastarko’nusandhiyatam—Certainly follow the discriminative rationale of the Sruti.”

While avoiding the perverse logic and false arguments it is not meant to say that we have no arguments and logical reasoning processes to prove the Self within, to our own intellectual satisfaction. Vedanta is a rational process (Gyana) of intellection. We must learn to think and argue along the line of discussion indicated by the Upanishads. The sequence of arguments by which the Rishis deny the five sheaths (Pancha Koshas), the reasons arrayed to examine the three States-of-Consciousness (Avastha Traya) the logical thought processes elaborated in the Upanisads to show the One Changeless Self, the Sole Substratum for the Universe of multiplicity and change – all these can immensely help a student of purified intellect to heave forward and wake to the dimensionless state of Pure Consciousness Divine.

21. “Brahmaivasmi vibhavyatam aharahah — Be absorbed in the attitude” “ I am Brahman”.

As we are, we live in the assumption that we are the limited-ego (jeeva) tyrannised by our equipments (BMI), shamelessly struggling to eke out our happiness from the world outside (OET). We have lived in this false-notion for such a long time that any amount of study and


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reflection cannot end our tendency (V¡san¡s) to consider us as a helpless, hapless ego. The only antidote for this ‘wrong-attitude’ (Samskara) is to unwind them by the nobler and self-recreative attitude that “I am Brahman”.

As the Timeless Self, I am not the body-mind-intellect-equipment and so I have none of their imperfections or sorrows. Birth, death, health, ill-health, the Ashramas, the Varnas, the species, the castes, colour-distinctions are all based upon and with reference to the body. Joy and sorrow experiences are determined by the mind, and as I am not the mind they too are not mine at anytime. The intellectual restlessness are not mine, as I am not the intellect. To keep the attitude that “I am Brahman” under all sets of circumstances is to bring an indomitable amount of equipoise and joy, balance and bliss into our inner life.

22. “Garvah parityajyatam—Renounce pride.”

Out of identification with the body and possessions come the exaggerated sense of self-importance, accompanied always b a demeaning irreverence to all others. These factors together create pride. It is essentially a false attitude of the ego, when it is identified with the limited matter layers around it. To renounce this “pride” and its baser tendencies is to surrender to the Self in one’s own heart.

23. “Dehe-ahammatir-ujjhyatarn—Give up the idea: ‘I am the body’.”

“I am the body” attitude is natural as we had already lived thus through billions of years during our slow evolutionary progress from the lesser equipments as plants and then as animals. In these lower states the sole Dharma was to maintain the attitude that “I am the body”, because nature had not yet completed her work of polishing and improving the physical structures and their functions. Now we have fully reached the noble anatomical structure and the perfect physiological functioning of the human-form. Hereafter ‘Self-preservation’ is not through the body; it becomes preservation of the beauty, grace and glory of the Self. The body of man is meant only for the service (Upakara) of others (Para). “Paropakarartham Idam Sareeram”, your body is not meant for you; it is an efficient tool to serve others. Our job now is to purify the mind-intellect-equipment and transcend them so that we directly come to experience the Supreme State of Pure Consciousness – the God-State. Therefore, give up the empty false idea, “I am the body”.

24. “Budha-janair-vadah parityajyatam—Give up arguments with the wise”.

We approach men of direct experience and men of scriptural knowledge for our own benefit. We are not obliging them. They are not gaining anything by teaching us the glory and nature of the Self. It is not they who benefit when they patiently explain and encourage us to reach the Self! It is entirely our gain. They are people who have already fulfilled their life. Out of mere compassion at our suffering they stir about to instruct, inspire and guide us. By our


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gross arguments we should not try to block this flood of their love sweeping down to bathe us in joy and happiness.

Verse 4:

x:ØdÏvy:aeD:Á: ec:ektsy:t:aö)et:edn:öeB:x::ò\:D:ö B:Øjy:t:aö

sv:a¾Àön: t:Ø y:acy:t:aö ev:eD:v:S:at)apt:ðn: s:nt:Ø\y:t:am:Î .

S:it::ð\N:aed ev:\:Êt:aö n: t:Ø v:àT:a v:aVy:ö s:m:Øcc:ay:üt:am::

m::òdas:iny:m:B:ipsy:t:aö j:n:káp:an:òÅÙy:üm:Øts:àjy:t:am:Î ..

Ksudvyadhisca cikitsyatam pratidinam bhiksausadham bhujyatam Svadvannam na tu yacyatàü vidhivasatpraptena santusyatam |

Sitosnadi visahyatam na tu vrtha vakyam samuccaryatam Maudasinyamabhipsyatam janakrpanaisthuryamutsrjyatam ||

In hunger and disease get treated.Daily take the medicine of Bhiksha – food. Beg no delicious food. Live contentedly upon whatever comes to our lot as ordained by Him. Endure all the pairs-of-opposites: heat and cold, and the like. Avoid wasteful talks. Be indifferent. Save yourself from the meshes of other peoples’ kindness.

25. “Kshud-vyadhischa chikitsyatam—Hunger and disease, get treated.”

According to Sankara hunger is a chronic disease of the body natural to all living creatures, and it must be treated, as all other diseases. Hunger is not an occasion to “enjoy” food. Since we cannot avoid it, offer some food to the body when it is suffering from the pangs of hunger. While the body is ill, treat it and bring it back to normal health.

26. “Pratidinam bhikshaushadam bhujyatam—Daily take the medicine of Bhiksha-food”

Food is to be taken, it is unavoidable. This is not to be done as a pleasure. Every living man suffers chronically, from this regular discomfort in his middle, called hunger. The remedy for it is food; thus take food as a medicine; not for enjoyment but for relief from the pains of hunger. To a Sannyasin the food gathered from five houses is Bhiksha; to worldly householders whatever comes to him unasked is Bhiksha. Don’t plan your dinner, nor complain of the food reaching you. Whatever it be, offer it to the Lord in devotion and with a silent prayer take it, as His Prasad: Communion. Don’t give much importance to the quantity of the good you get.

27. “Svadvannam na tu yachyatam—Beg no delicious food.”


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The idea implied in the earlier advice is again re-emphasised, lest the seeker should overlook its import. Don’t demand any “enjoyment”. The term “food’ though primarily means “what is enjoyed through the mouth”, all sense-stimuli are “Foods” for the sense-organs. Thus, we satisfy eyes with colour and form, ears by sounds, skin by touches and nose with smells. Live in the Spirit, seeking the inner joy, than sense-gratifications from “foods” consumed and enjoyed through the sense-organs.

28. “Vidhivasat praptena santushyatam—Contendly live upon whatever comes to your lot, as ordained by Him.

Learn to love in the inner joy of a peaceful mind rather than in the excitements gained through sense-gratifications. Whatever we “meet in life” is ordered by our past, and “how we meet them” alone determines the future progress and growth of our inner personality. To be at peace with ourselves, and in a joyous sense of inner contentment and satisfaction, eve ready to face world as it is and act – is, according to Sankara, the right-way-of-life for a seeker.

29. “Sitoshnadi vishahyatam—Endure all pairs-of-opposites: heat and cold, etc.

Heat and cold, joy and sorrow , success and failure, pleasure and pain an such other pairs-of-opposites are experienced by the human mind. To detach ourselves from our mind is not to get buffeted by these natural inner storms created by these pairs-of-opposites. By shifting our identification to the Self, the Lord, we no longer get tossed about the tumultuous disturbances of the pairs-of-opposites. When they rise within, a Vedantic-student learns to be just a “Witness” of them all without getting himself involved in them.

30. “Na tu vritha vakyam samuccharyatam—Avoid wasteful talks.”

A serious seeker shall not allow his attention to be dissipated into channels of worldly affairs and passions. Idle talks are generally on four main topics: women, wealth, pleasures and enemies. Everywhere when people meet together these are the only and exclusive subjects that they discuss. To be carried away by these topics is to detract from the spiritual path, to derail on our journey. Therefore, avoid such wasteful talks. Let all our talks be upon spiritual topics – the Nature of the Reality, the sorrows of the world of plurality, the lot of the ego (jeeva), the ways of liberation, the means of self-control, the beauties of life-divine and the glories of men-of-realisation.

31. Audasinyam-abhipsyatam—Be indifferent."

There are a million happenings around us, especially in these days of fast communication, which are brought to our awareness. It is a glory for a spiritual seeker to feel sensitive at the sorrows of others, but to get emotionally upset by them is to lose one’s own inner balance and


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poise. When such a thing happens, over which you cannot yourself do anything effectively, let us learn to surrender it to the Lord of the Universe with a humble prayer. This attitude is indicated here – as in the Geeta as “Indifference”.

32. “Jana-kripa-naishthuryam utsrijyatam—Save yourself from other people’s kindness”

Refuse to come too much under the obligation of another. This may chain you down in an emotional entanglement and compel you, at times, even to compromise with your own way-of-life. See that in life you “give” to the world more than you “take” or more than what others “give” to you in life. Make the world indebted to you, rather than you get indebted to the world. The debtor, remember is always a slave; the creditor is the Lord, the master in an community!

Verse 5:

Okant:ðs:ØK:m:asy:t:aö p:rt:rð c:ðt:H s:m:aD:iy:t:aö

p:ÜN:aütm:a s:Øs:Øm:ixy:t:aö j:g:eddöt:dÏb:aeD:t:ö dáSy:t:am:Î .

)aVkm:ü)ev:l:apy:t:aö ec:et:b:l:aÀapy:Ø¶:ròHeSl:\y:t:aö

)arbD:öetv:h B:Øjy:t:am:T: p:rb:ÒÉatm:n:a sT:iy:t:am:Î ..

Ekante sukhamasyatam paratare cetah samadhiyatam Purnatma susumiksyatam jagadidam tadbhdhitam drsyatam |

Prakkarma pravilapyatam citibalannapyuttaraib slisyatam prarabdham tviha bhujyatam atha parabrahmatmana sthiyatam ||

In solitude live joyously. Quieten your mind in the Supreme Lord. Realise and see the All-Pervading Self everywhere. Recognise that the finite Universe is a projection of the Self. Conquer the effects of the deeds done in earlier lifes by the present right action. Through wisdom become detached from future actions (Agami). Experience and exhaust “Prarabdha”, the fruits of past actions. Thereafter, live absorbed in the bhav “I am Brahman!”

33. “Ekante sukham-asyatam—In Solitude live joyously.”

The Solitude mentioned here is not a state of physical loneliness. To be a place where noody else is to disturb you is not a solitary place; even in such a lonely place you can be jostled by a crowd of thoughts and stormy emotions whipped up by your own memories. To be centred in the Alone, the one without-a-second, in the Infinite Self divine, is true solitude; hence the Sanskrit term for solitude used is Ekantha: Eka-one, Antha-end, goal, point-of-attention. When the mind is firmly established in a single altar of deep contemplation, the mind is peaceful and at rest; naturally mind experiences supreme joy; for peace is joy.


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34. “Paratare chetah samadhiyatam—Quiten the mind in the Supreme Lord

Mind driven by our lusts, passions and desires runs out into the world of objects, emotions and thoughts, and consequently mind dissipates its entire vitality. To gather the wandering mind and to steadily rest it in contemplation upon the splendorous nature of the Self is to quieten the mind. A quiet-alert-vigilant mind automatically enters into meditation. Through meditations mind gets more and more quietened in the Supreme Lord. An absolutely quiet mind is no more a mind; this “no-mind-state” is the Supreme State Divine.

35. “Purnatma susamikshyatam—Realise and ‘See’ the All-pervading Self everywhere.”

In meditation, with a quiet-alert-vigilant mind, rise above all mental fluctuations and come to realise the Unique Experience of the One Divine Self. After this experience of the Timeless, come to ultimately live and constantly ‘see’ this Ever-present, Immutable Self everywhere. A mere subjective experience of the Self within is not a full realisation: the Rishis repeatedly insist that the man of Self-realisation recognised the Self expressing in every form everywhere when his eyes are open! The world is holy to the truly holy-man.

36. “Jagadidam tad-badhitam drsyatam—Recognise that the finite world is a Projection of the Self -

The effects are nothing but the cause itself in different forms. The finite world of equipments (BMI) and the ever-changing world of experiences (OET) are all projections, mere superimpositions, upon the Self, as the shine, the length, the hood, the tail and all other details of the serpent upon a rope!! The world of matter is but an extension of the Consciousness Supreme, as waves, bubbles, froth and foam are all nothing but the ocean and its expressions. All inclusive is Vedanta; world is not anything separate from the Reality: world of things and beings are a false vision of the Pure Self, when looked at through the plurality as but a projection upon the Self is to quieten the mind.

37. “Prakkarma pravilapyatam—Conquer the effects of deeds done in earlier lives by the present right actions.”

The past is beyond our control now. We can act only in the present. We might hae actaed wrongly, due to errors of judgment, and we are now to suffer their results. But they can be ‘cured’ with the right antidotes: by initiating noble right actions now. Our Upasanas, prayers, worship, study of scriptures, Tapas, meditations are all right actions to straighten the curvatures we had created in us by our own selfish and desire-prompted activities in the past.

38. “Chitibalannapyuttaraih slishyatam—Through wisdom become detached from future Karmas.”


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Of the past karmas accumulated (Sancita) those that have become mature to yield fruits determine our present (Prarabdha) and the balance is reserved for the future experiences (Agami). Through wisdom gained by the study of the scriptures, through Upasana and regular meditations, when we liquidate the ego-sense we will be able to stand as an unaffected “witness” in our life’s ups and downs. Thus through the wisdom that I am not the “doer” (Kartha) nor the “experiencer’ (Bhokta) – in short, in the wisdom that I am not the ego (PFT), the experiencing individuality – learn to detach from the future Karmas. Without your willing cooperation Karma cannot touch you!

39. “Prarabdham tviha bhujyatam—Experience and exhaust the past actions that have started Prarabdham

Actions that have started to yield their results are called Prarabdha: and they are to be humbly lived through, in a silent sense of surrender, and thus exhausted. They are like the arrows that have left the bow – nothing can be done about them now; they have to exhaust themself. Suffer them in silent dignity, with shameless courage, and patient heroism. Understand them as doses of sorrow that the Lord has to give us to mould us into His Form and Beauty. We suffer the pains that our doctors give us in the knowledge that he is doing it only to cure quickly.

40. “Atha parabrahmatmana sthiyatam—Thereafter live absorbed in the Bhav, ‘I am Brahman’

Such a seeker who has realised that the Self within himself, is the One Self, expressing as all forms and names, and that the same Self is the One enlivening Spark-of-Life manifesting through all forms – is fully awakened to the Infinite State Divine, and so has reached his Immutable goal. Having reached this State of Awakening it being Changeless and Infinite, Timeless and Undecaying, the Sadhak gets established permanently in this Experience Transcendental; his earlier state of limited sorrowful existence as an ego (PFT) has ended for ever He lives absorbed in the Supreme Consciousness – his individualised ego-sense has merged; just as a river ends itself when it merges with the ocean; just as a hail stone dissolves away to become the oceans around the world!! The delusory ‘I’ ends: Brahman alone is.

‘I am Brahman’ is the one Bhav that comes to govern thereafter in all his actions, feelings and thoughts. It is not a slogan to prattle about, not a vanity to be screamed in the world; it is not a creed accepted but an attitude natural, ever echoing through all his performances in the world.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !


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These five verses, in haste enumerated some eight programmes in each verse, and in their totality these 40-instructions become the quintessence of a Vedantic student’s sadhana programme.

y:H Sl::ðkp:Wc:kem:döp:Yt:ð m:n:Ø\y:H

s:eWc:nt:y:ty:n:Øedn:ö esT:rt:am:Øp:ðty: .

t:sy:aS:Ø s:ös:àet:dv:an:l:t:iv:ÒG::ðr

t:ap:H )S:aent:m:Øp:y:aet: ec:et:)s:adat:Î

y௺‚ ™†…„௺‰௺¤‍௺„௺‡“–௺ü ‰௺–‚௺∙— ‡௺•◌™y௺‚

™௺•‍“•∙௺y௺∙y௺•◌–“•௺‡ ™∙‚“›௺∙௺‡◌‰—∙y௺ |

∙௺™y௺™◌ ™௺‡™›∙“–௺v௺•௺†௺∙“v›௺’‚…›௺

∙à‰௺‚ ‰›௺™௺•∙“‡◌‰௺y௺∙“ ‍“∙“‰›௺™௺–௺∙ || The closing verse describes, in the traditional manner, the Phala or the fruit that accrues to one who studies these verses. It says that he who studies these five verses and reflects over their imports daily in his mind which is purified and made steady, freeing it from all kinds of distractions, and who practises the Sadhana as laid down in these verses, will be speedily saved from the burning heat of the great blazing forest fire of this cycle of transmigration, through the grace of the Atman.