Aparokshanubhuti

Sri Adi Sankara’s
APAROKSHANUBHUTI
Talks of Swami Paramarthananda
Transcribed by Sri V.K. Vancheeswaran
Edited by Sri Praveen Bhat
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ु त िः ॥
॥ अपरोक्षानभू
Aparokṣānubhūti
Class 1
Introduction
Three books are considered to be the works of Vedāntaśāstra. These
books are popularly known as prasthānatraya. The word prasthāna
means a mārga or a path. In this context prasthāna means basic
textbooks. Three basic reference works of Vedānta are the Upaniṣads,
Brahmasūtras and the Gītā. The Upaniṣads are the final portions of
the Vedas otherwise known as śrutis. Therefore, Upaniṣadic works
are śruti-prasthāna. The first basic textbooks are śruti. It is the final
portions of the Vedas, hence called Vedānta. The second is
Brahmasūtras written by Vyāsāchārya and the third is Bhagavadgītā
a part of Mahābhārata. Among these, śruti-prasthāna or Upaniṣads
are the original source of Vedānta which being revelation or
apauruṣeya grantha are not of human origin but are that of the Lord
Īśvara Himself. Brahmasūtra is also termed as nyāya-prasthāna.
The other two, Gītā and Brahmasūtras, are written by Vyāsāchārya as
the supporting document to the śruti prasthāna. Of this Brahmasūtra
is a condensed logical version of the Upaniṣads. By logical version,
we mean that the textbook gives the logical reasons in support of the
Upaniṣadic teaching. Upaniṣad does not give logic or reasoning and
it need not give logic and reasoning also. It is valid by itself.
While Brahmasūtra is the condensed version of Upaniṣads, Gītā is the
comprehensive and diluted version of the Upaniṣadic teaching. Gītā
is known as smṛti prasthāna because it contains the wisdom which is
gathered from the Vedas and the Upaniṣads. Gītā does not have any
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original teaching of its own. Every single idea contained in the Gītā is
borrowed from the Upaniṣads which Kṛṣṇa has openly accepted at
the end of each chapter of the Gītā. In other words, Gītā is a
simplified version of Vedānta.
Many Ācāryas have written commentaries on these three textbooks.
The whole Vedāntic teaching is so huge and many Ācāryas have
decided to present the teachings in an easy format which are called
prakaraṇa-granthas.
These prakaraṇa-granthas are of two types. Some of them present the
whole teaching in nutshell like giving the whole India map. In the
first two pages you get total India map. When you get India map,
then you get the maps of the states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, etc.
In the same way we have two types of prakaraṇa-granthas. Some are
like the whole India map which will present all ideas in a nutshell
and give complete picture. There is another type of prakaraṇa-
grantha wherein they take a particular aspect of Vedāntic teaching
and make an extensive study of the selected topic.
For example, 'Tat Tvam Asi' is a mahāvākya. Here tat refers to
Brahman; tvam to jīva and asi-pada the aikya-principle. A particular
book may concentrate on tat-pada at the micro level or macro level
independently. The details of macrocosm or the samaṣṭi will analyse
the creation of the world while there will be another treatise on jīva at
the micro level.
Alternatively, another book will concentrate on tvam or jīvātma-
tattva as to what is mind; what is rebirth; what is karma, etc. Here
micro aspect of creation, i.e. jīvātman, is analysed in detail just as in
medicine we have separate books on general health and specialized
texts on eyes, teeth, heart, liver, etc. Similarly, we have books on

bone, skin, etc. In the same manner, in Vedānta, we have several
textbooks which discuss a separate topic in detail for easy
understanding and such texts are called prakaraṇa-granthas. Under
this category, fall books like Tattvabodha, Ātmabodha,
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, etc, all written by Śaṅkarācārya. Even among them,
there are gradations. Tattvabodha is for beginners; Ātmabodha and
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi are meant for senior students.
The text, now taken up for study, is Aparokṣanabhuti. It contains 144
verses. This book is named Aparokṣanabhuti. Anubhūti or anubhava
means jñāna. Aparokṣanabhuti means direct jñāna. Some people
translate this as ‘experience’. When we say it is ‘direct knowledge’,
naturally the question will arise as to ‘of what’? It can be of anything.
It can be direct knowledge of ice cream.
In this context the direct knowledge discussed in this book is of
Brahman. As such this book can be called Brahma-Aparokṣa-jñāna.
Śaṅkarācārya explains that Aparokṣa-jñāna or direct knowledge
alone can make it possible for the samsarī jīva to gain jñāna followed
by mokṣa, the ultimate liberation. In this context mokṣa means
lasting pleasure unmixed with sorrow and, also the cessation of
future births. Thus, Aparokṣa-jñāna gives freedom from sorrow.
When we talk of direct knowledge, it is implied that there is the
concept of indirect knowledge also. Hence first we will discuss about
indirect knowledge before taking up our main topic of direct
knowledge. Suppose someone talks about a fruit litchi. He gives the
description of the new fruit like shape, size, taste, etc. When we are
told about the description of the fruit, we get the fresh knowledge
about the fruit about which we knew nothing before. Even a wax
model may be shown for easy understanding. The knowledge so

gained is called indirect knowledge for the reason that we have not
experienced the fruit, or we have neither seen nor tasted the fruit.
This indirect knowledge we have gained through description
becomes direct knowledge once we see or taste the fruit in question.
In other words, we experience the fruit and such an experience is
called direct knowledge.
Let us technically analyze indirect and direct knowledge so that we
know the subtle difference between the two. When the description of
the fruit is given, the mind visualizes the actual fruit. It is in the
purview of our mind. Indirect knowledge does not help us
experience the fruit.
When we directly experience the fruit, the fruit is in our hand and we
are able to see for ourselves. It means the form, through the eyes,
reaches our mind. In direct knowledge, the form reaches the mind
through the sense organs. We have pañcajñānendriyas and
pañcakarmendriyas.
Jñānendriya is the gateway for five senses. Sense organs transmit the
information about the fruit to the mind. The direct experience is that
when the objects come in to contact with the mind, whereas the
indirect knowledge is when an object which is not in contact with the
mind. When you see a star that is millions of light years away, it is
direct knowledge for distance does not matter. The form of the star
enters the mind. Suppose the clock is under the book; its form does
not reach our mind and the knowledge we may gain is indirect. The
object being far or near is not the question but what matters is as to
whether it is in contact with the mind or not.
Sense organs work as gateways. The knowledge we get is directly
experienced by us when the sense organs experience the objects and

send their experience to the mind, the controller. When someone
explains his experiences to us about his visit to Rishikesh, it is
Aparokṣa jñāna to him but it is Parokṣa jñāna to us. When the mind is
exposed to the object, it is Aparokṣajñāna. During parokṣa jñāna, you
don’t have the experience of Rishikesh. Only on reaching and
experiencing it, you get Aparokṣa jñāna. In the case of Brahman, we
talk of both parokṣa jñāna and Aparokṣa jñāna.
What is brahma-parokṣa-jñāna? When Brahman is not in direct
contact with mind, it is parokṣa-jñāna of Brahman. When we face
Brahman either with open eyes or when eyes are kept closed, it is
called Aparokṣa-jñāna. Here we have indirect knowledge of Brahman
for we are in contact with that Brahman directly. We can neither talk
of brahma-parokṣa-jñāna and nor can we make parokṣa-jñāna into
Aparokṣa-jñāna.
In this regard, Tattvabodha defines Brahman as satyam jñānam
anantam. We should remember that the all-pervading consciousness
cannot be away from anything and from anyone.
To experience or to have direct knowledge, of any place, we have to
necessarily visit the place. When we talk of svarga loka, we have to
go to svarga loka to gain Aparokṣa jñāna.
But in the case of Brahman, Brahman is not away from the mind and
is in contact with mind all the time. It is Aparokṣa-jñāna. Brahman is
said to be nitya aparokṣa. When this is the case where is the need for
us gain this Aparokṣa jñāna. This is a pertinent question and needs
explanation more so when brahma-aparokṣa-jñāna alone is said to
give us mokṣa or liberation from our saṃsāra problems. Having had
Aparokṣa jñāna alone will give us liberation. There is a need for us to
know what do we mean by Aparokṣa jñāna and this text

Aparokṣānubhūti gives such knowledge.
In this book, both parokṣa and aparokṣa knowledge of Brahman are
analysed in detail. Can we have indirect knowledge of Brahman and
direct experience later? Generally, people have the assumption that
we have indirect knowledge of Brahman first when study the
scripture and we get the direct knowledge after gaining the
knowledge. In other words, parokṣa jñāna is followed by Aparokṣa
jñāna in the case of Brahmajñāna. This misconception arises because
we take Brahman as any other object of the world. We should know
Brahman cannot be taken as a worldly object. In Tattvabodha text, it
has been made clear that Brahman is caitanya which is all-pervading
and which is inherent in every jīva.
If Brahman is all-pervading consciousness, it cannot be away from
anything in the creation for it is the creation by itself. Therefore, it
cannot be away from the mind also for the mind is also considered as
a part of creation. There is no time or gap between Brahman and Jīva.
In fact, our mind is sentient because of brahma-sambandha alone and
therefore, Brahman is ever Aparokṣa. Brahman is nitya-aparokṣa-
vastu and therefore, it is ever known directly by all the people, but
we are not aware of it because of our ignorance. This alone we call as
Self-ignorance. This ignorance can be removed by right knowledge
which we call it Self-knowledge through Brahmavidyā.
The direct knowledge of Brahman is available all the time because
Brahman is ever in contact with the mind. Nobody lacks Brahman-
experience. Therefore, there is no need for us to work for Brahman-
experience. We have to work for other experiences because they are
away from our mind. Therefore, we have to connect it with the mind.
Suppose you have knowledge that a person sings well and it is your

parokṣa jñāna. Then you have to request that person to sing for you
to get aparokṣa jñāna. Then when he sings for you, you get
wonderful direct experience of music. All such experiences can arise
because the object and the mind come in contact. You cannot expect
Brahman experience to arrive in this similar manner.
If anyone says he had Brahman-experience yesterday, it can be taken
as an incorrect statement. If anybody says he had not had Brahman-
experience we can take that he does not have Brahman-experience. If
someone says that he had Brahman-experience at a particular time,
he also does not know what Brahman-experience is. The experience
he had is anything other than Brahman. Brahman is ever evident and
ever experienced. This must be clear which means there is no
question of parokṣa jñāna. Nitya-aparokṣatvat. There is no question
of indirect knowledge.
Parokṣa jñāna isn’t logical. If that is so how come the commentators
talk about parokṣa jñāna. There is no such a thing called brahma-
parokṣa-jñāna. How do you use the word when it is not possible?
Normally in our worldly experience we come to know the object first
and after knowledge we experience that object later. This is the
general rule. Every general rule has got an exception. When there is a
red signal every vehicle should stop. But this does not apply for the
ambulance van that carries a patient whose life is critical, and the van
is going to the hospital for his treatment.
There are exceptional cases where we experience a thing first and
then the knowledge comes later. In such cases the order is experience
is first and knowledge is later. Sometimes you experience and
knowledge comes later. We do have exceptional cases where
experience is there even without knowledge. When experience is

there without knowledge, then we need a guru to gain knowledge.
For example, when a person standing in front of you is introduced as
so and so, you don’t gain new experience. The introduction puts an
end to the curiosity or waiting or the expectation of that particular
person, as to who he is, etc.
So also, in the case of Brahma-anubhava, we experience it all the time
and in fact because of Brahman alone we are conscious of everything.
For Brahman is nothing but existence, consciousness and ānanda-
principle. What is needed is an introduction. The ever-evident
awareness which we say as ahaṃ ahaṃ, is ever-evident
consciousness and that Consciousness alone is Brahman. Don’t wait
for Brahman. Therefore, Aparokṣa jñāna of Brahman is not a new
experience but it is a new knowledge. The new knowledge is that that
ever–evident you are Brahman. This is what is conveyed by the
Upaniṣad when it says 'Tat Tvam Asi'. It is new knowledge that alone
is called Aparokṣānubhūti.
On introduction, the subject Brahman is known; a lot of doubts will
arise. You are told that you are not the body; you are not the mind,
but you are consciousness, which is not the body, which is not the
mind. It is existence, consciousness all-pervading-principle which is
different from the body, which is different from the mind and
intellect, etc. Just as the light is not part of the book in front of you
but it pervades because of which book is seen.
Similarly, consciousness is not a part, property or a product of a
substance and consciousness is an independent entity which
pervades and enlivens all and existence extends beyond names and
forms and consciousness will survive even after all the objects die. I
am the consciousness which pervades the body which survives the

death of the body and that I is Brahman. When the introduction is
done don’t expect any new experience but expect a new
understanding. The introduction gives a new knowledge but
introduction does not give a new experience.
Ahaṃ brahma asmi is Aparokṣa jñāna. Parokṣa jñāna is not possible
and it is there only when Brahman is away from the mind. Parokṣa
jñāna is a misconception that Brahman is away until the teacher
explains ‘that Brahman you are’, Tat tvam asi. This introduction is the
job of the Upaniṣad. This introduction is called mahāvākya. That
mahāvākya-sāra alone is taught in this text called Aparokṣānubhūti.
Now we will enter the text proper.

śloka 1
श्रीहरर परमानंदमपु देष्टारमीश्वरम।्
व्यापकं सर्वलोकानां कारणं ं नमाम्यहम ॥ ् १॥
śrīhariṃ paramānaṃdamupadeṣṭāramīśvaram.
vyāpakaṃ sarvalokānāṃ kāraṇaṃ taṃ namāmyahaṃ.
First verse is maṅgala-śloka. Here the Lord is invoked for the
successful completion of the text. We have seen in Tattvabodha that
the future of the jīva depends upon the present karma which is called
āgāmi karma; using my freewill will produce a result which is called
āgāmi. We also know some of the past karma has started producing
the result which is called prārabdha karma.
Now these two karmas āgāmi and prārabdha may not be of the same
nature. I may do good karma now producing puṇya and some
prārabdha of pāpa portion may fructify now. I do good action which
may fructify tomorrow and some prārabdha may fructify that may be
puṇya or pāpa; whether āgāmi puṇya or prārabdha pāpa and thereby
what will be the tomorrow’s condition we do not know. If prārabdha
is also puṇya the result is more than expected. Āgāmi puṇya is
reinforced by prārabdha karma which also gives puṇya. On the other
hand, if prārabdha pāpa is powerful and āgāmi puṇya is feeble the
pāpa will overtake us. The effort we put forth is āgāmi producing a
positive result. The normal day ends with some unexpected results.
From unknown sources obstacles come and it is not because Īśvara
does not like me, but the obstacles come because of my own
prārabdha.
Any obstacle is defined as upātta-durita. In any karma-saṃkalpa we
use this expression. Acquired pāpa is any obstacle we face in our
undertaking. We should take care of the effort but how do we know

about the unknown causes or obstacles? Prārabdha is adṛṣṭa and
therefore, you don’t know what is in store. What to do with the
adṛṣṭa prārabdha pāpa which will come as an obstacle in our projects.
In our culture we have a special measure which is called prayer. The
prārabdha pāpa comes as obstacles. You do not know how the
obstacles come.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya as a writer he is a jīva and he wants the project
should be completed and hence he prays Lord Īśvara before
embarking on the project. The work should be completed without
obstacles and the manuscript should reach the public. Therefore, in
our tradition every Ācārya starts with a maṅgala śloka. Success
depends upon prayatna, kāla and daiva. Prayatna means effort, kāla
means time and daiva means the Lord’s grace. Stopping the obstacle
prārabdha is the job of Īśvara kṛpa. Kāla, the appropriate time is also
important. If I sow the seed at a wrong time, I will not get the benefit.
So kāla is also important.
Īśvaram ahaṃ namāmi, I offer my prostrations to the Lord, Īśvara.

Īśvara here must be understood total Māyā-sahita-caitanya along
with the samaṣṭi viśva. In common parlance we take Īśvara to mean
Śiva. But in Vedānta, Īśvara does not mean any particular God. It is
totality; that is Māyā-sahita caitanya is Īśvara. Wherever I use the
word Īśvara, Tattvabodha definition should be taken and not śiva.
Īśvara does not have any particular form because He is the totality.
Īśvara does not have any particular form and that formless Īśvara,
Māyā-sahita caitanya Īśvara, is worshipped by giving a particular
form for our convenience. That formless Īśvara is given a particular
form for our convenience just as India is given a particular flag for

our convenience.
Similarly Kṛṣṇa says in Gītā on the same lines. Īśvara does not have
particular form and therefore, you can invoke in any particular form.
That form represents formless Īśvara. In our culture we say different
people have got different temperament they have given different
form so that you can choose any particular form you like. The human
mind wants variety. Hinduism provides varieties of forms of God
called iṣṭa-devatā. Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya invokes the grace of the
Lord in the Viṣṇu form Śrīhari. Remember vibhuti represents the
glory and prasāda of Īśvara and it does not represent iṣṭa-devatā.
Vibhuti is a traditional mark.
You can choose anyone as iṣṭa-devatā and vibhuti has nothing to do
with iṣṭa-devatā. He invokes Hari. Īśvara represents Māyā-sahita
Brahman in the form of Īśvara. All our gods are married. Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya does not want to worship father alone. He worships
mother also. Śrī means Lakṣmī and Hari means Viṣṇu. He uses the
right word also Hari. The word Hari is derived from the root to take
away to denote the one who takes away prārabdha pāpa. That Viṣṇu
who is Īśvara I worship. The description of Viṣṇu is given here. He is
sat-cit-ānanda-svarūpa. He is paramānanda.
Ānanda here means pūrṇatvam. Parama ānanda means limitless
ānanda. Any experiential ānanda is limited. Here word ānanda refers
to caitanya rūpa. It is pūrṇa rūpa. He is the cause of all the fourteen
lokas. Māyā sahita Brahman alone is the cause of all the creation.
Māyā is anādi, Brahman is anādi and from that alone sthūla śarira
and sūkṣma śarira came. Anything has got two types of causes. One
is the material cause out of which the product is made. The raw
material is one part. In the case of a desk, wood is the material cause.

In the case of a pot, clay is the material cause. The second is the
intelligent cause who shapes the material into a product. Goldsmith,
carpenter, etc., are the intelligent cause. The maker and the material
in our case is Īśvara. The nimitta and upādana kāraṇa are Īśvara in
the case of creation of the world. More in the next class.
Class 3
śloka 1 contd.
In the first verse is the maṅgala śloka, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya offers
salutations for the successful completion of the work to Lord Viṣṇu
along with Śri Devi and Ādi Śaṅkarācārya does not see
Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa as a personal God but sees Him as jagat-kāraṇa. The
formless Īśvara is invoked as Lakṣmīnnārāyaṇa. He is the cause of all
the fourteen lokas. In the last class I pointed out that kāraṇa is the
intelligent cause and the also the material cause which alone is
shaped into a product. One shapes the product such as furniture and
the other is one that is shaped into furniture. The carpenter is called
as the intelligent cause and wood is the material cause. The carpenter
is nimitta-kāraṇa and wood is upādana kāraṇa. We always say any
product needs both: intelligent cause and material cause.
We don’t accept the material becoming a product by itself. That is
why we don’t accept Darwin’s evolution theory. They think it is a
natural thing and it does not need an intelligent cause to help the
evolution. We also talk about evolution. The evolution of Prakṛti is
prapañca. A scientist will say Prakṛti will naturally evolve into
prapañca. Vedāntins will say Prakṛti becomes the material cause and
Īśvara the intelligent-principle for creation. Presided over by me the
creation evolved says Kṛṣṇa. Now the question is if the creation is the

product then we ask who is the maker and from which the creation
came into being. We say Māyā evolves into five elements and five
elements form the universe.
Just as the function is conducted by someone, the effect in the
creation needs a master to oversee the whole operation. Scientists
bother about the material alone and they don’t accept the maker.
Atheist denies God whereas agnostic says 'I don’t know whether God
is or God is not'. Thus, many people, many scientists, atheist or
agnostics, are interested in the materials but they are not interested in
the intelligent-principle behind the creation.
Śastra says Īśvara is both the intelligent and material cause of the
universe. Īśvara is the maker and Īśvara is the material also. Then a
doubt comes how you can say both intelligent and material cause are
the same. In normal experience both are different. The carpenter and
wood are different; goldsmith and gold are different for producing
the ornaments. The baker and bread are different. The cook and the
vegetables are different. Therefore, in our common experience we
find maker and material are different. For this we say every general
rule has an exception.
There are some exceptions where the maker and material are one and
the same. The example is spider. It is the most unique example. It
produces a web and that web is kārya; and the spider does not go out
for the material out of which the web is made; the material is its own
body. All other beings go out to get the material to make their house
or nest, but the spider makes its web out of its material. It is its own
saliva. The spider is both nimitta and upādana. Abhinna-nimitta-
upādana-kāraṇa. It is both the maker and the material cause.
In the same way, the Upaniṣad points out that Īśvara is both the

maker and the material. Our dream world is the second example. We
produce the dream world and the waker is the maker of dream and
the material is also found to be the mind of the waker. The very
mountain-thought makes the dream-mountain. Other than the mind
there is no other material to make the dream. Once you take away the
thread there is no cloth. If you remove the thought the dream world
collapses. The waker is abhinna-nimitta-upādana-kāraṇa for the
dream. In the same way Īśvara is abhinna-nimitta-upādana-kāraṇa of
the world. Īśvara is Māyā-sahita caitanya. Sarva-lokānāṃ abhinna-
nimitta-upādana-kāraṇa is Īśvara. If you see Īśvara is a creator, you
will think Īśvara is like any other creator.
Once Īśvara is thought of as a person or a maker occupying brahma-
loka sitting somewhere, God is seen as a maker and that person sits
in some place. When God is seen as the intelligent cause we always
see the God sitting somewhere. God is not a person seated in a
particular place. God being a material cause has Himself become the
creation. If you see him as a maker you can say God is a producer.
Now we don’t say God is a producer but we say God is the creation
being the upādana kāraṇa as well. Here the cause becomes the
product. The goldsmith produces the ornaments; gold becomes the
ornaments. The carpenter produces furniture and wood becomes the
furniture. Remember the rule from the maker’s standpoint— cause
produces the effect. Here God is the material cause. If you look at
God as the material cause we say God ‘becomes’ the world.
That is why it is said in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, that God became all
these things. That is why we are able to worship the world itself as
God. That is why in Gītā, it is said for the darśana of God you need
not close your eyes and meditate. Īśvara-darśana means we think

being in particular form. That Īśvara you need not work for. I will tell
you another Īśvara darśana and that is learning to see world itself as
viśvarūpa-darśana.
Therefore, for us ākāśa is Īśvara; vāyu is Īśvara; agni is Īśvara;
everything is Īśvara-anubhava. If Īśvara is the material cause and
Īśvara has become the world tell me— where is Īśvara? You should
not answer. Ask a counter question— where Īśvara is not? Therefore,
God is everywhere. That is why Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says [God is]
vyāpaka. Don’t imagine God is there only in Vaikuṇṭha or Kailasa.
There also He is there. Don’t say He is there alone. All forms are
God’s forms including Brahma, Viṣṇu and Īśvara (Śiva) form.
Therefore, it is vyāpaka. Just as gold pervades all the ornaments and
wood the furniture; thread all cloth similarly material cause pervades
everywhere and Īśvara pervades the entire universe.
Sarvalokānāṃ kāraṇa is sarvalokānāṃ vyāpakam. Just as gold is the
cause of the ornaments, gold is the pervader of ornaments.
Sarvalokānāṃ kāraṇa Īśvaraṃ namāmi and that Īśvara I prostrate to
says Ādi Śaṅkarācārya. Lord has got so many faculties. Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya involves God in a particular aspect which is relevant to
him. He worships Viṣṇu not as a rich person or sustainer but
worships as upadeṣṭā, worships the Lord as Ācārya, as a Guru. Every
teacher needs a Guru also. I should not commit a mistake being
myself a teacher. I should keep the purity of the teaching. That is why
every teacher invokes his Guru.
This can be interpreted in two ways. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya sees his Guru
as Lord Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is in the form of Govinda Bhagavatpāda and
Viṣṇu has come in the form of my Guru or we can take Viṣṇu not as
Govinda Bhagavatpāda but also say that Viṣṇu is the Ādi Guru.

Either as immediate Guru Govinda Bhagavatpāda or Ādi Guru is
addressed as Śrihari. Anything we don’t know we say God. The first
Guru is Viṣṇu. I worship the entire Guru paramparā beginning from
Nārāyaṇa to Govinda Bhagavatpāda. If you worship the original it is
as if worshipping the entire paramparā. Here Nārāyaṇa is the cause
of fourteen lokas and ānanda.
śloka 2
ु त र्ै प्रोच्य े मोक्षतसद्धये ।
अपरोक्षानभू
सतिरेर् प्रयत्नेन र्ीक्षणीया महुु महुवु िः ॥ २ ॥
aparokṣānubhūtirvai procyate mokṣasiddhaye.
sadbhireva prayatnena vīkṣaṇīyā muhurmuhuḥ.
From the 2nd verse to the 11th verse Ādi Śaṅkarācārya prepares the
ground for the teaching. Preparing the ground means talking about
the anubandha catuṣṭaya. It is the introduction. According to the rule
of introduction the author must present four factors, each factor is
called anubandha. Since there are four factors are there we call it
anubandha-catuṣṭaya. The subject matter is who is qualified to
benefit from the book, the benefit of the study and the relationship
between the text and the subject matter. Fourth one is a technical
matter and you can ignore for the practical purposes. Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya presents these three things from ślokas 2 to 11.
The subject matter is Aparokṣānubhūti, Aparokṣa jñāna; the direct
jñāna of Brahman is being taught in this book and therefore, the
content is Brahman. You can decide whether you want to know about
Brahman or not and hence the subject matter is made very clear in
the beginning. Therefore, you can decide whether it is worth reading

or not by seeing the main content of the book. Brahma-
Aparokṣanabhuti is the subject matter. The next topic is the benefit.
The benefit is the attainment of the liberation. The benefit will go to
the person who studies Aparokṣanabhuti. The expectations in life
will go away.
An appointment with future is cause of disappointment. If fulfilled
you are lucky and if not fulfilled you are unhappy. Have non-binding
expectation or you don’t have any expectation at all. Having
expectation is not wrong. If it is a binding expectation, then
disappointment will be there. Have either no expectation or no
binding expectation. This is called mokṣa. Freedom from binding
expectation is called mokṣa. The greatest expectation is the peace of
mind and this is mokṣa. Until the last moment we have the minimum
project of breathing. I am not bound by success and failure. This is
called mokṣa. I have learnt to accept the failure. How to fall without
injury is the first lesson in the football match. We should also be like
that; falling is failure and the failure should not cause any
disappointment to me and I should continue to live. This is called
mokṣa. Every Jñānī has learnt to fail. Vedāntic success is how to fail
successfully. After failure I should be ready to further continue and
take the failure as an experience to success. Jñānī is not affected by
any failure. Accomplishment of mokṣa is his benefit of the study.
Third factor is the target group. The basic qualification is the desire to
study and the second is the necessary preparation for the study. First
thing to enter in IIT is he should prepare for the entrance
examination. Those who have qualification, desire and preparedness
is the target group. There are some people qualified for IIT but they
don’t have desire [to study there]. There are so many people who

want to enter but they are not qualified. This is the case with sports
also. Here such a qualified person Ādi Śaṅkarācārya calls as
satpuruṣa or sajjana. Noble or matured people can alone gain this
knowledge. We say the people who don’t seek mokṣa are immature
people. The seeker of material thing is not a bad person. A man of
ambition is not a bad person but an immature person. We want a
mature person to study Vedānta. This book should be studied by the
mature people. The consistent study is called īkṣaṇa. More in the next
class.
Class 4
śloka 2 contd.
After offering the prostration to the Lord for the removal of the
obstacles Ādi Śaṅkarācārya introduces the text from the second verse
onwards. This will continue up to 11th verse. He gives the anubandha
catuṣṭaya. The four factors are subject matter, the qualification of the
student, the benefit for studying the text and the connection between
the text and the subject matter. Subject matter is Brahma-
aparokṣanabhuti, jñāna. The benefit of this jñāna is mokṣa-siddhi the
accomplishment of inner freedom. We never have external freedom.
We are bound by the laws of the society, etc. We have to accept the
physical bondage as a fact. By mokṣa we do not mean physical
freedom but mental freedom from sense of fear and saṃsāra. The
qualified student is sat-puruṣa.
For sat-puruṣa, we can give two meanings. One who leads a moral
life is a sat-puruṣa. A person of value and a person who is a
dhārmika is a sat-puruṣa. Only a moral and ethical person can go to
Brahmavidyā; mokṣa is beyond karma. Artha, kāma, dharma and

mokṣa [are the four human goals]; immorality and philosophy cannot
go together in Indian culture. In Vedic system we don’t accept
philosophy and immorality. To a lead a religious life one should lead
a moral life. Theology and philosophy are different in western
thinking. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya discusses both theology and high
philosophy. He will say ahaṃ brahma asmi and start with a prayer.
Philosophy in India cannot go without religion. Religion without
philosophy cannot go alone.
The second meaning is technical and it means sādhana-catuṣṭaya-
sambandha and it should be studied by those who have fourfold
qualification. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya will explain the qualifications later.
Just as a grown up person is not after a balloon, the matured persons
are not bothered about svarga- and indra-loka-sukha, etc. It should
be studied with zest and it should be a systematic study and not a
casual attendance. It is not entertainment and not casually spending
time. Vedānta śravaṇa is fulfilling the primary mission in life. It
speaks of difference between saṃsāra and mokṣa or mortality and
immortality. It should be studied with commitment and
systematically. One should have all the necessary qualifications to
enter into Brahmavidyā. One should study all the things which forms
the basis of the study of Brahman. With the entire effort one should
study repeatedly until the teaching has become a fact for me. I should
be able to say I am free from the innermost core of heart. Don’t study
academically. Follow advaita in all the walks of life. What I teach
should be there in my heart. I should be convinced of the teaching.
One has to continue the study until one gains the jñāna: ahaṃ
brahma asmi. it is not like a ritual. In the case of karma, you do once,
your duty is over. It is an action and it is not an understanding. In the

case of jñāna it is understanding. One has to study until one gets the
jñāna assimilated and it is śravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana. with this
anubandha-catuṣṭaya is over.
The next question is— what do you mean by a mature person? In
Vedānta maturity means sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti. Now we
should know two things what is sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti and
how to acquire sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya
answers how to acquire it and then describes what is sādhana-
catuṣṭaya-sampatti.
śloka 3
स्वर्णावश्रमधमेण पसा हतर ोषणा ।्
् ३॥
ं ु ां र्ैराग्यातद च ष्टु यम ॥
साधनं प्रभर्ेत्स
svavarṇāśramadharmeṇa tapasā haritoṣaṇāt.
sādhanaṃ prabhavetpuṃsāṃ vairāgyādi catuṣṭayam.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya presents karma and upāsana as means of
acquiring sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti. This karma alone I said in my
introduction. I named karma as karma-yoga and upāsana as samādhi
yoga. karma-yoga and samādhi yoga will prepare a person for jñāna
yoga. These karma-yoga and samādhi yoga and karma and upāsana
are dealt with in the first part and the jñāna yoga is dealt with in the
end portion of the Vedas. Aparokṣānubhūti belongs to Vedānta. Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya takes for granted all those people who study this book
have completed karma and upāsana and are prepared for sādhana-
catuṣṭaya-sampatti. This karma-yoga is dealt with in karma-kāṇḍa of
Veda and the Upaniṣad is dealt with in jñāna-kāṇḍa.
Now in karma-kāṇḍa there are many types of karmas discussed.

Niśkāma karma and sakāma karma and niṣiddha karmas are there.
Niṣiddha karma is prohibited actions which should be avoided like
drinking liquor and meat-eating, etc. One should not take liquor. One
should not harm other people. These are suggested for avoiding the
karmas. Sakāma karma is to fulfill one’s desires and they are
presented as obstacles for mokṣa. They are not pāpa karma and they
will not pull us down but they will act as obstacles. It will keep us in
status quo position and I will not progress spiritually. It means
stagnation. Niṣiddha karma will pull us down and sakāma karma
will keep us in stagnation. You are where you are and you will be in
stagnation.
Of the three, nishkāma karma is meant for spiritual progress which
will not cater to material progress. They are meant for citta-śuddhi.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya calls it varṇāśrama dharma. Karma means
compulsory action. You should not ask ‘why should I do’? You
should not say ‘it is waste of time’. They are nitya-naimittika karma.
These compulsory actions are not uniform to all. Veda does not
prescribe the action uniformly and they vary from person to person
based on the varṇa and social status. It is designation-based. Guṇa-
based and karma-based karmas are there. Dharma should be added
twice. Svadharma it is said. Varṇa-based duties and svāśrama
dharma or āśrama-based duties which means stage of life—
brahmacarya, gṛhasthāśrama, vānaprastha or sannyāsa we have to
take into account.
Varṇāśrama dharma is absent now. Brāhmaṇas also don’t do
brāhmaṇa duties. What is primary duty of brāhmaṇa is to study and
teach Vedas to the students. Now students are not available. For
vaiśyadharma people are available; and for brāhmaṇa-duty none is

available. Gṛhasthās have renounced karmas while sannyāsīs have
taken up karmas now. Now the duty is pañca mahā-yajña in the form
of deva-yajña, pitṛ-yajña, brahma-yajña contribution to brāhmaṇas,
service to fellow beings and contribution to the lower beings. These
duties are called karma-yoga. There is also samādhi-yoga or aṣṭāṅga
yoga by Patañjali that disciplines the body and the mind. tapas
means austerity. Every austerity is to discipline one sense organ or
the other. I eat without salt; I observe mauna; I go fasting; going
without coffee, etc, are the austerities to master the sense organs.
Willful self-denial to establish my mastery over my sense-organs is
discipline. Observing mauna is controlling the tongue. Mauna is
controlling the talking-tongue and upavāsa is the control of eating-
tongue. Tongue-control helps control of all other sense organs. If it is
not willful self-denial it is not austerity. Upavāsa means mentally
staying near the Lord by avoiding cooking and eating. Therefore,
samādhi yoga and upāsana are called tapas.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya follows Upaniṣad teaching alone here. The attitude
of the student should be 'I should not perform anything expecting
worldly benefits like name, fame, etc'. The attitude should be for the
sake of Īśvara-prasāda, prītyartha. I do it for pleasing Īśvara. When I
do for the sake of Īśvara I want it to be the best quality. Defective
thing should not be offered to the Lord. Only if I do my work fully, I
can get the recognition from the Lord. If people have no gratitude it
means my action is not with attitude. Only if it is offered to Īśvara,
one will be surrendering his duty to the Lord; it is taken as worship
of the Lord, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says one should perform duty, karma,
etc., as the offering to the Lord. I offer something to Īśvara only when
I love God. Karma-yoga is intertwined with bhakti and there is no

karma-yoga without bhakti-yoga. Love will express in the form of
sacrifice; sacrifice is the expression for love. If I have love for God, I
offer karma or duty as part of the sacrifice. In Gītā it is repeatedly
said 'do your duty'. Karma and bhakti are two sides of the same coin
which cannot be separated.
The notion that karma-yoga and bhakti-yoga and raja-yoga are
separate yogas for mokṣa is wrong. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya shows bhakti is
expressed in the form of karmānuṣṭāna. Jñāna-yoga should be
preceded by karma; and bhakti and without karma and bhakti,
sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti cannot be acquired. Everyone needs
karma, bhakti and jñāna. Here, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says Hari is an
example he has taken. Hari represents iṣṭa-devatā. It can be Rāma,
Kṛṣṇa or Devī. You can also take Guru as the Lord. Guru also can
represent Īśvara. Sādhana-catuṣṭaya means maturity. It is jñāna-
yogyatā. Here, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya does not say how long [one takes to
earn this qualification]. It all depends different people are at different
level. When the teacher teaches, some understand immediately while
some take more time. It varies from individual-to-individual. There
may be a spiritual genius who may get jñāna at his young age
because he had got jñāna-yogyatā in the previous janma. It is also
called vairāgyādi-catuṣṭaya. The qualification is fourfold in nature,
beginning with vairāgya it means detachment or dispassion, etc. Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya will explain the fourfold qualification from the next
class.
Class 5
śloka 3 contd.
The author gives an introduction to the text proper by giving the

qualification of the adhikārī for familiarising with the book
Aparokṣānubhūti. The method for obtaining this qualification is in
the form of karma-yoga and samādhi-yoga or upāsana. Karma-yoga
and upāsana together form the pūrva-bhāga of the Veda. By
following the first pada of Veda, one gets the qualification and the
second part is called jñāna-yoga. Karma and upāsana yoga give the
jñāna-yogyatā and jñāna-yoga gives jñāna. The pūrva-bhāga gives
jñāna-yogyatā and Vedānta gives jñāna. Religion gives jñāna-yogyatā
and philosophy gives jñāna. This is the broad division.
Karma-yoga is referred to as varṇāshrama-dharma. The word tapas
means upāsana. When we say karma-yoga and upāsana and later
jñāna-yoga we get a doubt as to why bhakti-yoga is not mentioned at
all, although everyone talks about it. That topic of bhakti we do not
include at all.
As I had told very often bhakti-yoga is a qualification in whose
presence alone all the three yogas— karma, upāsana and jñāna
fructify. It is like a seed sprouting needing an environment. What
grows in a hill-station will not grow in the plains. This needs so many
things for sprouting the seed. But the environment is also important.
Karma, upāsana and jñāna-yoga can fructify only when there is
bhakti which is comparable to environs for the plant. It is indicated
by the surrender to the God.
The atmosphere has to be of śaraṇāgati while pursuing the religious
practice. Even going to the temple is to realise Tat tvam asi. Bhakti is
the climate in which these three yogas fructify. The first level of
karma-yoga and the second level of upāsana-yoga and the third level
of jñāna-yoga also will not fructify without bhakti which is inherent
throughout the teaching. By this, you gain qualification or jñāna-

yogyatā and it will arise in the mind of the student. Four
qualifications begin with dispassion. Up to this we saw in the last
class.
śloka 4
ब्रह्मातदस्थार्रान्तेष ु र्ैराग्यं तर्षयेष्वन ु ।
् ४॥
यथ ैर् काकतर्ष्ठायां र्ैराग्यं तद्ध तनमवलम ॥
brahmādisthāvarānteṣu vairāgyaṃ viṣayeṣvanu.
yathaiva kākaviṣṭhāyāṃ vairāgyaṃ taddhi nirmalam.
He defines each qualification and the first one is vairāgya which
means detachment or dispassion. Vairāgya or detachment should not
be taken as hatred or dislike because dislike is as much an obstacle as
likes. Vairāgya means going beyond both like and dislike. This is
called maturity or refinement or having higher thing to pursue in life
and the lower things are ignored and they are too small for me to
commit my life. Another word we use is udāsīna-bhāva. It is neutral
to rāga-dveṣa. dveṣa is as powerful as rāga. We should not have
either.
For everything beginning from brahma-loka to all the sensory
pleasures, all contact-born pleasures, all conditional pleasures and all
fleeting pleasures beginning from Brahmaji [a position a jīva can
attain in heaven] are all for some time but they will go away later.
This fact should be known and understood. All these things are there
for limited time and one has to be reborn after sometime. Even
Brahmaji’s security and pleasure are time-bound. If one wants
permanent security, he should not depend upon even Brahmaji’s
position. Even Indra’s position is subject to change and Indra is

always frightened by any human being doing exalted karmas.
They say if you do hundred yāgas you get Indra-position. Indra will
not allow anyone to do hundred yāgas and will put several obstacles
for non-completion of hundred yāgas. Indra’s post is not secured.
That doesn’t work even for Brahmaji’s position but works for
liberation. A tree the lowest form of jīva. The primary consideration
for calling jīva is sūkṣma śarira. A stone is not to be included in jīva.
Sthāvara is a tree because it has sūkṣma śarira and it suffers pleasure
and pain. From Brahmaji to the lowest janma of a tree, towards all life
forms, including the sense objects and the body, you should have
vairāgya. Does anyone develop attachment to the crow-dropping?
None develops attachment to the crow-dropping. One discards and
after discarding one does not tell everyone that I discarded crow-
droppings. He does not consider it as an achievement! If one
considers it an achievement then he considers crow-dropping as a
valuable thing!
Whoever claims 'I am a renouncer' really speaking he has not truly
renounced for he considers the renouncing valuable. A saṃnyāsī was
honoured in a village for having renounced all the finite things like
material wealth, etc, but the saṃnyāsī in the end said that you are
greater saṃnyāsī than me. I have renounced only finite things and
become a saṃnyāsī but you have renounced the infinite thing in
preference to the finite things. Now he asked— tell me who is the
greater saṃnyāsī; the one who has renounced the finite thing to
become a saṃnyāsī or the one who has renounced infinite thing in
preference to finite things like you all? So, don’t felicitate a saṃnyāsī.
The villagers were thinking that saṃnyāsī has renounced valuable
thing but saṃnyāsī has considered that Brahman is more valuable

than all the material things.
For a person who is after Brahman, from Brahman’s standpoint the
whole cosmos is like crow’s droppings. The renunciation of kāka-
viṣṭha is spontaneous and Vedāntic student's renunciation is equally
spontaneous and effortless. One is conditional vairāgya and it is
vairāgya born out of some special circumstances or the painful
diseases. In such circumstances one may take to renunciation but it is
born out of unfavourable condition and it is called escapist
detachment or escapist renunciation. It will not be healthy and
permanent since conditional renunciation will be there so far the
conditions are favourable and once the conditions are favourable he
will renounce renunciation! This is escapism vairāgya. They call it
smaśāna-vairāgya cremation-ground vairāgya. Everybody will talk of
Vedānta for few days when the dead body is burnt. It is called smoky
vairāgya and it remains so as the dead body smoke is there. The real
vairāgya is one born out of viveka or discrimination and the
understanding that any dependance is bondage. This must become
crystal clear and vairāgya born of understanding is permanent
because understanding is permanent.
Therefore, anu indicates born out of viveka. Anu is equal to viveka-
anantaram, viveka-janyam born out of understanding, not born out
of unfavourable condition. That vairāgya born out of maturity is
called nirmala. That is pure vairāgya. All others are called aśuddha
vairāgya. It is 'grapes are sour' vairāgya. Yamadharmaraja gives
everything free to Naciketas. Even then Naciketas refuses to take and
that is called nirmala vairāgya.

śloka 5
तनत्यमात्मस्वरूपं तह दृश्यं तिपरी गम ।्
एर्ं यो तनश्चयिः सम्यतग्र्र्ेको र्स्तनु िः स र्ै ॥ ५ ॥
nityamātmansvarūpaṃ hi dṛśyaṃ tadviparītagam.
evaṃ yo niścayaḥ samyagviveko vastunaḥ sa vai.
In the previous verse it was said the vairāgya born out of viveka is
real vairāgya. Here, the second qualification viveka or discrimination
is defined. You do not use the word discrimination with regard to
one thing. It is only with regard to two or more. The word
discrimination is used in common parlance as a negative quality;
gender-discrimination, racial-discrimination, caste-discrimination,
etc. There, it indicates partiality. In Vedānta, discrimination does not
mean partiality. It is clear understanding born out of parting out or
separating a thing.
Now, let us see discrimination between what and what. Here it is
nitya-anitya-vastu-viveka. The discrimination is between nitya and
anitya, eternal and ephemeral, reliable and unreliable; the warning is
about leaning or dependence on any impermanent thing.
Vedānta says every samsarī is the victim for he has deposited his
security in the perishable finance company called the world. You
invest in your own Self. Leaning on any anitya vastu is at your own
risk. If you take a calculated risk, don’t complaint if the risk goes
haywire. We should choose a reliable thing and that also Veda; and
that yogakṣemaṃ vahāmyaham says Īśvara.
Therefore, Kṛṣṇa says in the eighth chapter [8.15]:
māmupetya punarjanma duḥkhālayamaśāśvatam.

nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṃsiddhiṃ paramāṃ gatāḥ.
Deposit everything in me and you will have no problem. nitya is
ātma-svarūpa and in religious language Īśvara is nitya. Everything
else is experienced. Any object of experience is experienced in time
and space. In suśupti we don’t experience anything and there is not
even time and space. The experience takes place in jagṛt and svapna.
Every experience is controlled by time and space and this we call
anityatva. Īśvara alone deśakālātīta. Ātman is nitya and everything
opposite is anitya.
In philosophical language subject alone is nitya and object is anitya.
Śākṣī is nitya, while śāksyam is anitya. Īśvara is nitya and the world
is anitya. This should not be in our mind as a vague idea and it
should have gone in in the form well entrenched knowledge. Such a
niścaya- jñāna born out of three sources of knowledge gives this
warning. Love people and thank God. Don’t say people are not
trustworthy, etc; love people but depend on Īśvara. That is the
philosophy. śruti-pramāṇa says Īśvara is nitya. Yukti-pramāṇa also
tells me all these are anitya being born out of karma. Everything in
the world is born out of good and bad karma. The body is born out of
karma. Fourteen lokas are born out of karma. Indra enjoys his
position because of puṇya karma. Anything born out of karma is
anitya. Any product of action, any karma-phala, is anitya because
karma is anitya. This is the logic. Śruti tells me world is anitya; logic
tells me world is anitya. My own experience tells me that everything
that has a beginning has got an end. I don’t see anything permanent.
The duration may be longer or shorter, but life has an end and so life
is finite. Based on these three, my understanding is Īśvara is nitya
and all other things are anitya and this knowledge is viveka.

Once this viveka is well-entrenched in the mind, viveka will lead to
vairāgya. vairāgya is not hatred of the world; love, admire, help and
appreciate and for your security rely on God and not on anything
else. The second qualification is over. Firm discrimination or right
discrimination is vairāgya. Vairāgya has been put in the beginning
because only when viveka is fully ripened to vairāgya, seeking
knowledge will become firm and committed. Then alone the
commitments become stronger. Or else Vedāntic study will be a
casual approach and heart will not be there in it. Only when viveka is
matured into vairāgya, the study is serious. So Ādi Śaṅkarācārya
enumerates vairāgya first.
śloka 6
सदैर् र्ासनात्यागिः शमोऽयतमत शति िः ।
तनग्रहो बाह्यर्ृत्तीनां दम इत्यतभधीय े ॥ ६ ॥
sadaiva vāsanātyāgaḥ śamo'yamiti śabditaḥ.
nigraho bāhyavṛttīnāṃ dama ityabhidhīyate.
Now Ādi Śaṅkarācārya takes up śamādi-ṣaṭka-sampatti. It is a group
of subsidiary qualifications which can be put in a simple language as
discipline. Discrimination, dispassion, discipline and desire for
mokṣa are the four requirements for gaining mokṣa. More in the next
class.
Class 6
śloka 6 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives an introduction to Aparokṣanabhuti which is
in the form of qualification required on the part of the student for

jñāna as also for the enquiry. These things are emphasized in the
introductory portion. Of the four qualifications first two have been
mentioned as viveka and vairāgya. Now, he mentions the third
qualification which itself is in the form of sixfold subsidiary
qualification or sixfold mental discipline. They are śama mind-
discipline, damah sensory-discipline, uparati withdrawal of the
mind, titikśā the toughness of the mind, śraddhā faith in the teacher
and scriptures, and samādhāna the constant awareness of the goal.
These are the six subsidiary qualifications. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya defines
all the six in the order. Here śama and dama are defined.
Vāsanā-tyāga is śama; It is mind-discipline. Mental discipline is
nothing but thought-discipline. The function of the mind is but mano
vṛttih. It is entertainment of thought alone. One of the primary factors
that govern thought pattern is vāsanā or the old habits. Early
morning the getting up coffee thought comes even without
deliberately planning because we are used to take coffee in the
morning. Once saṃskāras are formed, these saṃskāras are activated
at different time and activated vāsanās become thoughts.
Dormant thoughts are called vāsanās. Manifest vāsanās are called
thoughts. vāsanā is seed and thought is the tree. Therefore, if you
should have control over thought, certainly, you have to handle
vāsanās. Without handling vāsanās we cannot handle thoughts.
Managing vāsanās become a part of mental discipline. These vāsanās
are supposed to be two types one is śubha auspicious healthy habits
and the other is unhealthy habits. Of these two vāsanās we need not
bother about śubha-vāsanās being good. śubha-vāsanās we need not
bother for the time being. But aśubha-vāsanās we should take care or
else it become an addiction. Those aśubha-vāsanās should be handled

or else it will create problem. This will affect the body. Withdrawal
sometime is more serious then continuing. That situation can be
handled but it needs lot of will power. Fighting addiction is an
impossible feat for our will power weakens.
Learn to handle the vāsanās before they become stronger. Replace
aśubha-vāsanās by śubha-vāsanās. Replace śubha-vāsanās by śubha-
vāsanās. It will be difficult for a few days and then it becomes easy to
replace aśubha- with śubha-vāsanās. River of vāsanās flows in two
directions healthy and unhealthy ways. By applying determination
and by taking strong saṅkalpa and vrata in front of Guru or iṣṭa
devatā is called Puruṣa-prayatna. The mind should be taken away
from aśubha-mārga and be connected to śubha-mārga. By changing
vāsanās I change my thought. Thus one should change the direction
of the mind. Vāsanā-changing is as good as mind changing.
vāsanātyāga and manonigraha are essentially the same. Mind should
be directed properly. Inspiration to take to śubha-vāsanās should
continue or else I will fall into the old rut once again. All the time
give up of aśubha or dur-vāsanās is called śama.
The next one is dama. Dama is indriya-nigraha. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya
also defines in the same way. Bāhya-vṛttīnāṃ; nigraha is dama.
Bāhya means external organs. It is so because the mind is called
internal organ. Therefore, bāhya-vṛtti is bāhya-indriya-nivṛtti.
Nigraha is not suppression. Nigraha means discipline born out of
conviction. Any suppression will not last long. If conviction does not
work, force may be applied temporarily as a first aid. It cannot be the
main cure. Growing out is conviction-based and self-control. It is
called dama. The discipline of sensory activity is whatever śāstra
says; a healthy pursuit is sense-discipline.

śloka 7
तर्षयेभ्यिः परार्ृतत्तिः परमोपरत र्हह सा ।
सहनं सर्वदिःखानां त त क्षा सा शभु ा म ा ॥ ७ ॥
viṣayebhyaḥ parāvṛttiḥ paramoparatirhi sā.
sahanaṃ sarvaduḥkhānāṃ titikṣā sā śubhā matā.
We have seen two subsidiary qualifications. Here, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya
talks of the third and fourth qualifications— uparati and titikśā.
Uparati means withdrawal or quietude or freedom from
extrovertedness. No doubt we have to interact with the world. But
avoid all the extremes. Anything avoidable should be avoided.
Everything should be in moderation and should not go to the
extreme. To define in the scriptural language, it is withdrawal from
karma or action. There are different types of karmas— niṣiddha-,
kāmya-, nitya-karma, etc. kāmya-karma is desire-based action, and
there is compulsory duty also. niṣiddha-karma should be
immediately dropped. Any unhealthy habit is to be stopped
immediately. Śāstra deals with spiritual health. Prāyascitta-karma if
you have to do parihāra for all past pāpa then the whole life will be
dedicated to prāyascitta alone! Reduce and learn to go through the
karma. Kāmya-karma also one should give up by dropping the petty
desires and pursue the mokṣa-desire. Mokṣa-desire will consume all
small desires like a big fish swallowing small fishes. Reduce kāmya-
karmas. Then the ultimate withdrawal is vihita-karma and it is called
saṃnyāsa aśrama wherein one withdraws from nitya-naimitika-
karma to dedicate to self-knowledge. In partial uparati one can
continue as gṛhastha.

In total uparati one has to take up saṃnyāsa. Uparati in its final
meaning is saṃnyāsa which means withdrawal. Withdrawal from
sensory objects is called uparati. This is an important qualification. It
is a great to have uparati. It will lead to great knowledge. Have
quality time to pour your heart to gain ātma-jñāna. Quality time is
possible only because of uparati. Therefore, it is called parama-
uparati. Vedānta needs quality time.
The fourth qualification is called titikṣā. It means forbearance,
toughness or having a shock-absorber in the mind. We have taken
janma to exhaust prārabdha-karma which is a mixture of puṇya and
pāpa. Prārabdha-puṇya will fructify at some time bringing
favourable conditions and also prārabdha-pāpa which will bring
unfavourable conditions. If we allow unfavourable condition to
overcome me that part of life will be unproductive life. If I have to
keep that part of life also productive then I should be able to
withstand the difficulties and continue wherever I am. It is like the
football-player falling and getting up because he has to complete and
achieve the goal within a limited time of one and a half hours. If we
are going to allow unfavourable condition to immobilize us we will
lose our time; instead, continue the main job. This needs toughness
and this is called titikṣā. All types of difficulties coming from body,
surroundings and coming from supernatural forces, etc. are called
adhyātmika, ādibhautika and ādidaivika obstacles. Let me have the
capacity to withstand these difficulties. Don’t surrender to
unfavourable conditions. In spite of our efforts there will be
conditions and they are called choiceless situations. That inner
strength is called titikṣā. What cannot be cured has to be endured.
Without worrying the whole while and without talking about it all

the time, withstand the adverse situation without grumbling, even
though not cheerfully. With this, four subsidiary qualifications are
over.
śloka 8
तनगमाचायवर्ाक्येष ु भततिः श्रद्धेत तर्श्र ु ा ।
तचत्त ैकाग्र्यं ु सल्लक्ष्ये समाधानतमत स्मृ म ॥ ् ८॥
nigamācāryavākyeṣu bhaktiḥ śraddheti viśrutā.
cittaikāgryaṃ tu sallakṣye samādhānamiti smṛtam.
The fifth subsidiary qualification is śraddhā and it is defined here.
Reverential attitude or respect towards what is stated in scriptures
especially in the context of self-knowledge. This refers to what is said
in Vedānta and by the Guru. Śraddhā is that it is coming from God
from time immemorial and it has blessed so many people and then
there is no reason that why it should not bless me and let me give a
trial. Veda is there to help you and why cannot you give Veda a
chance to help you and bless. Even if it does not work immediately it
will take time for you to gain the benefit which may happen in this or
in the future janma.
ācinoti ca śāstrāṇi ācāre sthāpayatyapi.

svayam ācarate yasmāt tasmāt ācārya ucyate.
Ācārya has got threefold duty. He has to take out the ideas contained
in the scriptures which are relevant to the student. Who should be
advised in what manner will be decided by the Ācāryas. Śāstra talks
about various types of sādhanas and Ācarya collects those portions of
sādhanas relevant to the particular student. Ācārya should persuade,

convince and ask him to follow the advice given in the Vedas.
Further, Ācārya should also follow the discipline. He would follow
the śāstra and make society to follow the śāstra. Guru means
ignorance-remover. Ācārya means one who changes the people; by
following he makes others to follow the scriptures.
One-pointedness of the mind is the next qualification with regard to
the goal of gaining liberation. It is great or noble goal. Sat means
Brahman also. Brahman, lakṣya, is also the goal of the śiṣya. Not
losing the sight of the goal whatever be my activity. The ultimate
goal should be liberation. In a train, we may do so many things but
our aim is that we should reach the destination.
Brahmacaryāśrama, gṛhasthāśrama and vānaprasthāśrama is the
stages while the goal is liberation. If you remember the spiritual
purpose of life, student will remember āśrama provided in the mind;
spiritual purpose is there.
Otherwise, there is no difference between āśrama and house.
Between āśrama and house the difference is the purpose of the
people who live there. In āśrama the people have a spiritual purpose.
In the house it not āśrama and it is a śrama. We have to make it
āśrama life with spiritual life instead of making it a śrama life.
Constant awareness of spiritual purpose is called samādāna. The
sixth qualification is over.
śloka 9
संसारबन्धतनमतवु तिः कथं मे स्यात्कदा तर्धे ।
ु बतु द्धर्वतव्या सा ममु क्ष
इत या सदृढा ु ु ा॥९॥

saṃsārabandhanirmuktiḥ kathaṃ me syātkadā vidhe.
iti yā sudṛḍhā buddhirvaktavyā sā mumukṣutā.
The fourth main qualification is mumukṣutva. Mumukṣutā means
intense desire for freedom from saṃsāra. The details in the next class.
Class 7
śloka 9 contd.
The teacher explains the four qualifications required to gain jñāna-

yogyatā. He has defined vairāgya, six-fold disciplines and now he
explains the intense desire for mokṣa and this called mumukṣutva.
This is the thought pattern of the teacher. Generally, people say it is
destiny that determines the creation and the destiny itself is governed
by Īśvara. The final meaning of destiny is God only.
When will I be free from the shackles of saṃsāra? This person has
recognized the problem of saṃsāra and also, he has been struggling
to get out of saṃsāra and he has not been able to get out and he has
come to the state of helplessness. This alone will lead one to
surrender. Discovery of the problem and the discovery of the
helplessness alone will pave way for mokṣa. Many people have not
discovered the problem of saṃsāra and even if they have done so
they are in a state of helplessness not knowing what to do.
Kṛṣṇa also waited for Arjuna to explain his helplessness before

imparting the Self-knowledge in the form of Gītā. Only when one
surrenders to the Lord, the Lord comes to help his śiṣya. This thought
is not a casual thought. The people think of the Lord only when they

have a problem and at the time of the death of the near and dear
ones. The thought must linger in the sub-conscious mind constantly
and this obsession is called mumukṣā. With this fourth qualification
is also defined. After gaining the qualification what one should do is
given in the next śloka.
śloka 10
ु े न तर्चारिः परुषे
उतसाधनयत ु ण तह ।
व ो ज्ञानतसद्ध्यथ वमात्मनिः शभु तमच्छ ा ॥ १० ॥
क व्य
uktasādhanayuktena vicāraḥ puruṣeṇa hi.
kartāvyo jñānasiddhyarthamātmanaḥ śubhamicchātā.
This intense thought and this obsession should linger in the mind all
the time. This is the fourth qualification. After gaining the
qualification what one should do is given in the next verse. The one
who has developed viveka, vairāgya the six-fold qualification and
mumukṣutva in full degree is the fittest person to gain jñāna. He
must struggle hard to develop these qualifications in his mind. These
are the right adjustments necessary in our personality.
All our problems we face in life enable us to gain sādhana-catuṣṭaya-

sampatti and prepare us for gaining jñāna-yogyatā. It is like heating
the gold to make it pure. Even Arjuna asked Gītā after going through
all the suffering. This is process of gaining purification. It is meant for
sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti; saṃskāras are meant for sādhana-
catuṣṭaya-sampatti. Three āśramas and the entire religion is meant
for sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti and entire Veda-pūrva-bhāga is
meant for sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti.

Only when the seeker develops these qualifications does he become
fit to enquire into the nature of the reality. Those who wish well by
themselves must cultivate this qualification and start enquiring into
the nature of the reality. Three stages we have to go through and the
first stage is mokṣa-icchā. It is money-oriented or pleasure-oriented
life. It is artha-pradhāna. Service oriented life is karma-pradhāna.
None knows there is something other than these three and that is
gaining jñāna. When mokṣa becomes the top priority, he has passed
the entry examination. Dharma, artha and kāma should help to gain
mokṣa and they are not the end in itself. They also lead to sādhana-
catuṣṭaya-sampatti. The service also helps us to gain mokṣa. mokṣa-
icchā is the first step towards gaining mokṣa.
Therefore, he has to experiment and he thinks there are several

methods to gain mokṣa. But he should know that jñāna is the only
method that will surely give him mokṣa and not any other method
will take him to mokṣa. mokṣa is not an event to happen in future by
doing certain action because any event cannot be mokṣa because any
event is time-bound and mokṣa is nitya.
Bhakti-mārga and karma-yoga or yoga will help us to gain mokṣa but

it will not give mokṣa which can be gained only through jñāna. Finite
can have any form and many paths to reach but infinite cannot have
many paths. It is to be owned up. We have to understand and then
the priority will be jñāna.
What I need is not an event but an understanding of the fact what is

nitya should be— here and now already. Dharma is an event as a
result of my noble action. All other things are events except mokṣa

because it is a fact.
An event is time-bound while a fact is eternal. What I need is to

realize mokṣa and I have to discover mokṣa which is a fact. mokṣa is
not a sādhya but it is siddha. Therefore, my aim is not bringing
mokṣa, not procuring mokṣa and jñāna is now my priority. Now I say
jñāna is my priority and jñāna-icchā is my ultimate aim. Once this is
done I have completed the second state.
One should cultivate these six qualifications and then enter into the
path of enquiry, the path of self-analysis and investigation in the
process of contemplation. Right from now the teacher is trying to
indicate as to what this enquiry is; how is the seeker to go on with
this enquiry?
Some people talk of intuitive knowledge like Buddha gaining

knowledge. Certainly, gaining knowledge through intuition is a
difficult job. Even if you get intuition, how do you know what is
intuition and what is imagination? Again, you have to verify the
knowledge so gained; vague ideas cannot be called knowledge. Any
amount of independent self-enquiry cannot give knowledge; what
gives knowledge 4.34 of Gītā says:
tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā;
upadekśyanti te jñānaṃ jñānīnas tattvadarśinaḥ;
Learn that by humble reference, by enquiry and by service. The men

of wisdom who have seen the truth will instruct these in knowledge.
There is only one way and you go to a Guru. One should definitely

go to Guru. When we discuss the general method, we should not talk
of exception that some gain jñāna without going to Guru. We talk of
mathematical genius Ramanujan or music prodigy who sings from
birth. Prodigies are there in every world and they are exception and
never take them as standard. Never follow a prodigy, respect a
prodigy and admire a prodigy but never follow a prodigy. Only
thing you do is surrender to God and Guru first and make sure the
Guru is competent also. A follower of a Guru does not know his
Guru will impart knowledge. Therefore, only God can help you get a
Guru.
If you have devotion, the Lord will take care that you gain jñāna.
Once you get an Ācārya, the next station is destination. A competent
student gets a competent Guru; helplessly, you attain mokṣa. Such
persons should be endowed with the above qualification which is
sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti. A human being is called Puruṣa because
he is endowed with qualifications to gain jñāna. What he wants is
jñāna siddhyartha. For jñāna-siddhi he comes to a teacher.
Go to an Ācārya and seek knowledge. Naciketas went to Yama

Dharmarāja and he sought knowledge and Yama Dharmarāja was
surprised and he was so happy to see Naciketas asking for
knowledge. Therefore, ask for teaching because teaching alone will
lead to understanding. Any knowledge needs a teacher-student
dialogue. For material sciences, we need college and for spiritual
knowledge, it is invariably given by a dialogue between the Guru
and the student.
The Guru communicates and śiṣya asked for clearance of doubts.

Remember that mokṣa is impossible without jñāna and jñāna is not

possible without a dialogue between the Guru and śiṣya. That
dialogue is called vicāra. In karmakāṇḍa if I have to see, not much
understanding is needed. In karmakāṇḍa, there is not much of
difficulty. I should know what I should do and much buddhi is not
required to do an action.
In jñānakāṇḍa, I am not asking you to do something. I impart

knowledge and you have to assimilate the knowledge. Here, you are
not doing something but I try to make you understand that mokṣa is
not after death and mokṣa is not next week and mokṣa is not next
hour and mokṣa is not next minute and mokṣa is not next second and
I tell you— here and now, you are liberated! mokṣa is a fact
happening here and now. I don’t present an action plan and I want
you to own up what you are and you enjoy mokṣa. Vicāra is
extremely important.
śloka 11
नोत्द्य े तर्ना ज्ञानं तर्चारेणान्यसाधन ैिः ।
यथा पदाथवभानं तह प्रकाशेन तर्ना क्वतच ॥ ् ११ ॥
notpadyate vinā jñānaṃ vicāreṇānyasādhanaiḥ.
yathā padārthabhānaṃ hi prakāśena vinā kvacit.
In the previous śloka word vicāra was used, taught by śāstra and
Guru. Enquiry of any other thing is not jñāna. Many people may
think that Vedānta is one of the methods to gain mokṣa. Only if you
are an intellectual, you will jñāna. The author says vicāra is not one of
the methods for mokṣa but vicāra is only method for mokṣa. Without
Vedānta-vicāra jñāna cannot rise. This is the general rule. If someone

says 'I am an exception', say 'wish you all the best'. Japa, tapa,
dhyāna, meditation, etc. are sādhanas no doubt, but they are means
to gain knowledge.
The final knowledge or wisdom is what exactly is the reality of life,

what exactly is my own real nature, without the knowledge of which,
I cannot keep right contact with the world outside. Ātman, the Self, is
already in our personality but at this moment it is covered by and
enveloped by the mental agitations called ignorance. Without right
enquiry, ignorance cannot be removed. Where ignorance is removed,
the knowledge of the reality shines itself. More in the next class.
Class 8
śloka 11 contd.
In the last class, I pointed out that every individual has to go through
three stages before gaining mokṣa. The first stage is that he should
become a mumukṣu and he should consider mokṣa as the top
priority and dharma, artha and kāma as stepping stones to mokṣa. If
artha, kāma and karma are taken as important, one cannot progress
in the field of spiritual progress. That is indicated by his readiness to
sacrifice artha and kāma for mokṣa. The intensity of desire for mokṣa
is indicated by the readiness to sacrifice. Greater such a desire,
greater is the desire to sacrifice. That is why we want vairāgya, for
mumukṣutva.
The second stage is that he should become a vidyārthī. He should

become a student. Jñāna is the only way to mokṣa and not one of the

ways to mokṣa. There are many ways to refine the mind like pūjā,
tapa, dhyāna, etc. They only qualify for gaining jñāna. Now one has
become vidyārthī and the next and final stage is let him seek an
Ācārya.
First mokṣa-icchā, jñāna-icchā and Ācārya-icchā. Without an Ācārya,

jñāna cannot take place. even if one gets jñāna without an Ācārya,
with that jñāna one cannot gain liberation. This is emphasized by the
Upaniṣad itself. Vidyā coming from Ācārya has extra merit which is
not there in the self-study. It is like taking fruit from a shop and
another one from temple as prasāda.
There is no difference in the apple and yet we differentiate one apple

from the temple and the one not prasāda. There is some unseen
addition in the apple when it is taken from the temple. The
knowledge remaining the same, there is a big difference when it
comes from Ācārya. To convey this, Chāndogya Upaniṣad tells a big
story. A student gains knowledge from various sources. Before that,
when he was doing Guru-śuśrūṣā, during that time he gets
knowledge from some other sources.
When the student comes back and tells the teacher that he came to
know from some other sources, the student says ‘I want to get the
same knowledge from the teacher’s mouth’. This alone can become
fruitful. Other knowledge will make me a scholar but the one from
Ācārya’s mouth will make me a mukta. Once he comes to an Ācārya
or Guru, the Guru will put śiṣya into Vedāntic enquiry. Traditional
teacher will put him in enquiry if he has sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti.
Therefore, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya emphasizes that without Vedāntic

enquiry under a Guru, the knowledge does not arise even if he takes
to any number of other sādhanas. The other sādhanas cannot give the
benefit of self-knowledge. Jñāna is important but it cannot be jñāna
when not received from the guru. Without self-enquiry under a
teacher, one cannot gain jñāna. Do all religions have the same goal?
They say the goal is svarga and we say mokṣa is there here and now.
Remember with regard to action there are choices but with regard to
gaining knowledge there is only one choice. If I say knowledge alone
will remove ignorance, it is not fanaticism but acceptance of a
universal fact. It is like removal of darkness.
There is only one method to remove darkness that is by light.

Dhyāna, chanting mantra or doing meditation cannot remove
darkness [regarding oneself], except gaining knowledge. There are
certain facts in creation and with regard to fact there is no choice. You
may visit any type of temples and it being an action, you can have
choice with regard to that action.
We accept that all methods of worship will purify your mind. When
you talk of mokṣa there is only one method to get mokṣa and that is
gaining knowledge. You cannot have different opinion with regard to
a fact. Religions have accepted to worship of iṣṭa-devatā to gain the
ultimate. With regard to mokṣa you cannot be a devotee alone but
you should appreciate the fact of gaining ātma-jñāna. Therefore,
Vidyāraṇya says— without knowledge you cannot gain liberation.
Without light evidence of an object is not possible. Switch on the light

for you want evidence what is lying there. So without light you
cannot remove the ignorance. There is no exception to this rule. For
mokṣa you must come to self-knowledge. Once you come to

jñānakāṇḍa there is no option but gain self-knowledge or ātma-jñāna.
We give freedom for citta-śuddhi or purification of the mind.
śloka 12
कोऽहं कथतमदं जा ं को र्ै क ावऽस्य तर्द्य े ।
उपादानं तकमस्तीह तर्चारिः सोऽयमीदृशिः ॥ १२ ॥
ko'haṃ kathamidaṃ jātaṃ ko vai kartā'sya vidyāte.
upādānaṃ kimastīha vicāraḥ so'yamīdṛśaḥ.
In the previous verse the teacher had introduced vicāra or enquiry

with the help of śāstra. That śāstra-vicāra should be done with the
help of a Guru. Now the introduction is over and we begin our study.
The śiṣya knows what he wants and the Guru knows what he is
going to impart to the śiṣya. What is the content of the enquiry? What
is the object of the enquiry? What are we going to analyse through
śāstra? The enquiry deals with three basic factors. They are jīva, jagat
and Īśvara. Jīva is the individual, me; I should know about myself;
why was I born and what is my aim in life and so many questions are
there with regard to jīva.
The second is jagat; whether we it like or not we find ourselves in the

world. We want to know all about the world, its creation why
cyclone is there, etc. This is jagat-vicāra. The third topic is Īśvara or
kāraṇa-vicāra and what the cause of both jīva and jagat is. This
kāraṇa itself we divide into two one is nimitta-kāraṇa and upādāna-
kāraṇa. Both the kāraṇas are important. The enquiry is jīva, jagat,
kāraṇa or nimitta-kāraṇa and upādāna-kāraṇa.
Who am I? It is the first enquiry. How this world of experience came

into being and how did it originate? It is jagat-vicāra. First was there

a creator. If there is creator what is the creator’s relation. Is he a
person? If so whether male or female? This is enquiry into the
intelligent cause or nimitta-kāraṇa. Is Īśvara omniscient and
omnipotent? Once you say Īśvara is omniscient and omnipotent, then
you will ask why could he not produce a better world and why good
and bad people are there and why evil? Why does the Lord make us
fight? It is also asked whether Īśvara is a sadist or otherwise.
What is the material cause or upādāna-kāraṇa of this creation? This

kind of enquiry is called Vedānta-vicāra. What is the intelligent cause
and what is the material cause? The enquiry into the material cause
and intelligent cause of the creation of the jīva jagat is vicāra. Now
Vidyāraṇya will briefly answer each question. Then he will
elaborately answer these questions.
śloka 13
नाहं भू गणो देहो नाहं चाक्षगणस्तथा ।
ए तिलक्षणिः कतश्चतिचारिः सोऽयमीदृशिः ॥ १३ ॥
nāhaṃ bhūtagaṇo deho nāhaṃ cākṣagaṇastathā.
etadvilakṣaṇaḥ kaścidvicāraḥ so:'yamīdṛśaḥ.
This is the brief analysis on the creation of jīva, jagat Īśvara. The
teaching should be in two forms. It should start with a brief one and
then he should elaborate the teaching and, in the end, he should give
a summary. In Gītā 2nd chapter and 18th chapter are brief summaries
and in between there is elaboration of the teaching.
Here the experience and experienced are analysed. It is called dṛk-

dṝśya-viveka. The principle of this enquiry is I am different from

whatever I experience. Whatever I experience is the object and I am
the subject. The subject can never be an object. Practically I am
different from whatever I experience. The eyes can see everything on
creation but they cannot see themselves. The seer eye can never be
the seen.
The world is an object of experience; body is an object of experience;

mind is experienced; therefore, I am different from world that I
experience and I am different from body I experience and I am
different from the mind I experience. I experience the three, there is
no doubt. I experience the body there is no doubt because I know I
feel the pain in the body. The mind also I experience because I am
happy and I am sad, etc. All the three, I experience; therefore, I am
not any one of them. This is dṛk-dṝśya-viveka in nutshell.
I am not the body; he does not say I am not the world because we
don’t make any mistake with regard to the external object. Only with
regard to the body I have the doubt. Here you should know generally
you take I am the body but you should know you are the occupant of
the body and you are gṛhastha and not the gṛham. Here he uses the
word bhūtagaṇadeha. The deha is made out of five elements. This is
born out of matter. All the five elements are inert and jaḍa bhūtas.
If bhūtas are jaḍa, bhautika śarīram also must be jaḍa and how can
you be jaḍa? Everyone knows ‘I am a sentient being’. Whether I am
intelligent or not, there is a doubt; cetana or acetana there is no doubt.
I am cetana the word ‘I’ indicates cetana and śarīra is acetana. How
can cetana-I be acetana-śarīra? I am not the group of indriya. Here
sense organs are broadly divided into two— one is internal sense
organ and the other are bāhya indriyas, external sense organs.

Internal organs are called antaḥkaraṇa and others are bāhya kāraṇa.
External organs are divided into five and the internal indriyas are
four. Totally nine organs put together aṣṭagaṇa and I am neither the
body nor the mind. I am not the body-mind-complex. I am different
from both body and mind. This we have to dwell upon for a long
time. If I am not the body and mind then who am I? This type of
enquiry is called self-enquiry.
Class 9
śloka 13 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya pointed out that ātma-jñāna alone will give

liberation. What is the method of enquiry is also important for some
people think that enquiry is merely closing the eyes and asking the
question to oneself who I is. Merely asking the question some people
call it self-enquiry. It is not so. Self-enquiry is regarding the three
factors: jīva, jagat and Īśvara; and all the three are interconnected. So
we cannot confine the enquiry to one of them. Understanding anyone
will help the understanding of the other. Study of one is incomplete
without studying the other two. Asking the question “who am I?”
will not lead one anywhere. You can study these three only with the
help of śāstra. Pratyakṣa and anumāna, our perception and even
meditation are not the tools that have access to the above three; self-
enquiry is nothing but scriptural enquiry. There is no self-knowledge
without scriptural knowledge. That Brahman cannot be understood
without enquiring into the Vedas themselves. Studying Gītā is as
good as studying Veda. Gītā is nothing but condensation of Veda.

Scriptures must be enquired into by one way or the other. Jīva-, jagat-
and Īśvara- vicāra through Vedāntic scriptures is called Īśvara-vicāra
or self-enquiry. If someone says that I will have my own method, you
can say ‘wish you the best’ and leave him and we should not get
angry with anyone who disagrees with us. Gauḍapāda says in
Mānḍūkya Upaniṣad if anyone does not agree with this method wish
you all the best. If anyone fails in other method, he is allowed to
come back. Īśvara-vicāra is divided into nimitta-kāraṇa and upādāna-
kāraṇa-vicāra. He briefly presents the four items in four ślokas. From
the 17th verse onwards, there is elaboration of this enquiry.
First question is who I am and for this answer is given in this śloka. I
am not the body the bundle of five elements; I am not the mind and
sense organs; I am not the body-mind-complex. They are the medium
for transactions and they are not the transacting agent and I am
someone different from body-mind-complex. I am some principle
and I am some proof different from the body-mind-complex.
śloka 14
अज्ञानप्रभर्ं सर्ं ज्ञानेन प्रतर्लीय े ।
संकल्पो तर्तर्धिः क ाव तर्चारिः सोऽयमीदृशिः ॥ १४ ॥
ajñānaprabhavaṃ sarvaṃ jñānena pravilīyate.
saṃkalpo vividhaḥ kartā vicāraḥ so'yamīdṛśaḥ.
In this verse Ādi Śaṅkarācārya takes up two questions; one is

regarding the world, how did the world come about? It is jagat-vicāra
and also nimitta-kāraṇa-vicāra. Jagat-vicāra deals with how did the
world come. For that question Ācārya says that everything is born

out of ignorance. Ignorance is the cause of everything. At the samaṣṭi-
level ignorance itself is called Māyā that is the basic material which
has become universe; that is called ajñāna.
Therefore, jñānena pravilīyate in the wake of knowledge everything

will resolve. Kāraṇa-nāśe kārya-nāśaḥ. When the cause is removed
the effect is automatically removed. One example is given. The rope-
ignorance is the cause of manifestation of snake and rope-knowledge
dissolves the unreal snake. You did not see the rope clearly and
hence the rope-snake is seen.
When you go to sleep duality comes in the form of dream. svapna-

dvaita and svapna-prapañca is removed once the sleep is gone. nidrā-
naśe svapna-nāśaḥ. The definition of sleep is ignorance of the waker.
At the time of dream the dreamer me doesn’t know myself as a
person lying comfortably in the bed. It is nothing but ignorance;
waking up is nothing but knowing that I lie down without problem.
ātma-ajñāna eva jāgṛt-prapañca-kāraṇa. When I wake up from
dream, the dream-ignorance goes. When I gain knowledge, the jāgṛt-
ajñāna.
Nimitta-kāraṇa is called kartā. The carpenter is nimitta-kāraṇa or

kartā. The goldsmith is nimitta-kāraṇa or kartā. Kartā is doer, for
puṇya-pāpa. Puṇya-pāpa-kartā saṃsārī. The second meaning is jagat-
kartā asaṃsārī Īśvara. Kartā may mean Īśvara or jīva and we should
know where we should use which meaning. Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya
presents the nimitta-kāraṇa in slightly different way. Normally we
say Īśvara is nimitta-kāraṇa.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says no doubt Īśvara is the intelligent creator

of the world. The creator must have the skill or knowledge to create
the universe. However, there is one problem. If Īśvara is the
intelligent creator then why does he make some people good and
some bad; why some are healthy and some sick; why there are
diseases in the world? Why cannot the Lord create a wonderful
world? Īśvara seems to be partial with rāga-dveṣa being created.
For that we say: even though Īśvara is the creator of the world, the
design to create the world is not independently determined by Īśvara
but it is determined by the karma of the jīva. Judge gives punishment
not on the basis of his will or wish but the punishment is based on
the karma of the criminals and here again he is guided by the law
books. The design is meant for exhaustion of our puṇya-pāpa.
We have asked for it based on our puṇya-pāpa. We can therefore say

that karma governed by Īśvara is the cause of the universe. Just like
the law book which is interpreted by the judge, karma is interpreted
by Īśvara and accordingly he creates jīvas and jagat. Kevala-karma is
not the kāraṇa for it being jaḍa. Īśvara is not the kāraṇa for he may
have rāga-dveṣa. Karma of all the jīvas is the cause of the creation.
The sṛṣṭi is based on the karma of the previous sṛṣṭi and previous
sṛṣṭi is based on its previous sṛṣṭi. Karma is responsible for arrival
and nature of this creation. What about first sṛṣṭi and for this we say
sṛṣṭi has no ādi or anta. Karma is nimitta-kāraṇa and it is peculiar to
aparokṣānubhūti.
Karma is born out of kāma or a desire. If I cook, I have a desire to eat.

I come to the class means that I desire to know. All the karmas are
based on the kāmas or desires. Even Bhagavān creates because he

wants to create. In the case of ordinary people desires are binding
and in the case of jñānī and Īśvara the desires are non-binding
desires.
All non-binding desires are for the welfare of the world. It is to bless
the devotees and destroy the rākṣasas. Its fulfillment or non-
fulfillment will not affect Īśvara. Now nimitta-kāraṇa is kāma. How
does kāma come? The fancies of the mind lead to desires. It is said in
Gītā 6.24:
saṅkalpaprabhavānkāmāṃstyaktvā sarvānaśeṣataḥ.
manasaivendriyagrāmaṃ viniyamya samantataḥ.
Abandoning without exception all desires born of selfish will

restraining with the mind all the senses on every side, the person
says ‘I will not allow you to develop fancies’. Life is a series of
experiences. You objectively experience without passing judgment.
We judge experience and classify the object as this is good and this is
bad.
The judgment we make this is nice and this is attractive and go on to

dwell on that. That rose is wonderful. Then I think that if I keep the
rose with me is wonderful. Then I say it is worth possessing. Here
also I can get out. Then the feeling that I should possess leads to ‘I
want’. Then I go on dwell upon further. With that object ‘how I will
look’ I imagine.
One see that. Then he decides I need and without that I am

incomplete, I am non-attractive and once I said without that I cannot
be happy, then kāma is born. Mental fancies take the shape of

saṅkalpa. The nimitta-kāraṇa is saṅkalpa. Īśvara is nimitta-kāraṇa;
karma is nimitta-kāraṇa and karma is born out of saṅkalpa. saṅkalpa
is born out of our fancies. Our intellect goes on fancying about so
many things. Many people are at fancy-level and many people are in
actualization of the fancies. We are in saṃsāra prison because of our
fancies. In this manner enquiry has to be done. Thus, we have seen
jīva, jagat and nimitta-kāraṇa and what is left out is upādāna-kāraṇa.
śloka 15
ए योयवदपादानमेकं सूक्ष्म ं सदव्ययम ।्
यथ ैर् मृद्घटादीनं तर्चारिः सोऽयमीदृशिः ॥ १५ ॥
etayoryadupādānamekaṃ sūkṣmaṃ sadavyayam.
yathaiva mṛdghaṭādīnaṃ vicāraḥ so'yamīdṛśaḥ.
The material or upādāna-kāraṇa behind the whole thing is Brahman.

He gives another name for Brahman which is sat; sat is the name
used in the Upaniṣad for nimitta-kāraṇa. Sadeva idaṃagra āsit ekam
evādvitiyam. Brahman is material cause alone expressed as existence
in the effect.
Now we know gold is the material cause of ornaments. Gold

expresses itself in the ornaments and whenever you say bangle is,
ring is, chain is, etc., the isness of the bangle is borrowed from the
gold alone. The existence is in all the ornaments and gold is also there
in all the ornaments and therefore, gold expresses itself as isness in
the ornaments. Suppose you put sugar in the milk and if you drink it
is sweet. If you don’t add sugar there is no sweetness.
The conclusion is sugar is the cause of the sweetness. When sugar is,

sweetness is; and when sugar is not, sweetness is not. This is called
anvaya-vyatireka. When gold is there ornament is there, and when
gold is removed you cannot say ornament is; it will lose its existence
when the gold is taken. kāraṇa-satve kārya-sattvam; kāraṇa-abhāve
kārya-abhava; kāraṇa alone gives sattā to kārya. The material cause
expresses as existence in all products. And therefore, material cause
can be named as sat or existence. Therefore, Brahman has got the
name sat to indicate that it is the material cause. So, he says sat is
upādāna and this upādāna is one; even though ornaments are many
the gold is one; even though rivers are many, water is one; even
though furnitures are many wood is one; sad Brahman ekaṃ bhavati.
It is sūkṣma extremely subtle and it is incomprehensible because
when you make a comparison between cause and effect, the effect is
visible the cause is not clearly visible. A full-fledged tree can be
studied and in the plant it is little difficult and in the seed form it is
difficult to study.
When you go from kārya to kāraṇa, it is difficult to study the kāraṇa.

When it is in the genetic stage many diseases can be traced in those
genes themselves. When you want to study the genes, it is impossible
to study. More you go to the effect it is comprehensible and more you
go to the cause it is abstract and in comprehensible. Brahman is the
ultimate cause of the universe and it is most abstract and most
incomprehensible and Brahman is most sūkṣma. More in the next
class.

Class 10
śloka 15 contd.
It was pointed out Vedāntic enquiry should be made with the help of
a teacher and the enquiry should be centred on four topics— jīva-
svarūpa, jagat-svarūpa jagat-nimitta-kāraṇa svarūpa and jagat-
upādāna svarūpa. The teacher talked about jīva and jagat and
nimitta-kāraṇa. Now he has taken up upādāna-kāraṇa.
Now we discuss the jagat-upādāna-kāraṇa which is mentioned as

Brahman. It is the basic material out of which the creation is made. It
is the basic substance. Brahman is the upādāna-kāraṇa. That
Brahman is explained in different words. One or ekam; it is one basic
stuff out of which everything else has come and it is known as sat
and the basic stuff alone lends existence to all the products. Gold
alone lends existence to ornaments. So also, Brahman lends existence
to the entire creation. So, it is called sat. It never borrows existence
from anywhere. It lends existence but does not borrow existence from
anywhere. Existence is the nature of Brahman. So, Brahman is sat-
rūpa. It is sūkṣma we saw in the last class. A tree is very gross, plant
is subtle, sprout is still more subtle and, in the seed-form is the most
subtle and sūkṣma or avyava. It is not bound by time it is not
conditioned by time. ṣaḍ-vikāra-rahita or nirvikāra. Such Brahman is
the basic stuff of the entire creation. He goes one step further. It is the
substance of ajñāna and saṅkalpa also. This was mentioned in the
previous verse. ajñāna is Māyā and saṅkalpa is fancy.
Brahman is the substance of all our saṅkalpas and it is saṅkalpa of

jīva’s ignorance or Māyā. The very existence of Māyā is borrowed

from Brahman. We say that Brahman is upādāna or substance behind
Māyā or ajñāna also. Here I carefully use the word Brahman is the
substance of Māyā but I don’t say Brahman is upādāna-kāraṇa of
Māyā. There is a very subtle difference. It is so because Māyā is anādi
or ajñāna is anādi; therefore, you cannot talk about its kāraṇa.
You can talk about the universe but you cannot talk about Māyā or
Brahman. Māyā is anādi and it is not a product. From beginningless
time Māyā exists with borrowed existence. The lender of existence is
Brahman. Brahman is also anādi, Māyā is also anādi and therefore,
there is no kārya-kāraṇa relationship but Māyā enjoys borrowed
existence whereas Brahman lends existence and therefore, we say
Brahman is the stuff of Māyā also. It is the very substance of Māyā
also. So the author has used the word upādānam without using the
word kāraṇa.
An example is given. Just as clay is the substance of all the

earthenware like pot, jug, etc. Clay is the stuff of the pot; Brahman is
the stuff of our saṅkalpas and the world and in fact other than
Brahman there is no substance at all. What is pot? Pot is nāma-rūpa-
karma. It is name, form and its function is the pot. There is no
substance called pot. There is no substance called Māyā, saṅkalpa or
the world. Thought is nāma-rūpa karma and there is only one
substance which is Brahman. The enquiry into Brahman is called
Vedānta-vicāra. Now we have discussed all the four questions about
jīva, jagat, Brahman, the upādāna- and nimitta-kāraṇa.

śloka 16
अहमेकोऽतप सूक्ष्मश्च ज्ञा ा साक्षी सदव्ययिः ।
दहं नात्र संदहे ो तर्चारिः सोऽयमीदृशिः ॥ १६ ॥
ahameko'pi sūkṣmaśca jñātā sākṣī sadavyayaḥ.
tadahaṃ nātra saṃdeho vicāraḥ so'yamīdṛśaḥ.
First he takes up ātma-anātma-viveka. He points out Ātman as

different from anātman. He says that mixing them up ātma-anātma-
aikya is ajñāna and ātma-anātma-bheda is jñāna. Ātma-brahma-aikya
is viveka and ātma-anātma-aikya is ajñāna. He will define Ātman in
the following few verses. The consciousness is not a part, property or
a product of a substance and consciousness is an independent entity
which pervades and enlivens all. Existence extends beyond nāmas
and rūpas and consciousness will survive even after all the objects
die. The consciousness is an independent entity. This independent
consciousness pervades and enlivens the body and it survives even
when the body is gone. Individual minus body, we think is
consciousness. To differentiate we use two words the vyakta-śarira
and once the body is removed it is avyakta-rūpa.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya does not want us to use the word Ātman.

Normally we think I am the body and I have the eternal Ātman.
Instead you should say I am Ātman and I have the body which will
go after sometime. It is an incidental addendum which will go away.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says aham ekaḥ. The reflecting mediums are many
but the sūrya-prakāśa is one and similarly the reflecting bodies are
many but the caitanya is one. I am subtle or sūkṣma and I am
separate from the body and Ātman cannot be seen. The sentiency in
the body is Ātman.

Sentiency you don’t hear, see or smell. It is asparśa. Sentiency in the
leg you appreciate and when the body is removed then cetanatva
cannot be seen. I cannot see sentiency in your body but I infer on the
basis of your reactions that you have the sentiency. That is why the
scientists are confused on the subject. None knows what
consciousness is. It is a mysterious thing because it is most subtle. It
is the experiencer of everything. The experiencer cannot be
experienced. So Ātman is seen as knower.
We have got two knowers. The mind is a knower with borrowed

caitanya. It belongs to sūkṣma-śarira. The mind is anātman and it
gets sentiency because of the Ātman. By knower here we mean
Ātman. Ātman is the original illuminator and the mind is called jñāta
and Ātman is called sākṣī. Ātman is sākṣī and mind is cidābhāsa.
Because of this, there is difference between mind and Ātman. When

the mind is passive it cannot know anything. Ātman is knower
because of its mere presence and it illumines the mind and
everything. The jñāta should be understood as nirvikāra jñāta. Ātman
is nirvikāra knower unlike the mind and therefore, it is called sākṣī.
Even though the mind is the knower, the mind wants instruments to
know things like ears, ears, tongue, etc. The mind is a knower
through media like jñānendriya whereas sākṣī does not need any
knower and therefore, it is called sākṣī. Ātman illumines the mind
without any instrument; the mind knows the world with many
instruments.
Therefore, it is called sākṣī. Ātman is sat or sat-cit-ānanda. Even

when the body dies or mind dies or the whole world dies it is sat. It is

ever-existent and it is eternal. Here he uses the word Ātman for the
consciousness-principle. That consciousness-principle I am. I am the
observer sākṣī, tad aham. I don’t have any doubt regarding that. It
has to be done on and on until it becomes a day-to-day activity. This
process is called ātma-anātma-viveka.
śloka 17
आत्मा तर्तनष्कलो ह्येको देहो बहुतभरार्ृ िः ।
् १७ ॥
योरैक्य ं प्रपश्यतन्त तकमज्ञानम िः परम ॥
ātmā viniṣkalo hyeko deho bahubhirāvṛtaḥ.
tayoraikyaṃ prapaśyanti kimajñānamataḥ param.
That the Ātman and anātman are diagonally opposite is repeated in

every verse in the following four ślokas. Some similarities are needed
to get confused. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says Māyā is so glorious that
makes the impossible possible.
Sorting out this is jñāna and mixing up is ajñāna which is said in the
second line. Ātman ekah, Ātman is one like the sunlight. The sunlight
is indivisible. You cannot divide and take it inside; light cannot be cut
and taken. Light cannot be burnt and light cannot be wet with water.
It is one. Lighted objects are many but the light is one.
Consciousness-light is one all-pervading-principle. It is viniṣkāla. The

nature of the body is diagonally different. Infinite numbers of bodies
are there and so the bodies are countless. In fact, all are illumined by
sunlight. One is eka and the other is aneka. Ātman is partless but
bodies are full of parts. We can even survive in the absence of the
indriyas. Even without organs functioning, one can survive.

We can survive without memory and even buddhi. I am pūrṇa
whether they are present or otherwise. One is niṣkāla and another is
sakāla. Ātman is niravayava and body is sāvayava. They are
diagonally opposite. I am not fat and I need not bother about it
because aham niravayavaḥ asmi.
All the time think of jñāna. When I ask ‘are you a conscious being?’
and everyone knows ‘I am a conscious being’ and consciousness is
the nature of Ātman. Immediately they say I am sitting here. I am is
okay. I am conscious Ātman seated here. When you say seated here
means you slip down to the physical body. I am not happy and here
he slips down to the mind. What ignorance is greater than this
ignorance asks Ādi Śaṅkarācārya. Among all the ignorance, the top-
most is this one when Ātman is so closely available, even then one
misses Ātman.
śloka 18
आत्मा तनयामकश्चान्तदेहो बाह्यो तनयम्यकिः ।
् १८ ॥
योरैकयं प्रपश्यतन्त तकमज्ञानम िः परम ॥
ātmā niyāmakaścāntardeho bāhyo niyamyakaḥ.
tayoraikayaṃ prapaśyanti kimajñānamataḥ param.
Ātmā niyāmakaḥ dehaḥ niyamyakaḥ. Ātman is the controller and the

body is controlled. Ātman is not physically controlling by doing any
action. Any action needs instruments, etc. Controller here means by
lending consciousness; Ātman enlivens the body. The life of the body
is the blessing of the Ātman. The very existence of the body is lent by
Ātman. But the body is the receiver of existence and consciousness.

How can the giver and receiver be identical? How can the beggar the
receiver and the rich man donating the money be one and the same?
Ātman is within and the other is outside. Whatever you can drop
easily you can drop. What is inside cannot be dropped and what is
outside can be dropped. Even dropping the outside thing, the inside
thing remains.
Even if you dis-identify with the sthūla śarira, the sūkṣma śarira
functions and even when sūkṣma śarira is dropped in sleep I am
there. You can drop everything but one thing you cannot drop that
which survives after you dis-identify from everything. You cannot
assert anything without knowing. To say there is something you have
to see inside and to say there is nothing also you have to see;
consciousness is required to prove the presence and also the absence
of things also.
Therefore, even to prove absence of consciousness you need another

consciousness. Second consciousness needs third consciousness and
so it will go and create infinite regress problem. Only one
consciousness that is ever existent and it is called Ātman. Inside here
means unremovable. What is droppable is outside and what is
undroppable is inside and what is never droppable is the innermost
consciousness. How can there be aikya with so many differences
between Ātman and anātman. More in the next class.
Class 11
śloka 18 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya pointed out that Vedānta-vicāra consists of jīva-,

jagat- and Īśvara-vicāra. Having mentioned this briefly, Ādi

Śaṅkarācārya starts the elaborate enquiry from this verse. He begins
the enquiry with ātma-anātma-viveka differentiating the true I from
anātman which appears as I. This anātma-ātma-viveka is done in two
stages: first the separation of Ātman from sthūla śarira and thereafter
separation of Ātman from sūkṣma śarira. Sthūla-śarira-viveka is done
up to 33rd verse.
Thereafter he will establish the same thing by śruti pramāṇa also.

What is the main reason he gives is this. Ātman and sthūla śarira
have got diagonally opposite features and how can the diagonally
opposite entities be one and the same? Ātman is divisionless and
non-dual consciousnesses while the śarira is divided and pluralistic.
In the 18th verse he said that Ātman is the controller and
consciousness-principle and the body is controlled. Ātman is the
internal-principle but body is external-principle. Up to this we saw in
the last class.
śloka 19
आत्मा ज्ञानमयिः पण्यो ु देहो मांसमयोऽशतु चिः ।
् १९ ॥
ātmā jñānamayaḥ puṇyo deho māṃsamayo'śuciḥ.
Ātmā jñāna-māyāḥ which means Ātman is the consciousness-

principle and body is the inert-principle. māṃsa is made of matter
and hence jaḍa-svarūpa. How can both be identical? Another
distinction is Ātmā puṇyah and dehaḥ aśuddhaḥ. The consciousness
is pure and it does not decay or stink. You need not bathe

consciousness regularly and it does not become impure as impurity is
because of decaying matter.
But consciousness in the body does not have any foul smell coming
from consciousness. Ātman is śuddha and anātman aśuddha. How
can pure and impure be treated as identical? If one sees both as
identical what greater ignorance can be there? An ordinary person
sees oneness between Ātman and anātman due to his ignorance.
What ignorance is there greater than this ignorance? When Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya says people see their aikya, no one says Ātman and
anātman has aikya. I am a human being Ātman and anātman having
aikya is a statement of mixture of two diagonally opposite things.
Table does not say ‘I am table’; hall does not say ‘I am hall’. I always
refers to a conscious being because the word ‘I’ is not used by an inert
being. The humanness is the nature of the physical body. The human
being is differentiated by animals only in terms of physical property.
When you say I am a human being we have mixed up consciousness
and the body. You should say I am consciousness and the body is
jaḍa. Human body is replaced by another body on death. The body is
changed to another human, animal or anything for that matter. The
wrong identification is due to adhyāsa.
śloka 20
आत्मा प्रकाशकिः स्वच्छो देहस्तामस उच्य े ।
् २० ॥
ātmā prakāśakaḥ svaccho dehastāmasa ucyate.

Ātmā prakāśaḥ. Ātman is the illuminator or the knower-principle or
the experiencer-principle, the conscious entity, but the body is the
illumined and experienced and it is non-luminous. The illuminator is
always luminous and shining and illumined is non-luminous. This is
illumined because it is non-luminous. A tube light will not illumine
another tube light because both are self-luminous and self-shining
and therefore, they don’t have illuminator-illumined relationship. For
illumined-illuminator relationship one should be luminous and
another must be non-luminous. Because of the Ātman body shines
and body is not luminous and body is enlivened by Ātman. Tamas
means jaḍa-rūpa. Ātmā svacchaḥ means it is bright and almost it
should be read along with prakāśah. The body is not an illumining
entity. If you mix up the illuminator and illumined it is not correct.
The ordinary people see the oneness of the two opposite things. What
greater ignorance is possible other than mixing up of Ātman and
anātman.
śloka 21
आत्मा तनत्यो तह सद्रूपो देहोऽतनत्यो ह्यसन्मयिः ।
योरैक्य ं प्रपश्यतन्त तकमज्ञानम िः परम ॥् २१ ॥
ātmā nityo hi sadrūpo deho'nityo hyasanmayaḥ.
Ātmā nityaḥ. Ātman is permanent because Ātman is sad-rūpa and it

is of the nature of consciousness and it is of the nature of existence
whereas body is anitya. The body is perishable. We will not see our
own dead body and seeing other dead bodies I know my body also
will fall one day. The body has dependent-existence and therefore,

body is anitya. I know the body is impermanent and how do I know I
am permanent? After the fall of the body I will not be there as an
individual transacting with the world. If I don’t have transactions
how do I know I will be there? For this it is said non-transaction does
not prove the nonexistence. The end of transaction does not mean
end of existence. One is existence with transaction and another is
existence without transaction.
Non-transactional existence is possible. You know butter is available

in the milk and it is not available for transaction now. The butter is
taken only when we take the butter out of milk. Butter in the milk has
got non-transactional existence. It exists but not available for
transaction. So also we find electricity in the waterfall and we get it
only when tapped. Unmanifest existence is not available for
transaction. When I go to deep sleep, I am not available for
transaction. I exist in sleep yet I don’t transact with the world. I exist
in unmanifest and non-transactional state. After death I get life with a
new body and my existence continues even after death and the fall of
my body, I am ever-existent in vyakta or avyakta form. Thus, I am
mukta. Even in pralaya I am there but I don’t transact. Hence Ātman
is nitya and anātman anitya.
śloka 22
आत्मनस्तत्प्रकाशत्वं यत्दाथावर्भासनम ।्
नाग्न्यातददीतिर्तितिभवर्त्यान्ध्यं य ो तनतश ॥ २२ ॥
ātmanastatprakāśatvaṃ yatpadārthāvabhāsanam.

nāgnyādidīptivaddiptirbhavatyāndhyaṃ yato niśi.
Ātman is prakāśah and Ātman is illuminator. Ātman is luminous and

it is shining bright. A luminous object alone can illumine other
things. Ātman is light and Ātman is compared to jyoti. Many people
take the jyoti literally and think that some light will appear on
constant meditation. This is wrong. These are all imaginations. If it is
inside it is imagination and if you see outside it is hallucination.
It is all because we take the word ‘luminous’ in a wrong sense of

light. You should take it like this— Light is an object in whose
presence things are known. You are known by me because of light.
Imagine it is midnight there is no sun, no moon and no light. We all
will be sitting but I will not experience you. Light is that in whose
presence things are known. Anything in whose presence things are
known can be called light. All the sense organs are lights in Vedānta.
Every sense organ is jyoti; ear is a jyoti. You will not see shining ears.
In the presence of ears sounds are known. Tongue is a light since in
the presence of tongue taste is known.
Similarly, my words are light. Every word is a light and it is called

vāk-jyoti. Jyoti means that in whose presence things are knownThe
consciousness alone is the ultimate-principle in whose presence
everything functions. Thus, we find the consciousness is the ultimate
light. The moon is luminous because of the sun. Between sun and the
moon, sun alone is original. Sense organs are jyoti because of
consciousness and consciousness is a jyoti because it is intrinsically
luminous and it is svayam prakāśa. Ātman is luminous not in the
literal sense of the term.

Therefore, he says tad ātmanaḥ prakāśatvam the luminosity of
Ātman is its capacity to make the objects known. But it is not a light
like the fire or like the sun, etc. Don’t compare the regular light you
experience and the consciousness-light. Ātman is not regular light
because regular light, sun, etc, make everything known and it cannot
illumine light or darkness.
Darkness cannot be known with the help of the sun. At the same time
we know darkness. That means it is due to some other light and not
regular light. The other light does not drive away the darkness. There
is a light which make the darkness known without driving it away. It
is an extraordinary light.
Other light drives away darkness but consciousness is not opposed to

darkness and it will not drive away darkness. Light of consciousness
is unlike the light of fire, etc. It is so because if the light of
consciousness is like light of fire, in the night one will not be able to
experience the darkness. He will be blind. He will be a non-
experiencer of darkness. If light of consciousness is like fire in the
light he will be a non-experiencer of darkness.
śloka 23
देहोऽहतमत्ययं मूढो धृत्वा त ष्ठत्यहो जनिः ।
ममायतमत्यतप ज्ञात्वा घटद्रष्टेर् सर्वदा ॥ २३ ॥
deho'hamityayaṃ mūḍho dhṛtvā tiṣṭhatyaho janaḥ.
mamāyamityapi jñātvā ghaṭadraṣṭeva sarvadā.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says that all the people commit this fundamental
mistake and they don’t question their assumption even after years of
debate. I assume I am the body and I have never enquired about the

fact whether it is true or not for so many years. Only when you
question the mistakes are corrected. This fundamental mistake we
have entertained since time immemorial. Even when the scriptures
want to question the conclusion the man is not ready to accept the
śruti pramāṇa.
So Ādi Śaṅkarācārya is surprised on the human delusion of the

stupid people. The people live on the feeling that ‘I am mortal’
without knowing that he is immortal. Ātman is different from
anātman body. That is how when scientist asked the question they
found that it is not the earth but sun that is at the centre of the solar
system. Truth is not based on democracy. What is right and wrong is
not determined by the majority. When one lone Vedāntin cries that
you don’t get old and none wants to listen and a few believe the
statement of Vedānta.
Only now the enquiry starts and without enquiry one cannot know
the truth. People hold on that I am the body. We have got lot of clues
to know our assumption. One is that I experience the body as an
object during the jāgṛt-avasthā and during the suṣupti-avasthā I don’t
experience the body. The body flashes as an object of experience in
jāgṛt-avasthā and disappears as object of experience in suṣupti-
avasthā. This gives us a clue that I am not the body because I, the
experiencer, have to be different from the object of experience. The
experiencer of the pot is not the pot.
The experiencer of the world is not the world. The experiencer of the
book is not the book. Similarly, the experiencer of the body is not the
body. It is so intimate that I don’t enumerate the body as an object.
When objects become instruments, we forget it is an object. A

spectacle is an object of perception and when it becomes an
instrument of perception, I don’t see it as an object. When an object
becomes a medium, we lose sight of the fact that it is an object.
We have once in a while the experience of the body. So, we start

questioning perhaps the body is not I and I am the consciousness
different from the body. More in the next class.
Class 12
śloka 23 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya deals with ātma-anātma-viveka as the first step of

Vedānta-vicāra and anātman is subdivided into three śariras—
sthūla, sūkṣma and kāraṇa śarira. He gives reasoning or logic in
support of this discrimination. Later he will give śruti support to the
effect that śarira is not Ātman. He gives two reasons to show that I
am different from the body. First the body is an object of experience
and anything experienced is different from the experiencer. sthūla-
dehaḥ ātma-bhinnaḥ, dṛśyatvāt ghaṭavat. The physical body is
different from me because it is experienced by me like a pot.
The one who sees something is different from that different

something. This is the first reasoning to prove that I am different
from observed body. There is a second reasoning. The one who is
related to something is different from that thing. If I am related to x
person, that x person is different from me and if he is not different
from me I cannot have any relationship with that person. Remember
all relationships requires duality. A relationship is always between

two. If I am related to someone it means that I am different from that
person.
The relationship is always indicated by the word mama. I refer to

myself as aham and any related to something I refers as mine. My
book, my wife, etc. Every related thing is the object of mamakāra.
Whatever is a related thing mamakāra viṣaya is different from aham.
I am different from house I am different from my dog, etc. I am the
other way round and I am God! Now the scriptures point out that
often, we refer to ourselves and the body as my body. Here body and
mind become the object of relationship. This is the second reason.
First the body is object of experience. Now we say body is object of

relationship. Just as a person sees the pot, this person sees or
experiences the body. He also refers to the body as also ‘this is my
body’. Even though we have two strong reasons to prove that I am
different from the perceived and the possessed body, I am the
possessor and I am the perceiver and I am possessed by the body.
Unfortunately, I call my body as aham and what a great wonder it is.
If animal does it, it is understandable. But here the human being does
with intellect.
śloka 24
ब्रह्मैर्ाहं समिः शान्तिः सतिदानंदलक्षणिः ।
ु े बधु ैिः ॥ २४ ॥
नाहं देहोह्यसद्रूपो ज्ञानतमत्यच्य
brahmaivāhaṃ samaḥ śāntaḥ saccidānaṃdalakṣaṇaḥ.
nāhaṃ dehohyasadrūpo jñānamityucyate budhaiḥ.
In the previous verses Ādi Śaṅkarācārya pointed out that aham

dehaḥ is the ignorance. All our transactions are based on that

fundamental standard aham dehaḥ. When you say I come to the class
means you indirectly say I come with my body. One day a person
comes and say that it is my birthday and bless me. You are blessed
though you are never born, the body is born. Sthūla śarira alone has
relationship and all transactions are based on this fundamental
mistake of ignorance. That is why karma is called avidyā since karma
is based on ignorance. I am the body is the confusion. You have a
scale and with that you measure the things. If that measuring scale is
wrong whatever you measure will be wrong.
In the same way all our actions are based on the ignorance. nāham
dehaḥ is repeated and this knowledge that I am not the body is
repeated in every śloka. The body is an instrument of transactions.
The spectacle is an object of perception like hall, etc. The moment I
put it on my eyes the object becomes an instrument and then we
forget the fact and unknowingly I take the spectacle as an integral
part of myself. An object is forgotten as an object when it serves as an
instrument. In the same way the whole world is an object, sūkṣma
śarira is an object. But when both are used as a means of transaction
then we take them as subject themselves. To prove the world as an
object is easy but it is difficult to prove that the spectacle is an object
as I take it as the instrument.
Now we have to take the body also as an object. How to remove the
body? You need not physically remove it. You recollect suṣupti-
avasthā. It is then both sthūla śarira and sūkṣma śarira are removed
and you don’t operate them and you don’t make use of them. When
both śariras are not used then there is neither the dream or the outer
world. Even after the removal of both śariras when the body and

mind are not functional the perceiver, the conscious-principle, is
there behind. I will not see the world because the spectacle is not
there.
In suṣupti, the perceived world is gone because the perceiver is

dormant. That is why I slept like a log of wood and I did not
experience anything is an experience. Therefore, aham na dehaḥ.
Body is asat-rūpa. I am not the body medium. My body is mithyā
and it is impermanent. I am not the impermanent medium of body
for I exist even when the body medium is dormant and stop
transacting with the world. When I go to sleep, I cease to be a
transacting entity but I continue to be existing entity. When the
transaction ends, we think the existence also ends. End of
transactions is not the end of transaction. I am an existing entity but
not a transacting entity.
Here transacting instruments are folded. I am not impermanent

transacting medium but I am the permanent consciousness. I am not
an impermanent body. One thing we cannot accept is disappearing
or dying. We reject mortality fully. This instinctive hold or
attachment to life is called abhiniveśah. We cannot accept out
mortality. We are great philosophers with regard to the mortality of
others. I cannot stand my mortality. It is so because your nature is
immortality. That is what we instinctively seek. What we seek also
proves that I am immortal. Suppose you have got water and the
temperature is very low when the water becomes ice. As long as the
temperature is normal and the water is in liquid condition, we call it
water. Therefore, there is a struggle to change itself and it is until the
whole water becomes ice because ice is the true nature in that

temperature.
Then when you increase the temperature and, in that temperature,

solid condition is unnatural and struggle starts and completes until
the solid ice become the water. Now we naturally reject mortality
because mortality is unnatural to us. If mortality is unnatural what is
natural is immortality. That is why we are not able to accept
mortality. One method is getting children.
This person is survived by children and we name some building or

name our children and it is our natural urge to be alive always. Aham
brahmaiva and I am Brahman the infinite one, the limitless one in the
form of caitanya which is in and through the body but not
conditioned by the body.
Remember the four points that consciousness is an independent

entity consciousness is not a part, property or a product of a
substance and consciousness is an independent entity which
pervades and enlivens all and consciousness extends beyond nāmas
and rūpas and consciousness will survive even after all the objects
die. When the body perishes the consciousness is not manifest for the
want of body.
Consciousness is uniform but the medium is multiform. So many

different types of bodies are there but not the light which pervades
and illumines all. The bodies are different but not the caitanya. It is
undisturbed. An object of illumination may move but not the light; so
also, the caitanya.
Ātman is permanent and it survives the destruction of the medium

and continues even after the fall of the body. It is cit because it is of

the nature of consciousness-principle; and it is called ānanda for it is
free from sufferings and wants. It is free of limitations. Any limitation
expresses itself in the mind in the form of want or need or
dependence and this want alone is the sorrow or inadequacy. The
suffering comes only when you have a feeling that you lack
something and you go for hunting for the lacking something. You
feel loneliness and you have the limitation and limitation is isolation
and isolation is suffering and as long as you feel small you will have
problems. You have the feeling I am small and I need people and
things and when they are not there, I feel that I am small.
The problem comes down to emotion and that is why people are not
able to understand the problem of limitation. Ignorance is disowning
fullness; disowning fullness is smallness and smallness is isolation
and isolation seeing lackness. Lackness leads to smallness and
saṃsāra. If you identify with Ātman, you feel you are full and you
cannot reject anyone nor you feel rejected by anyone. Feeling rejected
is saṃsāra and your rejecting others is called lack of love.
After knowledge I cannot reject; how can space reject anyone for I am
all-pervading. Therefore, sat-cit-ānanda-lakṣaṇa and this discovery is
called jñāna. Remember that consciousness is ‘I am’, jñānam iti
ucchayate, is called wisdom. It is emotional fullness and emotional
maturity. This is called wisdom by the wise people.
śloka 25
तनर्हर्कारो तनराकारो तनरर्द्योऽहमव्ययिः ।
ु
नाहं देहो ह्यसद्रूपो ज्ञानतमत्यच्य े बधु ैिः ॥ २५ ॥
nirvikāro nirākāro niravadyo:'hamavyayaḥ.
nāhaṃ deho hyasadrūpo jñānamityucyate budhaiḥ.

The second line is the repetition of the second line of the previous
śloka. I am not the impermanent body but I am the caitanya and I am
nirvikāra free from sixfold modification which is the characteristic of
the body. The most important is that we come to know there are
joints in the body. Better be prepared to welcome to jarā and death.
Jarā is old age and death, or decay and death. Body is asat-rūpah and
I am forever. Hand has a form and not the light.
Formless consciousness I am; niravadya means nirdośa. All the three

śariras have got intrinsic defects. The body is a polluted one with lot
of physical impurities and that is why we have to constantly clean the
body. Sūkṣma śarira is full of defects— kāma, krodha, mada
mātsarya, etc. Also, it has limitation of knowledge, etc. Kāraṇa śarira
is embodiment of avidyā and tamoguṇa. Caitanya is nirdośa. I am
nirdośah and avyaya and therefore, unchanging and undecaying. It is
almost repetition of nirvakāra, the changeless aham. I am that
changeless.
Always I am used to saying ‘I am useless’, so constantly I know and

the people also say. How can it be flushed from my mind? I should
reject my limitation and I should constantly assert myself as
limitlessness Ātman. I am chidānanda-svarūpa; I should know. This
is called jñāna. The waker is not affected by any kind of blemishes in
his dream so too when I wake up to this great reality none of the
blemishes of this imperfect world can ever be and affect me. I am the
pure consciousness. I am that pure consciousness all-pervading, I am
ever-immaculate. More in the next class.

Class 13
śloka 25 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya deals with ātma-anātma-viveka from 17th verse

onwards. In that topic now he will show Ātman and sthūla-śarira-
viveka, discrimination between Ātman and the physical body. First
he uses logic and reasoning in this regard and later he will take the
scriptural statements in support of his claim. He says Ātman and
deha have got diagonally opposite features and they cannot be
equated. The body and Ātman are not even similar and how can we
mix up two things which are totally different! How can we take them
as one and the same and it is due to ajñāna and sorting them out is
jñāna. First is the stage of negation and second is the stage of
assertion. First I have to say that I am not the body. It is internalized
idea and it is a deep orientation. That is why Ādi Śaṅkarācārya does
the negation in five verses.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya consciously repeats because understanding is not

sufficient but one has to internalize it. Let me not cling to the body
too much and let me use it but let me not attach too much importance
to it. I am not the body which means body has got to be brought to
the Vedāntic meditation. ātma-dhyāna will not work unless anātma-
niṣedha is done. It is like painting the wall over the old paint. First
scrap the old one for the second one to fix well. I am father, I am wife;
these type of strong first coating is there.
Over the coating, teacher says you are Brahman. This cannot stick
over the ‘I am body’ coating. So, we should scratch our thinking so: I
am not the body. Then our attitude towards the body will change.

My attitude towards the world and the people will change only if I
know I am not the physical body. Then I am nirvikāra. Nirākāra I am
formless. You cannot say space is growing, space is dying and it is
relative sense of the term. Just as formless space does not have
growth and decay, the formless consciousness also is free from all the
dośas. I don’t have three forms of suffering from the body, environs
and the God.
śloka 26
तनरामयो तनराभासो तनर्हर्कल्पोऽहमा िः ।
ु
नाहं देहो ह्यसद्रूपो ज्ञानतमत्यच्य े बधु ैिः ॥ २६ ॥
nirāmayo nirābhāso nirvikalpo:'hamātataḥ.
That Ātman is not subject to change. If I am not this perishable body,

I am free from all diseases. But we find jñānīs do suffer diseases. Here
when jñānī says I am free from disease means here the I refers to
Ātman the consciousness and not the body of the jñānī which is
subject to decay and disease. Disease is the intrinsic nature of the
body. Whether jñānī or ajñānī, one is subject to disease. The very
arrival of the body is for the exhaustion of prārabdha and prārabdha
is a mixture of puṇya-pāpa. Jñānī may not acquire puṇya-pāpa but he
has acquired puṇya-pāpa in the form of prārabdha. The very fact he
is alive indicates that his prārabdha karma is not over. Never expect
jñānī’s śarira to be perfectly healthy. Jñānī may be healthier than an
ajñānī because he may not be affected by wrong thinking and
unhealthy attitude. Jñānī cannot escape prārabdha-caused diseases.

It is not objectifiable and it cannot be illumined by the intellect. Every
time you get knowledge you illumine the object by your intellect.
Ātman is not knowable, not objectifiable, because of it being the very
subject. The subject is a fact which is not subject to objectification. The
subject cannot become object and object cannot become the subject.
You can see everything except your own eyes. The consciousness can
objectify everything except consciousness itself. We should also add
another statement— if Ātman is unknowable you are pessimist. It
Ātman is unknowable you may get a doubt as to whether Ātman
exists at all. What is the difference between man’s horn and Ātman.
You cannot see touch and describe man’s horn because he does not
have. A nonexistence man’s horn is unknowable and Ātman is also
unknowable.
Now we get the fundamental doubt whether the Ātman exists or not.
Ātman cannot be known Ātman need not be known because it is self-
evident as I. With a torch light in a dark room I reach every object
and now I want to know whether I need a torch light to know the
torch light! In the picture I see everything but I know there is a
person who is not in the picture, but who existed where the picture is
there, who took the picture. He exists and you can appreciate his
existence without seeing him and he is the photographer. That
photographer is I, the consciousness. The mind is within the picture
and there is something outside the body and the mind and world and
that photographer is I the consciousness.
So, we call it nirābhāsa. It is self-groomed and it is called nirābhāsa. It

is without division and all divisions belong to the body, mind and the
world. Light pervades everywhere but light itself is not divided.

Therefore, vikalpa-rahita. It is sarvagata all-pervading. vyāpta. So
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says you should train yourself to use first person
singular. I am nirvikalpa, I am sarvagata, etc. This is jñāna.
śloka 27
वु ो तनतियो तनत्यो तनत्यमत
तनगण ु ोऽहमच्य ु िः ।
ु
नाहं देहो ह्यसद्रूपो ज्ञानतमत्यच्य े बधु ैिः ॥ २७ ॥
nirguṇo niṣkriyo nityo nityamukto:'hamacyutaḥ.
I am not the perishable body and I am nirguṇa and I am free from all
properties or attributes. This I have discussed before. I am different
from any experienced object and any known object; all known
attributes belong to the known object and never to the knower
subject. All experienced attributes belong to experienced object and
never to experiencer subject. The orange colour is experience and it
belongs to cloth. All experienced property belongs to the body.
Similarly, jealousy, greed, sukha, duḥkha, etc., belong to the mind
and the experiencer is free from all the properties. If you talk about
the properties of the experiencer, the experiencer should become an
object of the property. If the experiencer becomes an object of
experience, then you will need another experiencer to know the
experience. Experiencer number two has the property or not. Then
the experiencer number two should become an object and then you
need an experiencer three. Any property you talk about it is not
about the experiencer but it is all about what is experienced. I don’t
have any one of the experiences. They belong to the world or the
body or to the mind and they never belong to me the subject.

There are not so many consciousnesses in the class but there are so
many individual bodies and minds. I am attributeless consciousness.
Guṇa means here good and bad attributes and I am free from all
good and bad attributes. Ātman is dharma-adharma-atīta, puṇya-
pāpa -atīta. Niśkriya means free from action because action needs
movement. Any action has got either gross or subtle movement. If
you think or read the movements are thought-movements. Even if
you sit in the class motionless your mind is highly active. Ātman
cannot have either gross or subtle movement because it is all-
pervading; just like space cannot move from one place to another
place. Space-travel means travel in space.
That the consciousness travels means all travel in consciousness.

Everything moves in me and I never move. In dream I seem to move
and from waker’s angle there is no movement at all although in his
dream there is lot of movement. Therefore, it is nitya. I am eternal
without birth and death and I am witness of the birth and death and
change of everything. I am kālātīta. Anything falls within time
disappear along with the time. If a person sits on the carpet when the
carpet is removed, he is also to remove. Therefore, whoever is
removed along with the carpet is within and whoever is not removed
is outside. In time carpet the whole world rests the sun, moon, etc.
The moment you go to sleep, the time disappears and that is why you
have the problem of getting up. In sleep there is no time-sense. You
want to have half an hour sleep. But you not being aware of the time,
you sleep more than wanted. The whole world is removed and the
world rests over the time carpet. One thing is not removed and that is
you; you are there as witness and that witness is not removed along
with the time because witness is there to witness the absence of both:

the removal of the time and removal of the world. The conclusion is
that the world falls within the time carpet but the witness-
consciousness is outside the time carpet. Don’t look around for the
witness-consciousness because you are the blessed witness-
consciousness.
Similarly, the space also. In the dream or sleep the space-carpet is

removed, world is removed; still I am there. That is why I is not
located in time and space. We cannot locate consciousness because
consciousness has no location. Who can locate consciousness? None.
Everything is located in the consciousness including the time and
space. The world is located in time and space, while time and space
are located in consciousness; and consciousness is not located
anywhere. Ātman is svayam pratiṣṭha. Aham nitya. Therefore, only it
is said aham nitya-mukta I am ever free from mortality. Timewise
limitation is mortality and spacewise limitation is called smallness. I
am free from mortality and I am infinite. You are always pushed to
be small. This problem you cannot avoid as long as you are an
individual. The ‘I’ the Ātman cannot be pushed; the feeling of being
left out is not there; I am ever be free from all the limitations.
Either you are ever free or you are never free. Never work for
freedom and if you are never free there is no use to work for
freedom. If you are ever free there is no need to work for freedom. If
freedom comes in time it has a beginning and it will certainly have an
end also. It is bondage. If freedom comes in time, it is only a
temporary freedom and it is a misnomer. The real freedom cannot
come. Freedom that comes is not freedom. It is false freedom.
Fearless freedom you own up. We have to discover the fact that it

does not depend on anything. The freedom is eternal and I am
fearless. I am one without a fall. I will not fall to the bondage whereas
the freedom that comes is subject to loss. Vedānta wants to say that
you are acyuta. You are ever-free. This is called jñāna.
śloka 28
ु ोऽहमजरोऽमरिः ।
तनमवलो तनश्चलोऽनन्तिः शद्ध
ु
नाहं देहो ह्यसद्रूपो ज्ञानतमत्यच्य े बधु ैिः ॥ २८ ॥
nirmalo niścalo:'nantaḥ śuddho:'hamajaro:'maraḥ.
Second time it is said that I am not the body. I am free from impurity
at all the three levels. I am not affected by the physical illness. I am
free from impurity at all levels and aham nirmalah. Therefore, I am
śuddha. I am ever-pure. All these things you have to assimilate. You
are nitya śuddha svarūpa and first get out of the sin. Your problem is
not the kind of sin but ignorance and what you need is wisdom. I am
free from movement. It is similar to niśkriya of the previous verse.
Ananta; I am free from any limitation. I am boundless and
dimensionless. I am free from attributeless limitation. To have an
attribute is to negate all the opposite attributes. If you say I am a
human being you indirectly say I am not so and so; I am not animal, I
am not plant, etc. If you say I am small, you say I am not big, etc.
Subtler the specification subtler is the negation. The more attribute
you add the more the negation. You have to get disqualified and then
only you are qualified for mokṣa. More in the next class.

Class 14
śloka 28 contd.
As a part of ātma-anātma-viveka Ādi Śaṅkarācārya now discusses

the difference between Ātman and sthūla śarira. He wants to point
out that Ātman is of the nature of consciousness which is different
from sthūla śariraThe consciousness is not a part, property or a
product of a substance and consciousness is an independent entity
which pervades and enlivens all; and consciousness extends beyond
nāmas and rūpas and consciousness will survive even after all the
objects die. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya describes the nature of that
consciousness which is called Ātman. We should know separation of
consciousness and the body. Even science has concluded that
consciousness is temporary phenomenon of the brain. So no scientist
will accept the survival of consciousness after the fall of the body. All
others take consciousness as part or property but in Vedānta we
point out consciousness is an independent entity. Therefore, every
individual is a mixture of two independent entities one is body and
the other is consciousness. Every individual is a mixture of matter
and the spirit, Ātman and anātman and acetana and cetana tattva.
Having accepted these two separate entities, the next job is to realize
that the conscious part is myself. When I go to claim myself as the
body, my attitude to the body is totally different. Once I have a
particular attitude to myself, that will influence my outlook towards
the world and God also. Therefore, when there is a change in
identification, there will be great change in my attitude towards
myself, the world and Īśvara. When I see I am the body, I am affected
by the world the changes in the weather affects me; things affect me

and when I am the body, I am afraid of the world and when I am
frightened by the world, I will not appreciate the glory of the world.
A frightening thing cannot be appreciated. As an individual body I

cannot appreciate the world and not only the world is frightening,
even the God is frightening. Īśvara stands there with vajrāyudha in
hand. It is a frightening God we have, and all are based on the world
or God, but the perspective frightens me and cognitive change is
needed and the change is the word I is in the body-medium and it
should start leaning on independent conscious entity which survives
even the destruction of the body. That consciousness is not affected
by the world change, planetary change, etc. They may influence my
body and mind but they will influence anātman and not the Ātman.
First, we appreciate that there are two things one is matter and
another consciousness and then learn to shift the I from matter to
consciousness. This Ādi Śaṅkarācārya helps us to improve. Aham
nirmalaḥ, aham nirchalaḥ, aham anantaḥ, aham ajarāḥ aham amaraḥ,
and aham śuddhaḥ should be realized. The understanding part is
śravaṇa and training part is manana. Initially it is a verbal statement.
If one practices then he can say aham nityah.
It is not enough to say I am Ātman the consciousness and there must

be negation statement also that I am not the body, I am not the
mortal, I am free from disease. Whatever I am superimposing I
should negate. The conscious negation and conscious assertion
should go together. These verses are not only teaching śloka but for
nididhyāsana also. Your heart and soul should be involved in the
teaching. Therefore, conscious negation and assertion is stressed in
these ślokas.

śloka 29
ु
स्वदेहे शोभनं सन्तं परुषाख्यं च संम म ।्
रक मूख व शून्यमात्मानं देहा ी ं करोतष भोिः ॥ २९ ॥
svadehe śobhanaṃ santaṃ puruṣākhyaṃ ca saṃmatam.
kiṃ mūrkha śūnyamātmānaṃ dehātītaṃ karoṣi bhoḥ.
The nature of Ātman is further discussed here. Ātman is the

consciousness which is available in the physical body for
appreciation. In one’s own śarira-traya consciousness is available as
aham aham, I am, I am, the constant Self-awareness is the expression
of consciousness. To say ‘I am’, I don’t need any specific operation or
any work. To prove ‘I am’ I need not even know. I am evident even
before any proving operations starts.
The prover of everything need not be proved because it is self-

evident even before proving operation start. If I say consciousness is
in the body you will get a doubt. You will think that consciousness is
inside and you will think that it is not outside. You should know
consciousness is all-pervading and body is located in the
consciousnessThe consciousness is manifest in the body. Non-
perceptibility is not nonexistence. Avyakta-rūpeṇa sarvatra
vartamānam vyakta-rūpeṇa it is in the body. Electricity is there
everywhere in unmanifest-form but it is manifest in the bulb.
Consciousness is manifest in the body. There also one limitation is

thereThe consciousness is manifest in his own or her own body but
consciousness is not manifest in someone else’s body. I have no
method of knowing the consciousness in your body. Sense organs
will appreciate śabda, gandha, sparśa, etc., but cannot identify the
consciousness. I cannot infer consciousness.

Science can invent a doll that human beings do. How do you know
that you are not a doll? Time may come when scientific knowledge
can do all the things. Even inference cannot prove it is a program on
robot or a conscious human being. That I am a conscious being I need
not prove and self-consciousness is self-evident. Only thing is that
consciousness is evidently available for me in my body. In ant also
consciousness is identical with Brahman. Śobhana means maṅgala
auspicious; śiva maṅgala-rūpa. ānanda is called auspiciousness. The
sorrow is amaṅgala. śobhana is ānanda-rūpa. There is another
meaning also. Śobhana means prakāśa. If you take that meaning it is
cit-rūpa. Ātman is named as Puruṣa by all the scriptures. In common
parlance Puruṣa means male. When you translate Puruṣa means
male, it is clear that it refers to the body alone and in common
parlance it is male and anātman.
In Vedāntic parlance, Puruṣa means it is neither male nor female and

it is Ātman the consciousness. Why do you call Ātman the Puruṣa? In
Vedānta Ātman is called Puruṣa purely on the etymology of the
word: puri vasati iti Puruṣa. Pura is one part and vas is another part.
Pura is śarira; the root vas means indwelling, obtaining. Puri means
in the body and vasati means that which obtains. That which obtains
in the body is consciousness. There is one more etymological
derivation. Pūr means to fill up or pervade. Pūraṇa means pūrṇa that
which fills is pūrṇa. Ātman is called Puruṣa because that which
pervades that which penetrates that which inheres everything is
called Puruṣa. This is the named Puruṣa. That is why as a parallel
concept the matter concept is called prakṛti. That is how we have
have got twin concept of prakṛti and Puruṣa.

Anything non-material is Puruṣa and that which is material is
prakṛti. The body is prakṛti and consciousness is Puruṣa and as body
is intimately associated with Puruṣa, we mix up both. Right from the
word ‘I’ we have got the problem with words and sentences. Tar road
scorched my feet. Only one thing that can scorch your feet is fire. In
winter you walk on the tar road, in the night the tar road does not
scorch your feet. The fire-principle has scorched your feet. The fire-
principle that pervades the tar road scorched your feet. Since the fire
and road are intimately connected, we say tar road scorched.
Scorching nature is transferred from fire to the road. The
consciousness is Puruṣa and consciousness intimately pervades the
body and we transfer the word Puruṣa to the physical body and
calling the Puruṣa as body.
Therefore, when you use the word Puruṣa for the body it is a
secondary meaning and when you use the Puruṣa for consciousness
it is the primary meaning. It is named Puruṣa in the scriptures not in
the common parlance. Sammatam in this context means well revealed
in the scriptures. Even now we are not sure in which branch of
science the consciousness should be included. It is extremely difficult
to study. Every branch of science avoids taking up the study of
consciousness. If you want to know about consciousness you go to
Upaniṣad and you cannot know anything about consciousness from
any science where the enquirer is enquired into the perceiver is
perceived. You should never get it objectified for it is objectifier.
Consciousness is beyond the body. When you say something is

beyond it can refer to being away. Spatial distance implies spatial
limitation. Therefore, the word beyond normally conveys spatial

distance and spatial limitation. I say Ātman is beyond the body. It is
beyond the mind. Then one tries to go beyond the body and the
mind. All the confusion is because of certain Upaniṣadic words and
one such word is atīta and jyoti. It is beyond and it is jyoti are two
words that confuse us. Here, beyond does not mean spatial distance
or beyond limitation. Then what does it mean? Here the word
beyond means asaṅga unaffected by the body. Beyond the world
means consciousness is unaffected by the world. Light is beyond the
hand means whatever happens in the hand the light is not affected.
Ātman is associated with body. That is the nature of Ātman. The

word Ātman itself has got several meanings. Āp means pervade;
Ātman has got different meaning. Ātman means all-pervading.
Having discussed the Ātman, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya criticizes some of the
other philosophers for their wrong perception. The common mistake
people commit is this. It cannot be inferred and it is not available for
the day-to-day transactions. Then you get a doubt such a thing is not
there. Not being experienced is taken as nonexistence. When
something is beyond perception and transaction is considered as non-
existent. Buddhists consider that Ātman is śūnya. He asks why do
you conclude that this Ātman is śūnya or blankness? It is not so.
More in the next class.
Class 15
śloka 29 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya continues this ātma-anātma-viveka and that too

ātma-sthūla-śarira-viveka differentiating the self from the body. This

he started from the verse number 17. Ātman is in the body and it is
clear it is different from the body. Ātman and body has a relationship
which being locator-located relationship. Therefore, Ātman is
different from the body and it is of the nature of auspiciousness
which is called Puruṣa as revealed in all the Upaniṣad. In the second
line Ādi Śaṅkarācārya negates śūnyavadī who does not accept Ātman
as different from the body because Ātman is not available for any
pramāṇa. Anything not available for any pramāṇa we say it is not
available for perception or proved by inference, etc. If there is a thing
not available for any experience, we say it is non-existent. For that
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says if Ātman is not available for knowing it is not
because it is not non-existent but it happens to be the observer. It is
not witnessed because it is the very witness. You cannot deny its
existence because you are the Ātman. How can you see the Ātman as
śūnya and if you say Ātman is śūnya it indirectly means that you are
śūnya. It means that you are not existent. Is it not contradiction that
you are non-existent? It is like saying my mother is a barren woman
or I don’t have a tongue. It is a contradiction. That contradiction you
make and therefore, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya calls him mūrkha.
śloka 30
स्वात्मानं शृण ु मूख व त्वं श्रत्य ु ा च पूरुषम ।्
ु ा यक्त्य
ु शं भर्ादृशैिः ॥ ३० ॥
देहा ी ं सदाकारं सददव
svātmānaṃ śṛṇu mūrkha tvaṃ śrutyā yuktyā ca pūruṣam.
dehātītaṃ sadākāraṃ sudurdarśaṃ bhavādṛśaiḥ.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya addresses the same person who thinks Ātman is

śūnya or non-existence. Now he says I will teach more about Ātman.

May you listen more about Ātman. Ātman is Puruṣa. Puruṣa is one
who dwells in the body and one who fills everything is Puruṣa. I will
teach about Ātman with the help of yukti pramāṇa as well as śruti
pramāṇa. First, he teaches with the help of yukti.
Ātman is beyond the deha. Experiencer is different from experienced.

Body is experienced, while I am the experiencer and therefore, I am
deha-atita. If it is not the body what is the nature of that Ātman. He
says Ātman is of the nature of the pure existence. Ātman is not an
existent one but the existence itself. It is sat-rūpa. If Ātman is the pure
existence which is other than the body how can I experience the
existence? Here the mic exists means we experience with the mic the
object. We always experience existence along with some name some
form. The scripture says Ātman is pure existence. How can I
experience the pure existence? You have to negate all the names,
forms, sounds, etc. Then what will be left out is your existence. Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya says that pure existence cannot be experienced for
people like you your existence cannot be understood. Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya addressed that śūnya-vādī. For persons like you your
existence cannot be recognized. For people like us your existence can
be understood. We know the answer.
Whenever you try to objectify the pure existence you will fail because
existence can be objectified only when it is associated with name and
form and once you remove name and form pure existence cannot be
known and once you remove the name and form is equal to self-
evident consciousness. Existence minus name and form is self-
evident consciousness which cannot be experienced but we have to
own up that it is aham. It is evident in every particular experience. It

is not available for particular experience. That is it is called
pratibodhaviditam matam.
śloka 31
अहंशिेन तर्ख्या एक एर् तस्थ िः परिः ।
ु ॥
स्थूलस्त्वनेक ां प्राििः कथं स्यािेहकिः पमान ् ३१ ॥
ahaṃśabdena vikhyāta eka eva sthitaḥ paraḥ.
sthūlastvanekatāṃ prāptaḥ kathaṃ syāddehakaḥ pumān.
In the previous verse we saw Ātman is pure existence and it cannot

be objectively experienced but it is evident in every experience. How
is Ātman evident in every experience? It is evident as aham the I.
Whatever experience you talk about the common factor is I; I
experience sorrow, I experience happiness, I experience the ordinary
thing, I experience waking, I experience sleep. In all of them, I is
common and for the evidence of the I, no mental process is required.
To experience form, there is a process and to experience sleep there is
a particular process in the mind, but I am evident; it does not require
any process. When you listen, your mind undergoes some change. As
even the class is happening the mind undergoes some change, but for
I to be evident the mind need not do any job. Therefore, it is evident
in the form of aham. The mistake we commit is that the
consciousness is evident in the mind and through the mind it is
evident in the body also; when it is evident in the body-mind-
complex, we mix it along with consciousness. When the light is
evident on the hand, we commit a mistake to mix the light along with
the hand and the dimension of hand is included in the light.

Similarly, when I say aham I am the all-pervading light-like
consciousness which is evident in the body and dimensions belong to
the body and it does not belong to Ātman. Once you include the
dimension, I becomes an ego and once you remove the dimension, I
am the Ātman. Add the dimension it is ego and remove the
dimension the ego goes. Use the word aham and don’t take the
dimensions and understand that dimension belongs to the body. If
you include the dimension it is the primary meaning of aham and if
you remove the dimension it is the secondary meaning of aham and
the primary meaning of aham is ego and the secondary meaning of
the aham is Ātman.
First meaning is I am seated here but in the secondary meaning is I

am sarvagata and what is seated here is the body. Aham-śabda-
lakṣyārtha is well-known to Vedāntic student and for others it is not
known. If you include the body the ahams are many and if you
separate the body and take consciousness alone it is non-dual. It is
partless and it is eka. It is para. It is beyond the body dehātīta. Light
is neither the part nor is it a product of the hand and it is not a
property of the hand. Similarly, consciousness is deha-atīta. It is the
nature of Ātman.
The bodies are many and it also consists of many parts. Spare parts
are also there. Some of the organs have stepney also. The body is
sāvayava and Ātman is niravayava and how can partless Ātman be
the body with parts! Deha itself means body but he adds suffix ka,
which means it talks about the smallness of the object. The smallness
in terms of quantity and quality is indicated here. The body is
infinitesimally small whereas Ātman is infinitely big and how can

inferior body and superior Ātman be equated. The impossible we
have managed to make possible because of the Māyā.
śloka 32
अहं द्रष्टृ या तसद्धो देहो दृश्य या तस्थ िः ।
ममायतमत तनदेशात्कथं स्यािेहकिः पमान ु ॥ ् ३२ ॥
ahaṃ draṣṭṛtayā siddho deho dṛśyatayā sthitaḥ.
mamāyamiti nirdeśātkathaṃ syāddehakaḥ pumān.
It is almost a repetition of the verse number 23. He repeats because in

spite of elaborate teaching śūnyavadī did not understand the topic.
The teacher consciously repeats the teaching. He repeats out of
compassion. There are two reasons to show that I am different from
the body. I am the experiencer and the body is experienced. I am the
experienced subject and deha is object and dṛśya and experienced
object. The experiencer cannot be experienced. The seer eye cannot be
seen at any time; the original seer eye can never be seen by the seer
eye. We refer to the body as my body. My body is sick my body is
strong. What is referred to as mine is not me. What is mine is related
to me and what is related to me is not me. There is reference to the
body as mamāyām. This is the body mine and this body is mine.
Because of this reference also body cannot be me.
śloka 33
अहं तर्कारहीनस्त ु देहो तनत्यं तर्कारर्ान ।्
ु ॥
इत प्र ीय े साक्षात्कथं स्यािेहकिः पमान ् ३३ ॥
ahaṃ vikārahīnastu deho nityaṃ vikāravān.
iti pratīyate sākṣātkathaṃ syāddehakaḥ pumān.

Another reason is given to show that I am different from the body. I
am free from all the modification or changes. One day the body dies
but as far as I am concerned, I am the witness of the changes and I am
free. We have the doubt how do I exist after the death of the body?
Here I don’t know in what condition I will be there after death. Since
that cannot be experienced, we say something similar to death; that is
going different state of experience. The different state of experience is
dream or sleep and sleep is similar to death. Death is therefore,
compared to the long sleep. In sleep also I don’t experience the body,
the world, I don’t transact with any one and other is not able to
transact with me.
For all practical purposes we are dead. Whenever you are associated
with dead bodies you take bath and during sleep you are in
association with your own dead body and hence you are to take bath
after getting up from sleep. One has to take bath in the morning for
spiritual reasons. If this can be understood, you can understand that
after death also you exist in unmanifest form and take new birth as if
waking up after sleep. The dreamer is also as good as dead but
transact with some other world which is the dream world. Therefore,
whether we transact or not, transact with this or some other world,
we continue to exist all the time transacting or not transacting. But
the body is subject to modification. To understand this, you don’t
need a telescope or any other instrument. It is ever-evident in day-to-
day transactions. It is directly experienced. How can this dirty body
be taken as the pure caitanya?

śloka 34
ु ा या परुषलक्षणम
यस्मात्रतमत श्रत्य ु ।्
तर्तनणी ं तर्मूढन ु ॥
े कथं स्यािेहकिः पमान ् ३४ ॥
yasmātparamiti śrutyā tayā Puruṣalakṣaṇam.
vinirṇītaṃ vimūḍhena kathaṃ syāddehakaḥ pumān.
With the previous verse sthūla-śarira-viveka with the help of logic is

over. From now on to verse 38 again the same sthūla-śarira-viveka is
done with the help of scriptures. Different vedic statements are given.
Here he refers to a well-known statement occurring in Mahānarayana
Upaniṣad. yasmāt paraṃ nāparam asti kiñcit is the beginning of the
Upaniṣad vākya. This mantra is used whenever a saṃnyāsī is
welcomed. In temples also this mantra is chanted. The essence of the
mantra is Ātman is beyond all the kośas, beyond fourteen lokas and
it is beyond everything but nothing is beyond that Ātman. The
relevance of the mantra is that it is beyond the body. The nature of
Ātman is well ascertained by this śruti statement by an intelligent
person. When the śruti says very clearly how can we take that Ātman
is the body.
śloka 35
ु एर्ेत सूते परुषसं
सर्ं परुष ु तज्ञ े ।
ु
अप्यच्य ु ा कथं स्यािेहकिः पमान
े य िः श्रत्य ु ॥ ् ३५ ॥
sarvaṃ puruṣa eveti sūkte puruṣasaṃjñite.

apyucyate yataḥ śrutyā kathaṃ syāddehakaḥ pumān.
In this Ādi Śaṅkarācārya quotes another statement from a well-

known Veda. It is from Puruṣa-suktam. Sarvam Puruṣa eva. Those
who know Puruṣa-suktam they study the fundamental camaka and
Puruṣa-sukta. Puruṣa eva idaṃ sarvam. It occurs in all the four
Vedas. It says Puruṣa eva idaṃ sarvam. That Puruṣa is everything. If
I am Puruṣa, the Veda says that you the Puruṣa is everything. If I am
the body, can I say the body is everything. If I take myself as the
body, I cannot say my body is everything. Puruṣa must be something
other than the body that is referred to here. I the Puruṣa must refer to
deha-vyatirikta Ātman and not to the limited body. This being so,
how can the body be the Ātman? More in the next class.
Class 16
śloka 35 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya continues the topic of ātma-anātma-viveka with

reference to sthūla śarira. Here first he gave yukti or reasoning in
support of this discrimination and now he shows the difference with
the help of Veda pramāṇa. He quoted Mahānarayana Upaniṣad and
Puruṣa-suktam where it is said that Puruṣa is all-pervading.
This statement does not directly differentiate Ātman from body and
it says Puruṣa is all-pervading and from this one has to derive that
Puruṣa is different from the body. If Puruṣa is the body, certainly the
body cannot pervade all. Since Puruṣa is all-pervading it is evident
that Puruṣa is different from the body. The Upaniṣad defines Puruṣa
as caitanya beyond the pañca kośas. It is Ātman caitanya, not male or
female body.

śloka 36
ु
असंगिः परुषिः प्रोतो बृहदारण्यके ऽतप च ।
ु ॥
अनन्तमलसंतिष्टिः कथं स्यािेहकिः पमान ् ३६ ॥
asaṃgaḥ puruṣaḥ prokto bṛhadāraṇyake:'pi ca.
anantamalasaṃśliṣṭaḥ kathaṃ syāddehakaḥ pumān.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives another Upaniṣad quotation which is

from Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. asaṃgohi ayam puruṣaḥ 4.3.15 and
16 of svayaṃ-jyoti-brāhmaṇa of Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. Puruṣa is
not connected to anything in the creation. It is relationless and
connectionless. It does not directly say Ātman is not the body. If
Puruṣa is body, then the body is related to everything in the creation.
Body has relationship with another body as father-son relationship,
husband-wife relationship and is connected with earth in the form of
cause and effect relationship. It is connected with even the weather.
That means body is connected to weather, time-principle, etc. The

body is connected to deśa, kāla and vastu the objects and therefore,
body is related and it is vyāvahārika but the Upaniṣad says Puruṣa is
asaṅga and it is beyond all relations and transcendental and it is
pāramārthika. Śarira is sasaṅga and Puruṣa is asaṅga and how can
śarira and Upaniṣad-Puruṣa be one and the same? How can
vyāvahārika śarira and pāramārthika Puruṣa be one and the same?
Puruṣa is not the body but it is the caitanya that pervades the body.
Consciousness is not a part, property or a product of a substance and

consciousness is an independent entity which pervades and enlivens
all and consciousness extends beyond nāmas and rūpas and

consciousness will survive even after all the objects die. Ātman the
Self is asaṅga, śuddha and does not have any impurities.
But the body is associated with everything and all types of

impurities. Not only physical dust but also various bad habits like
kāma, krodha, greed, frustration, anger, etc. Ātman is not connected
with anything for that matter and how can the body and caitanya be
one and the same?
śloka 37
त्रैर् च समाख्या िः स्वयंज्योत र्हह पूरुषिः ।
जडिः परप्रकाश्योऽयं कथं स्यािेहकिः पमान ु ॥ ् ३७ ॥
tatraiva ca samākhyātaḥ svayaṃjyotirhi pūruṣaḥ.
jaḍaḥ paraprakāśyo:'yaṃ kathaṃ syāddehakaḥ pumān.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya refers to another statement occurring in the same

section of Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. Atrāyam puruṣaḥ svayaṃjyotiḥ
bhavati which means it is self-evident and it does not need any
pramāṇa to prove itself. The consciousness does not need proof to
prove itself. I hear the horn of the car and I see the automobile.
From newspaper I come to know of many things proved by some

pramāṇa or the other. Only one thing that is proved without any
pramāṇa is I am proved without any operation of any pramāṇa. Any
operation of pramāṇa needs me and why I need a proof! The knower
need not be proved by means of knowledge and therefore, pramātā is
self-evident and whatever is self-evident is called consciousness. You
need not be conscious of consciousness. You have to be conscious of
other things to prove it. You need not be conscious of consciousness

to prove the consciousness. You never become conscious of
consciousness.
Consciousness is self-evident as aham aham aham in the form of I.

That is why, throughout the class you are conscious of every word of
mine. Do you question anytime am I attending the class? You don’t
need any consciousness to know you are conscious of being here.
You become conscious of everything else without attempting to be
conscious of being here. When you are conscious you are not self-
conscious. After one hour of attending the class I ask were you in the
class? You will say because of my self-evidence only I could hear
everything from you. Everything else needs consciousness to prove it
and that is called jaḍa. Caitanya is defined as svataḥsiddha. Jaḍa is
defined as caitanya-siddha, jaḍa is siddha, evident, because of
caitanya. Two people cannot borrow from each other simultaneously.
Similarly, caitanya and jaḍa cannot have mutual dependence and

therefore, one has to be independent and other be dependent. Here
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says body is caitanya-siddha and it is proved by
consciousness. Without the blessing of the consciousness, body-
existence cannot be proved. In sleep you cannot prove the existence
of the body because you have to identify with the body to prove the
existence. My existence is very evident during sleep because after
waking up I say ‘I slept very well'. In the svayaṃjyoti-brāhmaṇa it
has been mentioned that Puruṣa svayaṃjyotirbhavati.
Ātman is self-evident is equal to caitanya. The body is jaḍa-mayam.

This deha is jaḍa-svarūpa and it is inert bundle of matter which has
to be para-prakāśya. It has to be proved by the consciousness. That
being so, one is caitanya-svarūpa and the other is jaḍa-svarūpa and

how can inert bundle of matter and self-evident conscious-principle
be one and the same!
śloka 38
प्रोतोऽतप कमवकाण्डेन ह्यात्मा देहातिलक्षणिः ।
ु े देहपा ादनन्तरम ॥
तनत्यश्च त्फलं भङ्क्त ् ३८ ॥
prokto:'pi karmakāṇḍena hyātmā dehādvilakṣaṇaḥ.
nityaśca tatphalaṃ bhuṅkte dehapātādanantaram.
The same topic continues to prove Ātman is not the body. Here Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya says even karmakāṇḍa of the Vedas prove that you are
not the body. The karmakāṇḍa says that if you do such and such
rituals and you get puṇya and go to svarga loka after death. We
know after death physical body does not go to any loka for physical
body is burnt. There is no scope for doubt that the body burns. We
know that the physical body is not available still we say he will go to
svarga when you have sufficient puṇya. It has to be something other
than the body. What is that something other than the body is not our
discussion here.
We quote this to prove the point that you are not the body for body
cannot go to any loka. The ritualists also know that body is not the
Ātman. Religion is sufficient to know that I am not the body. The soul
is something different from the body it is said by other darśanas also.
The orthodox people believed that I am different from the body and
hence they believed in shrāddha and other karmas. In fact, if a person
is soaked in karmakāṇḍa one knows that I am not the body. Ātmā
deha-vilakṣaṇaḥ and you are somebody different from the body.

Ātman which is called jīva is the one who performs various karmas
and that jīva will travel to svarga loka, etc, and that jīva is eternal the
karmakāṇḍa says. You are an eternal traveler.
Therefore, interesting thing is: to know ‘I am nitya’ you need not

come to jñānakāṇḍa and even at karmakāṇḍa level you know that
you are not the body. Karmakāṇḍa talks of previous, present and
future janmas and all these things only reveal that Ātman is nitya and
body is not Ātman at any stage.
Karmakāṇḍa reveals an I which is eternal, the eternal traveler.

Jñānakāṇḍa reveals the non-traveling śuddha caitanya. The shift
from karmakāṇḍa to jñānakāṇḍa is that traveler eternal I is converted
to non-traveler eternal I. The traveler is called saṃsārī. The non-
traveling one is called jīvan-mukta. This jīva is bhūloka-, or seven-up-
and seven-down-traveler.
Sometimes travel is slow. Any traveler is a saṃsārī; travel is

wonderful if you can stop whenever you want and if you cannot stop
it is not good. Continuous travel is not a pleasant thing. Saṃsāra is
wonderful if it is in my control and when I have no control over it,
saṃsāra becomes a miserable one. When I come to jñānakāṇḍa only I
know that I am different from sthūla śarira, sūkṣma śarira and kāraṇa
śarira in which all travel takes place. Once in a while you can identify
with the body-mind and enjoy. If you choose to identify and go to a
film it is all right. After gaining jñāna you can enjoy the world but
withdraw as and when you like. At will you can become a śiṣya and
think of Guru and think of the sacrifice of the Guru and you can shed
tears. If you are imprisoned in a room by government it is miserable
and if you choose to remain in a room to meditate it becomes

wonderful.
If you are forced to be in a cell or do something which is without

your liking or otherwise, it is saṃsāra. Even after the fall of the body
jīva continues to travel and experience puṇya-pāpa. Jñānakāṇḍa is
not to teach you that you are not the body. Similarly, in jñānakāṇḍa
you need not be taught that you are not the body and here you are
taught that you are not the mind.
śloka 39
ु ं चलं दृश्यं तर्कातर च ।
तलङ्गं चानेकसंयत
अव्यापकमसद्रूपं त्कथं स्यात्मु ानयम ॥ ् ३९ ॥
liṅgaṃ cānekasaṃyuktaṃ calaṃ dṛśyaṃ vikāri ca.
avyāpakamasadrūpaṃ tatkathaṃ syātpumānayam.
With the previous verse the sthūla-śarīra-viveka is over. Ādi

Śaṅkarācārya has established through śruti and yukti that Ātman is
not the body. Now we take up sūkṣma-śarīra-viveka. The instinctive
identification with the body is called abhiniveśa which is very strong.
Marana-bhaya is called the instinctive fear of death. Here he gives the
logic to separate the Ātman from the body. Liṅga is another word for
sūkṣma śarira. Literally liṅga means a mark or indicator. Smoke is
called liṅga for fire. Any clue for proof is called liṅga. The sūkṣma
śarira is called liṅga because it reflects consciousness and indirectly
reveals the existence of Ātman; it serves as the mirror.
Every mirror is a liṅga for the object opposite to that. Now the mirror
gives you indirect knowledge because you don’t see what is behind
but you only see reflection. So sūkṣma śarira mirror reflects the

consciousness and cit-pratibimba; it provides a reflection because of
which I know the bimba. Imagine the sūkṣma śarira cannot reflect
consciousness then the mind will be jaḍa, body will be jaḍa, Ātman
cannot do any transactions and then there will be no proof for
existence for body, mind and Ātman.
All will be without life. Lifeless creation is as good as śūnya because

its existence cannot be proved by anyone. Therefore, remember that
the consciousness is proved because of life and life itself is proved
because of the mind which is capable of knowing everything and
therefore, the mind becomes very important and mind here is
therefore, called liṅga.
Class 17
śloka 39 contd.
As a part of ātma-anātma-viveka or jīva-svarūpa-vicāra, Ādi

Śaṅkarācārya talks about the difference of Ātman from anātman. In
that discussion first he pointed out that I the Ātman is different from
sthūla śarira the physical body. Now, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya points out
that I the Ātman is different from sūkṣma śarira also.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya does not define subtle body here and he takes for
granted what the subtle body is. It is made up of five subtle elements
the bhoga-sādhana for interacting with the world. It is karaṇa also,
the instrument of interaction. This is material in nature and it serves
as an instrument with seventeen parts— five karmendriyas five
jñānendriyas, five prāṇas and then the mind, the emotional faculty

and buddhi, the rational faculty. All of them put together is the subtle
body and Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says I am not the subtle body. I remain
pure existence in the sleep without using any of the instruments and I
don’t use sense organs of action; I don’t do anything. In sleep there is
no doing of any transactions.
Even then all the transactions end both at physical level as well as
subtle level. When you converse with another person certain ideas
are transacted. Through sūkṣma śarira instrument I have grosser
transaction of things and subtler transactions of ideas in waking and
svapna states and I don’t use any of the instruments in sleep state
and I appear to be non-existent because all my transactional
instruments are dormant, from sense organs, sense instruments and
the antaḥkaraṇa. I am pure existence and I am not located existence.
In the waking stage I say I am in Annā Nagar; in dream state I may

say I am here and in sleep unlocated one in the sleep. What I use and
discard is not me. I use sense organs and organs of action in jāgṛt and
svapna but in sleep I don’t use and what is an instrument is different
from the user of the instruments. Sūkṣma śariram ātmanbhinnam;
because it is an instrument like any other instruments, kartā is
different from kāraṇa. This is the logic I gave.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives many other reasons. Sūkṣma śarira is a

composite entity consisting of several parts. It is not one
homogeneous entity; it is a mixture of several entities. It is sāvayava
consisting of seventeen parts. But Ātman is defined as niravayava. It
is not a composite entity. Therefore, sāvayava liṅga śarira and
niravayava Ātman cannot be identified.

The second reason is that sūkṣma śarira is subject to movement from
one body to another body. It moves from one to another body.
Leaving from sthūla śarira is maraṇa and moving to sthūla śarira is
called birth. It goes to higher lokas and to the lower lokas. The nature
of Ātman is achala it cannot move from one place to another because
it is all-pervading. The moving liṅga śarira and the motionless Ātman
cannot be one and the same. So, they are different. Dṛśyam means it
is an object of experience.
All the seventeen parts of sūkṣma śarira, I experience whether the

eyes are seeing the world or whether eyes function or not the other
people cannot know but I only know whether the eyes are blind or
not. However, much science develops none can know if my eyes
works or not. No instrument can find out whether my sense organs
work or not.
Similarly, whether ears function or not only I can tell and none else
can find out. All the conditions of eyes are known to me and I must
be different from the known I. The eyes are the object of experience
and Ātman is experiencer dṛk-svarūpa. He says liṅgam dṛśyam and
we have to add ātmā dṛk the observer. The liṅga is vikari and Ātman
is avikarī. Ātman does not have birth, growth, decay and death and it
is free from all the modifications. The conclusion is that vikari
sūkṣmaśariram; avikarī Ātman and vikari sūkṣma śarira have to be
different.
Avyāpaka sūkṣma śarira is limited; it is located in the sthūla śarira.

The sūkṣma śarira is the content and sthūla śarira is the container and
wherever the container is, sūkṣma śarira is. For learning we need the
mind and sense organs and they belong to sūkṣma śarira; naturally

you want sūkṣma śarira to attend the class and why do you bring
sthūla śarira here to attend the class?
The thing is sūkṣma śarira needs the container of sthūla śarira and
therefore, sūkṣma śarira is confined and limited. It is like someone
asking for water. The other person brought water in a glass. He asks
why you brought the glass? The water cannot be brought without the
container, the glass, so also the sūkṣma śarira cannot be there without
sthūla śarira.
As many sthūla śariras are there so many sūkṣma śarīras are there.
Ātman is vyāpaka. How can limited sūkṣma śarira and limitless
Ātman be identical? Liṅga is asat-rūpa which means mithyā
dependently existent whereas Ātman is sat-rūpa, satya,
independently existent.
This aspect we will see elaborately. The sūkṣma śarira is mithyā,

Ātman is satya how can mithyā sūkṣma śarira and satya Ātman be
identical. This sūkṣma śarira and Ātman are different. This is not a
question, but it contains the answer: this sūkṣma śarira cannot be
Ātman.
śloka 40
ु ईश्वरिः ।
एर्ं देहियादन्य आत्मा परुष
सर्ावत्मा सर्वरूपश्च सर्ाव ी ोऽहमव्ययिः ॥ ४० ॥
evaṃ dehadvayādanya ātmā puruṣa īśvaraḥ.
sarvātmā sarvarūpaśca sarvātīto:'hamavyayaḥ.
In this verse Ādi Śaṅkarācārya concludes the ātma-anātma-viveka

discussion. Otherwise jīva-svarūpa discussion is concluded here in
this manner, as discussed in the previous verses from 17th verse, that
I am different from deha-dvaya both physical and subtle bodies. Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya does not discuss kāraṇa śarira because we should
remember kāraṇa śarira is not very much different from sthūla śarira
and sūkṣma śarira. Sūkṣma śarira and sthūla śarira in potential form
is kāraṇa śarira. The seed in the gross form is a tree and tree in its
potential form is a seed. The cause and effect are essentially the same.
If ice melts in water what is the difference between ice and water.
The difference is only in the state one is liquid and the other is solid.
kārya is vyakta and kāraṇa is avyakta. The kāraṇa śarira and sthūla
śarira and sūkṣma śarira are not different. kāraṇa śarira is in pralaya
and sthūla śarira and sūkṣma śarira are in sṛṣṭi-avasthā. All the sthūla
śarira and sūkṣma śarira will go to causal condition in pralaya.
All ornaments will go to causal gold condition. All our śarira will go
to kāraṇa-avasthā. When the ornaments are melted you cannot see
the ornament state. All of them go to the kāraṇa-avasthā. The kāraṇa
śarira and sthūla śarira and sūkṣma śarira are essentially the same
only. Once you say Ātman is different, it is different from sthūla
śarira, sūkṣma śarira and also kāraṇa śarira also. If I am different
from kārya I am different from kāraṇa also. I am different from all the
three bodies and my name is Ātman and I enliven all the śarira since
they are inert matter.
Because of my pervasion, the body is alive. The consciousness does

not depend upon matter but matter has to depend upon a living
being. A scooter is acetana and it can move only if there is cetana
individual. Just as in a military area there is remote control, the

cetana tattva controls all the acetana tattva. The cetana tattva is
controller and acetana is controlled. Aham sarvātmā.
First, I know I am the consciousness behind my two śariras. But I

may commit a mistake that I am behind the consciousness of my
body and you are the consciousness behind your body. So Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya says there is one consciousness alone which is behind
my body, your body and all other bodies just like space obtaining in
this and other rooms. We count the rooms and do not count the
space. We count the bulb and we don’t count the electricity; bulbs are
many but electricity is one; rooms are many but space is one.
The śariras are many but there is only one sarvātmā, the
consciousness behind all the bodies. I get several names when I
function behind different bodies and here, I get the name human
being. When I am behind the elephant’s body, I get the name of
elephant. Only one Ātman appears as many jīvātmans because of
many bodies. The plurality belongs to container and not to the
content Ātman. Sarva-atīta literally it means it is beyond everything,
every body and mind. It transcends everything and this should be
understood properly.
Normally beyond means we think in terms of distance. Beyond is

normally understood as spatial distance. When we say God is beyond
the world, we see on the top. We conclude God is beyond the world
and therefore, we see God in the sky. What we should understand is
that the word ‘beyond’ contains no spatial distance at all. Ātman
cannot be spatially away from anything. Ātman pervades
everywhere.

Ātman is unlimited. Ātman is all-pervading. You need not look
anywhere for Ātman. The technical meaning of atīta means Ātman is
unaffected by anything. asaṅgatva is conveyed by the word atītatva.
When you say he is above everything means the family transactions
do not affect him. The cinema screen transcends the picture shown on
the screen. The screen is not physically away and it is unaffected by
the events in the cinema.
So, some people in meditation would like to transcend all the kośas
to find Ātman all because the word transcend is taken physically.
You need not do anything to transcend Ātman. It is there in the body
and in the mind as the caitanya. So, we use the word immanent. If
transcendent is physical distance it cannot be immanent. If it is to be
immanent the transcendent can be one thing that it is unaffected.
How to transcend anātman and how long I should meditate to

transcend anātman. You need not do anything but understand that I
am not affected by anātman and this knowledge is transcendence.
Therefore, only avyava. It is undecaying. It is free from all the
vikāras. By negating decay, the teacher negates all the sixfold
modifications. It is changeless.
śloka 41
इत्यात्मदेहभागेन प्रपञ्चस्यैर् सत्य ा ।
यथोता कव शास्त्रेण ु
िः रक परुषाथव ा ॥ ४१ ॥
ityātmandehabhāgena prapañcasyaiva satyatā.
yathoktā tarkaśāstreṇa tataḥ kiṃ puruṣārthatā.
With the 40th verse ātma-anātma-viveka part is over. Now another

big enquiry is introduced which is the nature of anātman and world.
It is the second part of the Vedāntic study which is equally important.
If you take the entire inert world it will come under anātman,
including the kāraṇa śarira, and Īśvara-consciousness is called
Ātman.
Therefore, jīva is mixture of Ātman and anātman and the entire jagat
is anātman and thus we have reduced into ātma-anātman mixture.
Now after aparokṣānubhūti study now I claim I am Ātman. You
know I am consciousness and everything else is matter. We have now
reduced the world into two Ātman and anātman, cetana and acetana,
matter and spirit.
Now we have come down to dvaita. The scripture teaches us clean

advaita śānta śiva advaita. We have to reduce this pair into one. One
has to be swallowed by the other. What has to swallow what? That is
the question here. Everyone wants to reduce everything into one.
Science wants to reduce everything into matter anātman. According
to it life is a product of atom. From matter came life is their view.
They say after sometime when the sun explodes all lives will be
destroyed and matter will remain. It swallows Ātman into anātman.
Vedānta says the other way round. Now Ātman has to swallow
anātman. It is all figurative. We have to understand sarvam
ātmanmayam jagat and there is no such thing called anātman;
sarvam brahmamayam jagat. The consciousness with name and form
is prapañca-mithyātva or matter-mithyātva. If matter is mithyā,
Ātman is satya. I alone am there. The mountain is I plus nāmarūpa
and I plus nāma-rūpa is sun. You yourself during dream become the
sun, moon, stars, etc. In a dream, it is unbelievably true, but in jāgṛt

we get doubts. That is called kaivalya; the knowledge takes one to
mokṣa. More in the next class.
Class 18
śloka 41 contd.
From 41st onwards Ādi Śaṅkarācārya introduces the topic of Vedāntic

teaching of the unreality of anātman. Naturally it implies ātma-
satyatva. The self-knowledge is in the form of ātma-satya and all
others are mithyā. This topic is important because if we don’t
establish the unreality of anātman we will end up in dvaita. We have
distinguished Ātman and anātman and the student will go with the
idea that there are two things. What is wrong if the duality continues
and the Upaniṣad says as long as there is duality there will be fear
because once we come to duality we come to time and space.
Once we come to duality the time and space automatically comes.

This we come to know in our day-to-day experience. In waking there
is duality time and space. In dream also the same is the case. In sleep,
duality is absent and at that time we don’t have the experience of
deśa-kāla. Dvaita goes with deśa-kāla and in advaita alone deśa-kāla
disappears. Therefore, once dvaita comes deśa-kāla comes. Once deśa
and kāla comes there the limitations also comes. The spacewise-
conditioning is nothing but the feeling of separation; feeling of
isolation; feeling of neglect; feeling of rejection, etc; deśa creates
isolation.
Kāla creates another type of big limitation of mortality and kāla

causes mṛtyu and Yama-bhaya. We always say he is mortally afraid.
If death alone is the fear it is okay. It also creates the fear of old age.
Like a tigress jarā the old age is waiting to swallow. That is why in
sleep dvaitam nāsti deśaḥ kālaḥ nāsti and therefore, bhaya is not
there and that is why sleep is compared to mokṣa even. We all
experience mokṣa daily at the time of sleep; dvaita is saṃsāra. At the
first stage of teaching in ātma-anātma-viveka we are in dvaita only.
So, we should see Ātman swallows anātman and that is called
anātma-mithyātvam; we have to arrive at it and therefore, a question
is raised by a student introducing this topic.
The student says in this manner you have separated Ātman and
deha. Ātman and deha [refers to the entire anātma-prapañca]
discrimination have been explained. By this differentiation it has
been proved that there are two things in the creation one is Ātman
and another is anātman. Once you count two things both will become
real. Ātman is real there is no problem, but anātman gets the status of
reality.
Therefore, he says prapañcasya eva satyatā the entire anātman is also

real. He says this cannot be called Vedāntic teaching. This is exactly
the teaching of tarka śāstra. Tarka also talks of Ātman and anātman
and it says both are satyam. They divide the world into nine
materials. Pañca bhūtas, deśa, kāla, Ātman and manas are the
divisions. Ātman is one of the nine materials in the world. All are
considered real.
Therefore, the student asks why you claim as Vedānta śāstra when
yours is so alike tarka śāstra? Therefore, he says why the Nyāya
Vaiśeṣika philosophy is negated and what do I get out of Vedāntic

teaching? When Vedānta introduced itself, it had to point out the
defects in other darśanas. All accept duality as real and we pointed
out that dvaita would lead to saṃsāra and having blamed as dvaita,
if we also talk of dvaita it would be fruitless. So we said ātma-
anātma-viveka is intermediary state and finally we say there is no
anātman and there is no dvaita.
śloka 42
इत्यात्मदेहभेदने देहात्मत्वं तनर्ातर म ।्
इदानीं देहभेदस्य ह्यसत्त्वं स्फुटमच्य
ु े ॥ ४२ ॥
ityātmandehabhedena dehātmantvaṃ nivāritam.
idānīṃ dehabhedasya hyasattvaṃ sphuṭamucyate.
Now he says that I have reduced the world into two divisions Ātman
and anātman. The divisions are I the observer and all other items.
First there was plurality of many objects in the creation and we
reduced first to pañca bhūtās five elements and now we reduce it
further to dṛśya, the anātma-prapañca and dṛk the Ātman. By this
first stage of ātma-anātma-viveka through the first stage of teaching I
have removed your notion that you are the body. That is the first
stage.
Then we will discuss as to who are you. We have the basic

assumption that I am the craving and wrinkling body. First, we have
to remove the notion that I am the body. We are worried as long as
we are formed individuals. The form will go; the form will die and
we should transform ourselves with the recognition that I am not
formed anātman but I am formless Ātman.

Shifting from form to formless is called the transformation. ‘I am the
formed individual’ notion has to be eliminated. The unreality of the
body is to be established now. One meaning is nonexistence and
another meaning is unreality. Vedānta will not say body is non-
existent. Vedānta does not question the experience. Vedānta only
questions the reality. It has got the experiential existence and it does
not have factual existence. This method of teaching is called
adhyāropa-apavāda method.
First accept anātman and then to negate anātman is apavāda. It is a

very important thing. I will give you an example. Imagine there is a
pot and one is attached to the pot. He is worried about the mortal
pot. He talks of the mortality of the pot and he is worried. We should
not dismiss the pot straightaway. Sudden dismissal of the pot will
cause a lot of problems. Initially I accept the pot and say pot is a
kārya and it has a kāraṇa. Now, I introduce kāraṇa as the clay.
Till now, I knew about pot as substance but now I have another
substance clay. I have not dismissed the pot but I have introduced the
subject clay. It is in addition to the clay and there is no sacrifice
involved. Now I say look at the pot with a sharp intellect whether
there is a substance called pot. The whole pot is nothing but clay and
once the vision of clay comes there is no substance called pot. The pot
is now nothing but a name given to a particular form and function.
The nāma-rūpa-karma is pot. We don’t negate the three but say there
is no substantiality in the pot. Once the clay vision comes the pot is
dismissed; dismissed means it is not destruction. The substance of
clay is there in all periods of time. The nāma-rūpa is meant for
change and destruction; nāma-rūpa has to go one day or the other.

Pot is accepted and clay is introduced. Vision is shifted to clay and
pot is dismissed. First see the kārya and shift the vision to clay the
kāraṇa and after seeing the clay dismiss the pot and after dismissing
the pot what remains is clay the kāraṇa. This method is going to be
used to establish mithyātva of the body and world.
śloka 43
ु ो न कर्हहतच ।्
च ै न्यस्य ैकरूपत्वािेदो यत
जीर्त्वं च मृषा ज्ञेय ं रज्जौ सप वग्रहो यथा ॥ ४३ ॥
caitanyasyaikarūpatvādbhedo yukto na karhicit.
jīvatvaṃ ca mṛṣā jñeyaṃ rajjau sarpagraho yathā.
Now Ādi Śaṅkarācārya establishes the entire anātman is mithyā. He

says anātman consists of two portions. One is body-mind-complex,
along with the world, anātman. That is mithyā.
The second thing is Ātman, the consciousness reflected in the body-

mind-complex, which we call pratibimba-caitanya or abhāsa-
caitanya; that reflection is as unreal as the reflecting medium because
reflection does not have an independent existence and it is also
perishable. If you see your reflection in the mirror, it is also unreal.
The reflection is unreal and this reflected consciousness is called jīva.
Therefore, jīva is also anātman as well as śarira and jagat.
First he takes jīva. Since consciousness is uniform and all-pervading,

there is no plurality of consciousness. Then a person may ask how do
you know there is no plurality? There is consciousness in every body.
In everyone consciousness is experienced. For this he says plurality of

consciousness experienced is because of plurality of reflection not
because of the original consciousness. If there are ten mirrors there
will be ten sūryas. Sūrya-pratibimbas are aneka and the original sun
is one and one only. Jīvas are unreal because jīva is reflected
consciousness.
The reflected consciousness is unreal. That is, we find that it is subject

to arrival and departure, and also dependent. When the brain is in
good shape one has consciousness but when one loses the brain-
activity, we say he is unconscious. Therefore, jīva is mithyā and is
unreal.
For this Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives an example. It is like snake on the

rope in twilight there is a rope. The snake has a temporary existence
and it exists sufficiently to disturb you and disturbs so much to cause
a heart attack. Here the rope is just mistaken for a snake.
An unreal death of Aśvatthāma created problem for Drona; jīva can

function efficiently even though jīva himself is unreal as the rope-
snake function even though snake is unreal.
śloka 44
रज्ज्वज्ञानात्क्षणेन ैर् यिद्रज्जर्हु ह सर्हपणी ।
भात ितित िः साक्षातिश्वाकारेण के र्ला ॥ ४४ ॥
rajjvajñānātkṣaṇenaiva yadvadrajjurhi sarpiṇī.
bhāti tadvaccitiḥ sākṣādviśvākāreṇa kevalā.
In the Upaniṣad it is said that Ātman is the cause of the universe.

From the Ātman alone five elements have come and the entire

universe and all physical bodies are born of Ātman. Then we ask the
question whether Ātman is the intelligent or material cause. Then we
say it is both. If Ātman is the intelligent cause we say Ātman created
the universe. If it is material cause, we say the Ātman became the
universe being upādāna-kāraṇa. As Ātman is upādāna-kāraṇa,
Upaniṣad indirectly says Ātman has become the universe or to say
differently Ātman has become anātman. Here the enquiry does not
stop. The problem is the Upaniṣad also says that Ātman cannot
change itself. It is nirvikāra. It is not subject to change. In one place
the Upaniṣad says Ātman becomes anātman and in another place it
says Ātman does not change. There is a big contradiction!
When we say Ātman becomes anātman, it means Ātman changes and

in another place Ātman does not change. How are we to resolve this
contradiction? We cannot say it is a printing mistake for Veda has
been carefully preserved by varieties of chanting methods.
At the end of the Veda we have anukramaṇika and it says how many
letters are there in the Vedas. Veda has been very carefully preserved
and there is no question of printing mistake. Veda cannot contradict.
It has come from the Lord and we have to resolve the seeming
contradiction by proper interpretation.
There are two statements. One is ‘Ātman has become anātman’ and
the second statement is ‘Ātman is changeless’. More in the next class.
Class 19
śloka 44 contd.
Ātman is the conscious-principle and anātman is jaḍa. Within the

acetana falls the external universe, body and the mind. Normally
when we use the word cetana we take the entire individual as cetana.
Once we come to Vedānta the body should not be taken as cetana but
taken as acetana prapañca; so also, the mind. The body appears to be
cetana because of borrowed consciousness. Body is intrinsically
acetana only; so also, the mind; and it is alive because of borrowed
consciousness. Body mind and the world are acetana. One does not
have borrowed consciousness while the other two ‘body and mind’
have borrowed consciousness and become cetana. The body and
mind are acetana and consciousness alone is cetana and this was the
essence of our discussion up to the verse number 40.
After the first stage also, we are still in dvaita. We have made cetana-
acetana duality. Dvaita is not the teaching of the Upaniṣad. The
Upaniṣad clearly says dvaita is the cause of saṃsāra. As long as we
are in duality saṃsāra cannot be avoided. We have to go to second
stage of teaching and reduce dvaita to be reduced to advaita. Now
the question is which one is to swallow which? If you say the whole
world is matter and matter alone is real, then consciousness will
become temporary product of the matter.
That is why they are called materialists. The matter swallows

consciousness. Just as the other planets do not have life and the earth
also will have no life; and consciousness also departing, only the
matter will be the remainder. That is called matter-advaita. But
Vedānta says no and anātman cannot follow Ātman and Ātman
alone has to swallow anātman. Therefore, we say consciousness alone
was, is and will be.

From the consciousness, the matter appears to exist, and the matter
may dissolve but the consciousness continues. This we saw in the
Māṇḍukya Upaniṣad. The whole duality is the notion of
consciousness and we have got the example of the fire brand. Here
alāta-śānti example is quoted that when the agarbatti is lighted and
moved in circle varieties of patterns appear and they vanish as even
the agarbatti movement ceases.
Similarly, the consciousness in motion appears as the world and

when it is steady as one sleeps the whole world dissolves. Sleep is the
best example as the world is dissolved but the consciousness is. This
is our discussion from verse 41 to 89 which is called anātma-
mithyātva. Here we will not negate the experience of anātman
because that experience is very evident. Vedānta does not negate the
experience but its reality. The experiential anātman is unnegatable
while the reality of anātman is negatable and negated. The
experiential dream cannot be negated but reality of dream can be
negated.
The experience of sunrise cannot be negated but its reality of sunrise

can be negated; the experience of blue sky cannot be negated but its
reality can be negated. The anātman is thus proved as unreal. Once
the anātman is proved unreal, anātman cannot be counted along with
Ātman; unreal cannot be counted with the real. When you count
Ātman there is nothing in addition to Ātman and this is the method
of approach.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says that the body is mithyā; mind is mithyā and
reflected consciousness is also mithyā because reflection cannot be
counted along with the original. You do not count your reflected

image to enumerate the number of people in the room. You count the
people and you do not count their reflections in the mirror.
Therefore, jīvaḥ mithyā, pratibimbakatvat. The whole world is
mithyā like rajju-sarpa. This is the classic example given by advaita.
We see a rope partially and the partial knowledge is important.
If there is total darkness you don’t see the snake and the ignorance is
bliss when it is total. When there is bright light and the rope is seen
there is no problem. The knowledge is bliss when the knowledge is
total. Total ignorance is bliss and he is a sleeper. Total knowledge is
bliss for which the example is a jñānī. Partial knowledge is misery
and for this example are ordinary saṃsārīs like us.
Here also, when I know there is something and when I don’t know
what it is we have partial ajñāna. It is called viśeṣa ajñāna and
sāmānya jñāna. This is called partial knowledge. Because of this at
once it becomes a sarpa. The sarpa is experienced with regard to that
person having partial knowledge. You may say that the snake is
within the head but the observer does not take the snake is the rope.
Remember rajju-sarpa is not within the head but it is outside. If it is
within the head he will not try to run away. If it is within the head
wherever he goes the serpent will follow him. Therefore, remember
that the observer does not take the snake as within; for the observer
the snake is outside and he feels threatened when he is there and he
feels free when he runs away. So, the snake is outside. This is
discussed elaborately in philosophical section.
Each darśana discusses the snake differently. It is called the topic of

error. What is the status of the erroneous object? Should we put it in
non-existence category or erroneous category and they discuss it is

within but Advaitins argue it is outside. The conclusion is that there
is some kind of a snake which is not real.
Another philosopher says there is real snake. Advaitins say it cannot

be real snake for when I go with a torch light the snake disappears. It
is neither existent nor non-existent as an existent snake cannot be
dismissed nor a non-existent snake threaten anyone. That is why we
give the snake a new name to the snake as mithyā-sarpa. It is neither
in existence category nor is it in the non-existence category but it
comes under the seemingly-existent category.
So also, the whole world comes under the seemingly-existent

category and it is mithyā; mithyā cannot be counted as satya; and
therefore, what is established is advaita alone. In the same way there
is consciousness alone. It is kevala caitanya and it is non-dual;
indivisible consciousness alone is there. It is self-evidently all the
time as aham aham aham iti; consciousness alone is there which itself
falsely appears as the universe. One consciousness alone appears as
the world which we take as real. Then you may ask and say it is
unbelievable. Do you want to say all these are unreal? I cannot accept
that! And for that, we say, in the dream also the same thing happens.
When I am actually in the dream, I am not able to accept the dream
world as false. I will tell— in the dream, the ghost I see is my own
mental projection; but then I would have enjoyed. However, when
nightmare dream comes, we are frightened.
As long as a person is in the dream, we consider the dream is real

and it is so real even after waking up the nightmare dream affects
and frighten him. If the unreal world can be frighteningly real the
world also can be unreal. The dreamer wakes up to see the dream as

unreal and so also the waker on gaining jñāna comes to know that the
world is unreal. When you come to know that, you will think
perhaps Vedānta may be true; this is called śraddhā. The
consciousness alone appears as real.
śloka 45
उपादानं प्रपञ्चस्य ब्रह्मणोन्यन्न तर्द्य े ।
् ४५ ॥
स्मात्सर्वप्रपञ्चोऽयं ब्रह्मैर्ातस्त न चे र ॥
upādānaṃ prapañcasya brahmaṇonyanna vidyāte.
tasmātsarvaprapañco:'yaṃ brahmaivāsti na cetarat.
Here, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says that anātman of the world cannot be

counted and it is mithyā because the very stuff of the world anātman
is Ātman. The essence of anātman, the very content of anātman, is
nothing but Ātman. The stuff of the content of snake is rope; the
weight of the snake, the length of the snake; the thickness, the
number of curvatures of the snake, etc, are the same of rope. The
snake is nāma-rūpa and there is no substantial tangibility; the
substantiality of the snake is not there. If you see the entire snake and
mix it you will find they are nothing but the thought in the mind. A
tiger-thought becomes a tiger and tiger is capable of chasing. The
dream-tiger is created by me and the same creator in the form of the
tiger frightens me and I created the stone and I get hit by the same
stone. I get frightened and get up and is it not a joke. It is a joke after
getting up. So, the whole life is a joke for a jñānī. However, it is
serious affair for an ajñānī.
Arjuna cried while explaining his problem while Kṛṣṇa smiled. For

Arjuna it was a problem but for Kṛṣṇa it was a joke and a līlā. The
universe is nothing but the I, the consciousness; that plus nāma-rūpa
is this drama. The sāra or rasa of the universe is Brahman, caitanya.
As sāra of the wave is but water, as sāra of furniture is wood, as sāra
of pot is clay, so too, the sāra of the world is Brahman. When the
ignorant person says there are waves all over, the wise one says there
is water all over. Similarly, the Upaniṣad says one Brahman alone
pervades all over the world, the ignorant man thinks that the world is
different from Brahman. jñānī says there is nothing other than
Brahman. The whole universe is nothing but Brahman and nothing
else. Firsts Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talked about ātma-anātma-viveka and
suddenly Ādi Śaṅkarācārya uses the word Brahman. You should
know that Brahman is another word for Ātman. What is all-
pervading is infinite and what is infinite is Ātman. That Ātman is
aham and therefore, I alone am there. This is called kaivalya or
mokṣa.
Some may ask if I alone am there, I am afraid. We are always

frightened of a second thing. We are afraid of living alone because we
are afraid somebody may come. Here there cannot be any fear
because there is nothing other than myself. In case if one says that
there may be a ghost, then you should know that the content of the
ghost is you yourself. Only from a second thing either factual or
imaginary, there can be fear; there is no second thing at all.
śloka 46
व्याप्यव्यापक ा तमथ्या सर्वमात्मेत शासना ।्
इत ज्ञा े परे त्त्वे भेदस्यार्सरिः कु िः ॥ ४६ ॥

vyāpyavyāpakatā mithyā sarvamātmeti śāsanāt.
iti jñāte pare tattve bhedasyāvasaraḥ kutaḥ.
In the initial stage the world is divided into two Ātman and anātman
and we say Ātman is all-pervading. Nitya sarvagata. Ātman
pervades everything means it pervades the entire anātman. It is only
an initial statement. Other philosophers raise a question. They say
there is a duality when you say Ātman is all-pervading. There is
something that pervades and there is something that is pervaded.
The pervader-pervaded duality, vyāpya-vyāpaka dvaita. It is also a
type of duality and therefore, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says we use the word
all-pervading in the beginning stage of teaching and in the final stage
we do not use the word pervading for there is no second thing to be
pervaded. Suppose I say gold pervades all ornaments. Gold is in and
through all ornaments. These statements are fine initially. But
ultimately speaking we have to withdraw this statement because
there are no ornaments other than gold and where is the question of
gold pervading the ornaments when there is nothing other than gold!
The water pervades the ocean is not right for there is no ocean
without water; the ocean is itself is nothing but a name and form.
First, Brahman pervades the world. When you say God is in the pillar
there are two things that God is pervading the pillar and there is a
pillar. But in the end we say that God is the pillar also for there is no
pillar other than God. God does not pervade the world for there is no
world other than God. We don’t say there is one God. We have got so
many gods. We get confused. So many photos are there. If I pray to
one God the other one gets angry. Not only God is divided into many
and there are also many Murugas and many Gaṇeśas, etc. However,

we say we don’t have many gods as we have only one God, and we
don’t say we have one God, but we say God only is there. When you
say one God, then they accept a world other than God. We say God
alone is there. There is not even a world blessed by God. There is not
even people be blessed by God. There is no world, there is no
individual, but God alone is there.
Initially we talk of God, universe and jīva but ultimately all of them
are one and the same Brahman. There is no pervader-pervaded
duality at all. Sarvaṁ ātmā iti śāsanāt. ātmaniva idaṃ sarvam. By
saying ātmaniva idaṃ sarvam the Upaniṣad says there is no anātman
at all and then where is the question of anātman being pervaded by
Ātman. When this understanding comes, ātmaniva idaṃ sarvam if a
person feels diffident to say as the Purāṇa says Bhagavān eva idam
sarvam, God alone is everything; thereafter the God is to be merged
with Self and Self has to become one with God and then I become the
same with Brahman. Then it is called parā vidyā; that and parā bhakti
are one and the same. One cannot be there without the other. Parā
bhakti cannot be there without the parā vidyā; jñānī alone is the
highest devotee. This is the highest truth of Ātman. Then where is
scope for division? Where is the scope for duality and where is the
scope for fear and isolation? All the notions of isolation, insecurity
and sense of rejection will go only when you think that you are
Brahman. The feeling is because of my own sense of smallness. I am
the son, I am the wife and I am the neighbour and I am everything. If
such sense of oneness is not there, then you will be affected by the
fear of losing them. For this alone I should see that I am all. It is not
an intellectual exercise but it makes an awareness in our mind.

śloka 20
śloka 46 contd.
After dealing with ātma-anātma-viveka, now Ādi Śaṅkarācārya has

taken the topic of anātma-mithyā the unreality of anātman. We
should know when we talk of unreality of anātman it is from the
standpoint of Ātman. That anātman is unreal means it is less real
than Ātman. From the standpoint of one anātman another anātman is
very real only. From the standpoint of an individual in a dream, the
dream world is real, but unreal from the standpoint of the waker; and
anātman is mithyā from the ātma-standpoint.
But from the body and mind point of view it is real. This anātma-
mithyātva is the topic now and Ādi Śaṅkarācārya establishes anātma-
mithyātva so that he can arrive at ātma-advaita. If anātman is mithyā,
less real, it cannot be counted along with Ātman and Ātman being
the only countable thing, ekam eva satyam. Therefore, it is called
advaita. He gives the support in all these verses of the Upaniṣad
quotation. Independent logic will not work here. All the reasoning is
based on the data collected from Upaniṣads.
Therefore, Upaniṣad-based arguments are given here. Ātman and

anātman cannot have any relationship because they are not two
separate things to have a relation. The pervader-pervaded
relationship or for that matter any relationship between ātma-
anātman is not possible. Upaniṣad says sarvam Ātman. It says what
you think as anātman is also Ātman; wave is water; bubble is water;
river is water and where is the question of water pervading the river!

Water can pervade the river if the river is separate from water. What
we call matter is nothing but consciousness according to the
Upaniṣad. The consciousness does not pervade matter because there
is no matter separate from consciousness. When this para-tattva, this
ultimate reality Ātman, is known where is the scope for duality and
difference!
śloka 47
ु ा तनर्ातर ं नून ं नानात्वं स्वमख
श्रत्य ु ने तह ।
कथं भासो भर्ेदन्यिः तस्थ े चाियकारणे ॥ ४७ ॥
śrutyā nivāritaṃ nūnaṃ nānātvaṃ svamukhena hi.
kathaṃ bhāso bhavedanyaḥ sthite cādvayakāraṇe.
In the previous verse Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad statement was taken.

Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya takes the Kaṭhopaniṣad statement neha
nānāsti kiñcana. It says that there is no plurality at all. Plurality or
duality has been negated by the Upaniṣad directly. Now if plurality
is real, śruti cannot negate because reality is defined as that which
cannot be negated. I cannot say plurality is real; and if it were real
Veda would not have negated. If the plurality is non-existent, what is
non-existent need not be negated by the śruti for none is going to be
bothered about non-existent. What is existent cannot be negated and
what is non-existent need not be negated. What is seemingly existent
alone has to be negated.
A rope which is in front, none can negate because it is here. If you see
the rope is rope I need not tell you that there is snake and negate it
because for you there is no snake. If the rope is mistakenly taken as

snake then alone the seemingly existent snake alone has to be
negated. A statement not made need not be negated. A rumour has to
be negated; a rumour is seemingly real. If none has said anything
then also I need not negate anything. Therefore, rumour is neither
asat nor is it sat and it is sat-asat-vilakṣaṇam. And it is mithyā.
Therefore, the world comes under in-between reality and therefore,

we call it mithyā. That being so what is the snake that I experience? It
is something not independently existent and it does not exist separate
from satya? An unreal dream does not exist separate from waker.
Similarly, the world does not exist separate from Ātman. That is said
in the second line. This apparent world, how can it exist separately
from reality, the substratum, satya? Bhāsa means appearance. How
can this apparent world be separate from Ātman the observer!
Just as the dream world does not exist separate from the waker, this
world also does not exist separate from Ātman the consciousness and
it is advaya the non-dual which is also kāraṇa of dvaita prapañca.
When there is advaita which can be the cause of dvaita?!
śloka 48
व ं ु स गच्छत ।
ु ा मृत्योमृत्य
दोषोऽतप तर्तह िः श्रत्य
इह पश्यत नानात्वं मायया र्तञ्च ो नरिः ॥ ४८ ॥
doṣo:'pi vihitaḥ śrutyā mṛtyormṛtyuṃ sa gacchati.
iha paśyati nānātvaṃ māyayā vañcito naraḥ.
Another Upaniṣad portion is taken here and it is the same

Kaṭhopaniṣad mantra. In the first half it is said neha nānāsti kiñcana
there is no plurality at all here. This negation we took as the support

of the unreality of the world. In the second half it says whoever sees
plurality will travel from death to death. Those who see plurality will
have janma after janma. The birth-death cycle will eternally continue
for such people and he can never get out of mortality. The prayer is ‘I
want to become immortal’.
The Upaniṣad says if you want to gain your goal give up the vision of
plurality; plurality and mortality are two sides of the same coin.
Accept plurality and accept mortality. ‘I want plurality and I want
immortality’ is not possible. Reject plurality and gain immortality.
Here again, the Upaniṣad says one who sees plurality will go from
death to death. I should not see plurality. As long as the sense organs
are there, I will see plurality, whereas the Upaniṣad says that if you
see plurality you will not gain mokṣa. How is this to be resolved?
Here, by ‘not seeing plurality’ we mean ‘not seeing plurality as a

reality’. You need not stop the perception of the world but what we
are interested in is how you see the world. The plurality of waves is
not the ultimate reality but water alone is ultimately real. When the
wave is destroyed the water is not. We need not close the eyes. We
continue to see the plurality and the change should be internal.
Jñāna-eyes should see advaita. That advaita is caitanyam eva satyam.
In caitanya-screen, matter-pictures move about.
Therefore, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says plurality is criticized by the

Upaniṣad. It criticizes by threatening the people that birth-death cycle
will continue if you see plurality. Upaniṣad does the bheda-nindā
and it is pramāṇa for bheda-mithyātva. Thus, the unreality of
plurality is established by the Upaniṣad.

The Upaniṣad warns of many deaths although laukika warning
relates to one death. The human being is deluded by Māyā, avidyā
and fundamental ignorance. People are deluded by Māyā and they
see the plurality. Māyā is also called mahā nidrā. This big nidrā
creates this duality, while the small nidrā creates the dream duality.
śloka 49
ब्रह्मणिः सर्वभ ू ातन जायन्ते परमात्मनिः ।
् ४९ ॥
स्मादे ातन ब्रह्मैर् भर्न्तीत्यर्धारये ॥
brahmaṇaḥ sarvabhūtāni jāyante paramātmanaḥ.
tasmādetāni brahmaiva bhavantītyavadhārayet.
This is from Taittirīya Upaniṣad brahmānanda-valli. In this mantra

Brahman is presented as the material cause of this universe and the
world is presented as a product. If wood is the material cause of the
furniture the derived idea is that there is no furniture other than the
wood. If gold is the material cause of the ornaments there is no
ornaments without the gold. A product cannot exist separate from its
cause. Similarly, here also Brahman is kāraṇa or Ātman is kāraṇa and
anātman is kārya; anātman cannot exist separate from Ātman or
Brahman and it is non-different from Ātman. All beings are born out
of Brahman. That Brahman is none other than my own higher Self,
the caitanya-tattva. Just as all things are but nāma-rūpa, all
ornaments are nāma-rūpa the substance being gold and the whole
world is nāma-rūpa and Brahman is the substance. Brahman alone is
the kāraṇa and all the products are Brahman with name and form.

śloka 50
ब्रह्मैर् सर्वनामातन रूपातण तर्तर्धातन च ।
कमावण्यतप समग्रातण तबभ ीत श्रतु जवगौ ॥ ५० ॥
brahmaiva sarvanāmāni rūpāṇi vividhāni ca.
karmāṇyapi samagrāṇi bibhartīti śrutirjagau.
Here there is another Upaniṣadic statement. In Bṛhadāraṇyaka

Upaniṣad the world is defined as nāma-rūpa-karma jagat. World is a
name, property, a function; the gold is given a particular shape and it
has got a particular function also. It decorates another organ.
Similarly clay is shaped differently because each one serves each
purpose. If rūpa is changed nāma is also changed and if nāma-rūpa
changes the function also changes. Behind the bangles gold alone is
there. Behind all the ornaments only gold is there and it is kāraṇa or
adhiṣṭhāna. The ultimate adhiṣṭhāna of everything is Brahman.
Brahman alone lends existence to all the products and things in the
universe. Brahman is Ātman; ātma-Brahman lends existence to all the
names, forms and behind all the functions. The word rūpa here
means any property; different types of properties are lent by one
adhiṣṭhāna Brahman. Here karma means function. The entire
anātma-prapañca is sustained by Brahman alone. From this what we
derive is this— Ātman is independently existent and anātman is
dependently existent and what is dependently existent is mithyā and
what is independently existent is satya. Therefore, all these are
advaita alone.
śloka 51
ु ज्जायमानस्य सर्णव
सर्णाव ु त्वं च शाश्व म ।्
ब्रह्मणो जायमानस्य ब्रह्मत्वं च था भर्े ॥ ् ५१ ॥

suvarṇājjāyamānasya suvarṇatvaṃ ca śāśvatam.
brahmaṇo jāyamānasya brahmatvaṃ ca tathā bhavet.
Here he says the nāma-rūpa and karma are bound to change. The
bangles can be converted into a chain and chain to a ring. The is one
status that it does not lose at all. This is bangle this is chain. These
superficial statuses are subject to change. When it was bangle, you
can say it is gold. When it is converted into ring, you will again say it
is gold. The goldness of the ornament is never lost. It loses the nāma-
rūpa and karma but it does not lose the goldness. One word I can use
all the time is this is Brahman. Brahmatva is forever. That is why we
say Brahmatva is the essential nature of everything. Various products
born of gold have got goldness all the time permanently. Don’t take
the example too far!
The golden ornaments do no lose goldness even though they lose the
superficial nature and substance. The world is born of Brahman. It
sustains in Brahman; the world enjoys the Brahman-status
permanently. The world never loses its Brahman-status anytime.
Brahman is here, not outside the world. I also superficially have bio-
data and they are adjectives to the consciousness. All my other
qualifications are superficial nāma, rūpa and karma. Whatever I learn
may go out of shape. But the consciousness never changes and it is
there all the time. I was Brahman, I am Brahman and I ever will be
Brahman. In between there is confusion whether I am Brahman or
not. We should realize the fact ahaṃ brahma asmi.

śloka 52
स्वल्पमप्यन्तरं कृ त्वा जीर्ात्मपरमात्मनोिः ।
यिः सतन्तष्ठत मूढात्मा भयं स्यातभभातष म ॥ ् ५२ ॥
svalpamapyantaraṃ kṛtvā jīvātmanparamātmanoḥ.
yaḥ santiṣṭhati mūḍhātmā bhayaṃ tasyābhibhāṣitam.
This verse should be read along with the verses 47 and 48. They are
criticisms of bheda-darśana. Whoever believes in plurality will go
from mortality to mortality. This portion belongs to Taittirīya
Upaniṣad. Even the slightest difference between jīva and jagat, jagat
and Īśvara, jīva and Īśvara, or jīva and jīva will result in dvaita. See
the difference as empirical difference and it should not be taken as
absolute reality. Then you will have constant fear. Duality causes
fear. That is why in sleep even if a cobra is on the body, one is a
jīvanmukta and he is not afraid of the snake. The duality causes fear.
More details in the next class.
Class 21
śloka 52 contd.
After differentiating Ātman and anātman, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya has

taken up the topic of an anātma-mithyātva. By negating anātma-
mithyātva, ātma-satyatva is stabilized. This advaita siddhi is the aim
of these verses. For this purpose, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya takes the help of
various Upaniṣad statements. There is no plurality; which means
negation of the creation is because creation is pluralistic. This is one
direct method.

The indirect method is whoever sees plurality will have bondage or
saṃsāra. Dvaita-darśana is saṃsāra indirectly says advaita-darśana
means mokṣa. Hence śruti teaches us the advaita-darśana to gain
mokṣa. Thus, indirect method is to show that dvaita-darśana is
saṃsāra or it is dvaita-darśana-nindā.
The third method the Upaniṣad shows is that everything is Ātman. If

Upaniṣad accepts anātman independently Upaniṣad cannot say
everything is Ātman. Upaniṣad should say Ātman is there with
anātman. But Upaniṣad says sarvam ātma-mayam and by pointing
out everything is Ātman indirectly Upaniṣad says there is no
anātman.
I can negate the wave in two ways. One is to say that there is no
substance in the wave. Indirect method is what you see in wave is
water. All rivers are water; all oceans are water. I put water positively
and indirectly waves get negated. Now in the 52nd śloka teacher
pointed out the dvaita-darśana-nindā. Difference means duality and
duality means time and time means mortality. Up to this we saw in
the last class.
śloka 53
यत्राज्ञानािर्ेद्द्व ै तम रस्तत्र पश्यत ।
आत्मत्वेन यदा सर्ं ने रस्तत्र चाण्र्तप ॥ ५३ ॥
yatrājñānādbhaveddvaitamitarastatra paśyati.
ātmantvena yadā sarvaṃ netarastatra cāṇvapi.
Here again Ādi Śaṅkarācārya bases his argument on another pair of

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad-vākya. This is another method of proving

that the creation is mithyā. At the time of ignorance, a person sees
duality. At the time of knowledge, a person sees non-duality.
Avidyāvastāyām dvaitam paśyati and vidyāvastāyām advaitam
paśyati.
What you see at the time of jñāna is advaita and at the time of ajñāna
you see dvaita. Jñānī sees the rope while an ajñānī sees the snake in
the rope. In another Upaniṣad it is said that Brahman itself is a source
of ānanda for a wise person and the same Brahman is a source of fear
for an ignorant person. Brahman is source of ānanda or fear; the
Upaniṣad says it is both. Brahman is source of ānanda as also fear.
How is it possible? Upaniṣad says that Brahman which is a source of
ānanda to wise person the very same Brahman is source of fear to
ignorant person.
The rope is not a source of fear to wise person but the same rope is a
source of fear when it is mistaken. The rightly taken Brahman is
ānanda and wrongly taken Brahman is source of fear. Similarly, here
also at the time of ignorance or because of ignorance there is the
vision of dvaita; a person sees a second thing and at the time of jñāna
or because of jñāna he sees everything as Ātman. There he does not
see an iota or duality or a second thing. At the time of ajñāna
whatever is there is mithyā. Whatever is a product of ignorance is
mithyā.
śloka 54
यतस्मन्सर्ावतण भू ातन ह्यात्मत्वेन तर्जान िः ।
न र्ै स्य भर्ेन्मोहो न च शोकोऽति ीय िः ॥ ५४ ॥

yasminsarvāṇi bhūtāni hyātmantvena vijānataḥ.
na vai tasya bhavenmoho na ca śoko:'dvitīyataḥ.
Again, another śruti-vākya is quoted here. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya takes so

many quotations to prove advaita. According to pūrva-mimāṃsa
rule a statement in Vedas is valid only when it is repeated. It
indicates the validity of the statements. If something is important, we
always repeat the statement even in normal day-to-day statement.
Tat tvam asi statement is repeated by us very often whereas
Viśiṣṭādvaitins will not repeat Tat tvam asi as they don’t give any
emphasis on this statement. Upaniṣad has applied its mind while
saying advaita alone gives mokṣa.
Here is another statement occurring in Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad. For a wise

person the whole creation is Ātman. I am everything. For a wise
person all beings are none other than Brahman. It is dreaming with
the knowledge that it is a dream. It is impossible. Once I enter the
dream my own projection and I myself become the cause of fear.
Everytime I see a wonderful thing I pat myself. Similarly, for a jñānī
not that the perception of the world stops but there is an
understanding what is experienced is not substantial. I am the stuff of
the world.
Why should I be frightened or deluded by myself? I see non-duality

and I have no sorrow or fear. There is neither sorrow nor delusion.
Advaita is Upaniṣadic teaching and it is not Śaṅkarācārya’s
philosophy.

śloka 55
अयमात्मा तह ब्रह्मैर् सर्ावत्मक या तस्थ िः ।

ु ा बृहदारण्यसंस्थया ॥ ५५ ॥
इत तनधावतर ं श्रत्य
ayamātmā hi brahmaiva sarvātmankatayā sthitaḥ.
iti nirdhāritaṃ śrutyā bṛhadāraṇyasaṃsthayā.
Here is another statement from Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.15.19.

Ayam ātmā brahma occurs in Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad 2 also. It is one of
the mahāvākyas occurring in the Atharvaṇa Veda. This Brahman
remains as the very substance or the content of everything.
The essence of the whole creation is Brahman; it is emphasized in the

Upaniṣads. The consciousness is the stuff of the universe and the
stuff of the matter. Next, I am the consciousness and therefore, it is
said I am the essence of the whole creation.
Therefore, he says ayamātman hi brahma; the Brahman is the very

stuff of the universe and it indicates that it is so intimately available
and you cannot objectify it. That is why consciousness is not available
for study for it is the very essence of the student. That Brahman is
Ātman and Ātman is myself.
That Ātman is the very essence of everything. It is stuff of the entire

anātma-prapañca. Brahman and Ātman are used liberally. When
Ātman is used it is myself. Brahman means one may think it is an
object and one may investigate the truth. That tendency to objectify
Upaniṣad wants to knock. The word Ātman is used to indicate that
you are that Brahman. This has been established by the Upaniṣad.

śloka 56
ु ोऽप्ययं लोको व्यर्हारक्षमोऽतप सन ।्
अनभू
असद्रूपो यथा स्वप्न उत्तरक्षणबाध िः ॥ ५६ ॥
anubhūto:'pyayaṃ loko vyavahārakṣamo:'pi san.
asadrūpo yathā svapna uttarakṣaṇabādhataḥ.
When Ādi Śaṅkarācārya negates the anātma-prapañca consistently

we think or conclude that the anātma-prapañca is totally non-
existent. Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya wants to say the world does not
come under non-existent category also because what is non-existent
cannot come into existence. Whether it comes under existent category
and it is not so also. It comes under seemingly existent category and
therefore, we don’t negate its experience.
What is non-existent cannot be experienced. Vedānta does not deny

experiential existence of the dream. What is denied is the reality of
the dream. Similarly, experienced snake is not negated reality of the
snake is negated. Experience of sunrise is not negated reality of the
sunrise is negated. There are lot of experiences and Vedānta does not
negate them. World is experienced. The word mithyā does not mean
nonexistence. World is experienced. He says all the transactions and
their consequences and utility of the world, Vedānta never negates;
the utility of the world and the cause-effect of the world is not
denied. When we take food, hunger goes away. Eating food is the
cause, freedom from hunger is effect.
Time is experienced, world is experienced cause and effect are

experienced and consequent utility also is experienced. The
transaction, cause-effect relationship, etc., are there but when you
analyse you will find it is kārya-kāraṇa-vilakṣaṇa it is something

beyond cause-effect-utility and such substance is Ātman. We don’t
deny the experience of the world. Ayam lokaḥ vyāvahārika-kṣamaḥ,
this world is fit for all transactions; advaitins respect all transactions
and respect all the laws of transactions and the moment he comes to
transactions he will obey all the laws of karma and all the moral laws
of transactions; in the transactional field every law has the advantage.
The knowledge I am the stuff behind all the flux changes me; my
head will reel and then we want something stationary and whatever;
we hold on to the changes. Even the time seems to change. It is just
like the carpet under me is pulled and we are like the one who has no
support. I am the kūṭastha caitanya and changeless Ātman. During
transactions we want something stable. You have to accept all the
laws. Then you understand Īśvara and when you are ready for
Vedānta, then you realise that something is stable there within you
amidst all the transactions and that something is nothing but
consciousness.
The world is not sat and it is not even non-existent and it is mithyā-
rūpa. After finding the inner stability then any amount of movements
around will not create any problem. After the knowledge of the stuff
you gain the peace of mind without any problem of any kind. We’re
home-sick and the home for us is Ātman. That is why mokṣa is called
veedu [home]. You may roam about anywhere and ultimately you
have to come back to your own home which is consciousness or
Ātman. Svapna is also an experience. In dream every dream object is
solid. It is anubhūta. It is available for transactions. For dream-
hunger you have to take dream-food alone. Even if food is there
adjacent to you, cannot remove your hunger and you have to eat

dream-food.
Therefore, anubhūta and it is vyāvahārika-kṣama and all are

available for transaction. But you cannot take the dream-world as
reality. The moment you wake up the entire dream world goes away.
Within a moment the whole world disappears. Even after waking up
the nightmarish experience continues. If the unreal dream world can
create so much fear how can you escape this world and this requires
lot of conviction to forget the experience!
śloka 57
स्वप्नो जागरणेऽलीकिः स्वप्नेऽतप जागरो न तह ।
ु
ियमेर् लये नातस्त लयोऽतप ह्यभयोन व च ॥ ५७ ॥
svapno jāgaraṇe:'līkaḥ svapne:'pi jāgaro na hi.
dvayameva laye nāsti layo:'pi hyubhayorna ca.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya applies the svapna-logic to the jāgṛt-prapañca

also like pointing out that each world obtains in that particular state
of experience alone and each world is negated in the other state.
Jāgṛt-prapañca is negated in svapna-anubhava and svapna-prapañca
is negated in jāgṛt-anubhava. If I am a poor person in dream and
someone gives a lot of money in the dream. Whatever your Guru tells
the poor man in the dream that there is nothing real, etc, (he thinks
he is rich). Therefore, we don’t want to attend the class, etc. They are
unreal, etc. How much ever in jāgṛt you are wonderful, the entire
jāgṛt is negated in svapna and svapna-prapañca is negated in jāgṛt. In
suṣupti everything is negated.
Each state of experience is mutually exclusive. The common factor to

talk about all the three is I the observer who alone is common factor
that talks about the mutual nature of every state. During the dream
the suffering-I is furious and that seemed to be real and that is
falsified this time and one gets a doubt which I is the real-I. The Guru
said both I-s are unreal and you are neither viśva nor taijasa and you
are not even prājña because prājña contains viśva and taijasa in
potential form. avasthā-traya-sākṣī is pointed out here. In the waking
state svapna is mithyā; it is not available and it is non-existent; in
svapna state the waking experiencer, experienced and experience all
of them are gone; in waking, dream is not there, and in dream,
waking is not there; in sleep, both of them are not there.
And the sleep is not there in the other two experiences like jāgṛt and
svapna; that means all the three are in flux and all the three are
mutually exclusive. The moment you sleep the class is out. The world
is not there for the one who sleeps. The substratum of all the three is
aham the satyam. More in the next class.
Class 22
śloka 57 contd.
In these verses Ādi Śaṅkarācārya establishes mithyātva of anātma-

prapañca with the help of śruti and yukti pramāṇas. In these two
verses 57 and 58 Ādi Śaṅkarācārya points out that all the objects
obtain only in three states of experience. Whatever the experience
obtains either in jāgṛt or svapna-avasthā and there is a blank state in
suṣupti-avasthā. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya points out these three-avasthās
are subject to variations and they are mutually exclusive and the

arrival of one negates the other.
In the dream world the waker’s world is not there in waker’s world
the other two are not there. They are of changing nature. Since they
change, they are mithyā, just as the gold changes from a bangle- to a
ring-form to a chain-form; the arrival of the bangle-form negates the
chain-form and arrival of chain-form negates the ring-form and each
form negates the other and therefore, none of them is satya. What is
satya is gold because gold is not mutually exclusive with ornaments.
The ring form comes and goes, chain form comes and goes, but the
gold is that which is not coming and going and which is not
negatable is satya. Here, it is gold. The constant factor is gold.
In our experience Ātman alone is not subject to change. jāgṛt deśa-

kāla is not available in svapna and in jāgṛt svapna deśa-kāla is not
available and time and space is also mithyā. avasthā- traya-sākṣī is
satya. This will be said in the next verse.
śloka 58
ु
त्रयमेर्ं भर्ेतन्मथ्या गणत्रयतर्तनर्ह म म ।्
ु ी ो तनत्यो ह्येकतश्चदात्मकिः ॥ ५८ ॥
अस्य द्रष्टा गणा
trayamevaṃ bhavenmithyā guṇatrayavinirmitam.
asya draṣṭā guṇātīto nityo hyekaścidātmankaḥ.
Evam in this manner as shown in the previous verse each state is

misplaced by the other. All the three are mithyā. The bangle, chain
and ring are displaceable. What is not exclusive and inclusive in all
the three is gold and in this context Ātman alone is nitya. The jāgṛt-
avasthā is supposed to be sattva-pradhāna and svapna-avasthā is

rajoguṇa-pradhāna and suṣupti-avasthā is tamoguṇa-pradhāna. In
jāgṛt-avasthā we gather fresh knowledge which is not available in
svapna and sattva-guṇa stands for jñāna. In svapna-avasthā we do
not gain any fresh knowledge and the mind is active projecting an
inner world and therefore, it is rajas-pradhāna and suṣupti-avasthā
we do not gather any knowledge nor do we project any world and it
is a state of withdrawal; there is neither knowledge, activity nor
collection or recollection. The mind is dormant. In suṣupti both do
not function and it is reduction of sattva and rajas and what is
dominant is tamas.
They are only features of Māyā or Prakṛti and therefore, it is clear

that three avasthās represent Māyā. They represent three guṇas and
therefore, they are mithyā. Māyā is brahmāśrayā made up of sattva-
guṇa, rajoguṇa and tamoguṇa and there is that Principle other than
Māyā called Brahman or Ātman is triguṇātīta. There is a witness for
all these changes and avasthātraya and the nature of this witness is
guṇātīta and nirvikāra and it is caitanya-rūpa. Since it is guṇātīta that
caitanya does not come under time-space limitations. In jāgṛt jāgṛt
time-space comes in; jāgṛt is bound by jāgṛt deśa-kāla. svapna-
prapañca is bound by svapna deśa-kāla. I, the witness, is not bound
by either jāgṛt deśa-kāla or svapna deśa-kāla and I am deśa-atīta
caitanya and I am kāla-atīta caitanya. Since I am kāla-atīta and I am
deśa-atīta I have to be eka. I am non-dual. The counting comes only
when things are within space; spatial location is needed for counting
and I am non-dual. My nature is I am of the nature of consciousness.

śloka 59
ु ौ र्ा रज तस्थत म ।्
यिन्मृतद घटभ्रारन्त शत
िद्ब्रह्मतण जीर्त्वं र्ीक्षमाणे न पश्यत ॥ ५९ ॥
yadvanmṛdi ghaṭabhrāntiṃ śuktau vā rajatasthitim.
tadvadbrahmaṇi jīvatvaṃ vīkṣamāṇe na paśyati.
Anātman does not have any independent existence of its own and it
does not have substantiality of its own and Ātman alone is the
substance. If anātman does not have substance of its own it is nāma-
rūpa and it does not have factual existence and to convey that idea
caitanya alone has got factual existence the matter or universe does
not have actual existence and it has only a verbal existence. It is only
the significant teaching in Vedānta and Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives more
example to assimilate the teaching of Vedānta. Then gradually we get
to know what is mithyā and what is satya. I say the desk does not
have substantiality of its own. Then a person listening for the first
time will be shocked. He will say the desk is heavy and tangible and
you keep book over there and how do you say it is not tangible. I will
say the substance behind desk is wood and the tangibility belongs to
wood and the desk is word alone and the desk has got only verbal
existence. There are two words but there is only one substance. Wood
and desk are two words but the substance is one and that is wood.
Ātman and anātman two words and substance is one. The
consciousness and matter are two words and subject is
consciousness. Matter is not substantial. According to science matter
is substance and consciousness is non-substantial. That is why they
are called materialists and we are Vedāntins. Here examples are
given from 59 to 88 to prove that the whole world is names and forms
and what is substantial is Ātman alone.

Upon clay, the substance, there is a delusion of pot. Using the word
pot is not wrong. Suppose we don’t have the word pot, jug, etc., we
cannot transact. Words are useful for our transactions. I know gold
alone is real being a wise man. I tell bring the gold and how do you
know that bangle is to be brought. We may know gold alone is the
substance and for transactional purposes we need names. When I use
the name, I should know what is behind the name is gold and gold
alone. At the time of naming the child according to our tradition, the
child is told that you are Ātman and I am Ātman and you are called
by this name only for identification for transactional purposes. But
after sometime we are obsessed by the name and we count the name
and nāma-rūpa becomes so important that we lose sight of the
substance. Without losing sight of substance have name for the sake
of transactions and that is called vyāvahārika satya.
Upon clay there is delusion of pot. In the shell, we get the reflection
of sunlight and from distance it appears as silver and the notion of
silver upon the shell also falls in the same way. Jīvātman and
Paramātman are two words but the substance is only one. The same
Paramātman is called jīvātman for transactional purposes. All-
pervading consciousness available within this body is called jīva and
without the body when you look at all-pervading consciousness it is
called Paramātman. It is like the pot within the pot is called pot space
and without the pot is mahākāśa and there is only difference in
names.
Jīvātman is the name of Paramātman. We should know that jīva is the

name I enjoy as long as body is there and when the body goes away
the name disappears. The disappearance of my name is not

disappearance of my nature, Ātman. When I lose my name, I get the
name of Paramātman. Ātman is the correct name. When you see
clearly, there is no pot on enquiry, there is no silver on enquiry and
there is no jīva on enquiry and all are but verbal existence.
śloka 60
यथा मृतद घटो नाम कनके कुण्डलातभधा ।
ु ौ तह रज ख्यात जीर्शिस्तथा परे ॥ ६० ॥
शत
yathā mṛdi ghaṭo nāma kanake kuṇḍalābhidhā.
śuktau hi rajatakhyātirjīvaśabdastathā pare.
The three examples Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives here. Pot is only a name
for clay and the word pot does not have an object. Normally every
word will have a corresponding object. Since there are eight names
eight substances or eight objects are there; our orientation is that as
many namas are there, so many substances are there. Here, the clip
and book are two things. When I say clay and pot, there are two
things but when you take away the object clay there is no
corresponding substance at all. The general rule is every word has a
substance and it is a vyāvahārika rule. There can be many names but
there is only one substance. Pot is another name for clay. Ring is
another name for gold itself. Similarly, the shell is referred to as silver
in the case of shell-silver bhrama. In the same way jīva is only
another name for Brahman. The name jīva is only attributed to Para
which means Brahman. There is no jīva other than Brahman.

śloka 61
यथ ैर् व्योति नीलत्वं यथा नीरं मरुस्थले ।
ु
परुषस्त्वं यथा स्थाणौ ितिश्वं तचदात्मतन ॥ ६१ ॥
yathaiva vyomni nīlatvaṃ yathā nīraṃ marusthale.
puruṣastvaṃ yathā sthāṇau tadvadviśvaṃ cidātmani.
In the previous verse Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talked about jīva-mithyātva.

Here he talks about jagan-mithyātva. There seems to be blue sky a
substance above but when you go up there is no substance called
blue sky. The experience of blueness is there in the sky; there is
experience of mirage water and waterness is attributed to dry desert
land and water is not there; in the same way Puruṣatva to the stump
of a tree is there and since it is not totally destroyed some shoots are
coming. In twilight a ghost is there and the ghost has got only a
verbal existence and substance is only a small tree.
The non-threatening Brahman is seen as persecuting the world. A

problem which does not exist gives you so much of a problem, even
causing death. The non-substantial thought is capable of giving a
substantial disease. Similarly, innocent Brahman is there and you can
create out of Brahman mahā-saṃsāra. The very fact that we have
done and continue to do it in spite of Vedāntic study is the effect of
Māyā.
śloka 62
यथ ैर् शून्य े र्े ालो गन्धर्ावणां परंु यथा ।
यथाकाशे तिचन्द्रत्वं ित्सत्ये जगतित िः ॥ ६२ ॥
yathaiva śūnye vetālo gandharvāṇāṃ puraṃ yathā.
yathākāśe dvicandratvaṃ tadvatsatye jagatsthitiḥ.

In the empty space he sees solidly the ghost and he sees different
types of hallucinations. This intangible energy, intangible space alone
appears as solid substance. In the same way intangible Ātman
appears as tangible objects. When you see the evening sky there will
be clouds with different shapes. If you imagine, then you will see a
gandharva-nagara and there will be shops and people go and come.
Whatever you imagine you will see there but the substance is cloud
alone. Only one moon is there and because of some defect in the eye
you may see more than one moon. Because of the problem Māyā or
ignorance you see duality. Duality is seen in non-dual Brahman.
śloka 63
व मेर् स्फुरत्यलम ।्
यथा रङ्गकल्लोलैजल
पात्ररूपेण ाम्रं तह ब्रह्माण्डौघैस्तथाऽऽत्म ा ॥ ६३ ॥
yathā taraṅgakallolairjalameva sphuratyalam.
pātrarūpeṇa tāmraṃ hi brahmāṇḍaughaistathā:':'tmatā.
We have got waves, small waves, big waves and we have the word
wave but the substance is only water. Lake is not a substance; river is
not the substance but lake, wave and river are only names and there
is one water alone. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya takes example from day-to-day
transactions. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives examples from day-to-day life
and therefore, you cannot forget the teaching of Aparokṣānubhūti.
When you use copper vessels you say there are many vessels but
what you should know that there is only copper alone from which
the vessels have been produced. The consciousness in seeming
motion is all the galaxies.

śloka 64
घटनािा यथा पृथ्वी पटनािा तह न्तर्िः ।
जगन्नािा तचदाभात ज्ञेय ं त्तदभार् िः ॥ ६४ ॥
ghaṭanāmnā yathā pṛthvī paṭanāmnā hi tantavaḥ.
jagannāmnā cidābhāti jñeyaṃ tattadabhāvataḥ.
Clay or mud alone is known as the pots. Thread alone is known by

the name cloth. In the same way world is another name for
consciousness. Matter is another name for consciousness. Scientists
say energy is in the form of matter and matter alone is in the form of
the intangible.
In the same way intangible consciousness alone is in the form of

tangible matter. Both matter and energy are two names for one and
the same consciousness. Scientists stop with energy but we say
beyond energy there is consciousness. You should know there is no
pot separate from clay there is no cloth from thread and there is no
world separate from Brahman.
śloka 65
सर्ोऽतप व्यर्हारस्त ु ब्रह्मणा तिय े जन ैिः ।
अज्ञानान्न तर्जानतन्त मृदर्े तह घटातदकम ॥ ् ६५ ॥
sarvo:'pi vyavahārastu brahmaṇā kriyate janaiḥ.
ajñānānna vijānanti mṛdeva hi ghaṭādikam.
Since Brahman alone appears as the world whenever you handle the
world you handle Brahman alone. When you lift the desk, you lift
wood alone. When you refer to desk you refer to wood alone. Even

after that when a person says I want to see the wood and I want to go
to the forest and I have not seen the wood in the desk. How can you
realise wood? He works for wood-realisation. Where should I go and
how long I should I sit in nirvikalpaka samādhi? You see Brahman
every time and you don’t see anything other than Brahman. When
you say desk is means you see wood alone. Every transaction you do
is done with Brahman. Then why do the people work for Brahman-
realization! It looks as though Brahman will take so much time to
come to you. It means that you are stupid to wait for Brahman when
you see Brahman all the time. You need not change anything and
only an understanding is needed. In every experience sat and cit are
common; consciousness and existence are common and that sat-cit
alone is substance and everything other than sat and cit is nāma-
rūpa. It is due to mere ignorance you do not know this fact. The clay
alone is the pot. The universe is nothing but Brahman. More in the
next class.
Class 23
śloka 65 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya first discussed the topic of ātma-anātma-viveka

and then he established of the two-principles Ātman and anātman
one alone being satya and another mithyā. The purpose of
establishing this is to reveal advaita. The pūrṇatva of Ātman alone is
immortality. First, we start with duality and then end with non-
duality. When a person sees a wave, first I accept the wave, wave is
limited, wave has the end and wave is separate and I accept the wave
and accept the property and gradually I introduce water and I point

out that wave is born out of water; wave sustains in water and
dissolves in water. Then I talk about the nature of water as birthless
and deathless and it is all-pervading, etc. Now I have introduced two
entities and one is perishable wave and all-pervading imperishable
water. Then I say there is no such thing called wave at all and say
that there was water, there is water and there will be water. I say the
wave is for transaction purposes alone. Waves are of different kind,
big and small. You must understand that wave is not a substance and
there is only one substance, water. Water-wave distinction is made to
understand alone. In the beginning I was particular in distinguishing
water and wave and now I don’t do that and as long as you see
distinction your mind will be in duality. Water-wave distinction is
not there but there is only water.
Similarly, I find the perishable universe in the beginning. Then I find

that there are many names and forms in the universe. Then I
gradually introduce an imperishable Brahman the consciousness like
talking about water. Like water-wave-viveka I talk about ātma-
prapañca-viveka and in the final stage I say don’t talk about the
distinction at all; talking of distinction is meant for teaching only and
the ultimate step is Ātmā eva idam sarvam. anātman is only a word
and it has transactional utility. Sthūla śarira, sūkṣma śarira, etc., are
only name and form and all are born out of Ātman and they cannot
exist separate from Brahman. This Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks about
through various examples. When you transact with prapañca you
transact with Brahman alone like transaction with the wave amounts
to transaction with the water alone. As long as I don’t know water, I
will think there is wave. I will take each wave as the substance all
because of ajñāna. Therefore, ajñānad na vijānanti because of

ignorance they don’t know the fact that pot, jug, all the things you
enumerate are but clay clay alone.
śloka 66
कायवकारण ा तनत्यमास्ते घटमृदोयवथा ।
थ ैर् श्रतु यतु तभ्यां प्रपञ्चब्रह्मणोतरह ॥ ६६ ॥
kāryakāraṇatā nityamāste ghaṭamṛdoryathā.
tathaiva śrutiyuktibhyāṃ prapañcabrahmaṇoriha.
To show that wave is non-subtantial and water alone is substantial I
use the logic that wave is born out of water and wave is sustained by
water and wave goes back to water. This logic is called kārya-kāraṇa-
sambandha. Kārya means effect; kāraṇa is the cause and the
relationship is cause-effect-relationship. Once I establish kārya-
kāraṇa-sambandha I know kāraṇa is substantial and kārya is non-
substantial. Upaniṣad points out that Brahman is kāraṇa and
prapañca is kārya; pot is the kārya and clay is kāraṇa and between
the two kārya-kāraṇa-sambandha or the cause-effect-relation is there
all the time. If there is kārya-kāraṇa-sambandha between clay and
pot, clay is substantial and pot is non-substantial and pot is as good
as non-existent and clay alone is existent. Similarly, in the case of
Brahman and prapañca also. Between prapañca, the world, the
matter and Brahman, the consciousness, a similar relationship is
there and that is kārya-kāraṇa-sambandha. This we know from śruti
pramāṇa. Brahman is that from which the world is born, by which
the world is sustained and unto which Brahman it goes back. This is
śāstra pramāṇa. There is logic also. Here we should be careful.
Here logic used in Vedānta and one used in science has a difference.

The scientific logic is based on the experimental or observed data and
scientific logic cannot help us in understanding consciousness.
Fortunately, some of the scientists themselves started hinting that
consciousness will not be available for scientific study and it will be
an eternal mystery. Some of the scientists have come to the
conclusion that consciousness is not available for the scientific
method of enquiry and śāstra also has the same view. Experience
based logic cannot help when the logic comes. Scriptural logic is
based on the data collected from the scriptures themselves. The
cause-effect-relationship between Brahman and prapañca the
Upaniṣad says— by knowing Brahman, the world is as good as
known. By knowing consciousness everything else is known. Eka-
vijñānena sarvam vijñātam bhavati, ātma-vijñānena sarvam vijñātam
bhavati, kāraṇa-vijñānena kāryam vijñānatam bhavati. By knowing
clay, you will know all about the pot for pot cannot exist without
clay. The prapañca is born of Brahman alone. Śruti-based logic is that
prapañca is not separate from Brahman. Logic I can give only when
you accept scriptures as valid source of data. If not, consciousness
will be an eternal mystery for us also as is in the science.
śloka 67
गृह्यमाणे घटे यिन्मृतत्तकाऽऽभात र्ै बला ।्
ु ॥
र्ीक्षमाणे प्रपञ्चेऽतप ब्रह्मैर्ाभात भासरम ् ६७ ॥
gṛhyamāṇe ghaṭe yadvanmṛttikā:':'bhāti vai balāt.
vīkṣamāṇe prapañce:'pi brahmaivābhāti bhāsuram.
When you perceive a pot whether you like or not you perceive the
clay alone. There is no pot separate from clay. You have to do some
filtering job. The substance is clay alone. The changing and perishable

nature does not belong to the substance clay. Look at the pot and
understand the substance is clay and do the filtering job; the
changing feature does not belong to the clay for clay was clay, is clay
and will be clay; the mortality belongs to the pot nāma-rūpa and not
to the clay.
Similarly, look at the prapañca. One is the names and forms, belong
to non-susbtantial prapañca, while substance Brahman is sat-cit-
svarūpa. Sat is existence and cit is consciousness. Experience of
anything without consciousness and existence is impossible and that
existence-consciousness is substantial Brahman. It is not limited by
time and space. You cannot perceive Brahman without sat-cit-Ātman
and ādi-anta belongs to nāma-rūpa. Clay is perceived without any
limitation. Try to see the desk without the presence of wood which is
not possible. The consciousness existence-principle can never go out
of our experiences. Experiences vary sadba-jñāna, rūpa-jñāna,
gandha-jñāna, kāma-jñāna experience will vary. The consciousness-
principle alone is called Brahman. When the world is experienced all
the time, what is inherent in all is Brahman. The unfortunate thing is
consciousness is non-substantial and the world is substantial because
of Māyā and ignorance. The content is consciousness but
unfortunately the content we are not able to study. All the sciences
deal with the container and not the content the consciousness.
śloka 68
सदैर्ात्मा तर्शद्ध ु ोऽतस्त ह्यशद्ध
ु ो भात र्ै सदा ।
ु तननोऽज्ञातननोऽतनशम ॥
यथ ैर् तितर्धा रज्जज्ञाव ् ६८ ॥

sadaivātmā viśuddho:'sti hyaśuddho bhāti vai sadā.
yathaiva dvividhā rajjurjñānino:'jñānino:'niśam.
A wave is water and for transactional purposes we use wave, ocean,
river, etc. Various are names as ocean, rivers and waves, etc. The
transactions need plurality but use them with the understanding that
advaita is there. Never talk of advaita in transactions. Sarvam
Ātmāmayam jagat. But once you go home you see the difference for
transactions purposes. Transactional differences will be retained yet
let advaita be in your vision all the time. Once the transactions come
what should be followed is dvaita with the knowledge that advaita
alone is the reality. Once transactions come dharma-adharma is there;
puṇya-pāpa is there all based on dharma-adharma-viveka. The law
of crime and punishment apply. The transactions need dharma and
adharma duality.
The benefit of the advaita knowledge is when I understand water is
behind the wave, I use the word wave and I have the advantage that
even if the wave perishes, I know nothing is destroyed and water is
immortal and destruction of wave does not affect me. The non-
substantial wave perishes and substantial water never perishes and
therefore, the destruction of wave does not affect me. The
appreciation of substantial gives me a solid force. Water-dṛṣṭi is
śuddha-dṛṣṭi and in wave-dṛṣṭi I see aśuddha. I can accept my own
death comfortably for I know the essential-I cannot be killed. The
superficial-I cannot be immortal and the essential-I cannot be mortal.
I own up with essential immortality and seeing the substance is
called śuddha-dṛṣṭi; śuddha-dṛṣṭi gives abhaya and aśuddha-dṛṣṭi
gives me bhaya. The rope-perception gives fearlessness and sarpa-
dṛṣṭi gives me fear. We have two visions. One is prapañca-dṛṣṭi
which is bondage and brahma-dṛṣṭi gives freedom.

What we need is change in vision; dṛṣṭi is only an internal change. I
am also active like any other person. The change is within and I enjoy
life is a play or sport but for other people life is a struggle. The
conversion of life from struggle to sports is done because of jñāna. So,
he says Ātman is viśuddha because it does not cause fear. When it
appears as anātman it is aśuddha it is mortal and causes fear. It is like
the rope mistaken as snake. Taken rope is śuddha and it does not
cause fear and mistaken rope causes fear. Taken Brahman is śuddha
and mistaken Brahman is world which is aśuddha. Instead of
mistaking you take the right view. The jñānī takes, while an ajñānī
mistakes; jñānī takes śuddha Brahman and ajñānī mistakes it as
aśuddha Brahman. More in the next class.
Class 24
śloka 68 contd.
After dealing with ātma-anātma-viveka Ādi Śaṅkarācārya deals with

anātma-mithyātva for the sake of advaita-siddhi. As long as you
accept Ātman and anātman there will be dvaita. Our ultimate end is
advaita. Therefore, initially it is pointed out that Ātman is different
from anātman and now we say that there is no anātman. Whatever
we state as wave, ocean, river, etc., are verbal while water alone is
satya.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives so many examples to drive home this point.

The ocean, river, well-water, lake are so many words but the
substance is only one and it is water. The substance is one and it is
Ātman in the universe.

He uses the dream and after some time, it gets the reality of its own
and later, the very same thing is unreal; I give birth to the dream and
I myself negate the dream on waking up. Therefore, he said for a
jñānī what is rope is for ajñānī it is a snake. What is Brahman for jñānī
is prapañca for ajñānī.
śloka 69
यथ ैर् मृण्मयिः कं ु भस्तििेहोऽतप तचन्मयिः ।
आत्मानात्मतर्भागोऽयं मधु ैर् तिय ऽे बधु ैिः ॥ ६९ ॥
yathaiva mṛṇmayaḥ kuṃbhastadvaddeho:'pi cinmayaḥ.
ātmānātmanvibhāgo:'yaṃ mudhaiva kriyate:'budhaiḥ.
A pot is nothing but clay alone. In the same way body is non-
different from consciousness and matter is non-different from
consciousness. Body is different, consciousness is different, how do
you talk about ātma-anātma-viveka. ātma-anātman viveka is the first
state of teaching.
When he sees the wave, he does not appreciate the water. I first
introduce water and then I say in fact there is no wave but wave is
but water in essence. Then I conclude that wave cannot be there
without water and wave is but name and form while water alone is
substance.
First, I say the world is there. Then I introduce Īśvara in addition to

the world and once he accepts Īśvara as sṛṣṭi-kartā and then I say
Īśvara is sat-cit-rūpa. Then I say what you see is Īśvara and world is a
name given to Bhagavān. Then I say consciousness is in the body and
then I say in the second stage consciousness is the body. Difference

between spirit and matter-prapañca and Brahman, Bhagavān and the
world are really not there at all. They are unnecessarily stated by
ignorant people. Even advaitin himself says that is different.
Ultimately one has to come to advaita that Brahman alone is the
universe.
śloka 70
सप वत्वेन यथा रज्जू रज त्वेन शतु तका ।
तर्तनणी ा तर्मूढन
े देहत्वेन थाऽऽत्म ा ॥ ७० ॥
sarpatvena yathā rajjū rajatatvena śuktikā.
vinirṇītā vimūḍhena dehatvena tathā:':'tmatā.
Ātman is misunderstood or mistaken as the inert body by the

ignorant people. Vedāntic teaching is difficult to accept as it takes
time to assimilate the teaching. In spite of the teaching the people
continue to take Ātman as the body. The job of ignorance is that I
take myself as basically a human being and occasionally due to
spiritual experience I take myself as Ātman the consciousness. We
should take spirituality as my intrinsic nature. This idea is clarified in
various example. The consciousness is taken as the body, just like the
rope is taken as a snake. Just as shell on the beach is taken as silver
coin, body is wrongly taken as the Ātman.
śloka 71
घटत्वेन यथा पृथ्वी पटत्वेन ैर् न्तर्िः ।
े देहत्वेन थाऽऽत्म ा ॥ ७१ ॥

ghaṭatvena yathā pṛthvī paṭatvenaiva tantavaḥ.
I take the consciousness as the body. Here two more examples are
given. Here thread is mistaken for cloth. Just as mud is understood to
be pot, thread is mistaken for cloth so too the ignorant has mistaken
the Ātman as the body. When our attention is on the pot and the
qualities of the pot, we fail to see the mud with which it is made.
When we look at the cloth, we fail to see the thread which is the
substratum of the texture of the cloth. The cloth is nothing but the
thread. When from the cloth thread is removed, the cloth ceases to
exist. Similarly, the foolish one considers the body as the Ātman.
Even when we are seeing the body, we are seeing only the reality,
consciousness. It is the consciousness that expresses itself apparently
as the body. In fact, there is only one consciousness.
śloka 72
कनकं कुण्डलत्वेन रङ्गत्वेन र्ै जलम ।्
े देहत्वेन थाऽऽत्म ा ॥ ७२ ॥
kanakaṃ kuṇḍalatvena taraṅgatvena vai jalam.
Gold is mistaken for an ear-ring; water of the ocean is perceived as

waves; so to the ignorant has mistaken the Ātman as the body. Gold
is understood as ornaments like the ear-ring because our attention is
on the form, shape name, etc. Of the ornaments like ear ring. So gold
is not recognized as gold. All gold ornaments cannot be other than
gold and yet we perceive not gold. So too the ocean of water is not

recognized as water but as a massive play of the waves. So when the
attention and focus are on the names and forms we forget the
material by which the object is made. So too the foolish people
consider that the body is Ātman. I forget my real nature which is the
infinite Brahman reality. I consider myself to be the body. This is
because of ignorance.
śloka 73
ु
परुषत्वे ु वलत्वेन मरीतचका ।
न र्ै स्थाणज
े देहत्वेन थाऽऽत्म ा ॥ ७३ ॥
puruṣatvena vai sthāṇurjalatvena marīcikā.

A post is mistaken for a person; sand of the desert is considered to be

mirage water; so too the ignorant mistakes the Ātman to be the body.
The post that is there in the path is mistaken for the ghost or a thief.
When you see the thief, immediately you remember the policeman.
In the imagination of the mind, the real fact of the post is not
recognized.
According to our own individual vāsanās we imagine and project

many things and come to suffer them in our lives. The hot, scorching
desert is sometimes, misunderstood as the big pool of water. Really
speaking it is only a desert. Similarly, we fail to recognize the Ātman
as the Ātman, and misunderstand it to be the body. All these
examples prove that the truth can be perceived only on correct
enquiry. Similarly, on enquiry we come to the conclusion that we are

not the body but the eternal, pure consciousness alone.
śloka 74
गृहत्वेन ैर् काष्ठातन खड्गत्वेन ैर् लोह ा ।
े देहत्वेन थाऽऽत्म ा ॥ ७४ ॥
gṛhatvenaiva kāṣṭhāni khaḍgatvenaiva lohatā.
A heap of timber is considered as a house; a piece of steel is

understood to be a sword, so too the Ātman is mistaken to be the
body by the ignorant. Many wooden pieces put together are really
the house. But the house is only wood. Wood arranged in a particular
shape form in a particular arrangement and order becomes the house.
The house analysed comes to be seen as nothing but several wooden
pieces. Iron when smelted, melted and forged into a particular shape
becomes the sword.
The sword from the hilt to the sharp tip is nothing but iron. But those
who see the sword do not recognize it to be the iron. When once I
understand it to be iron, even while using it my knowledge that it is
iron will not desert me. Similarly, the ignorant one mistakes the body
for the Ātman whereas the wise one even when he is playing through
the equipment of the body, mind and intellect remembers that all
these are nothing but Brahman.

śloka 75
यथा र्ृक्षतर्पयावसो जलािर्त कस्यतच ।्
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ७५ ॥
yathā vṛkṣaviparyāso jalādbhavati kasyacit.
tadvadātmani dehatvaṃ paśyatyajñānayogataḥ.
Just as one sees the inverted image of trees in water, so also ignorant
persons entertains the idea of body in the Self, due to ignorance. The
tree is seen upside down in the river and real tree on the shore is
normal. Because of Māyā or ajñāna Ātman is totally reversed and the
reversal process is radical; the caitanya is reversed into acetana;
nirguṇa appears as saguṇa; niravayava appears as sāvayava and
consciousness appears as the body which is unconvincing. The
misconception that I am the body is caused only because of my
ignorance. Non-apprehension of the truth causes the
misapprehension of the truth.
The body is the inversion of the Brahman. Brahman is all-pervading,

the body is limited; Brahman is unborn, the body is born; Brahman is
undying, the body is dying; Brahman is unchanging the body is ever-
changing; if in spite of this one mistakes this body to be the Brahman
then it is nothing but utter stupidity.
śloka 76
ं ु िः सर्ं भा ीर् चञ्चलम ।्
पो ने गच्छ िः पस
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ७६ ॥
potena gacchataḥ puṃsaḥ sarvaṃ bhātīva cañcalam.

Just as to a man who is traveling in a boat, everything appears to be
in motion so too does a person on account of his spiritual ignorance,
perceives the Ātman as the body. A shore is there and trees are there
and the movement belongs to the man on the boat. After sometimes it
appears as if the trees are moving. It is an illusion easily experiences
by everyone that when he is in a moving vehicle everything near him
appears to be moving in the opposite direction and everything away
appears to be moving the same direction as the vehicle is moving. But
we all know that the trees and the buildings on the wayside are, in
fact not moving; they only appear to be moving.
In the same way Ātman, the Self, when riding in the vehicles of the
body, mind and intellect, in its identification with the realm of time
experiences the world of constant change. Time is the concept of the
intellect; and time keeps constantly changing. When consciousness
functions through this vehicle of change it can perceive nothing but
change.
śloka 77
ु े दोषािर्त कस्यतच ।्
पी त्वं तह यथा शभ्र
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ७७ ॥
pītatvaṃ hi yathā śubhre doṣādbhavati kasyacit.
Just as to an individual who has a defect [suffering from jaundice]

white objects appear to be yellow in colour, so too does a person on
account of his spiritual ignorance perceive the Ātman as the body.
The yellow colour perceived is true to the perceiver while everybody

else is seeing that very same piece of cloth as pure white. We are not
questioning the honesty of the seer.
But the apparent experience of yellow colour perceived is due to a

defect in the seer. He is suffering from jaundice. Similarly, due to the
non-apprehension, ignorance of the Self, the perceiver constantly
experiences that the body is the Self.
śloka 78
ु ां भ्रमशीलाभ्यां सर्ं भात भ्रमात्मकम ।्
चक्षभ्य
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ७८ ॥
cakṣubhyāṃ bhramaśīlābhyāṃ sarvaṃ bhāti bhramātmankam.

When the head is reeling and because of that eyes are also disturbed
everything around me goes around. If you can rotate your eyeball
round and round all things that you are seeing will appear to be
going round and round; the apparent movement of the objects is only
because of the movement of the eyeballs. In fact, things are not
moving as are perceived with the defective eyes. In the same way it is
a defective perception through the body, mind and intellect that help
us to experience misapprehensions of truth as objects emotions and
thoughts.

śloka 79
वु ं भात सूयर्व ।्
अला ं भ्रमणेन ैर् र् ल
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ७९ ॥
alātaṃ bhramaṇenaiva vartulaṃ bhāti sūryavat.
Just as a firebrand on being rotated appears to be circular like the

sun, so too does a person, on account of his spiritual ignorance
perceive the Ātman as the body. It is the constant thought-
movement, glowing in the light of consciousness that gives the
pattern of circumstances in an ever-changing dynamic world of
objects, emotions and thoughts. When the thought-flow ceases, all the
world-patterns that we were perceiving merge into one mighty mass
of consciousness divine, the Ātman, the Self.
śloka 80
ु ं ह्यत दूर िः ।
महत्त्वे सर्वर्स्तूनामणत्व
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ८० ॥
mahattve sarvavastūnāmaṇutvaṃ hyatidūrataḥ.
Just as all things of large dimension and magnitude appear to be very

small and insignificant due to great distances, so too does a person on
account of his spiritual ignorance perceive the Ātman as the body.
The stars look small because of the distance. The large objects appear
small when perceived from a point of observation far removed from
the object, because of the error of judgment caused by the vast
distance.

As one moves nearer and nearer the object, that which appears as a
mere swelling on the horizon grows to be, in its true nature, a mighty
mountain on whose peaks the passing clouds linger to rest on.
In the realm of time and space delusions abound and these illusory
perceptions veil our direct experience of the pure Self. Perception is
valid for vyāvahārika or transaction and perception is not valid to
know the truth. Never believe perception and take to śāstra pramāṇa.
That is why what we perceive we call it vyāvahārika satya and if you

want to know pāramārthika satya take to śāstra. When perception
and logic fail go to śāstra, you should not try to validate śāstra
through science.
śloka 81
सूक्ष्मत्वे सर्वभार्ानां स्थूलत्वं चोपनेत्र िः ।
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ८१ ॥
sūkṣmatve sarvabhāvānāṃ sthūlatvaṃ copanetrataḥ.
Here small one appears big when viewed through lenses

[microscope]. So too does a person on account of his spiritual
ignorance perceive the Ātman as the body. The distortion of the tiny
object of observation when under microscope is the same as the
Ātman when viewed through the equipments. Subtle Ātman is
recognized as the gross body and its endless objects of experiences.
Ātman, the Self, is ever pervading both within and without. But
when our awareness looks out through the body-mind-complex

vehicles we do not recognize the Self but perceive only a world of
objects, emotions and thoughts.
You cannot talk about norm or reality using some set of organs and
what is the guarantee that they reflect the reality and hence we are
required to take to śāstra to know the reality.
śloka 82
काचभूमौ जलत्वं र्ा जलभूमौ तह काच ा ।
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ८२ ॥
kācabhūmau jalatvaṃ vā jalabhūmau hi kācatā.
Just as a sheet of glass is mistaken as a sheet of water; often a spread

of water is mistaken for a sheet of glass, so too does a person on
account of his spiritual ignorance, perceive the Ātman as the body. In
the non-apprehension of the Self, called spiritual-ignorance, man
comes to maintain the misapprehensions of the body as the Self.
When a post is not seen as a post, we misunderstand it as the ghost.
Spiritual-ignorance gives rise to the misconceived idea that the body
is me, the Self.
Class 25
śloka 83
ु ।्
यिदग्नौ मतणत्वं तह मणौ र्ा र्ति ा पमान
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ८३ ॥
yadvadagnau maṇitvaṃ hi maṇau vā vahnitā pumān.

Just as fire is misunderstood as a jewel and a bright jewel as a
glowing cinder, so too does a person on account of his spiritual
ignorance perceive the Ātman as the body. Here again closer enquiry
and intelligent investigation we shall easily discover the nature of the
jewel.
In thoughtless haste we jumped into a wrong conclusion that we are

the body and that there is nothing beyond the body. On full study,
closer observation, and intelligent enquiry we shall easily discover
that the body is merely an object of awareness; the subject is pure
consciousness alone.
Through various examples Ādi Śaṅkarācārya shows the mithyātva of

anātman and the entire world and the body-mind-complex comes
under anātman category. As the world is mithyā deha is also mithyā.
This mithyā deha is mistaken as satya Ātman due to ignorance. Just
so the I-notion in the body is an error is what Ādi Śaṅkarācārya
wants to say in these verses.
This error is possible and hence Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives several

examples which we come across in our day-to-day life.
śloka 84
अभ्रेष ु सत्स ु धार्त्स ु सोमो धार्त भात र्ै ।
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ८४ ॥
abhreṣu satsu dhāvatsu somo dhāvati bhāti vai.
Here, another example is given. The moon appears to be moving

when seen through the moving clouds. So too the deluded
misunderstands the Ātman to be the body. When the cloud moves in
one direction, it appears as if the moon moves in opposite direction
fast. This is an error on the part of us to notice that static moon
moving on account of the movement of the clouds.
The intellect may say the moon is not moving but the perceptual
experience is that the moon appears to be moving. While our
attention is on the clouds the moon appears to be moving and when
our attention and focus is on the moon the clouds appear to be
moving.
In the same way so long as our attention is on the three bodies

perishable changeable variable, finite and mutable the idea that we
are the body mind and intellect will be there. When we shift our
attention from the body, mind and intellect to the Ātman the
consciousness suddenly we find we are the changeless immutable,
eternal, perfect, all-pervasive and unlimited Ātman, the pure
consciousness. Hence the one who identifies himself with the body,
mind and intellect and looks through these equipments is said to be
the deluded one and it is he who misunderstands the Ātman to be
the body.
śloka 85
यथ ैर् तदतग्र्पयावसो मोहािर्त कस्यतच ।्
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ८५ ॥
yathaiva digviparyāso mohādbhavati kasyacit.

Here is another example for error. When the intellect is unable to
perceive an object then it projects and imagines something in place of
the object it tried to perceive, ignorance in itself is not a satisfying
function of the intellect. The intellect must know. If it does not know
it will try to know what it wants to know.
What is body we do not know. What is death we are not sure what it
is. Erroneous perception is there because of lack of understanding
regarding Ātman. Once Ātman is experienced all misconceptions of
the body mind, intellect and its consequent sorrows are all removed.
śloka 86
यथा शशी जले भात चञ्चलत्वेन कस्यतच ।्
िदात्मतन देहत्वं पश्यत्यज्ञानयोग िः ॥ ८६ ॥
yathā śaśī jale bhāti cañcalatvena kasyacit.
The moon appears to be in waters because of reflection. The person

knows the fact that it is not the real moon but a reflection. But a
person who does not know about the moon, one will mistake the
reflection as the moon. The consciousness is the moon and sentiency
in the brain is reflected consciousness and not knowing the original
consciousness we take the reflection as the real moon. The
consciousness we experience in the brain is real consciousness and
śāstra says it is only the manifestation of consciousness.
Just as the removal of the water can remove the reflected moon and
not the original moon, the original consciousness is not destroyed
although the reflected consciousness can be destroyed. When the

body travels the reflection also travels and it appears as if the
consciousness travels.
Just as the disturbance in water in no way affects the moon so too the
disturbance in the mind and intellect equipment in no way touches
the infinite consciousness. In the same way the light of consciousness
is not involved in the joys and sorrow of the individual but when the
light of consciousness functions through the mind and intellect
equipment it gets reflected in the mental pool where the thoughts
dance. Thus, just as the reflection of the moon in the disturbed water
appears to be shaking so too the ignorant mistakes the Ātman to be
the body.
śloka 87
एर्मात्मन्यतर्द्या ो देहाध्यासो तह जाय े ।
स एर्ात्मपतरज्ञानाल्लीय े च परात्मतन ॥ ८७ ॥
evamātmanyavidyāto dehādhyāso hi jāyate.
sa evātmanparijñānāllīyate ca parātmani.
Mistaking Ātman as the body will continue as long as the ignorance

continues. Once the knowledge is attained one will realize I am
Ātman the pure consciousness. Deha will continue until Ātman,
adhiṣṭhāna, is realized. Thus, when the Self is not known the idea
that I am the body persists, when the Self is known the same will
dissolve in the supreme Self. The experiential pot will continue and
substantial pot will not be there. The utility of the body will continue
and substantiality of the body will dissolve and one will realise the
stuff of the body and the world is Ātman, Brahman, the pure
consciousness. The very same pot or deha is dissolved in terms of
understanding.

The advantage of knowing the clay as substance is that when the pot
is destroyed, I will not bother being the clay; the substance continues.
So also, the on the body perishing, I will know I the pure
consciousness will ever be immortal. I will know that I am not the
limited individual but I, as Brahman, pervade the whole universe.
As long as clay is there pot enjoys its is-ness and the moment clay
goes the pot loses its existence. Is-ness is enjoyed by the clay alone
and the pot enjoys borrowed is-ness and pot does not have its own
existence and it does not exist separate from clay. The matter is
means we attribute is-ness and there is one is-ness and that belongs
to the spirit Ātman and is-ness of the matter is borrowed from
Ātman. The transference of anātman to Ātman intellectually is called
dissolution of the pot. That is called parātmani liyate.
śloka 88
सर्वमात्म या ज्ञा ं जगिार्रजङ्गमम ।्
अभार्ात्सर्वभार्ानां देहस्य चात्मना कु िः ॥ ८८ ॥
sarvamātmantayā jñātaṃ jagatsthāvarajaṅgamam.
abhāvātsarvabhāvānāṃ dehasya cātmanā kutaḥ.
In the previous verse, it was said that anātman gets dissolved in

Ātman. Any ornament of gold is gold. After Vedāntic knowledge I
will say Ātman is and I have no borrowed existence. The is-ness is
removed from the entire universe. The entire world loses its
substantiality and it becomes non-substantial and it is called mithyā.
Therefore, the entire cosmos with plant life that is stationary and the
life that moves; that which is sentient with consciousness and that

which is not moving and in short is non-substantial has
consciousness alone as the substance.
Everything sentient and non-sentient of the world is known to be Self

only. How can the body be the Self when the whole universe itself is
unreal? Everything is ultimately reduced to the consciousness alone.
The whole world which was valued is dropped in the waste-paper-
basket being mithyā and non-separate from Brahman. The world is
non-substantial and it is mithyā. Here, everything includes our body,
mind and intellect also.
When the jñānī looks at the world from the standpoint of knowledge
the galaxy and millions and millions of galaxies compared to
consciousness which is infinite are nothing but a bubble. Each galaxy
may survive for trillions of years which looks like infinite time it is
duration of a bubble. Then you imagine the size of the jñānī. That is
why he says ahaṃ brahma asmi. Therefore, when galaxies are
reduced to a bubble the body is nothing but insignificant to the core.
śloka 89
आत्मानं स ं जानन्कालं नय महाद्य ु े ।
ु
प्रारब्धमतखलं भञ्जन्नोिे वु हर्हस ॥ ८९ ॥
गं क म
ātmānaṃ satataṃ jānankālaṃ naya mahādyute.
prārabdhamakhilaṃ bhuñjannodvegaṃ kartumaharsi.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya completes the section with this verse. It is an

advice to the student. anātman is seen as mithyā and it should not be
counted while I, the Ātman, alone is satyam and aham advaita-
svarūpaḥ asmi. The first lesson is ātma-anātma-viveka separating

world body and mind seen as anātman and it was said consciousness
is different from anātman. The second lesson seeing the matter as
non-substantial and the spirit I is satya and I have no complaint
against matter because it cannot do anything to me as wave cannot
destroy water in the ocean.
Having given this complete teaching, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya assumes the

student is convinced. Therefore, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives an advice
how the student should spend rest of life after gaining the jñāna. He
asks the student to keep this wisdom all the time that all galaxies are
within me. A big tree seen from an airplane is a small plant. All
situations in life you see from different standpoints.
From the standpoint of Ātman you get the aerial vision and even the
galaxy is seen as a bubble. Even the explosion of a big planet is a
nonevent. From the standpoint of body, life-problems are serious and
from the standpoint of Ātman there is no problem at all and all
happens according to prārabdha.
Sometimes it is a tragedy and sometimes it is comedy. This is the

pattern of life. Learn to shift the standpoint and allow the drama to
go on. All have to vacate to give place to the new generation. Spend
your time usefully. Don’t bother about how long the body will
survive, etc. The teacher is very optimistic and the teacher addresses
the students as bright and intelligent students.
Spend your lifetime remembering this wisdom. The situation will not
change but our response to the situation will help us remain content
and peaceful, unaffected. Similarly, life problems are not going to
change. Health problems will not go away; when you change your

perceptive the impact of prārabdha to the situation will change. It is
like seeing the world of big trees and buildings, etc., from the
airplane when they look tiny and insignificant.
A man of realization awakening to the God consciousness from the

plane of body-mind-intellect functions in and through them; ever
conscious of his higher nature, he waits to exhaust his prārabdha
through his equipment.
Class 26
śloka 89 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya has given the essential teaching of Vedānta

consisting of two parts first being ātma-anātma-viveka in which it
was said that I am the conscious-principle including world, body and
mind. The second part is that matter, anātman, cannot exist
independent of Ātman, the conscious-principle, which means matter
is an unreality. Unreal means it cannot exist independent of
consciousness. We accept the world is perceptible and we accept that
the world follows karma and phala and we accept that the world is
experienced by us; morality, ethics are not questioned and that is
why we say it has empirical reality. But it cannot exist separate from
consciousness. A pot continues to be useful even after knowing that
there is no pot without clay. My knowledge of the unreality of pot
does not stop me from using the pot for transaction with additional
awareness.
The jñānī continues to live as long as prārabdha lasts. The intelligent

one lives without forgetting the fact or reality of the world. You can

continue the transactions, continue the āśrama in which you are
there, but not forgetting the fact or reality. Going through life
governed by prārabdha and prārabdha is the past karma which has
puṇya-pāpa and as the puṇya-pāpa fructify opposite experiences do
come even after gaining jñāna. New puṇya-pāpa may not come but
past puṇya-pāpa one has to experience whether one is a jñānī or
otherwise. You don’t change experiences but you change your
attitude to the experiences. Jñāna will not help change the situations
but it will change your attitude to the situations caused by
prārabdha. Don’t be shocked by any experience and for jñānī nothing
is a shock. He is not disturbed by any shocking news. He faces
everything boldly and sportingly.
śloka 90
ु त ।
उत्न्नेऽप्यत्मतर्ज्ञाने प्रारब्धं न ैर् मञ्च
ू े शास्त्रे तन्नरातिय ऽे धनु ा ॥ ९० ॥
इत यच्छ्रय
utpanne:'pyatmavijñāne prārabdhaṃ naiva muñcati.
iti yacchrūyate śāstre tannirākriyate:'dhunā.
Now the topic under discussion is whether jñānī has got prārabdha
or not. This is discussed from the verse 90 to 99. Normally in
Vedāntic text one answer is given. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya wants to say
common answer is given for ignorant people. But the real answer is
different. This is the unique aspect in Vedānta. The answer depends
upon the level of the student. The first answer is cancelled on the
basis of the maturity level of the student. The first answer is cancelled
when the second answer is given.

First, I introduce water and wave as two separate things. Then I say
wave is non-different from water. Then I say wave cannot exist
without water and wave is nothing but a name and form and it is
water alone. In this process I say wave is mithyā and it is nothing but
a name and form and water alone is satyam. It is consciously made
the statement to bring the student to a higher level.
Similarly, we separate consciousness and matter in the beginning of

Vedānta openly admitting dvaita. One is inert and the other is
caitanya. We clearly differentiate as though we openly admit dvaita
and then finally we say who said there is a matter. If you ask we say
it does not matter. It is like scaffolding which is built for helping the
construction and once the building is constructed the scaffolding is
removed. With regard to prārabdha also we give the answer. The
initial answer is jñānī has got prārabdha. This we have said in
Tattvabodha itself. We say everyone has got sañcita, āgāmi and
prārabdha karma. All the puṇya-pāpas accumūlated in the past
janmas bundled is called sañcita.
Āgāmi karma is whatever we accumūlate in this janma that is being

added. The fresh earning in the current janma is called āgāmi. The
prārabdha is also portion of sañcita only. But a portion of sañcita that
which has started fructification is called prārabdha.
In the case of ignorant people sañcita puṇya-pāpa will not do

anything in this janma. Sañcita is there, prārabdha gives sukha
duḥkha as even I exhaust prārabdha I get āgāmi. The life ends on the
expiry of the prārabdha karma. The next set of prārabdha starts with
the next janma. The āgāmi will join the sañcita and out of the sañcita
next portion will get ready which will determine the type of next

janma. This goes on and on.
In the case of jñānī all the sañcita are burnt by the power of
knowledge. Therefore, jñānī is free of sañcita on gaining jñāna. After
jñāna āgāmi cannot come because jñānī does not have an ego and ‘I
am a doer’ notion is not there. He is nimitta-mātra and he does not
have abhimāna and he does not take credit for any action and he is
not subject to any nonperformance of any action.
The sañcita gets removed on gaining jñāna and āgāmi is avoided on

becoming a jñānī. The prārabdha continues to be there for a jñānī
because of that alone this body survives. If the prārabdha also
dissolves on gaining jñāna he will die. Before coming to Vedānta if I
say on gaining jñāna you will die means none will attend the class.
Thank God prārabdha continues and the body continues and because
of that reason alone the Guru is available for communicating the
teaching. How can Guru śiṣya-paramparā continue! How long he will
live depends upon the prārabdha; prārabdha is destroyed only on
death. This conclusion is generally given.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says jñānī does not have prārabdha also. The
answer is simple. Why do we say jñānī does not have prārabdha
also? Until now we said jñānī has got prārabdha. When you say jñānī
has prārabdha you take jñānī as kartā or akartā. prārabdha is karma-
phala. karma-phala is born out of kartā. karma-phala always belongs
to a kartā.
One who gets salary is the one who works or action. Suppose action
is done by one and the benefit goes to another, then I can ask my wife
to take food saying that I don’t have time to take meals. The sañcita

karma and prārabdha karma-phala and āgāmi karma-phala all the
three belong to kartā alone. Who is a jñānī? Jñānī is one who has
understood the fact that aham akartā Brahman. Ātman is neither a
kartā nor an akartā.
Ātman is ever an akartā. Ātman is eternally akartā. Before jñāna he

does not know the fact and after jñāna he knows the fact. In fact,
there is no difference. Jñānī knows I was akartā, I am akartā and I
will ever be akartā. Then where is question of sañcita āgāmi and
prārabdha. Even now I am akartā and I am sañcita-āgāmi-prārabdha-
rahita. This is the first answer.
The second answer is this— jñānī is one who has discovered the fact
ātmā satyam and anātmā mithyā. Ātman is I-am, aham satyam,
anātmā mithyā. Prārabdha falls within anātman alone. śarira-traya is
anātman. The karma-phala is also anātman. When jñānī has
dismissed entire anātman as mithyā, prārabdha also will be falsified
or negated as mithyā.
When jñānī disowns the whole world how he will hold the small
portion of prārabdha! When the whole rope-snake is negated will the
poisonous fang be there? Not a part of snake is negated whose poison
be there (the whole snake is negated). When all the karmas are
negated how prārabdha will affect the jñānī!
The last section is why did you answer that jñānī has prārabdha?
From the standpoint of other people this answer is given. Other
people do not see the jñānī as consciousness. We look upon the jñānī
as the body alone. At the time of death, the body goes away and the
prārabdha is dissolved.

The jñānī looks upon himself as Ātman and he does not bother about
the body and hence he does not care about prārabdha. It is only in
terms of understanding. For transactional purposes he is there. From
the ahaṅkāra-standpoint we accept prārabdha and from the real-
standpoint he does not have prārabdha. From vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi jñānī
has prārabdha but from pāramārthika-dṛṣṭi he does not have
prārabdha.
śloka 91
त्त्वज्ञानोदयादूर्ध्वं प्रारब्धं न ैर् तर्द्य े ।
देहादीनामसत्यत्वाद्यथा स्वप्नो तर्बोध िः ॥ ९१ ॥
tattvajñānodayādūrdhvaṃ prārabdhaṃ naiva vidyate.
dehādīnāmasatyatvādyathā svapno vibodhataḥ.
Now he talks about the pāramārthika-dṛṣṭi. After the rise of ātma-

jñāna there is no prārabdha at all. Prārabdha is accepted to explain
the continuity of the jñānī’s body. The body cannot be explained
without prārabdha. For body flame prārabdha is the oil without
which the body cannot continue; prārabdha is the fuel for the body.
Now Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says the continuity of the body is from the
standpoint of worldly people. When he has negated the whole world,
the jñānī has negated the body also. The negation of the body is a
small thing for a jñānī to give up the body. When the world is
swallowed time is swallowed along with the world. So jñānī does not
have to accept prārabdha for the body to be there. From jñānī’s point
of view there is no body for him. When kārya is negated you don’t
need a kāraṇa to explain the negation. Svapna is no more existent
after waking up. In svapna he worried that he had some stomach

problem and the stomach pain left as soon as he woke up in jāgṛt-
avasthā. Similarly, on gaining jñāna, the jñānī also has no prārabdha
to affect the jñānī.
śloka 92
कमव जन्मान्तरीयं यत्प्रारब्धतमत कीर्ह म ।्
त्त ु जन्मान्तराभार्ात्स ् ९२ ॥
ं ु ो न ैर्ातस्त कर्हहतच ॥
karma janmāntarīyaṃ yatprārabdhamiti kīrtitam.
tattu janmāntarābhāvātpuṃso naivāsti karhicit.
Prārabdha is required to explain the continuity of the jñānī’s body.

The second argument he gives is this— prārabdha is the result of the
action done in the pūrva janma. The phala of the action done in this
janma is called āgāmi. Sañcita is also born out of pūrva janma but it is
not relevant here. Jñānī has negated all the janmas for him on gaining
jñāna. When jñānī says I have no janma, which janma he negates? We
think that he does not have future janmas. When jñānī does not have
janma, he will say I never had past birth, I don’t have present birth
and I will have no future birth.
Birth is nothing but having saṃyoga with sthūla and sūkṣma śarira.
Dropping the sthūla śarira and sūkṣma śarira is the death. Now when
jñānī says all the three śariras are mithyā how can he get associated
with any of the three śariras! So jñānī does not have any janma at all.
pūrva janma nāsti, present janma nāsti and future janma also nāsti.
Vedānta says there is no janma at all.
Once one understands Vedānta, then he does not have any janma at
all and the question of next janma does not arise. Prārabdha is born

out of pūrva janma and when I have negated pūrva janma itself
where is the question of pūrva janma prārabdha! Prārabdha is the
result of the action done in the pūrva janma. In jñānī’s vision, pūrva
janma is not there vartamāna and future janmas are not there and
therefore, the prārabdha is not at all there at any time.
Pūrvajanmābhavat prārabdham nāsti. More in the next class.
Class 27
śloka 92 contd.
The actions of the previous other births are known as prārabdha. For
the realized jñānī, there is no question of other births so the
prārabdha also does not exist. Certain actions mature in time, some
slowly, some gradually, and some quickly. The result that accrues out
of the action done is called prārabdha.
The state of life after gaining jñāna is called jīvanmukti. Jñānī looks
upon himself as the substantial Ātman which never falls. Jñānī
continues to survive as caitanya Brahman and this particular body
which you called with a particular name and that particular form is
called jīvanmukta.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya discusses a particular topic which deals with

prārabdha. He gives a special view about the jñānī’s prārabdha. The
general view of prārabdha is known. Jñāna destroys āgāmi and jñāna
destroys sañcita and jñāna does not destroy prārabdha is the
commonly held view. This is Annanagar, correct; This is Chennai,
correct; this is India, correct; jñāna does not have prārabdha. Jñānī
has prārabdha is the view of ajñānī. From jñānī’s own standpoint he

does not have prārabdham also.
I will give you the reason. When ajñānī looks at jñānī he looks at from
the vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi. Therefore, the body is real for other people.
They have vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi only, the world and jñānī’s body is real
(for them). But jñānī has got higher vision which is pāramārthika
satya and from pāramārthika angle he has negated the world
including the body-mind-complex. It exists only experientially.
When body is negated why should he take prārabdha and from

pāramārthika, jñānī has no prārabdha. Only ordinary people look at
his body as real from vyāvahārika angle. jñānī has no prārabdha;
jñānī’s dṛṣṭi is explained in the nine ślokas by giving various
arguments. The first argument is from jñānī’s vision the body is as
unreal as non-existent being anātman. When body is negated by jñānī
why should he accept prārabdha! He does not accept prārabdha.
Prārabdha is like the non-existent son of the barren woman. Because
there is no body there is no question of prārabdha.
The second argument he gave is pūrvajanmābhavat prārabdha is not

there. prārabdha is the puṇya-pāpa-phala which is born out of
actions done in the past janma. The puṇya-pāpa of the janma will add
to the āgāmi. prārabdha is puṇya-pāpa-phala of the past janmas. But
jñānī says I am the Ātman which does not have janma at all. Other
people say jñānī does not have future janma but jñānī says that I do
not have past, present and future janmas. When you qualify the
janma as past, present and future, it is understood that you have not
understood Vedānta. Up to this we had seen before.

śloka 93
स्वप्नदेहो यथाध्यस्थस्तथ ैर्ायं तह देहकिः ।
अध्यस्तस्य कु ो जन्म जन्माभार्े तह त्कु िः ॥ ९३ ॥
svapnadeho yathādhyasthastathaivāyaṃ hi dehakaḥ.
adhyastasya kuto janma janmābhāve hi tatkutaḥ.
This verse is an explanation of the previous verse. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya

has said that there is no pūrva janma at all for the jñānī. Now he says
why he does not have pūrva janma. For this we should know the
definition of a janma. Acquisition of a new body is a janma. We have
seen that nothing can be created or nothing can be destroyed. It is
nothing but association of Ātman with physical body. Maraṇa is
disassociation of the particular body; punarjanma is association with
another physical body.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says there is no question of pūrva janma,

saṃyoga or viyoga when pūrva janma is negated. I cannot have
association with a non-existent thing. The sthūla śarira is not there,
for it is wrongly perceived as a substance or in other words it is
unreal. It is unreal and he gives the example of svapna śarira.
In dream we see so many people and whatever is the number of

contacts with people and things, all goes into thin air once a person
wakes up from the dream to the waking state. When the dream is
gone where is the money of the dream! The waker here gets a false
association with a dream body and the association is false because the
associated object itself is false. In the same way, the jāgṛt deha is also
adhyastha, falsely projected, falsely perceived and is also unreal. You
may say it is tangibly real.

For this we say dream body is also like jāgṛt body, it is real during
dream but it goes off when you wake up to a higher reality. When
you come to vyāvahārika reality prātibhāsika becomes falsified. By
using the word dehakaḥ, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says deha is not a
substantial body and it is only a nāma-rūpa and it will go out of
shape. If this body, dreamer’s or waker’s body, is falsely perceived
how you can talk of origination of an unreal entity! It is like talking
about the date of birth of rope-snake. The more I give date, etc., I add
more reality to an unreal thing.
First, I say snake is there and then slowly on gaining the confidence
of the student, I as Guru reject and negate the rope-snake. Once jñānī
sees the world is unreal where the question of his taking the world as
real is!
The world and time are inseparable. The world and time are
intertwined. To talk about the birth of the world we talk of the birth
of time; but to talk of time, we need another time! We use the word
Māyā for the unreal thing. Where is the question of birth of a
superimposed body! And jñānī has no janma, then where is the
question of karma for jñānī! When there is no karma where is the
question of prārabdha! When karma is not there, the karma-janya
prārabdha cannot be there.
śloka 94
उपादानं प्रपञ्चस्य मृिाण्डस्येर् कथ्य े ।
अज्ञानं च ैर् र्ेदान्तैस्ततस्मन्नष्टे क्व तर्श्व ा ॥ ९४ ॥
upādānaṃ prapañcasya mṛdbhāṇḍasyeva kathyate.
ajñānaṃ caiva vedāntaistasminnaṣṭe kva viśvatā.

Here another reason is given that ajñāna-abhāvāt or ajñāna-nāśāt.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya himself gives an example of pot and clay. Now we
say pot as a substantial entity because we don’t know that clay alone
is the substance. As long as I don’t understand the substantiality of
the clay, I falsely transfer it to the pot, otherwise to name and form. I
look upon the pot as though it is a substance. The substantiality of the
pot is not because of the fact but because of the ignorance of the
substantial clay. This alone forces us to attribute the substantiality to
the pot. As long as clay-ignorance continues, the substantiality of the
pot will continue. Until such time I know the pot is but a name and
form, I will falsely continue to think that pot has the substantial
existence.
Ignorance is the cause of the substantiality, otherwise the reality of

the pot. In the wake of knowledge, ignorance goes and we come to
know of mithyātva of the pot. Similarly, the world also becomes
mithyā on gaining jñāna as the ignorance goes. There is no question
of anātman enjoying substantiality. When I negate the whole world,
how can the body be real? It cannot be. Ajñāna is the cause of the
world or the substantiality of the world or the reality attributed to the
world. It is not known through human intellect. It is known only
through Vedānta or śāstra. We come to know matter is not
substantial and śāstra introduces consciousness is the real stuff and
all the matters are unreal and mithyā. For this Ādi Śaṅkarācārya
gives an example. Just as the clay is the cause of the pot, Brahman is
the cause of the whole creation. When the causal ignorance is gone,
where is the question of the world which is nothing but a verbal or
nominal existence. Any product is a word uttered by your tongue.
Anything has existence because of what you utter and it is but name

and form. What is real or substance is Brahman which is the essence
of the whole world and all the creation.
śloka 95
यथा रज्ज ं ु पतरत्यज्य सपं गृह्णात र्ै भ्रमा ।्
ित्सत्यमतर्ज्ञाय जगत्श्यत मूढधीिः ॥ ९५ ॥
yathā rajjuṃ parityajya sarpaṃ gṛhṇāti vai bhramāt.
tadvatsatyamavijñāya jagatpaśyati mūḍhadhīḥ.
The two verses are the explanation of the earlier verses. We still talk
of ajñāna-nāśa prārabdha-nāśa. Here the example is rope-snake
which enjoys reality and substantiality because of the rope-ignorance.
The rope is compared to Ātman the consciousness and the snake is
comparable to the matter; consciousness is the stuff and this gives
substantiality to the matter, which in this case is snake. Losing sight
of the rope, or not recognizing the rope, a person takes the rope as a
snake because of the ignorance. A person takes the rope as snake
because of the delusion caused by the ignorance. In the same way we
take anātman as the consciousness-principle not knowing that
Ātman; a confused or deluded person takes the world as real. The
perception of the world does not create a problem and only when a
person takes that the world enjoys overall reality he is scared. Once a
person gains jñāna and perceives the world as unreal and mithyā, the
person enjoys the world and as he perceives the world, he enjoys the
world as a līlā. The perception of the world is gory for an ajñānī but
glory to the one who has gained the knowledge that world is unreal
and mithyā. In this context jagat includes the body-mind-complex as
well besides the external world.

śloka 96
ु पतरज्ञा े सप वखण्डं न त ष्ठत ।
रज्जरूपे
अतधष्ठाने था ज्ञा े प्रपञ्चिः शून्य ां ग िः ॥ ९६ ॥
rajjurūpe parijñāte sarpakhaṇḍaṃ na tiṣṭhati.
adhiṣṭhāne tathā jñāte prapañcaḥ śūnyatāṃ gataḥ.
The moment the nature of the rope is clearly known for himself, he is
a jñānī and he is not scared of the rope-snake. In fact, the snake does
not remain there. When I say on gaining knowledge the snake goes
means it should not be taken literally. The snake was not, is not and
will not and it was all due to ignorance; we imagined a snake in place
of rope which is gone now. Similarly, we do not take world as real
and see as mithyā the moment we see Ātman alone is real and satya
and the world cannot exist without the support of Brahman. More in
the next class.
Class 28
śloka 96 contd.
In these verses Ādi Śaṅkarācārya points out jñānī does not have
prārabdha from the standpoint of jñānī himself. But jñānī has got
prārabdha from the standpoint of other ajñānīs; prārabdha belongs to
vyāvahārika and it is result of action and is generated by kartā and
kartā is empirical reality and karma-phala also is empirical. When a
person gains jñāna he negates everything vyāvahārika because of the
vision of pāramārthika and when the vyāvahārika prapañca is
negated prārabdha is also included and therefore, from
pāramārthika-dṛṣṭyā prārabdham nāsti.

Therefore, jñāni-dṛṣṭyā prārabdham nāsti but vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭyā
prārabdham asti and therefore, ajñāni-dṛṣṭyā prārabdham asti. As far
as sañcita and āgāmi are concerned, they are not there from jñāni-
dṛṣṭi; and in ajñāni-dṛṣṭi and vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi, sañcita and āgāmi
are negated. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives various reasons. jñānī has
negated the body and he does not need prārabdha to support the
body. He does not need prārabdha to account for the body.
The second reason he gave was pūrva-janma-abhāvāt. From jñānī’s

angle pūrva janma is not there. When pūrva janma is negated from
jñānī’s angle there is no karma of pūrva jnama to have prārabdha.
The third reason is that ajñāna is the cause of the entire universe and
that ajñāna is negated. Because of sleep, the dream-universe arises
and when the sleep is gone, the dream-universe is negated. We
negate the whole dream-universe when we wake up in jāgṛt. When
the dream is negated, the dream is negated in totality. When the
snake is negated the entire snake is negated in its entirety. When
brahma-jñāna is attained, the whole superimposed universe is
negated in its entirety and you cannot say the prārabdha tail
continues. Prārabdha is a part of the superimposed universe. This
idea is discussed in these verses. Ajñāna-nāśāt, adhyāsa-nāśaḥ.
Now he clarifies the example in the two verses. When the nature of
rope is thoroughly understood, the whole snake-knowledge goes
fully and not partly. In śravaṇa we receive knowledge and in manana
we get all our doubts cleared and we get the conviction of our
knowledge just acquired. I raise all types of questions and get the
right answer to get the conviction that Brahman is the substratum of
the universe that includes my body-mind-complex. I should raise all

questions and I should have the conviction. Therefore, the whole
world may say I am a jñānī and if I have doubt, think of the great
tragedy. The śiṣyas may call you brahma-niṣṭa but you should be
convinced of the fact and you should not have any doubt about you
being a jñānī.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya adds a prefix— be honest to yourself. You may

apply all make up and show you are young but you cannot fool
yourself. Be honest for you work for your mokṣa. When the nature of
the rope is thoroughly known the snake does not remain even a bit.
Then only I will have the courage to touch the rope. Once the rope-
adhiṣṭhāna, waker-adhiṣṭhāna, jīva satya-adhiṣṭhāna of mithyā,
Brahma-adhiṣṭhāna of mithyā is known, the world is reduced to
naught or nothing. When Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says that the world is
negated, remember we do not negate the perception or experience of
the world but we negate the substantiality of the world and it is not a
substance in itself and Brahman alone is the substance.
śloka 97
देहस्यातप प्रपञ्चत्वात्प्रारब्धार्तस्थत िः कु िः ।
अज्ञातनजनबोधाथं प्रारब्धं र्तत र्ै श्रतु िः ॥ ९७ ॥
dehasyāpi prapañcatvātprārabdhāvasthitiḥ kutaḥ.
ajñānijanabodhārthaṃ prārabdhaṃ vakti vai śrutiḥ.
It is the continuation of the previous topic the ajñāna-nāśāt

prārabdha-nāśa. In the previous verse Ādi Śaṅkarācārya said since
ajñāna is gone, the whole world is negated but did not say prārabdha
is negated because world is born out of ignorance of Brahman. A

student may ask a question by brahma-jñāna the whole world may be
negated but the jñānī’s body may be there. If such a question is raised
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says body is an integral part of the world and we
also see the body is born out of food and body cannot be separated
from the world and where is the question of the matter remaining.
Deha is an integral part of the world. It is an integral part of the
matter. So when the world is negated the body is also negated. When
the body is negated where is the question of the prārabdha. The job
prārabdha has is to give pain and pleasure to the body. When the
body is gone the prārabdha has no job at all.
Again, you remember he negates the body from pāramārthika-dṛṣṭi

and from vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi everything continues but from jñānī’s
dṛṣṭi the effect of prārabdha is nothing to him. Now comes the final
question. If the jñānī does not have prārabdha why do the scripture
accepts prārabdha? There are sayings in the scriptures that jñānī
continues to exists even after gaining jñāna. Because of this reason
alone the students come to the class. We come to the class that even
after jñāna you continue to live as a jīvanmukta. Jīvanmukti is said
and it is said in Gītā and Upaniṣads. If jñāna destroys the body, how
can there be a jīvanmukta? If jñāna negates prārabdha and body,
jīvanmukti is impossible. But scripture accepts jīvanmukti and the
body on gaining jñāna. How do you resolve the contradiction? The
scriptures, we never say it is wrong. With logic, until now, Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya has proved that prārabdha cannot be there but
scripture accepts jīvanmukti and prārabdha and therefore, there is
contradiction between logic and scripture. If the logic is wrong you
are an irrational person. I cannot negate logic which is a valid
pramāṇa. Vedānta respects reasoning and Upaniṣad itself respects

reasoning because Upaniṣad says not to take Vedānta blindly. At the
same time Vedānta says; Veda cannot go wrong.
Here, we cannot reject logic and Vedas which are contradicting. The
solution to this problem has been discussed in mimāṃsa śāstra. They
have discussed this problem and when you find such a problem you
should know that Vedānta is not wrong and my interpretation of the
Veda or my understanding alone can go wrong and I have to dwell
into the statements of Veda; take the appropriate meaning which do
not contradict the logic or reasoning. When you say prārabdha is not
there logically it is from pāramārthika-dṛṣṭi. When the śruti says
prārabdha is there for jīvanmuktas it is from vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi.
Where is the contradiction! One person says this is a wave and
another says it is water. Here both are correct; nāma-rūpa-dṛṣṭyā it is
wave and from substantial-dṛṣṭyā it is water. Wave is perishable from
nāma-rūpa -dṛṣṭi and when another says water is imperishable it is
from content-dṛṣṭi. prārabdha is not there from absolute-angle and
prārabdha is there from vyāvahārika-angle. For the sake of
understanding of ignorant people, from vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi, śruti talks
about prārabdha. Only the ignorant people will believe in prārabdha
and only then they will come to the class.
Therefore, it is for this purpose and from vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭyā,

prārabdha is required and jīvanmukti is needed because Guru will
survive. Vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭyā prārabdha is required; Guru is required;
śāstra is required, teaching is required, but from pāramārthika-dṛṣṭi
nothing is needed and nothing is there. That we should not say in the
beginning and it should be said only when the student is lifted to
view from pāramārthika dṛṣṭi.

śloka 98
क्षीयन्ते चास्य कमावतण तस्मन्दृष्टे परार्रे ।
ु ा गी ं च यत्स्फु म ॥
बहुत्वं तन्नषेधाथं श्रत्य ् ९८ ॥
kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi tasmindṛṣṭe parāvare.
bahutvaṃ tanniṣedhārthaṃ śrutyā gītaṃ ca yatsphutam.
Here, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says śruti has accepted prārabdha from

vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi. I have negated prārabdha from pāramārthika-
dṛṣṭi. Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says not only I negate prārabdha from
pāramārthika-dṛṣṭi even śruti negates prārabdha from pāramārthika-
dṛṣṭi. From this. we understand the śruti accepts from vyāvahārika-
dṛṣṭi and negates prārabdha from pāramārthika-dṛṣṭi. It is from
Chāndogya Upaniṣad; it is said in the sixth chapter. This śruti
statement accepts prārabdha from vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi. Another
Upaniṣad, Mundaka Upaniṣad, says prārabdha is not there from
pāramārthika-dṛṣṭi. Here the Upaniṣad says jñānī’s karmas subside
or get destroyed and perished.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives a grammatical argument. In Sanskrit we have

singular, dual and more than two or many. One creeper, two creepers
and more than two are the norm in Sanskrit language. In Sanskrit
minimum three should be there for plural. Karmāṇi is plural more
than two. After jñāna how which karma will go? Sañcita, āgāmi and
prārabdha. The Upaniṣad uses plural number and therefore, it is clear
that Upaniṣad uses all the three. The negation of prārabdha is from
vyāvahārika angle.
Para means nirguṇa form and apara means saguṇa form, para-prakṛti
and apara-prakṛti. That Brahman when clearly seen or owned up as I
the consciousness am the Brahman and I alone have the

consciousness and I alone have the lower form the matter— seeing is
used because we have the general feeling that seeing is believing,
seeing is aparokṣa jñāna— once para-apara Brahman is doubtlessly
known, all the three karmas, sañcita, āgāmi and prārabdha of jñānī
are destroyed. The plural number indicated in the Upaniṣad relates to
all the three karmas sañcita, āgāmi and prārabdha also. It is clearly
stated in the śruti, so concludes Ādi Śaṅkarācārya. Jñānī does not
have prārabdha from his own vision and has prārabdha from ajñānī’s
vision.
śloka 99
उच्य ऽे ज्ञ ैबवलाि ै त्तदानथ वियागमिः ।
र्ेदान्तम हानं च य ो ज्ञानतमत श्रतु िः ॥ ९९ ॥
ucyate:'jñairbalāccaitattadānarthadvayāgamaḥ.
vedāntamatahānaṃ ca yato jñānamiti śrutiḥ.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says suppose still you remain adamant even after I
have given logical and śruti support, and say that even after jñāna,
prārabdha will continue, then you do not know what damage you do
and now I will tell you the consequences if you do not accept the
teaching. It is like the doctor telling the direct effect of the disease and
taking medicines with side effects.
Only ignorant or thoughtless people forcibly argue that prārabdha is

there for a jñānī. Therefore, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says if you accept
prārabdha there will be two adverse effects. He does not say what the
two problems are. Vidyāraṇya talks about these two topics.
First is anirmokṣa-prasaṅga and the second one sampradāya-

niccheda. Anirmokṣa-prasaṅga means the impossibility of mokṣa and
sampradāya-niccheda means absence of Guru-śiṣya, etc. He says
suppose you say after jñāna, prārabdha and body continues means
the pūrva-pakṣa is born of ignorance. Jñāna destroys two things
which means jñāna destroys ajñāna. Anything born of ajñāna also, it
will destroy; all the misconceptions, the doubts and superimpositions
jñāna will destroy. When I get rope-knowledge it destroys the rope-
ignorance; and because of rope-ignorance, I have a false perception of
snake and that is also destroyed.
Suppose I see a rope and I did not know what it is and then I try to
get the knowledge and later I understood there is a rope and then I
saw the snake near the rope which has not gone with the knowledge
of the rope-knowledge. Then my conclusion is that this snake is not
born of rope-ignorance. The continuing snake is not born of rope-
ignorance and the snake is real.
‘Whatever is not destroyed by jñāna is real’ is our jñāna. The snake in

the snake-park is not destroyed by rope-knowledge. If prārabdha and
śarira is not destroyed by brahma-jñāna the conclusion is that
prārabdha and śarira are satya. Now there are two satya. One is
Brahman and the other left-over prārabdha and śarira which
continue to exist and that first consequence is dvaita becomes real.
The scriptures say as long as dvaita is there, fear or saṃsāra will be

there. If dvaita is satya then bhaya and saṃsāra will be eternally
there and then there is no need for continuing Brahma vidyā. More in
the next class.

Class 29
śloka 99 contd.
In these verses Ādi Śaṅkarācārya points out jñānī does not have
prārabdha karma from jñānī’s dṛṣṭi. There is no problem with sañcita
and āgāmi as both are not there from jñānī’s dṛṣṭi and ajñānī’s dṛṣṭi.
Regarding prārabdha alone there is a problem because prārabdha is
experienced through the body. Asking a question whether there is
prārabdha means asking the question whether there is body or not.
Then you should ask— from what dṛṣṭi? If a person says from
vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi, certainly from vyāvahārika-dṛṣṭi, jñānī has a body
and the body will be involved in all vyāvahārikas and it will go
through all the consequences of vyāvahārika also whether positive or
negative.
At the same time, we say jñānī does not have a body from
pāramārthika-dṛṣṭi just as we negate the whole universe what to talk
of the body not experientially absent but factually absent. From
pāramārthika-dṛṣṭi, prārabdham nāsti, meaning, from ajñāni-dṛṣṭi,
body is there, from jñāni-dṛṣṭi body is not there.
If prārabdha is accepted after jñāna, it will mean that prārabdha

cannot be destroyed by jñāna. If prārabdha cannot be destroyed by
jñāna then prārabdha will become real or satya. Whatever is
destroyed by jñāna is unreal like rope-snake. Unreal rope-snake is
destroyed by jñāna. It cannot be destroyed by the stick. Unreal shell-
silver is destroyed by shell-knowledge; unreal mirage-water is
destroyed by the desert-sand-knowledge; unreal dream is destroyed
by waker-knowledge. Whatever is unreal is jñāna-nāśya; rope-snake
we destroyed by rope-knowledge. Can we destroy other snake by

rope-knowledge? No, because it is real. Whatever is not destroyed by
jñāna is real.
According to pūrva-pakṣa jñānī has prārabdha. Jñāna does not

destroy prārabdha means prārabdha becomes real. Brahman is real,
prārabdha also is real and therefore, there will be dvaita possibility or
the acceptance of dvaita. If we accept dvaita it will not be negated at
all because what is real cannot be negated and dvaita will be eternally
there. If dvaita is real and if it is eternal saṃsāra also will be eternal.
Saṃsāra will be eternal because scripture points out from duality
alone there is fear. Again, in Taittirīya Upaniṣad, it says if a person
sees even a little bit of duality he will have feared and that fear is
called saṃsāra. There will be eternal fear and eternal saṃsāra.
Logically we see, as long as dvaita is there, there will be time and

space and therefore, mortality is there. Immortality is not possible
within duality. That is why in waking there is time and space and
duality is there. In svapna there is time and space and duality is
there. But in suṣupti, there is no time and space and hence duality is
not there. Duality and time exist in jāgṛt and svapna and they are not
there in suṣupti. When duality is there saṃsāra is there. If saṃsāra is
there, there is no possibility of mokṣa. Acceptance of prārabdha for
jñānī means there is no mokṣa possible for him and saṃsāra will
continue eternally.
The urge is there right from birth; the child wants liquid food. As one
grows solid food is needed. There is instinctive urge for immortality.
In your argument anirmokṣa-prasaṅga comes and if dvaita is real the
urge for mokṣa is not answered. The second defect is that the whole
paramparā, Guru-śiṣya-paramparā will become redundant in the

absence of mokṣa. All philosophers start their system saying that our
aim is to gain mokṣa whether Sāṅkhya, Mimāṃsa or anything for
that matter. The entire paramparā will say mokṣa is their aim.
Anirmokṣa-prasaṅgah means all the systems will become redundant.
The third defect is that we will be contradicting our Vedāntic

teaching. Vedānta-mata teaches that jñāna is mokṣa-sādhana. Śruti
clearly says jñānam mokṣa-sādhana. If jñāna does not destroy
prārabdha then jīvanmukti will not be there. Prārabdha is negatable
by jñāna and jñānī is free from prārabdha also. Now we enter the
final topic of this text.
śloka 100
तत्रपञ्चाङ्गान्य ो र्क्ष्ये पूर्ोतस्य तह लब्धये ।
ै सर्ैिः सदा कायं तनतदध्यासनमेर् ु ॥ १०० ॥
श्च
tripañcāṅgānyato vakṣye pūrvoktasya hi labdhaye.
taiśca sarvaiḥ sadā kāryaṃ nididhyāsanameva tu.
The final topic is nididhyāsana or the Vedāntic meditation. This is

elaborately discussed from this verse up to the end of this book, that
is verse 144. In Vedānta, jñāna yoga or gaining ātma-jñāna is
presented in three stages such as śravaṇa, manana and nididhyāsana.
Of these three exercises the most important and fundamental exercise
is śravaṇa alone. Many think that meditation is the main but we says
śravaṇa alone is very important and the other two are supportive
sādhanas. For saṃsāra-disease the main medicine is jñāna to cure
saṃsāra; jñāna-auṣadha is needed for saṃsāra-roga and it can be
gained only through śravaṇa and in śravaṇa alone means of

knowledge is operative.
In any meditation no source of knowledge is operative. When you sit

silently what means of knowledge is functioning? The intellect is not
functioning. The logic does not function; Vedānta talks about six
sources of knowledge and all the six do not function in meditation.
Even if you say there can be intuition it is difficult to draw a line from
intuition and imagination.
Therefore, even if you have intuitive knowledge it is a doubtful

knowledge and doubtful knowledge is not knowledge. All intuition
is to be proved by pratyakṣa. In meditation we never get any
knowledge and therefore, meditation cannot be the main remedy for
saṃsāra. It can be relaxation. If you indulge in saguṇa-brahma-jñāna,
it can purify the mind but not give jñāna. It is only a sādhana it is a
subsidiary aṅga. The medicine that works well is Vedānta śravaṇa.
First advice is to attend classes. Then only you will be able to ask a
valid question. Even though we receive the knowledge through
śravaṇa it is not allowed to benefit; we have the obstacle at
intellectual and emotional levels. Intellect-level obstacle is the doubt
on the knowledge conveyed through scripture. Non-conviction is a
problem at intellectual level and as long as it is there, it is no more a
knowledge and it is only information. Knowledge will not transform.
That will not transform until you are convinced. To get that
conviction you have to go through manana. In Vedānta there are
countless text books that cater to this part of removing doubts on the
Vedāntic teachings.
This being a primary textbook of Vedānta Ādi Śaṅkarācārya does not

want to go to manana part. In Brahma-sūtra we have the objections
raised by every philosopher and the answer to all the objections. The
manana is the one answering the objections rising in my own mind.
Therefore, we need not convince anyone in the mind nor we need
convince anyone in the world.
Fortunately, mokṣa needs conviction on my own part alone. The

teacher gives only information and data, and based on them, the
student has to get convinced of the teaching. The teacher’s job is give
clues and clues and the student has to work and get convinced. This
is manana, removal of obstacles called saṃśaya. It has an assisting
role and manana is not the medicine. Śravaṇa alone is the medicine.
The third obstacle is the one at emotional level— kāma, krodha,

lobha, moha, etc. If one has gained sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti he
has already worked on the emotional problem. Here, if you take
everything is the prasāda of Īśvara, then there will be no like or
dislike. Thus, the mind will be very pure and purified mind makes a
student an adhikārī and prepare him to gain Brahma-vidyā. Sādhaka
does not have much emotional problem. Many or most of us do not
have sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti.
We have all kinds of problems. We have not tackled the emotional

problems before which we have to tackle them. Nididhyāsana is to
tackle the emotional problems in the light of the Vedāntic teaching.
Problem caused by relationship and I have dwell upon that there is
no relation. Wave and wave can be related and water can be one.
When we feel we are small, when I feel I am isolated, meditate upon
that I am the substratum Brahman.

For every problem I should find an answer in the Vedāntic teaching.
Vedānta is a great medicine which will solve all problem of emotions.
Jīvanmukti is defined as I am neither carried away by tragedies or by
any happy events. Jīvanmukti is defined as mental comfort also at
emotional level. So Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says that I will talk about
nididhyāsana. Meditation specialized in yogaśāstra where they talk
of eight steps or the aṣṭāṅga yoga.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says you need not go to aṣṭāṅga yoga. Ādi

Śaṅkarācārya says I will talk of fifteen aṅgas of meditation.
pañcadaśa-aṅga nididhyāsana it is. What we say is aṣṭāṅga yoga is
okay and it is wonderful in the beginning stage of teaching. After
gaining knowledge, one should enter into pañca dasāṅga
nididhyāsana. pañca dasāṅga yoga is for uttama adhikārī.
This nididhyāsana helps the assimilation of the jñāna gained. The

idea is as long as intellectual and emotional obstacle is there, the
knowledge gained is as good as not gained. It is assimilation of
knowledge that helps a person to gain liberation. Unless the above
two obstacles are removed jñāna cannot benefit a sādhaka. The
removal of obstacle alone helps the sādhaka after gaining knowledge.
This is the difference between aṣṭāṅga yoga and pañca dasa
nididhyāsana. Aṣṭāṅga yoga cannot go with other activities. But once
we are advanced Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says you need not withdraw from
anything and the constant awareness of Vedāntic teaching will help
one to gain the benefit of jñāna and the assimilation of the jñāna.
We are not always affected by kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, etc. Only
when we are affected, the Vedāntic knowledge should come to our
rescue and help us overcome from the above obstacles to keep us in

balance. Vedānta should be spiritual immune-system and it should
not function all the time. The moment you are small and useless then
your mind should say because of my Ātman everything works and
you should let the mind and body be small but I the Ātman is infinite
and great. The invocation of appropriate aspect of Vedānta whenever
saṃsāra vṛtti comes is nididhyāsana and therefore, one should do
nididhyāsana.
śloka 101
तनत्याभ्यासादृ े प्रातिन व भर्ेत्सतिदात्मनिः ।
् १०१ ॥
स्माद्ब्रह्म तनतदध्यासेतज्जज्ञासिःु श्रेयसे तचरम ॥
nityābhyāsādṛte prāptirna bhavetsaccidātmanaḥ.
tasmādbrahma nididhyāsejjijñāsuḥ śreyase ciram.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks about the importance of nididhyāsana

and says without nididhyāsana knowledge will not bless the
sādhaka. Without nididhyāsana knowledge will not be absorbed in
the system. The practice of nididhyāsana should be regular, day in
and day out; it is said here. There is no owning up of sat-cit-ānanda-
svarūpa without nididhyāsana. The seeker of knowledge or mokṣa
should meditate on Brahman. Brahma-satyam meditation, as also
jagan-mithyā meditation also nididhyāsana, it is said. Meditation on
jagan-mithyā is also good and at the same time such meditation will
help realizing Brahma-satyam. There is nothing wrong in having
body-thought, if such meditation is concentrated on jagan-mithyātva.
The word ‘ciram’ here means that you should do the nididhyāsana
for long time, continuously. Since dehātma-buddhi is there since
many janmas, one has to do nididhyāsana continuously to get out of

the jagan-mithyātva and own up with brahma-satyatva. More in the
next class.
Class 30
śloka 101 contd.
With the 99th verse Ādi Śaṅkarācārya has concluded the main
teaching of Vedānta, brahma satyam jagan mithyā jīva brahma eva
nāparaḥ; I, the consciousness alone, is real and everything else is less
real than me and this is the essence of the teaching. Śravaṇa is the
study of Vedānta and it is systematic and thorough study of Vedānta
under a competent Guru. Then manana is done to get conviction with
regard to the teaching and I should be convinced that what is being
taught is a fact and not an opinion taught by somebody.
Nididhyāsana is very important and he deals with nididhyāsana in
the final portion of Aparokṣānubhūti. Nididhyāsana is training my
mind to shift the I from anātman to Ātman until it becomes
spontaneous from matter to consciousness. For doing this we take the
help of Yogaśāstra which specializes in meditation.
In addition to eight aṅgas or stages, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya adds seven

more and makes pañcādaśa-aṅga-nididhyāsana. In this some limbs
are borrowed from yogaśāstra and some are his own. He has changed
the meaning to suit Vedānta. He has reinterpreted the eight aṅgas to
suit Vedāntic teaching. Then he said that nididhyāsana is a regular
committed discipline.

śloka 102
यमो तह तनयमस्त्यागो मौनं देशश्च काल ा ।
आसनं मूलबन्धश्च देहसाम्यं च दृतित िः ॥ १०२ ॥
yamo hi niyamastyāgo maunaṃ deśaśca kālatā.
āsanaṃ mūlabandhaśca dehasāmyaṃ ca dṛksthitiḥ.
śloka 103
प्राणसंयमनं च ैर् प्रत्याहारश्च धारणा ।
आत्मध्यानं समातधश्च प्रोतान्यङ्गातन र्ै िमा ॥ ् १०३ ॥
prāṇasaṃyamanaṃ caiva pratyāhāraśca dhāraṇā.
ātmadhyānaṃ samādhiśca proktānyaṅgāni vai kramāt.
In these two verses Ādi Śaṅkarācārya enumerates the 15 limbs. They
are—
1. yama the control of the senses.
2. The control of the mind it is in the form of positive performance
[niyama].
3. Renunciation tyāga, it is giving up things.
4. Silence [mauna].
5. Space deśa it means place.
6. kālatā means time.
7. Posture [āsana] or it may mean the place where you sit.
8. Mūlabandha means pulling in the anus a type of hold; it is a
type of a lock for disciplining the body; one bandha is called
mūlabandha.
9. Holding steady the body deha-sāmya equilibrium of the body;
it is an addition by Ādi Śaṅkarācārya.
10. Dṛk-sthiti the vision or steadiness of the gaze or vision; an
addition by Ādi Śaṅkarācārya.
11. Prāṇa-sayaṃmana is called prāṇāyāma in aṣṭāṅga yoga

disciplining the breathing.
12. Pratyāhāra is withdrawal of the mind.
13. Dhāraṇā means focusing the mind on an object.
14. Contemplation on the Self [dhyāna]; it is also called ātma-
jñāna, the maintenance of the mind upon the focused object or
the retention.
15. Total absorption is called samādhi; in dhyāna deliberate effort
is involved and in samādhi the effort is not there and
spontaneous absorption of the will is called samādhi.
These topics are discussed in the yogaśāstra. Not only is the number
important, but also the order is important in this regard.
śloka 104
सर्ं ब्रह्मेत तर्ज्ञानातदतन्द्रयग्रामसंयमिः ।
यमोऽयतमत संप्रोतोऽभ्यसनीयो महुु महुवु िः ॥ १०४ ॥
sarvaṃ brahmeti vijñānādindriyagrāmasaṃyamaḥ.
yamo:'yamiti saṃprokto:'bhyasanīyo muhurmuhuḥ.
The first one is yama. Yama of yogaśāstra is meant for manda-

madhyama adhikārī and it contains five things to be avoided. This
relates to five things to be avoided; ahiṃsā, satya, asteya,
brahmacarya and aparigraha. It means avoidance of hiṃsā; this is the
first thing to be avoided; the next is satya; there are many truths
which we should not speak. Don’t speak untruth; we are not
particular that we should tell all truth and satya is either speak the
truth or observe mauna but do not speak untruth. According to śāstra
if the truth is going to hurt another person such truth you should
avoid as much as possible; satya means asatya-varjana avoidance of
untruth; then asteya the avoidance of taking somebody else’s

property which does not legitimately belong to the person. Fourth
one is brahmacarya; it is sexual chastity, avoidance of any illegitimate
relationship; this is called brahmacarya; maithuna-varjana; it is also
an avoidance; finally, aparigraha, avoidance of accumūlating wealth
which corresponds to simple living. The highest form of simple living
is saṃnyāsa. These are the five yamas mentioned in the aṣṭāṅga yoga.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says the natural withdrawal of sense organs by

seeing Brahman everywhere because there is no śabda, sparśa, rūpa,
rasa and gandha other than Brahman. One should not think the
senses are not of concern in the realization of Brahman; Vedāntic
student who wants to gain knowledge should dismiss the desire by
negating the sense objects as mithyā. This can be done only seeing
Brahman at the substratum.
śloka 105
सजा ीयप्रर्ाहश्च तर्जा ीयत रस्कृ त िः ।
तनयमो तह परानन्दो तनयमातिय े बधु ैिः ॥ १०५ ॥
sajātīyapravāhaśca vijātīyatiraskṛtiḥ.
niyamo hi parānando niyamātkriyate budhaiḥ.
The second one is niyama and this consists of fivefold positive

discipline. They are cleanliness; keep body mind and surrounding
clean; mind should be kept clean by avoiding bad thoughts like
avoidance of krodha, lobha, moha, pāpa, etc. Various mantras are
prescribed for keeping the body and mind clean. As you take bath,
you should utter a mantra and clean the inner mind also. Kāma-
krodha should be avoided; every transaction brings kāma, krodha,

lobha, moha, puṇya, pāpa, etc. I should not compare myself with my
neighbour and other members of my family, etc. Positively make the
mind happy. This is called santośa; third is tapas. The willful self-
denial is called tapas. This ascertains the mastery over my senses.
What I regularly do I give up. Sometimes give up fan; observe mauna

for some time; even talking only when needed is called mauna. Then
the next one is the study of scriptures pārāyaṇa and learning the
meaning. Pārāyaṇa is supposed to be a very important discipline. It is
nitya karma for saṃnyāsīs. Finally, the worship of God is a
compulsory act. As far saṃnyāsī goes, he has got some other kind of
disciplines. By doing we get lot of spiritual growth and by not doing
it one may face downfall. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya is not against aṣṭāṅga
rule and he feels that after śravaṇa-manana the discipline is of
different kind. It is constantly remembering Brahman all the time
either consciously or at the sub-conscious mind.
Whenever you are free what comes to the mind immediately should
be one of concentrating on the topic of Brahman alone. The flow of
Vedāntic thought all the time should occupy the mind of the seeker.
All unvedāntic transactions should lose its tātparya and importance.
Life should not be dominant and Vedānta should be dominant and
all our other transactions should fade into importance; mithyā should
fade and satya should become important. This priority-shifting is
nididhyāsana. Vedānta has to dethrone everything.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says why I advise is not to give you trouble but
when Vedānta gets dominant ānanda becomes dominant in your life.
By making Vedānta dominant you lose your duḥkha and sukha will
become dominant in your life. We should never ask how long you

should do nididhyāsana for you should do nididhyāsana all the time
because nididhyāsana gives unlimited ānanda. That is why all the
saṃnyāsīs are called some-ānanda because they are always
experiencing ānanda.
śloka 106
त्यागिः प्रपञ्चरूपस्य तचदात्मत्वार्लोकना ।्
त्यागो तह मह ां पूज्यिः सद्यो मोक्षमयो य िः ॥ १०६ ॥
tyāgaḥ prapañcarūpasya cidātmatvāvalokanāt.
tyāgo hi mahatāṃ pūjyaḥ sadyo mokṣamayo yataḥ.
Yama is over and niyama is over. Third in the list is tyāga which
means renunciation or saṃnyāsa. In the normal sense of the term,
saṃnyāsa a ritualistic process of renunciation. When a person gets
upanayana through a ritual he officially takes on to himself the
performance of all vedic duties.
It is a promise given to Veda that I will do all the nitya-karmas a

contract and also avoid all the niṣiddha karmas failing which I will
incur punishment called pratyavāya pāpa. Having taken the contract,
one is not supposed to give up the contract. So also, the wedding is a
contract to protect the girl married as śāstrically. Veda takes an action
for not fulfilling the gṛhastāśrama-dharmas. I cannot say I want to
study Vedānta and I will leave my family. This cannot be done. The
śāstra suggests a formal contract to be signed to leave gṛhastāśrama.
But if I find in family life itself that I can pursue Vedānta and take to
the śāstric study, one can do this and there is no need of taking to
saṃnyāsa-āśrama. Vedānta permits such action.

Taking up saṃnyāsa is not at all compulsory. But if one has to take to
saṃnyāsa, one should formally leave the gṛhastāśrama for which
there is a formal ritualistic procedure to be followed. Then there is no
tarpaṇa no śrāddha and no other daily karmas. This is called tyāga or
renunciation.
Now Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives a definition for this saṃnyāsa. It is not

fourth āśrama-saṃnyāsa. It involves internal renunciation through
wisdom; wisdom of Ātman or knowledge of Ātman is the
renunciation of anātman. You can renounce the rope-snake only by
knowing, jñāna. He understands there is no snake other than rope.
By understanding wood, you say there is no desk other than wood.

You should know there is no house other than Brahman. You should
know everything is nothing but nāma-rūpa other than Brahman; so
also, wife and children. It is very difficult but it has to be done. The
renunciation of the universe or the falsification of the universe is to
be done by the perception or by the vision of Ātman which is of
caitanya-rūpa ātma-dṛṣṭyā.
The negation of superimposed universe is called tyāga or

renunciation. This is the vision and this renunciation alone is the real
renunciation which is respected by the great people. Outer
renunciation is a means which is optional to the true renunciation.
External renunciation is for internal renunciation which is a
compulsory end. If the inner renunciation is not there saṃsāra will be
there forever. Even if he is a saṃnyāsī if the inner renunciation is not
there, he will suffer saṃsāra. More in the next class.

Class 31
śloka 106 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks about nididhyāsana in these verses;

nididhyāsana is of two types: one is dwelling upon Vedāntic teaching
or keeping Vedāntic teaching in the background while doing any
transaction. For a reasonably sane mind, this type of nididhyāsana is
more than enough to assimilate the teaching. Only when a person has
some mental problem which he is unable to solve with the Vedāntic
teaching he has to do some extra meditation which will need yoga
and meditation, etc., up to samādhi. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya assumes we
don’t have any mental problem. He redefines the nididhyāsana
which involves only an awareness which does not involve any
specific action. Here he gives fifteen limbs against 8 in the aṣṭāṅga
yoga. We saw in tyāga that the normal meaning is renouncing
everything in a ritualistic manner to saṃnyāsa āśrama. Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya says tyāga is falsification of universe in the vision of
Brahman. The negation of pot in the light of clay is seen as
renunciation. The pot has only verbal existence and the substantial
existence is clay alone. Similarly, the world has only verbal existence
and this understanding is the renunciation of the world. True
renunciation is internal and not external. External one is optional and
internal one is compulsory if mokṣa is my goal. Up to this we saw in
the last class.
śloka 107
व े अप्राप्य मनसा सह ।
यस्मािाचो तनर् न्त
यन्मौनं योतगतभगवम्य ं िर्ेत्सर्वदा बधु िः ॥ १०७ ॥

yasmādvāco nivartante aprāpya manasā saha.
yanmaunaṃ yogibhirgamyaṃ tadbhavetsarvadā budhaḥ.
Three aṅgas have been covered yama, niyama and tyāga. Now Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya enters the fourth aṅga, mauna. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya will
give three meanings for the word mauna. The first meaning of the
word mauna is Brahman itself. In Mānḍūkya we saw that silence was
given as a definition of turīya.
There also I said there are two types of silences. One is opposed to
noise; when people start speaking there is no silence. Here is a silence
which can be displaced by the sound. And this silence is subject to
arrival and departure. That is displaceable āpekṣika-mauna. There is
another silence of Brahman that cannot be disturbed by anything.
The silence of Brahman belongs to pāramārthika-level whereas the
vyāvahārika śabda cannot disturb the pāramārthika-mauna.
Suppose there is silence in the room. There is total silence and in

dream I see a noisy Chennai central and the noise cannot disturb the
silence of the waking world. Two things are not opposed if they
belong to two orders of reality, Brahman is free from all organs. Since
Brahman is free from karmendriya and vāgendriya, Brahman is
eternally silent. Because of this reason also, Brahman is silence.
The third meaning of the word mauna is the understanding. A

particular understanding is called mauna. The whole world consists
of two things one is Brahman, the spirit, conscious principle, and the
second is Māyā, the matter principle. The beauty is both Māyā and
Brahman cannot be explained in terms of word. Neither of the two
can be explained in word.

Brahman is featureless and therefore, it cannot be explained in
words. Word can be used to explained the feature, guṇa, etc. The
conditions required for verbal description of a thing I have talked
about it sometime back. All the five conditions are not fulfilled in the
case of Brahman and hence cannot be explained in words.
Therefore, Brahman is beyond words. Māyā is also not available for

categorical classification. Deeper you go into Māyā, it is hazier and
hazier and we cannot know anything about Māyā. Māyā is called
anirvacaniya. Brahman is anirvacaniya and Māyā is also
anirvacaniya.
The whole creation is nothing but Māyā and Brahman and nothing
can be categorically explained in words and this understanding is
called mauna. Only certain superficial transactions can be verbally
explained and Brahman is not available for such explanation. This
understanding is called mauna.
The knowledge that Brahman and Māyā is beyond words is silence.

The biggest task of the teacher is that he has to uses words alone to
teach brahma satyam jagan mithyā. The silence cannot communicate
anything. Therefore, teacher has to use words all the time knowing
that words cannot convey anything about Brahman. Knowing the
limitation of words is also mauna.
The fourth definition of mauna is vāk-vyāpāra-varjana, the stopping

the function of organ of speech. It is observing verbal silence. It is for
the beginners in spirituality. The real silence is first and second and
the third one is to make a person think. Only when you shut your
mouth, the mind can be active. Verbal silence makes the mind active.

Then instead of blaming the world he will understand the cause of
his own behaviour.
Mauna is none other than Brahman. He reminds us of Taittirīya

Upaniṣad-vākya Brahman from which words come back without
objectifying. The word does not seem to objectify a thing when you
say Brahman because it is not an object but it is the very subject itself.
Therefore, mauna is free from noise which means there is no verbal
noise and therefore, Brahman is noiseless and wordless.
Thoughts retreat from Brahman. Thoughts do not reach Brahman

because it is inconceivable. That mauna is Brahman. Third mauna is
accomplishable but mauna called Brahman can be achieved only by a
jñānī.
The word accomplished means it should be in inverted comma for it

is nothing but owning up ahaṃ brahma asmi. That is called mauna
Brahma. A wise man is always that mauna Brahman. It is not action
he does because it is his very nature. With this first definition of
Brahman is over.
śloka 108
व े ितं ु के न शक्य े ।
र्ाचो यस्मातन्नर् न्त
प्रपञ्चो यतद र्तव्यिः सोऽतप शितर्र्र्हज िः ॥ १०८ ॥
vāco yasmānnivartante tadvaktuṃ kena śakyate.
prapañco yadi vaktavyaḥ so:'pi śabdavivarjitaḥ.
Words can neither describe Brahman nor Māyā. Words withdraw

from Brahman. It cannot objectify or explain Brahman. Therefore,

who can explain that Brahman verbally! None can do it. That is why
we say God defined is God defiled. The second line describes the
inexplicability of Māyā. Māyā is world and Māyā is matter. You
cannot say it is sat nor is it asat. When I enquire, it disappears. It is
difficult to say whether it is there here, etc. This inexplicability is the
nature of prapañca also. Brahman is inexplicable, Māyā is
inexplicable and prapañca is inexplicable and this understanding is
called Brahman.
śloka 109
इत र्ा िर्ेन्मौनं स ां सहजसंतज्ञ म ।्
ु ं ब्रह्मर्ातदतभिः ॥ १०९ ॥
तगरा मौनं ु बालानां प्रयत
iti vā tadbhavenmaunaṃ satāṃ sahajasaṃjñitam.
girā maunaṃ tu bālānāṃ prayuktaṃ brahmavādibhiḥ.
The first line of this verse should be connected with the previous
verse. It is the completion of the second definition. This
understanding of the previous śloka or the inexplicability of Brahman
and Māyā and this wisdom is called mauna. This mauna is applicable
to jñānīs alone.
The first mauna is accomplished by jñānī and now he says the second
mauna also is understood by only jñānīs. The words cannot describe
Brahman but Upaniṣad uses the words knowing the limitations of
Brahman. Other than words there is no method of communication.
The Upaniṣad has understood the limitation of the words.
The glory of the Upaniṣad is that it uses the limited words

themselves to make the jīva free. This is the glory of the sampradāya.

That is the greatness of the teacher also. The Guru who uses the
words that are inadequate is a good teacher and the śiṣya with all the
inadequacies of the words has understood Brahman is the greatness
of the student. In fact, śiṣya is greater than the teacher as the śiṣya
converts the grosser words and gains knowledge. Guru comes down
from above while śiṣya climbs up to gain the teaching. If there is a
communication gap, Guru will not get angry because the words are
intrinsically limited. An uphill task despite the limitation of the
words, the teacher teaches and the student realizes Brahmavidyā.
The verbal mauna is the third mauna and it is for the spiritual kids
just as primary school is needed to go to higher schools. We have a
policy that we talk only when necessary. We should talk less and
talking less is called mauna. If you are careful in verbal usage it is
mauna. This third mauna that is gross mauna or kāṣṭha-mauna
prescribed for the beginners by the wise people. The first two are
possible for jñānīs and the third one is meant for sādhakas, the
beginners.
śloka 110
आदार्न्ते च मध्ये च जनो यतस्मन्न तर्द्य े ।
येनदे ं स ं व्यािं स देशो तर्जनिः स्मृ िः ॥ ११० ॥
ādāvante ca madhye ca jano yasminna vidyate.
yenedaṃ satataṃ vyāptaṃ sa deśo vijanaḥ smṛtaḥ.
Now we go to the fifth one, deśa. In aṣṭāṅga yoga they prescribe

proper place for meditation. Vijana-deśa is prescribed. People-free or
secluded place is deśa. One should meditate in a secluded place; it is

suggested by the Upaniṣad. You go anywhere you cannot avoid the
noise. Even in Haridwar or Badrinath you cannot find a place where
you can peacefully meditate. Vedāntic vijana-deśa is Brahman
because it is free from all jīvas, all the jagat-bhoktṛ-bhogya-prapañca-
rahita. vijana-pradeśa is Brahman. Brahman was advaita Brahman, is
advaita and Brahman will be advaita. There is no second jīva or
second jagat at anytime. Jñānī will go to Brahman and that Brahman
is ‘myself’ and a jñānī is in vijana-deśa and he is not in vijana-deśa
but he is himself a vijana-deśa. Yogi will run to quiet place to
discover silence but a jñānī enjoys seclusion all the time because there
is not a second thing for a jñānī.
Here, Swami Chinmayananda used to tell a story of a dog. A dog

entered a room surrounded by mirrors and on seeing several images
the dog started shouting at them; a person on seeing the dog barking
at its own image laughed at it and he came out of the room, barked at
his own people in his home not realizing that they are nothing but
the images of Brahman which he is. A true advaitin alone can realize
this fact and one who realises this fact is a jñānī. In the jñānī’s vision
everything is reflections only. I am eternally alone and that is why
mokṣa is called kaivalya. There is no second thing to limit me is
called kaivalya. That Brahman alone is called vijana-deśa. More in the
next class.
Class 32
śloka 110 contd.
In these portions, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya discusses nididhyāsana or

Vedāntic meditation meant for assimilating the teaching received
from the teacher and here he suggested 15 limbs of meditation of
which 8 related to yoga-śāstra. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya has redefined the
meaning of the eight relating to aṣṭāṅga yoga. We have completed
five of them in the previous ślokas.
śloka 111
् भ ू ानां ब्रह्मादीनां तनमेष िः ।
कलना सर्व
कालशिेन तनर्हदष्टो ह्यखण्डानन्दकोऽियिः ॥ १११ ॥
kalanāt sarvabhūtānāṃ brahmādīnāṃ nimeṣataḥ.
kālaśabdena nirdiṣṭo hyakhaṇḍānandako:'dvayaḥ.
Kāla means time because it is responsible for arrival of everything in

the creation. All things in creation happen because of time alone.
Time is not the only factor for arrival of everything but it is one of the
various factors. In yogaśāstra time is talked about while discussing
the meditation for certain time is considered as ideal for meditation.
The early morning is considered ideal for meditation. All devas are
said to be present at that time. Practically also early morning is ideal,
for worldly activities have not been started because yesterday’s
worries are dormant and new worries of today are yet to commence.
Prātaḥ-sandhyā is when the night and day joins; sāyam-sandhyā is
the time in which afternoon and night joins.
Sandhyā means ideal for prayer or meditation. Scriptures talk about

auspicious time suggested for meditation and that is called sandhyā.
Based on the above derivation, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives a Vedāntic
explanation. He says Brahman is the ultimate cause of everything.

Brahman being sarva-kāraṇa Brahman itself is called kāla. Brahman
is sṛṣṭi-sthiti-laya-kāraṇa and hence Brahman is kāla. Since Brahman
is the creator of everything, all entities and the creator, sustainer and
destroyer, and it is also the cause of arrival of time itself. Time exists
because of Brahman. There is no time without consciousness; there is
no question of space without consciousness. We resolve time and
space in consciousness or in the sleep state when the consciousness is
alone. In jāgṛt and svapna, deśa-kāla arises and in suṣupti, deśa kāla
resolves in consciousness. Time and space rest in Brahman.
Therefore, Brahman is deśa-kāla-ādhāra. It is symbolically said in

Kaṭhopaniṣad. The entire creation is food for consciousness for
Ātman swallows everything at the time of pralaya. Therefore,
creation is anna. If Ātman is going to consume the whole creation, its
pickle or sambhār is time. Along with the world and time are
together swallowed by Ātman. Daily in sleep we do that. During
sleep, time is also swallowed. Brahman is ādhāra of deśa and kāla
itself. If deśa and kāla are world-swallower, Brahman is the
swallower of time and space. I am kāla and I am kāla-kāla. That is
why sun and moon are kept as ornaments in the head of Lord Shiva.
Here time is calculated either on the basis of sun or moon. That sun
and moon are in the control of Shiva who is the master of time or
beyond time. Brahman indicated by the word kāla. It is beyond space
and time and it beyond division also. Anything that comes under
time is subject to division.
In dream there is division. In suṣupti deśa-kālas are swallowed

pramātṛ pramāṇam prameyam divison is not there in suṣupti while
pramātṛ, pramāṇa, prameya are there in jāgṛt-avasthā svapna-

avasthā. Because Brahman is divisionless it is ānanda. Loneliness is
sorrow. Rejection is sorrow. Separation is very difficult for any jīva.
Love is wonderful because there is no division. Sharing dāna also
shows there is no division. Anything opposed to value is division
and division is sorrowful.
In duality advaita can be discovered when there is harmony.

Wherever there is harmony, there is unity and advaita without
sorrow. All organs are functioning in harmony in our body.
Harmony is called dharma and in dharma there is harmony and
advaita. Advaita in practice is harmony. Advaita is possible only
when there is harmony in vyāvahārika-prapañca.
If you discover relative-advaita in dharma then alone you can find

advaita. In satya, we have two satya. Speaking truth is relative-satya
and Brahman is absolute-satya. The journey is from dharma to
Brahman. The words akhaṇḍa and advaya both relate to divisionless
alone. The word akhaṇḍa negates internal division and the word
advaya negates external division. External and internal divisions are
there. Brahman is free from external and internal division. For
Vedāntins all times are auspicious.
śloka 112
ु न ैर् भर्ेद्यतस्मन्नजस्रं ब्रह्मतचन्तनम ।्
सखे
आसनं तिजानीयान्ने रत्सख ु नाशनम ॥ ् ११२ ॥
sukhenaiva bhavedyasminnajasraṃ brahmacintanam.
āsanaṃ tadvijānīyānnetaratsukhanāśanam.
Now Ādi Śaṅkarācārya enters the seventh aṅga which is āsana.

Āsana has two meanings; one is the mat or bedsheet is the āsana or
the posture is also called āsana. There are different types of āsanas or
postures. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya wants to take two āsanas: sukhāsana and
siddhāśana.
He defines two āsanas and he does not confine the meaning to what
is stated in yoga-sūtra. He says sukhāsana and siddhāsana is
Brahman. The translation given here is according to yogaśāstra. Here
he says sukhāsana is Brahman. This is Vidyāranya’s commentary.
Then you have to split the words properly. Sukhenaiva is to be split
is sukhe na eva. Then brahma cintana is split as two separate words.
The word sukha itself means Brahman for Brahman is defined as sat-
cit-ānanda. Brahman is sukha for in that sukha, Brahman, a person, is
free of all the cintanas. Brahman is sukhasvarūpa and in which there
is no worry. That sukha is Brahman. According to yogaśāstra, sukha
is a comfortable posture. But in Vedānta, sukha is param Brahman
which sat-cit-ānanda-svarūpa.
Sukha means Brahman; not only Brahman is sukha but also it means
Brahman. Āsana here means Brahman; ās means to sit; āsana that
over which everything rests and mat is āsana because it is over which
one sits. He says my Brahman is the biggest mat in the world on
which the whole creation rests.
Mayi sarvam pratiṣṭhitam; āsana means ultimate mat Brahman.

Sukhāsana means that Brahman which is of the nature of ānanda and
which is the support of the whole world. This is Vedāntic sukhāsana.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says that other āsana cannot be called sukhāsana
because you may be comfortable there for some time and therefore,
the other sukhāsana is relative sukhāsana; one is ultimate sukhāsana

and the other one sukhanāśanam. he concludes. Itarat means the
other sukhāsana, which is a type of posture, is destroyer of sukha
only.
śloka 113
तसद्धं यत्सर्वभ ू ातद तर्श्वातधष्ठानमव्ययम ।्
यतस्मतन्सद्धािः समातर्ष्टास्तिै तसद्धासनं तर्दिः ॥ ११३ ॥
siddhaṃ yatsarvabhūtādi viśvādhiṣṭhānamavyayam.
yasminsiddhāḥ samāviṣṭāstadvai siddhāsanaṃ viduḥ.
Now he defines siddhāsana. In yogaśāstra it is a name of a posture. In

a Vedānta it is equal to Brahman; āsanaṃ we know as biggest mat.
The verb-root siddh means to accomplish and siddha means
anything that is accomplished. An accomplished object is called
siddha; when a yogi practices a variety of siddhis, he is called siddha
because he has accomplished everything. He is the subject who has
accomplished everything. Siddha is also the object of
accomplishment.
In Vedānta Brahman is called nitya-siddha vastu that which is ever-

accomplished entity. All other things are not ever-accomplished.
Anything that takes time to accomplish is called siddha.
All other things in the world will become siddha and they are anitya-
siddha-vastu and Brahman is accomplished here and now for it is my
own inherent nature. I am Brahman and the consciousness is
Brahman and existence is Brahman; in the past I was Brahman, now I
am Brahman and in future I will be Brahman, and that is why no
sādhana is prescribed to gain Brahmanhood.

No traditional teacher will prescribe sādhana to accomplish
Brahman. You just own up ever-accomplished Brahman is the
sādhana. Here you achieve nothing but you own up your own
Brahmanhood. Jñānam is true siddhi and Brahman alone is true
siddha and therefore, Brahman is known by the name siddha.
It is avyava and Brahman is changeless and inexhaustible. Siddhas

are those who are established in Brahman and Brahman is that in
which siddhas are established. They are established in the knowledge
ahaṃ brahma asmi. That is known as siddhāsana. Thus, two
derivations are given here. More in the next class.
Class 33
śloka 113 contd.
In these verses Ādi Śaṅkarācārya explains fifteen limbs of

nididhyāsana and of those fifteen, six limbs have been covered. Now
we see the seventh limb āsana. Āsana is any type of posture in which
yogi sits for meditation. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says āsana is Brahman
itself. In yogaśāstra sukhāsana is comfortable posture but here it is
ānanda-svarūpa Brahman. Āsana is the support; sukhāsana means
ānanda-svarūpa ādhara-rūpa Brahman. The first one is based on
Upaniṣadic definition; sukha means sat-cit-ānanda. Āsana means the
support.
Here siddhāsana is taken. It is a type of posture according to

yogaśāstra. Here also siddhāsana means Brahman according to Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya. For siddhāsana two types of derivations are given:
siddham āsanam siddhāsanam, where āsanam is a noun and

siddham is an adjective; āsana means support and here it is Brahman
the support. The meaning of the word siddha is self-evident, self-
effulgent and therefore, siddham āsanam means svayam-prakāśa-
ādhara. It is that support of universe which is self-evident
consciousness; and support means sat-rūpa, self-evident means cit-
rūpa. Siddhāsanam means sat-cit-rūpa.
The second derivation is siddhānām āsanam. It is the support of

siddhas and in this context siddhas means not self-evident but siddha
means accomplished jñānī. siddhānām āsanam means jñānīnām
āsanam a place where jñānī abides or locus on which jñānī resides;
jñānī is brahma-niṣṭha. It is means jñānīnām ādharam.
A question may come why we say that Brahman is the ādhara for
jñānī. Brahman is ādhara for ajñānī also. But ajñānīs do not know or
claim they are Brahman and they don’t abide in Ātman. Therefore, no
ajñānī will claim I am Brahman. We don’t mention that because he
does not claim to be Brahman.
The second derivation is siddhānām āsanam the support of jñānī.

Therefore, whatever derivation you take, the conclusion is that
siddhāsana is Brahman. In short sarvam brahmamayam jagat alone is
nididhyāsana whether you put in fifteen steps or otherwise.
śloka 114
यन्मूलं सर्वभ ू ानां यन्मूलं तचत्तबन्धनम ।्
मूलबन्धिः सदा सेव्यो योग्योऽसौ राजयोतगनाम ॥ ् ११४ ॥
yanmūlaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ yanmūlaṃ cittabandhanam.
mūlabandhaḥ sadā sevyo yogyo:'sau rājayoginām.

Now we enter the eighth aṅga mūla-bandha. Bandha means locking
as per yogaśāstra. Āsana is not one but many are there. Bandhas are
many in number and Ādi Śaṅkarācārya takes on bandha for sample
called mūlabandha. It is a specific discipline. Here mūlabandha is
Brahman as per Vedānta. Mūlabandha is none other than Brahman
and is called mūlabandha. How does it convey Brahman?
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya shows his ingenious hold over Sanskrit language.

Normal meaning of mūla is the root. Seed is called mūla. In kuṇḍalinī
yoga they talk of mūla-ādhara the basis of prāṇa-sakti, etc. Here we
talk of ultimate root of everything or the ultimate cause of
everything. The basis of everything as per Vedānta is Brahman. Mūla
refers to the ultimate cause Brahman or sarva-kāraṇam Brahman.
Bandha means Brahman alone. Bandh means to control or restrain or
limit. It means to restrain the mind or disciplining the mind. Bandha
means that for the sake of which mental discipline is practiced. The
mental practice is practiced only to gain Brahman. Therefore, bandha
means reason for mental discipline, the cause for mental discipline, or
incentive for mental discipline and therefore, mūlabandha means
Brahman. That which is the ultimate of cause of everything is
Brahman. It is for the sake of Brahman alone that the mind is
disciplined or restrained or controlled. This mūlabandha alone
should be practiced by Vedānta-student. According to yogaśāstra it
talks of physical mūlabandha. In Vedānta mūlabandha refers to
Brahman. Body should be reasonably all right but in Vedānta we do
not want the body should be entirely wasted on practice of yogas.
Limited yoga will be useful for the body but it need not be practiced
all the life. Once one comes to Vedānta one should concentrate on
brahma-niṣṭhā and not yoga-niṣṭhā. Body cannot be immortalized by

yoga and old age cannot be conquered by yoga. As per Vedānta,
Vedāntic mūlabandha alone is fit for Rājayogins. Vedāntic meditation
or nididhyāsana.
śloka 115
अङ्गानां सम ां तर्द्यात्समे ब्रह्मतण लीन ाम ।्
ु शष्क
नो चेन्न ैर् समानत्वमृजत्वं ु र्ृक्षर् ॥् ११५ ॥
aṅgānāṃ samatāṃ vidyātsame brahmaṇi līnatām.
no cennaiva samānatvamṛjutvaṃ śuṣkavṛkṣavat.
Now we take up the next limb deha-sāmya which means the

equilibrium of the body. Samatva is dehasāmyam. According to
yogaśāstra the trunk, neck and head should be in one vertical line.
Keeping the body straight is samatā, dehasāmya. The right posture
makes the breathing proper and proper breathing makes the mind in
proper condition. This is called deha-sāmya.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives a new Vedāntic meaning. Deha-sāmya means

dehasya brahma-rūpeṇa darśana. He says everything is Brahman and
he means all the aṅgas of the body are Brahman. The wise people see
the same thing in all the seemingly different beings. Seeing one
Brahman one essence in superficially different things is called
samatva. Different types of ornaments are superficially different.
Even the ornaments are different the essence is sama-svarṇa alone.
Seeing one gold is called samatva. Samatva is possible only when you
understand the head, and other limbs are Brahman plus body the
nāma-rūpa. There is no limb in the body other than Brahman. We
don’t see anything in pot other than clay and so also, I don’t see

anything in the body and its limbs other than Brahman. This
resolution is not physical. It is simple change in cognition. As I see
the table I should note that table is verbal existence and there is no
substance called table and I negate the substantiality of the table and
this change in the outlook is called resolution of the table. You can
see, touch the table and without changing you can resolve the table
and similarly you can resolve the substantiality of the world. Any
knowledge is an intellectual knowledge which includes brahma-
jñāna also. The problem is intellectual and so the solution is
intellectual. The resolution of intellectual problem is done through
intellectual process alone.
After the intellectual process is done through one should go down to

the intellectual personality. What is required is the conversion of our
view towards Brahman. Without this knowledge, there cannot be
aṅga-sāmya or homogeneity of organs; without which knowledge is
not possible and without that all organs would not remain the same.
Without self-knowledge samatva of all organs is not possible.
Keeping the body straight is not real samatva. Here Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya says even a tree keeps itself straight and we cannot call
it real samatva. Hence keeping the body straight does not mean
samatva. A gymnast does wonderful feats on yoga and do not take
him as a jñānī. That is not the ultimate goal at all. Here Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya criticizes yogaśāstra but what he means is not giving
over importance to yogaśāstra in the name of nididhyāsana. Don’t
take the criticism to the heart.

śloka 116
दृरष्ट ज्ञानमयीं कृ त्वा पश्येद्ब्रह्ममयं जग ।्
सा दृतष्टिः परमोदारा न नासाग्रार्लोतकनी ॥ ११६ ॥
dṛṣṭiṃ jñānamayīṃ kṛtvā paśyedbrahmamayaṃ jagat.
sā dṛṣṭiḥ paramodārā na nāsāgrāvalokinī.
With the previous verse, the ninth limb of deha-sāmya is over. Now
we will discuss the dṛk-sthiti the direction of our vision. Among all
the sense organs eyes are most powerful compared to other organs.
Through ears and eyes we get more knowledge. All verbal source of
knowledge you get through ears alone and so also eyes. Among the
eyes and ears also eyes are the most powerful. That is why audio-
visual effect is more effective than otherwise. Once eyes are involved
the effect is more powerful than anything else. Eyes can give the
maximum benefits as also maximum disturbance also. So specific
care is to be taken says yogaśāstra. All the sense organs should be
withdrawn but Gītā once again deals with the eyes, indicating that
the eyes can create a problem. Keeping the eyes open creates
disturbance and also if the eyes are closed then the mind wanders
everywhere. During meditation eyes are directed towards the nose
(as though) says Krishna in Gītā. This is the condition of the eyes in
yogaśāstra.
But Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says for Vedāntic students sitting and seeing
the tip of the nose is something else. He gives two definitions. He
says this is nothing but brahma-darśana. This brahma-darśana itself
is in two ways. One is being aware of Brahman in and through all the
transactions in the background of the mind. Even though external
eyes see outside, the inner eyes should concentrate on Brahman. It is

like while seeing the ornaments you see the essence of the gold and
see ornaments only superficially. The third eye of awareness of
Brahman is needed even though two eyes perceive the world. This
brahma-niṣṭha during transaction is called dṛk-sthiti number one.
He gives another definition and that Brahma-darśana after

withdrawing from experiencer-, experienced- and experiencing-
darśana, that is pramātṛ-, pramāṇa- prameya-darśana, resolving the
subject-object-instrument-division and abiding in the awareness is
the dṛk-sthiti. In first brahma-darśana, eyes are open and in the
second brahma-darśana, eyes are closed and see inside the
consciousness and nothing else. As I open the eyes the Brahman in
the form of the whole creation and as I close the eye and meditate, I
see the antaryāmi, the sākṣī caitanya, the pure consciousness. Both of
them are the brahma-darśana. The exact meaning of the verse we will
see in the next class.
Class 34
śloka 116 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya deals with the 15 limbs of Vedāntic meditation of

which Ādi Śaṅkarācārya now discusses the position of the eyes or
vision. In yogaśāstra the position of the eye is discussed as it can
disturb more than any other sense organ. Yogasūtra says the eyes
should be directed to the tip of the nose and yogasūtra is not very
serious about the mind. If the eyes look at the tip of the nose, eyes
would be neither totally open nor totally closed. This is accepted by
Vedānta also for the sādhakas in the beginning stages.

Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says if Brahman is inside and world is outside and
if Brahman is not there outside then alone one has to turn the mind
away from the world. Vedānta ultimately says world is also Brahman
and where is the question of turning away from Brahman anytime! It
is like turning away from the wave to see the water.
Wave is nothing but water and it is nothing but nāma-rūpa and this
you will know if you have the wisdom to find the difference. Initially
you have to see the external world and internal Brahman separately
in the initial stages and slowly there is no need to identify outside
and inside and automatically one will realize Brahman both external
and internal.
Veda talks of turning inward in the initial stages, because when you
see outside you find both Brahman and nāma-rūpa. In the initial
stages we turn to nāma-rūpa and then we lose sight of Brahman. In
the initial stages one sees the screen and picture and I am moved by
the roles of the actors appearing on the screen; and I normally
identify myself with the substratum of the screen, only on gaining the
wisdom or the knowledge that the movie characters are seen on the
screen, when I understand that without the screen the characters
would not move. So also, the world-creation and behind the creation,
at the substratum, there is Brahman the changeless and pure.
Similarly, initially I have to meditate sat and cit and later I am aware
of the sat-cit as rūpa, gandha, sparśa, etc. For a beginner, it is closed-
eye meditation and for the senior it is open-eye meditation. Let your
vision be wisdom-soaked vision wisdom-imbued vision; looking at
all ornaments and calling them bangle, etc., and even if I see bangle,
chain and ring etc., I know everything is verbal existence and gold

alone is the real existence and the various ornaments are nothing but
nama-rūpa and gold alone is satya. In the same way, Brahman-
wisdom is the world is only of verbal existence. It is nothing but
drama for which we make such a big fuss.
All the associations and all gains and losses are but drama and they
are not of serious consequences if you know the wisdom that
Brahman alone is satya and all others are but nāma-rūpa. The
wisdom is ahaṃ brahma asmi and all are brahma-mayam jagat.
Every jñānī has got a third eye and it is symbolized by tilaka and it is
symbolization of third eye for which we work for and it is the
intellectual awakening that gives the vision and wisdom that all are
but Brahman. This is the noblest vision.
The other dṛṣṭi by which I look at the tip of the nose, etc., are not real
and it will not help in gaining knowledge. Therefore, the yogaśāstra
will not solve our problem. Wherever the mind goes or the eyes go,
all that we counter are but nāma-rūpa. This realization gives us the
wisdom of brahma satyam jagan mithyā. The jñānī see Brahman in all
the nāma-rūpas. In advaita we allow the mind to function and gain
self-knowledge to own up Brahman.
śloka 117
द्रष्टृदशवनदृश्यानां तर्रामो यत्र र्ा भर्े ।्
व ा न नासाग्रार्लोतकनी ॥ ११७ ॥
दृतष्टस्तत्रैर् क व्य
draṣṭṛdarśanadṛśyānāṃ virāmo yatra vā bhavet.
dṛṣṭistatraiva kartavyā na nāsāgrāvalokinī.
Another definition of Brahman is given here. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya is not

against the meditation for it helps in the beginning stage. It is like
learning cycling in a quiet place. You cannot always drive in quiet
place. After learning, one should know to drive in the crowded place.
Closed eye meditation is good in the beginning state and it is to turn
the attention towards the consciousness which is the locus of all the
tripuṭis or all the triads. I entertain a thought aham caitanya-
svarūpaḥ asmi and I am such a consciousness in which all the tripuṭis
resolve dṛṣṭi, darśana, dṛśya.
Dṛṣṭi means eyes the instrument of perception; darśana means the

functioning of perception and dṛśya means the field of perception.
Similarly, śrotam, śravanam, śrāvyam meaning ears, the instrument
of hearing; the process of hearing and the object of hearing; nose,
smelling, object of smell, etc. There are five instruments, five
functions and five fields rise in consciousness and resolve in
consciousness. When the first tripuṭi comes, the eye, instrument is
activated and from the standpoint of eye, I become the seer and the
perception happens; and at that time, field comes into existence.
There is no field of perception if I do not have the eyes.
The very existence of forms is lent by eyes alone and the eyes
function because of me alone and eyes lend the existence to forms
through eyes by becoming a seer or perceiver. So also, other organs
have three, tripuṭis. In suṣupti, instruments are resolved, the
functions are resolved and fields are resolved, and I lose the status of
the seer. What is left out is ‘er’ and that ‘er’ is called consciousness
about which we err all the time. In suṣupti, object is gone and subject
loses subjecthood and what is left is pure consciousness, turning to
the consciousness which is neither seer or hearer, etc. And I own up

with attributeless pure consciousness.
Not only we should be expert in closed eye meditation and then

become seer, etc., temporarily, but realise I am pure consciousness
without any tripuṭi. I have five dresses with five instruments and
with that I am viśva, taijasa, prājña, etc, which I am not in the real
sense and I am but Brahman the pure consciousness. All the tripuṭis
are abiding in Ātman and tripuṭi does not have its own independent
consciousness. With ordinary eyes, we don’t see the world of micros,
without the microscope. On that ātma-dṛṣṭi the vision should be
turned. We don’t want perception of the tip of the nose which does
not give any benefit at all.
śloka 118
तचत्तातदसर्वभार्ेष ु ब्रह्मत्वेन ैर् भार्ना ।्
ृ ीनां प्राणायामिः स उच्य े ॥ ११८ ॥
तनरोधिः सर्वर्त्त
cittādisarvabhāveṣu brahmatvenaiva bhāvanāt.
nirodhaḥ sarvavṛttīnāṃ prāṇāyāmaḥ sa ucyate.
With the previous śloka, the tenth limb is over. Now we enter the
prāṇāyāma which is defined in three ślokas from now. Prāṇāyāma as
per yogaśāstra is disciplining prāṇa; āyāma, the regulation and
control of the prāṇa. Prāṇa is the air breathed in and out. This prāṇa
alone exists in fivefold manner. By regulating the prāṇa, indirectly
we regulate all the pañca prāṇa within us. By prāṇa’s āyāma control
there will be control of circulation, excretion, blood-circulation,
digestion, etc. Indirectly we control annamaya and manomaya. That
is why with prāṇāyāma control, physical and mental health is

improved. To make my mind sāttvic, the prāṇāyāma is done. Before
meditation also, prāṇāyāma is a wonderful discipline to quieten the
mind. By prāṇāyāma, mind is caged as it were and prāṇāyāma is a
wonderful discipline as seen in the yogaśāstra. This is accepted by
advaitins too. This indicates we accept prāṇāyāma in Vedānta in the
beginning stage and in advanced Vedānta, prāṇāyāma loses its
importance and there, too much emphasis is made for self-
knowledge alone. There is no regret, for everything is to be given up.
Yogaśāstra gives three stages pūraka breathing in filling up the lungs

with vāyu; kumbhaka means retaining the vayu in the lungs, keeping
it like a kumbha; some amount of kumbhaka is needed for healthy
life; then recaka means evacuation or vacating the lungs of prāṇa.
This is yogic prāṇāyāma.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says Vedāntic prāṇāyāma is totally different. He

says look at citta as Brahman. Let manobuddhi and ahaṅkāra be
looked at as Brahman. That means other than Brahman antaḥkaraṇa
is mithyā and when the mind is seen as mithyā, all our problems are
in the form of thoughts alone. Anger is a thought; irritation is a
thought; worry is our thought; everything is modification of
antaḥkaraṇa and it becomes more and more powerful as you go on
giving greater reality to the mind. As even they rise I don’t neglect
our worry and the worry goes on increasing. As you relive the
memory the thought existence becomes the real incidences. The
consciousness and ṣaḍowy nāma-rūpa and the mind functions
sufficiently for transactions. The mind should not develop into rāga-
dveśa.
So many transactions in our life do not remain a burden in our mind

and similarly for jñānī, all transactions are momentary. They don’t
stay back in his mind going on pricking him. The world is too small
to disturb him. If any part of the world can disturb me it is not the
mistake of the world, but because I give more importance than the
world deserves. Then the problem comes from the world; we have
given such a powerful reality to the world and just as we receive
from the Lord, similarly I am disturbed by the world which I myself
have given myself. For all these things I am responsible. Nothing can
disturb me when I take a decision not to get disturbed.
As a brahmacārī, as a gṛhastha, as a vānaprastha and as a saṃnyāsī, I

have to do all the karmas. When manomaya and prāṇamaya is
interconnected and when the mind quietens down, breathing
becomes normal. Through the mind we control the prāṇa. We start
from vijñānamaya; through that, manomaya is controlled, and
through manomaya, prāṇamaya is controlled. But in yoga-sūtra the
control takes place from below, while in Vedānta the control comes
from above. Both the systems are all right because in the beginning
the control takes place from below and as you study Vedānta the
control comes from above. As you study Vedānta the health will
improve. The Vedāntins will improve their health.
śloka 119
तनषेधनं प्रपञ्चस्य रेचकाख्यिः समीरणिः ।
ब्रह्मैर्ास्मीत या र्ृतत्तिः पूरको र्ायरु ीतर िः ॥ ११९ ॥
niṣedhanaṃ prapañcasya recakākhyaḥ samīraṇaḥ.
brahmaivāsmīti yā vṛttiḥ pūrako vāyurīritaḥ.

In these two verses Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks about three limbs of
prāṇāyāma, recaka, pūraka and kumbhaka. In the yogaśāstra it talks
of inhaling of good and exhaling of impure air from the body. But in
Vedānta we talk of the rejection of the whole creation or the mithyā
prapañca. It produces rāga-dveśa, kāma, krodha, etc. Anitya
prapañca is carbon dioxide which we should breathe out. Breathing
out the world is the understanding that there is no world separate
from Brahman and this alone is called negation or rejection of the
world. Therefore, it is said prapañcasya niṣedhana and negation is
seeing the unreality of the world. I should know that there is no wave
other than water or there is no ornament without gold, etc. It is called
recaka prāṇāyāma. We should not at the same time negate sat and cit;
and taking Brahman as the reality or as myself is pūraka. The
unnegatable, unrejectable Brahman is nothing but myself and this is
called pūraka prāṇāyāma. Jagan-mithyātva vṛtti is recaka prāṇāyāma
and Brahman satyatva vṛtti is pūraka prāṇāyāma. More in the next
class.
Class 35
śloka 119 contd.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya deals with prāṇāyāma. The general definition

of prāṇāyāma is natural breathing that takes place due to brahma-
darśana. Normally in yogaśāstra they control prāṇa and by means
controlling prāṇa control the mind. But in Vedānta first we take care
of vijñānamaya-kośa by proper understanding and that will change
my attitude towards myself, and the world. I am no more limited and
I am immortal and I take the world no more as a threat because

mithyā prapañca cannot affect satya Ātman. This comes to
manomaya knowledge from vijñānamaya and when the change takes
place at an emotional level, I have no fear. At a manomaya level there
is change and I don’t take anything seriously; most of the jīvanmukti
description is in the form of equanimity.
Samatva is internal equality. From mental level comes the samatva in

prāṇa level also. His action also becomes quiet and steady. There is
samatva in verbal and physical level. All the functions of the
individual become sobre. The functions of all the organs become
sobre. This regulation of prāṇa through vijñānamaya-kośa is called
prāṇāyāma. This is prāṇāyāma of higher order. As a beginner, he
starts from the lower level to higher order starting from annamaya to
prāṇamaya to vijñānamaya.
Prāṇāyama has got three parts— breathing in pūraka, retaining is

antara kumbhaka and bahya kumbhaka, and recaka deals with
breathing out the air. For Vedāntins, recaka is giving up the creation
and this is not a physical job but purely intellectual job and it is the
understanding of the falsity of the universe. You don’t reject Ātman
and now we replace the world by Ātman. We replace anātman by
Ātman. We say jagat is negated and in its place, we take Brahman.
Brahma-satyatva-dṛṣṭi is pūraka. jagat-mithyātva-dṛṣṭi is recaka.
Until now I had jagat-satyatva-buddhi and I rejected Brahman and
now I have brahma-satyatva-buddhi and here I reject jagat and have
faith in brahma-satyatva-buddhi. Īśāvāsya says reject the world by
saying sarvam Īśvara-mayam jagat. When everything is clay where
pot and everything in creation is; its nāma-mātra. Up to this we saw
in the last class.

śloka 120
स्तितृ त्तन ैश्चल्यं कुम्भकिः प्राणसंयमिः ।
ु ानामज्ञानां घ्राणपीडनम ॥
अयं चातप प्रबद्ध ् १२० ॥
tatastadvṛttinaiścalyaṃ kumbhakaḥ prāṇasaṃyamaḥ.
ayaṃ cāpi prabuddhānāmajñānāṃ ghrāṇapīḍanam.
Recaka is a type of thought; jagat mithyā is the thought and it is

recaka. Brahma satya is another thought and it is the thought with
understanding and it is nididhyāsana. Nididhyāsana precedes with
śravaṇa and manana. It is a meaningful statement for me because it
follows nididhyāsana. Japa comes under upāsana and it will give
cittaśuddhi. Brahma-satyatva-buddhi is pūraka. Kumbhaka is the
retention of the vṛtti. After breathing in, we remain in that condition
for a length of time. Here also Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks about
kumbhaka.
After entertaining ‘ahaṃ brahma asmi’ vṛtti, steady continuation of

that vṛtti should be there. Just as a flame in a windless place does not
flicker at all and so also should be the mind with the thought aham
brahmaiva asmi. That is called kumbhaka prāṇāyāma. If we retain
ahaṃ brahma asmi vṛtti it is retention of filling up the air and so it is
called āntara kumbhaka. In meditation all the time Brahman need not
be thought of and even we can think of the world. But it will become
Vedāntic meditation if you look the world as mithyā. This body is
also mithyā we should understand, for it also does not have
independent existence. I don’t reject the arrival and departure of the
body and the consequences of the body. Family members being
together and departing is also kumbhaka. You accept the intrinsic
feature of the universe.

Mithyā is governed by prārabdha deśa and kāla. If I see mithyā like
that, then that also comes under ‘ahaṃ brahma asmi’ mithyātva.
Jagan-mithyātva-niscaya is more important than ahaṃ brahma asmi
vṛtti. This type of prāṇāyāma is not fit for the beginners. This is only
for assimilation. Meditation gives internalization of the convinced
idea. Nididhyāsana tackles intellectual obstacles. The affliction-of-
nose prāṇāyāma is for ajñānīs. For advanced person this is irrelevant.
With this, the 11th limb of prāṇāyāma is over. In our tradition, with
every ritual prāṇāyāma is done to concentrate on the ritual.
Prāṇāyāma is of two kinds— sagarbha prāṇāyāma is mantra-sahita;

prāṇāyāma agarbha prāṇāyāma is mantra-rahita prāṇāyāma.
Sagarbha prāṇāyāma is better than agarbha prāṇāyāma. When the
prāṇāyāma is done for pleasure, etc., our attention is turned to the
body. Prāṇāyāma should be done with mantra, for the concentration
should be towards the noble thought and health is taken as the by-
product. Walking if done on beach it is for health and the same
walking is done by means of pradakṣiṇa in the temple it is spiritual
exercise.
In our tradition, prāṇāyāma and every action of ours for mental

purification is linked to spiritual exercise. They did not prescribe
health-exercise and everything including music, art, health, etc., are
associated with the religion. The body is only a means and it is not an
end in itself and hence even entertainment, physical exercise,
prāṇāyāma, etc., are associated with the religion but not confined
only to the health improvement.

śloka 121
तर्षयेष्वात्म ां दृष्ट्वा मनसतश्चत मज्जनम ।्
प्रत्याहारिः स तर्ज्ञेयोऽभ्यसनीयो ममु क्ष
ु तु भिः ॥ १२१ ॥
viṣayeṣvātmatāṃ dṛṣṭvā manasaściti majjanam.
pratyāhāraḥ sa vijñeyo:'bhyasanīyo mumukṣubhiḥ.
Now we enter the 12th aṅga which is pratyāhāra. It is sensory

withdrawal or sense control. In Sanskrit āhṛ means to withdraw;
pratyāhāra means withdrawal of the sense organs. This is the
yogaśāstra terminology and it is also known as dama in Vedānta. It is
one of sādhana ṣaṭ sampatti. It is indriya-nigraha. In yogaśāstra it is
physical withdrawal. Vedāntic dama is different and it is not physical
turning away of sense organ.
Turning away from wave can be done in two ways. One is not seeing
the wave. Another way is to continue to see the wave but keep away
from nāma-rūpa-content and for this you need not even bat the
eyelid. You are to change your attitude from nāma-rūpa to the water.
You should note that there is nothing but water and wave is but one
nāma-rūpa. This is called withdrawal from wave and it is seeing the
wave as good as non-existent. You have to bring back the mind to
Ātman and for this you have to turn your mind inwards. But Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya says for this you need not turn inwards. You can see
Brahman everywhere and in every creation; the very sat-principle of
everything. You turn to sattā and if whatever attractions are there
they are but fleeting nāma-rūpa and the essence is sat, the pure
consciousness. This is open-eyes-pratyāhāra.
One should see Ātman in every tempting object. I should not be

tempted by the namarūpa which is empty. It cannot give any joy or

any security. It cannot give any fulfillment and if at all it appears, it is
delusion. It is exactly like horizon that seemingly touches the earth
but it is only an optical illusion. Similarly, the nāma-rūpa appears to
give joy but the joy is nothing but a delusion. Anything we purchase
to give us enjoyment is forgotten after sometime because our mind
wants to purchase another object for fulfillment of our fresh desires.
From this it is evident no worldly object gives us the ultimate joy. The
ultimate joy is gained only from Brahman which we call sat and that
Brahman is within us and for which there is no need for us go in
search of anything. That Brahman is nothing but you yourself and it
is the very understanding that ‘ahaṃ brahma asmi’ is sufficient to
give us the eternal bliss from saṃsāra.
I am sat and I will allow the nāma-rūpa to float in me and I will not
be enamoured by the bubbles of the nāma-rūpa of the worldly
objects. All the namarūpas are like cardboard chairs and they are
meant to be seen and not used to sit on them. You use it for
everything except sitting. The whole world is like cardboard chair
and do not hope to get security from it. You don’t sit on the
cardboard chair but use it for all other purposes other than sitting
and then alone you will gain the eternal bliss. Absorb your mind in
Brahman. For this there is no need to close your eyes. Ātman is not
hidden in the pañcakośa and Ātman is the very existence of every
object including myself. Withdraw from all objects and concentrate
on Ātman which is called withdrawal from viṣaya. This has to be
practiced with all sincerity.
If a person does not want to get freedom from the thralldom of the
sense object, then he will be a slave of the sense object though he is

free to have or not have any sense object. I have the clock it is fine. If
the clock is gone it is doubly all right. You extend this from clock to
all other objects including the body, mind and various worldly
objects. Then alone you can identify yourself with Brahman the sākṣī
caitanya. Even gaining heaven or going to brahmaloka should be
avoided. Any adṛṣṭa phala is not our aim. We should practice until
the mind is no more interested in anything. Until it is clear to me that
nothing can coax me and until I get niṣṭha that I am not interested in
worldly thing, I have to practice pratyāhāra.
śloka 122
यत्र यत्र मनो यात ब्रह्मणस्तत्र दशवना ।्
मनसो धारणं च ैर् धारणा सा परा म ा ॥ १२२ ॥
yatra yatra mano yāti brahmaṇastatra darśanāt.
manaso dhāraṇaṃ caiva dhāraṇā sā parā matā.
With the previous śloka pratyāhāra is over. Now we enter 13th limb
of dhāraṇā. Yogaśāstra dhāraṇā is focusing the mind on any object,
but the retention of the focused object is dhyāna. Focusing is not
enough until you get the total concentration and retention and then it
is dhyāna. In yogaśāstra focusing involves turning away from other
objects of the world. While focusing on flame, the mind has to
withdraw from other objects, whereas focusing on Brahman does not
need turning away from anything says Ādi Śaṅkarācārya. To see the
gold I need not turn away; the content is gold in all the ornaments.
If Brahman is one of the objects of creation, in order to concentrate on

Brahman, one has to turn away from all other objects. In every

experience there are two things: awareness and existence. When I say
there is pot and here the pot-awareness is there in the form of ‘is’ and
the pot is in the form of nāma-rūpa. Sat-cit is like the thread and all
the objects are like the bead and in every bead, there is sat-cit thread
is there. It is behind every bead. The beads are finite and thread is
inherent in all. Therefore, sat-cit-ananta; to focus the mind you need
not turn away from all the objects. This darśana is called dhāraṇā.
The mind is focused on Brahman and this is called superior dhāraṇā
or parā dhāraṇā. Yogaśāstra dhāraṇā is called lower dhāraṇā and
higher dhāraṇā is constant awareness of inherent truth. More in the
next class.
Class 36
śloka 122
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks about dhāraṇā which is nothing but focusing

the mind. In Vedānta dhāraṇā means focusing Ātman as the very
consciousness and also the very existence outside. You need not go
away from the world. Whatever exists other than existence is but
nāma-rūpa. The constant and continuous awareness of the Lord’s
presence everywhere in and through the seeker’s experience within
and without is called dhāraṇā or concentration.
śloka 123
ब्रह्मैर्ास्मीत सित्त्य
ृ ा तनरालम्ब या तस्थत िः ।
ध्यानशिेन तर्ख्या ा परमानन्ददातयनी ॥ १२३ ॥

brahmaivāsmīti sadvṛttyā nirālambatayā sthitiḥ.
dhyānaśabdena vikhyātā paramānandadāyinī.
Now dhyāna is defined here; dhyāna has been defined as the

consistent flow of a particular thought. The convergence all the
thoughts are on one point alone. A pot-thought and table-thought
goes to different objects. Thoughts are many and all of them have one
substance-thought. Convergence of thought means there are many
thoughts but all of them converge on one thought and in yogaśāstra
it may be one chakra or any other thing. The difference is not in the
flow of thoughts but the object of thoughts.
Remaining with the vṛtti aham brahmaiva asmi, I am Brahman and

Brahman alone, I cannot be mind, I cannot be the body and I cannot
be the intellect; with this sat-vṛtti which is not displaced by anything,
it is not a thought without understanding. If it is with an object it will
be an upāsana. It is an imagination. I imagine saligrāma as Vishnu.
Here Vedāntic meditation is not visualization or imagination. I know,
this is the thought.
Similarly, ahaṃ brahma asmi is not a series of visualization or self-

hypnotism or upāsana but it is invoking the knowledge which I have
gained through śravaṇa and manana. It is a fact for me and it is not
hypnotism. It is without thinking of any other object, but to the
exclusion of all objects including body and mind. We should remain
in that state for a length of time. This alone is called Vedāntic dhyāna.
The advantage of this vṛtti is that it gives great ānanda and I get
pūrṇatva. I have got eyes, ears, etc., intact.
Your physical pūrṇatva you enjoy only when you see a handicapped

person not having impaired organs; ānanda is always with us and
that ānanda we are not aware of due to ignorance. The ajñāna is the
cause of depriving us of our ānanda and we own it up on gaining
jñāna. Here we talk about owning up of ānanda the pūrṇatva or the
sense of fulfillment. This is meditation for pūrṇatva. With this 14th
limb of yoga is over.
śloka 124
ु ।
तनर्हर्कार या र्ृत्त्या ब्रह्माकार या पनिः
र्ृतत्ततर्स्मरणं सम्यक्समातधज्ञावनसंज्ञकिः ॥ १२४ ॥
nirvikāratayā vṛttyā brahmākāratayā punaḥ.
vṛttivismaraṇaṃ samyaksamādhirjñānasaṃjñakaḥ.
Here we talk of samādhi. There is not much difference between

dhyāna and samādhi in actual nature of dhyāna and samādhi. The
different names are given because the efforts involved in the first one
and the effortless way in which one is in samādhi. It is just like a
learner of driving and the person who is an expert driver. One fellow
is very serious and concerned about going safe while the other expert
driver also drives safe with no problem and he even does not bother
that he drives. In the case of dhyāna one has to take all the efforts to
concentrate the mind while in samādhi the person effortlessly
concentrates his mind despite various distractions from the outside
world. Brahmākāra-vṛtti means entertainment of ahaṃ brahma asmi
vṛtti. One need not concentrate on ahaṃ brahma asmi alone. All
vṛttis should correspond to Brahman and the word pūrṇa may be
replaced by ahaṃ brahma asmi. The vṛtti can be changed but all of
them should relate to Brahman alone. We have certain amount of

freedom here, but when dhyāna is accompanied by namaḥ śivāya
mantra, then the mantra should be there. This is the difference
between japa and nididhyāsana. If one is initiated to namaḥ śivāya
one should confine to namaḥ śivāya only. One should not take to
another mantra. In Vedānta there is no rigidity at all. You can take to
any one of the ideas in Vedānta— nirvikalpa, nirvikāra, ahaṃ
brahma asmi, etc.; even if you want to go to the world, you can go to
Vedāntic meditation but you should note that world is mithyā. All of
them will come under nididhyāsana alone.
Therefore, one should entertain brahmākāra-vṛtti; nirvikāratāya,

without disturbing the vṛtti without any other change or dissimilar
vṛtti. When one entertains that vṛtti you will experience samādhi in
the Brahman-thought. That will give fulfillment and that is called
bliss-state. Getting lost in the object and even I forget myself in that
process. Forget the fact that I meditate and I am the meditator. The
object of meditation alone is there in the mind. Other things are lost
sight of. Forgetfulness of every other vṛtti and forgetfulness of all
other things including the body and mind is the state of samādhi. It is
not that we do anything consciously. Getting lost is not conscious
thought but it happens. Getting lost is a consequence that happens
without your planning.
Samādhi also is an act that happens and it is not a deliberate practice;

samādhi is not compulsory for mokṣa and it is a possible
consequence of dhyāna. Samādhi should be understood as possible
consequence but not a compulsory necessity for mokṣa. One can
enjoy jīvanmukti without being in samādhi once. For jīvanmukti and
videha-mukti what is needed is śravaṇa, manana nididhyāsana. This

thought of forgetfulness and absorption in brahmākāra-vṛtti is called
samādhi. This is called jñāna-samādhi. Samādhi is something
possible for everyone. A person can be absorbed including bridge or
cricket or chess or anything.
Without being in Vedānta one may be absorbed in anything.

Everyone enjoys this samādhi state. A child is ever-absorbed in
something and will not bother about any other thing. It is a natural
capacity that we all enjoy. In the yogaśāstra also they train the
capacity by yama, niyama, prāṇāyāma, etc. Training the mind to be
still is samādhi state. One remains in that state for a long time. They
talk about hibernation of animals when they don’t take food, means
for a long time. Polar bears have got the natural capacity to remain
without food for six months but a sādhu has to do it by practice.
Vedānta does not aim that. Vedāntic samādhi is different from yoga-
samādhi. It is called jñāna-samādhi. With this, 15th limb is also over.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya now concludes the whole thing saying how
important is the 15-limb-nididhyāsana.
śloka 125
इमञ्चाकृ तत्रमानन्दं ार्त्साध ु समभ्यसे ।्
र्श्यो यार्त्क्षणात्स ् त्स्वयम ॥
ु िः सन भर्े
ं ु िः प्रयत ् १२५ ॥
imañcākṛtrima-ānandaṃ tāvatsādhu samabhyaset.
vaśyo yāvatkṣaṇātpuṃsaḥ prayuktaḥ san bhavetsvayam.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya advises all the seekers of jñāna to practice

nididhyāsana with commitment and sincerity. He gives a new name
for the nididhyāsana which is akṛtrima-ānanda; ānanda means

joyfullness or pūrṇatva or sense of satifaction. It is not a momentary
experience of pleasure and here ānanda is the feeling of aham
pūrṇah. Everything goes favourably and I am pūrṇa and the constant
satisfaction even when things are not going smoothly.
Just an inner contentment can coexist with the superficial external

incidental pain. In and through all the superficial responses to pain
and pleasure, one will have the pūrṇatva not based on external
objects or things but it is an inner satisfaction resting on Ātman, the
Self. Any joy because of external condition is called kṛtrima-ānanda
and the moment the object is gone the ānanda is gone.
The family or office pleasure is kṛtrima-ānanda. Here we talk of

ānanda that I am pūrṇa all the time and it is self-centred ānanda or
the pleasure. It is natural or innate ānanda or contentment. It is
intrinsic ānanda and it may also be called svarūpa ānanda or
svābhāvika ānanda. In nididhyāsana one invokes svarūpa ānanda.
For this ānanda I don’t need anything. One should practice that.
One should do meditation and thank the Lord that you are able to get
up. In nididhyāsana we invoke our pūrṇatva and own up our
ānanda. This should be done until the nididhyāsana becomes natural
and svābhāvika. Aham brahma asmi must become natural and
definite. You should say spontaneously that you are Brahman. This
ānanda should happen and this contentment should happen
instantaneously whenever you invoke the knowledge. Even in the
greatest crisis one should be able to invoke this knowledge and see
himself as the adhiṣṭhāna not affected by anything in the creation by
either using ahaṃ brahma asmi or any other similar mahā-vākya.

Jñānī will not say ahaṃ brahma asmi. He will answer our question
while at the same time underneath in his mind he will know that he
is Brahman nirvikāra and nirvikalpa unaffected by any happenings
around him in the creation. Jñānī has got the sense-recovery capacity
and has the unity system of knowledge that he is unaffected by
anything. This is called jñāna-niṣṭha. The health does not mean
freedom from sickness; health means the feeling that I have my own
immunity and before long I am able to recover from the disease
without any permanent damage to my body without the application
of the medicine as far as possible. When he gets cold, he recovers fast
without permanent damage at the earliest. He has got medicine for
all the diseases within.
śloka 126
िः साधनतनमत वु िः तसद्धो भर्त योतगराट ् ।
त्स्वरूपं न च ै स्य तर्षयो मनसो तगराम ॥ ् १२६ ॥
tataḥ sādhananirmuktaḥ siddho bhavati yogirāṭ.
tatsvarūpaṃ na caitasya viṣayo manaso girām.
Then such a person, the master of all yogis, becomes perfect devoid
of any more further practices. The nature of such a person cannot be
an object either for the mind or for the speech. He need not practice
any sādhana. Once a person is beyond sādhana he is no more called
sādhaka but he is called siddha puruṣah. Siddha means he is not a
man of miracle. He need not do any miracle as the greatest miracle in
his life is gaining self-knowledge. He is free from all the kāma-
krodha, rāga-dveśa and all other habits and he has converted himself
from mortal-I to immortal-I and that is the miracle he has performed.

You may eat fire, you may lift Himalayas but what is the use if you
continued to be a saṃsārī and you have failed to gain Ātma-jñāna?
His nature and his mind none can understand. Jñānī’s mind can be
understood by a jñānī alone. The fulfillment and śānti he enjoys, none
can imagine and none can talk about. More in the next class.
Class 37
śloka 126 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya has completed the topic of nididhyāsana and the

15 limbs of the nididhyāsana. The benefit of this nididhyāsana is the
assimilation of Vedāntic teaching. It is not meant for mokṣa as mokṣa
is not the result of anything. Meditation cannot give knowledge also
nor it can give mokṣa. Meditation does not come under any one
means of knowledge and therefore, meditation is not for knowledge
also. Vedāntic meditation is not for any new experience also, whether
ordinary or extraordinary. All come under object alone and they
belong to mithyā field alone, even if they are extraordinary. It has
nothing to do with self-knowledge.
Vedāntic meditation is meant for purely assimilation of the teaching

of śāstra. It changes my response to my life situation. It is the
transformation of my perspective of the world and myself. In the
second chapter, Gītā describes Sthitaprājña and he is also described
in 7th chapter and 14th chapter in the name of Guṇātīta. They all talk
about the transformation of the personality in the way we see. This
alone we call assimilation and Ādi Śaṅkarācārya calls akṛtrima-
ānanda. Ānanda is a sense of fulfillment. It is the perspective of how I
look at myself and judge the achievements in life. How the world
looks at myself does not matter but I should know how I look at

myself. This does not depend upon an external reaction but it is what
I feel about myself. You should not feel and assess on how the people
look at you. This attitude is wrong. Unless you see and assess
yourself you cannot have sense of fulfillment. Gītā-language is Ātma-
rati. Here it is called akṛtrima-ānanda.
The pūrṇatvam is not got but it is owned up. Once he enjoys this he
is no more a sādhaka. How long should I meditate upon ahaṃ
brahma asmi till ahaṃ brahma asmi is natural to me? Then I need not
repeatedly tell ahaṃ brahma asmi. You need not call an ordinary
man that I will tell an important secret and say that you are a human
being and meditate on this fact. Normally, there is no doubt that you
are human being. So also, that you are Brahman and this thought
should be natural in you. ‘Aham brahma asmi’ meditation is valid
only until it becomes an irrefutable fact for me. Then he is free from
saṃsāra and also sādhana. Sādhana also comes under saṃsāra. My
aim is to stop sādhana once I become a jñāna-niṣṭha. My aim is
freedom from sādhana also.
Even with a Guru as a separate, one person falls in saṃsāra.

Therefore, mokṣa is going beyond Guru also. The śāstra also falls
within bondage only. Just as a thorn is used to remove another thorn,
śāstra is used to remove the bondage and śāstra is also removed after
gaining jñāna. Don’t hold on to them eternally. Śāstra says after
gaining knowledge throw me away and do not hold on to me. First,
we hold on to the world and then from the world, we hold on to
Īśvara; I drop the world and go to God. God says go to a Guru.
Bhakta should become a mukta. So, God says you go on to Ātma-

jñāna. From world to God and God to Guru. Guru gives śāstra and

Vedānta-vākyas which is like a mirror. It says ‘don’t hold on to me’
and ‘hold on to me until śravaṇa’. The śāstra says: don’t hold on to
me permanently. You should fall back to yourself; that means I
depend upon myself alone. I should stand on my own feet
renouncing God as separate one and renounce Guru as a separate
person and also śāstra. I should not hold on to them as separate one
but I hold on as substratum on which Guru-nāma-rūpa, world-nāma-
rūpa and śāstra-nāma-rūpa is; and none of them is free from Ātman.
The Guru cutting off the tuft of brahmacārī renounces the hair
indicating that he drops all the supports and keeps three-hair-
support of Guru, śāstra and Īśvara. Guru gives knowledge and
makes him independent and he cuts of all the hair on gaining jñāna.
Neither he wants to hold on, nor others to hold on to him so that he
learns to swim. A person free from sādhana is yogi-rāja, which is
equivalent to jñāna-niṣṭha. Upaniṣad describes him: brahmavit
brahmaiva bhavati. The knower of Brahman becomes Brahman. Just
as the knower of the waker becomes the waker, the knower of the
dream becomes the dreamer, the knower of the sleep becomes the
sleeper, so too the knower of the Brahman becomes Brahman. The
infinite cannot be explained by the finite. Brahman is not an object to
be explained; it is the very subject. Hence the Upaniṣad say yato vāco
nivaratante aprāpya manasa saha – from where the word returns
without reaching along with the mind.
Jñānī alone loves unconditionally; jñānī’s mind is known by jñānī

alone. Ajñānī can know jñānī’s mind only on his becoming a jñānī. It
is never an object of comprehension for the mind or the word of an
ajñānī. Also it is said jñānī claims himself to be Ātman, ahaṃ brahma

asmi, and for all practical purposes jñānī is Brahman only. Therefore,
jñānī is equal to Brahman and therefore, jñānī cannot be known
through words and minds. The jñānī, the Brahman, cannot be
objectified by the words and people. The second interpretation is a
technical one.
śloka 127
समाधौ तियमाणे ु तर्घ्नान्यायातन्त र्ै बला ।्
ु
अनसन्धानरातहत्यमालस्यं भोगलालसम ॥ ् १२७ ॥
samādhau kriyamāṇe tu vighnānyāyānti vai balāt.
anusandhānarāhityamālasyaṃ bhogalālasam.
In the following verses Ādi Śaṅkarācārya deals with another topic

closely connected to dhyāna and nididhyāsana. The topic is obstacles
to meditation and it is dhyāna vighna. This is described in Mānḍūkya
Karikās. In Gītā 6th chapter two obstacles are mentioned. Here Ādi
Śaṅkarācārya describes six obstacles. When Vedāntic meditation or
nididhyāsana is practiced many obstacles come in the way forcibly
without our expectation. They gatecrash in you which you cannot
stop. The mind does not start the meditation.
In winter you go to Gaṅga for taking bath and there is always

hesitation to dip in water. You go on waiting and think of something.
There is hesitation in entering. Then you come away as time is up.
The mind does not enter into meditation at all. It is the absence of
dwelling upon the meditation. Next is laziness to go on meditation.
You always try to postpone. A mind which is interested in sensory
pleasures or entertainment does not want to sit quietly. The mind

does not think of being alone for some time. It always wants
entertainment. Human being cannot be alone even for a moment and
that mind that seeks entertainment cannot remain in meditation.
More in the next class.
Class 38
śloka 127 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talked about the 15 limbs of nididhyāsana and by

practicing this one gets fullness which he calls akṛtrima-ānanda the
natural fullness. Wherever one is happy because of external
conditions it is kṛtrima-ānanda artificially created by external means.
The experience is one of pūrṇatva only and the difference between
the one caused by artificial means and the other one is this. We only
forget the limitation or problem and as long as the route of escape is
there, I forget and the problem is suppressed. This happens in all
artificial pleasures and there is harmony; the divisions are forgotten.
In this case the pleasure is limited and there is temporary resolution;

and if there is temporary resolution of tripuṭi, pramātṛ-pramāṇa-
prameya, advaita is experienced, while dvaita is not negated but
suppressed. It is like bypass surgery, where you bypass the problem
and you do not solve the problem. Thus, every artificial pleasure is
bypass surgery and it is temporary. It is forgetfulness of apūrṇatva.
Akṛtrima-ānanda is negation of apūrṇatva by owning up the fact
pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidam. This nididhyāsana-phala is akṛtrima-
ānanda otherwise called jīvanmukti. Jñānī has happiness without
depending upon anything outside. It is deep-most sense of tṛpti.

Even with some happy news in the family one is happy. There is
deep-contentment. This is the state of jñānī which is otherwise known
as jīvanmukti or sthitaprājña.
Now Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks about the obstacles to this pūrṇatva. We

have seen in 27th verse in which three obstacles have been mentioned.
Obstacles come forcibly without our invitation. When they are there,
meditation does not take place and we keep quiet and then we walk
out. Next is laziness and we are not in a mood to do the job. They
don’t get when the mood will come. It is said those who don’t get
mood is called mūḍa. Next is the desire or whim or fancy that is to be
fulfilled anytime. Up to this we saw in the last class.
śloka 128
लयस्तमश्च तर्क्षेपो रसास्वादश्च शून्य ा ।
एर्ं यतिघ्नबाहुल्यं त्याज्यं ब्रह्मतर्दा शन ैिः ॥ १२८ ॥
layastamaśca vikṣepo rasāsvādaśca śūnyatā.
evaṃ yadvighnabāhulyaṃ tyājyaṃ brahmavidā śanaiḥ.
Other five obstacles are mentioned here. Tamas means tamoguṇa.

Everybody’s mind is governed by sattva, tamas and rajoguṇa. The
prakṛti Māyā is constituted by these three guṇas and at one time, one
is predominant and the other two are dormant. It is guṇatraya
vibhāga yoga discussed in the 2nd chapter of Gītā. We have got lot of
tamoguṇa. People ask why should there be rituals? We have to break
this tamoguṇa. Tamoguṇa can be broken only by karma and it is
called rajoguṇa. We should not prescribe meditation to the one who
is predominant in tamoguṇa. That is why śāstra begins with

tamoguṇa and rajoguṇa.
All kinds of things are physical exercises of rajoguṇa. Having become

used to rajoguṇa, that becomes a bondage. Then the śāstra prescribes
upāsana and physical activities are reduced and rajoguṇa mind is
converted into upāsana-kāṇḍa. Tamas to rajas and rajas to sattva.
Once sattva-predominance comes one is ready for jñāna-kāṇḍa.
jñāna-kāṇḍa takes one from sattva to nirguṇa Brahman. Therefore,
every person who comes to Vedānta must be predominantly sāttvic;
sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti means sattva-guṇa-pradhāna. Guṇa-
brāhmaṇa means sattva-guṇa-pradhāna whether one is vaiṣya or
kshatriya or śūdra by birth. Guṇa-brāhmaṇa is fit for Vedānta. One
who does nididhyāsana is predominantly sāttvic only.
Even such people sometimes are in the grip of rajo- or tamo-guṇa.

Generally, he is sāttvic but there is five percent of tamo- or rajo-guṇa.
Therefore, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says tamoguṇa sometimes overpowers.
Even a jñānī’s mind will go sometimes in the state of rajas and tamas.
He looks upon the mind objectively and when jñānī looks at mind
also objectively, he takes to the guṇa fluctuations. Then comes laya
which means sleep or sleepiness. The mind gets into that because
when one starts meditation saguṇa-Īśvara-dhyāna, or an upāsana on
form; to him, Vedānta-dhyāna is easy. If he comes after Vedānta his
mind is not used to meditation. Then he sits quietly, realizes the body
and withdraws the mind and all these are done at the time of sleep.
Then the mind mistakes it as a sleeping time. The body and mind
have got certain habits and therefore, it goes to the habitual sleep.
One need not feel guilty of these new habits. This is a natural and
universal problem. So, no one feels bad about it.

Then vikṣepa, which means the extrovertedness of the mind. The
mind becomes doubly active during meditation. Even the problem
we have forgotten will appear when one gets into meditation. The
scattering or roaming of the mind is called vikṣepa. The next one is
rasāsvāda which means enjoying the comforts and pleasures of the
mental quietude, of the mental withdrawal. There is joy as a result of
relaxation. Getting addicted to that pleasure, mistaking that to be
ātmānanda; and that is called rasāsvāda. We call it an obstacle
because there is a mistake involved in this and it is taking it as
ātmānanda. Any experiential pleasure is not ātmānanda.
Any experience is a state of mind caused by certain condition. Here

the condition I have is being withdrawn from activity. As long as I
enjoy this meditation, I have the pleasure. The moment I am out of
the meditation I lose the happiness and when I lose this, I become
angry. So, he wants to get away from the society. Ānanda enjoyed at
the time of meditation is only the result of ānandamaya kośa. It is like
graded experience and temporary pleasure. However, ātmānanda is
not an experience and it is myself. It is the nature of consciousness
and it is not an experience; ānanda here means ananta or pūrṇa or
limitless and it is not something experienced and it is a matter of
owning up; it is not something that comes and goes. The tendency to
experience in meditation is another obstacle known as rasāsvāda.
The next is śūnyatā means kaṣāya or stuffy-bhāva or the mind getting

stunned as it were or the mind going blank. It is the mind that does
not and cannot do anything. As I see a wild elephant, I stand helpless
unable to do anything. And the mind is in a stunned state. It is said
as a state such that when it comes, there is an intense emotion. Deep

rāga or deep krodha or deep dveśa can lead to this sthambha-
avasthā. When there I sense some intense problem, and he resorts to
Lord and such kind of state is called sthambha state or kaṣāya or
śūnyatā state. We need not talk of eight obstacles for four are
included in the eight obstacles. These are discussed in Mānḍūkya
kārikā.
The four obstacles are laya sleep; they say sleep is because of several
reasons, when enough rest is not given to the body and therefore,
some sleep remains in the system; sleep is so powerful and if you
don’t respect that it will snatch anytime. Enough sleep should be
given. The next is overeating. All the blood circulates in the stomach
and there is not enough blood circulation in other places and hence
one takes rest. When the body is tired and when there is more
physical activity, meditation is not possible. These are the main
causes of sleep and we should avoid by giving sufficient sleep and
eat less and adequately not forcing one to sleep. Above all, some
training is required for meditation. The mind is to be told that this is
the meditation time and then I will give you time for rest. Auto-
suggestion is important. Next one should have training.
Vikṣepa-parihāra is the next. The vikṣepa comes because of the rāga-

dveśa with regard to the world and I see world as the cause of
happiness and I look upon the world as the cause of unhappiness.
The world is divided into rāga-viṣaya or dveśa-viṣaya and the whole
life is directed to getting and getting rid, because of rāga-dveśa. The
world cannot be a source of happiness. It is a bhrānti we have. If
money is the source of happiness the richest people should be happy
but it is not the case. So also, the case of the landlords and even the

kings with all the riches are not mentally happy. Everything is in our
mind and our happiness does not depend upon the world and the
worldly things also do not give the pūrṇatva.
Transcending rāga-dveśa is the only way for vikṣepa-parihāra and

that is called vairāgya in the śāstra. Vairāgya means going beyond
rāga-dveśa. The second deeper solution is seeing sarva or everything
as Brahman. You are Brahman and if you look at everything as
Brahman then there is happiness in the absence of rāga-dveśa. For
rasāsvāda the solution is discrimination that any experiential
pleasure is not ātmānanda and it is only reflected ānanda. It is
conditional and therefore, it is anitya. All the vyāvahārika may
continue but I should know that my pūrṇatva does not depend on
the vyāvahārika and meditation is not for experiential pleasure but
for the pūrṇatva.
Finally, kaṣāya or blankness; for that, the remedy Gaudapāda says

there is no remedy. You have to remain a sākṣī. Don’t get the mind
and don’t feel bad about it and allow it to pass. In the case of intense
sorrow nothing can be done. Time alone is the remedy. You don’t
take any decision when the mind is in a state of crisis. Even if you
take some decision write it up and implement later. Then you will be
calm to take the right decision when the mind is cool.
Understand the mind. Don’t curse and don’t feel guilty. We go

through intense emotional states and allow the time to remedy. Our
viveka is dull at the time of intense crisis. Also this is discussed in
Gītā 6th chapter and also in Mānḍūkya kārikās. Jñānī is one who
wants to avoid these obstacles to dwell upon the teaching and he
alone becomes a jñāna-niṣṭha. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says the progress to

assimilate the teaching is very slow and even a small improvement is
a great achievement.
śloka 129
भार्र्ृत्त्या तह भार्त्वं शून्यर्ृत्त्या तह शून्य ा ।
व ं था पूणत्व
ब्रह्मर्ृत्त्या तह पूणत्व व मभ्यसे ॥ ् १२९ ॥
bhāvavṛttyā hi bhāvatvaṃ śūnyavṛttyā hi śūnyatā.
brahmavṛttyā hi pūrṇatvaṃ tathā pūrṇatvamabhyaset.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya makes it clear that the Vedāntic meditation

involves vṛttis in the mind. It is not the removal of vṛttis. But in
yogaśāstra it is wiping out of all vṛttis. But in Vedāntic meditation
our aim is not stopping the mind or removing all vṛttis and Vedānta
meditation involves brahma-vṛttis in the mind. ‘Aham brahma asmi’
vṛtti should be there in the mind. The type of vṛtti will decide the
type of meditation. If the vṛtti is centred round the body, then I am in
bhāvatva.
I will become a particular individual or a limited entity if my

thoughts are centred on limited body or mind. If the mind has got
śūnya-vṛtti or blankness I also end up in blank or śūnyatva. That is
why Buddhists believed śūnyatva is satya; śūnyata is not pūrṇatva.
Brahmatva alone will give you pūrṇatva and this can be gained only
brahmākāra-vṛtti. By stilling the mind, one gets relaxation and not
ānanda; pūrṇatā comes through ahaṃ brahma asmi. Therefore, you
practice brahma-vṛtti which means pūrṇatvam abhyaset. One should
practice pūrṇatva. More in the next class.

Class 39
śloka 129 contd.
After talking about 15 limbs of nididhyāsana Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks

of the phala of nididhyāsana. Firstly, he pointed out that
nididhyāsana-phala is akṛtima-ānanda. It is not produced, it is not an
event, it is not a process and it is very natural. Ānanda is not an
experiential pleasure for it is conditional and it will be kṛtima-
ānanda. It is a sense of fullness or contentment which is there in and
through all the experiences. Again, in verse 129 Ādi Śaṅkarācārya
presents the same phala in another form, pūrṇatva. The sense of
completeness or fulfillment is the result of nididhyāsana. If we have
the thought of finite personality then I will be finite person only.
Then if aham brahma vṛtti is there, then I enjoy brahmatva.
Brahmatva is natural in all of us. We have to do something to get that
aham-brahma-vṛtti. Becoming Brahman is not the goal and gaining
brahma-jñāna is the goal and it is as though becoming Brahman. One
should constantly practice this pūrṇatva-vṛtti otherwise called
nididhyāsana.
śloka 130
ये तह र्ृरत्त जहत्येनां ब्रह्माख्यां पार्नीं पराम ।्
र्ृथ ैर् े ु जीर्तन्त पशतु भश्च समा नरािः ॥ १३० ॥
ye hi vṛttiṃ jahatyenāṃ brahmākhyāṃ pāvanīṃ parām.
vṛthaiva te tu jīvanti paśubhiśca samā narāḥ.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya glorifies this knowledge for this alone makes
a human being worth the name. If this is not there, he will be any

other animal alone. In all other respects animals and human beings
are the same with the same guṇas and attributes. Animals
instinctively seek and we intelligently seek. Human being’s
superiority is found only where he discovers pūrṇatva. This happens
only with this Brahman knowledge or else he is as good as an animal.
Human being, as also animals, is a mortal. Only that human being
who has discovered that I am birthless Brahman is not a jantu. All
manuṣyas are inherently jantus.
There are two types of people. Some don’t come to Vedānta and the
second is they come to Vedānta and still they do not stabilize and
therefore, they lose it as it were. They are still worse. If such people
get brahmākāra-vṛtti, this is the greatest purifier. There is no other
purifier greater than the knowledge. All other puṇya karmas can
destroy the pāpa of the human beings. We find even puṇya is also a
bondage and therefore, we don’t want puṇya impurity also. To
remove the puṇya you don’t have to do pāpa. How to get rid of both
puṇya and pāpa? That is to go beyond puṇya-pāpa. The ego which is
born of ignorance alone is the cause of puṇya-pāpa and ego is kartā;
kartā does karma and puṇya-pāpa follows. Therefore, ajñāna should
go and one should gain knowledge for getting rid of puṇya-pāpa.
The brahmākāra-vṛtti is the greatest purifier that removes the

ultimate impurity ajñāna. There are many other purifiers like nāma-
japa, gaṅga-snāna, etc; they are inferior purifier and they can remove
pāpa and not ignorance and puṇya. If this all-purifying knowledge
one does not get or loses after getting, he lives in vain without any
prayojana in life. Life becomes purposeful and meaningful only if one
gets spiritual knowledge, else life is purposeless. Those who don’t

gain knowledge are equal to animals. Food, security and
reproduction are claimed both by man and animals. The difference
between an animal and a human being is that one does instinctive
action while the other does intellectual action. They gain knowledge
and get rid of saṃsāra and get rid of birth-death cycle. Human being
alone can go from apūrṇatva to pūrṇatva.
śloka 131
ये तह र्ृरत्त तर्जानतन्त ज्ञात्वातप र्धवयतन्त ये ।
े र्ै सत्रुु षा धन्या र्न्द्यास्ते भर्नत्रये
ु ॥ १३१ ॥
ye hi vṛttiṃ vijānanti jñātvāpi vardhayanti ye.
te vai satpuruṣā dhanyā vandyāste bhuvanatraye.
Throughout this section the word vṛtti should be understood as

jñāna; knowledge needs vṛtti. In this respect there is no difference
between spiritual knowledge and material knowledge. Generally,
there is a misconception that the material knowledge needs minds
and thought and spiritual knowledge does not need mind and
thought and therefore, they talk of elimination of thought and
transcend the mind. They think by this knowledge will automatically
set in. They argue that Ātman is svayam-prakāśa and Ātman will get
the knowledge without any effort.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says spiritual knowledge needs mind to gain it and

there is difference in the means of knowledge. The material
knowledge is gained through pratyakṣa and upamāna while spiritual
knowledge is gained through Guru-upadeśa and śāstra. Even in the
material knowledge the means of knowledge is different but the

process in both is the mind undergoes śabda- and sparśa-vṛttis. The
process of knowledge is the same even in brahma-jñāna; the mind is
there and vṛtti has to be there and here it is ‘ahaṃ brahma asmi’-vṛtti.
Those who know the vṛtti we have to entertain and those who know
the value of vṛtti gain the vṛtti through Guru-śāstra-upadeśa.
The vṛtti gained in śravaṇa is like a small flame in the lamp and still
there are chances of the flame going off. For the flame to be
permanent, it has to become strong and for this I have to protect and
improve the flame. The student has to do take lot of independent
initiative for the teacher cannot help in this matter. The student has to
protect the flame in the form of sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti. Viveka
must be protected which is all the time reminding that other than
Ātman everything is anitya. The ephemerality of the world should be
constantly reminded. Therefore, satsaṅga is very powerful; vairāgya
should be attained and then kept alive; values and mumukṣutva
should be kept alive to protect the flame of knowledge. It has to be
kindled further and that process is called nididhyāsana. Rational
questions are handled by manana and emotional problems are
handled by nididhyāsana. Those who acquire the vṛtti through
śravaṇa increase the vṛtti corresponding to manana and
nididhyāsana. They nourish it through nididhyāsana and manana. It
means the very lifestyle should be conducive to that growth.
Even for a plant to grow the atmosphere should be conducive for its
growth and so also for a sādhaka to have jñāna-niṣṭha, he should
practice and mould the lifestyle in such a way to nourish this vṛtti.
This is jñāna-niṣṭha lifestyle. This will nourish jñāna and this lifestyle
is called nivṛtti. Such persons are called sat-puruṣas. They are the

noble people and they are dedicated to sat-Brahman. They dedicate
their life to Brahman instead of artha, kāma, dharma, etc. They are
the adorable ones.
śloka 132
ु ।
येषां र्ृतत्तिः समा र्ृद्धा पतरपक्वा च सा पनिः
े र्ै सद्ब्रह्म ां प्रािा ने रे शिर्ातदनिः ॥ १३२ ॥
yeṣāṃ vṛttiḥ samā vṛddhā paripakvā ca sā punaḥ.
te vai sadbrahmatāṃ prāptā netare śabdavādinaḥ.
The people who lead a life conducive to the brahmākāra-vṛtti

becomes samā or steady and undisturbed and unfluctuating. The
others have knowledge when they listen to Vedānta and once they
stop listening to Vedānta they become original saṃsārī. When
Vedānta is steady and consistent it is called sama-vṛtti. It is then
intense and strong. It is not easily disturbed by unfavourable
problems in life. They are sufficiently strong like a tree and they
cannot be shaken.
When they don’t get this state of steadiness, they are like a small
plant and plant can be uprooted by anyone. But the same plant when
grown into a tree even an elephant cannot shake the tree. So also the
sādhaka, who is a brahma-niṣṭha, cannot be shaken by unfavourable
worldly happenings. The vṛtti becomes ripened and assimilated vṛtti
so that the vṛtti is not shaken by untoward events. Here knowledge-
wise, he is spontaneous. There is no struggle to remember Vedānta. It
is not that he has to sit and think of Vedānta but here Vedānta is
within him and this state is gained through śravaṇa, manana and
nididhyāsana.

Ripening indicates the time factor. It is not going to be overnight
business. It is not a revolutionary change but it is evolutionary
change. Only those people have attained Brahman and they only
have become Brahman. When you say becomes Brahman it is not the
personality but the change is in the form of assimilation of
knowledge. The constant transformation is as to how I look at myself
and how I look at the world.
All other people do only lip service to Vedānta. They talk about
Vedānta and they write about Vedānta but that kind of knowledge
does not make anything; they have not become Brahman and they
are saṃsārī who have got one more degree added to the saṃsārī-
status. The knowledge has not brought any change in him; inner
transformation is more important than writing notes or writing
books, etc. There is no difference between other people working for
money and those studying Upaniṣad as both give apūrṇa-
satisfaction. Until one gets pūrṇatva, any amount of study is a waste.
They are lost in the forest of words and they don’t see the content of
the words. They don’t transform themselves to own up Brahman.
śloka 133
कुशला ब्रह्मर्ा ावयां र्ृतत्तहीनािः सरातगणिः
ु ।
ु
ऽे प्यज्ञान या नून ं पनरायातन्त यातन्त च ॥ १३३ ॥
kuśalā brahmavārtāyāṃ vṛttihīnāḥ surāgiṇaḥ.
te:'pyajñānatayā nūnaṃ punarāyānti yānti ca.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya condemns those who study Vedānta but those who
don’t take it to the heart. People who superficially withdraw from

worldly things are called mithyācarī. Their mouth all the time utters
Brahman and they are talkers of Brahman but they do not have
brahmākāra-vṛtti in their heart and they do not have pūrṇatva in
their heart. Such people have not assimilated Vedānta. This question
came into the mind of Arjuna also. How to know a person who has
got Vedānta in their heart? Krishna gave the answer. In this regard
refer to sthitaprājña portion and 12th and 14th chapter of Gītā.
One should be closer to the descriptions given above. One should

progress in terms of words and action and people who study
Vedānta should reduce their kāma-krodha; he should not wound
others. At verbal, physical and mental level, one should change. The
study should not bring the level of the person from bad to worse.
One should not bring down the glory of the Vedānta teacher. Sincere
attempt should be there for change. Am I sincere in my attempt or
casual is the question. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya takes those to task those
who don’t take things seriously. Such people will be categorized in
the ajñānī group only even though they know everything the śāstra
says. They, therefore, will have punarjanma and they will never have
mokṣa. Jīvanmukti and videha-mukti are impossible.
śloka 134
तनमेषाधं न त ष्ठतन्त र्ृरत्त ब्रह्ममयीं तर्ना ।
ु ादयिः ॥ १३४ ॥
यथा त ष्ठतन्त ब्रह्माद्यािः सनकाद्यािः शक
nimeṣārdhaṃ na tiṣṭhanti vṛttiṃ brahmamayīṃ vinā.
yathā tiṣṭhanti brahmādyāḥ sanakādyāḥ śukādayaḥ.
Now Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks about the sincere people who try to

transform or those who have already transformed in their life. The
certificate should come from other people that this person has
changed. Vedānta will not go waste and it is only a question of time
as there is no room for pessimism at any level. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya
describes the transformed people here. Even for half a minute they
don’t remain without brahmākāra-vṛtti. They don’t remain without
brahma-jñāna. They always remain with brahma-jñāna, all the time.
They become jñāna-niṣṭha. He gives some examples. They are like
Brahmaji the creator. Brahma is given as an example and He is a
jñāna-niṣṭha.
Another example is Sanaka, Sanatkumara and they are called

Devarṣis. Among gods, Brahma is responsible. Among human
beings, Śuka, son of Vyāsācārya is the example. The jñāna-niṣṭhas
ever remain in brahma-jñāna. In long practice, Brahman-thought is
there all the time. The definition of knowledge or jñāna-niṣṭha is that
in which a person is able to recollect effortlessly whenever needed. It
is not to be repeated like japa. Jñāna-niṣṭha is whenever there is
problem one should realise that he is Brahman. Health will come and
go, wealth will come and go, people will come and go, and Brahman
within me is forever. I am immortal. This is jñāna-niṣṭha.
Class 40
śloka 134 contd.
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks about the nididhyāsana-phala; jñāna-niṣṭhā is

the benefit of nididhyāsana. It is not that we should constantly think
ahaṃ brahma asmi. Wherever this knowledge is needed it should be

available immediately to face any situation and should be able to
handle the situation with this knowledge. The moment there is
sorrowful experience at that time alone Vedānta is required. When
there is difficult situation the knowledge should come and where
remedy is possible, I should take to remedy and when there is
choiceless situation I should take it as prārabdha. I should not be
damaged and I should take it as prārabdha. A healthy body is the one
that is free from disease, but we say healthy body is one that recovers
from disease, without any problem at the earliest. The body should
have fighting power to recover from the disease without any damage.
The same is the case with mental power. They may rise at vṛtti level
but jñānī has the capacity to recover from it without any damage at
the earliest. That is called jñāna-niṣṭha. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gave some
examples. Up to this we saw in the last class.
śloka 135
काये कारण ाऽऽया ा कारणे न तह कायव ा ।
कारणत्वं ो गच्छेत्कायावभार्े तर्चार िः ॥ १३५ ॥
kārye kāraṇatā:':'yātā kāraṇe na hi kāryatā.
kāraṇatvaṃ tato gacchetkāryābhāve vicārataḥ.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya summarises Vedānta for the purpose of

meditation. Vedāntic meditation is a gist or the essence of Vedānta.
These are cryptic verses worth remembering. How Brahman is
revealed by Vedānta? This we will see with the help of an example.
Suppose a person has a pot in hand and I want to reveal the clay
which is the essence. He says pot alone is there in front of me. This is
the first stage where pot is seen and accepted. Guru says okay and he

will not negate right away and he accepts the existence of pot. He
introduces the clay also which is the kāraṇa from which alone pot is
born and in clay the pot sustains and pot gets resolved into clay. The
Guru introduces the clay in addition to the pot.
The clay is introduced as kāraṇa. The second stage is introduction of

clay as kāraṇa in addition to pot the kārya. Then I say once you
understand the clay which is sṛṣṭi-sthiti-laya-kāraṇa and with this
knowledge please find out what is pot. Now the teacher has shifted
the vision from pot to clay and asks: what is the substance called pot?
The person sees the pot and finds clay everywhere. For the word
‘clay’ there is corresponding substance and for the word ‘pot’ there is
no corresponding substance and it is only a name for the particular
form clay. Pot is reduced to nāma-rūpa and it has nominal existence
and it has verbal existence and pot does not have substantial
existence. Since it has nominal existence it is as good as non-existent.
The third stage is reducing the pot to non-substantial nāma-rūpa and
it is called negation of the pot or apavāda. In the first two stages I
accept the pot and in the third stage I negate the pot.
Then we have to relook into the status of the clay. With respect to the
kārya pot, the clay is kāraṇa and clay enjoys the status of kāraṇa
because I have accepted a thing called kārya. As long as kārya is
accepted the clay enjoys the status of kāraṇa. When pot is negated the
clay loses its kāraṇa-status also. Any sambandha is possible only
when there are two things; relationship presupposes duality. When
pot is negated, the duality is gone and when duality is gone, any
word of relationship cannot be used.
The word father presupposes son; the word kāraṇa presupposes

kārya. When pot is negated, clay is one; then how can you use the
word kāraṇa for the clay! The word kāraṇa cannot be used for clay.
Kāraṇa you accept and use as long as kārya pot is there. The negation
of kāraṇatva, kāraṇa-status, of clay is the fourth stage. Then what is
left out is clay alone, was clay alone, is and clay alone will it be. The
clay is kāraṇa-kārya-vilakṣaṇa. The relationship between pot and clay
is not there. The relationship is a verbal relationship. It is kārya-
kāraṇa-vilakṣaṇa clay, a state beyond kārya-kāraṇa. Clay is śuddha
and all the statuses are not there.
First accept the pot; introduce the clay; negate the pot and negate the
causal status of the clay; it does not have any causal or effectual
status and this called advaita. We call the universe so and accept the
universe in the first stage; we introduce Brahman as kāraṇa and
negate the world as nāma-rūpa which does not have any
substantiality on its own; the fourth stage is when world is negated,
Brahman has no kāraṇa-status and that Brahman aham asmi. This is
called Vedāntic meditation. This essence Ādi Śaṅkarācārya gives in
five beautiful verses.
The kāraṇa can exist without kārya, but kārya cannot exist without
kāraṇa the clay. It means pot cannot exist without clay but clay can
exist without the pot. Pot is dependently existent and clay is
independently existent. Kārya is negated here. Pot does not exist
without clay means that the pot has borrowed existence and pot is as
good as non-existent. This is called falsification of the pot which can
be done on enquiry. Pot is only a convenient name for vyāvahārika
purposes. Fourth stage is once kārya is negated, kāraṇa status of clay
is negated. I am a teacher because of you, the students. As long as

students are there, I am a teacher. When students are gone, my
teacher-status is gone. But I am there. When pot is gone, the clay
loses the status of being a kāraṇa. The kāraṇatva of Brahman is gone.
The first two stages are called adhyāropa and the next two are
apavāda.
śloka 136
ु ं भर्ेिस्त ु यिै र्ाचामगोचरम ।्
अथ शद्ध
ु पनिः
द्रष्टव्यं मृद्घटे न ैर् दृष्टान्तेन पनिः ु ॥ १३६ ॥
atha śuddhaṃ bhavedvastu yadvai vācāmagocaram.
draṣṭavyaṃ mṛdghaṭenaiva dṛṣṭāntena punaḥ punaḥ.
Thereafter, after going through the four stages as above of adhyāropa

and apavāda, Brahman will be śuddha, the absolute Brahman or pure
consciousness which does not kāraṇa-status and which does not have
kārya-status. It does not have nirguṇa or substratum statuses. When
saguṇa prapañca is negated the word nirguṇa is meaningful. Even
pure is a relative name; the infinite is meaningful only when you
compare this with the finite thing. The word cetana can be
understood only when inert objects are accepted. The word Brahman
is big and big is meaningful only when you compare this to a small
thing. Brahman is beyond the scope of words and that is why in
Mānḍūkya Upaniṣad it is called silence.
Even the word silence cannot be used but you must be silent without
using the word silence. That is why Dakṣiṇāmūrti remained silent.
You should remain silent after a lot of talking. That is called lakṣaṇa,
implied silence. The reality is free from all attributes. If you cannot

comprehend, you take an example and extend this to the creation
also. This teaching should be seen again with some example or the
other. Compare the world with that of clay. First, accept the matter;
then, introduce consciousness and negate matter; and consciousness
is there ever unaffected. The matter is that which does not matter.
śloka 137
अनेन ैर् प्रकारेण र्ृतत्तब्रह्मातत्मका भर्े ।्
ु तचत्तानां र्ृतत्तज्ञानं िः परम ॥
उदेत शद्ध ् १३७ ॥
anenaiva prakāreṇa vṛttibrahmātmikā bhavet.
udeti śuddhacittānāṃ vṛttijñānaṃ tataḥ param.
If this is done, the mind will be soaked in brahma-dṛṣṭi, just as we

know all ornaments are made of gold. The ornaments are not
valuable but we protect the ornaments because they are made of gold
which is valuable. If the same ornaments are made of imitation, no
one give them the same value. Meditation should go to such an
extent, and in and through all, one should think of Brahman all the
time. In Vedānta we may lose the gold but we never lose Brahman.
By this process, in the mind of the pure, awareness of Brahman

dawns and this should be merged into the absolute state. Ornament-
dṛṣṭi cannot displace Gold-dṛṣṭi. Wave-vision does not displace
water-vision. Cloth-vision does not displace thread-vision. World-
vision does not displace Brahman-vision. In this manner of
adhyāropa-apavāda, Brahman is revealed. Then I become not a
knower, but knowledge itself. In that state, my vṛtti will be of the
nature of Brahman. When all thoughts end, the mind becomes pure

and in the pure-minded arises the vṛtti-jñāna of Brahman. Brahman is
our real nature and we are that alone.
śloka 138
ु
कारणं व्यत रेकेण पमानादौ तर्लोकये ।्
ु
अन्वयेन पनस्ततद्ध काये तनत्यं प्रपश्यत ॥ १३८ ॥
kāraṇaṃ vyatirekeṇa pumānādau vilokayet.
anvayena punastaddhi kārye nityaṃ prapaśyati.
Once again, the four steps are talked about in the two ślokas. That is
the kāraṇa or clay or gold should be seen independently to prove that
the clay can exist without having pot-form or jug-form. The clay can
exist without pot-form or jug-form. But jug or pot cannot exist
without the substance clay. Hence pot is nothing but a nāma-rūpa
complex. The seeker should see clay independent to prove it has got
independent existence. Look at the same clay as inherent as
permeating in every effect or kārya. First look at the lump of clay and
see the same clay in and through all the products of the clay. Look at
the wood and see the same in all the furniture. This is called
immanent and transcendental.
If you see gold in ornaments it is called immanence of gold in

ornaments. When all ornaments are melted, gold is transcendental.
You see both immanent and transcendental. Gold is permanent and
independent and ornaments are but nāma-rūpa and its existence
depends on gold. Ornaments are impermanent and dependent. The
consciousness is present in all the three states jāgṛt-avasthā-
consciousness is there all the time present in every cognition; wall-

existence proves consciousness; wall-existence is possible because of
consciousness; throughout the transaction every transaction proves
the consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is immanent in all
perceptions and all experiences.
In jāgṛt and svapna, I experience inherent consciousness or immanent

consciousness. You cannot have any experience without
consciousness. When you go to suṣupti you don’t have any
experience but the consciousness is dormant. The world is resolved
and not the consciousness. During sleep, consciousness is not
available as an immanent consciousness. But consciousness is
experienced by everyone in sleep. Every day we experience samādhi
when the mind is resolved. What is available is transcendental.
Appreciate consciousness both in its immanent and transcendental
nature by studying avasthātraya-vicāra. From this we come to know
that the consciousness is permanent and therefore, independently
existent. The world requires me to prove its existence but for my
existence I don’t require the world to prove my existence. The
consciousness is never displaced.
śloka 139
काये तह कारणं पश्येत्श्चात्कायं तर्सजवय े ।्
ु
अन्वयेन पनस्ततद्ध काये तनत्यं प्रपश्यत ॥ १३९ ॥
kārye hi kāraṇaṃ paśyetpaścātkāryaṃ visarjayet.
anvayena punastaddhi kārye nityaṃ prapaśyati.
Now in this concluding verse, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya talks about the four
stages. One is dependently existent and another is independently

existent. One is kārya and the other is kāraṇa; kārya is pot and kāraṇa
is clay. Learn to see kāraṇa in and through the kārya. Then learn to
negate kārya. There is no pot other than clay and there are no
ornaments other than gold and there is no world other than
consciousness. Dream-world does not exist separate from dream-
observer and waking-world does not exist from waking observer;
waking observer is seen in and through the observed. When the
observer is an observer, the observer is immanent in the observed;
when the observer is not an observer, it is the transcendental
consciousness. Substance is the observer.
Once you have negated the kārya the observed world also, the
observer does not have the observer-status once the observed world
is negated. I lose my kāraṇatva or observer-status and then what is
left is observer-observed-vilakṣaṇa-status. That is called
nirvikalpaka-caitanya. The kāraṇa-status is also negated is the fourth
stage. By this meditation I assert that I am the essence of the universe.
I am the core of the universe; the whole universe dances around me
with my blessings. Before this I looked at myself as miserable dust
compared to the mighty galaxy of the cosmos. Even in the religion
also we undermine ourselves. Lot of Vedānta is needed to realize I
am the whole. Adding w to the hole is Vedānta. Hole is apūrṇatva
and whole is pūrṇatva.
One who is left behind as pure consciousness, the meditator as

transcendental consciousness, the meditator who is left behind, the
turiya-caitanya, is called muni. He is a sage worth his name. All
others are aged but he is a jīvanmukta. Here concludes the Vedāntic
meditation. Visualize yourself as consciousness which withdraws

existence in suṣupti. Then the dream-world collapses. I lend
existence to the world and I withdraw from the world. This the
truthful Vedāntic meditation. More in the next class.
Class 41
śloka 139 contd.
After talking about the 15 steps of meditation, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya

summarized the entire Vedāntic teaching for practice of Vedāntic
meditation. In this, he pointed out the adhyāropa-apavāda method,
through which one shifts the attention from kārya-prapañca to kārya-
kāraṇa-vilakṣaṇa-Brahman. This was pointed out in four steps; first I
accept kārya-prapañca and then I come to kāraṇa-Brahman and then
I negate kārya-prapañca and retain Brahman which is neither kārya
nor kāraṇa. This is presented in this śloka. Instead of saying the
meditator should retain kārya-kāraṇa-vilakṣaṇa-Brahman, you
should not think Brahman is somewhere outside. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya
says Brahman will not be an object to retain for Brahman is you
yourself. First turn your attention to the objective world and then
turn your attention to subjective awareness and then negate the
objective world and remain the awareness which is neither the object
nor the subject. Awareness gets the state of subject only when the
objective state is there. Objectless subject cannot be there. The
awareness which is neither the subject nor the object; this is the
meditation to be practiced. I entertain cidrūpa. This awareness
caitanya-rūpa, pūrṇa-rūpa aham and thus I own the awareness as
myself.

śloka 140
भातर् ं ीव्रर्ेगने यिस्त ु तनश्चयात्मना ।
् १४० ॥
ु स्ततद्ध भर्ेच्छीघ्रं ज्ञेय ं भ्रमरकीटर् ॥
पमां
bhāvitaṃ tīvravegena yadvastu niścayātmanā.
pumāṃstaddhi bhavecchīghraṃ jñeyaṃ bhramarakīṭavat.
The nididhyāsana-phala is given in this śloka. Here the reality, the

Brahman or Ātman, or kārya-kāraṇa-vilakṣaṇa is called here as vastu.
This Brahman is meditated or owned up. It is not a thoughtless phase
we talk about. We should end up owning that Brahman I am; that
vṛtti is needed. This has been emphasized in the previous ślokas.
Meditation is always in the form of vṛtti. This should be done in the
form of conviction.
Not only is the assertion important, but the negation is also

important. Whatever be the self-conclusion, it should be erased from
the conscious mind. Both niṣedha- and vidhi-vākyas are important.
This should be done with deep sincerity. This should not be done
with casual approach. With conscious meditation, the meditator will
become Brahman himself. Become should not be taken literally and
becoming is as-though becoming. Knowledge becomes spontaneous.
Brahma-jñāna becomes spontaneous. The assimilation of knowledge
alone is called becoming Brahman.
Here an example is given. That example is bhramara-kīṭa-nyāya.

bhramara is a wasp; this bhramara takes a worm from outside and
puts that worm in its house made up of mud and it keeps it within
the mudhouse. This worm wants to come out and the wasp will not
let it come out and whenever it comes out the worm gets so
frightened and it constantly begins to think of the bhramara and

thinks of bhramara all the time out of fear. constantly thinking of
bhramara and the worm becomes a bhramara and comes out.
Thinking of bhramara constantly becomes bhramara. You are all like
worm. After hammering the mahā-vākya I sting you and you become
Brahman. Mentally you go to various stages until you become
Brahman. As you think so you become. Watch your thought they
become your words. Watch your words they become your actions.
Watch your actions they become your habit; watch your actions, they
become your character and watch your character is, it becomes your
very future. Yad bhāvam tad bhavati. Brahma-bhāvene brahma
bhavati.
śloka 141
अदृश्यं भार्रूपञ्च सर्वमर्े तचदात्मकम ।्
सार्धान या तनत्यं स्वात्मानं भार्येद्बध
ु िः ॥ १४१ ॥
adṛśyaṃ bhāvarūpañca sarvameva cidātmakam.
sāvadhānatayā nityaṃ svātmānaṃ bhāvayedbudhaḥ.
Here Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says this meditation should continue for a

long time for it revamps the saṃsāra-personality to jñāna-niṣṭha. This
wise man and the one who has gone through śravaṇa and manana do
this exercise. He meditates and becomes Brahman himself. He should
meditate on caitanya-rūpa ātmā; that alone is in the form of material
universe also. If I consider consciousness as different from matter
then the observed will become different and observer is different.
That is why I should meditate that I am consciousness and I should

not take world different from me like svapna-prapañca. Just as the

dream-world is non-different from the dream-observer, similarly the
waking-world is non-different from waking-observer. In short, the
observed is non-different from the observed; the observer alone
appears as the observed universe. This meditation is called sarvātma-
bhāva-dhyāna. Mediate upon me as everything; then alone advaita-
siddhi will come. If I should not miss anything in life, I should know
nothing is away from me and I am everything. Both avyakta
prapañca and vyakta prapañca are non-different from me. Both
sūkṣma prapañca and sthūla prapañca are not different from me.
Both parokṣa prapañca and pratyakṣa prapañca are not different
from me. The universe, known and unknown, experienced and
unexperienced are not different from me. This is called sarvātma-
bhāva.
This meditation should be done with all the attention. This should
not be a lip-service. I should accept ‘I am all’ from the bottom of my
heart. This is a fact for me. It is not a verbal statement or a mechanical
thought, but it is a meaningful thought, a valid statement, a fact for
me. I am using the words ‘for me’ because others may agree with me
or not, that is their problem; my innermost heart must agree to that.
And therefore, he says sāvadhānatayā; avadhāna means care,
attention, love, commitment. Sāvadhānena means with love and care.
śloka 142
दृश्यं ह्यदृश्य ां नीत्वा ब्रह्माकारेण तचन्तये ।्
ु त ष्ठेतद्धया तचद्रसपूणयव ा ॥ १४२ ॥
तर्िातन्नत्यसखे
dṛśyaṃ hyadṛśyatāṃ nītvā brahmākāreṇa cintayet.
vidvānnityasukhe tiṣṭheddhiyā cidrasapūrṇayā.

Dṛśyaṃ adṛśyatāṃ nītvā; dṛśyaṃ means anātma-prapañca and
adṛśya means ātman. Why is it so? Because dṛśya means whatever is
perceptible, whatever is knowable, whatever is experienceable or
whatever is an object. And what is that? The world is dṛśya, body
and mind; whatever I experience is dṛśya. And what is adṛśya?
Whatever cannot be experienced is adṛśya. And what is that? The
experiencer is always adṛśya. I have told this several times. The seer
can never be seen, the hearer can never be heard, the knower can
never be known, the experiencer can never be experienced and the
subject can never be the object.
And therefore, adṛśya means the subject Ātman. And in meditation,

what do you do? Dṛśyaṃ adṛśyatāṃ nītvā, the anātman should be
merged into Ātman, resolved into Ātman. And here again, the
resolution is not a physical resolution. I have told you before that a
pot is resolved into clay without destroying the pot, without breaking
the pot; it is the mere knowledge that there is no substance called pot.
The clay alone is the substance, while the pot has got only verbal
existence, non-substantial existence. This knowledge is called
resolving the pot in clay.
What is resolution? The knowledge that there is no pot other than
clay. Similarly, the resolution of the world into Ātman is knowing
that there is no world other Ātman, consciousness. There is no matter
other than consciousness; consciousness plus nāma-rūpa is matter,
whereas matter minus nāma-rūpa is consciousness. Therefore, matter
is non-substantial nāma-rūpa. What is the substance? The
consciousness alone. This wisdom is called resolution. Therefore,
dṛśyaṃ adṛśyatāṃ nītvā. And that I have to do in meditation because
we are talking about nididhyāsana.

Look at the world and tell that this world cannot prove its existence
without me the observer. You may say that the other people may
observe the world, but even in their case too, the observed world is
not different from their consciousness. So,
if your consciousness is not there, your world cannot be proved; if
my consciousness is not there, my world cannot be proved; in short,
if the consciousness-general is not there, no world, no object is
provable. And therefore, consciousness alone proves existence, it
lends existence to the world. Without consciousness, you cannot talk
about the existence of the world. And therefore, seeing this fact that
the dream-world is non-existent without me, similarly, this world is
also non-existent without me.
When I say me, not the physical body, not the mind, but the
consciousness that is inherent in all. Therefore, dṛśyaṃ adṛśyatāṃ
nītvā, having merged the world into consciousness, brahmākāreṇa
cintayet, one should think of that Ātman; as what? As the very
Brahman. That caitanya, which is this caitanya, I, the ever-evident
consciousness, am Brahman.
I am not only behind my body-mind but I am behind every body and
every mind. Through my body, I illumine my surrounding. Through
your body, I illumine your surroundings. Through Indra’s body, I
illumine Indra’s surrounding. I am the only consciousness behind
every body illumining their surroundings. Just as in the dream also,
every individual borrows consciousness; from where? From one
waker alone. Just as one waker lends consciousness to every jīva in
the dream, I the original waker, lend consciousness to every jīva in
the waking state and through them, I illumine this world. And by the
way of illumining, I give existence to the world. And therefore,
brahmākāreṇa cintayet.

One should meditate ahaṃ brahma asmi. And who should do that?
A vidvān; vidvān means one who already knows, meaning one who
has done śravaṇa and manana. And having meditated in this
manner, vidvān dhiyā nitya-sukhe tiṣṭhet. With this wisdom, this
awareness, this knowledge, the wise man should abide in Brahman,
which is nitya-sukha, nitya-ānanda-svarūpe tiṣṭhet. The wise man
should abide in nityānanda Brahman through this knowledge.
Again, we should remember that when we say that the wise man
should abide in Brahman, this ‘abiding’ is also in quotes; there is no
question of abiding in Brahman as the wise man is already Brahman.
How about the mind abiding in Brahman then? That also is not a job
because everything in the creation abides where? Not that the mind is
floating somewhere and Brahman is somewhere, and in meditation,
you have to plug the mind and unite with Brahman. The mind for the
ajñānī as well as jñānī is abiding where? In Brahman, because
Brahman is all-pervading adhiṣṭhāna of everything.
So when I say that the mind should abide in Brahman, it means that
the thought should be Brahman-thought. When I say my mind is in
Himalayas, what does it mean? That my mind is thinking of
Himalayas. When you say my mind is with my cousin in America,
what does it mean? That my thought is cousin-thought. Similarly, the
mind should abide in Brahman does not mean the mind sits upon
Brahman, because mind is already in Brahman. And therefore,
brahmākāra-vṛttyā, one should abide in Brahman.
And therefore, he says, cidrasa-pūrṇayā dhiyā. cidrasa-pūrṇa is
Brahman; cit means caitanya; rasa means ānanda; pūrṇa means
ananta. So it means saccidānanda-brahma-rūpayā dhiyā; dhiyā
vṛttyā. With that, akhaṇḍākāra-vṛtti, with that brahmākāra-vṛtti, the
wise man should abide in Brahman. And in what type of Brahman?

Nityasukhe brahmaṇi. And here again, the word sukha should not be
taken as experiential pleasure because it can never be nitya. No
experience can be nitya; therefore, sukha here should not be
translated as experiential sukha, but as contentment or satisfaction
born out of this knowledge.
The pūrṇatva born out of this knowledge is called sukha and this
pūrṇatva is not a particular temporary experience born out of a
situation but it is a fulfillment born out of knowledge. And since the
knowledge is permanent, the satisfaction is also permanent.
Remember the example I give. When there are five one day matches
and they have already won the three matches, they are trying to win
the fourth and fifth also. There may be ups and downs, but in and
through those ups and downs, there is one constant vṛtti. What is
that? ‘Sahara-cup is already ours’, ‘Sahara-cup is already ours
whatever be the result of the fourth and fifth match. Similarly, after
ātmajñāna, mokṣa-cup is already ours.
So many life-, business-, family- and society-ups and downs are
there, but there is a constant feeling going on. What is that? That the
mokṣa-cup is ours. But the difference between Sahara-cup and
mokṣa-cup is that the former can be gained only by one, but here, the
mokṣa-cup can be gained by all of you, there is no competition-
problem. It is a common cup for all. Therefore, cidrasa pūrṇayā
dhiyā, through knowledge of Brahman one should abide in Brahman.
Continuing,
śloka 143
ु ो राजयोग उदाहृ िः ।
एतभरङ्गैिः समायत
तकतञ्चत्क्वकषायाणां हठयोगेन संय ु िः ॥ १४३ ॥

ebhiraṅgaiḥ samāyukto rājayoga udāhṛtaḥ.
kiñcitpakvakaṣāyāṇāṃ haṭhayogena saṃyutaḥ.
So in these two verses, Śaṅkarācārya is concluding the nididhyāsana
topic which he started from verse number 100. There has been a very
elaborate discussion. There itself he talked about the 15 aṅgas and all
other details. Therefore, he now advices all other people. Ebhiḥ
aṅgaiḥ samāyuktaḥ rājayogaḥ udāhṛtaḥ. This nididhyāsana or
meditation, consisting of these 15; aṅgaiḥ, ebhiḥ pañcadaśa-aṅgaiḥ.
This meditation consisting of 15 aṅgas rājayogaḥ udāhṛtaḥ, this alone
is called is known as rājayoga. The word very often used also.
Sometimes they say there are four yogas: karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga,
bhakti-yoga and rāja-yoga. What is the meaning of rāja-yoga?
Vedāntic meditation is called as rājayoga.
The word rājayoga is used by Śaṅkarācārya himself, but what we
should be careful is that those people who talk about four yogas, talk
about these as independent and alternative methods of mokṣa is not
accepted by śāstra. The four yogas are acceptable but presenting
them as four optional, independent, four yogas, means of mokṣa, is
not accepted by śāstra. What we say is that everyone should follow
karma-yoga for citta-śuddhi, bhakti or upāsana for citta-ekāgratā,
jñāna-yoga meaning śravaṇa and manana for knowledge and
rājayoga means nididhyāsana to assimilate. Therefore, Śaṅkarācārya
says rājayogaḥ udāhṛtaḥ.
And kiñcit-pakva-kaṣāyāṇām. If there are mediocre people who are

not able to do dhyāna, manda-adhikāriṇām, what should be the
method? For those who are not ready for dhyāna, who cannot even
sit even for five minutes? For such highly restless wandering-minded
people, called manda-adhikāriṇāḥ, he calls them kiñcit-pakva-kaṣāya;

kaṣāya means impurity; pakva-kaṣāya means free from impurity;
kiñcit-pakva-kaṣāya means only a limited freedom from impurity
they have got. That is, they have not totally removed impurity, but
they have only partially removed impurity. So we can translate that
as partially pure people or partially impure people. In Sanskrit, we
call them manda-adhikāriṇaḥ.
What should they do? Haṭhayogena saṃyutaḥ. For them, rājayoga
must be supported by haṭha-yoga also. What do you mean by haṭha-
yoga? The mental discipline must be supported by physical discipline
also. The internal discipline must be supported by external discipline
also. So in the aṣṭāṅga yoga of Patañjali, yama, niyama, āsana and
prāṇāyāma are called as haṭha-yoga because we are physically
disciplining, training the personality. The varieties of āsana,
prāṇāyāma are to discipline the physical body; yama-niyama
involves pūjā, etc.
Therefore, discipline your grosser personality, so that you will be
able to discipline the inner personality. What is that? pratyāhāra,
dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. Therefore, the first four are called
haṭha-yoga, while the latter four are called rājayoga. Therefore,
haṭhayogena saṃyutaḥ, rājayogaḥ udāhṛtaḥ. Haṭha-yoga cannot be
independently practiced, it should be followed by rājayoga also.
Now, Śaṅkarācārya concludes the whole discussion in the next śloka.
śloka 144
पतरपक्वं मनो येषां के र्लोऽयं च तसतद्धदिः ।
ु र् भतानां सर्ेषां सलभो
गरुदै ु जर्ा ॥् १४४ ॥
paripakvaṃ mano yeṣāṃ kevalo:'yaṃ ca siddhidaḥ.
gurudaivatabhaktānāṃ sarveṣāṃ sulabho javāt.

Paripakvaṃ mano yeṣāṃ; if a person has got a fit mind is not a
mediocre student is not a manda-adhikārin, but he is a qualified
person. For such people, haṭha-yoga is not required, kevalaḥ
rājayogaḥ udāhṛtaḥ. They have to practice only rājayoga, that is
pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. They don’t require āsana,
prāṇāyāma, etc, but can straightaway practice internal discipline.
And suppose, a person is not qualified, he has to take to haṭha-yoga.
Suppose he is not he is not able to practice haṭha-yoga also. If a
person is too round a person, too fleshy a person or to start āsana, etc,
in the 75th year, it is not possible, what should such people do?
Gurudaivatabhaktānāṃ sarveṣāṃ sulabhaḥ. If a person has got
devotion to Guru and God, even if he is not able to haṭha-yoga, it
doesn’t matter; āsana-prāṇāyāma he need not practice, let him be a
bhakta of Lord and Guru. His guru and Īśvara-bhakti will replenish
and fulfill all the qualifications. yasya deve parā bhaktiḥ yathā deve
tathā gurau, tasyaite kathitā hyarthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ;
Śvetāśvataropaniṣad says that if a person has bhakti, whatever
deficiencies are there, all of them can be handled, tackled.
Therefore, bhakti becomes very important. That is why we always
emphasize a religious life. If a person can include aṣṭāṅga-yoga, it is
fine. Even if he is not able to include, a religious life is very very
important. Without religion, philosophy or Vedānta will become
simple an academic pursuit; it will be useless. Therefore,
Śaṅkarācārya concludes with religion; pūjā, japa, temple, prayer,
everything becomes extremely important. As Dayananda Swamiji
says there is no secular Vedānta and you cannot approach Vedānta
like a Professor approaches a physics or chemistry subject. It requires
a type of attitude or else it will not be beneficial.
Bhakti is the atmosphere in which philosophy fructifies. And

therefore, sarveṣāṃ, for all the people who have got bhakti sulabho
bhavet, Vedānta is sukhaṃ kartum avyayam, it is very very easy, like
swallowing banana which is peeled. Therefore, everybody should be
bhakta and as a bhakta, he should be a Vedāntic student. This
nididhāsana topic is also over. With this, the entire Aparokṣānubhūti
text is also over.

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Sri Adi Sankara’s

Talks of Swami Paramarthananda

Transcribed by Sri V.K. Vancheeswaran

Edited by Sri Praveen Bhat

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Īśvaram ahaṃ namāmi, I offer my prostrations to the Lord, Īśvara.

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ācinoti ca śāstrāṇi ācāre sthāpayatyapi.

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The teacher explains the four qualifications required to gain jñāna-

Kṛṣṇa also waited for Arjuna to explain his helplessness before

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All our problems we face in life enable us to gain sādhana-catuṣṭaya-

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Therefore, he has to experiment and he thinks there are several

Bhakti-mārga and karma-yoga or yoga will help us to gain mokṣa but

What I need is not an event but an understanding of the fact what is

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An event is time-bound while a fact is eternal. What I need is to

Some people talk of intuitive knowledge like Buddha gaining

tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā;

upadekśyanti te jñānaṃ jñānīnas tattvadarśinaḥ;

Learn that by humble reference, by enquiry and by service. The men

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Go to an Ācārya and seek knowledge. Naciketas went to Yama