Crest Jewel of Wisdom or Viveka-Chudamani

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Nothing

Verses 301-350

INVOCATION

Om May no harm be done Here, May the vessels of the great Seers continue in Salvation, May these movements be in accord with Divine Will, May this desire be motivated by Love, May what is not beneficent wither to obscurity.
I prostrate.

VIVEKA-CUDAMANI OR

CREST-JEWEL OF WISDOM

OF SRI SAMKARACARYA

Translation by

Mohoni M. Chatterji, F.T.S.

second edition 1947 (with updates from later editions added)

(301) He who becomes free from the spark of ahamkara attains the essential form which is self-illumined, stainless as the moon, all-pervading, eternal bliss.

(302) He who through bewildering ignorance is deprived of the firm conviction that I (the Logos) am He (Parabrahman), realizes the identity of Brahman with atman on the complete destruction (of ignorance).

(303) The hidden treasure of supreme bliss is guarded by the very powerful and terrible snake ahamkara, which envelopes the self with its three heads, the gunas. The wise man is able to enjoy this hidden treasure of bliss after cutting off these three heads and destroying this serpent with the great sword of spiritual knowledge.

(304) So long as there is the least indication of the effects of poison in the body, there cannot be freedom from disease. In like manner the ascetic (Yogi) will not gain mukti so long as there is egoism.

(305) By the complete cessation of egoism and the (consequent) extinction of all its deceitful manifestations, this essential truth-‘This I am’-is realized through discrimination of the real self.

(306) Abandon at once the notion of “I” in the ahamkara which is the cause of change, which experiences the consequences of Karma, and which is the destroyer of rest in one’s own real self. To this erroneous conception that attributes one thing to another (e.g. that ahamkara is the real self) is due embodied existence-birth, death, old age, sorrow in you, the (reflection of the) Logos who is consciousness and is bliss.

(307) There is no other (cause) of this changeful existence of you (the reflection of) the cidatman (Logos) who is unchangeable bliss itself, and whose only form is the reality of stainless glory, than this erroneous conception (that ahamkara is the real self).

(308) Therefore having, with the great sword of real knowledge, cut down this ahamkara, the enemy of the true self and perceived (to be) like the thorn in the eater’s throat, enjoy to heart’s content the clearly manifest bliss of the empire of self.

(309) Therefore having put an end to the functions of the ahamkara and the rest, and being free from attachment by the attainment of the supreme object, be happy in the enjoyment of spiritual bliss, and remain silent in Brahman by reaching the all-pervading Logos and losing all sense of separateness.

(310) The great ahamkara, even though (apparently) cut down to the very roots, will, if excited only for a moment by the mind, come to life again and cause a hundred distractions, just as during the rains clouds (are scattered about) by the storm.

(311) Having subjugated the enemy ahamkara, no respite is to be given to it by reflection about objects; such respite is the cause of its revival, just as water is in the case of the extremely weakened lime tree.

(312) How can the desirer who exists through the notion of the body being the ego, be the causer of the desire, who is (thus) different? Therefore submission to the pursuit of object is the cause of bondage, through attachment to differentiations.

(313) It is observed that the growth of motive is the growth of the seed (of changing existence), the destruction of the former is the destruction of the latter; therefore the former is to be annihilated.

(314) By the strength of vasana, 1 (past impressions), karya (action) is accumulated, and by the accumulation of karya, vasana increases, (thus) in every way the changeful life of the ego continues.

1 Vasana, an impression remaining unconsciously in the mind from past (good or evil) Karma.

(315) An ascetic must burn out these two, (vasana and karya) in order to sever the bond of changing existence. The growth of vasana is due to these two, thought and external action.

(316) Vasana, nourished by these two, produces the changing life of the ego. Means for the destruction of this triad always, under all circumstances (should be sought).

(317) By everywhere, in every way, looking upon everything as Brahman, and by strengthening the perception of the (one) reality this triad will disappear.

(318) By the extinction of action, 1 comes the extinction of anxious thought, from this (latter) the extinction of vasana. The final extinction of vasana is liberation-that is also called jivanmukti.2

1 Absolute detachment of the self from action. See Bhagavad-Gita, ch. III.

2 See Jivanmukti-viveka by Sri Vidyaranya (Dvivedi’s trans.) where destruction of latent desire (vasana), dissolution of mind (manonasa) and Gnosis (tattvajnana) are interdependent contributive forces necessary for Liberation-Also Life in Freedom by J. Krishnamurti.

(319) Aspiration towards the real, being fully manifested, vasana as directed to ahamkara and the rest disappears, as darkness does in the light of the supremely brilliant sun.

(320) As on the rising of the sun darkness and the effects of darkness-that net of evils-are not seen, so on the realization of absolute bliss, there is neither bondage nor any trace of pain.

(321) Transcending all perceptible objects, realizing the only truth which is full of bliss, controlling the external and internal (organs), so you should pass the time while the bondage of Karma remains.

(322) In devotion to Brahman there must be no negligence. Brahma’s 1 son has said that negligence is death.

1 Sanat-sujata says in the Sanat-sujatiyam, Mahabharata, Udyoga P.: “I verily call heedlessness death, and likewise I call freedom from heedlessness immortality.” Telang’s trans.

(323) For the wise there is no other danger than negligence in regard to the real form of self. From that springs delusion, from delusion ahamkara, from ahamkara bondage, and from bondage pain.

(324) Forgetfulness (of his true self) casts (into the ocean of births and deaths) even a learned man attracted by sense objects, his mind being perverted, as a woman (casts off) her lover.

(325) As moss (covering a sheet of water) does not remain (when pushed back) (fixed) even for a moment, so illusion (maya) veils even the learned who turn back (forgetting the real self).

(326) If the thinking ego loses its aim and becomes even slightly diverted, then it falls away from the right direction like a playing-ball carelessly dropped on a flight of steps.

(327) The mind directed towards objects of sense determines their qualities (and thus becomes attracted by them); from this determination arises desire, and from desire human action. 1

1 Cf. Bhagavad-Gita, II. 62, 63.

(328) From that comes separation from the real self; one thus separated retrogrades. There is not seen the re-ascent but the destruction of the fallen one. Therefore abandon thoughts (about sense-objects), the cause of all evils.

(329) Therefore for one possessed of discrimination, knowing Brahman in samadhi, there is no death other than from negligence. He who is absorbed in (the real) self, achieves the fullest success; hence be heedful and self-controlled.

(330) He who while living realizes unity (with the supreme), does so also when devoid of the body. For him who is conscious of even the slightest differentiation there is fear-so says the Yajur-veda 1 .

1 Katha Upanishad.

(331) When at any time the learned man perceives even an atom of differentiation in the infinite Brahman, then what is perceived as difference through negligence is to him a (cause of) fear.

(332) He who regards what is perceived as the ego, in spite of hundreds of injunctions to the contrary in sruti (Vedas), smrti (law books), and nyaya (logic), falls into a multitude of sorrows on sorrows; (such a man) the doer of what is forbidden, is like a malimluc (a demon).

(333) The liberated man devoted to the pursuit of truth, always attains the glory of (the real) self, while he who is devoted to the pursuit of falsehood perishes; this is seen even in the case of a thief and an honest man.

(334) The ascetic abandoning the pursuit of unreality, the cause of bondage, rests in the spiritual perception, “I am the Logos”. Devotion to Brahman gives bliss through realization of (the real) self and takes away the great pain experienced as the effect of avidya.

(335) Pursuit of external objects results in increasing evil vasana more and more; therefore realizing the true character of such objects through discriminative knowledge, and abandoning them, be constantly engaged in the pursuit of the real self.

(336) The (pursuit of) external objects being checked, tranquility of the mind (manas) is produced; from the tranquility of manas arises the vision of Paramatman (the Logos); from the clear perception of Paramatman (results) the destruction of the bondage of conditioned existence. Restraint of the external is the way to liberation.

(337) What learned man, capable of discrimination between the real and the unreal, understanding the supreme object according to the conclusions of the sruti, and aspiring for liberation, would, like a child, rest in the unreal, the cause of his own fall?

(338) There is no mokshha for him who is attached to body and the rest; in the liberated there is no notion of the body and the rest being the ego. The sleeping man is not awake, and the man awake is not asleep-different attributes inhering in each (condition).

(339) He is liberated, who, having (by spiritual intelligence) perceived the Logos within and without, in moveable and immoveable (things), realizing it as the basis of the ego and abandoning all upadhis, remains as the all-pervading, indestructible Logos.

(340) There is no other means for the removal of bondage than the realization of the nature of the Logos. When objects of sense are not pursued, the state of being of the Logos is attained through unremitting devotion to it.

(341) How can the non-pursuit of objects of sense which can only with effort be accomplished by the wise, who know the truth, ceaselessly devoted to the Logos, aspiring for eternal bliss, and who have renounced all objects of dharma (customary observances) and Karma (religious rites and ceremonies), be possible to one who regards the body as the self, whose mind is engaged in the pursuit of external objects, and who performs all actions connected with them?

(342) For the attainment (of the state of) the Logos by the bhikshhu 1 , engaged in the study of philosophy, samadhi is enjoined by the Sruti-text: “Possessed of control over external organs and mind”, and so forth.2

1 One in the fourth stage or asrama of life, a mendicant.

2 From the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad. (See supra, sloka 20 et seq.).

(343) Even the wise are not able at once to cause the destruction of egoism which has become strong by growth. Except in those who are fixed in nirvikalpa-samadhi, vasana (creates) many births.

(344) Vikshhepa-sakti, binding a man to the delusive idea of self through the power of avaraSa-sakti,1 carries him (into embodied existence) by its qualities.

1 Avarana-sakti is the power that makes one thing appear as another. Vide sloka 115.

(345) Until the avaraSa-sakti ceases completely, the conquest of the vikshhepa -sakti is impossible. From its inherent nature the former is destroyed in the self when subject and object are distinguished, as (one distinguishes) milk and water.

(346) When there is a complete cessation of the (activity of) the vikshhepa -sakti in regard to the unreal, then without doubt or impediment arises perfect discrimination, born of clear perception, dividing the real and unreal principles, cutting asunder the bond of delusion produced by maya, for one emancipated from that there is no more changeful existence.

(347) The fire of the knowledge of the oneness (of Brahman) without limitation, burns down completely the forest of avidya; where then is the seed of changeful existence of him who has completely attained the state of oneness?

(348) By the thorough realization of the (one) substance avaraSa-sakti ceases. The destruction of false knowledge is the cessation of the pain (arising from) the vikshhepa-sakti. (348)

(349) By the perception of the true character of the rope these three are seen. 1 Therefore by the wise the essential substance is to be known for the sake of liberation from bondage.

1 The power that envelopes the rope as the serpent, the mental perturbation caused thereby, and the erroneous knowledge that the rope is the serpent, are, all three of them, seen to disappear when it is perceived that the rope is the rope and not the serpent.

(350) Buddhi in conjunction with consciousness-similar to the union of the iron and fire-manifests itself as the faculties of sensation. The effects of this (manifestation) are the three (mentioned above); wherefore what is perceived in error, in dream, and in desire, is false.

Ohm peace, peace, peace.

SOURCE:

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Nothing

Verses 251-300

INVOCATION

VIVEKA-CUDAMANI OR

CREST-JEWEL OF WISDOM

OF SRI SAMKARACARYA

Translation by

Mohoni M. Chatterji, F.T.S.

second edition 1947 (with updates from later editions added)

(251) The wise know the perfect identity of the atman with Parabrahman by attaining the standpoint of the Logos. In hundreds of great aphorisms is declared the identity of Brahman and the atman.

(252) Renounce the false conception you have formed and understand through thy purified intellect that thou (atman) art that subtle, self-existence, Brahman which is perfect knowledge.

(253) Just as the pot made from clay is to be considered clay, so what is evolved out of atman is always atman, and every thing is atman, and there is nothing existing apart from it; therefore thou art ‘That’-absolute peace, without stain, great-Brahman without a second.

(254) Just as in dreams the place, time, objects and ideas are all unreal, so also this world, created by ignorance, is unreal, and so are also this body, senses, vital airs, egoism, etc. Therefore understand thou art ‘That’-absolute peace, without stain, great-Brahman without a second.

(255) Realize that thou art ‘That’-Brahman which is far beyond caste, worldly wisdom, family and clan, devoid of name, form, qualities and defects, beyond time, space and objects of consciousness. 1

1 The Turiya consciousness, or the atman being no object of any subject can only be indicated by paradoxes. The highest consciousness that is in nature (the atman being absolute) is Isvara or the seventh principle of the macrocosm. When the individual realizes his identity with Isvara the atman is self-manifest. There was no time when the atman was not, there will be no time when it will be not. It neither grows, nor fades away. When a man becomes emancipated, still for that man it is, and nothing else is. Thus the Turiya, having no connection with action, cannot be attained by any action. It is not perceptible by buddhi, yet when Turiya is attained as it can only be attained-through initiations, incomprehensible to us-all faculties receive a modification. St. Paul hesitates to give it a name-“whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell”. (Cor.) Isvara, I have said, is the highest consciousness in nature. He is God, unchanged in the profoundest depths of pralaya and in the intensest activity of the manvantara. Beyond is atman, round whose pavilion is the darkness of eternal maya. The only intellectual representation possible of it is the sentence. “That thou art”. This and the nine stanzas following deal with the identity of Parabrahman and Pratygatman.

(256) Realize that thou art ‘That’-Brahman which is supreme, beyond the range of all speech, but which may be known through the eye of pure wisdom. It is pure, absolute consciousness, the eternal substance.

(257) Realize that thou art ‘That’-Brahman which is untouched by the six human infirmities 1 ; it is realized in the heart of Yogis,2 it cannot be perceived by the senses, it is imperceptible by intellect or mind.

1 Hunger, thirst, greed, delusion, decay, death.
2 i.e. in Samadhi.

(258) Realize that thou art ‘That’-Brahman on which rests the world, created through ignorance, it (Brahman) is self-sustained, it is different from (relative) truth, and from untruth, indivisible, beyond mental representation.

(259) Realize that thou art ‘That’-Brahman which is devoid of birth, growth, change, loss of substance, disease and death, indestructible, the cause of the evolution of the universe, its preservation and destruction.

(260) Realize that thou art ‘That’-Brahman which is the cessation of all differentiation, which never changes its nature and is as unmoved as a waveless ocean, eternally unconditioned and undivided.

(261) Realize that thou art ‘That’-Brahman which is the one only reality, the cause of multiplicity, the cause that eliminates all other causes, different from the law of cause and effect.

(262) Realize that thou art ‘That’-Brahman which is without modification, very great, indestructible, the supreme, different from all destructible elements and the indestructible Logos, eternal, immutable bliss, and free from stain.

(263) Realize that thou art ‘That’-Brahman, that reality which manifests as many through the illusions of name, form, qualities, change, but is yet ever unchanged like gold (in the various forms of golden ornaments).

(264) Realize that thou art ‘That’-Brahman which alone shines, which is beyond the Logos, all-pervading, uniform, truth, consciousness, bliss, having no end, indestructible.

(265) By known logical inferences and by intuition realize thyself as atman, just as the meaning of a word is understood; the certainty of this truth will be established without doubt just as water (held) in the palm of the hand.

(266) Having realized oneself as pure knowledge, the supremely pure truth, and being supported by it, remaining ever constant in the atman as a king in battle depends on his army, merge this objective universe in Brahman.

(267) Brahman, the truth, the supreme, the only one, and different from both (relative) truth and untruth, is in the centre1 of wisdom; whoever dwells in that centre has no rebirth.

1 Literally the cavity (between the eyebrows).

(268) Even if the substance (or truth) is intellectually grasped, the desire which has no beginning (expressed in the words) “I am the actor and also the enjoyer” is strong and firm, and is the cause of conditioned existence. That desire may be got rid of with great effort by realizing that atman is Brahman. The sages on earth call the getting rid of that desire (literally thinning away, desire being compared to a rope) emancipation.

(269) The erroneous conception that attributes one thing to another, such as that atman is the egoism, body, senses, etc. must be rejected by the wise through devotion to atman. 1

1 Cf. Light on the Path.

(270) Knowing that atman as the witness of mind and its operation, and having realized through pure conduct that atman is the self; abandon the perception of Non-spirit as Spirit.

(271) Having given up following the way of the world, the body, or the scriptures, remove the erroneous conception that atman is non-atman.

(272) Owing to a person’s desire 1 for the things of the world, the scriptures and the body, true knowledge cannot be produced.

1 Vasana (latent desire).

(273) This cruel trinity 1 of desire is called by those who know, the iron chain that binds the feet of one aspiring for liberation from the prison-house of conditioned existence; he who is free from this attains liberation.

1 Sastra-vasana, Deha-vasana and Loka-vasana. See Jivamukti-viveka by Sri VidyaraSya Svami, Chapter II. (Dvivedi’s translation, p. 72). This is a very valuable treatise which gives hope of Liberation in this very life to every one. Compare the teachings of J. Krishnamurti in his books Life in Freedom and Now.

(274) As by mixture with water and by friction, sandal-wood emits an excellent odour, removing all bad smells; so divine aspiration becomes manifest when external desire is washed away.

(275) Aspiration towards the supreme atman is covered by the dust of fatal desires lurking within, but becomes pure and emits a fine odour by the friction of wisdom just as the sandal-wood (emits odour).

(276) The aspiration towards atman is stifled by the net of unspiritual desires, for by constant devotion to atman they are destroyed, and divine aspiration becomes manifest.

(277) In proportion as the mind becomes firm by devotion to atman, it renounces all desires for external things; when all desires are completely exhausted, the realization of atman is unobstructed.

(278) By constant rest in the atman the (individualized) mind of the Yogis disappears and desires are exhausted; therefore remove the erroneous conception that Non-spirit is Spirit.

(279) The quality of tamas is eliminated by the other two qualities-rajas and sattva-rajas by sattva and sattva by purified sattva; therefore, having recourse to sattva, remove the erroneous conception that Non-spirit is Spirit.

(280) Having ascertained that the body cherishes past Karma, become firm and calm and with great efforts remove the erroneous conception that Non-spirit is Spirit.

(281) By realizing “I am not jiva but Parabrahman”, remove the erroneous conception that Non-spirit is Spirit, which is produced by the force of desire.

(282) Having understood from the scripture, from logical reasoning and from experience, the all-pervading nature of your atman, remove the erroneous conception that Non-spirit is Spirit, which might arise through the reflection of that something somewhere.

(283) For the muni (ascetic) there is no activity concerning giving or taking, therefore by devotion to the one, diligently remove the erroneous conception that Non-spirit is Spirit.

(284) In order to strengthen the conviction of self-identity with Brahman, remove the erroneous conception that Non-spirit is Spirit, through the knowledge of identity of self and Brahman which arises from such sentences as ‘thou art That’.

(285) So long as the notion ‘I am this body’ is not completely abandoned, control yourself with great concentration, and with great effort remove the erroneous conception that Non-spirit is Spirit.

(286)wise man! So long as the notion remains that there is jiva and the world, even but as a dream, without interruption remove the conception that Non-spirit is Spirit.

(287) Without allowing any interval of forgetfulness through sleep, news of worldly affairs, or the objects of sense, meditate on the Self in the self.

(288) Having quitted this body which is composed of flesh and impurities and produced from the impurities of father and mother, as (one quits) an outcaste; become Brahman and attain the end.

(289) Having merged the atman in Paramatman even as the space occupied by the water-jar is merged in free space; remain for ever silent in that state.

(290) Having become the self-illumined, basal Brahman through the Logos, the macrocosm is to be abandoned as well as the microcosm, like a pot containing foul matter.

(291) Having transferred the concept of “I”, as inhering in the atman which is consciousness, truth and bliss, and having abandoned all attributes, become for ever ONE.

(292) Realizing as the “I” that Brahman in which this universe is reflected as a city in the mirror, thou shalt obtain the final object.

(293) Having attained that primeval consciousness, absolute bliss, of which the nature is truth, which is without form and action, abandon this illusive body that has been assumed by the atman just as an actor (abandons) the dress (put on).

(294) The objective universe is false from (the standpoint of) the Logos, and this (objective universe) is not “I” (Logos) because only transitory. How then can the concept “I know all” be established with regard to transitory objects (such as) egoism and the rest?

(295) The substance “I” is the witness of the egoism and the rest, as its being, is always perceived-even in dreamless sleep; and the scripture itself calls (it) unborn and eternal; therefore the atman is different from (relative) truth and untruth.

(296) The eternal unchangeable atman alone can be the knower of all differentiations of those which are differentiated. The character of these two (differentiable and differentiation) is unreal because repeatedly and clearly perceived in the objective desires of the mind, in dream and in dreamless sleep.

(297) Therefore abandon the notion of “I” in connection with a mass of flesh, as also this notion itself which is a product of buddhi. But having known the atman which is affected by neither past, present, nor future, attain peace.

(298) Abandon the notion of “I” in family, clan, name, form and state of life, which all depend on this physical body and also having abandoned the properties of the linga sarira, such as the feeling of being the actor and the rest, become the essential form which is absolute bliss.

(299) There are other obstacles which are perceived to be the cause of a man’s embodied existence. Of these the first is the modification called ahamkara (egoism).

(300) So long as one is connected with the vile ahamkara (egoism), there is not the least indication of mukti (final emancipation) which is a strange (thing to him)

Ohm peace, peace, peace.

SOURCE:

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Nothing

Verses 201-250

INVOCATION

VIVEKA-CUDAMANI OR

CREST-JEWEL OF WISDOM

OF SRI SAMKARACARYA

Translation by

Mohoni M. Chatterji, F.T.S.

second edition 1947 (with updates from later editions added)

(203) The connection of the atman with jiva; created through its basis, mind, though having no beginning, is thus seen to have an end. Hence this connection does not exist, and the atman is entirely different from the jiva in nature and attributes. The connection between atman and buddhi is established through false knowledge.

(204) This connection can only be terminated by true knowledge-it cannot be otherwise. The knowledge that Brahman (the supreme spirit) and atman are one and the same is true knowledge and according to the Vedas.

(205) This knowledge can only be acquired by the perfect discrimination of ego and non-ego; therefore discrimination is to be practised in relation to individual and universal spirit.

(207) As the most muddy water appears pure water on the removal of the mud, even so the atman shines clearly when it is removed from unreality. Therefore the atman should be separated from all that pertains to the false self.

(208) Hence the supreme spirit is not that which is called the vijnanamaya. By reason of its changeable, detached character and limited consciousness, as well as on account of its objectivity and liability to error, it (the vijnanamayasheath) cannot be regarded as eternal.

(209) Anandamaya sheath is the reflection of the absolute bliss, yet not free from ignorance. Its attributes are pleasure and the like, through it the higher affections are realised (e.g. in svarga). This sheath, whose existence depends upon virtuous action, becomes manifest as anandamaya without effort (that is, as the necessary result of a good life) in a virtuous man enjoying the fruits of his own merit.

(210) The principal manifestation of the anandamaya sheath is in dreamless slumber. In the waking and dreaming states it becomes partially manifested at the sight of pleasant objects.

(211) Nor is this anandamaya the supreme spirit, because it is subject to conditions. It is a modification of prakriti, an effect, and the sum of all the consequences of good acts.

(212) According to the Vedas the atman is what remains after the subtraction of the five sheaths. It is the witness, it is absolute knowledge.

(213) This atman is self-illumined and different from the five sheaths; it is the witness of the three states (waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep); it is stainless, and unchanging, it is eternal bliss and thus it must be realized by the learned Brahmana.

The Disciple said:
(214) When the five sheaths are subtracted on account of their unreality, I do not see, O Master, that anything remains but universal negation. What, then, remains to be known by the learned Brahmana, as ego and non-ago?

The Blessed teacher said:
(215) wise man, thou hast spoken well, thou art skilful in discrimination, atman is that which is void of all changeful things, such as egotism, etc.

(216) That by which everything is known, that which is not known by anything-through the subtle intellect, realize that knower to be the atman.

(217) Whoever knows anything is the witness thereof. With regard to an object not perceived by anyone, the characteristic of being the witness can be rightly postulated of none.

(218) The atman is itself the witnessing essence, for by itself it is perceived. Therefore this atman is itself the witness and not another.

(219) The manifestation of this atman is identical in the states of waking, dreaming and dreamless slumber; it is the one inward manifestation of self-consciousness in all egos; and is the witness of all forms and changes, such as egotism, intellect, etc. and manifests itself as absolute consciousness and bliss. This, realize as atman in your own heart.

(220) The fool, having seen the image of the sun in the water of the jar, thinks it is the sun. So an ignorant man seeing the reflection of the Logos in any of the upadhis (vehicles) takes it to be the real self.

(221) As the wise man looks at the sun itself and not the jar, the water, or the reflection; so also the wise man looks towards the self-illumined atman through which the three (upadhis) are manifested.

(222) Thus it is that the individual, abandoning the body, the intellect and the reflection of consciousness, becomes sinless, passionless and deathless by knowing the self-illumined atman, which is the seer, which is itself the eternal knowledge, different from reality as well as unreality, eternal, all pervading, supremely subtle, devoid of within and without, the only one, in the centre of wisdom.

(224) The wise man who becomes Brahman by knowing it, is free from grief and filled with bliss. He fears nothing from anywhere. Without knowledge of the true self there is no other path open to those desirous of liberation for removing the bondage of conditioned life.

(225) The realization of the oneness of Brahman is the cause of liberation from conditioned existence, through which the only Brahman, which is bliss, is obtained by the wise.

(226) The wise man, becoming Brahman, does not return to conditioned existence; hence the unity of the self with Brahman must be thoroughly realized.

(227) Brahman is truth, knowledge and eternity, the supreme, pure, self-existing, uniform, unmixed bliss, always pre-eminent.

(228) By the absence of all existence besides itself this Brahman is truth, is supreme, the only one; when the supreme truth is fully realized nothing remains but this.

(229) By reason of ignorance this universe appears multiform, but in reality all this is Brahman, (which remains) when all defective mental states have been rejected.

(230) The water-pot which is the effect 1 of clay is yet not different from the clay, its essential nature always remaining clay. The form of the water-pot has no independent existence, but is only a name generated by illusion.2

1 Effect=product.
2 As empty abstraction with no substance to correspond to it.

(231) By no one can the water-pot be seen as itself and distinct from the clay. Therefore the water-pot is imagined from delusion; the clay alone is essentially real.

(232) All products of Brahman, which is reality, are themselves also real; and there is nothing different from it. Whoever says there is (anything different) is not free from illusion but is like a man talking in his sleep.

(233) Brahman is this universe-such is the saying of the excellent sruti of the Atharva Veda. Therefore all this universe is but Brahman, what is predicated of it as separate from Brahman has no existence.

(234) If this universe is a reality, then the atman is finite, the Vedas have no authority Isvara (the Logos) has no existence. These three things cannot be accepted by great souls.

(235) The Lord, the knower of all objects in their reality, has declared, “I am not distinct from them nor are they distinct from me.”

(236) If this universe is a reality, it should be perceived in dreamless slumber. Since, however, nothing is perceived (in that condition) it is as unreal as dreams.

(237) Therefore there is no real existence of the universe, distinct from the supreme atman; its distinct perception is as unreal as that of the serpent in the rope. What reality can there be in that which is merely manifest through ignorance?

(238) Whatever is perceived through error by an ignorant person is nothing but Brahman-the silver is truly but the mother of pearl. 1 In this way Brahman is ever and again invested with forms, but they are nothing but mere names ascribed to Brahman.

1 In reference to the well-known analogy of the erroneous perception of the mother of pearl as silver.

(239) Therefore the supreme Brahman is the one reality, without a second, it is pure wisdom, the stainless one, absolute peace without beginning and without end, void of action and the essence of ceaseless bliss.

(240) When all the differences created by maya (illusion) have been rejected, (there remains) a self-illumined something which is eternal, fixed, without stain, immeasurable, without form, unmanifested, without name, indestructible.

(241) The wise know that as the supreme truth which is absolute consciousness, in which are united the knower, the known and the knowledge, infinite and unchangeable.

(242) Brahman is the infinite, eternal, all-pervading light, it can be neither taken hold of, nor abandoned, inconceivable by the mind and inexpressible by speech, immeasurable, without beginning, without end.

(243) Brahman and atman which are respectively designated by the terms “that” and “thou”, are fully proved to be identical when investigated by the light of Vedic teaching.

(244) The identity of the two thus indicated and predicated, cannot be proved on account of mutually exclusive attributes, (that is, when the atman is connected with upadhi), any more than that of the fire-fly and the sun, of the king and the slave, of the well and the ocean, of the atom and the mountain (Meru).

(245) The distinction is created by conditions (upadhis); in reality, there is no conditioning basis for the atman. Listen, the maya 1 of the Logos (Isvara) is the first cause of mahat (sixth principle) and the five sheaths are the effect ofjiva (higher portion of fifth principle).

1 Maya here=the life current issuing from the Logos and creating illusion.

(246) When these two upadhis-those of the atman and the jiva-are completely rejected, there is neither atman nor jiva. The king has his kingdom, the warrior his arms; on the removal of these there is neither king nor warrior.

(247) Hence the sruti (Veda) says that the duality created (by illusion) in Brahman is eliminated through knowledge, then atman and jiva disappear.

(248) Through logical inferences having rejected as usual every conception of what is visible, created by mind like the notion of the serpent (imagined) in the rope, or like (things seen in) dream, the identity of atman with Brahman is realized.

(249) Therefore, having ascertained these attributes, their identity is established just as that of a figure of speech which loses its original meaning and takes an additional sense. But in order to realize this identity, neither the literal nor the figurative signification is to be lost sight of, both must be united in order to realize the identity of the Logos and Parabrahman (Harmony must be sought in the analogy of contraries.

(250) ‘That Devadatta is myself’-here the identity is indicated by the rejection of the contrary attributes of the terms. Similarly in the saying, ‘That thou art’, rejecting the contrary attributes in both terms, identity is established.

Ohm peace, peace, peace.

SOURCE:

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Nothing

Verses 151-200

INVOCATION

VIVEKA-CUDAMANI OR

CREST-JEWEL OF WISDOM

OF SRI SAMKARACARYA

Translation by

Mohoni M. Chatterji, F.T.S.

second edition 1947 (with updates from later editions added)

(151) As the water in the tank covered by a collection of moss does not show itself, so the atman enveloped by the five sheaths, produced by its own power and beginning with the annamaya, does not manifest itself.

(152) Upon the removal of the moss is seen the pure water capable of allaying heat and thirst, and of immediately yielding great enjoyment to man.

(153) When the five sheaths are removed the pure pratyagatman (the Logos), the eternal happiness, all-pervading, the supreme self-generated light shines forth.

(154) A wise man must acquire the discrimination of spirit and not-spirit; as only by realizing the self which is absolute being, consciousness and bliss, he himself becomes bliss.

(155) Whoever, having discriminated the pratyagatman that is without attachment or action, from the category of objects, as the reed is discriminated from the tiger-grass, and having merged everything in that, finds rest by knowing that to be the true self, he is emancipated.1

1 i.e., By recognition of the pratyagatman (Logos) as the individuality in man.

(156) This food-produced body, which lives through food and perishes without it, and is a mass of skin, epidermis, flesh, blood, bone, and filth, is the annamaya sheath; it cannot be regarded as the self which is eternal and pure.

(157) This (atman) was before birth and death and is now: how can it, the true self, the knower of condition 1 and modification, be ephemeral, changeable, differentiated, a mere vehicle of consciousness?

1 The original word bhava would perhaps be better explained as the stable basis of modifications.

(158))The body is possessed of hands, feet, and the rest; not so the true self which, though without limbs, by reason of its being the vivifying principle and the indestructibility of its various powers, is the controller and not the controlled.

(159) The true self being the witness of the body and its properties, its actions and its conditions, it is self-evident that none of these can be a characteristic mark of the atman.

(160) Full of misery, covered with flesh, full of filth, full of sin, how can it be the knower? The ego is different from this.

(161) The deluded man considers the ego to be the mass of skin, flesh, fat, bones and filth. The man of discrimination knows the essential form of self, which is the supreme truth, to be without these as characteristic marks.

(162) “I am the body”-such is the opinion of a deluded man; of the learned the notions of I is in relation to the body, as well as to the jiva (monad). Of the great soul possessed of discrimination and direct perception, “I am Brahman”, such is the conviction with regard to the eternal self.

(163) You of deluded judgment, abandon the opinion that the ego consists in the mass of skin, flesh, fat, bone, and filth; know that the real self is the all-pervading, changeless atman and so obtain peace.

(164) As long as the wise man does not abandon the notion that the ego consists of the body, organs and the rest, the product of illusion, so long there is no prospect of his salvation, even though he be acquainted with the Vedas and their metaphysical meaning.

(165) As one’s idea of I is never based on the shadow or reflection of the body, or the body seen in dream or imagined by the mind, thus also may it be with the living body.

(166) Because the false conviction that the ego is merely the body, is the seed producing pain in the form of birth and the rest, efforts must be made to abandon that idea; the attraction towards material existence will then cease to exist.

(167) Conditioned by the five organs of action this vitality becomes the pranamaya sheath through which the embodied ego performs all the actions of the material body.

(168) The pranamaya, being the modification of life-breath and the comer and goer, in and out, like air-currents, is also not the atman, because it cannot by itself discriminate between good and evil, or the real self and another, it is always dependent on another (the self).

(169) The organs of sensation together with the manas form the manomaya sheath which is the cause (hetu) of the differentiation between “I” and “mine”; it is the result of ignorance, it fills the former sheath and it manifests its great power by distinguishing objects by names, etc.

(170) The fire of the manomaya sheath, fed with objects as if with streams of melted butter by the five senses like five Hotris 1 , and blazing with the fuel of manifold desires, burns this body, made of five elements.

1 Priests offering oblations to the fire.

(171 There is no avidya besides the manas. Manas itself is the avidya, the instrument for the production of the bondage of conditioned existence. When that (avidya) is destroyed, all is destroyed, and when that is manifested, all is manifested.2

2 Manas being the organ of doubt or the production of multiplicity of concepts in relation to one and the same objective reality, is here taken to be the same as avidya. The buddhi determines these manas-born concepts as real and through the ahamkara specializes them by an association with the true ego. Thus is the world of illusions produced. It will now be seen that if the manas attains tranquillity, the world of illusions is destroyed. For then the buddhi having no hypothetical concepts with regard to the one objective reality to deal with, reflects the reality and the ahamkara is destroyed by the destruction of its limitations and becomes merged in the absolute Self.

(172) In dream, when there is no substantial reality, one enters a world of enjoyment by the power of the manas. So it is in waking life, without any difference, all this is manifestation of the manas. 1

1 See Mr. Keightley’s Synopsis of Du Prel’s “Philosophik der Mystik”, Theosophist, vol. VI, for the psychology of dreams; and Dreams by C. W. Leadbeater.

(173) All know that when the manas is merged in the state of dreamless slumber nothing remains. Hence the contents of our consciousness are created by the manas and have no real existence.

(174) Cloud collects by the wind2 and is again dispersed by the wind; bondage is created by the manas, and emancipation is also produced by it.

2 The word translated wind includes the atmosphere, together with its moisture and currents.

(175) Having produced attachment to the body and all other objects, it thus binds the individual as an animal is bound by a rope, afterwards having produced aversion to these as if a poison, that manas itself frees him from bondage.

(176) Therefore the manas is the cause of the bondage of this individual and also of its liberation. The manas when stained by passion is the cause of bondage, and of liberation when pure, devoid of passion and ignorance.

(177) When discrimination and dispassion predominate, the manas having attained purity becomes fit for liberation, therefore these two (attributes) of a man desirous of liberation and possessed of buddhi, must at the outset be strengthened.

(178) In the forest land of objects wanders the great tiger named manas; pure men desirous of liberation do not go there.

(179) The manas, through the gross body and the subtle body of the enjoyer, creates objects of desire and perpetually produces differences of body, caste, colour, and condition, all results of the action of the qualities.

(180) The manas, having clouded over the absolute consciousness which is without attachment, acquires notions of “I” and “mine”, and through attachment to the body, organs, and life, wanders ceaselessly in the enjoyment of the fruit of his actions.

(181) By ascribing the qualities of the atman to that which is not atman is created (the series of incarnations). This ascription is produced by the manas which is the primary cause of birth, suffering, etc. in a man devoid of discrimination and tainted by rajas and tamas.

(182) Therefore learned men who have seen the truth call the manas, AVIDYA, by which the universe is made to wander as the clouds are by the wind.

(183) For this reason pains should be taken by one desirous of liberation to purify the manas. It being purified, liberation is at hand.

(184) Through the sole desire for liberation, having rooted out attachment to objects and renounced personal interest in action, with reverential purity, he who is devoted to study (sravana) and the rest, shakes off mental passion.

(185) Even the manomaya (sheath) is not the supreme ego on account of its having beginning and end, its modifiable nature, its pain-giving characteristics, and by reason of its being objective. The seer (or subject) is not seen by that which is itself seen (or objective).

(186) The buddhi with its functions and combined with the organs of sensation 1 becomes the vijnanamaya sheath whose characteristic is action and which is the cause of the revolution of births and deaths.

1 It will be seen that the organs of sensation enter also into the composition of the manomaya sheath which generates the notion of (manifold) possibilities with regard to objects of sensation. The vijnanamaya sheath determines those possibilities by associating one of them with the egotism by the sense of agency. To take an illustration, I see something, it may be a post or it may be a man, so far we have only the manomaya sheath to deal with. Then when the vijnanamaya comes into play, one out of these possibilities is associated with ahamkara by the sense of agency, and we obtain, let us say, this proposition-I know I see a post. This will throw some light upon the double functions of the organs of sensation analysed in the text.

(187) The modification of prakriti called vijnanamaya sheath, follows after the individuality (sheath) which reflects the atman and is possessed of the faculties of cognition and action, and its function is to specialize the body, organs and the rest as the ego.

(188) This (ego) having no beginning in time is the jiva or embodied ego. It is the guide of all actions, and governed by previous desires, produces actions, righteous and unrighteous, and their consequences.

(189) It gathers experience by wandering through various grades of incarnation 1 and comes below and goes above.2 It is to this vijnanamaya that belongs the experiences of the pleasure and pain pertaining to waking, dreaming and the other conditions.

1 Such as animal, human, etc.
2 Objective and subjective conditions.

(190) Pre-eminently characterized by the closest proximity to the Paramatman, this vijnanamaya becomes its objective basis. It produces the difference between “I” and “mine” and all actions pertaining to different stages of life and condition, and through ignorance it passes with the spiritual intelligence from one existence to another.

(191) This vijnanamaya, reflecting the Light of the Logos, is manifested in the vital breaths (subtle currents of the sukshhma sarira) and in the heart1. This atman being encased in this upadhi, appears to be the actor and enjoyer.

1 The seat of abstract thought.

(192) The atman, being limited by mind, appears different (from other objects) through the illusive nature (of mind), just as the water-jar and the rest (appear different) from the earth.

(193) Paramatman by reason of connection with an objective basis, appears to partake of the attributes (of this upadhi) just as the formless fire seems to partake of the form of the iron (in which it inheres). The atman is, by its very nature, essentially unchangeable.

The Disciple said:
(194) Whether through ignorance or any other cause, the atman invariably appears as jiva (higher portion of fifth principle); this upadhi, having no beginning, its end cannot be imagined.

(195) Hence the connection of the atman with jiva does not seem to be terminable, and its conditioned life appears to be eternal, then tell me, O blessed Master, how there can be liberation?

The blessed teacher said:
(196) wise man, you have asked rightly. Now, listen carefully. The illusive fancies arising from error are not conclusive.

(197) Without error truly the atman, the independent and non-acting, cannot be connected with objects, just as blue colour is attributed to the sky (on account of our limited vision).

(198) The seer of the self (higher self), being without action, without attributes, all-pervading, is knowledge and bliss. Through the error (caused by) mind it appears conditioned (connected with jiva), but this is not so. When this error is dispelled, it no longer exists, hence it is unreal by nature.

(199) As long as there is this error, so long this (connection with jiva) created by false knowledge, exists; just as the illusion, produced by error, that the rope is the snake, lasts only during the period of error-on the destruction of error no snake remains-it is even so.

(200) Ignorance has no beginning, and this also applies to its effects; but upon the production of knowledge, ignorance, although without beginning, is entirely destroyed as is everything of dream life upon awakening. Even though without beginning this is not eternal, being clearly analogous to pragabhava.1

1 Antecedent non-existence. Cf. Nyaya philosophy for explanation of this term; e.g. the state of a pot before manufacture is one of antecedent non-existence.

Ohm peace, peace, peace.

OHM

SOURCE:

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Nothing

Verses 101-150

INVOCATION

VIVEKA-CUDAMANI OR

CREST-JEWEL OF WISDOM

OF SRI SAMKARACARYA

Translation by

Mohoni M. Chatterji, F.T.S.

second edition 1947 (with updates from later editions added)

(101) This body having attained the condition of the actor manifests itself. In it shines the absolute self (seventh principle) which has as its vehicle intellect (higher fifth principle) and which is unaffected by any Karma as if an independent witness. Because it (seventh principle) is free from all union, it is unaffected by the action of any upadhi.

(102) This linga sarira performs all actions as the instrument of atman just as the chisel and other tools (perform the actions) of the carpenter; for this reason the atman is free from all union.

(103) The properties of blindness, weakness and adaptability exist on account of the good or bad condition of the eye; similarly deafness, dumbness and so on are properties of the ear and are not to be considered as belonging to the self.

(104) In-breathing, out-breathing, yawning, sneezing and so forth are actions of praSa and the rest, say the wise men; the property of vitality is manifested in hunger and thirst.

(105) The internal organ is in communication with the path of the eye and the rest, and by reason of the specialising (of the whole) the ego 1 (ahamkara) is manifested.

1 The corporeal eye by itself is incapable of seeing, otherwise it would not cease to see at the death of the body. In reality the eye sees by reason of its connection with the self through the egotism (ahamkara) by the concept or object which may be described as “I am the seer”. That this object is different from the egotism itself is clear from the fact that there exist other objects of a similar nature strung together or connected by the egotism such as “I am the hearer,” etc.; here it is plain that the above-mentioned concepts are none of them the egotism itself, for the disappearance of the concept “I am the seer” does not involve the disappearance of the egotism which manifests through other similar concepts.

(106) This ego which is the subject of enjoyment and experience is to be known as ahamkara. It attains three conditions by association with the qualities,2 sattva, and the rest.

2 The qualities are sattva or pleasure and goodness, rajas pain and passional activity, tamas indifference or dullness. In association with these qualities, forming the three classes into which objects are divided the egotism attains its three conditions. The excess of sattva produces super-human conditions, excess of rajas human and excess of tamas sub-human existence.

(107) By the agreeableness of objects it becomes happy and by the contrary unhappy; happiness and unhappiness are its properties and not of atman which is the eternal bliss.

(108) Objects become dear not in themselves but by reason of their usefulness to the self because the self is the most beloved of all.

(109) Therefore the atman is the eternal bliss, for it there is no pain. The bliss of the atman, dissociated from all objects which is experienced in dreamless slumber, is during waking perceived by direct cognition, 1 by instruction and by inference.

1 Which practical psychology or occultism gives.

(110) The supreme maya out of which all this universe is born, which is Paramesasakti (the power of the supreme Lord) called avyakta (unmanifested) and which is the beginningless avidya (ignorance) having the three gunas (qualities), is to be inferred through its effects by (our) intelligence.

(111) This maya is neither noumenal nor phenomenal nor is it essentially both; it is neither differentiated nor is it undifferentiated nor is it essentially both; it is neither particled nor is it unparticled nor is it essentially both; it is of the most wonderful and indescribable form.

(112) Its effects can be destroyed by the realization of the non-dual Brahman, as the illusion of the serpent in the rope is destroyed by the realization of the rope. The qualities of it are called rajas, tamas, and sattva and these are known by their effects.

(113) The power of rajas is extension (viksepa), which is the essence of action and from which the pre-existing tendencies to action were produced, and the modifications of the mind known, as attachment and other qualities productive of sorrow are always produced by it.

(114) Lust and anger, greed, arrogance, malice, aversion, personality, jealousy and envy are the terrible properties of rajas; therefore by this quality is produced inclination to action, for this reason rajas is the cause of bondage.

(115) The power of tamas is called is called avriti (enveloping) by the force of which one thing appears as another; it is this force which is the ultimate cause of the conditioned existence of the ego and the exciting cause for the operation of the force of extension (viksepa).

(116) Even though intelligent, learned, skilful, extremely keen-sighted in self-examination and properly instructed in various ways, one cannot exercise discrimination, if enveloped by tamas; but, on account of ignorance, one considers as real that which arises out of error, and depends upon the properties of objects produced by error. Alas! for him! great is the enveloping power of tamas and irrepressible!

(117) Absence of right perception, contradictory thinking, thinking of possibilities, taking unsubstantial things for substance, belonging to rajas. One associated with rajas is perpetually carried away by its expansive power.

(118) Ignorance, laziness, dullness, sleep, delusion, folly and others are the qualities of tamas. One possessed by these perceives nothing correctly but remains as if asleep or like a post.

(119) Pure sattva, even though mixed with these two, in the same way as one kind of water mixes with another,1 becomes the means of salvation; (for) the reflection of the absolute self (supreme spirit), received by sattva, sunlike manifests the universe of objects.

1 i.e., indistinguishably.

(120) The properties of mixed sattva, are self-respect, self-regulation, self-control and the rest, reverence, regard, desire for liberation, godlike attributes and abstinence from evil.

(121) The properties of pure sattva are purity, perception of the atman within us, supreme tranquillity, a sense of contentment, cheerfulness, concentration of mind upon the self by which a taste of eternal bliss is obtained.

(122) The unmanifested (avyaktam) indicated by these three qualities is the (cause of) karana sarira (causal body) of the ego. The state of its manifestation is dreamless slumber, in which the functions of all organs and of the buddhi are latent.

(123) Dreamless slumber is that state in which all consciousness is at rest, and intellect (buddhi) remains in a latent state; it is known as a state in which there is no knowledge.

(124) The body, organs, vitality, mind (manas), ego and the rest, all differentiations, the objects of sense, enjoyment and the rest, akasa and other elements composing this endless universe, including the avyaktam (unmanifested) are the not-spirit.

(125) Maya, all the functions of maya-from mahat 1 to the body-know to be asat (prakriti or the unreal objectivity) like the mirage of the desert by reason of their being the non-ego.

1 Buddhi, the first manifestation of prakriti.

(126) Now I shall tell you the essential form (svarupa) of the supreme spirit (Paramatman), knowing which, man freed from bondage attains isolation (reality of being).

(127) An eternal somewhat, upon which the conviction relating to the ego rests, exists as itself, being different from the five sheaths and the witness of the three conditions.

(128) Who during waking, dreaming, and dreamless slumber knows the mind and its functions which are goodness and its absence-this is the ego.

(129) Who by himself sees (cognizes) everything, who is not seen by anyone, who vitalizes buddhi and the others and who is not vitalized by them-this is the atman.

(130) The atman is that by which this universe is pervaded, which nothing pervades, which causes all things to shine, but which all things cannot make to shine.

(131) By reason of its proximity alone the body, the organs, manas and buddhi, apply themselves to their proper objects as if applied (by some one else).

(132) By it having the form of eternal consciousness all objects from ahamkara to the body and pleasure and the rest are perceived as a jar (is perceived by us).

(133) This purusa, the essential atman 1 is primeval, perpetual, unconditioned, absolute happiness, eternally having the same form and being knowledge itself-impelled by whom speech (vak) and the vital airs move,

1 Because it is manifested as itself in the Unmanifested universe.

(134) This unmanifested spiritual consciousness begins to manifest like the dawn in the pure heart, and shining like the midday sun in the “cave of wisdom” 1 illuminating whole universe.

1 i.e., the agnicakra, See “Places of Pilgrimage in India” quoted on pp. 78-91 of the Esoteric Writings of T. Subba Row (Second Edition).

(135) The knower of the modifications (operations) 2 of the manas and ahamkrti, of the actions performed by the body, organs and vitality present in them, as the fire is present in the iron, (heated by fire) does not act nor modify (in the same sense as the above), nor follow (their actions).

2 viz., vitality, the organs, etc.

(136) That eternal is not born, does not die, or grow or decay or modify, is not itself dissolved by the dissolution of this body, as space (is not dissolved) by the dissolution of the jar.

(137) The supreme spirit (Paramatman), different from prakriti and its modifications, having for its essential characteristic pure consciousness is unparticled, manifests this infinity of reality and unreality-the underlying essence of the notion “I”, “I”-manifests 1 itself in the conditions, waking and the rest, as the witness (or subject) of buddhi.

1 The original word is vilasati, plays. I am compelled to sacrifice in the translation, the suggestion in the original as to the absence of want and therefore of a motive for action in the absolute ego.

(138) disciple, with mind under control, directly perceive this, the atman in thyself as-“this I am”-through the tranquility of buddhi cross the shoreless sea of changeful existence, whose billows are birth and death, and accomplish thy end, resting firmly in the form of Brahman.

(139) Bondage is the conviction 1 of the “I” as being related to the non-ego; from the ignorance (or error)2 arising out of this springs forth the same cause of the birth, death, and suffering of the individual so conditioned. And it is from this (error) alone that (he) nourishes, anoints and preserves this body mistaking the unreal for the real and gets enveloped in objects of sense in the same way as a cocoon maker (larva) gets enveloped in its own secretion.

1 The original word is mati which is a synonym for buddhi. Bondage therefore is that condition or modification of buddhi in which it takes the form of the error mentioned in the text. Starting from this initial modification buddhi secretes, larva-like, the world of objects which it reflects upon the atman and produces its bondage or illusive conditions. Atman is eternally pure and unconditioned, but through its erroneous identification with buddhi, secreting the illusion of objects, it becomes bound, that is to say, the modifications of buddhi become ascribable to it.
2 The words avidya and ajnana are usually rendered “ignorance”; but it is necessary to state that in this connection the word ‘ignorance’ has a meaning slightly different from the usual one. It does not mean negation of knowledge but is a positive concept as we said before. Perhaps error is a better rendering. The negative particle a in these words does not imply the negation of the term it qualifies but its antithesis. Thus akarma = evil act, akhyati = ill-fame, etc.

(140) friend listen! The notion of ego in one deluded by tamas becomes strengthened in this (asat). From such absence of discrimination springs forth the notion 1 of rope in the snake. From this a mass of great suffering befalls the entertainer of such a notion. Therefore the acceptance of asat as the “I” is bondage.2

1 The original word is dhisana. It signifies that subconscious activity which goes on during the vivid cognition of any particular state of consciousness and becomes realized in the succeeding state. Thus the dhisana of waking consciousness becomes real and objective in dream-life. See Shankara’s commentary on the opening stanza of Gaudapada’s karika on the Mandukya Upanisad.
2 In other words bondage is the condition in which the notion of I has any content which is objective, in the largest sense of the word. But as there are grades of liberation this definition of bondage is to be taken as the absolute limit.

(141) The enveloping power of tamas completely enshrouds this atman, having infinite powers (vibhava), manifested by the indivisible, eternal, non-dual power of knowledge, as rahu (the shadow of the moon) enshrouds the sun’s orb.

(142) On the disappearance from the atman of an individual’s knowledge of identity with it-a knowledge which possesses supremely stainless radiance,-the individual in delusion imagines this body which is not-self to be the Self. Then the great power of rajas called vikshhepa (extension) gives great pain to this individual by the ropes of bondage (such as) lust, anger, etc.

(143) This man of perverted intellect, being deprived of the real knowledge of the atman through being devoured by the shark of great delusion, is subject to conditioned existence on account of this expansive energy (vikshhepa). Hence he, contemptible in conduct, rises and falls in this ocean of conditioned existence, full of poison.

(144) As clouds produced (i.e. rendered visible) by the rays of the sun manifest themselves by hiding the sun, so egotism arising through connection with the atman manifests itself by hiding the real character of the atman (or ego).

(145) As on the unpropitious day when thick clouds devour the sun, sharp, cold blasts torment the clouds, so when the ego is without intermission enveloped by tamas the man with deluded buddhi is, by the intense expansive power (vikshhepa) goaded on by many sufferings.

(146) By these two powers is produced the bondage of the individual; deluded by these two he thinks the body to be the atman.

(147) Of the tree of conditioned life truly the seed is tamas, the sprout is the conviction that the body is the ego, attachment is the leaf, Karma truly is the sap, the body is the trunk, the vital airs are the branches of which the tops are the organs, the flowers the objects (of the organs), the fruit the variety of sufferings from manifold Karma, and jiva 1 is the bird that feeds.

1 Individual ego.

(148) The bondage of non-ego, rooted in ignorance, produces the torrent of all birth, death, sickness, old age and other evils of this (the jiva), which is in its own nature manifest without beginning or end.

(149) This bondage is incapable of being severed by weapons of offence or defence, by wind, or by fire or by tens of millions of acts,2 but only by the great sword of discriminative knowledge, sharp and shining, through the favour of Yoga.3

2 Religious sacrifices, etc.
3 Dhatuh is used in this sense in several Upanishads also.

(150) For a man having his mind fixed upon the conclusions of the Vedas (there is) the application to the duties prescribed for him; from such applications comes the self-purification of the jiva. In the purified buddhi is the knowledge of the supreme ego and from that is the extinction of conditioned life down to its roots.