Vivekachudamani: The Crest-Jewel of Discrimination | 151-199

pañcānāmapi kośānāmapavāde vibhātyayaṁ śuddhaḥ।
nityānandaikarasaḥ pratyagrūpaḥ paraḥ svayaṁjyotiḥ॥ 151॥

151. When all the five sheaths have been eliminated, the Self of man appears – pure, of the essence of everlasting and unalloyed bliss, indwelling, supreme and self-effulgent.

ātmānātmavivekaḥ kartavyo bandhamuktaye viduṣā।
tenaivānandī bhavati svaṁ vijñāya saccidānandam॥ 152॥

152. To remove his bondage the wise man should discriminate between the Self and the  non-Self. By that alone he comes to know his own Self as Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute and becomes happy.

muñjādiṣīkāmiva dṛśyavargāt
pratyañcamātmānamasaṅgamakriyam।
vivicya tatra pravilāpya sarvaṁ
tadātmanā tiṣṭhati yaḥ sa muktaḥ॥ 153॥

153. He indeed is free who discriminates between all sense-objects and the indwelling, unattached and inactive Self – as one separates a stalk of grass from its enveloping sheath – and merging everything in It, remains in a state of identity with That.

deho'yamannabhavano'nnaMāyāstu kośaḥ
cānnena jīvati vinaśyati tadvihīnaḥ।
tvakcarmamāṁsarudhirāsthipurīṣarāśiḥ
nāyaṁ svayaṁ bhavitumarhati nityaśuddhaḥ॥ 154॥

154. This body of ours is the product of food and comprises the material sheath; it lives on food and dies without it; it is a mass of skin, flesh, blood, bones and filth, and can never be the eternally pure, self-existent Ātman.

pūrvaṁ janeradhimṛterapi nāyamasti
jātakṣaṇaḥ kṣaṇaguṇo'niyatasvabhāvaḥ।
naiko jaḍaśca ghaṭavatparidṛśyamānaḥ
svātmā kathaṁ bhavati bhāvavikāravettā॥ 155॥

155. It does not exist prior to inception or posterior to dissolution, but lasts only for a short (intervening) period; its virtues are transient, and it is changeful by nature; it is manifold, inert, and is a sense-object, like a jar; how can it be one’s own Self, the Witness of changes in all things?

pāṇipādādimāndeho nātmā vyaṅge'pi jīvanāt।
tattacchakteranāśācca na niyamyo niyāmakaḥ॥ 156॥

156. The body, consisting of arms, legs, etc., cannot be the Ātman, for one continues to live even when particular limbs are gone, and the different functions of the organism also remain intact. The body which is subject to another’s rule cannot be the Self which is the Ruler of all.

dehataddharmatatkarmatadavasthādisākṣiṇaḥ।
sata eva svataḥsiddhaṁ tadvailakṣaṇyamātmanaḥ॥ 157॥

157. That the Ātman as the abiding Reality is different from the body, its characteristics, its activities, its states, etc., of which It is the witness, is self-evident.

śalyarāśirmāṁsalipto malapūrṇo'tikaśmalaḥ।
kathaṁ bhavedayaṁ vettā svayametadvilakṣaṇaḥ॥ 158॥

158. How can the body, being a pack of bones, covered with flesh, full of filth and highly impure, be the self-existent Ātman, the Knower, which is ever distinct from it?

tvaṅmāṁsamedo'sthipurīṣarāśā
vahaṁmatiṁ mūḍhajanaḥ karoti।
vilakṣaṇaṁ vetti vicāraśīlo
nijasvarūpaṁ paramārtha bhūtam॥ 159॥

159. It is the foolish man who identifies himself with a mass of skin, flesh, fat, bones and filth, while the man of discrimination knows his own Self, the only Reality that there is, as distinct from the body.

deho'hamityeva jaḍasya buddhiḥ
dehe ca jīve viduṣastvahaṁdhīḥ।
vivekavijñānavato mahātmano
brahmāhamityeva matiḥ sadātmani॥ 160॥

160. The stupid man thinks he is the body, the book-learned man identifies himself with the mixture of body and soul, while the sage possessed of realisation due to discrimination looks upon the eternal Ātman as his Self, and thinks, "I am Brahman".

atrātmabuddhiṁ tyaja mūḍhabuddhe
tvaṅmāṁsamedo'sthipurīṣarāśau।
sarvātmani brahmaṇi nirvikalpe
kuruṣva śānti paramāṁ bhajasva॥ 161॥

161. O foolish person, cease to identify thyself with this bundle of skin, flesh, fat, bones and filth, and identify thyself instead with the Absolute Brahman, the Self of all, and thus attain to supreme Peace.

dehendriyādāvasati bhramoditāṁ
vidvānahaṁ tāṁ na jahāti yāvat।
tāvanna tasyāsti vimuktivārtāpy
astveṣa vedāntanayāntadarśī॥ 162॥

162. As long as the book-learned man does not give up his mistaken identification with the body, organs, etc., which are unreal, there is no talk of emancipation for him, even if he be ever so erudite in the Vedanta philosophy.

chāyāśarīre pratibimbagātre
yatsvapnadehe hṛdi kalpitāṅge।
yathātmabuddhistava nāsti kācij
jīvaccharīre ca tathaiva māstu॥ 163॥

163. Just as thou dost not identify thyself with the shadow-body, the image-body, the dream-body, or the body thou hast in the imaginations of thy heart, cease thou to do likewise with the living body also.

dehātmadhīreva nṛṇāmasaddhiyāṁ
janmādiduḥkhaprabhavasya bījam।
yatastatastvaṁ jahi tāṁ prayatnāt
tyakte tu citte na punarbhavāśā॥ 164॥

164. Identifications with the body alone is the root that produces the misery of birth etc., of people who are attached to the unreal; therefore destroy thou this with the utmost care. When this identification caused by the mind is given up, there is no more chance for rebirth.

karmendriyaiḥ pañcabhirañcito'yaṁ
prāṇo bhavetprāṇaMāyāstu kośaḥ।
yenātmavānannamayo'nupūrṇaḥ
pravartate'sau sakalakriyāsu॥ 165॥

 165. The Prāṇa, with which we are all familiar, coupled with the five organs of action, forms the vital sheath, permeated by which the material sheath engages itself in all activities as if it were living.

naivātmāpi prāṇamayo vāyuvikāro
gantāgantā vāyuvadantarbahireṣaḥ।
yasmātkiṁcitkvāpi na vettīṣṭamaniṣṭaṁ
svaṁ vānyaṁ vā kiṁcana nityaṁ paratantraḥ॥ 166॥

166. Neither is the vital sheath the Self – because it is a modification of Vayu, and like the air it enters into and comes out of the body, and because it never knows in the least either its own weal and woe or those of others, being eternally dependent on the Self.

jñānendriyāṇi ca manaśca manoMāyāḥ syāt
kośo mamāhamiti vastuvikalpahetuḥ।
saṁjñādibhedakalanākalito balīyāṁs
tatpūrvakośamabhipūrya vijṛmbhate yaḥ॥ 167॥

167. The organs of knowledge together with the mind form the mental sheath – the cause of the diversity of things such as "I" and "mine". It is powerful and endued with the faculty of creating differences of name etc., It manifests itself as permeating the preceding, i.e. the vital sheath.

pañcendriyaiḥ pañcabhireva hotṛbhiḥ
pracīyamāno viṣayājyadhārayā।
jājvalyamāno bahuvāsanendhanaiḥ
manomayāgnirdahati prapañcam॥ 168॥

168. The mental sheath is the (sacrificial) fire which, fed with the fuel of numerous desires by the five sense-organs which serve as priests, and set ablaze by the sense- objects which act as the stream of oblations, brings about this phenomenal universe.

na hyastyavidyā manaso'tiriktā
mano hyavidyā bhavabandhahetuḥ।
tasminvinaṣṭe sakalaṁ vinaṣṭaṁ
vijṛmbhite'sminsakalaṁ vijṛmbhate॥ 169॥

169. There is no Ignorance (Avidya) outside the mind. The mind alone is Avidya, the cause of the bondage of transmigration. When that is destroyed, all else is destroyed, and when it is manifested, everything else is manifested.

svapne'rthaśūnye sṛjati svaśaktyā
bhoktrādiviśvaṁ mana eva sarvam।
tathaiva jāgratyapi no viśeṣaḥ
tatsarvametanmanaso vijṛmbhaṇam॥ 170॥

170. In dreams, when there is no actual contact with the external world, the mind alone creates the whole universe consisting of the experiencer etc. Similarly in the waking state also; there is no difference. Therefore all this (phenomenal universe) is the projection of the mind.

suṣuptikāle manasi pralīne
naivāsti kiṁcitsakalaprasiddheḥ।
ato manaḥkalpiteva puṁsaḥ
saṁsāra etasya na vastuto'sti॥ 171॥

171. In dreamless sleep, when the mind is reduced to its causal state, there exists nothing (for the person asleep), as is evident from universal experience. Hence man’s relative existence is simply the creation of his mind, and has no objective reality.

vāyunānīyate medhaḥ punastenaiva nīyate।
manasā kalpyate bandho mokṣastenaiva kalpyate॥ 172॥

172. Clouds are brought in by the wind and again driven away by the same agency. Similarly, man’s bondage is caused by the mind, and Liberation too is caused by that alone.

dehādisarvaviṣaye parikalpya rāgaṁ
badhnāti tena puruṣaṁ paśuvadguṇena।
vairasyamatra viṣavatsuvudhāya paścād
enaṁ vimocayati tanmana eva bandhāt॥ 173॥

173. It (first) creates an attachment in man for the body and all other sense-objects, and binds him through that attachment like a beast by means of ropes. Afterwards, the selfsame mind creates in the individual an utter distaste for these sense-objects as if they were poison, and frees him from the bondage.

tasmānmanaḥ kāraṇamasya jantoḥ
bandhasya mokṣasya ca vā vidhāne।
bandhasya heturmalinaṁ rajoguṇaiḥ
mokṣasya śuddhaṁ virajastamaskam॥ 174॥

174. Therefore the mind is the only cause that brings about man’s bondage or Liberation: when tainted by the effects of Rajas it leads to bondage, and when pure and divested of the Rajas and Tamas elements it conduces to Liberation.

vivekavairāgyaguṇātirekāc
chuddhatvamāsādya mano vimuktyai।
bhavatyato buddhimato mumukṣos
tābhyāṁ dṛḍhābhyāṁ bhavitavyamagre॥ 175॥

175. Attaining purity through a preponderance of discrimination and renunciation, the mind makes for Liberation. Hence the wise seeker after Liberation must first strengthen these two.

mano nāma mahāvyāghro viṣayāraṇyabhūmiṣu।
caratyatra na gacchantu sādhavo ye mumukṣavaḥ॥ 176॥

176. In the forest-tract of sense-pleasures there prowls a huge tiger called the mind. Let good people who have a longing for Liberation never go there.

manaḥ prasūte viṣayānaśeṣān
sthūlātmanā sūkṣmatayā ca bhoktuḥ।
śarīravarṇāśramajātibhedān
guṇakriyāhetuphalāni nityam॥ 177॥

 177. The mind continually produces for the experiencer all sense-objects without exception, whether perceived as gross or fine, the differences of body, caste, order of life, and tribe, as well as the varieties of qualification, action, means and results.

asaṅgacidrūpamamuṁ vimohya
dehendriyaprāṇaguṇairnibaddhya।
ahaṁmameti bhraMāyātyajasraṁ
manaḥ svakṛtyeṣu phalopabhuktiṣu॥ 178॥

178. Deluding the Jīva, which is unattached Pure Intelligence, and binding it by the ties of body, organs and Prāṇas, the mind causes it to wander, with ideas of "I" and "mine", amidst the varied enjoyment of results achieved by itself.

adhyāsadoṣātpuruṣasya saṁsṛtiḥ
adhyāsabandhastvamunaiva kalpitaḥ।
rajastamodoṣavato'vivekino
janmādiduḥkhasya nidānametat॥ 179॥

179. Man’s transmigration is due to the evil of superimposition, and the bondage of superimposition is created by the mind alone. It is this that causes the misery of birth etc., for the man of non-discrimination who is tainted by Rajas and Tamas.

ataḥ prāhurmano'vidyāṁ paṇḍitāstattvadarśinaḥ।
yenaiva bhrāmyate viśvaṁ vāyunevābhramaṇḍalam॥ 180॥

180. Hence sages who have fathomed its secret have designated the mind as Avidya or ignorance, by which alone the universe is moved to and fro, like masses of clouds by the wind.

tanmanaḥśodhanaṁ kāryaṁ prayatnena mumukṣuṇā।
viśuddhe sati caitasminmuktiḥ karaphalāyate॥ 181॥

181. Therefore the seeker after Liberation must carefully purify the mind. When this is purified, Liberation is as easy of access as a fruit on the palm of one’s hand.

mokṣaikasaktyā viṣayeṣu rāgaṁ
nirmūlya saṁnyasya ca sarvakarma।
sacchraddhayā yaḥ śravaṇādiniṣṭho
rajaḥsvabhāvaṁ sa dhunoti buddheḥ॥ 182॥

182. He who by means of one-pointed devotion to Liberation roots out the attachment to sense-objects, renounces all actions, and with faith in the Real Brahman regularly practices hearing, etc., succeeds in purging the Rājasika nature of the intellect.

manomayo nāpi bhavetparātmā
hyādyantavattvātpariṇāmibhāvāt।
duḥkhātmakatvādviṣayatvahetoḥ
draṣṭā hi dṛśyātmatayā na dṛṣṭaḥ॥ 183॥

183. Neither can the mental sheath be the Supreme Self, because it has a beginning and an end, is subject to modifications, is characterised by pain and suffering and is an object; whereas the subject can never be identified with the objects of knowledge.

buddhirbuddhīndriyaiḥ sārdhaṁ savṛttiḥ kartṛlakṣaṇaḥ।
vijñānaMāyākośaḥ syātpuṁsaḥ saṁsārakāraṇam॥ 184॥

184. The Buddhi with its modifications and the organs of knowledge, forms the VijñānaMāyā Kośa or knowledge sheath, of the agent, having the characteristics which is the cause of man’s transmigration.

anuvrajaccitpratibimbaśaktiḥ
vijñānasaṁjñaḥ prakṛtervikāraḥ।
jñānakriyāvānahamityajasraṁ
dehendriyādiṣvabhimanyate bhṛśam॥ 185॥

185. This knowledge sheath, which seems to be followed by a reflection of the power of the Chit, is a modification of the Prakriti, is endowed with the function of knowledge, and always wholly identifies itself with the body, organs, etc.

anādikālo'yamahaṁsvabhāvo
jīvaḥ samastavyavahāravoḍhā।
karoti karmāṇyapi pūrvavāsanaḥ
puṇyānyapuṇyāni ca tatphalāni॥ 186॥

bhuṅkte vicitrāsvapi yoniṣu vrajan
nāyāti niryātyadha ūrdhvameṣaḥ।
asyaiva vijñānaMāyāsya jāgrat
svapnādyavasthāḥ sukhaduḥkhabhogaḥ॥ 187॥

186-187. It is without beginning, characterised by egoism, is called the Jiva, and carries on all the activities on the relative plane. Through previous desires it performs good and evil actions and experiences their results. Being born in various bodies, it comes and goes, up and down. It is this knowledge sheath that has the waking, dream and other states, and experiences joy and grief.

dehādiniṣṭhāśramadharmakarma
guṇābhimānaḥ satataṁ mameti।
vijñānakośo'yamatiprakāśaḥ
prakṛṣṭasānnidhyavaśātparātmanaḥ।
ato bhavatyeṣa upādhirasya
yadātmadhīḥ saṁsarati bhrameṇa॥ 188॥

188. It always mistakes the duties, functions and attributes of the orders of life which belong to the body, as its own. The knowledge sheath is exceedingly effulgent, owing to its close proximity to the Supreme Self, which identifying Itself with it suffers transmigration through delusion. It is therefore a superimposition on the Self.

yo'yaṁ vijñānaMāyāḥ prāṇeṣu hṛdi sphuratyayaṁ jyotiḥ।
kūṭasthaḥ sannātmā kartā bhoktā bhavatyupādhisthaḥ॥ 189॥

189. The self-effulgent Ātman, which is Pure Knowledge, shines in the midst of the Prāṇas, within the heart. Though immutable, It becomes the agent and experiencer owing to Its superimposition, the knowledge sheath.  

svayaṁ paricchedamupetya buddheḥ
tādātmyadoṣeṇa paraṁ mṛṣātmanaḥ।
sarvātmakaḥ sannapi vīkṣate svayaṁ
svataḥ pṛthaktvena mṛdo ghaṭāniva॥ 190॥

190. Though the Self of everything that exists, this Ātman, Itself assuming the limitations of the Buddhi and wrongly identifying Itself with this totally unreal entity, looks upon Itself as something different – like earthen jars from the clay of which they are made.

upādhisaṁbandhavaśātparātmā
hyupādhidharmānanubhāti tadguṇaḥ।
ayovikārānavikārivanhivat
sadaikarūpo'pi paraḥ svabhāvāt॥ 191॥

191. Owing to Its connection with the super-impositions, the Supreme Self, even thou naturally perfect (transcending Nature) and eternally unchanging, assumes the qualities of the superimpositions and appears to act just as they do – like the changeless fire assuming the modifications of the iron which it turns red-hot.

śiṣya uvāca
bhrameṇāpyanyathā vāstu jīvabhāvaḥ parātmanaḥ।
tadupādheranāditvānnānādernāśa iṣyate॥ 192॥

192. The disciple questioned: Be it through delusion or otherwise that the Supreme Self has come to consider Itself as the Jīva, this superimposition is without beginning, and that which has no beginning cannot be supposed to have an end either.

ato'sya jīvabhāvo'pi nityā bhavati saṁsṛtiḥ।
na nivarteta tanmokṣaḥ kathaṁ me śrīguro vada॥ 193॥

193. Therefore the Jīvahood of the soul also must have no end, and its transmigration must continue for ever. How then can there be Liberation for the soul? Kindly enlighten me on this point, O revered Master.

śrīgururuvāca
samyakpṛṣṭaṁ tvayā vidvansāvadhānena tacchṛṇu।
prāmāṇikī na bhavati bhrāntyā mohitakalpanā॥ 194॥

194. The Teacher said: Thou hast rightly questioned, O learned man! Listen therefore attentively: The imagination which has been conjured up by delusion can never be accepted as a fact.

bhrāntiṁ vinā tvasaṅgasya niṣkriyasya nirākṛteḥ।
na ghaṭetārthasaṁbandho nabhaso nīlatādivat॥ 195॥

195. But for delusion there can be no connection of the Self – which is unattached, beyond activity and formless – with the objective world, as in the case of blueness etc., with reference to the sky.

svasya draṣṭurnirguṇasyākriyasya
pratyagbodhānandarūpasya buddheḥ।
bhrāntyā prāpto jīvabhāvo na satyo
mohāpāye nāstyavastusvabhāvāt॥ 196॥

196. The Jīvahood of the Ātman, the Witness, which is beyond qualities and beyond activity, and which is realised within as Knowledge and Bliss Absolute – has been superimposed by the delusion of the Buddhi, and is not real. And because it is by nature an unreality, it ceases to exist when the delusion is gone.

yāvadbhrāntistāvadevāsya sattā
mithyājñānojjṛmbhitasya pramādāt।
rajjvāṁ sarpo bhrāntikālīna eva
bhrānternāśe naiva sarpo'pi tadvat॥ 197॥

197. It exists only so long as the delusion lasts, being caused by indiscrimination due to an illusion. The rope is supposed to be the snake only so long as the mistake lasts, and there is no more snake when the illusion has vanished. Similar is the case here.

anāditvamavidyāyāḥ kāryasyāpi tatheṣyate।
utpannāyāṁ tu vidyāyāmāvidyakamanādyapi॥ 198॥

prabodhe svapnavatsarvaṁ sahamūlaṁ vinaśyati।
anādyapīdaṁ no nityaṁ prāgabhāva iva sphuṭam॥ 199॥

198-199. Avidya or Nescience and its effects are likewise considered as beginningless. But with the rise of Vidyā or realisation, the entire effects of Avidya, even though beginningless, are destroyed together with their root – like dreams on waking up from sleep. It is clear that the phenomenal universe, even though without beginning, is not eternal – like previous non-existence.