If the world that is seen is found to be not apart from the seer, that is
Jnana. Vairagya is clinging fast to Self and rejecting this world with detachment viewing it as merely void.
Sadhu Om: Though the world is seen both by the
Jnani and the ajnani, the Jnani does not see it as being other than Himself. If, on the other hand, one sees the world as being apart from oneself, one is an
ajnani and one is only at the stage of practice, in which case one should view the world as an illusory appearance to be rejected. This practice is
vairagya, which is necessary to gain Jnana. Refer also to Who am I?
Just as a clear prism appears to be red when it is near a red flower, so
Chit appears to be the chittam when it is near [but not truly associated with] the dirty worldly tendencies. The
chittam will remain and shine as the Supreme Chit alone, if the syllable ‘-tam’, which represents the impurity,
Maya, is removed.
Sadhu Om: The prism remains ever colourless and its red colour is only apparent. To remove the red colour, it is sufficient if the flower is removed, because the prism will then be seen to be colourless as before. Similarly,
Chit truly remains ever pure and the impurity of Maya is only apparent. This apparent association of the ever-pure
Chit with Maya is known as ‘chittam’ and to remove ‘-tam’
[i.e.,
Maya], which is merely attention wrongly focussed on 2nd and 3rd persons, it is sufficient if attention is focused on the 1st person, because the ‘chittam’ will then be known to be the ever-shining
Chit, Shiva.
The beauty of external objects induces pleasure but does great harm; inner purity, however, is not like this, so it alone is the true beauty. [This is why] wise men adore the One who is pure in heart and say with wonder, “This is God in human form”.
246
Great disaster will result if, instead of seeking inward beauty, ones seeks only outward beauty. Such [foolishness] is just like the moth which loves the beauty of the flame, or the cobra which loves the female viriyan snake.
Sadhu Om: The viriyan is a very venomous snake, so if a male cobra loves a female viriyan, he will be courting his own destruction.
To stray from the immortal Self, which is the Primal Thing, the Source of all, the Home of Love, the form of Bliss, and the Space of Supreme
Jnana, is Death.
‘To stray from the immortal Self’ means to rise as an ego.
248
By approaching the Guru and serving Him faithfully, one should learn through His Grace the cause for one’s birth and for one’s suffering. Knowing then that these are due to one’s straying
from Self, it is best to abide firmly as Self [since this is the means to avoid such Death].
The jiva dwells in the Heart, which is beyond mental conception, and his
vasanas also dwell there. If, instead, the vasanas dwelt above, in the brain, would they not be destroyed when the brain [i.e. head] is cut off?
Sadhu Om: Kavyakantha Ganapati Sastri was once arguing with Sri Bhagavan, saying that
vasanas dwell in the
sahasrara [i.e. the brain], but Sri Bhagavan replied that if that were so, the
vasanas would be destroyed and
moksha would be attained when a person was beheaded. Moreover, the
vasanas must dwell with their possessor, the
jiva, whose home, the Heart, must be within the trunk of his body and not within the head, since when a soldier’s head is cut off in battle, his body may continue showing signs of life for some time. Sri Bhagavan, thus concluded that the Life-Centre, which is the dwelling place of the
jiva and his
vasanas, is the Heart and not the brain.
250
Since the flame of Kundalini rises upwards [from the base of the spine – the
mooladara] and the Nectar flows downwards from the brain [the sahasrara], the target is the Heart, the
Life-Centre.
In the waking state, when world and body-consciousness are felt, the I-consciousness is spread throughout the body, but when Self-attention is practiced the I-consciousness begins to withdraw itself. This withdrawal takes place though the channel known as
Sushumna Nadi, which stretches from the base of the spine (the mooladara
chakra) to the brain (the sahasrara chakra). This rise of the I-consciousness through the
Sushumna Nadi is known as the rise of Kundalini which is described as a serpent only for the dull beginners in yoga (see
Vichara Sangraham, The Compilation on Self-Enquiry, Chapter 7). The I-consciousness having been withdrawn and gathered in the
Sahasrara, will then flow down towards its Source the Heart, and the thought-free vacuum thus left in the
Sahasrara is felt as bliss. This bliss is known by Yogis as the Nectar and it is felt to be flowing downwards as the I-consciousness descends towards the Heart.
251
Whoever contemplates upon whatever centre, as if Self were dwelling there, it will appear to that person, due to the mind’s power of concentration, that Self is experienced in that centre. Yet, the true centre of Self is only the Heart wherefrom the ‘I-thought’ rises and where it sets as a place of refuge.
The phrase ‘whatever centre’ may include any of the six imaginary yogic centres or any other point in the body which may be chosen for the practice of concentration.
252
Leaving aside Self, the Heart, with which one is connected in all [the three] states, if one concentrates upon any other centre [as if one were dwelling there], one will only be absorbed in a delusive
laya and one cannot thereby know Self and be saved.
The Heart is said to be of two different kinds, one to be ignored and the other to be considered. The first kind, which is perceptible through the senses, being on the left side of the chest, is inert.
Sadhu Om: Since the pulsation which is the sign of life is caused by the fleshly organ in the left side of the chest, people generally conclude that it is the Heart which is the Life-Centre or Seat of Self in the body. Sri Bhagavan here denies this opinion and teaches the place of the true Heart.
254
The Heart which pervades both inside and outside the body, shines on the right side of the chest, according to the experience of
Jnanis. Know that it is only for fools that mistake the body for Self that the heart is in the form of a fleshly organ on the left side of the chest.
Sadhu Om: See also: “The wise man’s Heart is at his right, but a fool’s heart is at his left” (Ecclesiastes X-2).
It is well known to those who understood Sri Bhagavan correctly that, although He said that the Heart is on the right side of the chest, He never advised anyone to meditate on that point in the body. It is unfortunate therefore that some devotees of Sri Bhagavan, having not reflected over verse 22 of
Ulladu Narpadu
Anubandham – “That [Heart] is both inside and outside, yet it exists beyond [the limitations of] both inside and outside” – used to meditate upon the right side of the chest and also recommended others to do so. Because the teaching in verse 261 and 262 of this work have not been recorded in any of Sri Bhagavan’s other works, and because these two verses have not been adequately translated and made available in any language other than Tamil, such a wrong interpretation persists even now and people still continue with this wrong practice. Verse 3 of
The Five Verses on the Oneness of Self, which also appears in this work as verse B8, should be referred to and understood here.
255
If Self, the Lord of the soul, did not indisputably reside on the right side of the chest, why do one and all have the habit of touching only that place [to denote their
Self], whenever they say ‘I’?
256
The indescribable Heart is the mirror in which all [i.e., the entire universe] appears. The One Single Consciousness, the Space of mere Being, alone is the Primal and Supreme Thing, the Silent Whole.
“That One Single Consciousness, the Space of mere Being” means the unalloyed and simple Consciousness “I am”, and not “I know myself”, and, hence, it is called “mere Being”. Refer to verse 26 of
Upadesa Undiyar, “Knowing Self is being Self”.
257
Heart, the Source, is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all. Heart, the Supreme Space, is never a form, It is the Light of Truth.
258
The death of the mind that drowns in the Ocean of Self-Consciousness is the eternal Silence. The real ‘I’ is the Supreme Heart-Space which is the great Ocean of Bliss.
Sadhu Om:This verse says that the mind drowns in the Ocean of Self-Consciousness
[Chit], which is the real ‘I’ [Sat] and the Ocean of Bliss [Ananda]. Hence, the subtle manner in which this verse is phrased gives the implication that WE are the Ocean of
Sat-Chit-Ananda.
259
You [the mind] cannot cognize Self, which is the perfect unbroken Existence and the One without a second. The Heart,
Sat-Chit-Ananda, which is the same thought-free Self, is
Annamalai.
Sadhu Om: Since even the gods Brahma and Vishnu were unable to know the top or bottom of Arunachala
[the blazing column of Self-Consciousness], It is named, in Tamil, Annamalai, which means “Unattainable Hill”. Thus, when even the gods cannot cognize Self, the mind cannot do so either; that is to say neither the gods nor the mind can know their Source unless first they merge into it and lose their individuality
[i.e., unless, by remaining as Self, they cease to be gods or mind].
260
He who knows that Heart will never be ruined; having lost the sense of bondage, He becomes the Supreme. He is free from the thoughts of duality and He alone enjoys, without delusion, the real Bliss.
261
Though the Heart is said to be both inside and outside, it truly exists neither inside nor outside, because the appearance of the body, which is the base the difference ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, is itself a mental conception.
262
While the body is [in fact] in Self, one who thinks that Self [or Heart] is within the insentient body is like one who thinks that the screen – which is the substratum of that cinema picture – is contained within the picture.
The translation of B8, which appears here in the original Tamil text, is the same as the translation of verse 262 above, but in its Tamil original Bhagavan has improved upon the style of the previous verse. This verse also appears as verse 3 of
Ekatma Panchakam (The Five Verses on the Oneness of Self).
The screen is the substratum on which all pictures appear and disappear and in a similar way Self is the substratum in which the picture of this whole universe including the body is contained. It is, therefore, incorrect to say that Self is within the body. Sri Bhagavan uses this simile to drive home the point that, just as the screen is real and the pictures are unreal, Self is the Reality and the pictures of the mind, body and universe are unreal. How, therefore, can the Real be contained in the unreal?
Suppose a pot made of ice were immersed deep in the sea, would it not be wrong to say that the water is contained only within the pot? In fact, the water is both inside and outside, and even the pot itself is only water. Similarly, the Realised One knows that Self alone exists, and that there can be no question of It existing inside or outside the body, since the body and the whole universe are nothing apart from Self. This undiluted truth exists even in the state of ignorance, though the ignorant are unaware of it. ‘Inside’ and ‘outside’ are only in reference to the body, so when the body is found to be unreal, how can the limitations of ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ be applicable? Therefore, Self, the Reality, should not be conceived as being in any way contained within the body.
263
Therefore, only the Jnani – who has seen the death of the ego which is in the form of the notion ‘I am the body’ – will, with His sharp, subtle, and divine outlook, which is completely freed form delusion, see the Heart everywhere and attain greatness.
264
The Heart, where the Supreme Silence of God’s Grace is shining, is the only state of
Kaivalyam, in the Presence of which the rare pleasure of all the heavens are revealed to be nothing.
Sadhu Om: Kaivalyam is the state of Supreme Oneness.
Sri Bhagavan used to compare all the pleasures available in the celestial worlds, including even Brahma
Loka, to the tiny specks of moonlight which fall on the ground through the dense foliage of a large tree, whereas the
Jnani’s experience of Bliss is like the full moon-shine in an open space.
265
The Heart, which shines pure after the eradication of wavering [tendencies] and veiling [delusion], and which remains as the One Truth, is the Supreme
Atma-Loka for which even the gods of heaven are longing.
Sadhu Om: Atma-Loka simply means Self, and it is here called a ‘loka’
[i.e., world] in order to compare the Bliss of Self with the pleasures of celestial
lokas. Since even the gods in the celestial lokas [such as Swarga Loka and
Brahma Loka], though they are enjoying the greatest pleasures, are still longing for the Bliss of Self, these celestial
lokas are worthless.
The Self-Consciousness which shines after the destruction of the [root] thought – the identification with any one of the [three] bodies as ‘I’ – is, the Almighty Power [Akila Para Shakti] who resides as ‘I’ in the hearts of all created beings.
It is generally supposed that Omnipotence
(Akila Para Shakti) is the power of God who creates and sustains the whole universe and the individuals therein. However, this power of creation and sustenance is merely able to limit ‘I’ to a particular body, but since the true Self-Consciousness experienced by a
Jnani destroys this limitation, It is a greater Power. Therefore, Sri Bhagavan points out that the Self-Consciousness of a
Jnani is the true Akila Para Shakti.
267
This natural Self-Consciousness of mere Existence, without any sense of duality, is the Supreme Silence, which is glorified [by the scriptures] as the perfection of
Jnana, and which cannot be known by the ego, the foolish demon-nature.
Sadhu Om: The Self-Consciousness referred to here denotes
Sat-Chit, and it is described as natural because it is ever-attained, and not something to be newly achieved.
The eight-fold
siddhis depend upon the functioning of the ego, which is here said to be a demon nature. These
siddhis are, therefore, demonic powers and not divine powers as people generally believe.
In the above two verses no direct mention is made of the
Guru, but they are given in the beginning of this chapter in order to guide aspirants who are intent upon finding the true Guru. These verses teach that the Omnipotence
(Akila Para Shakti) of the Guru lies in His Power to destroy the ego, and that Power is simply His mere Self-Consciousness, and not the ability to perform and display miraculous
siddhis.
268
Know and discover that He alone who possesses such Akila Para Shakti [i.e., the Power of Supreme Silence which consumes all by remaining as mere Existence-Self-Consciousness], is the Real Guru who can by His unlimited Grace merge any soul who comes to Him into the non-dual Self, the
Jnana beyond all speech.
Sadhu Om: The words “any soul” are used to stress the point that even non-human creatures will be given liberation by such a Powerful Guru, as, for example, birds and beasts attained Liberation through the Grace of Bhagavan Ramana. Considering this, even immature human beings must be assured of uplift if they come to such a Real Guru.
269
Truly, perfect discipleship – which is the steadfast Supreme Devotion that flares up with the merging of the ego into the Light of Supreme Stillness [i.e. Self-Consciousness] – is alone the right Guruship. Thus you should know.
270
He who turns you towards Self and reveals to you the knowledge of Self, is the Guru. In truth He is Self and He is God. Cling to Him.
As the whole universe which we see is but a projection of Self, Self alone is God, the real creator of the universe. It is also Self alone that, after maturing the devotee through so many births, takes the form of the human Guru in order to reveal
Jnana to him. Thus God, Guru and Self are one and the same.
271
He who gives ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ to those who come to him is both Yama [Death] and Brahma [the Creator] to them. But the truly divine Guru is the one who proves to them that nothing is to be newly accomplished by them.
Sadhu Om: The ‘would-be guru’, by ordering those who come to him to perform many actions
[Karmas] such as
Japa or Dhyana, is only loading a greater burden of new actions upon the aspirants, who come to him for relief, because they are unable to bear the fruits of the actions they have already accumulated in the past. Instead of relieving them, the would-be guru plays the part of Yama
[Death] by crushing and killing them with a greater burden of Karmas.
Since individuals have to reap the fruits of their actions through innumerable births, the ‘would-be guru’ plays the part of Brahma
[creator], by making them perform more karmas and thus making them take more births in order to reap the fruits of these actions.
However, as the Sadguru knows the truth that Self alone exists without a second, He convinces those who approach Him that they are none other than Self. When, through the power of His Silence, they come to understand this truth, they feel that they have nothing
to do, but that they merely have to Be. As doing alone is action
[karma] but Being is not, and as it is only karma that brings birth and death, they are relieved
from both Brahma and
Yama.
Unlike other Gurus who instruct their disciples to do the four yogas
[Karma,
Raja, Bhakti, or Jnana], Sri Bhagavan Ramana, makes us stop doing anything in order to discover, “Who does these yogas?”, and thus He turns our attention towards ‘I’, which is the right clue to keep us quiet. This is the nature of the Real Guru.
272
Since one does not love to listen to the teaching of the Supreme Self, which is ever going on in the Heart, one comes out with great enthusiastic delusion. Because of this, one needs a Guru outside.
273
That Self-Consciousness [Sat-Chit] which shines in all, as All, is the Guru.
Sadhu Om: Guru is That which exists and shines as ‘I’ in all, and is the one common factor in all.
274
Those who do not understand that the Jnana-Guru is the Formless Supreme Space, though He appears in the human form, are the chief amongst all the vilest sinners and criminals.
For those who are suffering here in samsara, which has been created by the good and bad karmas that are the result of dark delusion, the only medicine to cure their mental anguish is the great enthusiasm which they feel for the Guru’s Grace.
276
The Guru is the One, who removes the sufferings and bestows the Bliss of Liberation upon those who, when they come to Him, are swept away by the force of various karmas done with the attachment of likes and dislikes.
277
The gracious look of the Guru, the philosophers’ stone, will transmute even the
jiva’s impure nature, the rusty iron, into pure Jnana, the gold. Therefore, the worthiest thing to choose, seek and steadfastly cling to is the
Darshan of the Guru’s gracious look.
278
To jivas, who are deluded into taking the false to be true, the Guru, who is Self, the Light to all the gross lights of the universe, exposes the falseness of their truth.
Sadhu Om: ‘The false’ in this verse denotes the whole universe, including the ego which sees it. ‘Their truth’ means that which appear to be true in their deluded outlook.
The gross lights of the universe
[the sun, moon, fire etc.] are seen by the eyes, the eyes are known by the mind, and the mind borrows light from Self; therefore, the Guru who is Self is said to be the Light to all the gross lights of the universe. Refer also to
Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham[The Supplement to the Forty Verses] verse 7.
279
The Supreme Jnana-guru, the motionless and subtlest Space of Grace, destroys “Lagu” – the worthless and wavering
jiva’s gross notion, ‘I am the body’ – and bestows upon him the true and perfect
Jnana.
Sadhu Om: The nouns and adjectives which are used in the Tamil original in this verse, clearly show that the Supreme
Jnana-Guru is the extreme opposite of the worthless and wavering
jiva; the word “Guru” has the meaning of greatness and heaviness, whereas the word “lagu”, which is used twice, has the meaning of worthlessness and lightness.
280
Guru, the Lord of Jnana, who is the power of the unlimited greatness of Self, is the Supreme Silence which completely defeats the worthless arguments of those who are stained with the delusion of worldly desires.
Sadhu Om:If one is defeated by the skill of one’s opponents sharp intellect, the defeat is only temporary, since one continues to feel anger and enmity towards him. However, when the arguments of worldly people are defeated by the
Jnana-guru’s Supreme Silence their minds are overwhelmed with Knowledge and Bliss, and so, forgetting their enmity, they feel great love for the Guru; thus, the victory won by Silence is eternal.
281
Without killing the body, but by killing, with the glance of His eyes, the ego which poses as if it were really existing, the Guru in no time exposes the entire fiction [from the body to the whole universe] as non-existent, and reveals the shining of the one Supreme Self as the only real existence.
Sadhu Om:Just as the bright sunlight exposes the non-existence of the snake, which appeared on a rope in the dim twilight, so the Light of the Guru’s clear Self-Knowledge exposes the non-existence of the entire universe, which appeared in the dim light of the
jiva’s mind.
When a river merges into the ocean, all its attributes, such as its speed, current and shape, are destroyed, yet not one drop of its substance, the water, is lost. Similarly, when a
jiva, “I am so-and-so”, meets the glance of the Guru’s eyes, all his attributes, such as “so-and-so”, are destroyed, yet his substance, the Self-Consciousness
[Sat-Chit] “I am”, shines unaffected and alone; therefore it is said that the Guru “kills without killing”.
282
It is impossible to see the Divine Dance of Self-Knowledge [the
Sphurana, “I-I”] in the Heart, until the dance of the rebellious mind is destroyed by the Divine Power of the Sword of
Mei-Jnana [Right-Knowledge], wielded by the great hero, the Sadguru, who has already beheaded the ghost, [His own] mind.
Sadhu Om:Shiva is said to be dancing in the ‘smasana’
[burial ground] but it is impossible to see His Divine Dance until the dance of the many restless ghosts, who are also dancing there, is stopped. Similarly, we are told in this verse that it is impossible to see the Divine Dance of the
Sphurana, “I-I” [which is the true significance of the Dance of Nataraja in
Chidabaram], until the rebellious mind-ghost, which dances as ‘I’, is beheaded by the Grace of the
Sadguru, who has destroyed His own mind.
283
Just as the sight of a lion appearing in its dream will awaken an elephant from sleep, so also the
Darshan of the Sadguru will awaken the disciple from the dream of this present waking state, which is merely an illusion, into the state of
Jnana.
Sadhu Om: The present waking state is itself an illusory dream; just as a dream can only exist by depending upon the background of sleep
[i.e., the loss of waking body-consciousness], so this present dream, our so-called waking state, can only exist by depending upon the background of the sleep of our Self-forgetfulness
[i.e., the apparent loss of our natural pure Self-Consciousness].
This ignorance
[i.e., our Self-forgetfulness] is a much prolonged sleep, in which innumerable dreams
[i.e., our many lives] take place; refer to
Ekatma Panchakam [The Five Verses on the Oneness of Self] verse 1, in which Sri Bhagavan expresses this idea.
What is destroyed by the Sadguru is not only the drama of our present waking state, but also the much-prolonged sleep of Self-forgetfulness, which is the background of all these dreams, our many births and deaths.
Just as the lion seen by the elephant in its dream is false, yet its awakening is true, so the name and form of the
Sadguru is false [from an absolute viewpoint], yet the Awakening (i.e., the Dawn of Self-Knowledge) caused by Him is very Real. After the elephant wakes up from his dream, he will know that the lion seen by him was not real, and similarly, after the Dawn of Self-Knowledge, it will be known that even the name and form of the
Sadguru is not real [i.e., the notion that the Sadguru is other than Self, ‘I’, will be known to be
false].
284
Just as a deer caught in the jaws of a tiger [cannot escape], so those who are caught by the glance of the
Sadguru’s Grace will never be abandoned, but, having their ego and
vasanas completely destroyed, they will realize the non-dual Truth.
This well-known simile, which was first used by Sri Bhagavan in
Who am I?, is worth pondering over carefully. A deer caught in the jaws of a tiger would generally be considered to be an object of pity, since it will surely be killed, yet Sri Bhagavan uses this as a simile to console devotees and to assure them that they can never escape from the
Sadguru, and will surely be saved by Him. The significance of this simile is made slightly clearer in this verse
than in
Who am I?, as it is said here that the
Sadguru will completely destroy the ego and vasanas of His devotees, thus implying that He is the mighty Tiger who will consume the ego, the root of all misery. So, by means of this peculiar simile, Sri Bhagavan is once more stressing that the only true Salvation is the complete annihilation of the ego or individuality; hence, ‘to be destroyed’ is ‘to be saved’!
285
The disciple’s mind which has soaked in the Light of
Jnana – the Feet of the Sadguru – which is abundant like [the light of] the sun, can never be imprinted by the three-fold differences, which appear to exist, as if real, in Self, the Pure Consciousness.
Sadhu Om:The “three-fold differences” include the triads
[e.g. the seer, seen, and seeing], the three states [waking, dream, and deep
sleep], the three
gunas [sattva, rajas and tamas], etc.
Once a photographic film has been exposed to the sunlight, it loses forever its ability to receive the impression of any image. Similarly, once the mind of a disciple has been exposed to the Light of the
Jnana-Guru’s Grace, it can never be deluded by worldly desires, etc. Refer also to
Sri Arunachala Ashtakam, verse 5.
There are two possible versions of the next verse:
286a
Of what use are spoken words when the eyes of the Sadguru – who bestows
Jnana through His Silence, and who reveals the Light of Self which finally survives – and the eyes of the disciple meet?
286b
Of what use are spoken words when the eyes of the Sadguru – who bestows
Jnana through His Silence - and the eyes of the disciple meet, since that [meeting of their eyes] will itself reveal the Light of Self which finally survives?
The last two lines of this verse are taken from verse 1100 of
Tirukkural. The phrase ‘who bestows jnana through his silence’ may also be translated as ‘who silently bestows
jnana,’ or ‘who bestows silence, jnana’.
287
Perfect Jnanis have always and will always say, “By the mere Grace of the
Sadguru, the True Thing – the final Brahma-Jnana, which shines in the pure Silence, the rarely attainable Vedanta – will dawn of its own accord in the heart as ‘I-I’.”