Advaita Bodha Deepika -1

Advaita Bodha Deepika

FOREWORD

Originally Sri Shankaracharya and other great Sages had

written several works like the commentary on the Vedanta Sutras

and thus furnished the methods for those engaged in Self enquiry

to accomplish their purpose.

From those, Sri Karapatra Swami later condensed the

salient points into Sanskrit verse in a work of twelve chapters,

called Sri Advaita Bodha Deepika.

Still later, some great man seems to have translated this

into Tamil prose. For some unknown reasons only some eight

chapters of the same are found published. They are:

1. Adhyaropa = Super imposition.

2. Apavada = Its removal.

3. Sadhana = The means of accomplishment.

4. Sravana = Hearing, reading, talking about God.

5. Manana = Reflecting on sravana.

6. Vasanakshaya = Annihilation of latencies.

7. Sakshatkara = Direct Realisation.

8. Manonasa = Extinction of the mind.

In this work the author has explained how Ignorance obscures

the true nature of the Self which is non-dual only; how by its

veiling aspect it covers It (the Self) with two effects — ‘that It does

not exist’ and ‘that It does not shine forth’, how by its other aspect,

in the shape of the mind, projecting individuals, Iswara and the

world and presenting them as real, thus giving rise to illusion; how

one fully qualified is alone fit to obtain this knowledge; how a bare

scholar of the shastras cannot be fit; how enquiry is the chief means

for knowledge; how this enquiry consists in hearing of, reflecting

upon and contemplation of TRUTH, and Samadhi; how the

indirect knowledge gained by hearing puts an end to the idea that

‘It does not exist’ and the direct knowledge gained by reflection,

which means enquiry ‘WHO I AM’ and seeking within, destroys

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the wrong notion that ‘It does not shine forth’; how the knowledge

of THOU in THAT THOU ART is identical with the knowledge

of THAT; how by meditation the different latencies perishing which

were the obstacles on the way and the mind which is the limiting

adjunct (upadhi) of the individual perishes too and by the eventual

unobstructed realisation of BRAHMAN (God) the Seeker becomes

free from the bondage of the three kinds of Karma which form the

cycle of births and deaths; how in truth there is neither bondage

nor release for the SELF and in what way to extinguish the mind.

Thinking that this will be helpful to Seekers of Liberation

Sri Ramanananda Saraswathi (formerly Munagala

Venkataramiah) a devotee of Bhagavan has by the grace of Sri

Ramana rendered into English the eight chapters of the work

now available. The last four chapters, Savikalpa Samadhi,

Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Jivan Mukti, and Videha Mukti not being

found in Tamil, Telugu or Sanskrit Manuscripts could not be

translated into English. Information on the missing chapters is

earnestly sought and will be gratefully acknowledged by the

publisher.

Our grateful thanks are due to H. H. Smt. Shanta Devi

Maharani of Baroda and H. H. the Maharaja of Travancore for

sending us the original Sanskrit Manuscripts of this work from

the State Libraries for Maharshi’s consultation and return.

This book is one of the few esteemed by Sri Maharshi and

this translation was thoroughly revised in His Presence. So we

are encouraged to present this small volume to the public with

full confidence that the reader will benefit by it.

PUBLISHER.

ADVAITA BODHA DEEPIKA

OR

THE LAMP OF NON-DUAL KNOWLEDGE

INTRODUCTORY

1. I salute the holy feet of the Supreme Lord, the Refuge

of all the universe, the One Means to kill the samsara (the

cycle of births and deaths), the Eternal God Ganesa of

elephant face!

2. I meditate on the holy master known as Chidambara

Brahman, the very being of the non-dual Supreme Self, Its

very Bliss and the foremost yogi among men by whose light

glance I, a fool blinded by the massive darkness of beginningless

Ignorance, gained the precious jewel of Jnana (Wisdom)!

3. I meditate on that holy master, by contact with the dust

of whose lotus feet men are able easily to cross the shoreless

ocean of samsara, as if it were only a span.

4-5. To those who are fitted (by all) their sins having been

burnt off by austerities (practised) in several past births, their

minds made pure, their intellects discriminating the real from

the unreal, themselves indifferent to the pleasures of either this

or the other world, their minds and senses under control,

passions held down, actions given up as a worthless burden,

faith firm and minds tranquil, eagerly seeking release from

bondage, this work — SRI ADVAITA BODHA DEEPIKA —

is presented in twelve short chapters.

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ADVAITA BODHA DEEPIKA

6. Many different works on Advaita have already appeared

from Masters of yore, like Sri Sankaracharya and Vidyaranya;

yet as a fond parent loves to hear the broken words of the lisping

child, so also good people with large hearts can read this work

as well, imperfect as it may be.

CHAPTER I

ON SUPERIMPOSITION

7. Greatly afflicted by the three kinds of distress (tapa-traya),

intensely seeking release from bondage so as to be free from

this painful existence, a disciple distinguished by long practice

of the four fold sadhana, approaches a worthy master and prays:

8-12. Lord, master, ocean of mercy, I surrender to you!

Pray save me!

Master: Save you from what?

Disciple: From the fear of recurring births and deaths.

Master: Leave the samsara and fear not.

Disciple: Unable to cross this vast ocean of samsara, I fear

recurring births and deaths. So I have surrendered to you. It is

for you to save me!

Master: What can I do for you?

Disciple: Save me. I have no other refuge. Just as water is

the only thing to put out the flames when the hair of one’s head

is on fire, so also a sage such as you are, is the sole refuge of

people like me who are on fire from the three kinds of distress.

You are free from the illusion of samsara, calm in mind and

sunk deep in the incomparable Bliss of Brahman which is

beginningless and endless. Certainly you can save this poor

creature. Pray do!

Master: What is it to me if you suffer?

Disciple: Saints like you cannot bear to see others suffer, as

a father his child. Motiveless is your love for all beings. You are

the Guru common to all, the only boat to carry us across this

ocean of samsara.

Master: Now, what makes you suffer?

Disciple: Bitten by the cruel serpent of painful samsara, I

am dazed and I suffer. Master, pray save me from this burning

hell and kindly tell me how I can be free.

13-17. M.: Well said, my Son! You are intelligent and well

disciplined. There is no need to prove your competence to be a

disciple. Your words clearly show that you are fit. Now look

here, my child!

In the Supreme Self of Being-Knowledge-Bliss who can

be the transmigrating being? How can this samsara be? What

could have given rise to it? And how and whence can it arise

itself? Being the non-dual Reality, how can you be deluded?

With nothing separate in deep sleep, not having changed in

any manner, and having slept soundly and peacefully, a fool

on waking shouts out “Alas, I am lost!” How can you, the

changeless, formless, Supreme, Blissful Self shout forth “I

transmigrate — I am miserable!” and so on? Truly there is

neither birth nor death; no one to be born or to die; nothing

of the kind!

D.: What does exist then?

M.: There exists only the beginningless, endless, non-dual,

never bound, ever free, pure, aware, single, Supreme, Bliss

Knowledge.

18. D.: If so, tell me how this mighty massive delusion of

samsara veils me in dense darkness like a mass of clouds in the

rainy season.

19-20. M.: What can be said of the power of this Illusion

(Maya)! As a man mistakes a post for a man, so also you mistake

the non-dual, perfect Self for an individual. Being deluded you

are miserable. But how does this illusion arise? Like a dream in

sleep this false samsara appears in the illusion of ignorance which

is itself unreal. Hence your mistake.

21-24. D.: What is this ignorance?

M.: Listen. In the body appears a phantom, the ‘false-I’, to

claim the body for itself and it is called jiva. This jiva always

outward bent, taking the world to be real and himself to be the

doer and experiencer of pleasures and pains, desirous of this

and that, undiscriminating, not once remembering his true

nature, nor enquiring “Who am I?, What is this world?”, is but

wandering in the samsara without knowing himself. Such

forgetfulness of the Self is Ignorance.

25. D.: All the shastras proclaim that this samsara is the

handiwork of Maya but you say it is of Ignorance. How are the

two statements to be reconciled?

M.: This Ignorance is called by different names such as Maya,

Pradhana, Avyakta (the unmanifest), Avidya, Nature, Darkness

and so on. Therefore the samsara is but the result of Ignorance.

26. D.: How does this ignorance project the samsara?

M.: Ignorance has two aspects: Veiling and Projection

(Avarana—Vikshepa). From these arises the samsara. Veiling

functions in two ways. In the one we say “It is not” and in the

other “It does not shine forth.”

27-28. D.: Please explain this.

M.: In a discourse between a master and a student, although

the sage teaches that there is only the non-dual Reality the

ignorant man thinks “What can be non-dual Reality? No. It

cannot be.” As a result of beginningless veiling, though taught,

the teaching is disregarded and the old ideas persist. Such

indifference is the first aspect of veiling.

29-30. Next, with the help of sacred books and gracious

masters he unaccountably but sincerely believes in the nondual

Real, yet he cannot probe deep but remains superficial

and says “The Reality does not shine forth.” Here is knowledge

knowing that It does not shine forth yet the illusion of

ignorance persists. This illusion that It does not shine forth, is

the second aspect of veiling.

31-32. D.: What is Projection?

M.: Though he is the unchanging, formless, Supreme, Blissful,

non-dual Self, the man thinks of himself as the body with hands

and legs, the doer and experiencer; objectively sees this man and

that man, this thing and that thing, and is deluded. This delusion

of perceiving the external universe on the non-dual Reality

enveloped by it, is Projection. This is Superimposition.

33. D.: What is Superimposition?

M.: To mistake something which is, for something

which is not — like a rope for a snake, a post for a thief, and

mirage for water. The appearance of a false thing on a real is

superimposition.

34. D.: What is here the unreal superimposition on the

real thing, the substratum?

M.: The non-dual Being-Knowledge-Bliss or the Supreme

Brahman is the Reality. Just as the false name and form of snake

is superimposed on a rope, so also on the non-dual Reality there

is superimposed the category of sentient beings and insentient

things. Thus the names and forms which appear as the universe,

make up the superimposition. This is the unreal phenomenon.

D.: In the Reality which is non-dual, who is there to bring

about this superimposition?

M.: It is Maya.

D.: What is Maya?

35. M.: It is the ignorance about the aforesaid Brahman.

D.: What is this Ignorance?

M.: Though the Self is Brahman, there is not the knowledge

of the Self (being Brahman). That which obstructs this knowledge

of the Self is Ignorance.

D.: How can this project the world?

M.: Just as ignorance of the substratum, namely the rope,

projects the illusion of a snake, so Ignorance of Brahman projects

this world.

36. M.: It must be regarded an illusion because it is

superimposed and does not exist either before (perception) or

after (knowledge).

D.: How can it be said that it does not exist either before

(perception) or after (knowledge)?

M.: In order to be created, it could not have been before

creation (i.e. it comes into existence simultaneously with or

after creation); in dissolution it cannot exist; now in the interval

it simply appears like a magic-born city in mid air. Inasmuch as

it is not seen in deep sleep, shocks and Samadhi, it follows that

even now it is only a super imposition and therefore an illusion.

37. D.: Before creation and in dissolution if there is no

world, what can exist then?

M.: There is only the basic Existence, not fictitious, nondual,

undifferentiated, ab extra and ab intra (Sajatiya, vijatiya,

and svagata bheda), Being-Knowledge-Bliss, the unchanging

Reality.

D.: How is it known?

M.: The Vedas say “Before creation there was only Pure

Being.” Yoga Vasishta also helps us to understand it.

D.: How?

38. M.: “In dissolution the whole universe is withdrawn

leaving only the Single Reality which stays motionless, beyond

speech and thought, neither darkness nor light, yet perfect,

namely, untellable, but not void,” says Yoga Vasishta.

39. D.: In such Non duality how can the universe arise?

M.: Just as in the aforesaid rope snake, the ignorance of

the real substratum lies hidden in the rope, so also in the basic

Reality there lies hidden Ignorance otherwise called Maya or

Avidya. Later this gives rise to all these names and forms.

40-41. This maya which is dependent on the unrelated

Knowledge-Bliss-Reality, has the two aspects of veiling and

projection (avarna and vikshepa); by the former it hides its

own substratum from view, and by the latter the unmanifest

maya is made manifest as mind. This then sports with its

latencies which amounts to projecting this universe with all

the names and forms.

42. D.: Has anyone else said this before?

M.: Yes, Vasishta to Rama.

D.: How?

43-50. M.: “The powers of Brahman are infinite. Among

them that power becomes manifest through which it shines

forth.”

D.: What are those different powers?

M.: Sentience in sentient beings; movement in air;

solidity in earth; fluidity in water; heat in fire; void in the

ether; decaying tendency in the perishable; and many more

are well known. These qualities remained unmanifest and

later manifested themselves. They must have been latent in

the non-dual Brahman like the glorious colours of peacock

feathers in the yolk of its egg or the spread out banyan tree

in the tiny seed.

D.: If all powers lay latent in the Single Brahman why did

they not manifest simultaneously ?

M.: Look how the seeds of trees, plants, herbs, creepers,

etc. are all contained in the earth but only some of them

sprout forth according to the soil, climate and season. So

also the nature and extent of powers for manifestation are

determined by conditions. At the time Brahman (the

substratum of all the powers of Maya), joins the power of

thinking, this power manifests as mind. Thus Maya so long

dormant suddenly starts forth as mind from the Supreme

Brahman, the common source of all. Then this mind fashions

all the universe. So says Vasishta.

51. D.: What is the nature of this mind which forms the

power of projection of Maya?

M.: To recollect ideas or latencies is its nature. It has latencies

as its content and appears in the witnessing consciousness in

two modes — “I” and “This”.

D.: What are these modes?

M.: They are the concept “I” and the concepts “this”,

“that”, etc.

52. D.: How is this I-mode superimposed on the witnessing

consciousness ?

M.: Just as silver superimposed on nacre presents the nacre

as silver, so also the I-mode on the basic witness presents it as

“I”, i.e. the ego, as if the witness were not different from the

ego but were the ego itself.

53. Just as a person possessed by a spirit is deluded and

behaves as altogether a different person, so also the witness

possessed by the I-mode forgets its true nature and presents

itself as the ego.

54. D.: How can the unchanging witness mistake itself for

the changing ego?

M.: Like a man in delirium feeling himself lifted in air, or

a drunken man beside himself, or a madman raving

incoherently, or a dreamer going on dream-journeys, or a man

possessed behaving in strange ways, the witness though itself

untainted and unchanged, yet under the malicious influence of

the phantom ego, appears changed as “I”.

55. D.: Does the I-mode of mind present the witness altered

as the ego, or itself appear modified as the ego in the witness?

56-57. M.: Now this question cannot arise, for having no

existence apart from the Self, it cannot manifest of itself.

Therefore it must present the Self as if modified into the ego.

D.: Please explain it more.

M.: Just as the ignorance factor in the rope cannot project

itself as snake but must make the rope look like a snake; that in

water unable to manifest itself, makes the water manifest as

foam, bubbles and waves; that in fire, itself unable, makes the

fire display itself as sparks; that in clay cannot present itself but

presents the clay as a pot, so also the power in the witness cannot

manifest itself but presents the witness as the ego.

58-60. D.: Master, how can it be said that through maya

the Self is fragmented into individual egos? The Self is not related

to anything else; it remains untainted and unchanged like ether.

How can maya affect it? Is it not as absurd to speak of

fragmentation of the Self as to say “I saw a man taking hold of

ether and moulding it into a man; or fashioning air into a cask?”

I am now sunk in the ocean of samsara. Please rescue me.

61. M.: Maya is called Maya because it can make the

impossible possible. It is the power which brings into view what

was not always there, like a magician making his audience see a

celestial city in mid air. If a man can do this, can maya not do

that? There is nothing absurd in it.

62-66. D.: Please make it clear to me.

M.: Now consider the power of sleep to call forth dream

visions. A man lying on a cot in a closed room falls asleep and

in his dream wanders about taking the shapes of birds and beasts;

the dreamer sleeping in his home, the dream presents him as

walking in the streets of Benares or on the sands of Setu; although

the sleeper is lying unchanged yet in his dream he flies up in the

air, falls headlong into an abyss, or cuts off his own hand and

carries it in his hand. In the dream itself there is no question of

consistency or otherwise. Whatever is seen in it appears to be

appropriate and is not criticised. If simple sleep can make the

impossible possible what wonder can there be in the Almighty

Maya creating this indescribable universe? It is its very nature.

67-74. To illustrate it, I shall briefly tell you a story from

Yoga Vasishta. There was once a king named Lavana, a jewel of

Ikshvaku line. One day when all were assembled in the court

hall, a magician appeared before him. Quickly he approached

the king, saluted and said “Your Majesty, I shall show you a wonder,

look!” At once he waved a flail of peacock feathers before the king.

The king was dazed, forgot himself and saw a great illusion like an

extraordinary dream. He found a horse in front of him, mounted

it and rode on it hunting in a forest. After hunting long, he was

thirsty, could not find water and grew weary. Just then a low caste

girl happened to come there with some coarse food in an earthen

dish. Driven by hunger and thirst, he cast aside all restrictions of

caste, and his own sense of dignity, and asked her for food and

drink. She offered to oblige him only if she could be made his

legitimate wife. Without hesitation he agreed, took the food given

by her, and then went to her hamlet where they both lived as

husband and wife and had two sons and one daughter.

All along the king remained on the throne. But in the

short interval of an hour and a half, he had led another illusory

life of wretchedness, extending over several years. In this way

Vasishta had related several long stories to Rama in order to

impress on him the wonderful play of Maya by which the

impossible is easily made possible.

75-76. There is no illusion which is beyond the power of

mind to spread, and no one not deluded by it. Its characteristic

is to accomplish that which is impossible. Nothing can escape

its power. Even the Self which is always unchanging and

untainted, has been made to look changed and tainted.

D.: How can it be so?

M .: See how the sky which is impartite and untainted,

looks blue. The Supreme Self too though always pure has been

invested by it with the ego and is made to parade as jiva, just as

Lavana the king lived as a low caste wretch.

77. D.: If the Supreme Self had by joining the I-mode of

the mind become the illusory jiva he should appear as a single

jiva. But there are many jivas. How can the single Reality

manifest as innumerable jivas?

78-80. M.: As soon as the illusion of a single jiva becomes

operative in the Pure Supreme Self, it naturally begets other

illusory jivas in the Pure Ether of Knowledge. If a dog enters a

room walled by mirrors, it first gives rise to one reflection in

one mirror which by a series of reflections becomes innumerable

and the dog finding itself surrounded by so many other dogs

growls and shows fight. So it is with the Self of pure, non-dual

Ether of Consciousness. The illusion of one jiva is perforce

associated with illusion of several jivas.

81-83. Again, the habit of seeing the world as you-I-he

etc., forces the dreamer to see similar illusory entities in dreams

also. Similarly the accumulated habits of past births make the

Self which is only pure Knowledge-Ether see numberless illusory

jivas even now. What can be beyond the scope of Maya which

is itself inscrutable? Now this done, listen to how the bodies

and the spheres were created.

84-85. Just as the Supreme Self is presented as “I” by the

I-mode of Maya, so also It is presented by the ‘this’ mode as this

universe with all its contents.

D.: How?

M.: The power of multiplicity is the ‘this’ mode whose

nature is to be imagining ‘this’ and ‘that’. In the Ether of

Consciousness it recollects the millions of latencies, as ‘this’ and

‘that’. Being stirred up by these latencies, the jiva though itself

the Ether of consciousness, now manifests as the individual body

etc., the external worlds and the diversities.

D.: How?

86-89. M.: First, mind appears in the impartite Ether of

Consciousness. Its movements form the aforesaid latencies which

show forth in various illusory forms, such as “here is the body

with organs and limbs” — “I am this body” — “here is my

father” — “I am his son” — “my age is such and such” —

“these are our relatives and friends” — “this is our house” — “I

and you” — “this and that” — “good and bad” — “pleasure

and pain” — “bondage and release” — “castes, creeds and

duties” — “Gods, men and other creatures” — “high, low and

middling” — “enjoyer and enjoyments” — “many millions of

spheres” — and so on.

D.: How can the latencies themselves appear as this vast

universe?

90. M.: A man remaining unmoving and happy in deep

sleep, when stirred up by the rising latencies, sees illusory dream

visions of creatures and worlds; they are nothing but the latencies

in him. So in the waking state also he is deluded by the latencies

manifesting as these creatures and worlds.

91. D.: Now, master, the dream is but the reproduction of

mental impressions formed in the waking state and lying

dormant before. They reproduce past experiences. Therefore

dream-visions are rightly said to be only mental creations.

Should the same be true of the waking world, this must be the

reproduction of some past impressions. What are those

impressions which give rise to these waking experiences?

92. M.: Just as the experiences of the waking state give rise

to the dream world, so also the experiences of past lives give rise

to this world of the waking state, nonetheless illusory.

D.: If the present experience is the result of the preceding

one, what gave rise to its preceding one?

M.: That was from its preceding one and so on.

D.: This can extend back to the time of creation. In

dissolution all these impressions must have been resolved. What

was left there to start the new creation?

M.: Just as your impressions gathered one day lie dormant

in deep sleep and become manifest the following day, so also

the impressions of the preceding cycle (kalpa) reappear in the

succeeding one. Thus these impressions of Maya have no

beginning, but appear over and over again.

93. D.: Master, what was experienced on previous days

can now be remembered. Why do we not remember the

experiences of past lives?

94-95. M.: This cannot be. See how the waking experiences

repeat themselves in the dream but are not apprehended in the

same way as in the waking state, but differently. Why? Because

sleep makes all the difference, in as much as it hides the original

bearings and distorts them, so that the same experience repeated

in the dream is differently set, often aberrant and wobbling.

Similarly the experiences of past lives have been affected by

comas and deaths so that the present setting is different from

the past ones and the same experience repeated in a different

way cannot recall the past.

96. D.: Master, dream visions being only mental creations

are transient and are soon dismissed as unreal. So they are

properly said to be illusory. On the contrary the waking world

is seen to be lasting and all evidence goes to show that it is real.

How can it be classified with dreams as being illusory?

97-98. M.: In the dream itself, the visions are experienced

as proven and real; they are not at that time felt to be unreal.

Similarly at the time of experience, this waking world also seems

to be proven and real. But when you wake up to your true

nature, this will also pass off as unreal.

D.: What then is the difference between the dream and

waking states?

99. M.: Both are only mental and illusory. There can be

no doubt of this. Only the waking world is a long drawn out

illusion and the dream a short one. This is the only difference

and nothing more.

100. D.: Should waking be only a dream, who is the

dreamer here?

M.: All this universe is the dream product of the non-dual,

untainted, Knowledge Bliss only.

D.: But a dream can happen only in sleep. Has the Supreme

Self gone to sleep in order to see this dream?

M.: Our sleep corresponds to Its Ignorance which hides

Its real nature from time immemorial. So It dreams the dream

of this universe. Just as the dreamer is deluded into thinking

himself the experiencer of his dreams, so also the unchanging

Self is by illusion presented as a jiva experiencing this samsara.

101. On seeing the dreamlike body, senses, etc., the jiva is

deluded into the belief that he is the body, senses, etc.; with

them he turns round and round through the waking, dream

and deep sleep states. This forms his samsara.

102-104. D.: What is jagrat (the waking state)?

M.: It is the phenomenon of the I-mode along with all the

other modes of mind and the related objects. Taking on I-ness

in the gross body of the waking state, the individual goes by the

name of visva, the experiencer of the waking state.

D.: What is dream?

M.: After the senses are withdrawn from external activities

the impressions formed by the mental modes of the waking

state reproduce themselves as visions in dreams. The experiencer

of this subtle state is known as the taijasa.

D.: What is deep sleep (sushupti)?

M.: When all the mental modes lie dormant in causal

ignorance, it is said to be deep sleep. Here the experiencer known

as prajna has the bliss of Self.

105. The jiva revolves in this merry-go-round owing to the

operation of his past karma according as it bestows waking, dream

or deep sleep experience. This is samsara. In the same way the

jiva is subject to births and deaths as a result of past karma.

106. Nevertheless they are merely appearances of the

deluded mind and not real. He seems to be born and to die.

D.: How can birth and death be illusory?

M.: Listen carefully to what I say.

107-109. Just as when jiva is overcome by sleep, the

bearings of the waking state give place to new ones of dream in

order to reproduce past experiences, or there is total loss of all

external things and mental activities, so also when he is

overpowered by coma before death the present bearings are

lost and the mind lies dormant. This is death. When the mind

resumes the reproduction of past experiences in new settings,

the phenomenon is called birth. The process of birth starts with

the man’s imagining “Here is my mother; I lie in her womb;

my body has those limbs.” Then he imagines himself born into

the world, and later says “This is my father; I am his son; my

age is such and such; these are my relatives and friends; this fine

house is mine” and so on. This series of new illusions begin

with the loss of former illusions in the coma before death, and

depends upon the results of past actions.

110-113. The jiva overpowered by the unreal coma before

death has different illusions according to his different past

actions. After death, he believes “Here is heaven; it is very lovely,

I am in it; I am now a wonderful celestial being; so many

charming celestial damsels are at my service; I have nectar for

drink,” or, “Here is the region of Death; here is the God of

Death; these are the messengers of Death; oh! they are so cruel

— they pitch me into hell!” or, “Here is the region of the pitrs;

or of Brahma; or of Vishnu; or of Shiva” and so on. Thus

according to their nature, the latencies of past karma present

themselves before the Self, who remains always the unchanging

Ether of Consciousness, as illusions of birth, death, passage to

heaven, hell or other regions. They are only delusions of the

mind and not real.

114. In the Self of the Ether of Consciousness, there is the

phenomenon of the universe, like a celestial city seen in mid

air. It is fancied to be real but is not indeed so. Names and

forms make it up and it is nothing more.

115. D.: Master, not only I but all others directly experience

this world of sentient beings and insentient things and take it as

proven and real. How is it said to be unreal?

116. M.: The world with all its contents is only superimposed

upon the Ether of Consciousness.

D.: By what is it superimposed?

M.: By Ignorance of the Self.

D.: How is it superimposed ?

M.: As a painting of sentient beings and insentient things

presents a scene upon a background.

117. D.: Whereas the scriptures declare that all this

universe was created by the will of Isvara, you say it is by one’s

own ignorance. How can these two statements be reconciled?

118. M.: There is no contradiction. What the scriptures

say that Isvara, by means of Maya, created the five elements

and mixed them up in diverse ways to make the diversities of

the universe, is all false.

D.: How can the scriptures say what is false?

M.: They are guides to the ignorant and do not mean

what appears on the surface.

D.: How is that?

M.: Man having forgotten his true nature of being the all

perfect Ether of Consciousness, is deluded by Ignorance into

identifying himself with a body, etc., and regarding himself as

an insignificant individual of mean capacity. If to him it is told

that he is the creator of the whole universe, he will flout the

idea and refuse to be guided. So coming down to his level the

scriptures posit an Isvara as the creator of the universe. But it is

not the truth. However the scriptures reveal the truth to the

competent seeker. You are now mistaking the nursery tale for

metaphysical truth. In this connection you may remember the

child’s tale in Yoga Vasishta.

119-134. D.: What is it?

M.: It is a fine story to illustrate the emptiness of this

universe. On hearing it the false notions of the world being real

and its creation by Isvara, will all disappear. Briefly put, the

story runs as follows:-

A child asked its nurse to tell an interesting story.

Accordingly she told the following:

Nurse: Once upon a time a most powerful king whose

mother was barren, ruled over all the three worlds. His word

was law to all the kings in these worlds. The barren mother’s

son had extraordinary powers of illusion to make, foster and

unmake worlds. At his will he could take on any one of the

three bodies, white, yellow or black. When he took on the yellow

body, he had an urge and would, like a magician, create a city.

Child: Where is that city?

Nurse: It hangs in mid air.

Child: What is it called?

Nurse: Total Unreality.

Child: How is it built up?

Nurse: It has fourteen royal roads, each divided into three

sections in which there are respectively many pleasure gardens,

huge mansions and seven luxurious tanks — adorned with

strings of pearls. Two lamps – one warm and the other cool —

always light the city. In it the barren mother’s son built many

fine houses, some on high, some in the middle and others on

low ground. Each of them has a black velvety top, nine gateways,

several windows to let in breeze, five lamps, three white pillars,

and walls plastered nicely. By his magic he created fearsome

phantoms, one to guard each house. As a bird enters its nest, he

enters any of these houses at his will and sports at his pleasure.

135-140. With his black body, he protects these homes

through the phantom guards. With his white body he

instantaneously reduces them to ashes. This barren woman’s son

who like a fool repeatedly produces, protects and destroys the

city at his whim, was once tired after his work, refreshed himself

bathing in the quaffing waters of mirage and proudly wore flowers

gathered from the sky. I have seen him; he will soon come here to

present you with four strings of gems made from the lustre of

broken fragments of glass and anklets of nacre-silver.

The child believed the tale and was pleased. So it is with

the fool who takes this world to be real.

141-148. D.: How does this story illustrate the point?

M.: The child of the legend is the ignorant man of the

world; the wet nurse is the scripture which speaks of the creation

by Isvara; the barren mother’s son is the Isvara born of Maya;

his three bodies are the three qualities of Maya; his assumption

of the bodies is the aspect of Brahma, Vishnu or Rudra. In the

yellow body Brahma who is the thread running through the

whole universe, creates it in the Ether of Consciousness which

corresponds to mid air in the fable; its name is Absolute

Unreality; the fourteen royal roads are the fourteen worlds; the

pleasure gardens are the forests; the mansions are the mountain

ranges; the two lamps are the Sun and the Moon and the

luxurious tanks adorned with strings of pearls are the oceans

into which so many rivers flow.

149-155. The houses built on the high, middle and low

ground, are the bodies of the celestials, men and animals; the

three white pillars are the skeleton of bones; and the plaster on

the walls is the skin; the black top is the head with hair on it; the

nine gateways are the nine passages in the body; the five lamps

are the five senses and the phantom watchman is the ego.

Now Isvara, the king who is the son of the barren mother

Maya, having built the houses of the bodies, enters into them at

will as the Jivas, sports in the company of the phantom egos

and moves about aimlessly.

156-160. With the black body he functions as Vishnu

otherwise Virat, and sustains the universe. With the white body

as Rudra the Destroyer, the In-dweller in all, he withdraws the

whole universe into himself. This is his sport and he is pleased

with it. This pleasure is said to be the king’s refreshing himself in

the waters of mirage. His pride is of his sovereignty. The blossoms

from the sky are the attributes, omniscience and omnipotence.

The anklets are heaven and hell; the four strings of glass lustre are

the four stages of Mukti — Salokya, Samipya, Sarupya and Sayujya,

meaning equality in rank, condition or power and final identity.

The king’s expected arrival to present the gifts is the image worship

— which fulfils the prayers of the devotees.

In this manner the ignorant student of the scriptures is

deluded by his Ignorance into believing the world to be real.

161. D.: Should heaven and hell and the four stages of

beatitude (Mukti) be all false, why should a part of the scriptures

prescribe methods of gaining heaven or beatitude?

162-164. M.: On seeing her child suffer from pain in the

stomach a fond mother desirous of administering pepper to the

child, but aware of the child’s dislike of pepper and love of

honey, gently coaxes the child with a smear of honey before

forcing the pepper into its mouth. In the same way the scriptures

in their mercy, seeing the ignorant student suffer in the world,

desirous of making him realise the truth, but knowing his love

for the world and dislike of the non-dual Reality — which is

subtle and hard to understand, gently coax him with the sweet

pleasures of heaven, etc., before laying bare the non-dual Reality.

165. D.: How can the ideas of heaven, etc., lead him on to

the non-dual Reality?

M.: By right actions, heaven is gained; by austerities and

devotion to Vishnu, the four stages of beatitude. On knowing

it a man practises what he likes among these. By repeated practices

in several rebirths his mind becomes pure and turns away from

sense enjoyments to receive the highest teaching of the nondual

Reality.

166. D.: Master, admitting heaven, hell, etc. to be false,

how can Isvara so often mentioned by the scriptures, be also

declared unreal?

167. M.: Well, passages dealing with Isvara in all His glory,

are succeeded by others which say that Isvara is the product of

Maya, and the jiva of Ignorance (Avidya).

D.: Why do the scriptures contradict themselves with

passages of different imports?

M.: Their aim is to make the student purify his mind by

his own efforts such as good actions, austerities and devotion.

To coax him, these are said to yield him pleasures. Being

themselves insentient, these cannot of their own accord yield

fruits. So an all-powerful Isvara is said to dispense the fruits of

actions. That is how an Isvara appears on the scene. Later the

scriptures say that the jiva, Isvara and the jagrat (world) are all

equally false.

168. Isvara the product of illusion is no more real than

the dream subject, the product of sleep. He is in the same

category as the jiva, the product of ignorance, or of the dream

subject, the product of sleep.

169-174. D.: The scriptures say that Isvara is the product

of Maya and how can we say that He is of Ignorance?

M.: The Ignorance of the Self may function singly or totally

as we speak of single trees or a whole forest. The total Ignorance

of all the universe is called Maya. Its product Isvara functions as

Virat in the universal waking state; as Hiranyagarbha in the

universal dream state, and as the In-dweller in the universal

deep sleep. He is omniscient and omnipotent. Beginning with

the Will to create and ending with the entry into all creatures,

this is His samsara. The individual ignorance is said to be simply

ignorance. Its product the jiva functions respectively as visva,

taijasa and prajna in the individual waking, dream and deep

sleep states. His knowledge and capacity are limited. He is said

to be doer and enjoyer. His samsara consists of all that lies

between the present wakeful activities and final Liberation. In

this way the scriptures have made it clear that Isvara, the jiva

and the jagat are all illusory.

175-179. D.: Now, master, just as the ignorance of the

rope can give rise to the illusion only of a snake, so one’s

ignorance may spread the illusion of oneself being a jiva. But

how can it be extended to create the illusions of Isvara and

jagat as well?

M.: Ignorance has no parts; it acts as a whole and produces

all the three illusions at the same time. The jiva manifesting in

the waking and dream states, Isvara and jagat also manifest. As

the jiva is resolved, the others are also resolved. This is proved

by our experience of the waking and dream manifestations,

and their disappearance in deep sleep, swoons, death and

samadhi.

Moreover simultaneous with the final annihilation of jivahood

by knowledge the others also are finally annihilated along

with it. The sages whose ignorance has completely been lost

with all its attendant illusions and who are aware only as the

Self, directly experience the non-dual Reality. Hence it is clear

that the Ignorance of the Self is the root cause of all the three

illusions — jiva, jagat and Isvara.

180. D.: Master, should Isvara be the illusion of Ignorance,

He must manifest as such. Instead He appears as the origin of

the universe and our creator. It does not look reasonable to say

that Isvara and the jagat are both illusory products. Instead of

appearing as our creation, He appears as our creator. Is it not

contradictory?

181-183. M.: No. In dreams the dreamer sees his father

who was long ago dead. Though the father is created by himself

as an illusion of dream, the dreamer feels that the other is the

father and himself the son, and that he has inherited the father’s

property which again is his own creation. Now look how the

dreamer creates individuals and things relates himself to them

and thinks that they were before and he came after. So also

with the Isvara, the jagat and the jiva. This is only the trick of

Maya who can make the impossible possible.

D.: How is Maya so powerful?

M.: No wonder. See how an ordinary magician can make

a whole audience see a celestial city in mid air or how you can

yourself create a wonderful world of your own in your dreams.

If such is possible for individuals of mean powers, how can the

other not be possible for Maya which is the universal material

cause? To conclude, all these including Isvara, jiva and jagat are

illusory appearances resulting from one’s ignorance and

superimposed on the One Reality, the Self.

This leads us to consider the ways of removing the

superimposition.

THE REMOVAL OF

SUPERIMPOSITION

1. D.: Master, Ignorance is said to have no beginning; it

follows that it will have no end. How can the beginningless

Ignorance be dispelled? Being the ocean of mercy you can please

tell me this.

2. M.: Yes, my child; you are intelligent and can understand

subtle things. You have said right. Truly Ignorance has no beginning,

but it has an end. It is said that the rise of knowledge is the end of

Ignorance. Just as the sunrise dispels the darkness of night so also

the light of knowledge dispels the darkness of Ignorance.

3-4. To avoid confusion, everything in the world can be

considered by analysing its individual characteristics under the

categories: cause, nature, effect, limit and fruit. But the

transcendental Reality being non-dual is beyond all these

whereas all else, from Maya onwards, being wrongly seen on It,

are subject to the above analysis.

5. Of these, Maya has no antecedent cause because it is

not the product of anything preceding it, but remains in

Brahman, self evident and without beginning. Before creation

there could be no cause for its manifestation, yet it manifests

and it must be by itself.

6. D.: Is there any authority for this statement?

M.: Yes, Vasishta’s words. He says: Just as bubbles

spontaneously arise in water so also the power to manifest names

and forms rose up from the all powerful and perfect transcendental

Self.

Om Tat Sat

                                                        

(Continued...) 

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