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Hindu Bhakti Stotras (Devotional Hymns) Index
Vakya Vritti
By Adi Shankaracharya; Translated by Swami Chinmayananda; Published by Chinmaya Mission
Works of Adi Shankaracharya, Stotras of Adi Shankaracharya, Hymns of Adi Shankara, Gauri Dasakam, Govindashtakam, Dakshinamuthy Stotram, Brahma Jnanavali Mala, Bhashyas of Adi Shankara, Soundaryalahari, Shivanandalahari, Atma Bhodh
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An Exhaustive Explanation of the Statement - “That Thou Art” [Tat Twam Asi]
1.
I bow down to that Pure Consciousness Divine – a shoreless ocean of
happiness, which is All-pervading (Vishnu), the Beloved of Shri, the
all-knowing Lord of the Universe, assuming endless forms and yet
ever-free, having an inscrutable power to become (apparently) the Cause
of creation, maintenance, and dissolution of the universe.
2. Again
and again I Prostrate at the feet of my Guru, by whose grace I have
come to realise, “I alone am the All-pervading Essence (Vishnu)”, and
that “the world of multiplicity is all a super-imposition upon myself.”
3.
Scorched by the blazing sun of the three miseries, a student – dejected
with the world and restless for release, having cultivated all the
means of liberation especially such virtues as self-control etc. –
enquires of a noble teacher:
4. “Merely out of your grace and mercy,
holy Teacher, please explain to me briefly the means by which I may
easily get liberated from the sorrows of this bondage-to-change”.
5.
The teacher said: “Your question is valid, and so very clearly
expressed, I shall answer it exhaustively to make it as vivid to you as
though you are seeing it near”.
6. Direct knowledge of that total
identity between the individual-Self and the Universal-Self, stemming
forth from the Vedic statements such as “Thou art that”, etc., is the
immediate means to liberation.
7. The disciple said: “What is the
individualised Self ? What, then, is the Universal Self ? How can they
both be identical ? And, how can statements like “That thou art”
discuss and prove this identity ?”
8. The teacher said: “I shall
answer your question. Who else can be the individual Self (Jiva) other
than yourself, that asks me this question, “Who am I ?”. There is no
doubt about it. You alone are the Brahman.
9. The disciple said: Not
even the word meaning do I fully grasp clearly; how can I then
comprehend the significance of the sentence, “I am Brahman” ?
10.
The teacher said: “You have said the truth when you complained that the
knowledge and understanding of the meaning of the words employed in a
sentence are indeed the cause of the understanding of the full
significance of the sentence. And there are no two opinions about it.”
11.
“Why do you not recognise your own Self, which is an embodiment of
Eternal Bliss-Essence, the Witnessing Light that illumines the inner
equipments and their functions ?”
12. “Give up the intellectual
misconception that the Self is the body, etc., and always meditate upon
and think yourself to be the eternal Knowledge-Bliss – the Witness of
the intellect – a sheer mass of Pure Knowledge”.
13. “The body is
not the Self, as like the pot, etc., the body also has form, etc., and
again, the body is a modification of the great elements such as Akash,
just like the pot”.
14. The disciple said: “If, by the strength of
these arguments, the gross-body is considered as “not-Self”, then
please exhaustively explain and directly indicate the Self – as clearly
as a fruit in hand”.
15. The teacher said: “Just as the perceiver of
a pot is ever distinctly different from the pot and can never be the
pot – so too, you, the perceiver of your body, are distinct from your
body and can never be the body – this you firmly ascertain in yourself.”
16.
“Similarly be sure in yourself that you, the seer of the senses, are
not the senses themselves, and ascertain that you are neither the mind,
not the intellect, not the vital air (Prana).”
17. “Similarly be
sure that you are not the complex of the gross and the subtle-bodies,
and intelligently determine, by inference, that you, the ‘seer’, are
entirely distinct from the ‘seen’.”
18. “’I am He’, the One because
of whose presence alone the inert entities like the body and the
senses, are able to function through acceptance and rejection”.
19. “’I am He’, the One changeless, Innermost Self that moves the intellect, etc., as a magnet does the iron filings.”
20.
“’I am He’, the One Entity in whose vital presence the body, senses,
mind, and Pranas, though inert in themselves, appear to be conscious
and dynamic, as though they are the Self.”
21. “‘He am I’, the One
Consciousness, which is the Self that illumines the modifications in my
mind such as ‘my mind went elsewhere, however, it has been brought to
rest now’, – ‘He am I’ (So’ham).”
22. “’He am I’, the One
Consciousness which is the Changeless Self that is directly cognised,
that illumines the three states of waking, dream, and deep-sleep, and
that which illumines appearance and disappearance of the intellect and
its functions – ‘He am I’ (So’ham).”
23. “Know yourself to be the
One Self, a homogenous mass of Consciousness, which is the illuminator
of the body and therefore quite distinct from it – just as a lamp that
illumines a pot is always different from the pot illumined. ‘I am a
mass of Consciousness’ (Aham bodhavigraha).”
24. “Know yourself to
be the One for whose sake beings and things such as children and wealth
– are dear, who is the sole seer and dearest of all. ‘He am I’ –
ascertain thus and realise, So’ham.”
25. “Know yourself to be the
One regarding whom there is always the anxiety, ‘May I ever be; never
cease to be’, as this Seer is the dearest of all. ‘He am I’ – thus
assert and realise.”
26. “The Consciousness, the Self, which appears
as the Witness, is that which is meant by the word ‘thou’. Being free
from all changes even the witnessing is nothing but the
illumining-power of the Self.”
27. “Totally distinct from body,
senses, mind, Prana and Ego is that which is the Self; therefore, It is
absolutely free from the six-modifications, which all material things
must necessarily undergo. This Self is the indicative meaning of the
term “thou”.
28. “Having thus ascertained the meaning of the term
“thou” one should reflect upon what is meant by the word “that” –
employing both the method of negation and also the direct method of
scriptural assertion.”
29. “’That’, which is free from all the
impurities of the Samsara, ‘that’ which is defined by the Upanishads
as: ‘Not large etc., having the qualities of imperceptible etc., that
is beyond all darkness created by ignorance”.
30. “Having no greater
Bliss than Itself, a pure embodiment of External Consciousness, and
having ‘existence’ for its specific definition, is the All-Pervading
Being – is the meaning indicated by the term ‘that’; so, the scriptures
declare in their songs.”
31. “That which is proved in the Vedas as
All-knowing, All-powerful and Supreme Lord, is Itself the Infinite
Brahman… make sure of that Brahman in your own understanding.”
32.
“That which the scriptures have discussed through examples of mud etc.,
as that by knowing which all else will become known … make sure of that
Brahman in your understanding.”
33. “That which the scriptures
propose to prove as a limitless, and in order to support that
proposition, called the World of Plurality as Its effects .. make sure
of that Brahman in your understanding.”
34. “That which the
Upanishads clearly establish as the sole object of deep contemplation
for those who are sincere seekers of liberation – make sure of that
Brahman in your understanding.”
35. “That which is heard of in the
Vedas ‘as having entered each creature as its individualised self’, and
which is known, from the same sources, to be their controller – make
sure of that Brahman in your understanding.”
36. “That which the
Upanishads declare as the sole paymaster for all action, and as the
very agent (prompter) in all actions, performed by each individualised
ego – make sure of that Brahman in your understanding.”
37. “The
meaning of the terms ‘that’ and ‘thou’ have been discussed and finally
determined. Now we shall discuss the meaning of the commandment
(Mahavakya) ‘That thou art’. In this, the total identity of the
meanings of ‘that’ and ‘thou’ alone is shown.”
38. “What is meant by
the sentence (commandment ‘That thou art’) is not arrived at, either
through its ‘sequence-of meaning’ or as ‘qualified-by-something’. An
indivisible Being, consisting of Bliss only – this alone is the meaning
of the sentence, according to the wise.”
39. “What appears (anjati)
as the Witnessing-Consciousness within, (the individual-Self), is of
the nature of Bliss, One-without-a-second; and the one that is the
Bliss within is none other than the individualised-Self the Witnessing
Consciousness within.”
40. “When, as explained above, the mutual
identity between the two words ‘thou’ and ‘that’ is comprehended, then
the idea ‘I am not Brahman’, entertained by ‘thou’, shall immediately
end.”
41. “If as said, the depth-meaning of the term ‘that’ is
‘Mass-of Bliss, without-second’, and ‘thou’ is the
‘Witnessing-Consciousness’, then what ? Listen: the Inner-self, the
Consciousness, that illumines all thoughts, remains as the All-full,
One-Mass-of Bliss, without-a-second.”
42. “The great statements,
like ‘That thou art’, established the identity of what is meant by the
two terms ‘thou’ and ‘That’ in their deeper indicative-meaning.”
43.
“How great statement discards the two qualified-meanings, and reveals
what it really means – this we have carefully commented upon already.”
44.
‘That which shines, as the object of the idea and the word ‘I’, is
Consciousness expressing in the inner equipments. This is the direct
word-meaning of ‘thou’ (twam).”
45. “The Consciousness that is
expressed through Maya, which then becomes the ‘cause of the Universe’,
which is described as omnipresent, etc.; that which is known only
indirectly (meditate); and which is having the nature of existence,
etc., -- that Eswara is the word-meaning of the term ‘That’.”
46.
“In case we insist upon the identity of ‘that’ and ‘thou’ based upon
the word-meaning of these terms, then for one and the same factor we
will have to attribute contrary nature; the quality of being mediately
and immediately known – and also insist qualities of ‘existence of
duality’ and also of ‘absolute oneness’, for one and the same factor.
Identity between such contrariness is impossible hence
suggestive-meaning, ‘explanation by implication’ has to be accepted.”
47.
“If the direct word-meaning throws up an inconsistency with what is
pointed out by other proofs and evidences, the sense consistent with
its word-meaning that is intelligently suggested by the term, is to be
accepted – and this is its suggestive-meaning (lakshana).”
48. “In
the statements like ‘that thou art’ etc., the reject-accept method is
to be employed as in the sentence ‘He is this man’. No other method can
be applied.”
49. “Until the direct personal experience of ‘I am
Brahman’ is gained, we must live values of self-control, etc., and
practice listening to teachers, or reading scriptures, and doing daily
reflection and meditation upon those ideas.”
50. “Through the grace
of a spiritual teacher when a seeker gains a clear and direct
experience of the Supreme Self as expounded in the scriptures, he, the
realised, becomes free from all ‘ignorance’, which is the foundation
for the entire experience of this world of plurality.”
51. “No more
conditioned by his gross and subtle bodies, free from the embrace of
the gross and subtle elements, released from the charm of actions, such
a man gets immediately liberated.”
52. “The liberated-in-life, due
to the compelling force of those actions that have begun to produce
their results (Prarabdha), remains for some time to exhaust them”.
53.
“The liberated-in-life comes to gain the State of Absolute Oneness, the
never-ending immeasurable Bliss, called the Supreme Abode-of-Vishnu,
from wherein there is no return.”
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