THE WORKS OF SANKARA

VIVEKA CHUDAMANI

SLOKAS 501 TO 510

upa¢Draya¢t    s    ev    gÅC¢t
s    ev    kmaI¢N    kraE¢t    B¤Hq³E    ,
s    ev    j£yaIn¯    ¢m#ytE    sdah|
k[la¢d#va¢°àl    ev    s|¢ÞTt:    .   501   .
 
upa¢Draya¢t   the Upadhi (superimposed attribute) that comes
s   ev   it is that alone
gÅC¢t   which goes
s   ev   that, again
kmaI¢N   actions
kraE¢t   performs
B¤Hq³E   experiences (their fruits)
s   ev   and that
j£yaIn¯   that alone decays
¢m#ytE   and dies
sdah|   I ever
k[la¢d#va¢°àl  ev   firm like the Kula mountain
s|¢ÞTt:   remain
 
501. The  upadhi  is transient, does actions, enjoys, suffers, decays  and  dies. But   I  remain unmoved, fixed like the mountain.

n    mE    p#v¦¢äOnI    c    mE    ¢nv¦¢äO:
sdWkãpÞy    ¢nr|SkÞy      ,
ekaÏmkaE    yaE    ¢n¢bfaE    ¢nrÓtraE
ÛyaEmEv    p¥NI:    s    kT|       cE¾tE    .   502   .
 
n   neither
mE   for me
p#v¦¢äOnI  c   engaging in work
mE   ¢nv¦¢äO:   nor cessation from it
sdWkãpÞy   always the same
¢nr|SkÞy   and devoid of parts
ekaÏmkaE   is One
yaE   which
¢n¢bfaE   concentrated
¢nrÓtraE   without break
ÛyaEmEv   like the sky
p¥NI:   and infinite
s   that
kT|   how can
cE¾tE   ever strive?
 
502. I remain one, indivisible, without parts, with no desire or cessation of desire. How can one Universal whole like the sky be engaged in action?
 p¤Îya¢n    papa¢n    ¢n¢r¢Ód#yÞy
¢nàEtsaE    ¢n¢vIk]tE¢nIrak]tE:    ,
k[taE    mmaKÎfs¤Kan¤B¥tE
b#¥tE    /nÓvagt¢mÏy¢p    ½¤¢t:    .   503   .
 
 p¤Îya¢n   merits
papa¢n   and demerits
¢n¢r¢Ód#yÞy   who am without organs
¢nàEtsaE   without mind
¢n¢vIk]tE¢nIrak]tE:   changeless and formless
k[taE   how can
mmaKÎfs¤Kan¤B¥tE   for me,who am the realization of Bliss Absolute?
b#¥tE   mentions this
/nÓvagt¢mÏy¢p   in the passage,"Not touched,"etc.,
½¤¢t:   the Sruti also
 
503. For him  who  is  one,  indivisible,  blissful  consciousness, how can there be body, mind, form, change, action, merit, demerit ?
 
Cayya    Þp¦¾m¤ÝN|    va    S£t|    va    s¤¿¤    Ѥ¿¤    va    ,
n    Þp¦SÏyEv    y¢³¢·Ïp¤âx|    t¢¹lXNm¯    .   504   .
 
Cayya   happens to touch the shadow
Þp¦¾m¤ÝN|  va   of a man's body, if heat
S£t|   va   or cold
¿¤   Ѥ¿¤   va   or good or evil
n   Þp¦SÏyEv   it affects not in the least
y¢³¢·Ïp¤âx|    the man himself
t¢¹lXNm¯   who is distinct from the shadow.

504. What  touches  the  shadow, good or bad, heat  or cold, cannot  touch the substance, the separate Purusha.
 
n    sa¢XN|    saßyDmI:    s|Þp¦S¢Ót    ¢vlXNm¯    ,
A¢vkarm¤das£n|    g¦hDmaI:    p#d£pvt¯    .   505   .  
n   sa¢XN|   the Witness
saßyDmI:   the properties of things
s|Þp¦S¢Ót   do not affect
¢vlXNm¯   which is distinct from them
A¢vkarm¤das£n|   changeless and indifferent
g¦hDmaI:   as the properties of a room (do
p#d£pvt¯   the lamp (that illuminates it).
 
505. The witness is not  affected  by whatever affects the  things  witnessed, as  the  things  in  a  room  do not  affect  a  lamp  which  reveals  them but yet   remains  separate.  
rvEyITa    kmI¢N    sa¢XBavaE   vþEyITa    dah¢nyamkÏvm¯    ,
rÇjaEyITa{{raE¢ptvÞt¤sÄñÞtTWv    k\zÞT¢cdaÏmnE    mE    .   506   .
 
rvEyITa   as the sun
kmI¢N   of men's actions
sa¢XBavaE   is a mere witness
vþEyITa   as fire
dah¢nyamkÏvm¯   burns everything without distinction
rÇjaEyITa{{raE¢ptvÞt¤sÄñ    and as the rope is related to a thing superimposed on it
ÞtTWv   so
k\zÞT¢cdaÏmnE   the unchangeable Self,the Intelligence Absolute
mE   am I
 
506.The connection of  everything  with  me, the  Pure Intelligence, is like the   Sun that witnesses and the fire that burns (one unchanging the other changing).
 
ktaI¢p    va    kar¢yta¢p    va    nah|
BaE³a¢p    va    BaEj¢yta¢p    nahm¯    ,
d#¾a¢p    va    dSI¢yta¢p    nah|
saE{h|    Þvy|ÇyaE¢trn£ègaÏma    .   507   .  
ktaI¢p   va   I neither do
kar¢yta¢p   va   make others do any action
nah|   nor
BaE³a¢p   va   enjoy
BaEj¢yta¢p   nor make others enjoy
nahm¯   I neither
d#¾a¢p   va   see
dSI¢yta¢p   nor make others see
nah|   I neither
saE{h|   I am
Þvy|ÇyaE¢trn£ègaÏma    that Selfeffulgent,Transcendent Atman.

507. I  am  not  the  doer  or the  enjoyer and  do not cause others to enjoy.  I   am not  the  seer, nor  cause others  to see.  I  am  the self-effulgent,  indefinable   Atman.  
clÏy¤paDaW    p#¢t¢bØblaWÚy
maWpa¢Dk|    m¥F¢DyaE    ny¢Ót    ,
Þv¢bØbB¥t|    r¢vv¢¹¢n¢Ý@y|
ktaI¢Þm    BaE³a¢Þm    htaE{¢Þm    hE¢t    .   508   .  
clÏy¤paDaW   when the supervening adjunct (Upadhi) like water is moving
p#¢t¢bØblaWÚy   of the reflection
maWpa¢Dk|   the resulting movement
m¥F¢DyaE   by fools
ny¢Ót   is ascribed
Þv¢bØbB¥t|   to the object reflected
r¢vv¢¹¢n¢Ý@y|   such as the sun, which is free from activity
ktaI¢Þm   (and they think) "I am the doer"
BaE³a¢Þm   "I am the experiencer"
htaE{¢Þm   "I am killed"
hE¢t   "oh, alas!"
 
508. When  the  upadhi  moves, the fool thinks  that  the  subject moves. Only the   fool thinks:  "I do,  I  enjoy,  I  am  born, I   die. The subject is always actionless  like the Sun.  
jlE    va¢p    ÞTlE    va¢p    l¤ZÏvEx    jfaÏmk:    ,
nah|    ¢v¢lÔyE    tѯDm©IGIzDm©InIBaE    yTa    .   509   .  
jlE   va¢p   in water
ÞTlE   va¢p   or on land
l¤ZÏvEx   drop down
jfaÏmk:   let this inert body
nah|   I am not
¢v¢lÔyE   touched
tѯDm©IGIzDm©InIBaE   its properties, like the sky by the properties of the jar
yTa   by
 
509. Let  this  body  fall  on  land  or  water, I  remain  untouched  by  its  properties,  just as  the sky  is  untouched  by  the  jar.
 
kt¯rqiIÏvBaE³]ÏvKlÏvmäOta    -
jfÏvbѯDÏv¢vm¤³tady:    ,
b¤Ñ¯DE¢vIkÚpa    n       s¢Ót    vÞt¤t:
Þv¢ÞmÓprE    b#'¢N    kEvlE{¹yE    .   510   .
 
kt¯rqiIÏvBaE³]ÏvKlÏvmäOta    such as agency, experience, cunning, drunkenness
jfÏvbѯDÏv¢vm¤³tady:    dullness, bondage, and freedom are
b¤Ñ¯DE¢vIkÚpa   the passing states of the Buddhi
n   s¢Ót    are never
vÞt¤t:   in reality
Þv¢ÞmÓprE   in the Self
b#'¢N   the Supreme Brahman
kEvlE{¹yE   the Absolute, the One without a second.
 
510. The  state  of  being  the  doer,  the  enjoyer, of being in different states  are   the marks  of  intellect, and these do  not  exist  in  me,  the Supreme  Brahman,   One   without   a   second.
     


PROCEED TO SLOKAS 511 TO 520
RETURN TO INDEX OF VIVEKA CHUDAMANI