Reality in Forty Verses

Sat Darsanam ^[1]

Invocation

1. If there were not being could there be any idea of being? Since that which is is free from mental concepts and is within oneself, who is there to contemplate it? It is called the heart. Know that to remain within oneself as being is to contemplate it.
2. Those who, having great fear of death, seek refuge at the feet of the Supreme Lord who is without birth and death, in order to overcome their fear. They then die to themsevles along with. their adjuncts (sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’). Will those who are (have realised themselves to be) deathless entertain again the thought of death?

The Text

•  satpratyayāḥ kiṃ nu vihāya santaṃ hṛdyeṣa cintārahito hṛdākhyaḥ ।
   kathaṃ smarāmastama meyamekaṃ tasya smṛtis tatra dṛḍhaiva niṣṭhā ॥ 1 ॥
   

  1. Since we perceive the world we must agree unanimously that there is a power which is capable of becoming multiple. The picture of name and form, he who sees it, the cloth on which it is based (painted) and the light which illuminates it are all oneself.

•  mṛtyuñ-jayaṃ mṛtyu bhiyā-śritānām ahaṃ-matir-mṛt yumupaiti pūrvam ।
   atha svabhāvād amṛteṣu teṣu kathaṃ punar mṛtyudhiyo'vakāśaḥ ॥ 2 ॥
   

  2. Every system of thought postulates the three fundamentals; individual, God and world. Only the one appears as the three. It is only as long as there is an ego-sense that one says that the three are really three. The best thing is to renounce the ego-sense and remain in one’s true state.

•  sarvairnidānaṃ jagato'hamaśca vācyaḥ prabhuḥ kaścid apāra śaktiḥ ।
   citre'tra lokyaṃ ca vilokitā ca paṭaḥ prakāśo'pyabhavatsa ekaḥ ॥ 3 ॥
   

  3. ‘The world is real’, ‘No, it is a false appearance’, ‘The world is sentient’, ‘No, it is not’, ‘The world is happiness’, ‘No, it is not’, What is the use of such disputes? That state is agreeable to all in which, ignoring the world, one knows one’s Self, abandoning both unity and duality and the ego-sense is gone.

•  ārabhyate jīvajagatparātma-tattvābhidhānena mataṃ samastam ।
   idaṃ trayaṃ yāvadahaṃmati syāt sarvottamā'haṃmatiśūnyaniṣṭhā ॥ 4 ॥ 
   

  4. If one has a form, the world and God will also have forms. If one has no form who is there to see those forms, and how? Can anything be seen without the eye? The real eye is the Self which is the eye of Infinity.

•  satyaṃ mṛṣā vā cididaṃ jaḍaṃ vā duḥkhaṃ sukhaṃ veti mudhā vivādaḥ ।
   adṛṣṭalokā nirahaṃpratīti-rniṣṭhā'vikalpā paramā'khileṣṭā ॥ 5 ॥
   

  5. The body is of the form of the five sheaths. Therefore these five are included in the term ‘body’. Is there a world in the absence of the body ?  Has any one ever seen the world without a body ?

•  sarūpabuddhirjagatīśvare ca sarūpadhīrātmani yāvadasti ।
   arūpakātmā yadi kaḥ prapaśyet sā dṛṣṭirekā'navadhirhi pūrṇā ॥ 6 ॥
   

  6. The world is of the form of the five kinds of sense objects and nothing else. These five sense-objects are known by the five sense organs. As the one mind knows the world by means of the five sense organs, is there a world apart from the mind ?  Answer (me).

•  yatpañcakośātmakamasti dehaṃ tadantarā kiṃ bhuvanaṃ cakāsti ।
   dehaṃ vinā pañcavidhaṃ tadetat paśyanti ke vā bhuvanaṃ bhaṇantu ॥ 7 ॥
   

  7. Although the world and awareness of it rise and sink together the world is perceived through awareness. That in which the world and the awareness of it rise and set is the Plenitude which shines without rising or setting.

•  śabdādirūpaṃ bhuvanaṃ samastaṃ śabdādisattendriyavṛttibhāsyā ।
   sattendriyāṇāṃ manaso vaśe syāt manomayaṃ tadbhuvanaṃ vadāmaḥ ॥ 8 ॥
   

  8. Under whatever name and form one worships That which has no name and form - it is only a means of perceiving it. To know the truth of one’s Self as the true Reality - and merge and become one with It - is the only true perception (Realization). Understand this.

•  dhiyā sahodeti dhiyāstameti lokastato dhīpravibhāsya eṣaḥ ।
   dhīlokajanmakṣayadhāma pūrṇaṃ sadvastu janmakṣayaśūnyamekam ॥ 9 ॥
   

  9. The dyads and triads always depend upon the One. If one sees within one’s mind what that One is - they disappear. Only those who have seen this have seen the Truth. Know that they will never be perturbed.

•  bhavantu saddarśanasādhanāni parasya nāmākṛtibhiḥ saparyā ।
   sadvastuni prāptadātmabhāvā niṣṭhaiva saddarśanamityavehi ॥ 10 ॥
   

  10. There is no knowledge apart from ignorance and no ignorance apart from knowledge. Who is it who has this knowledge and ignorance? That Knowledge which knows the Self which is the basis of both is the real Knowledge.

•  dvandvāni sarvāṇyakhilāstripuṭyaḥ kiñcitsamāśritya vibhānti vastu ।
   tanmārgaṇe syādgalitaṃ samastaṃ na paśyatāṃ saccalanaṃ kadāpi ॥ 11 ॥
   

  11. Is it not ignorance to know all else without knowing the Self which is the source of knowledge ? Can it be knowledge ? When the Self which is the: basis of knowledge and the object of knowledge is known, ignorance and knowledge cease to exist.

•  vidyā kathaṃ bhāti na cedavidyā vidyāṃ vinā kiṃ pravibhātyavidyā ।
   dvayaṃ ca kasyeti vicārya mūla-svarūpaniṣṭhā paramārthavidyā ॥ 12 ॥
   

  12. What is neither knowledge nor ignorance is (real) knowledge. Knowledge of (objects) cannot be real knowledge. The Self which shines without there being anything else to know or be known is knowledge. Know that it is not nothingness.

•  boddhā ramātmān amajānato yo bodhaḥ sa kiṃ syāt paramārtha bodhaḥ ।
   bodhasya bodhyasya ca saṃśrayaṃ svaṃ vijā natastad-dvitayaṃ vinaśyet ॥ 13 ॥
   

  13. That Self which is knowledge is alone the truth. The knowledge of multiplicity is ignorance. This ignorance, which is unreal, has no existence apart from the Self which is knowledge. Have diverse gold ornaments any reality apart from the gold of which they are made ?

•  nidrā na vidyā grahaṇaṃ na vidyā gṛhṇāti kiñcinna yathārthabodhe ।
   nidrā padārtha grahaṇetarā syāt cideva vidyā vilasantya śūnyā ॥ 14 ॥
   

  14. If the first person exists the second and third persons will also exist. If the reality of the first person is enquired into and the first person ceases to exist the second and third persons will (also) cease to exist and all will shine as One. This is one’s true nature.

•  satyaścidātmā vividhākṛtiścit sidhyet pṛthaksat yacito na bhinnā ।
   bhūṣāvikārāḥ kimu santi satyaṃ vinā suvarṇaṃ pṛthagatra loke ॥ 15 ॥
   

  15. The past and the future depend upon the present. They are also present while they are current. There is only the present. Without knowing this truth, trying to know the past and the future is like trying to count without the unit.

•  tadyuṣmadorasmadi sampratiṣṭhā tasmin vinaṣṭe'smadi mūlabodhāt ।
   tadyuṣmadasmanmativarjitaikā sthitir jvalantī sahajātmanaḥ syāt ॥ 16 ॥
   

  16. When we look into them, what are time and space apart from us? If we are our bodies we are involved in time and space, but are we ?  We are the same now, then and at all times, here, there, and everyhere. — We exist: we who are beyond time and space alone are.

•  bhūtaṃ bhaviṣyacca bhavatsvakāle tadvartamānasya vihāya tattvam ।
   hāsyā na kiṃ syādgatabhāvicarcā vinaikasaṅkhyāṃ gaṇaneva loke ॥ 17 ॥
   

  17. To those who have not realized the Self as well as to those who have, the body is ‘I’. To those who have not realized - the ‘I’ is limited to the body. To those who have, within the body, realized the Self the ‘I’ shines boundless. Know that this is the difference between them.

•  kva bhāti dikkālakathā vinā'smān dikkālalīleha vapurvayaṃ cet ।
   na kvāpi bhāmo na kadāpi bhāmo vayaṃ tu sarvatra sadā ca bhāmaḥ ॥ 18 ॥
   

  18. The world is real to those who have realized (the Sclf) as well as to those who have not. To those who have not realized, the world is merely the world; to those who have, truth is formless and shines as the substratum of the world. Know that this is the difference between them.

•  dehātmabhāve jñajaḍau samānā-vekasya dehe hṛdi dīpta ātmā ।
   ākramya dehaṃ ca jagacca pūrṇaḥ parasya meyaṃ tanumātramātmā ॥ 19 ॥
   

  19. The dispute as to which prevails, fate or free-will, interests only those who do not know the source of both. Those who have realized the Self which is the ground of fate and free-will are free from them. Will they again resort to them ?

•  ajñasya vijñasya ca viśvamasti pūrvasya dṛśyaṃ jagadeva satyam ।
   parasya dṛśyāśrayabhūtamekaṃ satyaṃ prapūrṇaṃ pravibhātyarūpam ॥ 20 ॥
   

  20. Seeing God without seeing the Self who sees is only a mental image. Only he who has seen himself has seen God, since he has lost his individuality and nothing remains but God.

•  vidheḥ prayatnasya ca ko'pi vāda-stayordvayormūlamajānatāṃ syāt ।
   vidheḥ prayatnasya ca mūlavastu sañjānatāṃ naiva vidhirna yatnaḥ ॥ 21 ॥
   

  21. If it be asked, ‘What is the meaning of the old scriptural texts which speak of seeing oneself as seeing God?’ the reply is the counter-question "how, being one, can one see oneself ?"  And if one cannot see oneself how is one to see God? Only by being swallowed up by God.

•  yadīśiturvīkṣaṇamīkṣitāra-mavīkṣya tanmānasikekṣaṇaṃ syāt ।
   na draṣṭuranyaḥ paramo hi tasya vīkṣā svamūle pravilīya niṣṭhā ॥ 22 ॥
   

  22. How is it possible for the mind to know the Lord who imparts His light to the mind and shines within the mind except by turning the mind inward and fixing it in the Lord?

•  ātmānamīkṣeta paraṃ prapaśye-dityāgamokteḥ sulabho na bhāvaḥ ।
   nātmaiva dṛśyo yadi kā katheśe svayaṃ tadannībhavanaṃ tadīkṣā ॥ 23 ॥
   

  23. This body, does not say ‘I’. Nobody says ‘I did not exist during sleep’. Once the ‘I’ arises everything arises. Enquire with a keen mind whence this ‘I’ arises.

•  dhiye prakāśaṃ paramo vitīrya svayaṃ dhiyo'ntaḥ pravibhāti guptaḥ ।
   dhiyaṃ parāvartya dhiyontare'tra saṃyojanānneśvaradṛṣṭiranyā ॥ 24 ॥
   

  24. The inert body does not say ‘I’. Being-Consciousousness does not rise (and set). Between them and limited to the measure of the body something emerges as ‘I'. It is this that is known as the knot between the consciousness and the inert and also as bondage, individual being, subtle body, ego, the samsara, mind. This know.

•  na vakti deho'hamiti prasuptau na ko'pi nābhūvamiti pravakti ।
   yatrodite sarvamudeti tasya dhiyā'hamaḥ śodhaya janmadeśam ॥ 25 ॥
   

  25. Attaching itself to a form (that is, the body) this formless ghost of an ego comes into existence. Attaching itself to a form it endures. Attaching itself to a form it feeds (experiences) and grows. On relinquishing one form it attaches itself to another. But when sought after it takes to flight. This know.

•  deho na jānāti sato na janma dehapramāṇo'nya udeti madhye ।
   ahaṅkṛtigranthivibandhasūkṣma-śarīracetobhavajīvanāmā ॥ 26 ॥
   

  26. If the ego is, everything else is too. If the ego is not, nothing else is. Indeed the ego is everything. Therefore the enquiry what it is really means giving up everything. This know.

•  rūpodbhavo rūpatatipratiṣṭho rūpāśano dhūtagṛhītarūpaḥ ।
   svayaṃ virūpaḥ svavicārakāle dhāvatyahaṅkārapiśāca eṣaḥ ॥ 27 ॥
   

  27. The state in which the ‘I’ does not arise is the state of being ‘That’. Without seeking the place from which the ‘I' arises, how is one to bring about the extinction of oneself characterised by the non-arising of the ‘I’ ?  And without effecting that extinction how is one to abide in one’s true State in which one is That ?  Answer me.

•  bhāve'hamaḥ sarvamidaṃ vibhāti laye'hamo naiva vibhāti kiñcit।
   tasmādahaṃrūpamidaṃ samastaṃ tanmārgaṇaṃ sarvajayāya mārgaḥ ॥ 28 ॥
   

  28. Just as one would dive into water to see (recover) an article which had fallen in one should dive deep into oneself with speech and breath restrained, and find out the place from which the ‘I’ arises. This know.

•  satyā sthitirnāhamudeti yatra taccodayasthānagaveṣaṇena ।
   vinā na naśyedyadi tanna naśyet svātmaikyarūpā kathamastu niṣṭhā ॥ 29 ॥
   

  29. Seeking the source of the ‘I’ inwardly, with the inturned mind, without uttering the word ‘I’ is the true path of Knowledge. Meditation on ‘I am not this’, 'I am that’ may be auxiliary but cannot be the enquiry.

•  kūpe yathā gāḍhajale tathānta-rnimajjya buddhyā śitayā nitāntam ।
   prāṇaṃ ca vācaṃ ca niyamya cinvan vindennijāhaṅkṛtimūlarūpam ॥ 30 ॥
   

  30. When the mind, turning inward, inquires, ‘Who am I? and reaches the heart, that which is ‘I’ (ego) sinks crestfallen and the One (Self) appears of its own accord as ‘I-I’. Though it appears thus it is not the ego; it is the Whole. It is the real Self.

•  maunena majjanmanasā svamūla-carcaiva satyātmavicāraṇaṃ syāt ।
   eṣo'hametanna mama svarūpa-miti pramā satyavicāraṇāṅgam ॥ 31 ॥
   

  31. To one who has destroyed himself (his ego) and is awake to his nature as bliss, what remains to be accomplished ? He does not see anything (as being) other than himself. Who can comprehend his state?

•  gaveṣaṇātprāpya hṛdantaraṃ tat patedahantā paribhugnaśīrṣā ।
   athāhamanyatsphurati prakṛṣṭaṃ nāhaṅkṛtistatparameva pūrṇam ॥ 32 ॥
   

  32. Although the scriptures proclaim “That thou art’ it is a sign of weakness to meditate: ‘I am not this but That’ instead of enquiring what one is and remaining so; for one is always That.

•  ahaṅkṛtiṃ yo lasati grasitvā kiṃ tasya kāryaṃ pariśiṣṭamasti ।
   kiñcidvijānāti sa nātmano'nyat tasya sthitiṃ bhāvayituṃ kṣamaḥ kaḥ ॥ 33 ॥
   

  33. [It is absurd to say either: ‘I have not realized the Self’ or ‘I have realized the Self. Why ?  Are there two selves for one to be the object of the other ?  It is the experience of all that it (the Self) is one.

•  āha sphuṭaṃ tattvamasīti veda-stathāpyasamprāpya parātmaniṣṭhām ।
   bhūyo vicāro matidurbalatvaṃ tatsarvadā svātmatayā hi bhāti ॥ 34 ॥
   

  34. It is due to the illusion born of Ignorance that, instead of realizing that which is always the nature of every one and which shines in the heart and abiding as that, men dispute whether it is or is not, has form or not, is single or dual or neither.  Be

•  na vedmyahaṃ māmuta vedmyahaṃ mā-miti pravādo manujasya hāsyaḥ ।
   dṛgdṛśyabhedāt kimayaṃ dvidhātmā svātmaikatāyāṃ hi dhiyāṃ na bhedāḥ ॥ 35 ॥
   

  35. To realize the Self which is always present and to remain as that - is (the real) attainment. All other attainments are like those which appear in a dream. Are these real when one awakes? Will those who have got rid of delusion and are established in their true state be deluded againi ?

•  hṛtprāpya saddhāma nijasvarūpe svabhāvasiddhe'nupalabhya niṣṭhām ।
   māyāvilāsaḥ sadasatsarūpa-virūpanānaikamukhapravādāḥ ॥ 36 ॥
   

  36. If we think, ‘I am the body’, the thought, ‘no, I am That’ will help us to abide as That; but should we keep on thinking that ?  Does (a man) keep on thinking he is a man? We just are That.

•  siddhasya vittiḥ sata eva siddhiḥ svapnopamānāḥ khalu siddhayo'nyāḥ ।
   svapnaḥ prabuddhasya kathaṃ nu satyaḥ sati sthitaḥ kiṃ punareti māyām ॥ 37 ॥
   

  37. The precept; ‘duality while seeking and non-duality on attainment’ is not right. Who else is one but the tenth man^[2]  both while anxiously searching for one’s Self and after attaining one’s Self?

•  so'haṃvicāro vapurātmabhāve sāhāyyakārī paramārgaṇasya ।
   svātmaikyasiddhau sa punarnirartho yathā naratvapramitirnarasya ॥ 38 ॥
   

  38. As long as we are the performers of actions we have to undergo their consequences but when, as a result of enquiring who is the performer, one knows one-self, the sense of being the performer is lost and one is set free from the three kinds of karma !  The resulting state of Liberation is eternal.

•  dvaitaṃ vicāre paramārthabodhe tvadvaitamityeṣa na sādhuvādaḥ ।
   gaveṣaṇātprāgdaśame vinaṣṭe paścācca labdhe daśamatvamekam ॥ 39 ॥
   

  39. It is only so long as the thought ‘I am bound’ continues that the thoughts of bondage and liberation continue. When, through the enquiry ‘Who is bound?’ one sees (realizes) one’s Self, the ever-attained and eternally free Self. alone remains. The thought of bondage.does not remain, so how can the thought of Liberation ?

•  karomi karmeti naro vijānan bādhyo bhavetkarmaphalaṃ ca bhoktum ।
   vicāradhūtā hṛdi kartṛtā cet karmatrayaṃ naśyati saiva muktiḥ ॥ 40 ॥
   

  40. If it is said that Liberation is of three kinds, with form, without form and with and without form, we say Liberation is the destruction of the ego which discusses whether it is with form, without form or with and without form.

•  baddhatvabhāve sati mokṣacintā bandhastu kasyeti vicāraṇena ।
   siddhe svayaṃ svātmani nityamukte kva bandhacintā kva ca mokṣacintā ॥ 41 ॥
   

•  rūpiṇyarūpiṇyubhayātmikā ca muktistrirūpeti vido vadanti ।
   idaṃ trayaṃ yā vivinaktyahandhī-stasyāḥ praṇāśaḥ paramārthamuktiḥ ॥ 42 ॥
   

•  saddarśanaṃ drāviḍavāṅnibaddhaṃ maharṣiṇā śrīramaṇena śuddham ।
   prabandhamutkṛṣṭamamartyavāṇyā-manūdya vāsiṣṭhamunirvyatānīt ॥ 43 ॥
   

•  sattattvasāraṃ saralaṃ dadhānā mumukṣulokāya mudaṃ dadānā ।
   amānuṣaśrīramaṇīyavāṇī-mayūkhabhittirmunivāg vibhāti ॥ 44 ॥
   

•   ॥ saddarśanaṃ samāptam ॥