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vivēkacūḍāmaṇi

सर्ववेदान्तसिद्धान्तगोचरं तमगोचरम् ।
गोविन्दं परमानन्दं सद्गुरुं प्रणतोऽस्म्यहम् ॥ १ ॥

sarvavedāntasiddhāntagocaraṃ tamagocaram |
govindaṃ paramānandaṃ sadguruṃ praṇato’smyaham || 1 ||

1. I bow to Govinda, whose nature is Bliss Supreme, who is the Satguru,
  who can be known only from the import of all Vedanta,
  and who is beyond the reach of speech and mind.

लब्ध्वा कथंचिन्नरजन्म दुर्लभं
तत्रापि पुंस्त्वं श्रुतिपारदर्शनम् ।
यस्त्वात्ममुक्तौ न यतेत मूढधीः
स ह्यात्महा स्वं विनिहन्त्यसद्ग्रहात् ॥ ४ ॥

labdhvā kathaṃcinnarajanma durlabhaṃ
tatrāpi puṃstvaṃ śrutipāradarśanam |
yastvātmamuktau na yateta mūḍhadhīḥ
sa hyātmahā svaṃ vinihantyasadgrahāt || 4 ||

4. The man who, having by some means obtained a human birth, and
  mastery of the Vedas too, is foolish enough not to exert himself for self-liberation,
  verily commits suicide, for he kills himself by clinging to things unreal.

इतः को न्वस्ति मूढात्मा यस्तु स्वार्थे प्रमाद्यति ।
दुर्लभं मानुषं देहं प्राप्य तत्रापि पौरुषम् ॥ ५ ॥

itaḥ ko nvasti mūḍhātmā yastu svārthe pramādyati |
durlabhaṃ mānuṣaṃ dehaṃ prāpya tatrāpi pauruṣam || 5 ||

5. What greater fool is there than the man who having obtained a rare human body,
  and a masculine body too, neglects to achieve the real end of this life?

वदन्तु शास्त्राणि यजन्तु देवान्
कुर्वन्तु कर्माणि भजन्तु देवताः ।
आत्मैक्यबोधेन विनापि मुक्तिः
न सिध्यति ब्रह्मशतान्तरेऽपि ॥ ६ ॥

vadantu śāstrāṇi yajantu devān
kurvantu karmāṇi bhajantu devatāḥ |
ātmaikyabodhena vināpi muktiḥ
na sidhyati brahmaśatāntare’pi || 6 ||

6. Let scholars quote the scriptures and let the gods be invoked by sacrifices,
  let rituals be performed and the deities be worshipped,
  yet there is no Liberation without the realisation of one’s identity with the Ātman,
  no, not even in the lifetime of a hundred Brahmas put together.

अमृतत्वस्य नाशास्ति वित्तेनेत्येव हि श्रुतिः ।
ब्रवीति कर्मणो मुक्तेरहेतुत्वं स्फुटं यतः ॥ ७ ॥

amṛtatvasya nāśāsti vittenetyeva hi śrutiḥ |
bravīti karmaṇo mukterahetutvaṃ sphuṭaṃ yataḥ || 7 ||

7. There is no hope of immortality by means of riches – such indeed is the declaration of the Vedas. Hence it is clear that actions cannot be the cause of Liberation.



Citations


[1] The sanskritdocuments.org page displays devanagari, you can view the transliteration by selecting IAST or ISO in the upper right corner

[2] Sri Ramanasramam has made recitations of this Vivēkacūḍāmaṇi in both Tamilpdf & Sanskrit available.