!! Viveka Chudamani  of Shankaracharya !!

Slokas 239-242 with meanings in English

||om tat sat ||


Viveka Chudamani Slokas 239-240 - 241 -242

In the following four Slokas we have a wonderful elaboration on the Brahman, the Supreme being since it is now clear that there is only Brahman and everything else is a superimposition on that Brahman

अतः परम् ब्रह्म सदद्वितीयं
विशुद्ध विज्ञान घनं निरंजनम्।
प्रशान्तं आद्यन्तविहीनं अक्रियं
निरन्तरानन्दरस स्वरूपम्॥239||

निरस्तमायकृत सर्वभेदम्
नित्यं धृवम् निष्कलम् अप्रमेयम्
अरूपमव्यक्तमनाख्यमव्ययम्
ज्योतिः स्वयं किंचिदिदं चकास्ति॥240||


Sloka 239

अतः परम् ब्रह्म सदद्वितीयं
विशुद्ध विज्ञान घनं निरंजनम्।
प्रशान्तं आद्यन्तविहीनं अक्रियं
निरन्तरानन्दरस स्वरूपम्॥२३९॥

अतः - Hence..
That is from all that we understood from the earlier slokas, that since we have confirmed that universe is unreal, only Brahman is real. We are left with Brahman only.   All the pots of different shapes and colors for different users are all made of substratum clay only .
All the different objects we see in difefrent forms, uses, and shapes are all nothing but a form of Brahman.

Having established that we now delve into Brahman.

This eternal real Brahman has many attributes which we will now go through in four Slokas
( 239-240 -241-242 )

These tenty five attrbutes come in the four slokas. We will go through all the four Slokas, while we number th3 attributes starting sloka 239.


परम् ब्रह्म सत्  -
The Suprem Brahman is real and ..without a second

1 अद्वितीयं -  without a second .

 सत् refers to it being eternal , present in all three states or three times. If there is a second entity, say Universe which is real and different from Brahman, we know the contracdictions. We have already concluded that there is no universe independent of Brahman.  Now if there is any other third thing that is real and exists independent of Brahman, again the same arguments that applied to Universe apply to that third entity - and it leeds to the same conclusion- that it cannnot be different from Brahman. Thus, effectively there is no second entity independent of Brahman. It is without a second !


Second line of the Sloka ..
"विशुद्ध विज्ञान घनं निरंजनम्"

2 विशुद्ध विज्ञान घनं - Pure, the essence of knowledge; full of pure knowledge  that lights up all other knowledge.


3 निरंजनम् -  It is Taintless.

 Third line of the Sloka:
 प्रशान्तं आद्यन्तविहीनं अक्रियं

4 प्रशान्तं -  Pacified , supremely peaceful

It is a witness to the peace around. It is that which can tell us about the peace around. So it is even more peaceful that the peace it sees all around. It is beyond mind and intellect which cretate agitations.

5 आद्यन्तविहीनं -  Timeless, devoid of begining and end. It is not conditioned by birth or death.


6 अक्रियं - Actionless , beyond activity , free of all activity
 

Fourth line  - "निरन्तरानन्दरस स्वरूपम्"

7 निरन्तरानन्दरस स्वरूपम् -  Essence of absolute Bliss - always of the nature of bliss absolute

It is not bliss generated from seeing some object attained because of  former merits. It is bliss generated by itself from the knowledge of that ultimate knowledge.


Summary of the attributes of this Sloka 239,

The Suprem Brahman is real and without a second. It is pure knowledge that lights up all knowledge. It is Taintless. Supreme peace. Timeless and actionless. It is always of teh nature of Bliss.


Sloka 240

निरस्तमायकृत सर्वभेदम्
नित्यं सुखं निष्कलम् अप्रमेयम्
अरूपमव्यक्तमनाख्यमव्ययम्
ज्योतिः स्वयं किंचिदिदं चकास्ति॥240||


8 निरस्त मायकृत सर्वभेदम् - Beyond all diversities created by Maya ; transcends Maya and all her diversities

When everything is a supreimposition of Brahman, the differences see are due to Maya or ignorance of Brahman. Brahman itself is beyond Maya.

Second line:
नित्यं सुखम् निष्कलम् अप्रमेयम्

9 नित्यं - Eternal ; It is not condioned by time or states. Beyond three states and times ( past present and future)

10 सुखं -  Ever beyond reach of pain ; essence of joy

11 निष्कलम् -Indivisible - that which is all pervading and without a second cannot bedivided into two etc


12 अप्रमेयम् - Immesurable/unconditioned. Beyond the comprehension of the mind ,

Third line  ..
अरूपमव्यक्तमनाख्यमव्ययम्

13 अरूपं -  Formless

14 अव्यक्तम् - undifferentiated, unmanifest

15 अनाख्यम् -  Nameless

A word or a name is about type, or charatersetic or an action - that which is beyond all this can have no name describing its activity.


16 अव्ययम् -  Immutable

Fourth line

ज्योतिः स्वयं किंचिदिदं चकास्ति

17 ज्योतिः स्वयं  - Self luminous

Summary of Sloka 240 

Transcends Maya and all diversity created by Maya. It is Eternal . It is essnce of joy and beyond pain. It is indivisible. It is immeasurable. It id form less. It is nameless. It is immutable and it is self effulgent. It shine on its own.

Sloka 241

ज्ञातृज्ञानज्ञेयशून्यं
अनन्तं निर्विकल्पम्
केवलाखंडचिन्मात्रं
परं तत्त्वं विदुः बुधाः॥241||

18 ज्ञातृज्ञानज्ञेयशून्यं - No differentiation of knower, knowledge, and known ; free from distinctintions of knower, knowledge, and known. 

Second line ..  "अनन्तं निर्विकल्पम्"

19 अनन्तं  - infinite

20 निर्विकल्पम् - Transcendent, Trancedental


Third line ..
केवलाखंडचिन्मात्रं

21 & 22 केवलाखंडचिन्मात्रं - pure, indivisible essence of Knowledge absolute

Fourth line
परं तत्त्वं विदुः बुधाः-
Such Supreme truth sages have realized

Summary of Sloka 241:

Free from the triads of knower, known and knowledge. It is infinite Transcendental. It is pure and indivisible knowledge. Such Supreme Truth sages have realized

||Sloka 242||

अहेयमनुपादेयं
मनोवाचामगोचरम्।
अप्रमेयमनाद्यंतम्
ब्रह्मपूर्णमहं महः॥242

First line - अहेयं अनुपादेयं

23 अहेयं  -  That which cannot be thrown away ; that which cannot be rejected diminished or subtracted.

24 अनुपादेयं-  That which cannot be taken up , that which cannot eb accumulated or added. 

Second line ..| मनोवाचामगोचरम्

 25 मनोवाचामगोचरम् -  It is  beyond reach of mind and speech.
यतोवाचा निवर्तन्ते is what we heard in upanishads.
.

Third line  -अप्रमेयमनाद्यंतम् -
It is  beyond reach of mind and speech
Fourth line - ब्रह्म पूर्णमहम् महः ॥242||

Such is the complete Supreme being. Such is the glorious Self or Atman.

Summary of Sloka 242:

It is that which cannot be thrown away ; that which cannot be rejected diminished or subtracted. It is that which cannot be taken up , that which cannot be accumulated or added. It is  beyond reach of mind and speech. It is  beyond reach of mind and speech. Such is the complete Supreme being. Such is the glorious Self or Atman.

||Om tat sat||


ःःःःःःःःःःःःःःःःःः




























































































































































 











 













 






 






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Viveka Chudamani Slokas 239-242

with meanings in English

- Sloka Text in Devanagari

- Sloka Text in Telugu 

Om tat sat !

 

 

 

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