!! Viveka Chudamani of Shankaracharya !!
Slokas 247-248 with meanings in English
||om tat sat ||
Viveka Chudamani Slokas 247-248
Inquiry into Mahavakyas :
In slokas from 243 to 251 Master
explains the Sruti Statement - "That thou art"
What we heard so far :
The one-ness of Brahman and Jiva which is
proposed in the Maha Vakya - तत्वमसि - "That you
are" - comes out of the implied meaning
of Brahman and Jiva - but not through the
literal meanings of the corresponding words. The
literal meanings of the words some times take
you to meanigs which place words in in opposition
with no commonality. Examples of such contrasting
nature are: a glow worm and Sun; King and his
servants; a well and the ocean; and a tiny Atom and
Mount Meru.
Guru then elaborated that the difference seen in
Paramatman and Jiva is because of the title given to
each. Pramatman's Upadhi is his Maya which created
the universe. The Jiva is nothing but the
composition of five sheaths. , Guru says 'Removing
Iswara's Maya and Jiva's five sheaths there is no
Isvara and there is no Jiva. And he gives the
example of the King and his servant. .
Now slokas 247-248:
Sloka 247
अथात आदेश इति शृतिः स्वयं
निषेधति ब्रह्मणि कल्पित स्वयं।
शृतिप्रमाणानुगृहीत बोधात्
तयोः निरासः करणीय एव ॥247||
first line:
अथात आदेश इति शृतिः स्वयं
’अथात आदेशो नेति नेति’
now in these words of Sruti, 'not this' , 'not this'
etc
Here Guru is reacalling an instruction from
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which goes about saying
'not this' , 'not this' etc; We will hear
about that instruction presently.
second line:
निषेधति ब्रह्मणि कल्पित स्वयं।
itself rejects the duality imagined in Brahman
From the instruction of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad ’
अथात आदेशो नेति नेति.." etc, the duality imagined in
Braham is rejected. Brahman is without a second.
Just as we noted that every pot seen is nothing but
the clay, which is the substratum on which different
pots are seen with different shapes and colours
; similarly universe is not independent of the
Brahman, the cause. We have gone through the logic
of contradictions that it entails if we see them as
independent; The conclusion is that universe is a
super imposition on the substratum that is Brahman.
There is no duality. Here Guru is not referring to
the logic of why they are separate. His assertion is
based on what we heard from Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad. He continues with Sruti's instruction.
Third line
शृतिप्रमाणानुगृहीत बोधात्;
’with the authority of Sruti instruction and the
knowledge there of'
With the knowledge that Brahman is the substartum of
everything ( there is no second cause) as instructed
in Srutis, we will come back to see the Upadhis of
Iswara/Paramatman and Jiva which we know-
Iswara's Upadhi is Maya
Jiva's upadhi is the bag of five sheaths
Fourth line
तयोः निरासः करणीय एव
The elimination of both conditionings can be done
So summary of Sloka ||247||:
’अथात आदेशो नेति नेति’ now in these words of
Sruti, 'not this' , 'not this' etc from Sruti
, itself rejects the duality imagined in
Brahman. With the authority of Sruti instruction and
the knowledge there of, the elimination of both
conditionings can be done ||247||
In the earlier Sloka , Guru said, सम्यक् निरास्ते न
परो न जीवः ", that if the conditioning is
removed there is no Iswar and no Jiva; Here quoting
Srutis, Guru is confirming that such removal of
conditiong can be done without any doubt.
After removing the conditioning what is left is
Atman, which is same as Brahman is the conclusion we
should be reaching in the subsequent Slokas.
We follow Gurus teaching.
Sloka - 248:
नेदं नेदं कल्पितत्वात् न सत्यं
रज्जो द्रष्टव्यालवत्स्वप्नवत् च।
इत्थम् दृश्यं साधु युक्ता व्यपोह्य
ज्ञेयः पश्चात् एकभावस्तयोर्यः॥248||
Firts line:
नेदं नेदं कल्पितत्वात् न सत्यं
’not this not this we say because a product of
imagination is not real , and cannot be true.'
The logic of 'not this', 'not this' comes because,
those things which are rejected, are products of
imagination or illusions seen in delusion. Guru
gives examples to support his line.
Even before Guru tells us his examples, we remeber
our lesson about five sheaths. We rejected each
sheath as not Atman, because that sheath as self is
a imagined feeling only. When we remove part of the
sheath in Annamaya Kosa, the Self is still there, as
a witness. That mind is Self, is an imagination of
the ego centric one. That it is not Self , is what
we know.
Guru has his example snake and rope as well as dream
Second line
रज्जो द्रष्टव्यालवत् स्वप्नवत् च।
’like the rope seen as a snake, like the dream ( in
a sleep)'
The snake, seen being part of imagination, is not
true. So is the dream seen in a sleep which
disappears on waking up. Only rope is true and Dream
is illusion.
Third line :
इत्थम् दृश्यं साधु युक्ता व्यपोह्य
’thus having intelligently eliminated (by
reasoning), what is seen'
Fourth line
ज्ञेयः पश्चात् एकभावस्तयोर्यः।
ज्ञेयः पश्चात् एकभावः तयोः यः
पश्चात् तयो यः एकभावः ज्ञेयः ।
’there after see the one -ness among them'
So by intelligently using reasoning eliminating the
title related conditioning, one can see the one-ness
among Paramatman and the Jiva.
That is the summary of the sloka.
Sloka 248 - summary:
'Not this', 'not this', we say because a product of
imagination is not real and cannot be true, like the
rope seen as a snake, and like the dream (in a
sleep). Thus intelligently eliminating what is
seen (using reasoning etc), thereafter one
sees the one -ness among them.
||ओम् तत् सत्॥
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