Self Illumination
by Ādi Śaṅkara
Adi Shankara
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Shankara
Advaita Vedanta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_Vedanta
Introduction
Here is presented a translation of a short work attributed to Ādi Śaṅkara, the first of the Śṅkara Acāryas, and the most eminent exponent of Advaita Vedānta. It is entitled ‘Self Illumination’ (‘Svātmaprakāśikā’).
The work takes the form of a conversation between a disciple and a teacher. In the first three verses the disciple states that he knows the non-dual Self, but believes in the activity of bondage, liberation etc., and thinks diversity is true. He appeals to the teacher to destroy his doubt about non-duality.
In the remainder of the text the teacher expounds the philosophy of advaita (‘non-duality’). Everything is consciousness alone. Creation is said to be merely a dream or illusion. The text leads the reader to the practical realisation of the bliss of one’s own Absolute Self.
The title in Sanskrit comprises the words ‘sva’ (‘own’), ‘ātma’ (‘Self’), and ‘prakāśikā’ (‘illuminating’). The root kāś preceded by the prefix ‘pra’ means ‘to shine, become manifest’. The noun ‘prakāśikā’ comes to mean ‘illuminating, making manifest’.
A literal translation of ‘svātmaprakāśikā’ would be ‘making your own Self shine or become manifest’. For simplicity however the compound has here been translated as ‘Self Illumination’. A number of versions of the Sanskrit text have been considered, and the most likely readings adopted.
Self Illumination
1 The disciple said: “Ignorance (ajñāna), the cause of the universe, which is imbued with consciousness, is one thing; the witness of the mind (manas) is another. In this way the witness experiences the three worlds.
2 “Through reason endowed with discrimination (viveka), I know the non-dual Self, yet the activity (vyavahāra) of bondage, liberation etc. is believed.
3 “I am bound by the snare of doubt, always thinking that diversity (prapañca) is true, even though it is illusory (vivarta). Please destroy this doubt!”
4 Hearing these words of the disciple, the teacher responded fully, saying: “There is no ignorance. There is no reason (buddhi). There is no universe. There is no witnessing (sākṣita).
5 Bondage, liberation etc. are all created in you, the non-dual truth. When that non-dual truth is said to show itself, then the whole universe appears to arise. This whole universe is that Absolute (brahman), of the nature of being (sat).”
6 Just as when a snake etc. is imagined, and only a rope is found to exist, so this universe (jagat) is only seemingly upheld by diversity (prapañca), for this universe (jagat) does not exist. Only the Absolute (brahman) is found to exist.
7 Just as the sweet taste of sugar pervades every part of a sugar cane, so you, by nature the wonderous Absolute (brahman), pervade the three worlds.
8 Desert sands can appear as water, yet one who reasons well knows it is only desert. Likewise, all this may appear as the three worlds, yet one who reasons well knows it is only consciousness (cit).
9 Living beings, ranging from the Creator (brahmā) to a tuft of grass, are imagined in you just as modifications ranging from bubbles to waves are imagined in the ocean.
10 Just as the ocean certainly does not desire to have waves, so you have no desire for bliss derived from sense objects (viṣaya), for you are by nature abundant bliss (ānanda).
11 Just as the sugar which pervades a cake certainly does not lack sweetness, so the full bliss which pervades the universe does not lack bliss.
12 Just as one who is rich does not desire poverty, so you, who are immersed in the bliss of the Absolute (brahman), would not desire sense objects (viṣaya).
13 Seeing poison and seeing nectar (amṛta), a reasonable person avoids the poison. Also you, seeing the Self (ātman), should carefully avoid the non-Self (anātman).
14 The light which illumines a pot does not disappear when the pot disappears. The witness (sākṣin) which illumines the body does not disappear when the body disappears.
15 The whole universe is formless and taintless, of the nature of being (sat) and consciousness (cit). Since there is no duality (dvaita), how and why would that which is complete (pūrṇa) have fear? Tell me!
16 The whole universe (jagat), beginning with the Creator, is imagined (prakalpita) in the bliss that you are. The universe (jagat) is dissolved in you alone. Say then, how could you be dissolved?
17 For there is no diversity, there is no multitude of beings. There are no organs of sense, nor vital energies (prāṇa), nor is there a body. There is no reason, nor heart (citta), nor is there mind, nor any agent (kartṛ). Only the Absolute (brahman) is real, being by nature the supreme Self (paramātman).
18 Know that, when misery (duḥkha) is completely eliminated, all is happiness (sukha), and when untruth is completely eliminated, all is truth (sat). This truth (sat) is of the nature of consciousness (cit) alone, full of intelligence. Therefore the nature of the supreme Self (paramātman) is partless.
19 The body is consciousness (cit) alone, the worlds are consciousness alone, beings (bhūta) are consciousness alone, the organs of sense (indriya) are conciousness alone, the doer (kartṛ) is consciousness alone, the internal organ (antaḥkaraṇa) is consciousness alone, truth (satya) is consciousness alone, and the supreme aim is consciousness alone.
20 I have no bondage. I have no liberation. I have no teaching (śāstra). I have no teacher (guru). For these are merely the play of illusion (māyā), and I am non-dual (advaya), beyond illusion (māyā).
21 Free from fear and pure, one who has real know -ledge (vijñāna) may rule a kingdom or beg for food, but is not tainted by faults (doṣa), just as a lotus leaf is not made wet by water.
22 Good (puṇya) and bad (pāpa) deeds performed in a dream do not affect the waking state. In the same way, good and bad deeds performed in the waking state do not affect Me, for I am the Sovereign (prabhu).
23 In this world the body may perform actions in vain, speech may be spoken in vain, or in vain the mind (buddhi) may resolve to rule over an empire; but what loss could I, who am complete (pūrṇa), sustain?
24 Life may proceed according to duty (dharma) or the mind may be smitten by desire (kāma); but how could I, who am full of the nectar (amṛta) of bliss (ānanda), suffer misery?
25 Just as salt, when immersed in water, dissolves, so the embodied soul (dehin), when immersed in the ocean of bliss, is not seen.
26. The senses (indriya), mind (manas), life breaths (prāṇa) and personality (ahaṇkāra) – working together to abandon association with the inert (jāḍya) – are immersed in Me, the ocean of consciousness (cit).
27 I truly know the Self. Ignorance is completely dissolved. Nowhere now do I have ideas of being the doer or of having actions to perform.
28 In the abundance of the immortal bliss (sukha) of consciousness (cit), the froth of imaginations (citta) has disappeared. The choppy waves of the movements of the mind (vṛtti) have come to complete rest. How could I – being ever one, an ocean of motionless bliss (sukha), fulfilled and free from agitation – experience misery (duḥkha) in this world?
29 I am undivided wakefulness (bodha), by nature bliss. I am beyond the Supreme, nothing but the light of consciousness (cit). Just as clouds never touch the sky, so the miseries of worldly illusion (saṃsāra) never touch Me.
30 There may be a gross body eating food, full of bones, flesh, faeces, intestines, skin and hair; other than this am I, nothing but pure consciousness (cit).
31 Bones, flesh etc. belong to the gross body, certainly not to Me, for I am distinct from the gross. Neither am I the subtle body, which is by nature inert (jaḍa). I am non-dual. My own nature is consciousness (cit).
32 Hunger, thirst, blindness, deafness, desire, anger etc. – all these belong to the subtle body, certainly not to Me, for I am all-pervading (vibhu) and do not have a subtle body.
33 The causal (kāraṇa) body is said here to be beginningless ignorance alone. I am also not the causal body, for I am self-luminous and taintless.
34 Qualities (dharma) of dullness, and qualities (dharma) of affection and pleasure reside in the causal body, but do not belong to Me, for I am eternal (nitya) and by nature unchanging.
35 Let us now consider what ignorant people may think. They say: ‘There is a supreme Lord distinct from the individual soul (jīva), so how could you be the Supreme Lord?’
36 When these three – pure consciousness (adhiṣṭhāna), the reflection (ābhāsa) of consciousness (cit) and the mind (buddhi) – appear through igno rance as if one, then it is said to be the individual soul (jīva).
37 Pure consciousness by itself could not be the individual soul since pure consciousness does not change. Neither could the reflection of consciousness by itself be the individual soul, since this reflection does not really exist.
38 Nor could mind (buddhi) by itself be an individual soul, since the mind is inanimate. So these three – the reflection of consciousness, unchanging pure consciousness (kūṭastha), and the mind – together would form the individual soul.
39 These three – illusion (māyā), the reflection of consciousness in illusion, and pure consciousness (ātman) – together would form the great Lord (maheśvara). The reflection of consciousness in illusion by itself could not be the Lord since this reflection does not really exist.
40 Pure consciousness by itself could not be the Lord since pure consciousness is complete (pūrṇa) and does not change. Illusion (māyā) by itself could not be the Lord, since illusion (māyā) is inanimate.
41 Therefore these three individually could not be the Lord. So the individual soul (jīva) and the Lord (īśvara) appear due to your own ignorance, for they do not exist in reality.
42 The space in a pot and the space in a hut are imagined in the universal space (mahākāśa). In the same way, the individual soul (jīva) and the Lord (īśvara) are imagined in Me, the space which is consciousness (cit).
43 When illusion (māyā) and its effects disappear, there is no notion of the Lord or of an individual soul. So I am pure consciousness alone, the limitless sky of consciousness.
44 I rest in the silent realisation that I am ever that taintless, non-dual, auspicious (śiva) abode which is nothing but truth (satya) and consciousness (cit), limitless and unique, free from disease (āma) and from all things visible.
45 I rest in the silent realisation that I am ever that complete (pūrṇa), non-dual, partless consciousness, free from the myriad divisions and doings of the universe (viśva), the supreme knowledge that has no second.
46 I rest in the silent realisation that I am ever the cause of the world (jagat) which is the unreal transformation (vivarta) of consciousness (cit), free from birth and death, free from pleasure and pain, transcending race, conduct, family and lineage.
47 Just as in sunlight an owl sees only darkness, so in the self-luminous (svaprakāśa) supreme bliss a fool sees only darkness.
48 Just as one who is blind thinks there is no sun, so the embodied spirit, enveloped in ignorance, thinks there is no Absolute (brahman).
49 Just as nectar separated from poison is not tainted by the detrimental effects of the poison, so I, distinct from the unconscious world (jāḍa), remain untouched by its detrimental effects while yet illumining them.
50 Even as a tiny candle dispels great darkness, so even a tiny realisation (bodha) dispels great ignorance (avidyā).
51 I have no inertness (jāḍya), for I am consciousness (cit). I have no untruth (anṛta), for I am truth (satya). I have no misery (duḥkha), for I am bliss (ānanda). These three appear due to ignorance (ajñāna).
52 Just as there never was, is not now, and never will be a snake in a rope, so there never was, is not now, and never will be in Me a universe (jagat) originating in egoism (ahaṅkāra) and culminating in a body. For I (aham) am non-dual.
53 The wise do not accept that there is darkness in the sun, for the sun is full of light (prakāśatva). It is alas only the confused intellect (buddhi) that accepts that there is darkness (tamas) in Me (mayi), thinking that I am the witness of its effects.
54 Just as cold water when united with fire becomes hot, so the idea of being a doer (kartṛtva) when united with the fire of discrimination (buddhi) is found in reality not to exist at all.
55 Just as the sky is neither made wet by rain nor purified by it, so is this Self not purified by the water of the River Gaṅgā, for this Self is ever pure.
56 Just as a tree is not satisfied by the fruits which come forth from it, so am I not satisfied by food and drink etc. which are projected (adhyasta) in Me (mayi).
57 As a thief mistakenly perceived at the sight of a tree stump does not affect the nature of the tree stump, so an individual soul (jīva) – mistakenly perceived (kalpita) in its own Self – cannot affect its own Self.
58 When the intellect (buddhi) is dissolved in ignorance (ajñāna), the wise call it ‘deep sleep’ (nidrā). How could there be deep sleep (nidrā) in Me (mayi), in whom ignorance (ajñāna) and its effects have been dissolved?
59 This waking state is celebrated as the vast playground of the intellect (buddhi). The waking state does not exist for Me, for I am free from all change.
60 The dream state, which is motion in the subtle veins (nāḍi), arises from the intellect (buddhi). So there is no dream state in Me, for I am free from motion.
61 I am fully complete, perpetual pure light. Since no impurity (mala) which happens to arise clings to Me, what need have I for purification (snāna)?
61 I am fully complete, perpetual pure light. Since no impurity (mala) which happens to arise clings to Me, what need have I for purification (snāna)?
62 There is no destination (deśa), so where is there to go? There is no home, so where is there to stay? Home and destination (deśa) are imagined (kalpita) in Me, for I am complete (pūrna). I am non-dual.
63 Thirst certainly arises when the flow of life-giving force (prāṇa) dries up. Since I am consciousness (cit) that cannot dry up, how can thirst arise in Me?
64 Hunger may arise when the subtle veins (nāḍi) are disturbed by air (vāyu) nor by fire (agni). But how could hunger arise in Me, for I am consciousness (samvid) that cannot be disturbed by air (vāyu) and fire (agni).
65 In old age, the body becomes feeble and hair turns white. There is no old age in Me, for I am partless. I am everywhere.
66 Youth is puffed up with pride, and in the midst of pleasure (sukha) engages in amorous play. There is no youth in Me, for I am the complete supreme bliss of the Self (ātman).
67 Childhood is invariably attended by unclear judgment (buddhi), is ever beset with troubles (duḥkha), and is inclined to passion. Childhood does not belong to Me, for I am the ocean of joy (sukha).
68 People who in this way are ever immersed in the ocean of discovery (vicāra) of reality (tattva), undoubtedly know supreme non-duality in practice.