Upadēśa Sāraḥ verses 23 to 26

In a Zoom meeting with Ramana Kendra, Delhi, on 11th September 2022 Michael James discusses the meaning and implications of verses 23 to 26 of Upadēśa Sāraḥ:

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Upadēśa Sāraḥ verse 23:

सत्त्व भासिका चित्क्व वेतरा ।
सत्त याहिचि च्चित्त याह्यहम् ॥ २३ ॥

sattva bhāsikā citkva vētarā
satta yāhici ccitta yāhyaham

पदच्छेद: सत्त्व भासिका चित् क्व वा इतरा? सत्तया हि चित्. चित्तया हि अहम्.

Padacchēda (word-separation): sattva bhāsikā cit kva vā itarā? sattayā hi cit. cittayā hi aham.

English translation: Where indeed is another awareness to illumine existence? As existence is certainly awareness. As awareness is certainly ‘I’.

Explanatory paraphrase: Where indeed is [any] cit [awareness] other [than sat] to illumine sat [existence, beingness or what actually exists]? [What shines] as sat [existence] is certainly cit [awareness]. [What exists] as awareness is certainly ‘I’.

Upadēśa Sāraḥ verse 24:

ईश जीवयो र्वेष धीभिदा ।
सत्स्व भावतो वस्तु केवलम् ॥ २४ ॥

īśa jīvayō rvēṣa dhībhidā
satsva bhāvatō vastu kēvalam

पदच्छेद: ईश जीवयोः वेष धी भिदा सत् स्वभावतः वस्तु केवलम्.

Padacchēda (word-separation): īśa-jīvayōḥ vēṣa-dhī bhidā. sat-svabhāvataḥ vastu kēvalam.

English translation: Between God and soul the difference is costume-thought. By existence-nature, substance is only one.

Explanatory paraphrase: Between God and soul the difference [separation or distinction] is [only] vēṣa-dhī [costume-thought, the thought or awareness of their respective costumes, disguises or assumed appearances, namely their upādhis or adjuncts]. By [or because of] sat-svabhāva [their real nature, which is just existence or being], vastu [their substance] is only one.

Upadēśa Sāraḥ verse 25:

वेष हानतः स्वात्म दर्शनम् ।
ईश दर्शनं स्वात्म रूपतः ॥ २५ ॥

vēṣa hānataḥ svātma darśanam
īśa darśanaṁ svātma rūpataḥ

पदच्छेद: वेष हानतः स्वात्म दर्शनम् ईश दर्शनम्. स्वात्म रूपतः.

Padacchēda (word-separation): vēṣa hānataḥ svātma-darśanam īśa-darśanam. svātma rūpataḥ.

English translation: By giving up costume, seeing one’s own self is seeing God, because of the form of one’s own self.

Explanatory paraphrase: By giving up [one’s own] costume [disguise or assumed appearance, namely one’s upādhis or adjuncts], svātma-darśanam [seeing one’s own self] is īśa-darśanam [seeing God], because of [God being] the form [or real nature] of one’s own self.

Upadēśa Sāraḥ verse 26:

आत्म संस्थितिः स्वात्म दर्शनम् ।
आत्म निर्द्वया दात्म निष्ठता ॥ २६ ॥

ātma saṁsthitiḥ svātma darśanam
ātma nirdvayā dātma niṣṭhatā

पदच्छेद: आत्म संस्थितिः स्वात्म दर्शनम् आत्म निर्द्वयात्. आत्म निष्ठता.

Padacchēda (word-separation): ātma-saṁsthitiḥ svātma-darśanam ātma nirdvayāt. ātma-niṣṭhatā.

English translation: Being oneself is seeing one’s own self, because of oneself not being two. Self-abidance.

Explanatory paraphrase: Being [or standing firmly as] oneself is svātma-darśanam [seeing one’s own self], because of oneself not being two [that is, since we are not two, we cannot see ourself as an object, so we can see what we actually are only by being what we actually are, namely pure awareness, sat-cit]. [This is] ātma-niṣṭhatā [being firmly and steadily fixed, standing or abiding as oneself].

This episode can also be watched as a video, 2022-09-11 Ramana Kendra, Delhi: Michael James discusses Upadēśa Sāraḥ verses 23 to 26, and a more compressed audio copy in Opus format (which can be listened to in the VLC media player and some other apps) can be downloaded from here.