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Ādī Śaṅkarācārya's ॥ हरि: ॐ॥ SANDEEPANY SAADHANALAYA MUMBAI Ādī Śaṅkarācārya’s Upadeśa Sāhasrī Part -I (Chapter 1 to 10 of Poetry Section) Sunday Discourses By Swami Bodhatmananda, Resident Acharya (16th & 17th Residential Vedanta Courses) Prepared by Students of Sandeepany Sadhanalaya Chinmaya Mission, Saki Vihar Road, Powaii, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400072, India Dedicated with our humble offering of gratitude to our Acharyaji and the entire Guruparampara _______________***** __________________ Upadeśa Sāhasrī Upadeśa Sāhasrī, a composition by Bhagavān Śaṅkarācārya, is a prakaraṇa grantha, a text that prepares us to study the Upaniṣads or Vedānta. The Ācārya, Śri Śaṅkarācārya, introduces Vedānta as part of the text itself and goes on to classify this work as an Upaniṣad. We will see how and why he does this. The word upadeśa means instruction or teaching, bodha. The upadeśa given to the student here is unlike that given during the thread ceremony (mantropadeśa), or an initiation upadeśa (dīkṣā upadeśa). Here, the upadeśa is the teaching of Vedānta śāstra (Vedānta upadeśa). The word sāhasrī means a thousand; so Upadeśa Sāhasrī means a thousand teachings. This text has two sections: prose (gadya bhāga) and poetry (padya bhāga). We will commence with the poetry section, as it is simpler. There are 675 verses in addition to the prose section. One may well ask why the text is called sāhasrī if it doesn’t have 1000 verses. The word sahasra also means many (bahvārthe sahasram). If 700 or 800 people had gathered somewhere, one might say, "A thousand people were there". This is one way we justify the word ‘thousand’, as we have to explain why this particular title was given to the text. Another explanation is that each verse could have multiple upadeśas. Also, we haven’t accounted for the gadya bhāga, which also has numerous teachings. So, there could in fact be more than a thousand teachings, thus Upadeśa Sāhasrī. The word Vedānta actually refers to a technical term called ‘prasthāna trayī’. These are the three main works that lead us to the Truth or Brahman - the Upaniṣads, Bhagavad-gītā and Brahma Sutra. The simple answer to the question, “What is Vedānta?” is that it is the essence of the Vedas, which is explained in prasthāna trayī. Similarly, the great ācāryas have named three prakaraṇa granthas as the prakaraṇa prasthāna trayī. They are Upadeśa Sāhasrī; Naiṣkarmya Siddhi by Sureśvarācārya, a disciple of Śri Śaṅkarācārya and Saṅkṣepa Śārīrakam by Sarvajñātma Muni who was a disciple of Sureśvarācārya. Guru-śiṣya parampara is evident in these three texts. Upadeśa Sāhasrī is highly respected amongst ācāryas as it is the essence of the Upaniṣads, imparted by Bhagavān Śaṅkarācārya. The poetry section of the text has 19 chapters. With 233 verses the 18th chapter, called Tattvamassi Prakaranam, is the longest. The entire chapter is on the māhāvākya (a statement indicating oneness between an individual and Totality), tat tvam asi. _____ 1 Chapter 1: Upodghāta Prakaraṇam Bhagavān Śaṅkarācārya introduces the text in the first chapter called Upodghāta Prakaraṇam, ‘The Introduction’. This is a specific, technical term in Vedāntic literature. The Ācārya gives a line of thought on the subject he wants to introduce. In Vedānta śāstra it is called the anubandha catuṣṭaya1. Suppose I am looking for some entertainment, may be a movie or some good food. I ask where I can get entertainment. Someone may suggest, "Go, sit under the mango tree”. Someone else may say, "Take a walk along the river". Neither of these will satisfy me, as it is not what I am looking for. I have a particular idea in mind and I am looking for someone who will give me what I want. This is how I get associated with a particular object with a specific purpose. This is called anubandha. In the case of the text, I am a seeker with a purpose and how this purpose will be fulfilled is what is discussed in anubandha. The seeker is called the adhikārī, a qualified student. He wants absolute happiness and total freedom from sorrow; this is his sole purpose (prayojanam). Vedānta has a solution for this adhikārī; it thus becomes the sambandhi, the associate or relative. The relationship between the seeker and Vedānta is that Vedānta provides a solution for the seeker’s problems. From childhood, we have seen problems all around us. One family has one set of problems while another has a different set. From the outside, it may seem as though everybody is happy and well settled, but all you need is to ask two questions. First ask, "How are you?". The answer will be, “Everything is fine”. Then ask, "Oh, everything is fine?" and you will hear, "No, actually, things are not that great. Let me tell you…". In other words, everyone has problems. We will find a solution only if we look in the right place. A grandmother dropped a needle while sewing inside the house. She summoned her grandchildren to help her look for it. A little later, she found them looking for the needle outside the house, under a lamp. She asked them why they were looking for it there and they replied, "Because there is light here!". In the same way, we look for happiness where it is not. Since Vedānta shows us where the solution is, it is the sambandhi. Vedānta is the ‘revealer’, and the Truth is what is revealed. The following is a bird’s eye view of the first chapter: Verse 1: mangalācaraṇam - invocation. Verse 2: introduction. Verses 3-5: jñānam as the means to Liberation - jñānam mokṣa sādhanam. Verses 6-7: karma cannot give mokṣa. Verses 8-11: Jñāna-karma samuccaya - combining jñānam and karma as proposed by the opponent (pūrvapakṣin). 1 The four aspects that must be considered when composing or studying a text: the adhikārī, prayojanam, viṣaya and sambandha 2 Verses 12-24: refutation of pūrvapakṣin. Verses 25-26: Upadeśa Sāhasrī as an Upaniṣad. चैतन्यं सर्वगं सर्ं सर्भव ूतगहु ाशयम।् यत्सर्ववर्षयातीतं तस्मै सर्ववर्दे नमः॥१॥ Caitanyaṁ sarvagaṁ sarvaṁ sarvabhūtaguhāśayam | yatsarvaviṣayātītaṁ tasmai sarvavide namaḥ ||1|| चैतन्यं – Consciousness; सर्वगं – goes everywhere, all-pervading; सर्ं – all, entire creation; सर्व- भूत-गुहा-आशयम ् – resides in the cave of the heart (intellect) of all; यत ् – that which is; सर्व- वर्षय-अतीतम ् – beyond all, untouched by creation; तस्मै – to that; सर्ववर्दे – all-knowing; नमः – salutations. 1. Salutations to that all-pervading, all-knowing Consciousness, that resides in the cave of the heart of all beings, which is all, yet untouched by all. This is the invocation verse and salutations are offered. Blessings are sought - • To ensure that the work is completed without obstacles • In the hope that it reaches those for whom it has been composed, those seeking Liberation • In order that the teachings bear fruit for the one studying them. • To bring humility. When a text is composed, the author should never think that it is he, the individual, who has accomplished a great feat. These are the teachings of our ṛṣis and tradition. Therefore, our individuality, or ahaṅkāra, must be kept to a minimum. The work is created with all humility and offered at the feet of the Teacher or God. The invocation is a salutation that is offered to Consciousness, Brahman. It indicates the nature of Caitanya as all-knowing, all-pervading and in the cave of the heart of all (as ‘I’ Consciousness). Brahman is not an external entity to whom we bow. Consciousness is present in each one of us, in our intellect, as sākṣī, the witness, of all our thoughts. Salutations to Consciousness is the recognition of that oneness, in the form of ‘I am That’. Caitanya (Consciousness) is in the intellect of all, as the witness. One may wonder that if this Consciousness is the witness in the intellect of all, how big can it really be? Our intellects are quite small. If there is a cave in that intellect where sākṣī resides, then Consciousness that we are praying to must be very small! Caitanya is all-pervading, so it cannot be small. One could further think that if it is all-pervading, then there is something that is pervading and something else that is being pervaded. No, the word sarvaṁ indicates that it is all. It is not just ‘all-pervading’; it is ‘all’ and it is ‘all-pervading’. There is no duality; It is one alone. It is all, and It pervades all. Finally, Bhagavān Śaṅkarācārya says that it is beyond all (sarvaviṣayātītam). Nothing of this creation can touch it. That is Caitanya. 3 We can think of the nature of Consciousness in the following way: • For ease of understanding, it is said to be present in everyone, sarvabhūta-guhaśayam • Then we are to understand that It is all-pervading, sarvagam • Slowly we begin to understand that in fact It is all, sarvaṁ • Finally, we know It as ‘That which is beyond all', sarvaviṣayātītam Let us analyse the verse further. The different indicators given for Caitanya are the common meaning of these words. We can also look at Caitanya in the following way: by saying Consciousness is that which is in the intellect of all as sākṣī, tvam pada lakṣyārthaḥ, the implied meaning of the word ‘I’, is indicated. Tvam means you, so when the Teacher says tvam, the student should understand it as himself or ‘I’. This is the implied meaning of the word ‘I’, so when I say ‘I’, what I am referring to really is this Consciousness. In the absence of Consciousness, the body is like an empty box; it has no value. When you buy expensive jewellery you get it in a nice box.
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