COMMENTARY ON THE PANCHADASI SWAMI KRISHNANANDA The Divine Life Society Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India Website: swami-krishnananda.org CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Tattva Viveka – Discrimination of Reality Discourse 1: Verses 1-5 ........................................................................ 8 Discourse 2: Verses 6-13 .................................................................... 18 Discourse 3: Verses 14-27 .................................................................. 33 Discourse 4: Verses 28-43 .................................................................. 46 Discourse 5: Verses 44-55 .................................................................. 63 Discourse 6: Verses 54-65 .................................................................. 79 Chapter 2: Pancha Mahabhuta Viveka – Discrimination of the Elements Discourse 7: Verses 1-18 ................................................................... 92 Discourse 8: Verses 19-34 ..............................................................107 Discourse 9: Verses 33-52 ..............................................................121 Discourse 10: Verses 53-66 ..............................................................136 Discourse 11: Verses 60-77 .............................................................151 Discourse 12: Verses 78-99 ..............................................................164 Discourse 13: Verses 100-109 ......................................................177 Chapter 3: Pancha Kosha Viveka – Discrimination of the Five Sheaths Discourse 14: Verses 1-10 ................................................................187 Discourse 15: Verses 11-23 ...........................................................201 Discourse 16: Verses 21-37 ...........................................................215 Discourse 17: Verses 37-43.............................................................229 Chapter 4: Dvaita Viveka – Discrimination of Duality Discourse 17: Verses 1-9 ..................................................................237 Discourse 18: Verses 10-26 ...........................................................243 Discourse 19: Verses 26-37.............................................................257 Discourse 20: Verses 38-56.............................................................273 3 Discourse 21: Verses 58-69 ..............................................................289 Chapter 5: Mahavakya Viveka – Discrimination of the Mahavakyas Discourse 21: Verses 1-8 .................................................................298 Chapter 6: Chitradipa – Light on the Analogy of a Painted Picture Discourse 22: Verses 1-18 ..............................................................305 Discourse 23: Verses 19-35.............................................................319 Discourse 24: Verses 38-54 ...........................................................332 Discourse 25: Verses 54-72 ...........................................................347 Discourse 26: Verses 70-77 ...........................................................363 Discourse 27: Verses 78-100 ..........................................................378 Discourse 28: Verses 99-125 .........................................................393 Discourse 29: Verses 125-153 ......................................................407 Discourse 30: Verses 157-174 ......................................................424 Discourse 31: Verses 175-194 ......................................................439 Discourse 32: Verses 187-209 ......................................................453 Discourse 33: Verses 209-230 ......................................................466 Discourse 34: Verses 231-248 ......................................................482 Discourse 35: Verses 248-262 ......................................................497 Discourse 36: Verses 263-284 ......................................................511 Discourse 37: Verses 285-290 ......................................................525 Chapter 7: Triptidipa Prakaranam – Light on Supreme Satisfaction Discourse 37: Verses 1-15 ..............................................................441 Discourse 38: Verses 16-22 ...........................................................540 Discourse 39: Verses 23-40 ...........................................................554 Discourse 40: Verses 40-56 ...........................................................567 Discourse 41: Verses 57-67 ...........................................................579 Discourse 42: Verses 67-81 ...........................................................594 4 INTRODUCTION The Panchadasi is a great masterpiece of Swami Vidyaranya. Prior to his sannyasa, he was called Madhava; and his brother was Sayana. They were two brothers. Sayana wrote Sanskrit commentaries on all the Vedas – the Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads. He cannot be regarded as a human being, really speaking. Superhuman work is Sayana’s Sanskrit commentary. The stupendous scholarship that is behind these commentaries on the Vedas would make anyone feel that Saiyana was not a human being. He must have been a superhuman personality, to say the least. The other brother was Madhava. There is a story behind Madhava. As Madhava before his sannyasa, he wrote many books. It appears that financially they were very poor. All great learned people are financially poor. It is a peculiar irony of fate. They had so much difficulty in maintaining the family. Madhava, it appears, did the Gayatri purascharana a number of times to have a darshan of Devi so that he could be freed from financial stress. After completing several purascharanas, he heard a voice: “You shall not have darshan of me in this birth.” He became frustrated and gave up the purascharana. He got initiated into sannyasa and went away. Immediately the Devi appeared before him. “What was that for which you were thinking of me?” He replied, “How is it that you now give me darshan, when you had said that you will not give me darshan in this birth?” She said, “This sannyas is another birth that you have taken. That is why I have come.” “But anyhow, I don’t want anything. I have taken to sannyas and I want nothing. You can go.” “No, I will not go,” Devi said, it seems, “When I come, I must always give and go.” “But I cannot ask for anything as my needs are no more,” said Vidyaranya who was Madhava before his sannyas. The Devi said, “As you want nothing, you shall have everything.” And she vanished. He became omniscient in his knowledge. There is no subject on which Vidyaranya has not written. Every conceivable subject: aesthetics, ethics, civics, morality, dharmashastra, religion, medical science, anatomy, physiology, metaphysics, epistemology; there is nothing on which he has not written. And in every field, his book is the best. In every field, his work is the standard. It shows the mastery of both these brothers. And Vidyaranya is the person responsible for founding the Vijaynagar empire. He acted as the minister to the first kings of Vijaynagar, called Hakka and Bukka. He actually initiated the founding of the Vijaynagar empire, and he worked as a minister, as a spiritual guide, to these kings. One of Vidyaranya’s great works is the Panchadasi. It is a masterpiece in Vedanta philosophy and spiritual practice. It contains fifteen chapters, which is why it is called Panchadasi. The book by itself has no name; it is named after the number of chapters. Panchadasa is fifteen and panchadasi is a work that contains fifteen chapters. These 6 fifteen chapters are classified into three sections of five chapters each. It is said that the Bhagavadgita, which contains eighteen chapters, is also classifiable into three sections: the first six, the middle six, and the last six. The first five chapters of Panchadasi deal with existence, or sat in Sanskrit. The second five deal with consciousness, or chit. The last five deal with ananda, or bliss. Therefore, the book as a whole is an exposition of sat-chit-ananda – the nature of the Absolute expounded in minute detail in his own novel way. I think this is the third time that I am taking up study and discourse on the Panchadasi. In one course, when I was speaking in the Bhajan Hall, some people were taking down notes in shorthand. One of them gave me the typed manuscript of these lectures that he had taken in shorthand. I went through it, corrected it, and that book was published in the name of the Philosophy of the Panchadasi. [Publisher’s note: This series of discourses was given in 1989 after The Commentary of the Bhagavadgita, containing 51 discourses, was completed. This is a series of a verse-by-verse commentary on the Panchadasi which Swamiji continued for 42 sessions and ended in the seventh chapter.] 7 Discourse 1 CHAPTER 1: TATTVA VIVEKA – DISCRIMINATION OF REALITY, VERSES 1-5 The first two verses of the first chapter of the Panchadasi constitute a prayer to Swami Vidyaranya’s Guru. In all ancient texts, the Guru is offered prayer first. This is a tradition which has been followed always, and the Panchadasi author also followed this respected tradition. Namaḥ śrī śaṅkarānanda guru pādāmbu janmane, savilāsa mahā moha grāha grāsaika karmaṇe (1). Sankarananda was a great sannyasin under whom Vidyaranya appears to have studied. Sankarananda wrote, to our knowledge, two great works, one which is called Atma Purana, an epic type