How does one experience oneself and the world when one attains their innate core identity? The idea of oneness is often difficult to understand given that all of us experience life as a duality (or a plurality). विवेकचूडामणि is a प्रकरण शास्त्र composed by श्री आदि शंकराचार्य in which a गुरु explains the true nature of reality to a शिष्य in a methodical manner. Towards the end of this शास्त्र, the शिष्य is able to reconnect with the real true identity of oneness and expresses this state in what may be seen as the most beautiful part of this शास्त्र. No doubt a lay reader with no background of the basics of सनातन धर्म may find it challenging to comprehend this narrative. However, a true साधक will certainly be inspired by the experience of मोक्ष स्थिति laid out here. In fact, some words are so pregnant that pages can be written on one word itself, say अकर्ताहम् (non-doer or one who does not do action) or शुद्धम् (pure) and pure translations may not enable us to connect with the depth of these words. Be that as it may, I am sharing these श्लोक as an initial blog with an intent to use this vision as a guide to modify and mould our own day to day conduct (in later blogs) to eventually attain our own innate स्वरूप of सत्, चित् and आनन्द.  

इति गुरुवचनाच्छ्रुतिप्रमाणात् परमवगम्य सतत्त्वमात्मयुक्त्या । 
प्रशमितकरणः समाहितात्मा क्वचिदचलाकृतिरात्मनिष्ठतोऽभूत् ॥ ४७९ ॥

479. Realising, at a blessed moment, the Supreme Truth through the above instructions of the गुरु, the authority of the शास्त्र and his own reasoning, with his senses quieted and the mind concentrated (in समाधि), (the शिष्य) became immovable in form and perfectly established in the आत्मा

किंचित्कालं समाधाय परे ब्रह्मणि मानसम् ।  उत्थाय परमानन्दादिदं वचनमब्रवीत् ॥ ४८0 ॥

480. Concentrating (or doing समाधि of) the मन for some time on ब्रह्म, he rose, and out of परम आनन्द, spoke as follows.

बुद्धिर्विनष्टा गलिता प्रवृत्तिः ब्रह्मात्मनोरेकतयाधिगत्या । इदं न जानेऽप्यनिदं न जाने किं वा कियद्वा सुखमस्त्यपारम् ॥ ४८१ ॥

481. My बुद्धि (faculty of cognition in normal day to day life) has vanished, and all its activities have melted, by realising the identity of the आत्मा and ब्रह्म; I do not know either this or not-this; nor what or how much the boundless सुख (of समाधि) is!

Notes: Idea of categorization and labels and imputing value to one label vis a vis the other is routine and essential for life. However, in the ultimate state, these labels vanish and the consequent value assigned to these labels too vanishes. And with such pulls, attractions and repulsion vanishing, what one experiences is unbounded सुख. 

वाचा वक्तुमशक्यमेव मनसा मन्तुं न वा शक्यते स्वानन्दामृतपूरपूरितपरब्रह्माम्बुधेर्वैभवम् । 
अम्भोराशिविशीर्णवार्षिकशिलाभावं भजन्मे मनो यस्यांशांशलवे विलीनमधुनानन्दात्मना निर्वृतम् ॥ ४८२ ॥

482. The majesty of the ocean of Supreme ब्रह्म, replete with the swell of the nectar-like आनन्द of the आत्मा, is verily impossible to express in speech, nor can it be conceived by the mind – in an infinitesimal fraction of which my mind melted like a hailstone getting merged in the ocean, and is now satisfied with that Essence of आनन्द.

Note: To understand this state is an enigma. If a hailstone merges in an ocean, it ceases to exist. But here, though a merger of a sort has happened, one continues to exist and communicate the experience of आनन्द. 

क्व गतं केन वा नीतं कुत्र लीनमिदं जगत् । अधुनैव मया दृष्टं नास्ति किं महदद्भुतम् ॥ ४८३ ॥

किं हेयं किमुपादेयं किमन्यत्किं विलक्षणम् ।  अखण्डानन्दपीयूषपूर्णे ब्रह्ममहार्णवे ॥ ४८४ ॥

न किंचिदत्र पश्यामि न शृणोमि न वेद्म्यहम् । स्वात्मनैव सदानन्दरूपेणास्मि विलक्षणः ॥ ४८५ ॥

483. Where is the जगत् (universe) gone, by whom is it removed, and where is it merged? It was just now seen by me, and has it ceased to exist? Wonder of wonders!

484. In the ocean of ब्रह्म filled with the nectar of अखण्ड आनन्द, what is to be shunned and what accepted, what is other (than oneself) and what different?

485. I neither see nor hear nor know anything in this. I simply exist as the आत्मा, the eternal आनन्द, distinct from everything else.

Notes: To “know” something means to know something outside of oneself. In the highest state, everything is within the One and “knowing” or “hearing” something that is seen as “othe” is not conceivable. Does a Sun has to make effort to “know” its light? 

नमो नमस्ते गुरवे महात्मने विमुक्तसङ्गाय सदुत्तमाय । नित्याद्वयानन्दरसस्वरूपिणे भूम्ने सदापारदयाम्बुधाम्ने ॥ ४८६ ॥

यत्कटाक्षशशिसान्द्रचन्द्रिका पातधूतभवतापजश्रमः । प्राप्तवानहमखण्डवैभवा नन्दमात्मपदमक्षयं क्षणात् ॥ ४८७ ॥

486. Repeated salutations to thee, O गुरु, who art devoid of attachment, the best among the noble ones and the embodiment of the essence of Eternal आनन्द, the One without a second – who art infinite and ever the boundless ocean of mercy:

487. Whose glance, like the shower of concentrated moonbeams, has removed my exhaustion brought on by the ताप of the world (three kinds of ताप viz अधिदैव, अधिभौत and आध्यात्म) and in a moment admitted me to the अक्षर (imperishable) status of the आत्मा, the आनन्द of अखण्ड वैभव!

धन्योऽहं कृतकृत्योऽहं विमुक्तोऽहं भवग्रहात् । नित्यानन्दस्वरूपोऽहं पूर्णोऽहं त्वदनुग्रहात् ॥ ४८८ ॥

488. Blessed am I; I have attained the consummation of my life, and am free from the clutches of transmigration; My स्वरूप is of Eternal आनन्द, I am पूर्ण – all through your अनुग्रह!

असङ्गोऽहमनङ्गोऽहमलिङ्गोऽहमभङ्गुरः । प्रशान्तोऽहमनन्तोऽहममलोऽहं चिरन्तनः ॥ ४८९ ॥

अकर्ताहमभोक्ताहमविकारोऽहमक्रियः । शुद्धबोधस्वरूपोऽहं केवलोऽहं सदाशिवः ॥ ४९0 ॥

489. I am unattached, I am disembodied, I am free from the subtle body (meaning free from any form that limits my identity), and undecaying, I am serene, I am infinite, I am taintless and eternal.

490. I am not the doer, I am not the experiencer, I am formless and beyond activity; My स्वरूप of that of Pure Knowledge; I am Absolute and identified with Eternal auspiciousness (सदाशिव).

Notes: Chapter 3 of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता is helpful here. Any action is labelled as कर्म and only such a one is said to do कर्म if he sees the world and its people as other than himself (or self). At the highest level, one is established in धर्म and anyone doing धर्म is not seen as a कर्ता (or doer). Similarly, other words like भोक्ता (experiencer) needs to be understood. 

द्रष्टुः श्रोतुर्वक्तुः कर्तुर्भोक्तुर्विभिन्न एवाहम् । नित्यनिरन्तरनिष्क्रियनिःसीमासङ्गपूर्णबोधात्मा ॥ ४९१ ॥

491. I am indeed different from the seer, listener, speaker, doer and experiencer; I am the essence of Knowledge, eternal, without any break, beyond activity, limitless, unattached and पूर्ण.

Notes: As per वेद, it is the बुद्धि within us that sees, listens, does actions like speaking, etc. बुद्धि is an inert substance within us that limits us to a certain form of identity and lives within the ecosystem of time, space and action. However, when one attains the highest, one becomes the ALL. So where is the question is seeing or hearing something other than oneself? 

नाहमिदं नाहमदोऽप्युभयोरवभासकं परं शुद्धम् । बाह्याभ्यन्तरशून्यं पूर्णं ब्रह्माद्वितीयमेवाहम् ॥ ४९२ ॥

निरुपममनादितत्त्वं त्वमहमिदमद इति कल्पनादूरम् । नित्यानन्दैकरसं सत्यं ब्रह्माद्वितीयमेवाहम् ॥ ४९३ ॥

492. I am neither, this nor that (things that come under direct or indirect perception owing to the idea of our idea of being tied to a body), but the Supreme, the illuminer of both; I am indeed ब्रह्म, One without a second, pure, devoid of interior or exterior and पूर्ण.

493. I am indeed ब्रह्म, the One without a second, matchless, the Reality that has no beginning, beyond such imagination as you or I, or this or that, the Essence of Eternal आनन्द, the सत्यं.

नारायणोऽहं नरकान्तकोऽहं पुरान्तकोऽहं पुरुषोऽहमीशः । अखण्डबोधोऽहमशेषसाक्षी निरीश्वरोऽहं निरहं च निर्ममः ॥ ४९४ ॥

494. I am नारायण, the slayer of नरक; I am the destroyer of त्रिपुरा (शिव is a state one attains when one destroys the binding or limitation created by त्रिगुण viz सत्व, रजस् and तमस्), the पुरुष, the Ruler; I am knowledge Absolute, the साक्षी of everything; I have no other ईश्वर but myself, I am devoid of the ideas of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.

सर्वेषु भूतेष्वहमेव संस्थितो ज्ञानात्मनान्तर्बहिराश्रयः सन् । भोक्ता च भोग्यं स्वयमेव सर्वं यद्यत्पृथग्दृष्टमिदन्तया पुरा ॥ ४९५ ॥

495. I alone reside as knowledge in all beings, being their internal and external support. I myself am the experiencer and all that is experienced – whatever I looked upon as ‘this’ or the not-Self previously.

Notes: Earlier, the श्लोक says “I am not the experiencer” while here, it says that one is experiencer. This is however not contradictory. If I experience something as other than myself, than I am an experiencer in our day to day life (I experience watching a movie, I experience going to a holiday, etc). However, at the highest state, there is no such distinction since there is no “other” and thus both experiencer and experienced are both one and the same (just as one sees the world in our dreams). 

मय्यखण्डसुखाम्भोधौ बहुधा विश्ववीचयः ।  उत्पद्यन्ते विलीयन्ते मायामारुतविभ्रमात् ॥ ४९६ ॥

स्थुलादिभावा मयि कल्पिता भ्रमाद् आरोपितानुस्फुरणेन लोकैः। काले यथा कल्पकवत्सराय णर्त्वादयो निष्कलनिर्विकल्पे ॥ ४९७ ॥

496. In me, the ocean of Infinite सुख, the waves of the universe are created and destroyed by the playing of the wind of माया

497. Such ideas as gross (or subtle) are erroneously imagined in me by people through the manifestation of things superimposed – just as in the indivisible and absolute time, cycles, years, half-years, seasons, etc., are imagined.

Notes: माया is established as the substance that brings this idea of diversity and plurality owing to which the One is perceived as many. Once one attains मोक्ष, we are not under the control of माया but माया comes under our control. So while we still “see” plurality, we see such plurality as my expression only and not an “other”.

आरोपितं नाश्रयदूषकं भवेत् कदापि मूढैरतिदोषदूषितैः । नार्द्रिकरोत्यूषरभूमिभागं मरीचिकावारि महाप्रवाहः ॥ ४९८ ॥

आकाशवल्लेपविदूरगोऽहं आदित्यवद्भास्यविलक्षणोऽहम् । अहार्यवन्नित्यविनिश्चलोऽहं अम्भोधिवत्पारविवर्जितोऽहम् ॥ ४९९ ॥

498. That which is superimposed by the grossly ignorant fools can never taint the substratum: The great rush of waters observed in a mirage never wets the desert tracts.

499. I am beyond contamination like the sky; I am distinct from things illumined, like the sun; I am always motionless like the mountain; I am limitless like the ocean.

Notes: World is expressed as a super-imposition. It does not mean it does not exist. It certainly exists but not seen as सत्य. Thus, to use a crude example, water does exist and is therefore real. But water is not truth but the truth is hydrogen and oxygen that have come together. World is thus a “derived” substance and not the ultimate substance just as dreams are derived from within my own mind and the dream house or friend are real but not true. What is real is also expressed as मिथ्या while what is true is expressed as सत्य. मिथ्या is a mere superimposition over सत्य. 

न मे देहेन संबन्धो मेघेनेव विहायसः । अतः कुतो मे तद्धर्मा जाक्रत्स्वप्नसुषुप्तयः ॥ ५00 ॥

500. I have no connection with the body, as the sky with clouds; so how can the states of wakefulness, dream and profound sleep, which are attributes of the body, affect me? 

उपाधिरायाति स एव गच्छति स एव कर्माणि करोति भुङ्क्ते । स एव जीर्यन्म्रियते सदाहं कुलाद्रिवन्निश्चल एव संस्थितः ॥ ५0१ ॥

501. It is the उपाधि (superimposed attribute) that comes, and it is that alone which goes; that, again, performs actions and experiences (their fruits), that alone decays and dies, whereas I ever remain firm like the Kula mountain.

Notes: The सत्य or पुरुष is firm – it is always existent. All other roles, shapes and forms adopted keep changing – they are born, they grow, they age and they die but the original सत्य is firm (meaning it always exists). Our original identity will always be there. 

न मे प्रवृत्तिर्न च मे निवृत्तिः सदैकरूपस्य निरंशकस्य । एकात्मको यो निविडो निरन्तरो व्योमेव पूर्णः स कथं नु चेष्टते ॥ ५0२ ॥

502. There is neither engaging in work nor cessation from it, for me who am always the same and devoid of parts, there is neither engaging in work nor cessation from it. How can that which is One, concentrated, without break and infinite like the sky, ever exert?

पुण्यानि पापानि निरिन्द्रियस्य निश्चेतसो निर्विकृतेर्निराकृतेः । कुतो ममाखण्डसुखानुभूतेः ब्रूते ह्यनन्वागतमित्यपि श्रुतिः ॥ ५0३ ॥

503. How can there be पाप and पुण्य for me, who am without organs, without mind, changeless, and formless – who am the realisation of unbroken सुख? The  श्रुति also mentions this in the passage ‘Not touched’, etc.

Notes: (In the state of profound sleep a man becomes) “Untouched by पाप and untouched by पुण्य, for he is then beyond all the afflictions of the heart.” पाप and पुण्य only accrue to one who does कर्म but one who does धर्म, there is no idea of पुण्य and पाप attaching to the person. It may be added here that the experience of the सुशुप्त state (deep sleep state) is cited in the श्रुति (viz the वेद) merely as an illustration of the liberated state, which is the real state of the आत्मा, beyond all misery.

छायया स्पृष्टमुष्णं वा शीतं वा सुष्ठु दुःष्ठु वा ।  न स्पृशत्येव यत्किंचित्पुरुषं तद्विलक्षणम् ॥ ५0४ ॥

न साक्षिणं साक्ष्यधर्माः संस्पृशन्ति विलक्षणम् ।  अविकारमुदासीनं गृहधर्माः प्रदीपवत् ॥ ५0५ ॥

504. If heat or cold, or good or evil, happens to touch the shadow of a man’s body, it affects not in the least the man himself, who is distinct from the shadow.

505. The properties of things observed do not affect the Witness, which is distinct from them, changeless and indifferent – as the properties of a room (do not affect) the lamp (that illumines it).

Notes: In a war, if the enemy hits with a sword which hits the anchor, it is the anchor that experiences being struck. Similarly, for us, if we are still driven by the instrument of बुद्धि, we will experience pleasure, pain, etc but once we go beyond बुद्धि, we become a साक्षि, knowing that one which experiences heat, cold, good, evil, etc., is the बुद्धि and not the आत्मा. 

रवेर्यथा कर्मणि साक्षिभावो वन्हेर्यथा दाहनियामकत्वम् । रज्जोर्यथारोपितवस्तुसङ्गः तथैव कूटस्थचिदात्मनो मे ॥ ५0६ ॥

506. As the sun is a mere witness of men’s actions, as fire burns everything without distinction, and as the rope is related to a thing superimposed on it, so am I, the unchangeable आत्मा, the Intelligence Absolute.

Notes: Sun……actions—people do good and bad deeds with the help of sunlight, but the sun is unaffected by their results. 
Rope etc.—the relation of the rope to the snake is wholly fictitious. 
So am I etc.—unconcerned with the activities of the बुद्धि. 

कर्तापि वा कारयितापि नाहं भोक्तापि वा भोजयितापि नाहम् । द्रष्टापि वा दर्शयितापि नाहं सोऽहं स्वयंज्योतिरनीदृगात्मा ॥ ५0७ ॥

507. I neither do nor make others do any action (I am free from all activity, direct or indirect); I neither enjoy nor make others enjoy; I neither see nor make others see; I am that self-effulgent, transcendent (beyond the range of sense) आत्मा.

चलत्युपाधौ प्रतिबिम्बलौल्यम् अउपाधिकं मूढधियो नयन्ति । स्वबिम्बभूतं रविवद्विनिष्क्रियं कर्तास्मि भोक्तास्मि हतोऽस्मि हेति ॥ ५0८ ॥

508. When the supervening adjunct (उपाधि) is moving, the resulting movement of the reflection is ascribed by fools to the object reflected, such as the sun, which is free from activity – (and they think) ‘I am the doer’, ‘I am the experiencer’, ‘I am killed, oh, alas!’

Notes: Supervening adjunct—e. g. water, in which the sun is reflected. It is the water that moves and with it the reflection, but never the sun, though ignorant people may think the sun is also moving. Similarly, all activity which belongs to the बुद्धि under the reflection of the आत्मा, is erroneously attributed to the latter. I am the doer,” &c.—This is how the ignorant man thinks and wails. 

जले वापि स्थले वापि लुठत्वेष जडात्मकः ।  नाहं विलिप्ये तद्धर्मैर्घटधर्मैर्नभो यथा ॥ ५0९ ॥

509. Let this inert body drop down in water or on land. I am not touched by its properties, like the space by the properties of the jar.

Notes: Not touched jar—Just as the space seemingly enclosed in a jar is one with the infinite space, and is always the same whether the jar is broken or not, similarly is the आत्मा always the same despite Its apparent relation to the body. 

कर्तृत्वभोक्तृत्वखलत्वमत्तता जडत्वबद्धत्वविमुक्ततादयः । 
बुद्धेर्विकल्पा न तु सन्ति वस्तुतः स्वस्मिन् परे ब्रह्मणि केवलेऽद्वये ॥ ५१0 ॥

510. The passing states of the बुद्धि, such as agency, experience, cunning, drunkenness, dullness, bondage and freedom, are never in reality in the आत्मा, the Supreme ब्रह्म, the Absolute, the one without a second.

Notes: The आत्मा is Knowledge Absolute, which admits of no change, while the बुद्धि or determinative faculty, being inert, is subject to change. So the confusion of the characteristics of the आत्मा with those of बुद्धि is solely due to super-imposition. 

सन्तु विकाराः प्रकृतेर्दशधा शतधा सहस्रधा वापि ।  किं मेऽसङ्गचितस्तैर्न घनः क्वचिदम्बरं स्पृशति ॥ ५११ ॥

511. Let there be changes in the प्रकृति in ten, a hundred, or a thousand ways, what have I, the unattached Knowledge Absolute, got to do with them? Never do the clouds touch the sky!

Notes: प्रकृति is the world of plurality and diversity experienced by all of us. These changes in प्रकृति are मिथ्या, a superimposition. They are limited versions of पुरुष just says a few sunrays is a small expression of the Sun itself. Why should I seek my fulfilment in the limited when the original substance from where the limited has emerged is my own identity? 

अव्यक्तादिस्थूलपर्यन्तमेतत् विश्व यत्राभासमात्रं प्रतीतम् । व्योमप्रख्यं सूक्ष्ममाद्यन्तहीनं ब्रह्माद्वैतं यत्तदेवाहमस्मि ॥ ५१२ ॥

512. I am verily that ब्रह्म, the One without a second, which is like the sky, subtle, without beginning or end, in which the whole universe from the Undifferentiated down to the gross body, appears merely as a shadow (to the ignorant).

सर्वाधारं सर्ववस्तुप्रकाशं सर्वाकारं सर्वगं सर्वशून्यम् । नित्यं शुद्धं निश्चलं निर्विकल्पं ब्रह्माद्वैतं यत्तदेवाहमस्मि ॥ ५१३ ॥

513. I am verily that ब्रह्म, the One without a second, which is the support of all (being the one substratum of all phenomena), which illumines all things, which has infinite forms, is omnipresent, devoid of multiplicity, eternal, pure, unmoved and absolute.

यत्प्रत्यस्ताशेषमायाविशेषं प्रत्यग्रूपं प्रत्ययागम्यमानम् । सत्यज्ञानानन्तमानन्दरूपं ब्रह्माद्वैतं यत्तदेवाहमस्मि ॥ ५१४ ॥

514. I am verily that ब्रह्म, the One without a second, which transcends the endless differentiations of माया, which is the inmost essence of all, is beyond the range of consciousness, and which is सत्य (Truth or existence), ज्ञान, अनन्त and आनन्द Absolute.

This line sets forth the स्वरूप लक्षण or essential characteristics of ब्रह्म, as distinct from Its तटस्थ Lakshana or indirect attributes, such as creatorship of the universe and so on. 

निष्क्रियोऽस्म्यविकारोऽस्मि निष्कलोऽस्मि निराकृतिः । निर्विकल्पोऽस्मि नित्योऽस्मि निरालम्बोऽस्मि निर्द्वयः ॥ ५१५ ॥

सर्वात्मकोऽहं सर्वोऽहं सर्वातीतोऽहमद्वयः । केवलाक्षण्डबोधोऽहमानन्दोऽहं निरन्तरः ॥ ५१६ ॥

515. I am without activity, changeless, without parts, formless, absolute, eternal, without any other support, the One without a second.

516. I am the Universal, I am the All, I am transcendent, the One without a second. I am Absolute and Infinite Knowledge, I am आनन्द and indivisible (without any break).

स्वाराज्यसाम्राज्यविभूतिरेषा भवत्कृपाश्रीमहिमप्रसादात् । प्राप्ता मया श्रीगुरवे महात्मने नमो नमस्तेऽस्तु पुनर्नमोऽस्तु ॥ ५१७ ॥

517. This splendour of the स्वराज्य of Self-effulgence I have received by virtue of  the supreme majesty of your कृपा. नमस्ते to you, O glorious, noble-minded गुरु, नमस्ते again and again!

Notes: Self-effulgence—hence, absolute independence. The शिष्य is beside himself with joy, and hence the highly rhetorical language. 

महास्वप्ने मायाकृतजनिजरामृत्युगहने भ्रमन्तं क्लिश्यन्तं बहुलतरतापैरनुदिनम् । 
अहंकारव्याघ्रव्यथितमिममत्यन्तकृपया प्रबोध्य प्रस्वापात्परमवितवान्मामसि गुरो ॥ ५१८ ॥

518. O गुरु, out of sheer कृपा, you have awakened me from sleep and completely saved me, who was wandering, in an interminable dream, in a forest of birth, decay and death created by illusion, being tormented day after day by countless afflictions, and sorely troubled by the tiger of egoism.

Notes: Sleep—of अविद्या, which also creates the ‘dream,’ two lines further on. 
Forest—i. e. difficult to come through. 
Day after day: It is a well-known fact that even a short dream may, to the dreamer’s mind, appear as extending over years. 

नमस्तस्मै सदैकस्मै कस्मैचिन्महसे नमः ।  यदेतद्विश्वरूपेण राजते गुरुराज ते ॥ ५१९ ॥

519. नमस्ते to you, O Prince of Teachers, thou unnamable Greatness, who is ever the same and you manifest yourself as this universe – to you, I offer my नमस्ते.

Notes: Greatness &c.—The गुरु is addressed as ब्रह्म Itself by the grateful disciple. Hence the use of epithets applicable to ब्रह्म. Compare the salutation मंत्र of the Guru-Gita: “The गुरु is ब्रह्म, the गुरु is विष्णु, the गुरु is शिव, the देवता of देवता. The गुरु verily is the Supreme ब्रह्म. Salutations to that adorable गुरु!” 

ॐ तत् सत्