panchadasi of sri vidyaranya svami

7/24/2019 Panchadasi of Sri Vidyaranya Svami

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Panchadasi of Sri Vidyaranya Svami

Introduction

Sri Vidyaranya Swami ourished in the fourteenth century A.D. He was the Guru as well as thePrime Minister of Harihara I and Bua! the founders of the Vi"ayana#ara $in#dom. He is re%utedto the #reatest amon# %ost&Sanara Advaitins. He was the head of the Srin#eri Sarada Pithaesta'lished 'y Sri Adi Sanara Bha#avat%ada from ()** to ()+, A.D. Panchadasi is one of thewors attri'uted to him. -his wor is so named 'ecause it consists of fteen cha%ters. It is acom%rehensive manual of Advaita Vedanta. -he fundamental teachin#s of Advaita are %resentedin this wor in a clear and lucid manner. It is therefore the 'est te/t for the novice who desires to#et ac0uainted with this %hiloso%hy. At the same time the wor is very %rofound and is of interestto advanced students of Advaita as well.

-he fteen cha%ters of this wor are divided into three #rou%s of ve cha%ters each. Brahman orthe su%reme Self! which is the only reality accordin# to Advaita! is descri'ed in the 1%anishadsas 2/istence&3onsciousness&Bliss. -he rst #rou% of ve cha%ters deals with the 2/istence as%ectof Brahman! the second #rou% with the 3onsciousness as%ect and the third with the Bliss as%ect.

-he core of Advaita is that Brahman is the only reality. 45eality4 is dened as that which does notunder#o any chan#e at any time. By this test! Brahman! which is a'solutely chan#eless andeternal! is alone real. -he world ee%s on chan#in# all the time and so it cannot 'e considered asreal. At the same time! we cannot dismiss it as unreal! 'ecause it is actually e/%erienced 'y us.

-he e/am%le of a ro%e 'ein# mistaen for a snae in dim li#ht is used to e/%lain this. -he snaeso seen %roduces the same reaction! such as fear and trem'lin# of the lim's! as a real snaewould. It cannot therefore 'e said to 'e totally unreal. At the same time! on e/amination with thehel% of a lam% it is found that the snae never e/isted and that the ro%e alone was there all thetime. -he snae cannot 'e descri'ed as 'oth real and unreal! 'ecause these two contradictory0ualities cannot e/ist in the same su'stance. It must therefore 'e said that the snae is neithereal nor unreal. Such an o'"ect is descri'ed as 4mithya4. 6ust as the snae a%%ears 'ecause ofi#norance of the fact that there is only a ro%e! this world a%%ears to e/ist 'ecause of ouri#norance of Brahman. -hus the world is also neither real nor unreal7 it is also 4mithya4. 6ust as

the snae is su%erim%osed on the ro%e! the world is su%erim%osed on Brahman. 8ur i#norance ofBrahman is what is called Avidya or A"nana or 9escience. -his i#norance not only coversBrahman! 'ut it %ro"ects the world as a reality. -he world has no reality a%art from Brahman! "ustas the snae has no reality a%art from the ro%e. :hen the nowled#e of Brahman arises! theworld is seen as a mere a%%earance of Brahman. Another e/am%le may 'e taen to e/%lain this8rnaments of di;erent si! thou#h the di;erent forms of human'ein#s! animals! etc.! continue to 'e seen 'y the 6nani! he sees them all only as a%%earances ofthe one Brahman. -hus the %erce%tion of di;erence and the conse0uences of such %erce%tion

such as looin# u%on some as favoura'le and others as the o%%osite! and the conse0uent e;ortsto retain or #et what is favoura'le and to #et rid of or avoid what is not favoura'le! come to anend. -his is the state of li'eration even while livin#! which is nown as 6ivanmuti.

-he 6iva! or individual! is Brahman itself! 'ut 'ecause of identication with the 'ody! mind andsenses he loos u%on himself as di;erent from Brahman and as a limited 'ein#! su'"ect to "oysand sorrows caused 'y e/ternal factors. -his identication with the 'ody! mind and senses iswhat is called 'onda#e. In reality the 6iva is the %ure Brahman and is di;erent from the 'ody&mind com%le/. :hen this truth is reali


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'onda#e has no real e/istence at all. 2ven when we are i#norant of Brahman and thin ofourselves as limited 'y the 'ody! we are really none 'ut the innite Brahman. ?i'eration is thusonly the removal of the wron# identication with the 'ody! mind and senses. -he attainment ofthe state of li'eration&in&life or 6ivanmuti is the #oal of human life accordin# to the 1%anishads.Maya! which is also nown 'y other names such as Prariti! Avidya and 9escience! is whatconceals Brahman and %ro"ects the universe. It is 'ecause of this that every one identieshimself with his 'ody&mind com%le/ and is i#norant of the truth that he is none other thanBrahman. Sri Vidyaranya %oints out that Maya may 'e looed u%on from three di;erenstand%oints. @or the ordinary worldly individual who loos u%on the world as real! Maya which isthe cause of the a%%earance of the world is real. @or the enli#htened %erson who has reali


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attainment of the su%reme 'liss of li'eration or emanci%ation. -he %erson who has attained%urity of mind is the adhikari or the %erson for whom this wor is intended. -he sam'andha isthe fact that this wor claries or =elucidates or sim%lies> the teachin#s of the 1%anishads forthe easy understandin# of the adhikari.

-he actual su'"ect&matter of the wor starts from verse ). :e e/%erience innumera'le=countless or innite> o'"ects in this world throu#h our sense&or#ans in the wain# state. -heo'"ects are di;erent from one another! 'ut the consciousness =co#ni 'ehindthe senses! which is di;erent from the o'"ects e/%erienced! is only one. -he consciousness of Ais not di;erent from that of B or 3. Since consciousness 'y itself has no distin#uishin# features! icannot vary from %erson to %erson. -he same is the case with the dream state. -he o'"ectse/%erienced in dream are transient =tem%orary or im%ermanent> and disa%%ear or vanish whenthe dreamer waes u%! 'ut the o'"ects e/%erienced in the wain# state are relatively oreasona'ly %ermanent. But the consciousness in 'oth the states is the same.

:hen a %erson waes u% from dee% slee% he remem'ers that he sle%t ha%%ily and did not nowanythin# durin# his slee%. 5emem'rance is %ossi'le only of o'"ects e/%erienced earlier. It istherefore clear that in dee% slee% a'sence of nowled#e and ha%%iness are e/%erienced.

-he same consciousness is %resent in all the three states! as is %roved 'y the fact that a %ersonidenties himself as the same in all the states. -his consciousness is thus the same in all %ersonsand at all times. It is therefore only one and is eternal or everlastin#! without any 'e#innin# oend. It is self&revealin# and does not need another consciousness to reveal itself or its o'"ects

-his consciousness alone remains unchan#ed in all the three states. -he sense&or#ans are no%resent in the dream state and the mind itself is not e/%erienced in dee% slee%. -herefore thisconsciousness is the unchan#in# essence of every livin# 'ein# and it is therefore called the self

-his self! or essence of all livin# 'ein#s! is of the nature of su%reme 'liss! for it is the o'"ect ofunconditional love. All other o'"ects and %ersons are loved only if they are conducive to one4sown ha%%iness. 2ven one4s own 'ody may 'e dislied when it causes su;erin#. But the self isnever dislied7 on the other hand it alone is the %erennial o'"ect of love. Sometimes a %ersonmay say that he hates himself and wants to %ut an end to his life! 'ut that is 'ecause heidenties himself with his 'ody which is the cause of su;erin# due to disease! %overty or otherreasons. @rom the fact that the Self is the o'"ect of the hi#hest love it follows that it is of thenature of the hi#hest 'liss! since what every human 'ein# wants always is ha%%iness. All otherthin#s! such as money! house! children and the lie are desired only 'ecause they are e/%ectedto mae the %erson ha%%ier7 'ut ha%%iness is desired for its own sae.

It has thus 'een esta'lished 'y reasonin# that the individual self is of the nature of e/istenceconsciousness and 'liss. -he 1%anishads declare that the su%reme Brahman is also of the samenature and that the individual self and Su%reme Brahman are the same.

If an o'"ect e/ists at a %articular %lace 'ut is not actually seen! it must 'e due to someo'struction such as darness or a wall in 'etween. Similarly there must 'e some o'struction'ecause of which the self! thou#h e/istin#! is not revealed to us. -his o'struction is avidya.-his

avidya is 'e#innin#less in the sense that we cannot now how and when it ori#inated! 'ecause itis lo#ically %rior to time.EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Prariti is com%osed of the three #unas! namely! sattva! ra"as and tamas and has in it thereection of Brahman which is %ure consciousness and 'liss. -his Prariti is of two inds. :henthe element of sattva is %ure! it is nown as Maya7 when im%ure! due to the admi/ture of ra"asand tamas! it is called avidya. Brahman reected in Maya is the omniscient Isvara! who controlsMaya. Brahman reected in avidya =im%ure Prariti> is the "iva who is under the control of Maya

6ivas are innumera'le in num'er and are of di;erent #rades due to the di;erent de#rees oadmi/ture of ra"as and tamas. Avidya is the causal 'ody or aaranasarira of the "iva. -he word4sarira4 means! 'y derivation! 4what is %erisha'le4. Avidya is called sarira or 'ody 'ecause it wil


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element. -he other half of each element then com'ined with one&ei#hth %art of each of the otheelements. -hus! one half of the element 4earth4 com'ined with one&ei#hth of each of the otherfour elements! to 'ecome the #ross element 4earth4. -he same thin# ha%%ened with the otherelements. As a result! each #ross element has half of itself and one&ei#hth of each of the otherfour elements. All the #ross o'"ects of e/%erience in the universe and all the #ross 'odies of alllivin# creatures were created out of these ve #ross elements. It has 'een said a'ove that Isvaraidentied with all the su'tle 'odies is called Hiranya#ar'ha. -he same Isvara identied with thetotality of #ross 'odies is nown as Vaisvanara. :hen the "iva identies himself with his own#ross 'ody he is nown as Visva.

-he "ivas #o hel%lessly from one 'irth to another! "ust as worms that have fallen into a river areswe%t from one whirl%ool into another. As a result of #ood deeds %erformed in many 'irths! a%articular "iva may 'e fortunate to receive initiation from a Guru who has himself realisedBrahman. -hen he di;erentiates the self from the ve sheaths which mae u% his #ross andsu'tle 'odies and attains the su%reme 'liss of li'eration. -he ve sheaths are those of food! vitaair! mind! intellect and 'liss! nown res%ectively in Vedanta as annamayakosa, pranamayakosa,manomayakosa, vijnanamayakosa and anandamayakosa.-he "iva! 'ein# envelo%ed in these vesheaths! identies himself with them and for#ets his real nature. -his is the cause of re%eated'irths and deaths! nown as transmi#ration. ))

The fve sheaths-he #ross =or %hysical> 'ody! which is the %roduct of the #ross elements! i.e.! the elements afte0uintu%lication! is nown as the food sheath or annamayakosa. -he ve vital airs and the veor#ans of action! which are the %roducts of the ra"as as%ect of Prariti! to#ether constitute thevital sheath orpranamayakosa.-he co#itatin# mind =manas> and the ve or#ans of %erce%tionwhich are the %roduct of the sattva as%ect of Prariti mae u% the mind sheath omanomayakosa. -he 'uddhi or decidin# intellect! to#ether with the ve or#ans of %erce%tionforms the intellect sheath or vijnanamayakosa.-he causal 'ody =avidya or aaranasarira> is the'liss sheath or anandamayakosa.

-he self! which is identical with the su%reme Brahman! should 'e realised 'y distin#uishin# ifrom the ve sheaths in the followin# manner. -he %hysical 'ody! which is %resent in the wain#state! is not e/%erienced in the dream state! since the or#ans of sense and of action do notfunction then. In the state of dee% slee% neither the %hysical 'ody nor the su'tle 'ody ise/%erienced! since the mind is also dormant then. -he witnessin# self! which is %ureconsciousness! is however! %resent in all the three states. -hou#h the causal 'ody! =avidya ornescience> is %resent in the state of dee% slee%! it is ne#ated =cancelled> in the state of dee%meditation! 'ut the self is %resent in that state also. -hus all the ve sheaths are seen to 'eim%ermanent and only the self is %ermanent. -he self can thus 'e distin#uished from the vesheaths =or the three 'odies> throu#h reasonin#! "ust as the slender! internal %ith of the mun"a#rass is detached from its coarse =sti;> e/ternal coverin#. -he identity of the individual self andBrahman is tau#ht in sentences such as 4-hat thou art4 in the 1%anishads.

Brahman associated with the tamasic as%ect of Maya is the material cause =u%adana&aaranam>

of the universe. Brahman associated with the sattvic as%ect of Maya is the eKcient cause=nimitta&aaranam> of the universe. Brahman associated with =or reected in> Maya! is Isvara andhe is thus the material as well as the eKcient cause of the universe. It is Isvara that is %rimarilydenoted 'y the word 4-hat4 in the sentence =mahavaya> 4-hat thou art4. Brahman reected inavidya is the "iva. -he %rimary meanin# of the term 4thou4 in the a'ove sentence is the 4"iva4. -hedi;erence 'etween Maya and avidya has already 'een %ointed out earlier.

In the sentence 4-his is that Devadatta4! the word 4that4 refers to a %erson named Devadattaassociated with a former time and %lace! whereas the word 4this4 refers to the %erson seen at the%resent time and %lace. -he sentence 'rin#s out the identity of the %erson seen at the twodi;erent times and %laces 'y i#norin# the %articular connotations =meanin#> of 4this4 and 4that4Similarly! the sentence 4-hat thou art4 'rin#s out the identity of Brahman and the "iva 'y


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ne#atin# =o%%osin#> Maya and avidya! which are 'oth Cmithya =i.e! which cannot 'echaracterised as either real or unreal>. -he truth of 'oth "iva and Isvara is thus the indivisi'lesu%reme Brahman! who is %ure e/istence! consciousness and 'liss.

L-his is further ela'orated 'elow! 'ased on the 3ommentary of Sri 6a#ad#uru 3handraseharaBharati on verses J) to (of Viveachudamani of Sri Sanara. -he word tat stands forBrahman as 0ualied 'y the functions of creation! sustenance and dissolution =i.e. Isvara>. -heword tvam stands for the Atma as 0ualied 'y the mental states of wain#! dream and dee%slee% =i.e. "iva>. -hese two are of mutually o%%osed 0ualities! lie the #low&worm and the sun! liethe servant and the in#! lie the well and the ocean and lie the atom and the earth =verseJJ>. -here can 'e no identity 'etween these two! which are the literal meanin#s =vacyartha> ofthe words tat and tvam. -he identity is only 'etween their im%lied =indirect> meanin#s!"akshyartha).-he o%%osition 'etween the literal meanin#s is due to the upadhi, since the literameanin# of tat is Brahman with the upadhi or limitin# ad"unct of Maya and the literal meanin# oftvam is Atma with the limitin# ad"unct of the ve sheaths. :hen these limitin# ad"uncts! whichare not real from the a'solute stand%oint! are ne#ated! there is neither Isvara nor "iva. -he twoterms tat and tvam =-hat and -hou> are to 'e understood %ro%erly 'y their im%lied meanin#s inorder to #ras% the im%ort of the a'solute identity 'etween them. -his is to 'e done neither 'ytotal re"ection of their literal meanin# nor 'y total non&re"ection! 'ut 'y a com'ination of 'oth.

Im%lied meanin#s are of three inds&& "ahal&lashana! a"ahal&lashana and "ahada"ahallashana.

6ahal&lashana-& -he literal meanin# is to 'e re"ected and some other meanin# consistent with itis to 'e ado%ted. An e/am%le isGan#ayam #hoshah, the literal meanin# of which is4a hamleton the river Gan#a4. Since there cannot 'e a hamlet on the river itself! it is the 'an of the riverthat is meant. Here the literal meanin# of the word CGan#a has to 'e #iven u% com%letely andthe im%lied meanin# 4'an4 has to 'e ado%ted.

A"ahal&lashana&& :ithout #ivin# u% the literal meanin# of the word! what is im%lied 'y it is alsoado%ted to #et the meanin# intended to 'e conveyed. An e/am%le isthe sentence! 4-he red isrunnin#4! which is intended to convey that the red horse is runnin#. Here the literal meanin# othe word Cred is retained and the im%lied word Chorse is added to #et the correct sense of thesentence.

6ahada"ahal&lashana&& Here a %art of the literal meanin# is retained and the other %artdiscarded. -he sentence 4-his is that Devadatta4 is inter%reted 'y usin# this lashana. -hemeanin# intended to 'e conveyed 'y this sentence is that Devadatta who is seen at the %resenttime in the %resent %lace is the same as the %erson who was seen earlier in another %lace. -heliteral meanin# of the word C4this4 is Devadatta associated with the %resent time and %lace. -heliteral meanin# of the word C4that4 is Devadatta associated with the %ast time and some other%lace. Since this sentence %ur%orts to convey the identity of the %erson seen in di;erent %lacesat di;erent times! we #et this meanin# 'y discardin# the reference to the %lace and timeconveyed 'y the words C4this4 and 4that4 and retainin# the reference to Devadatta. -his is also

nown as 'ha#atya#a&lashana.-he meanin# of the sentence tat tvam asi is o'tained 'y usin#this method. 6ust as in the sentence 4-his is that Devadatta4N the identity is stated 'y re"ectin#the contradictory 0ualities! so also in the sentence 4-hat thou art4 the contradictory 0ualities=namely! the limitin# ad"uncts> are re"ected. -hus it follows that the "iva and Brahman are inessence one when the limitin# ad"uncts! Maya and the ve sheaths! are re"ectedO.

-he reali and un'roenmeditation =nididhyasana>. 4Hearin#4 is not merely listenin# to the teacher who e/%ounds theu%anishads! 'ut arrivin# at the conviction that the %ur%ort of all the u%anishads is the identity ofthe individual self and Brahman. 45eection4 is churnin# in the mind what has 'een heard from


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the teacher! 'y main# use of ar#uments in a constructive manner! to arrive at the conviction ofits correctness. 4Meditation4 is ee%in# the mind /ed on the thou#ht of Brahman! uninterru%ted'y any other thou#ht.

The result achieved by hearing, etc.CHearin# removes the dou't whether the u%anishadic te/t which is the %ramana =source ofnowled#e> e/%ounds Brahman or some thin# else. -his dou't is nown as %ramanaasam'havana, or the dou't a'out the %ramana itself.

C5eection removes the dou't whether Brahman and the "iva are the same or not. -his dou't iscalled %rameya asam'havana.

CMeditation is intended to remove wron# notions =idea> such as 4-he universe is real7 thedi;erence 'etween Brahman and "iva is real4! which are contrary to the teachin#s of theu%anishads! 'y develo%in# concentration of the mind. Such wron# notions are nown asvi%arita'havana.

-hus the %ur%ose of hearin#! reection and meditation is the removal of o'stacles in the form ofdou'ts and wron# notions that stand in the way of Self&reali

panchadasi of sri vidyaranya svami

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