Chapter 380 - Knowledge of non-dual Brahman (advaita-brahma-vijñāna)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Fire-god said:

1-5. I shall impart the knowledge of the non-dual Brahman [i.e., advaita-brahma-vijñāna] which was expounded by Bharata. He (Bharata) performed penance at Śālagrāma (name of a place) worshipping Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa, a manifestation of Viṣṇu) etc. Because of the company of a deer, (the sage) thinking of the deer at the end of his life, became a deer (in the next birth). But because he carried the memories of his past birth even after being born as a deer, (he) discarded his life by means of yoga and regained his self. Having attained identity with the non-dual Brahman [i.e., advaita-brahma-bhūta], he wandered in the world like an inert thing. An attendant of king SauVīra advised (him) to serve (the king) for wages and led him to the camp. Being prompted by the words of the servant, the wiseman accepted to serve and carried the palanquin in order to destroy (the past deed) of the self. While others (carrying the palanquin) moved fast, he was lagging behind. Seeing the others moving fast and himself (moving) slow the king said to him:

The king said:

6. Are you tired? you have borne my palanquin only for a short distance. You seem to be stout. Are you not able to stand the fatigue?

The brahmin said:

7. I am not stout. I have not borne your palanquin. I am neither tired nor fatigued. O King! You are a person to be borne.

8-10. The pair of feet rest on the earth, the two shanks on the pair of feet, the two thighs on the pair of shanks, which in turn are the support for the belly. Then the region of the chest, the two arms and the pair of shoulders are resting on the belly. This palanquin is on the shoulder. What has the feeling of ‘mine’ done here. This body remaining on the palanquin is beheld as yourself There (the terms) ‘you’ and ‘I’ (are worldly conventions). This may be described in another way.

11-14. O King! I, you and others are being borne by the elements. This conglomeration of guṇas (‘qualities’) fallen in the stream of guṇas goes on. O Ruler of earth! These ‘qualities’ of goodness etc. are bound by the (past) deeds. The karma (past deed) is acquired by ignorance in all the creations without any exception. The soul is pure, imperishable, calm, devoid of guṇas and superior to parkṛti. Among all the creations, this alone does not have growth or decay. O King! Just as it does not have growth, so it does not also have decay. Hence how is it that you have said ‘you are stout’!

15-18. This palanquin is resting on the earth, shank, feet, hip, thigh and belly etc. and similarly on the shoulder. Hence (my) feeling is same as yours. O King! By means of bearing the palanquin (I have become similar) to the other beings. Whether originated from a mountain, other materials or a house or originated from the earth, as the puruṣa (soul) is different from the physical causes. How can there be a big burden to be borne by me? O King! With what material the palanquin has been made, the other worldly things have been made with the same material. In this respect, yourself, myself and all others have been made similar.

19. After having heard these words, the king held his feet, beseeched him to forgive (and said): “Be pleased. Lay off this palanquin and speak to me who is listening to you. Who are you? For what reason have you come here?”

The brahmin said:

20-21. Listen to me. It is not at all possible to tell you who I am. Everywhere the act of coming is for the sake of enjoying (the fruits of past deeds). Every being reaches a place etc. to enjoy the pleasure or pain arising from (the past) pious or impious (deeds) resting on place etc.

The king said:

22. O Brahmin! How is it not possible to say that I am that person who is here. O Twice-born! It is not wrong (to apply) this word ‘I’ to mean the self.

The brahmin said:

23-28. It is not wrong to use the word ‘I’ to denote the self. But it is fallacious to think and say that a thing that is not the self is the self. When there is a single soul enshrined in all the bodies, it is meaningless to ask who you are and who I am. O King! You, this palanquin, these palanquin bearers going in front, and this world of yours are not said to be existence. Wood (the material for making the palanquin) is got from a tree. O King! Is this palanquin on which you are placed designated as a tree or as wood? A sensible man does not say that the great king is seated on a tree. So also (seeing) you on a log of wood, all do not say that you are on a palanquin. (In reality) the palanquin is a combination of wood in a particular design. O Excellent king! Look at the palanquin in its distinctive feature.

29. A man, a woman, cow, horse, elephant, bird, tree should be known as worldly convention to denote the bodies due to the effect of (the past) deeds.

30. O King! the tongue, teeth, lips and palate say ‘I’. They are not ‘I’ because all these are means of making an utterance.

31. For what reasons does speech itself says ‘I’? Even then it is false and not proper to say speech is not I.

32. O King! because (limbs such as) the head, anus etc. of men are different from the body, how can I denote them as ‘I’?

33. O Excellent king! Only if something different from me exists, it is possible to say ‘This is I and that is another’.

34. In fact, there is no difference such as immobile, animal, tree and different bodies etc. These are all the effects of past deeds.

35. O King! A person (designated) as a king and those (designated) as the soldiers of the king, that and other appellations are not real.

36. You are a king to the world, a son to (your) father, a foe to an enemy, husband to (your) wife, father of a son. O King! How shall I call you?

37. O Lord of the earth! Are you this head? Do not the head and belly belong to you? Are not the feet etc. yourself? Or do they not belong to you?

38. You are different from all the constituent parts. O King! Think seriously as to who you are.

After having heard that, the king said to that anchorite brahmin (who was a manifestation of lord) Hari (as follows):

The king said:

39. O Twice-born! Once I endeavoured to ask sage Kapila (to explain to me) what was beneficial (to a man). You are a part of that sage Kapila. You are giver of knowledge on earth for my sake. (Release) the wave of knowledge from the ocean (of knowledge). Impart to me whatever is beneficial to me.

The brahmin said:

40-44. You are again asking (me) what is beneficial. You are not asking about the reality. O King! All those things which are beneficial are unreal. After having propitiated the gods, (men) desire for abundant wealth, desire for sons and for kingdom. O King! What is the benefit? The wise (hold) that the communion with the Supreme Being is the only good. Acts such as the (performance of) sacrificial rites (would not confer this union). One would not get wealth (by such union). The union of the self with the Supreme Being is said to be the foremost thing. The (Supreme) Soul, which is one, is all-pervading, even, pure, without characteristics, superior to nature, devoid of birth, growth etc., omnipresent and undecaying. It is wholly of the form of supreme knowledge and that lord is not associated with qualities, kinds etc.

45-47. O King! Listen to me! I shall describe to you the dialogue between Nidāgha and Ṛtu^[1]. Ṛtu was the son of Brahmā and was a wiseman. Nidāgha, the son of Pulastya, was his disciple. After gaining knowledge from him, (Nidāgha) came to the city and was living there. Once Ṛtu, while walking along the banks of (river) Devikā, thought of him. After one thousand celestial years had passed, (Ṛtu) had gone to see Nidāgha. After doing Vaiśvadeva^[2] (worship) Nidāgha took food and asked him “You have eaten. Have you been satisfied? Is that satisfaction eternal?”

Ṛtu said:

48-55. O Brahmin! A person feeling hungry would get satisfied after eating food. I had no hunger. Why do you ask me about getting satisfied? O Twice-born! Hunger and thirst are said to be the properties of the body and hence do not belong to me. Because you have asked me I shall say that I am always satisfied since I am the (Supreme) Spirit, omnipresent and all-pervasive like the sky. Hence I am the inner self of all the beings. How then can I be restricted to this? I neither go, nor come, nor am confined to a particular place. You are not different from me, nor am I different from yourself. Just as a mud house is strengthened by plastering with mud, so also this body made of earthly (element) (is held fast) by infinitesimal particles of earthly (materials). O Twice-born! I am Ṛtu, your preceptor, come to impart to you wisdom. I have come here and I shall go now as soon as you know the highest truth. You know that there is only one and there is no difference in the entire universe. (All the things) are the manifestation of the Supreme Being known as Vāsudeva (name of Kṛṣṇa, manifestation of Viṣṇu).

Ṛtu went again to that city after one thousand years. He said to Nidāgha staying at a lonely place on the outskirts of the city, “Why do you stay at a lonely place?

Nidāgha said:

56. O Brahmin! There is a strong rumour that the king would go round (the city) to see the beauty of the city. Hence I am staying here.

Ṛtu said:

57-60. Who is a king here and who are the other subjects? O Excellent Twice-born! Tell me this. You. are conversant (with these)! O Foremost among twice-borns!”

(Nidāgha said): “He is the king who rides that elephant in rut rising from the peak of the mountain and others are (those) moving around him. O Brahman! That which is under is the elephant and one who is above is the king.” Ṛtu asked (again): “Who is the elephant and who is the king?”

Nidāgha said (the same thing again). Ṛtu made Nidāgha to lie crawling on fours and rode him (and said), “I am above like the king and you are below like the elephant.”

61-62. Ṛtu said to Nidāgha, “How shall I name you then?” Being told thus Nidāgha prostrated and said, “You are certainly my preceptor. My mind has not been (made free from the dualistic bias by anyone else”. Ṛtu said to Nidāgha, “I had come here to impart to (you) knowledge relating to Brahman. I have shown to you the highest truth, verily the essence, that is one without a second.”

The Brahmin said:

63-65. Nidāgha also became converted to non-dualism by the counsel (of Ṛtu). He then perceived all beings without any difference in his own self. He attained liberation by means of knowledge. You will also similarly obtain liberation. You and I and all other beings are (lord) Viṣṇu from whom all has come. Just as the single sky is perceived variedly as yellow, blue etc., so also the single soul (is perceived) as separate on account of erroneous perception.

Fire-god said:

66. The king gained liberation by means of the knowledge imparted by Bharata. Contemplate that the knowledge of Brahman is the enemy of the tree of ignorance of mundane existence.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The text consistently reads Ṛtu; probably a mistake for Ṛbhu.

[2]:

A daily rite to please all gods performed before taking food.