Vivekachudamani
by Shankara | 1921 | 49,785 words | ISBN-13: 9788175051065
The Vivekachudamani is a collection of poetical couplets authored by Shankara around the eighth century. The philosophical school this compilation attempts to expose is called ‘Advaita Vedanta’, or non-dualism, one of the classical orthodox philosophies of Hinduism. The book teaches Viveka: discrimination between the real and the unreal. Shankara d...
Verse 307
तस्मादहंकारमिमं स्वशत्रुं
भोक्तुर्गले कण्टकवत्प्रतीतम् ।
विच्छिद्य विज्ञानमहासिना स्फुटं
भुङ्क्ष्वात्मसाम्राज्यसुखं यथेष्टम् ॥ ३0७ ॥tasmādahaṃkāramimaṃ svaśatruṃ
bhokturgale kaṇṭakavatpratītam |
vicchidya vijñānamahāsinā sphuṭaṃ
bhuṅkṣvātmasāmrājyasukhaṃ yatheṣṭam || 307 ||307. Therefore destroying this egoism, thy enemy - which appears like a thorn sticking in the throat of a man taking meal – with the great sword of realisation, enjoy directly and freely the bliss of thy own empire, the majesty of the Ātman.
Notes:
[Great sword—Mahasi. The phrase, as it is, is applicable to only one side of the comparison, namely, ‘the enemy,’ but not to ‘the thorn,’ for which it should be interpreted to mean ‘a sharp knife.’]