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 358
सति सक्तो नरो याति सद्भावं ह्येकनिष्ठया ।
कीटको भ्रमरं ध्यायन् भ्रमरत्वाय कल्पते ॥ ३५८ ॥sati sakto naro yāti sadbhāvaṃ hyekaniṣṭhayā |
kīṭako bhramaraṃ dhyāyan bhramaratvāya kalpate || 358 ||358. The man who is attached to the Real becomes Real, through his one-pointed devotion. Just as the cockroach thinking intently on the Bhramara is transformed into a Bhramara.
Notes:
[The reference is to the popular belief that the cockroach, through fright, does actually turn green
when caught by the worm known as Bhramarakita.]