PRANAVA-VARTIKA

Dakshinamurti Stotra, translated by Alladi Mahadeva Sastri, [1920], at sacred-texts.com

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II.

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH.

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PRANAVA-VARTIKA.

Purpose of the Tract.

1. The syllable 'Om' is the essence of all the Vedas, illuminating the Truth. How thereby to secure balance of mind will be shown to those who wish for liberation.

The Avyakrita.

2. There was the One Supreme Brahman, the ever Unbound and Immutable. By association with Its own Maya, It became the Seed, the Avyâkrita or Undifferentiated Cause of matter.

The Sutra or Hiranyagarbha.

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3. Thence was Akâsa born, the Sabda-tanmâtra, sound in essence; thence came Vâyu, the Sparsa-tanmâtra, touch in essence; thence Tejas, Rûpa-tanmâtra, colour in essence; thence Waters, Rasa-tanmâtra, sapidity in essence; thence Earth, Gandha-tanmâtra, odour in essence. Akâsa has the sole quality of sound; Vâyu has the qualities of sound and touch; Tejas has three qualities,—sound, touch, and colour; Waters have four qualities,—sound, touch, colour and sapidity; Earth has five qualities,—sound, touch, colour, sapidity and smell. From them was produced the great Sùtra or Linga, ensouling all.

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The Viraj.

4. Thence came the five gross elements, and out of these came the Virâj into being. When bhûtas or elements are quintupled, they are said by the wise to become gross elements.—Let each of the five elements, such as earth, be divided into two halves; and let one half of each be again divided into four parts, and let one of these parts

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of one element be combined with the other elements, one part with each. Thus in the element of âkâsa there are five parts, four of which are parts of Vâyu and the rest. ^* The same principle should be applied to Vâyu, etc. Those who know truth declare that such is the quintupling of the elements. The elements thus quintupled, together with their products, go to form the Virâj. This is the sthûla or gross body of Atman who has (really) no body whatever.

Three aspects of the manifested Brahman.

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5. Threefold, as the Adhidaiva (the region of Cosmic Intelligences), as the Adhyâtma (the individual man), as the Adhibhûta (the external visible world), does the One Brahman appear in different forms, as shown below, owing to illusion; not in reality:—

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Visva and His unity with the Viraj

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6. The cognising by external and internal organs of sensation,—helped by the co-operation of the several Intelligences (Devatâs),—of their respective objects is said to be the jâgrat state. The Atman identifying Himself with this jâgrat state, and with the physical body, which is the seat of the sense organs, is called Vis’va. One should regard Vis’va in the form of the Virâj, for the cessation of difference.

Taijasa and His unity with the Hiranyagarbha

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7. The Sûkshina-Sarîra or subtle body of the Pratyagâtman, which is but illusory, comprises the following:—

(1) The five organs of sensation, namely, the organs of hearing, touch, sight, smell and taste.

(2) The five organs of activity, namely, the organ of speech, hands, feet, the anus and the organ of generation.

(3) The fourfold internal organ as made up of Manas, composed of formative thoughts: Buddhi, which is of the nature

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of determination; Ahankara, the Egoism making up the personality; and Chitta, the faculty of reflection.

(4) The five functions of prâna or vital force; namely, prâna, apâna, vyâna, udâna, and samâna.

(5) The puryashtaka or the eight regions, comprising the five subtle elements such as âkâsa (ether), vâyu (air), fire, water, earth; as well as avidyâ, kâma, and karma. They say that this puryashtaka is called Linga-sarira.

The consciousness which, during the quiescence of the sense-organs, arises in the form of the percipient and objects of perception manifested in virtue of the samskâras or latent impressions of the jâgrata state, is called svapna. The entity who indentifies himself with these, i.e., with the subtle body and the svapna state, is termed Taijasa. The wise man should think of the Taijasa as one with the Hiranyagarbha.

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Prajna and His unity with I’s’vara

8. The ignorance or nescience of Âtman blended with a semblance of consciousness, is the cause of the two bodies (Sthûla, and Sûkshma); and it is called Avyakta the Unmanifested, and Avyäkrita, the Undifferentiated. It is neither existent, nor non-existent, nor both existent and non-existent. It is neither distinct (from Brahman) nor non-distinct, nor both (distinct and non-distinct). It is neither made of parts, nor partless, nor both

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[paragraph continues] (made of parts and partless). It is removed by the knowledge of the unity of Brahman and Atman, inasmuch as it is false. The cessation of all cognitions, the state of Buddhi remaining in the form of its cause as the fig-tree remains in the fig-seed, is called sushupti. The entity who identifies himself with these two (with Avyakta and Sushupti) is called Prâjna. One should regard Prâjna-Atman as one with (I’s’vara or Akshara) the Cause of the universe.

The One Reality

9. The one Reality, which is consciousness in essence, appears by illusion as different, in the form of Vis’va, Taijasa, and Prâjna; as also in the form of Virâj, Sûtra and Akshara. Since the three entities,

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such as Vis’va, Taijasa and Prâjna are one with the three entities such as Virâj, Sûtra and Akshara, one should regard them all as one and the same, so that the absence of all else may become manifest.

Contemplation of A’tman by Pranava.

10. The whole universe, composed of Prâjna and so on, is one with the syllable 'Om'; for, the universe is made up of designations and the designated, which are never in fact perceived separately. Visva is one with the syllable 'a'; the syllable 'u' is said to be one with Taijasa, and the syllable 'm' is one with Prâjna. In this order one should regard them.

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II. Prior to the time of Samâdhi, one should thus contemplate with much effort and then dissolve the whole universe in the Conscious Self, step by step, dissolving the gross in the subtler one. The devotee should dissolve the syllable 'a,' the Visva aspect of the Self, in the syllable 'u'; and the syllable 'u,' the subtle Taijasa, in the syllable 'm'; the syllable 'm,' the Prâjna, in the Chidâtman, the Conscious Self. "I am the Conscious Self, the Eternal, Pure, Wise, Liberated, Existent, Secondless; I am the 'Om,' Vâsudeva, the Supreme

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[paragraph continues] Bliss in its entirety;" having thus thought, he should dissolve even this discriminative thought (Chitta) in the Witness thereof. When dissolved in the conscious A’tman, that thought should no longer be disturbed He should remain as the all-full consciousness, like the full unmoving ocean.

I2. Thus having attained balance in mind, endued with faith and devotion, having subdued the sense-organs, having overpowered anger, the Yogin should see the secondless A’tman. Because at the beginning, at the middle and at the end, all this is pain, therefore he should always firmly dwell in the Reality abandoning all.

Ji’vanmukti.

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13. For him who sees the all-pervading tranquil, secondless, blissful A’tman, there remains nothing to be attained or known. Having achieved all aspirations, he becomes wise; he always remains a

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[paragraph continues] Ji’vanmukta. Fixed in A’tman with all his being, he never indeed sees the universe. No doubt he becomes aware of the dual universe occasionally when he is awake to the world around; but then he sees it not as something different from the Conscious A’tman, inasmuch as Consciousness runs through all. On the other hand, he sees this universe as false, like the confusion of the four quarters, or like the appearance of many moons. Then, owing to the accumulated prârabdha-karma,—karma which has already begun its effects,—he is aware of a semblance of the body. The S’ruti says that he has to wait only till death; and even the continuance of the prârabdha in the case of the liberated one is a mere illusion. This person, having known the Reality, is always free from bonds and never otherwise. On the exhaustion of the fruits of the prârabdha, he attains at once to the Vishnu's state, which is beyond the darkness of avidyâ, free from all false

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appearances,—the pure stainless Consciousness which is beyond the reach of thought and speech, free from all designations and designated objects, and devoid of anything which has either to be acquired or cast aside; which is Bliss and Wisdom in one solid mass.

Conclusion.

14. Therefore this tract should be learned by all devotees, endued with the attributes of pridelessness, etc., (vide Bhagavadgi’ta, XII. 13–20), with devotion

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to the Guru and with His grace. The wise yogin should try and reflect upon this vidyâ at all times of sandhyâ, not engrossed in the objects of pleasure, of this or the next world. He should always contemplate his own A’tman who is free from all attachment and hatred.

Footnotes

194:* The quintupled akasa, then, contains one half of pure akasa, the other half being composed of the other elements, each of which forms one eighth of the whole.