Consciousness, the Only 'Capital'

Maharaj often comes out with the statement that consciousness is the only 'capital' that asentient being is born with. This, he says, is the apparent position. The real situation, however, isthat what is born is consciousness, which needs an organism to manifest itself in, and that organismis the physical body.

What is it that gives sentience — capacity to feel sensations, to respond to stimuli—to asentient being? What is it that distinguishes a person who is alive from the one who is dead? It is, ofcourse, the sense of being, the knowledge of being present, consciousness, the activizing spiritwhich animates the physical construct of the body.

It is consciousness indeed that manifests itself in individual forms and gives them apparentexistence. In human beings through such manifestation arises the concept of a separate ‘I’. In eachindividual the Absolute gets reflected as awareness, and thus pure Awareness becomes selfawareness,or consciousness.

The objective universe is in continuous flux, constantly projecting and dissolving innumerableforms. Whenever a form is created and is infused with life (Prana), consciousness (Chetana)appears, simultaneously and automatically, by the reflection of the Absolute Awareness in matter.Consciousness, it must be clearly understood, is a reflection of the Absolute against the surface ofmatter, bringing about a sense of duality. As different from it, pure Awareness, the Absolute state,is without beginning and end, without the need of any support other than itself. Awareness becomesconsciousness only when it has an object to reflect against. Between pure Awareness and awarenessreflected as consciousness, says Maharaj, there is a gap which the mind cannot cross. Reflection ofthe sun in a drop of dew is not the sun!

Manifested consciousness is time-bound inasmuch as it disappears as soon as the physicalconstruct it inhabits comes to an end. Nevertheless, according to Maharaj, it is the only 'capital' asentient being is born with. And manifested consciousness being his only connection with theAbsolute, it becomes the only instrument by which the sentient being can hope to get an illusoryliberation from the 'individual' he believes himself to be. By being one with his consciousness andtreating it as his Atma, his God, he can hope to attain what he thinks as the unattainable.What is the actual substance of this animating consciousness? Obviously, it must be physicalmaterial because in absence of the physical form it cannot survive. Manifested consciousness canexist only as long as its abode, the body, is kept in a sound and habitable condition. Althoughconsciousness is a reflection of the Absolute, it is time-bound and can be sustained only by the foodmaterial, comprising the five elements, that the physical body is.

Consciousness resides in a healthy body and abandons it when it is decayed and moribund.Reflection of the sun can be seen only in a clear dew drop, not in a muddy one.Maharaj often says that we can observe the nature and function of consciousness in our dailyroutine of sleeping, dreaming and waking states. In deep sleep consciousness retires into a state ofrepose, as it were. When consciousness is absent, there is no sense of one's existence or presence,let alone the existence of the world and its inhabitants, or of any ideas of bondage and liberation.This is so because the very concept of 'I' is absent. In the dream state a speck of consciousnessbegins to stir— one is not yet fully awake — and then in a split-second, in that speck ofconsciousness is created an entire world of mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes, cities andvillages with buildings and people of various ages, including the dreamer himself. And, what ismore important, the dreamer has no control over what the dreamed figures are doing! In otherwords, a new living world is created in a split-second, fabricated out of memory and imaginationmerely by a single movement in that speck of consciousness. Imagine, therefore, says Maharaj, theextraordinary power of this consciousness, a mere speck of which can contain and project an entireuniverse. When the dreamer wakes up, the dream-world and the dreamed figures disappear.

What happens when the deep sleep as also the dream state are over and consciousness appearsagain? The immediate sense then is that of existence and presence, not the presence of 'me' butpresence as such. Soon, however, the mind takes over and creates the 'I' - concept and awareness ofthe body.

Maharaj tells us repeatedly that we are so accustomed to thinking of ourselves as bodies havingconsciousness, that we find it very difficult to accept or even understand the real position. Actuallyit is consciousness which manifests itself in innumerable bodies. It is, therefore, essential toapperceive that birth and death are nothing but the beginning and the ending of a stream ofmovements in consciousness, interpreted as events in space-time. If we can realize this, we shallalso realize that we are pure being-awareness-bliss in our original pristine state, and when in touchwith consciousness, we are only the witnessing of (and totally apart from) the various movements inconsciousness. This is an indisputable fact, because obviously, we cannot be what we perceive; theperceiver must be different from what he perceives. ••••••

The person is merely the result of a misunderstanding. In reality, there is no such thing. Feelings, thoughts and actions race before the watcher in endless succession, leaving traces in the brain and creating an illusion of continuity. A reflection of the watcher in the mind creates the sense of 'I' and the person acquires an apparently independent existence. In reality there is no person, only the watcher identifying himself with the 'I' and the 'mine'. The teacher tells the watcher: you are not this, there is nothing of yours in this, except the little point of 'I am', which is the bridge between the watcher and his dream. ‘I am this, I am that' is dream, while pure 'I am' has the stamp of reality on it. You have tasted so many things—all came to naught. Only the sense 'I am' persisted—unchanged. Stay with the changeless among the changeful, until you are able to go beyond.

ch-71

Talks with Bhagavan

Student:  ‘It is my great desire that I should actually experience your gracious wisdom.  Kindly fulfill my desire.’

Ramana Maharshi:  ‘Is it the body in front of me that desires to obtain my Grace?  Or is it the awareness within it?  If it is the awareness, is it not now looking upon itself as the body and making this request?  If so, let the awareness first of all know its real nature.  It will then automatically know God and my grace.  The truth of this can be realised even here and now.

‘It is not the body that desires to attain the grace.  Therefore, it is clear that it is the awareness that shines here as “you”.  To you who are the nature of awareness there is no connection during sleep with the body, the senses, the life force (prana) and the mind.  On waking up you identify yourself with them, even without your knowledge.  This is your experience.  All that you have to do hereafter is see that you do not identify yourself with them.  In the states of waking and dream try to remain as you were in the state of deep sleep.  As you are by nature unattached, you have to convert the state of ignorant deep sleep, in which you were formless and unattached, into conscious deep sleep.  It is only by doing this that you can remain established in your real nature.  You should never forget that this experience will only come through long practice.  This experience will make it clear that your real nature is not different from the nature of God.’

from The Power Of The Presence, part 1 (page 99 & 100).  Edited by David Godman.


SURRENDER UNCONDITIONAL

Q: What is unconditional surrender?

A: If one surrenders oneself there will be no one to ask questions or to be thought of. Either the thoughts are eliminated by holding on to the root-thought `I', or one surrenders oneself unconditionally to the higher power. These are the only two ways for realization.

Q: Does not total or complete surrender require that one should not have left even the desire for liberation or God?

A: Complete surrender does require that you have no desire of your own. You must be satisfied with whatever God gives you and that means having no desires of your own.

Q: Now that I am satisfied on that point, I want to know what the steps are by which I could achieve surrender.

A: There are two ways. One is looking into the source of `I' and merging into that source. The other is feeling `I am helpless by myself, God alone is all-powerful and except by throwing myself completely on him, there is no other means of safety for me. By this method one gradually develops the conviction that God alone exists and that the ego does not count. Both methods lead to the same goal. Complete surrender is another name for jnana or liberation.

ONLY ONE AND ALL–PERVADING SELF

Yesterday, a sadhu came and sat in the Hall. He seemed anxious to speak to Bhagavan, but hesitant. After some time, he approached him and said,

“Swami, it is said that the Self (atma), is all-pervading. Does that mean that it is in a dead body also?”

“Oho! So that is what you want to know?” rejoined Bhagavan. “And did the question occur to the dead body or to you?”

“To me,” said the sadhu.

Bhagavan: “When you are asleep do you question whether you exist or not? It is only after you wake up that you say you exist. In the dream state also, the Self exists.

There is really no such thing as a dead or a living body. That which does not move we call dead, and that which has movement we call alive.

In dreams you see any number of bodies, living and dead, and they have no existence when you wake up. In the same way this whole world, animate and inanimate, is non-existent.

Death means the dissolution of the ego, and birth means the rebirth of the ego. There are births and deaths, but they are of the ego; not of you.

You exist whether the sense of ego is there or not. You are its source, but not the ego-sense.

Deliverance (mukti) means finding the origin of these births and deaths and demolishing the ego-sense to its very roots. That is deliverance. It means death with full awareness.

If one dies thus, one is born again simultaneously and in the same place with Aham sphurana known as ‘Aham, Aham (I, I)’. One who is born thus, has no doubts whatsoever.”

Yesterday evening, after the chanting of the Vedas, a young European who came four or five days ago, asked Bhagavan a number of questions. Bhagavan, as usual, countered him with the question, “Who are you? Who is asking these questions?” Unable to get any other elucidation, the young man as a last resort asked Bhagavan which verse of the Gita he liked the most, and Bhagavan replied that he liked them all. When the young man still persisted in asking which was the most important verse, Bhagavan told him, Chapter X, Verse 20 which runs:

“I am the Self, Oh Gudakesa ,
seated in the heart of all beings.
I am the beginning and the middle
and the end of all beings.”

The questioner was pleased and satisfied and on taking leave, said, “Swami, this unreal self is obliged to travel owing to the exigencies of work. I pray that you may be pleased to recommend that this unreal self be merged into the real Self.”

Bhagavan, smiling, replied, “Such a recommendation might be necessary where there are a number of different selves — one to ask for a recommendation, one to recommend and one to hear the recommendation. But there are not so many selves. There is only one Self. Everything is in the one Self.”

Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, 11th September, 1947


He who instructs an ardent seeker to do this or that is not a true master. The seeker is already afflicted by his activities and wants Peace and Rest. In other words he wants cessation of his activities. Instead of that he is told to do something in addition to, or in place of, his other activities. Can that be a help to the seeker? Activity is creation; activity is the destruction of one's inherent happiness. If activity be advocated the adviser is not a master but the killer. Either the Creator (Brahma) or Death (Yama) may be said to have come in the guise of such a master. He cannot liberate the aspirant but strengthens his fetters.


~ Sri Ramana Maharshi (Talk 601)






SELF AND INDIVIDUALITY

D: Does not death dissolve the individuality of a person, so that there can be no rebirth, just as the rivers discharged into the ocean lose their individualities?

M: But when the waters evaporate and return as rain on the hills, they once more flow in the form of rivers and fall into the ocean; so also the individualities during sleep lose their separateness and yet return as individuals according to their samskaras or past tendencies. Even so it is in death; and the individuality of the person with samskaras is not lost.

D: How can that be?

M: See how a tree whose branches have been cut, grows again. So long as the roots of the tree remain unimpaired, the tree will continue to grow. Similarly, the samskaras which have merely sunk into the heart on death, but have not perished for that reason, occasion rebirth at the right time; and that is how jivas are reborn.

D: How could the innumerable jivas and the wide universe whose existence is correlative to that of the jivas, sprout up from such subtle samskaras sunk in the heart?

M: Just as the big banyan tree sprouts from a tiny seed, so do the jivas and the whole universe with name and form sprout up from the subtle samskaras.

D: How does individuality emanate from the Absolute Self, and how is its return made possible?

M: As a spark proceeds from fire, individuality emanates from the Absolute Self. The spark is called the ego. In the case of the ajnani, the ego identifies itself with some object simultaneously with its rise. It cannot remain without such association with objects.

This association is due to ajnana, whose destruction is the objective of one’s efforts. If this tendency to identify itself with objects is destroyed, the ego becomes pure and then it also merges into its source. The false identification of oneself with the body is dehatma-buddhi or ‘I-am-the-body’-idea. This must go before good results can follow.



Verses form Guru Vachaka Kovai

95 If it is asked, ‘How has the Supreme Self, the one without a second, come to possess the limitation of the mind, the form of ignorance?’ the reply is, ‘The limitation has attached itself only through the deluded jiva-perspective. In truth, it never attached itself to the Self, consciousness.’

Muruganar: In the same way that, through confusion, a rope is perceived as a snake, consciousness appears as mind through the delusion of the jiva. When one enquires into that matter, no such entity as mind will be seen to exist at all separate from consciousness. Like someone questioning a kind person who looks after his parents very well, ‘How did you acquire this habit of annoying your parents?’ the question itself is fundamentally inappropriate.

96 The little jiva will not rise as a tiny separate ‘I’ – entity from the supreme reality that is the plenitude of consciousness. Only from a ball of fire of finite size can tiny sparks split off, fly away and fall to the ground.

Since consciousness is all pervasive, nothing can arise from within it and then become separate from it. The idea of a separate jiva is therefore just an erroneous idea that arises through ignorance.

Non-existence of the body

97 The body itself does not exist in the unrestricted view of the real Self, but only in outward-turned attention, which is the perspective of the mind that has become deluded through the expansion of maya. Therefore, it is wrong to call the Self, which is the vast expanse of consciousness, the owner-occupier of the body.

98 It is only when you live your life by taking the body alone to be ‘I’ that the external world, constituting of moving and unmoving objects, will manifest itself. Since, for the Self, there is a complete absence of external objects, whether far or near, it is therefore wrong to say that is an unaffected witness.

99 The world does not exist without the body; the body never at any time exists without the mind; the mind does not exist at all apart from consciousness; and consciousness too does not exist apart from being.

Nisargadatta Maharaj Thinking aloud

Noumenon and Phenomena
It was one of those mornings, perhaps a Monday, when there were only a few of us, the regular
'addicts'. Maharaj sat with his eyes closed, still like a statue. After some time he suddenly started
speaking softly, so softly that we unconsciously moved nearer to him. He continued to sit with his
eyes closed, and went on speaking, or rather thinking aloud: People think that I am a Jnani. They
come to me from all over the world — from Canada to Australia and New Zealand, from England
to Japan. Most of them have read I Am That and come all the way to Bombay only to meet me.
With great difficulty they are able to locate this little old house of mine in a dirty, narrow street.
They climb up the stairs and find a small dark man in the simplest of clothing, sitting in a corner.
They think: This man doesn't look like a Jnani; he does not dress impressively, as someone known
as Nisargadatta Maharaj could be expected to do. Could he really be the one?

What can I say to these people? I tell them quite frankly that my education is up to the level
which can barely put me in the category of the literate; I have not read any of the great traditional
scriptures and the only language I know is my native Marathi. The only enquiry I have pursued, but
pursued it relentlessly — like a hunter pursues his quarry— is this: 'I know I am and I have a body.
How could this happen without my knowledge and consent? And what is this knowledge I am?'
This has been my life-long pursuit and I am fully satisfied with the answers I have reached. This is
my only Jnana, yet people believe I am a Jnani. My Guru told me: "You are Brahman, you are all
and everything. There is nothing other than you." I accepted my Guru's word as truth, and now, for
forty odd years I have been sitting in this very room doing nothing except talking about it. Why do
people come to me from distant lands? What a miracle!

After pursuing my enquiry to its logical conclusion what have I arrived at? The whole thing is
really simple, if only one sees the picture clearly. What is this 'me' that I am concerned with? The
immediate answer, of course, is — 'this me, this body'. But then the body is only a psychosomatic
apparatus. What is the most important element in this apparatus which qualifies it to be known as a
sentient being? It is undoubtedly the consciousness without which this apparatus, while perhaps
technically alive, would be useless as far its functioning is concerned. This consciousness obviously
needs a physical construct in which to manifest itself. So, consciousness depends upon the body.
But what is the body made of? How does the body come into existence? The body is merely a
growth in the woman's womb during a period of about nine months, the growth of what is
conceived by the union of the male and female sexual fluids. These fluids are the essence of the
food consumed by the parents. Basically, therefore, both consciousness and the body are made of,
and are sustained by food. Indeed, the body itself is food — one body being the food of some other
body. When the food-essence, the vital sexual fluids, grows from conception into a tiny body and is
delivered out of the mother's womb, it is called 'birth'. And when this food essence gets decayed due
to age or illness and the psychosomatic apparatus happens to get destroyed, it is called 'death'. This
is what happens all the time — the objective universe projecting and dissolving innumerable forms;
the picture keeps on changing all the time. But how am 'I' concerned with this? I am merely the
witness to all this happening. Whatever happens during the period of the happening, in each case,
affects only the psychosomatic apparatus, not the 'I' that I am.

This is the extent of my 'knowledge', basically. Once it is clear that whatever happens in the
manifested world is something apart from me, as the 'I', all other questions resolve themselves.

At what stage exactly did I come to have the knowledge of my 'existence'? What was I before
this knowledge 'I am' came to me? This knowledge 'I am' has been with me ever since I can
remember, perhaps a few months after this body was born. Therefore, memory itself must have
come with this knowledge 'I am', this consciousness. What was the position before that? The answer
is: I do not know. Therefore, whatever I know of anything has its beginning in consciousness,
including pain and pleasure, day and night, waking and sleeping — indeed the entire gamut of
dualities and opposites in which one cannot exist without the other. Again, what was the position
before consciousness arose? These interrelated opposites inevitably must have existed but only in
negation, in unicity, in wholeness. This must then be the answer. This unicity is what I am. But this
unicity, this identity, this wholeness cannot know itself because in it there exists no subject as
separate from an object—a position that is necessary for the process of seeing, or knowing, or
cognizing. In other words, in the original state of unicity, or wholeness, no medium or instrument
exists through which 'knowing' may take place.

Mind cannot be used to transcend the mind. The eye cannot see itself; taste cannot taste itself;
sound cannot hear itself. 'Phenomena' cannot be phenomena without 'noumenon'. The limit of
possible conceptualization — the abstract of mind — is noumenon, the infinity of the unknown.
Noumenon, the only subject, objectifies itself and perceives the universe, manifesting phenomenally
within itself, but apparently outside, in order to be a perceivable object. For the noumenon to
manifest itself objectively as the phenomenal universe, the concept of space-time comes into
operation because objects, in order to be cognizable, have to be extended in space by giving them
volume and must be stretched in duration or time because otherwise they could not be perceived.

So, now I have the whole picture: The sentient being is only a very small part within the
process of the apparent mirrorization of the noumenon into the phenomenal universe. It is only one
object in the total objectivization and, as such, 'we' can have no nature of our own. And yet — and
this is important— phenomena are not something separately created, or even projected, but are
indeed noumenon conceptualized or objectivized. In other words, the difference is purely notional.
Without the notion, they are ever inseparable, and there is no real duality between noumenon and
phenomena.

This identity — this inseparableness — is the key to the understanding, or rather the
apperceiving of our true nature, because if this basic unity between the noumenon and the
phenomenon is lost sight of, we would get bogged down in the quagmire of objectivization and
concepts. Once it is understood that the noumenon is all that we are, and that the phenomena are
what we appear to be as separate objects, it will also be understood that no entity can be involved
in what we are, and therefore, the concept of an entity needing 'liberation' will be seen as nonsense;
and 'liberation', if any, will be seen as liberation from the very concept of bondage and liberation.

When I think about what I was before I was 'born', I know that this concept of 'I am' was not
there. In the absence of consciousness, there is no conceptualizing; and whatever seeing takes place
is not what one — an entity — sees as a subject/object, but is seeing from within, from the source
of all seeing. And then, through this 'awakening', I realize that the all-enveloping wholeness of the
Absolute can not have even a touch of the relative imperfection; and so I must, relatively, live
through the allotted span of life until at the end of it, this relative 'knowledge' merges in the noknowing
state of the Absolute. This temporary condition of 'I-know' and 'I-know-that-I-know' then
merges into that eternal state of 'I-do-not-know' and 'I-do-not-know' that 'I-do-not-know. ••

Eye of a dead sheep

Ramana Maharshi seemed to relish reading the discourse between Jnaneswar and His Father. With respect and childlike affection Jnaneswar climbed onto the lap of his father and requested him to return to the capital and meet the king. The following dialogue ensued.

Father: Does one taste again what has been vomited once, even if it is some delicious dish? Should not the righteous ever stick to their word? Having retired from the world, can I go back there, mix with the undiscerning crowd and love them or adore the king? The forest shall ever be my abode and the world, yours. So go back and live happily in the world.

Jnaneswar: Why do you live in the forest?
Father: My son, what profit or pleasure is there hereafter for me to obtain by going back to the world? Going back there, far from being an aid, will only be a hindrance to salvation. This forest, free from the society of all people, is alone fit for mouna nishta (silent faith) and hence I live on these slopes.

Jnaneswar: The Brahmanishta (devotion to Self) that you are doing, while still full of such distinctions as city and forest, is like one trying to shut out a vision of the heavens by covering it with a canvas instead of closing one's eyes; like a small bird thinking to bear the impact of thunder with its tiny feet; like one trying to acquire virtue while engaging in acts of vice; like a hardhearted man yearning for the sight of God, and like one achieving jnana nishta (firm faith with knowledge) without getting rid of the ego sense. In that nishta, which transcends all distinctions, can there be any idea of duality?

Father: So long as the notion "mine" persists, the ego sense and perception of duality as "this and that" will not disappear. It is nirvikalpa nishta (single devotion) that drives away all notions of duality. Such nishta can be obtained only by freedom from all sankalpas or desires and freedom from all society. So I am here because the forest solitude is the proper place for mouna nishta.

Jnaneswar: Knowing one's Self and being that Self alone is Brahmanishta, and not living in forests.

Father: Even though one may know the Self in the presence of one's Guru, is it not necessary to stay in solitude to remain fixed in that Self?

Jnaneswar: True jnanis realized that ajnana (error) will not be destroyed, nor the sense of 'I' and 'mine' be got rid of by living alone in a forest and doing penance, and therefore practiced nirvikalpa samadhi, with a firm mind, ignoring all such distinctions as city and forest, home life and asceticism. If that is so, why should you oppose home life and live in this forest?

Father: If those who have seen the sakshi (witness) and become one with the Self, who is the witness of all, remain in family life, it will hamper their practice of samadhi, and they will lose their experience of realization of the Self. Therefore, those who have attained the bliss of the sahaja (spontaneous) state will not entertain, even in a dream, the desire to engage in family life.

Jnaneswar: Sahaja nishta (spontaneous realization) consists in being free, both from desires and aversions. Can hating the town and loving the forest be such nishta?

Father: How can one carry on with the affairs of the world who has no desires either to do or not to do? And what is the use of living in the world if one is not fit to engage in the affairs of the world? One should not at all remain in a place where one would be a prey to many difficulties arising from the desire to cater to the comforts of this body. Such catering can be compared to celebrating the marriage of a corpse.

Jnaneswar: If one who has given up all desires to engage in any activity, engages in the practice of samadhi, is not that practice also an activity, and why should not he who has this occupation have also the activity of the family?

Father: Even if samadhi is an activity, it will remove all thoughts and anxieties. On the other hand, domestic business will create all kinds of thoughts and worries and cause grief always.

Jnaneswar: When one is Sat Chit Ananda (three fold Self) himself, why should one engage in nishta sadhana (practice with faith)?

Father: Do not the wise say that Brahmanishta (devotion to Self) consists in realizing while awake, the sleep state? If we don't so realize, can irresistible bliss flow from samadhi?

Jnaneswar: While the Vedas say that proper bliss consists in watching like a spectator the diversions of the senses during the waking state, the activities of the mind during dream and the state of nothingness or blank during sleep, and that the state described as sleep during waking consists in being like a kite's shadow (which while touching anything is not attached to it), can you imagine that to be in a blank state as during sleep is real bliss, and that it is the state called sleep during waking?

Father: Waking and dream conditions will plunge one into the affairs of the world and render one a prey to the wild beasts of sense organs. Hence, only that samadhi where all affairs of the world cease and where there is total void as during sleep, is the proper samadhi.

Jnaneswar: The best samadhi is not to be a mere blank but, like meeting blow with blow, to engage in the affairs of the world and check the sense objects and be indifferent to them by opposing them with the sword of steady jnana (realization of unity), like Janaka.

Father: Only Suka, who got rid of all attachments, was able to conquer the monkeyish mind, which had accumulated within it many vasanas (deep set desires) during countless generations, and not Janaka, who, without being in the sleep-like state, had steady jnana that he was Brahman.

Jnaneswar: Only Janaka secured annihilation of mind and was able to do what he pleased with his mind, and not Suka who gave up all external attachments and betook himself entirely to life in forests.

Father: It is only by inhering in the Seer that one can get rid of the seen. How can one get rid of the seen by being in the seen? If to cure a man of poison, poison is administered to him, will not death be the result?

Jnaneswar: As we administer one poison as an antidote against another poison, he alone is wise, who establishes imperturbable jnana against the dangers of the sense organs, both external and internal, and not he who is always in nishta filled with fear lest at any time the wild beasts of sense objects should come and attack him. This latter will realize only his fear and never the supreme bliss of Brahman.

Father: What would not the sense objects do to one in family life, when they are capable of subjecting to grief even those who have become ascetics and are always absorbed in nishta samadhi? Can a dried leaf that has fallen into a turbulent flood keep still in one place?

Jnaneswar: The sense organs will bring down one who has not attained firm jnana, however long he may remain introverted, and cause him grief. Like a big rock that has fallen into a flood and remains there unmoved, one must remain unmoved, however numerous be the sense activities that come to one, and whatever be the unbearable grief they cause. It is only such a one that can experience the bliss of Brahman. The ignorance of one that is not steadily fixed in jnana will never disappear.

Father: However steady one may be fixed in jnana, he is sure to be engulfed in the darkness of maya (worldly illusion) unless he is always absorbed in meditation of Brahman, giving up all society.

Jnaneswar: It is only if there is such a thing as maya apart from Brahman, one would have to get rid of it by being always in nishta. Like saying "one's shadow will fight with one," you have pointed to a nonexistent avidya and an ego and declared that we must always be in nishta. As the only result of fighting with an unreal shadow will be exhaustion, you will have only endless trouble if you don't stay quiet in mauna (silence), realizing the unreality of maya, but go on eliminating, saying, 'Not this, not this'.

Father: How is one to attain sahaja jnana (spontaneous knowledge) without eliminating the unreal, becoming one-pointed in mind, and remaining a mere sakshi (witness), unmoved by all that takes place.

Jnaneswar: The more we eliminate the unreal things as "not this, not this," the more sense objects will go on appearing, like winged white ants that swarm out from an ant hill. The more we try to make the mind one-pointed, the more will the mind get disturbed like a repressed ball rebounding. The more you remain a sakshi, the more will the delusion "I am the body," etc., assert itself like the curly tail of the dog resuming its bent shape, however much we try to keep it straight. So it is the majestic bliss of Brahman to realize by the jnana (realization) of enquiry, that one is himself Brahman, and avidya, alias ego, and maya, alias unreality, are entirely illusory like the appearance of silver in the mother of pearl.

Father: Is it possible to conquer the grief-causing sense objects and to become one with the all-pervading blissful Self by not doing any other sadhana but merely realizing as the result of jnana vichara that one is himself Brahman?

Jnaneswar: If even a live cow cannot kill a tiger, can a dead cow do so? Similarly, what can the sense objects do to the Self, which is eternal, free from all defects, which extends everywhere and is of the nature of bliss? As even a fat cow will be afraid to face a tiger, sense objects will not dare to come before a jnani, who by steady jnana has attained perfection. But even if they do, they will be extinguished, as the cow by the tiger.
Father: What if the jnani (he who knows), by mixing with ajnanis (the ignorant) should get entangled in sense objects, yield to disturbances of the mind and become entirely sorrow stricken, like a chaste woman becoming unchaste by mixing with prostitutes?
Jnaneswar: The steadfast chaste woman will maintain her chastity in spite of the company of any number of prostitutes. The unsteady one will find occasion for erring even without any evil company. Similarly, the firm jnani will never lose his perfect realization though surrounded by any number of ajnanis (erring ones). The unsteady one will lose his jnana, even when in solitude.

Father: How can one become a sahaja jnani (one who has spontaneously realized) if engaged in domestic affairs?

Jnaneswar: Though the jnani (sage) mixes with ajnanis and acts many parts with them, he will ever remain the experiencer of the supreme bliss, just as a brahmin though acting the part of a scavenger on the stage, and behaving accordingly, ever remains only a brahmin without becoming a scavenger.

Father: However firm the jnana or the spiritual insight of a man may be, unless he contemplates at least for some time every day that he is Brahman, it is very difficult for him to become a Brahma jnani.

Jnaneswar: Is it necessary for the brahmin, who is acting the part of a scavenger, to frequently think that he is a brahmin? Will he become a scavenger if he does not think so? Are sacred strings necessary to distinguish one, whom the entire world knows to be a brahmin? After the annihilation of the ego, "I", should one still retain the knot of the ego consciousness and go on meditating "I am Brahman" ?  As the world-known brahmin is adored as a brahmin by everybody, even when he does not wear sacred strings, one who has renounced notions of "I" and "mine" will always be respected by all and will always be enjoying the supreme bliss of Self, even if he does not practice any meditation.

Father: Even if one is equal to Jagadish (the Almighty), if one does not daily practice the meditation "I am Brahman," he will undoubtedly become an ajnani. The ego sense, which identifies one with body, etc., will never vanish.

Jnaneswar: If one holds the light in his hands and asks darkness to remain, will it remain? Similarly, if, after vanquishing the ignorance that one is the body or its internal organs, after one has attained the knowledge that one is the Supreme itself, will ajnana remain even if it is bidden to remain? If one holds the cat in one's hand and asks the parrot to talk, will it talk? After realizing that self, Iswara and the world, etc. are all unreal, will maya come, even if it is invited? The eunuch will stand ashamed to declare himself a man before a woman who knows his impotence. Similarly, to one who has recognized beyond all doubt, in the presence of his Guru, that Brahman alone is real while maya is unreal, that Brahman is transcendent of all thoughts while maya consists of desires and aversions, and that one is Brahman and Brahman is one's Self, where is the desire or aversion, bondage or freedom, birth or death, country or forest, charity, penance, renunciation or family life? Can the power of maya avail even a bit against one who is in the world, like the eye of a dead sheep (which seems as if it can see while it does not)? Can it turn him again into ajnana (error)? Please consider deeply.

Thereupon Vithoba agreed to leave the forest and return home.
http://www.arunachala.org/newsletters/2004/jul-aug

http://www.scribd.com/doc/108038174/20120929-Dialogue-Beween-Dhyaneshwar-and-Vithoba

മായാനദിയിലെ പ്രളയജലം

ഭഗവദ്ഗീത ജ്ഞാനേശ്വരി ഭാഷ്യത്തില് നിന്ന് ശ്ലോകം 7.14

ദൈവീ ഹ്യേഷാ ഗുണമയീ

മമ മായാ ദുരത്യയാ

മമേവ യേ പ്രപദ്യന്തേ

മായാമേതാം തരന്തി തേ

അത്യത്ഭുതമായും ഗുണത്രയരൂപമായുമിരിക്കുന്ന ഈ മായാശക്തിയെ അതിക്രമിക്കുവാന് വളരെ പ്രയാസമാകുന്നു. എങ്കിലും ആരൊക്കെ പരമാത്മാവായ എന്നെത്തന്നെ സര്വാത്മനാ ശരണം പ്രാപിക്കുന്നുവോ അവരൊക്കെ ഈ മായയെ കടക്കാന് കഴിവുള്ളവരായിത്തീരുന്നു.

അല്ലയോ ധനഞ്ജയ, ഈ മായയെ കീഴടക്കി എങ്ങനെ എന്റെ ശാശ്വതസ്വരൂപവുമായി ഒന്നുചേരാന് കഴിയുമെന്നുള്ളതാണു പ്രശ്നം. പരബ്രഹ്മമാകുന്ന പര്വ്വതത്തിന്റെ ഉന്നതതലങ്ങളില് നിന്നു മായയാകുന്ന നദി ഒരു ചെറിയ അരുവിയായി ആരംഭിക്കുന്നു.

ഇതില് ചെറിയ ചെറിയ കുമിളകളായി പഞ്ചഭൂതങ്ങള് കാണപ്പെടുന്നു. പ്രപഞ്ച സൃഷ്ടികളുടെ മദ്ധ്യത്തില്ക്കൂടി താഴോട്ടുവരുന്ന ഇതിന്റെ വേഗത കാലക്രമേണ വര്ധിക്കുകയും പ്രവൃത്തിയുടേയും നിവൃത്തിയുടേയും ഉയര്ന്ന ഇരുകരകള്ക്കുമിടയില്കൂടി ശക്തിയായി താഴോട്ട് ഒഴുകുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു. സത്വരജസ്തമോഗുണങ്ങളാകുന്ന കാര്മേഘങ്ങളില്നിന്നുചൊരിയുന്ന ഘോരമാരിയുടെ ഫലമായി ഈ നദിയിലുണ്ടാകുന്ന മോഹത്തിന്റെ വെള്ളപ്പൊക്കം അതിന്റെ ഇരുകരകളിലുമുള്ള, ചിത്തസംയമനം, ഇന്ദ്രിയനിഗ്രഹണം എന്നിവയാകുന്ന പട്ടണങ്ങളെ കുത്തിയൊലിപ്പിച്ചു കൊണ്ടുപോകുന്നു. ഈ നദിയില് ദ്വേഷത്തിന്റേയും കൗടില്യത്തിന്റേയും നീര്ച്ചുഴികള് ധാരാളമായി കാണാം. ഗര്വ്വമാകുന്ന ഭീകരമത്സ്യം ഇതില് നീന്തിതുടിക്കുന്നു.

അസൂയയും സ്പര്ദ്ധയും ഈ നദിക്കു വക്രഗതി വരുത്തുന്നു. അനിവാര്യമായ കുടുംബജീവിതം ഇതിനു പല വളവുകളും തിരിവുകളും ഉണ്ടാക്കുന്നു. കര്മ്മവും അകര്മ്മവുമാകുന്ന ജലം തിങ്ങിനിറഞ്ഞിരിക്കുന്ന ഇതിന്റെ മുകള്പ്പരപ്പില്ക്കൂടി ഉണകിയ ഇലകളും മറ്റു ചപ്പുചവറുകളുമാകുന്ന സുഖവും ദുഃഖവും പൊങ്ങിയൊഴുകി നടക്കുന്നു. ഈ നദിയുടെ തിട്ടയില് രൂപംകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്ന ജഡികസ്നേഹമാകുന്ന തുരുത്തില് കാമവികാരങ്ങളുടെ അലകള് അടിച്ചുകയറുന്നു. നുരയും പതയുമാകുന്ന ജീവജാലങ്ങളുടെ ശേഖരം അവിടെ കുമിഞ്ഞുകൂടുന്നു. അഹംഭാവത്തിന്റെ ഭ്രാന്തമായ ലീലാവിലാസങ്ങള്കൊണ്ടുണ്ടാകുന്ന, അറിവിന്റേയും കുലത്തിന്റേയും ധനത്തിന്റേയും ഔദ്ധത്യം ഈ നദിയില് പതഞ്ഞുപൊങ്ങുന്നു. അതില്നിന്ന് ഇന്ദ്രിയവിഷയങ്ങളുടെ തരംഗങ്ങള് ഉയരുന്നു. സൂര്യോദയവും സൂര്യാസ്തമയവും (ദിനരാത്രങ്ങള്) ആകുന്ന വെള്ളപ്പൊക്കം ജനനമരണങ്ങളുടെ കാലചക്രമാകുന്ന അഗാധതലങ്ങള് സൃഷ്ടിക്കുകയും അതില് പഞ്ചഭൂതങ്ങളാകുന്ന കുമിളകള് ശരീരങ്ങളായി വരുകയും പോവുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു. അവിവേകവും വിഭ്രമവും ആകുന്ന മത്സ്യങ്ങള് ധാര്മ്മിക ധീരതയാകുന്ന മാംസത്തെ വെട്ടിവിഴുങ്ങുകയും അജ്ഞതയുടെ നീര്ച്ചുഴികള് നിര്മ്മിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു.

വിഭ്രാന്തിയാകുന്ന മലിനജലത്തിലും ആഗ്രഹങ്ങളാകുന്ന ചെളിയിലും പൂണ്ടുകിടക്കുന്ന രജോഗുണത്തിന്റെ കളകളാരവം സ്വര്ഗ്ഗത്തില് മാറ്റൊലിക്കൊള്ളുന്നു. തമോഗുണത്തിന്റെ നീരൊഴുക്ക് അതില് ശക്തമാണ്. സത്വഗുണത്തിന്റെ പരിശുദ്ധവും സ്വച്ഛവുമായ ജലം ഇതിന്റെ അഗാധതലത്തിലാണ്. ഈ നദികടക്കുക ഏറ്റവും പ്രയാസമായ കാര്യമാണ്.

ജനനമരണങ്ങളാകുന്ന മഹാവീചികളുടെ നിരന്തരമായ പ്രവാഹംകൊണ്ട് സത്യലോകത്തിലെ കോട്ടകൊത്തളങ്ങള് പോലും ഒലിച്ചുപോകുന്ന പ്രപഞ്ചഗോളങ്ങളാകുന്ന മഹാശിലകള് ഈ വീചികളില്പ്പെട്ടുരുളുന്നു. മായാനദിയിലെ പ്രളയജലം ഒടുങ്ങാത്ത ശക്തിയോടെ അനവരതം ഒഴുകിക്കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയാണ്. ആര്ക്ക് ഇതിനെ കടക്കാന് കഴിയും?

ഈ നദി കടക്കുന്നതിനു നടത്തുന്ന ശ്രമങ്ങള്തന്നെ അതിനു പ്രതിബന്ധങ്ങള് സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്നുവെന്നുള്ള വിചിത്രമായ അവസ്ഥയാണുളവാക്കുന്നത്. ബുദ്ധിശക്തിയെ അവലംബമാക്കി ഇതിലേക്ക് എടുത്തുചാടിയിട്ടുള്ളവരെ പിന്നീടു കാണാന്തന്നെ കഴിഞ്ഞിട്ടില്ല. ആത്മധൈര്യത്തെ ഉപാധിയാക്കി ഇതു നീന്തിക്കടക്കാന് ശ്രമിച്ചവര് ഒഴുക്കില്പ്പെട്ട് ഒലിച്ചുപോയി. വിദ്യകൊണ്ടുണ്ടായ അഹംഭാവത്തിന്റെ ശിലകള് വെച്ചു കെട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടു വേദത്തിന്റെ ചങ്ങാടത്തില് കയറി ഈ നദി കടക്കാന് ശ്രമിച്ചവരെ ഔദ്ധത്യമാകുന്ന മത്സ്യങ്ങള് വെട്ടിവിഴുങ്ങിക്കളഞ്ഞു. യൗവനത്തിന്റെ ബലത്തില് കാമാസക്തിയോടെ ഇതിലിറങ്ങിയിരിക്കുന്നവരെ വിഷയസുഖങ്ങളാകുന്ന ചീങ്കണ്ണികള് വേട്ടയാടി. അതില് നിന്നു രക്ഷപ്പെട്ടവര് വാര്ദ്ധക്യത്തിന്റെ വേലിയേറ്റത്തില്പ്പെട്ടു മുങ്ങിപ്പോയി. ശോകത്തിന്റെ പാറക്കെട്ടുകളില് അടിപ്പെട്ട് ക്രോധത്തിന്റെ ചെളികുണ്ടില്കിടന്നു ശ്വാസംമുട്ടിയ അവര്, തല ഉയര്ത്താന് ശ്രമിച്ചപ്പോള്, അവരുടെ ശിരസ്സ് കാലദോഷമാകുന്ന കഴുകന് കൊത്തിവലിച്ചു. ദുഃഖത്തിന്റെ ചതുപ്പുനിലത്തില് അകപ്പെട്ടുപോയ അവര് മരണത്തിന്റെ മണല്ത്തിട്ടയില് അടിഞ്ഞുകൂടി. അങ്ങനെ യൗവനത്തിന്റെ വിഷയസുഖങ്ങളില് മുഴുകിയവരുടെ ജീവിതം എന്നന്നേയ്ക്കും വ്യര്ത്ഥമായി. യജ്ഞങ്ങളാകുന്ന പൊങ്ങുതടിയുടെ സഹായത്തോടെ ഈ നദി കടക്കാന് ശ്രമിച്ചവര് സ്വര്ഗ്ഗീയ സുഖങ്ങളാകുന്ന പാറയുടെ ഇരുണ്ട പിളര്പ്പുകളില് പെട്ടുപോയി.

കര്മ്മം ആയുധമാക്കി മോക്ഷപ്രാപ്തി ഇച്ഛിച്ചവര് വിഹിതകര്മ്മങ്ങളുടേയും നിഷിദ്ധകര്മ്മങ്ങളുടേയും ചുഴിയില്പ്പെട്ട് മറുകരയെത്താന് കഴിയാത്തവരായിത്തീര്ന്നു. വൈരാഗ്യത്തിന്റെ വള്ളത്തിന് ഈ നദിയുടെ ഒഴുക്കില് പ്രവേശിക്കുന്നതിനോ, വിവേകത്തിന്റെ വടം ഇതിന്റെ മറുകരയില് കെട്ടുന്നതിനോ സാധ്യമല്ല. ഒരു പക്ഷേ അഷ്ടാംഗയോഗംകൊണ്ട് ഒരുവന് ഈ നദികടക്കാന് കഴിഞ്ഞെന്നുവരാം.

ഒരുവന്റെ സ്വന്തമായ പരിശ്രമംകൊണ്ട് മായയാകുന്ന ഈ നദിയടെ മറുകരയെത്താന് കഴിയുമെന്നു പറയുന്നത് അര്ത്ഥശൂന്യമാണ്. ഒരുവനു പത്ഥ്യാഹാരങ്ങള് കഴിക്കാതെ രോഗത്തില്നിന്നു മോചിതനാകാന് കഴിയുമെങ്കില് ഒരു പുണ്യാത്മാവിന് ദുഷ്ടന്റെ ദുഷ്ചിന്തകള് മനസ്സിലാക്കാന് കഴിയുമെങ്കില്, ഒരു ചോരന് ധൈര്യമായി പൊതുസ്ഥലങ്ങളില് പരസ്യമായി പ്രത്യക്ഷപ്പെടാന് കഴിയുമെങ്കില് ഒരു മത്സ്യത്തിനു ചൂണ്ടവിഴുങ്ങിയിട്ടും രക്ഷപ്പെടാന് കഴിയുമെങ്കില്, ഒരുഭീരുവിന് പിശാചിനെ കീഴടക്കാന് കഴിയുമെങ്കില്, വേടന്റെ വലയില്വീണ മാന്കിടാവിന് ആ വലപൊട്ടിച്ചു രക്ഷപ്പെടാന് കഴിയുമെങ്കില്, മാത്രമേ ഒരുവന് മായാനദിയുടെ മറുകരയെത്തുവാന് സാധ്യമാകയുള്ളൂ.

വിഷയാസക്തനായ ഒരു പുരുഷനു സുന്ദരിയായ സ്ത്രീയോടുള്ള അഭിനിവേശം നിയന്ത്രിക്കുന്നതിനോ നശിപ്പിക്കുന്നതിനോ കഴിയാത്തതുപോലെ ഒരു ജീവിക്കു മായാനദി കടക്കുവാന് കഴിയുകയില്ല. അല്ലയോഅര്ജ്ജുന, എന്നെ ഭക്തിപൂര്വ്വം ശരണം പ്രാപിച്ചിട്ടുള്ളവര് മാത്രമേ ഈ നദി കടക്കുന്നതില് വിജയിച്ചിട്ടുള്ളൂ. അങ്ങനെയുള്ളവര്ക്ക് ഇക്കരെ നില്ക്കുമ്പോള്ത്തന്നെ മായാനദിയിലെ ജലം വറ്റിയതായി അനുഭവപ്പെടുന്നതുകൊണ്ട് അതു കടക്കേണ്ട ആവശ്യം തന്നെ ഉണ്ടാവുകയില്ല.

ആഗ്രഹങ്ങള് കൈവെടിഞ്ഞ്, അഹംഭാവത്തിന്റെ ഭാരം വലിച്ചെറിഞ്ഞ്, ഇന്ദ്രിയവിഷയങ്ങളോടുള്ള മമത ഉപേക്ഷിച്ച്, സംശയത്തിന്റേയും മായാമോഹത്തിന്റേയും ഒഴുക്കില്നിന്നു രക്ഷപ്പെട്ട് വാസനാബന്ധങ്ങളുടെ വശീകരണ കൊടുംകാറ്റില്പ്പെട്ടുലയാതെ, ആത്മാനുഭവമാകുന്ന ശക്തമായ അരപ്പട്ട ധരിച്ച്, ആത്മസാക്ഷാല്ക്കാരത്തിന്റെ ചങ്ങാടത്തില് കയറി ഞാന് ബ്രഹ്മമാകുന്നു എന്ന ഉത്തമവിശ്വാസത്തോടെ, ഒരു ഗുരുവിന്റെ മാര്ഗ്ഗദര്ശനത്തില്, പരിത്യാഗമാകുന്ന കൈകള്കൊണ്ടു തുഴഞ്ഞാല് നിഷ്പ്രയാസം ഈ നദി കടന്നു മറുകരയായ നിവൃത്തിസ്ഥാനത്ത് എത്താന് കഴിയും. ഇപ്രകാരം എന്നെ ശണം പ്രാപിക്കുന്നവര് മായയെ കടന്നു കയറുന്നു. എന്നാല് അപ്രകാരമുള്ള ഭക്തന്മാര് വളരെ അപൂര്വ്വമാണ്.

ഭഗവദ്ഗീത ജ്ഞാനേശ്വരി ഭാഷ്യത്തില്‍ നിന്ന്


 

14. This divine Maya, consisting of gunas is difficult to cross. Those who take
refuge in me alone pass beyond this Maya.
15. Not in me do the evil doing, deluded and vile men take refuge; (for)
deprived of wisdom by Maya they adopt demoniacal ways.

Now, O Arjuna, how can one cross this Maya of mine, consisting of Mahat
etc. and become one with me? This river of Maya had its origin on the
precipice of the mountain of Brahman, which desired to become many and
produced tiny bubbles of fine elements. This river has been rushing with
great speed between the steep banks of action and renunciation (66-70).

And when the clouds in the form of the three qualities send heavy reins,
she sweeps away in the flood of delusion the town in the form of selfcontrol
and restraint of the senses. This river is full of the whirlpools of
hatred and meanders with bends of malice, while there bask in it big fish in
the form of heedlessness.

The river has many turnings of worldly
existence, in which it becomes flooded with action and inaction, and dry
leaves and other rubbish in the form of pleasure and pain keep floating on
its water. Waves of passion toss against the form of beings get
accumulated there. From the swift currents of ego-sense, arise bubbles of
pride of knowledge, wealth and power which 'burst into waves of senseobjects
(71-75). The billows in the form of sunset and sunrise create deep
waters in the form of cycles of births and deaths in which bubbles in the
form of bodies made up of five elements appear and disappear. There the
bid fish in the form of infatuation and delusion swallow the flesh of
fortitude, and the whirlpools of ignorance revolve all around. The Jiva is
caught in the muddy water of delusion and the mire of desires and the
noise of his activities arising from the rajas quality reaches heaven. In this
river there are currents of tamas quality and deep waters of sattva quality.
In short, this Maya is full of mischief. When the billows of rebirths rise, they
carry away the ramparts of Satyaloka, and then the rocks of the cosmic
globes speedily come down with a bang (76-80). Because of the great
speed of its currents these billows do not come to a stop. Who can swim
across this flooded river of Maya?

It is surprising that whatever attempts were made to cross this river turned
out to be obstacles. Those who leaped into it relying on the power of their
intellect are not traceable. Those who jumped into the deep waters of
knowledge were devoured by pride. Those who went in the boat of the
three Vedas, loading it with rocks full of conceit of their learning, were
swallowed by the big fish of affiance. Those, who relying on the strength of
their youth took to amorous pursuits, were chewed to death by crocodiles
in the form of sensuous pleasures (81-85). They were soon caught in the
wave of old age and became entangled in the net of dotage.

When being sashes against the rocks of grief and getting choked in the whirlpool of
mire they tried to raise their head, they were pecked at by vultures in the
form of calamities. Caught in the quagmire of grief they were lost in the
sands of death and so those who took recourse to sensuous pleasures in
youth were lost forever. Those who tied a float around the belly in the form
of sacrificial rites were caught in the rocky fissures in the form of heavenly
pleasures. Those who relied on the arms of actions hoping for liberation
were caught in the maze of injunctions and prohibition (86-90). In this river
the canoe of dispassion cannot enter and the bamboo of discrimination
could not hold out. Perhaps the eightfold yoga would enable one to cross
this river. To say that a person can cross it by his own effort is as difficult
as to get well without observing the prescribed diet.

If it is possible for a good man to understand the evil designs of a wicked person or for a
greedy person to turn his back on riches, or for a thief to attend an open
meeting or for the fish to swallow a bait, or for a coward to overpower an
evil spirit or the young one of a doe to gnaw the snare set by a hunter, or
for an ant to climb the Meru mountain, then alone will a living being reach
the other shore of this Maya (91-95) Justas it is difficult for a lustful person
to keep his wife under control, so a person cannot cross this river of Maya
(by his own effort). But he who surrenders himself to me easily crosses
this river of Maya, in fact the mirage in the form of Maya vanishes even on
this side of the river for him who has girded himself for the experience of
Brahman and has found the raft in the form of self-knowledge and the
Guru as the steersman.

Then throwing away the burden of egoism and
escaping the gale of doubt and the strong current of passion, he reaches
the ford of knowledge, which is the easiest way of gaining the experience
of absolute unity. Then taking a leap forward towards the other shore of
dispassion (96-100) and Treading the water with powerful strokes of arms
in the form of renunciation and floating on the strength of his staunch faith
that he himself is the supreme Brahman, he reaches without effort the
other shore of dispassion. Those who worship me like this transcend this
Maya, but such devotees are rare, not many.