Last
verse 68
दिग्देशकालाद्यनपेक्ष्य सर्वगं
शीतादिहृन्नित्यसुखं निरंजनम् ।
यः स्वात्मतीर्थं भजते विनिष्क्रियः
स सर्ववित्सर्वगतोऽमृतो भवेत् ॥ ६८॥
Dikdesa Kaalaadi
Anapekshya Sarvagam
Seetadi Hrunnitya Sukham
Niranjanam
Yassvaatma Teerdham
Bhajate Vinishkriyam
Sa Sarvavit Sarva Gato
Amruto Bhavet.
[He who
renouncing all activities, who is free of all the limitations of time, space
and direction, worships his own Atman which is present everywhere, which is the
destroyer of heat and cold, which is Bliss-Eternal and stainless, becomes
All-knowing and All-pervading and attains thereafter Immortality.]
The splendid spiritual feast of Atma Bodha is brought to an end
here with a verse that is like a dessert after the meal.
In this verse the whole spiritual journey is summed up as follows:
i) Transcending All Limitations:
The breaking down and release from all the Upadhis that limit us to the narrow
confines of experience through this body, mind and intellect, and confined also
to the limitations of time.
ii) Overcoming all Pairs of Opposites: represented
by heat and cold and so on.
iii) Bringing the being to a stainless state:
(Niranjana); this represents the states of Chitta Shuddhi and Chitta Ekagrata
(purity of mind and one-pointedness of mind).
iv) Considering Self as Highest Teertha: This is
the culmination of the spiritual quest by taking the Atman to be the highest
place of pilgrimage to do one’s worship.
v) Renunciation of all activities: Activities
refer only to the Tamasic and Rajasic activities. Sattwic activities may be
continued as per the Prarabdha of the realized sage.
The verse also describes the essence of the destination reached:
i) One becomes all-knowing;
ii) One experiences the all-pervading
nature of the Self;
iii) One attains immortality. One is no longer
identified with the body, etc, which have a limited existence from birth to
death, but is now identified with the eternal Self.
Just like the sun that is ever shining unaffected by the world
and its happenings, Atman transcends beyond all limitations and is ever
blissful. It is that which is ever present and is verily the substratum of all
the illusory creations.
Acharya is here explaining that one who renounces all desires
and ego and attachments to likes and dislikes of the world and its pleasures
and one who is ever established in the reality of Self verily enjoys the
eternal bliss and hence becomes Brahman alone.
As the Lord explains in many places in Gita about such a knower
as;
ANAPEKSHAH
SHUCHIRDAKSHA UDAASIINO GATAVYATHAH
SARVAARAMBHAPARITYAAGII
YO MADBHAKTAH SA ME PRIYAH
He who is
free from wants, who is pure, clever, unconcerned, untroubled, renouncing all undertakings,
he who is (thus) devoted to Me is dear to Me.
SAMADUHKHASUKHAH
SVASTHAH SAMALOSHHTAASHMAKAANCHANAH
TULYAPRIYAAPRIYO
DHIIRASTULYANINDAATMASA.NSTUTIH
MAANAAPAMAANAYOSTULYASTULYO
MITRAARIPAKSHAYOH
SARVAARAMBHAPARITYAAGII
GUNAATIITAH SA UCHYATE
He to whom
pain and pleasure are alike, who dwells in the Self, to whom a cloud of earth
and stone and gold are alike, to whom the dear and the un-dear are alike, who
is a man of wisdom, to whom censure and praise are same;
The same
in honour and disgrace, the same towards friends and enemies, abandoning all
undertakings – he is said to have crossed beyond the gunas.
As the Upanishads proclaim, the knower of Brahman becomes verily
the Brahman. One who overcomes the attachments and aversions to the illusory
world and realizes the real nature of Self as that of Existence Consciousness
Bliss verily becomes bliss and hence becomes immortal i.e. for such a knower,
there is no death as Self is ever existence and no sadness as Self is but bliss
and no limitations as Self is Consciousness.
The Kaivalya Upanishad explains the same in various slokas as:
VEDAIRANEKAIRAHAMEVA
VEDYO VEDAANTAKRIDVEDAVIDEVA CHAAHAM
NA
PUNYAPAAPE MAMA NAASTI NAASHO NA JANMA DEHENDRIYABUDDHIRASTI
I alone am
taught in the various Vedas, I am the revealer of the Vedanta or Upanishads,
and I am also the Knower of the Vedas. For me there is neither merit nor
demerit, I suffer no destruction; I have no birth, nor any self-identity with
the body and the organs.
NA
BHUUMIRAAPO NA CHA VAHNIRASTI NA CHAANILO ME ASTI NA CHAAMBARAM CHA .
EVAM
VIDITVAA PARAMAATMARUUPAM GUHAASHAYAM NISHKALAMADVITIIYAM.H
SAMASTASAAKSHIM
SADASADVIHIINAM PRAYAATI SHUDDHAM PARAMAATMARUUPAM.H.
YAH
SHATARUUDRIYAMADHIITE SO.AGNIPUUTO BHAVATI SURAAPAANAATPUUTO BHAVATISA
SA
BRAHMAHATYAAYAAH PUUTO BHAVATI SA SUVARNASTEYAATPUUTO BHAVATI
SA
KRITYAAKR ITYAATPUUTO BHAVATI TASMAADAVIMUKTAMAASHRITO
BHAVATYATYAASHRAMII
SARVADAA SAKRIDVAA JAPET
For me
there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor air, nor ether. Thus realising
the Paramatman, who lies in the cavity of the heart, who is without parts, and
without a second, the Witness of all, beyond both existence and non-existence –
one attains the Pure Paramatman Itself.
ANENA JNAANAMAAPNOTI
SA.NSAARAARNAVANAASHANAM TASMAADEVAM
VIDITVAINAM
KAIVALYAM PADAMASHNUTE KAIVALYAM PADAMASHNUTA ITI
By means
of this, one attains the Knowledge that destroys the ocean of Samsara or
repeated transmigration. Therefore, knowing thus one attains the fruit of
Kaivalya or liberation, verily one attains liberation.
One
who becomes Atma Jnani becomes free of all these chains and limitations
imposed by Maya and stay free in his original state of Atma.
The
veil on our wisdom is Ignorance and removal of this ignorance
of Self through Atma Jnanam instantly removes the veil and the Atma shines in
its pristine purity.
May
you, as Atma Jnani, be freed from all such limitations.
When
our identification with Sareera thrayam falls off – automatically, we are freed
from Seetha and Ushna (cold and heat) and other dualities that affect Sareera
thrayam.
May
you, as Atma Jnani, be freed from all dualities afflicting us through the
Sareera thrayam.
May
you, as Atma Jnani, enjoy Nitya sukham (eternal Aananda) andfreedom
from all stains on our mind and body.
May
you always be immersed in the holy waters of the Atma theertham and thereby
become free from all karma (nish-kriya) and karma phalam.
May
you be the Sarva-vid (all - knowing) - meaning total Self knowledge.
May
you be Sarva Gathaha, the all pervading (as Atma).
May
you be immortal (Amrutha)!
॥ इति शंकराचार्यविरचित आत्मबोधः समाप्तः ॥
ITI SHANKARAACHAARYAVIRACHITA
AATMABODHAH SAMAAPTAH...
Thus concludes Atma-Bodha.
Love.
PS- In the next couple of posts, we will recapitulate the
flow of Atma Bodha Verses from start till end.
