1. The desire of Advaitism (oneness) is produced in (the
minds of) wise men by the grace of God, (which grace) is an antidote to all
fears.
2. In the self by the self itself is contained this all
(i.e., the Universe). How can I adore the Atma. (which is) formless incapable
of division, and never-dying bliss?
3. To whom should I offer my respects (when) I am (Brahm
myself) ever-immaculate; this world is but the work of five elements, being in
reality no other than a mirage*
4. Verily this is all Atma. There is neither difference, nor
non-difference, neither existence nor non-existence: what should I say. To me
all this ap- pears to be a wonder.
5. This is the sum-total of Vedant. " I am Atma, the
self without form, pervading all by its Nature."
6. That which is the ever-shining Ata4 of all; unbounded by
time, unlimited like the space, pure and holy by its own nature; that I am
without doubt.
7. I am never-dying, pure, infinite and an abode of
knowledge. I know neither pleasure, nor pain nor one whom they affect and how,
8. To me there is no act of mind, good or bad, no act of
body good or bad, no act of speech good or bad. I am knowledge, immortal and
-ever pure beyond the reach of senses,
9. Mind is free and boundless like the space, mind is
all-pervading, mind is ail, yet mind is not the highest truth, The Atma is
beyond the mind.
10. I am this all-pervading One unbounded by space; how can
I see the Atma (Self) as manifested or unmanifested?
11. Why dost thou not consider that thou art One alone, the
same in ail, indestructible and un- dying? Thou art ever-exalted and
indivisible. Why do you, then, grieve night and day?
12. Know Atma for ever as the Absolute One pervading
everywhere. I am myself the contemplator and the highest contemplated. How can’t
he indivisible be divided?
13. Thou art neither born nor dead nor hast thou any body.
All this is Brahm. Thus declare forth the Vedas for ever.
14. Thou art eternal Bliss pervading every- where within and
without. Why dost thou, then, wander here and therefore like a ghost?
15. Association and separation there are none for you or for
me. There is neither thou nor I nor this world. This is all Atma indeed.
16. Sound, smell &c. the affection if the five senses
thou art not, nor do they belong to thee. Thou art the highest truth. Why dost
thou, then, grieve?
17. Thou hast neither birth nor death nor mind. Freedom and
confinement, good and evil do not affect thee. Why dost thou weep, 0 child!
neither thou nor I have any name and form.
18. 0 mind! why dost thou wander about bewildered like a
ghost? Bealise the Atma (which is) incapable of division. Give up desire and be
happy.
19. Verily thou art truth, free from all changes, the
unshaken one, the abode of emancipation. To thee belongs neither passions nor
the want of passions. Why dost thou, then, grieve overpower- ed by desires?
20. All the Vedas proclaim the Atma to h& free from all
qualities, a pure, undying, formless, -uniform Existence. Know me to be that
without doubt.
21. Know all that exists in form as unreal. Know the
formless undivided one. By the know- ledge of this truth all future birth is
nullified.
22. The wise declare that there is, indeed, only One
unchangeable entity. When you abandon passions there remains only One, the
variety disappears.
23. How can there be Samadhi if Atma is without form; how
can there be Samadhi if it is not so; how can there be Samadhi if it is neither
this nor that? This is all one boundless as Freedom itself.
24. Thou art the pure unchangeable essence* without form and
without death. How can you- say that you know this and you know not this about
the Atma?
25. The self and the self alone is declared by such
sentences as (that thou art). Not this, not this, is the word of the Vedas
about it. The phenomenal world is not a reality.
26. In the self alone and by the self (thou) alone is
contained all this (universe)* To thee there- is no contemplator, contemplation
or the organ: of contemplation. How dost thou, then, contemplate* and not be
ashamed?
27. I know not the blissful One, how can I speak about it? I
know not the blissful One, how- can I worship it? I am the blissful One, the
high- est truth, the one uniform essence, free and bound- less like the space.
28. I am not matter but an unchangeable? principle beyond
the reach of imagination. I am free from all bondage nor am I one who binds
(others). How can I be, then, cognisable in my nature?
29. There is no other than that eternal One,, no other than
the principle of existence. Atma alone
is the highest truth. There is neither one who kills nor the act of killing.
30. On a pot breaking up? its enclosed space merges into the
universal space; similarly on the mind being pure, only the immaculate Atma
remains. No difference whatever then appears to- me.
31. There is neither the vessel nor the space occupied by
it; neither the individual soul nor the receptacle thereof. Know the Brahm
alone in whom there is neither the knower nor that which is= to be known.
32. Know the Atma to be eternally true in all places, in all
times and, in all manner the world is unreal; but the Atma is reality itself.
Know me to be that without doubt.
33. There are neither the Vedas nor the different religions;
neither the gods nor the sacrifices; neither the different stages of life nor
family nor caste; neither the path of smoke nor the path of light; there is
Brahm alone, the highest truth.
34. When thou art in fact devoid of all and art all
pervading, how canst thou consider thy self to be present or absent?
35. Some long for Unity, others for Duality. They don't know
the unchangeable Essence destitute of all duality and unity.
36. How can they describe the essence which is devoid of all
colors such as white &c. or of all attributes such as sound &c, and
which is inaccessible to thought and speech?
37. When one comes to know Brahm, all this world of matter
appears baseless as the air. Then there remains no dualism in One.
38. To me the Atma appears to be one alone and identical
with Brahm. How can there be a •contemplator, or contemplation in one who is
free like the space and one without duality?
39. Whatever I do, whatever I eat, whatever I sacrifice and
give, is nothing mine. I am the pure, unborn and undying one.
40. Know the whole universe to be without form; know the
whole universe to be without change; know the whole universe to be as an
-embodiment of purity; know the whole universe to be as a form of Bliss
unbroken.
41. Thou art the true Essence indeed; what more do I know?
How do you then consider to be Atma inaccessible or accessible to knowledge?
42. O Dear what dost thou talk of the Mayi or no Maya? There
exists neither the substance nor its shadow. All this is one Existence, pure
and free like the space.
43. I am without beginning, middle or end; nor am I in
bondage. I am pure in nature. This is my definite opinion.
44. This world, though grand, appears no- thing to me. This
is all Brahm. How can there be any prescribed stages of life?
45. I always know all. I am eternally one, real and
unsupported. The World with its pheno- mena such as the sky &c> is
false.
46. Thou art neither an animal, nor a man nor a woman;
neither art thou knowledge nor ignorance; how dos't thou, then, consider
thyself to be full of bliss or devoid thereof?
47. Thou art an ever-enduring Essence, pure by thy own
nature, not pure by the virtue of the Sad&nga Yoga, or by the elimination
of the mind or by the instructions of the Guru.
48. Thou art not a sheath of five elements, nor one without
a body. All is Atma alone. How can there be the third or the fourth stage?
49. I am neither bound nor free, nor am I separate from
Brahm. I am neither a doer nor an enjoyer, I am devoid of all that pervades and
that is pervaded,
50. Just as water thrown into water becomes one without
distinction, so to me appears the Prakriti and the Purush to be inseparable
from each other.
51. When thou art neither bound nor liberated, how dost
thou, then, consider thyself to be with or without form?
52. I know thy supreme self to be free and all pervading
like the visible space. All else (the world) is illusionary as mirage.
53. There is neither the Guru nor his instruction, neither
upadhi nor action. Know the imma- terial one free like the space. I am pure by
my very nature.
54. Thou art pure and bodiless; thy mind is higher than the
highest. I am the the highest one; do not be ashamed to speak so.
55. Why do you weep, 0 mind! exalt thyself by thy Atma, 0
'child/ Drink the waters of immortality and Adwaitism.
56. It is neither knowledge nor the want of knowledge, nor
knowledge and ignorance together. One who has such kind of knowledge has a true
knowledge, better than which there is none.
57. There is neither wisdom nor logic, neither meditation
nor Yoga, neither time nor space, neither are there the instructions of a Guru.
I am the highest Truth eternally free like the space.
58. I am neither born nor die, neither are my acts good or
bad. I am the pure ub qualified Brahm. How can there be bondage or emancipation
to me?
59. If the shining One is pervading and filling all everywhere, I don't see any
difference. How «can, then, there be any exterior
or interior?
60. How wonderful is Mayi, the cause of the notions of
oneness and duality, by which this universe appears to be one and unbroken.
61. There are neither material nor immaterial existences, so
declare the Vedas for ever. There exists only the Atma destitute of all
distinctions of oneness or separateness.
62. Thou hast neither father nor mother, neither brother nor
wife, neither friend nor son. Thou art neither affected by partiality nor
impartiality. How is, then, this perturbation in thy mind?
63. There is neither day nor night; neither sunrise nor
sun-set in your mind. How can wise men assign a body to the bodiless?
64. Know the undying Mina to be destitute of whole or part.
In it there is neither division nor union, neither sorrow nor joy.
65. I am neither a doer nor an enjoyer; neither are there
any acts binding me. I am neither a body nor a bodiless one; how can possession
be assigned to one who has none?
66. I am neither contaminated by passions nor do I suffer
from bodily afflictions. Know me as the self-unlimited like the space.
67. Friend, what do you gain by talking so- much? Friend,
what do you gain by such in- tellectual wranglings? I have told you what is the
real essence. Thou art the highest Self unlimited like the space.
68. Let the Yogis die with any mental impressions and at any
place; they will be merged into the Brahm as the space occupied by a vessel
unites with the outer space.
69. One who dies either at home or at a place of pilgrimage,
haying stripped himself of all bodily connections, becomes the highest Self
pervading all.
70. The Yogis consider all virtue, wealth, ambition, the
moving creatures of all order, nay, even salvation to be as imaginary as
mirage.
71. I neither do nor enjoy the acts that were done and are
being done. This is my firm belief.
72. The ascetic baptised by the sentiment of one-ness lives
happy in this world of hallowness; he walks alone abandoning all pride, because
he obtains all in his own self.
73. There is neither the third nor the fourth state of
consciousness: he obtains the highest one in himself. There is neither virtue
nor vice. How can there be bondage or emancipation f
74. The ascetic immersed in the sentiment of oneness and
purified of all his mental affections, declares the truth that neither the
Mantras nor the Vedic verses nor the logic can ever express it (Brahm).
75. There is neither void nor fullness, neither existence
nor non-existence. This has been express- ed in accordance with intuitive
judgment supple- mented by the instructions of the sastras.
End of the first chapter of the Avadhuta-Gita by Shri-Dattatreya on the knowledge of the Atma.