The works of Ramaṇa Maharṣi

Upadeśa Undiyār

Verse 20

நானொன்று தானத்து நானானென் றொன்றதுதானாகத் தோன்றுமே யுந்தீபறதானது பூன்றமா முந்தீபற

நான் ஒன்று தானத்து நானான் என்று ஒன்று அது தானாக தோன்றுமே உந்தீபற தான் அது பூன்றம் ஆம் உந்தீபற

A floor that is not made of anything

In plain words

Look where the 'I' went down. Don't leave. That spot is the whole point. Because something is there. Not silence, and not a blank — something that says itself, over and over, with nothing to say it about: I. I. You didn't produce it. You couldn't have. It was there the whole time, underneath the noise of being somebody. And it is not a small still voice inside a large world. It is the whole of it.

Word for word

In the place where the 'I' has merged, that one shines forth of itself as 'I-I'. Fly up, undī! That Self is the Whole. Fly up, undī!