1. अद्वैतविद्यारसिकः Advaita-vidyā-rasikaḥ

One who delighted in the knowledge of Advaita

To the question, ‘Who is that Sadguru whom a disciple desirous of knowing the Truth should seek?’ the Vedas categorically answer, “One who is learned in the Śāstras (śrotriya) and is established in Brahman (brahma-niṣṭha).”¹

His Holiness is described in this nāma as rasika, One who delighted in, the vidyā, knowledge, of advaita, that is the advaita-vedānta-śāstra. That His Holiness delighted in the Vedānta-śāstra automatically affirms that He had, in the first place, learnt and understood it thoroughly. Therefore, the nāma asserts that His Holiness was a śrotriya.

The Māṇḍūkya-upaniṣad indicates that the word advaita means the Ātman, the Supreme that ought to be known.² The import of the term ‘advaita-vidyā’ is that Advaita or the Supreme Brahman Itself is of the nature of vidyā, Knowledge. The Śruti indicates this by saying, ‘Brahman is Truth, Knowledge and Infinite’.³ Thus, this nāma has the deeper import that His Holiness was rasika, One who delighted in, advaita-vidyā, Brahman that is Knowledge Itself.

The Śruti reveals that Brahman is of the nature of bliss as well, through statements such as ‘Brahman is of the nature of Knowledge and Bliss’.⁴ About reveling in the Bliss that is Brahman, Bhagavatpāda says, “When, having become ripened by incessant practice, the mind becomes absorbed in Brahman, nirvikalpa-samādhi (the acme of yoga) ensues, which by itself, effortlessly brings about the experience of non-dual Bliss,”⁵ where rasa or enjoyment is verily (the Bliss that is) Brahman.⁶ Now the term ‘advaita-vidyā’ meaning ‘Brahma-vidyā’ essentially refers to the mental vṛtti or modification that removes the ignorance about Brahman. Hence, the nāma conveys that His Holiness delighted in that vṛtti, which exists in nirvikalpa-samādhi and has as its basis the oneness of Ātman-Brahman. Bhagavatpāda says, “One who always has this jñāna-vṛtti that never undergoes modifications and is pure consciousness, is called a jīvanmukta (one liberated while living).”⁷ The nāma thus indicates that His Holiness was a brahma-niṣṭha or in other words a jīvanmukta, who revelled in the rasa or Bliss that is Brahman, and that He particularly did so in nirvikalpa-samādhi.

It is the traditional practice to begin any text with a prayer to God or the Guru, or at least with an auspicious word. This aṣṭottara-śata-nāmāvali begins with the word ‘advaita’. It has already been seen that the word ‘advaita’ denotes Brahman. In the mantra of the Māṇḍukya-upaniṣad quoted above, it is also said that advaita is verily ‘Śiva’, meaning auspiciousness. It is significant that this nāmāvali on His Holiness begins with a word that indicates the most auspicious among all auspicious entities, Brahman.

❧

[The following forms His Holiness’s reminiscence of His attainment of nirvikalpa-samādhi on 10^th December, 1935. He was eighteen years old at that time. His Holiness had the practice of meditating atop a hill near Narasimhavana, Sringeri. His abode, Sacchidananda Vilasa, is situated in Narasimhavana.]

“I reached my place of meditation on the hill around one and a half hours before sunset. Sitting in the siddhāsana, I performed two cycles of prāṇāyāma together with the jālandhara, uḍḍīyāna and mūla bandhas to promote mental tranquillity. Then, as usual, I directed my gaze towards the centre of my brows and chanted the Praṇava (Oṁ). That day, I beheld an unbounded expanse of blue, resembling the sky.

“The notion, ‘I am the non-dual Brahman apart from which nothing whatsoever exists’ that was prominent and naturally persistent since the previous evening had been intensified by my savikalpa-samādhis (the exalted stage of yoga preceding nirvikalpa-samādhi) of the morning and by my reading and reflection of the afternoon. So, I did not have to cultivate it. I had barely seen the soothing expanse of blue when it vanished. I felt Myself expanding and becoming like space. The sense of ‘I’ nearly vanished and my mind entered savikalpa-samādhi.

“The bliss was very great. However, with effort, I restrained Myself from being overwhelmed by it and thought, “I am not the one experiencing bliss but am bliss itself.” In a trice, a sharp change occurred. Awareness of the distinction of the concentrator, concentration and the object of concentration completely disappeared. No more was there any sense of individuality or of space, time and objects. Only Brahman, of the nature of absolute existence, pure consciousness and ultimate bliss, shone bereft of the superimposition of even a trace of duality.

“After about two hours, the mind descended to the level of savikalpa-samādhi and mild awareness of the distinction of the concentrator, concentration and the object of concentration reappeared. Though the bliss of savikalpa-samādhi was by far greater than the joy of any worldly enjoyment, it was nothing compared to the absolute, non-dual bliss of nirvikalpa-samādhi.”

❧

[The following account forms the recollection of His Holiness about His attainment of jīvanmukti (liberation while living). This happened on the evening of 12^th December, 1935.]

“The conviction about the falsity of duality and of my being of the nature of changeless consciousness was so strong and steady that almost no notions of the non-Ātman, based on avidyā (ignorance), cropped up. Those few that did were neutralised swiftly. The knowledge that Brahman alone is all this had almost fully fructified. This was my state when I went in the evening to the summit of the hill one and a half hours before sunset.

“I directed my gaze to between the brows and, without any premeditation, chanted, ‘oṁ namaḥ śivāya (Obeisance to Śiva)’ rather than just the Prāṇava. Soon, I beheld a moon-like disc of light between my brows. The mind became increasingly quiet, the sense of “I” faded away and, effortlessly, nirvikalpa-samādhi ensued. When I opened my eyes, the sun was about to set. Two birds were seated on my shoulders.

“That Brahman is all was as clear as a fruit in one’s palm. My mind automatically went into nirvikalpa-samādhi once again a few minutes later and remained in that state for nearly an hour. Shortly after I regained awareness of the body and the surroundings, a big monkey bounded up to me and positioned itself on my lap. After being cuddled for a while by me, it left. I started walking down the hill.

“By the grace of my Guru and God, the “svanubhavo brahmātmanā saṁsthitiḥ (direct realisation of Brahman and firm establishment in Brahman)”,⁸ spoken of in the Viveka-cūdāmaṇi occurred at one stroke that evening, and there has been no deviation from the Reality ever since.”

❧

When His Holiness was returning from the hill after attaining jīvanmukti, He saw His Guru, the renowned jīvanmukta, Jagadguru Śrī Candraśekhara Bhāratī Mahāswāmin, standing outside Sacchidananda Vilasa and looking in His direction. The senior Jagadguru beckoned to Him and went inside. When He went to the room of His Guru, the latter, who was standing there, rushed to Him and embraced Him even before His Holiness could prostrate before His Guru or say anything. Holding Him by His shoulders, the senior Jagadguru said, “I am so very happy.” He then voiced a mantra of the Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad, a passage of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad and a verse of the Bhagavad-gītā, all of which are about an enlightened person, a jīvanmukta.

The import of the Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad mantra is, “When the supreme Ātman, which is both high and low, is realised, the knot of the heart (comprising the host of tendencies and impressions of ignorance in the form of desires) is destroyed, all doubts come to an end and one’s actions become dissipated.”⁹ The cited passage of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad conveys, “He who was subject to death then becomes deathless and attains identity with Brahman while living in this very body.”¹⁰ The import of the cited words of the Lord in the Bhagavad-gītā is, “But that man who rejoices only in the Ātman, is satisfied with just the Ātman and who is contented in just the Ātman - for him, there is no duty to perform.”¹¹

The senior Jagadguru then said, “Such declarations of the śruti and smṛti are applicable to you who abide as the Supreme Brahman.”

❧

A disciple once asked His Holiness if there had ever been an occasion over the years when intense anger, worry or grief appeared in His Holiness’s mind, unaccompanied, even for a while, by the awareness of its falsity. His Holiness responded, “No, never. Even during excruciating pain, there has been the clear awareness that it pertains only to the illusory mind and that I am the changeless witness of the nature of pure consciousness.” Such instances leave no room for doubt about His Holiness’s firm establishment in the Truth.

❧

Jagadguru Sri Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin once recollected about His Guru, “When His Holiness expounded texts on Advaita-vedānta such as the Upaniṣads, the Brahma-sūtras and the Bhagavad-gītā, along with Ādi-śaṅkara-bhagavatpāda’s commentary, His face would be flushed with joy. The kind of joy He had when reading the Advaitic scriptures, would be unmistakeable to anyone who saw Him. On some occasions, He would close His eyes and slip into complete silence for a while, His face lit up with a smile. On occasion He would share His delight with me, saying, ‘See how wonderfully Bhagavatpāda has expounded this portion!’”

❧