Prose-section 51
In plain words
Through the teacher’s words, the authority of scripture and his own reasoning, the disciple knew the truth of the Self. He held in his senses, made his mind one-pointed and stayed for some time in motionless samādhi in the supreme Self. Then he rose, looked at his teacher and said: ‘Teacher! Great one! Very image of peace! Brahman whose nature is untouched, eternal, non-dual bliss! Boundless sea of compassion! I bow to you.’ Bowing, the disciple told what he had found. ‘The moonlight of your gracious look has ended the weariness that the heat of becoming brought, and in a moment I have come to the state of the Self, non-dual bliss. Knowing the oneness of Brahman and Self, the mind’s sense of difference is gone and all striving has stopped. I can no longer tell “this” from “not this”. Like a hailstone dropped into the sea, my mind has melted into the tiniest fraction of a fraction of the ocean of Brahman’s bliss and has become that ocean, which cannot be told as “such” or “so much”. Ah! Ah! This ocean of Brahman’s bliss is full of the nectar of bliss; how can its greatness be thought or told? The whole world I saw a moment ago is nowhere to be seen. Where did it go? Who took it away? Into what did it dissolve? What a wonder this is! ‘In this great ocean of Brahman’s bliss, full of undivided joy, what other thing is there to throw away or take, to see, hear or know? Only I am, the Self that is bliss beyond all else. I am untouched, without gross or subtle body, deathless, utterly at peace. I do not act or enjoy; I do not change or move. I am not the seer, hearer, speaker, doer or enjoyer. I am neither “this”, what is known, nor “that”, what is not known; I am what lights up both. I have no outside or inside and no equal; I am the ancient Person, without beginning, free of every notion of “I”, “you”, “this” and “that”. It is I who am in all beings, filling them within and without as the space of knowledge, the ground they stand on. Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Īśa and Sadāśiva are I. No lord stands over me; I am stainless, without ego, the witness of all. I am Brahman alone: limitless, unbroken, alone, undivided, complete, true, eternal, pure, awake, free, supreme bliss of one taste, without a second.’
Word for word
Through the teacher’s words thus spoken, revelation’s authority and his own reasoning, the disciple knew the Self’s reality. Restraining the senses and making the mind one-pointed, he remained for a time in motionless samādhi in the supreme Self. Then, rising, he addressed the teacher: ‘Teacher! Great one! Embodiment of supreme peace! Brahman in nature, unattached, eternal non-dual bliss! Shoreless ocean of compassion! Salutations!’ Saluting thus, the disciple recounts his experience: ‘Through the moonlight of your gracious glance, the weariness caused by the heat of becoming ended, and in a moment I attained the Self-state of non-dual bliss. Knowing Brahman-Self identity, the intellect’s sense of difference was destroyed; all pursuit ceased. I know nothing as “this” or “not this”. Like a hailstone entering the ocean, my intellect dissolved into the slightest fraction of a fraction of the ocean of Brahman-bliss and became that ocean itself, impossible to determine as “such” or “so much”. Ah! Ah! How can the grandeur of this ocean of Brahman-bliss, filled with the nectar of bliss, be conceived or spoken? The whole world just seen is nowhere to be seen! Where did it go? By whom was it removed? Into what did it dissolve? What a wonder! ‘In this great ocean of Brahman-bliss, full of indivisible happiness, what other, distinct object is there to reject, acquire, see, hear or know? I alone remain, the distinct bliss-Self. I am unattached, without gross or subtle body, indestructible, supremely peaceful; non-doer, non-enjoyer, changeless, actionless; not a seer, hearer, speaker, doer or enjoyer. I am neither the object called “this”, the known, nor “that”, the unknown, but the illuminator of both; without outside or inside, unequalled, the primordial person, beginningless, free of the imaginings “I”, “you”, “this”, “that”. I alone am present in all beings, filling them inwardly and outwardly as the space of knowledge and serving as their substratum. I am Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Īśa and Sadāśiva. I have no lord over me; I am stainless, egoless, the witness of all. I am Brahman alone: limitless, uninterrupted, alone, indivisible, complete, real, eternal, pure, aware, free, of the single essence of supreme bliss, without a second.’