Manisha Panchakam

‘Manisha’ means conviction and ‘Panchakam’ means a collection of five.  Manisha Panchakam is a work of five verses by Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada, whom we shall refer to as Sri Sankara, in which all the five verses end with the phrase ”Manisha mama” meaning ‘My conviction”.  This work that gives out concisely the essence of Advaita Vedanta, starts with two preliminary verses that contain the question, the response to which are these five verses.  The incident that gave rise to this work is stated thus in “Sankara Vijayam”, Vidyaranya’s biography of Sri Sankara.  One day during his stay in Kasi, Sri Sankara was going to the temple with his disciples after the morning bath in the river Ganges. On the way to the temple in a narrow lane they encountered a sweeper with his wife, the sweeper holding dogs on leash. The hunter and his wife were coming from the opposite direction towards them.  One of the disciples told the hunter harshly to go away as he feared the contact with the hunter, an outcaste, will pollute them, so strong was their belief in untouchability. The hunter did not move away but posed a question in two verses. The hunter’s question and Sri Sankara’s reply forms the work ‘Manisha Panchakam’. The hunter was no other than Lord Siva and the encounter was apparently a ploy staged to expose and explain the incompatibility of the practice of untouchability with the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, to the disciples and others.

Swami Chinmayananda describes the incident of the outcast questioning Sri Sankara as “The Divine Sweeper tickles the Super-Acharya with piercing satire”.  In the first verse the hunter asks as follows:  “O great Brahmin, When you say “Go, Go (Gachcha, Gachcha)”, what do you want to move away, one body from another body or one Consciousness from another Consciousness?”   For if the reference is to body, body being matter and impure in all cases, there can be no difference between one body and another in the matter of purity and so there is no need to move away.   If the reference is to Consciousness, it is not possible as one and the same Consciousness is permeating all bodies and so one cannot move away from another.  In the second verse the hunter quotes the examples of sun and space to illustrate that Consciousness cannot be polluted by the impurities of the matter.  He points out that there is no difference between the reflection of sun in the pure waters of Ganges and its reflection in the putrid water of the gutter in the slum inhabited by outcasts and also that the space in mud pot is no different from the space in a golden pot.  In the same way in the Chaitanyam that is the Real Self of all individuals and is of Satchithananda svarupam, there is no differentiation as brahmana Chaitanyam or chandala Chaitanyam. 

Sri Sankara replies to hunter’s question in five verses, that forms the work “Manisha Pachakam”.  In the first of the verses which is illustrative of the Mahavakhya “Prajnanam Brahma” meaning ‘Consciousness is Brahman” that occurs in Aitareya Upanishad of Rig Veda, Sri Sankara states:  “If a person has attained the firm knowledge that he is not an object of perception, but is that pure Consciousness which shines clearly in the states of waking, dream and deep sleep, and which, as the witness of the whole universe, dwells in all bodies from that of the creator Brahma to that of the ant, then he is my Guru, irrespective of whether he is an outcaste or a brahmana. This is my conviction.”

All human beings undergo the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. Consciousness is present in all the three states illumining them.  Waking state experience, dream experience and the remembrance on waking, of knowing nothing in deep sleep, are all made possible by the Consciousness only.  Consciousness with the subtle body constitutes the life force which is present in all living things from creator Brahma to creatures like ant. Consciousness is ever the subject and never the object.  This Consciousness is the ultimate Reality, Brahman.   Sri Sankara states that one who has realized that one’s true Self is this Consciousness that is Brahman and not the body-mind complex is an enlightened Jnani and that he will revere this Jnani as his Guru irrespective of that person’s caste and creed. 

In the second verse illustrating another Mahavakhya “ Aham Brahmasmi”  meaning ‘I am Brahman” occurring in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad of Yajur Veda, Sri Sankara says:  “He who has attained the firm Jnanam ‘I am Pure Consciouness (Brahman) and this entire universe is only an expansion of  the Pure Consciouness which is bliss itself, eternal, supreme and pure and all this is only something conjured up by me because of avidya (Maya) which is composed of the three gunas (satvam, rajas and tamas)’  is my Guru, irrespective of whether he is an outcaste or a brahmana. This is my conviction”

In the third verse illustrating the Advaita Mahavakkhya “Brahma Satyam; Jagan mithya; Jivo Brahmaiva na para.” meaning ‘Brahman only is Satyam, World is only apparently real (mithya) and Jiva is Brahman only, not different’ Sri Sankara states: “He who has come to the definite conclusion, under the instruction of his Guru, that the entire universe is always perishable and only Brahman is eternal, and has burnt the past and future karmas in the fire of knowledge through constant meditation on Brahman with a calm and pure mind and has submitted the present body to the operation of prarabdha karma (is my Guru, irrespective of whether he is an outcaste or a brahmana).   This is my conviction.

Sri Sankara is talking here of a jivan muktha, awaiting videha mukthi.  On his attaining Athma Jnanam, sanchita and present agami karmas were burnt away and as he has no karthruthva bhava, he does not incur agami karma in future.  Only the prarabhdha karma remains and on its exhaustion he attains videha mukthi.  Swami Paramarthananda states that this verse is indicative of the Mahavakhya “Tat Tvam Asi” meaning ‘That thou art” occurring in Chandogya Upanishad of Sama Veda, as Guru’s instruction is through revealing to student that he is that Brahman, the eternal only and not the perishable body-mind complex.

Sri Sankara states in the fourth verse, which illustrates the Mahavakhya “Ayam Athma Brahma” meaning ‘This Athma is Brahman’ that occurs in Mandukya Upanishad of Atharvana Veda: “The pure Consciousness that is experienced clearly within by animals, men, and Devas as ‘I’, and by whose light the mind, senses and body, which are all insentient, appear to be sentient is also clearly evident within me as the witness, in and through every experience. The illuminator, pure Consciousness, is concealed by the illumined organs, mind, senses and body, just as the sun is covered ‘as though’ by the illumined clouds.  The yogi who, with a calm mind, always meditates on this Consciousness and is ever-contended is my Guru, (irrespective of whether he is an outcaste or a brahmana).   This is my conviction.

Pure consciousness is that which enlivens the mind, sense, etc., which are insentient, and making the animals, men and Devas sentient, enabling them to function. They all experience it as ‘I’. Though that Consciousness is evident in all, in and through every experience as witness of presence or absence of thoughts, it is not recognised because it is obscured by the pancha kosas. When the sun is covered ‘as though’ by the clouds, the solar disc is not visible but the objects illuminated by sunlight can still be seen by us.  Similarly even though the illuminator, pure Consciousness, is apparently concealed by the illumined organs, all the worldly experiences take place with the blessings of pure Consciousness.

The fifth verse of Sri Sankara reads as the Mahavakhya phala sthuthi and it states:  “The Self, which is Brahman, is the eternal ocean of supreme bliss.  Even the Gods like Indra enjoy only a small fraction of this Brahmananda (as Bimbananda).  By meditating on the Self with a perfectly calm mind the sage experiences fulfiiment (immersed in this bliss).  Such a sage who is immersed in Brahmananda is no longer a Brahma Jnani but Brahman Himself.  Such a person, whoever he may be, is one whose feet are fit to be worshipped by Indra himself.  This is my definite conviction.”

The Upanishads say that the happiness experienced by all living beings, including the Devas, is only a minute fraction of the supreme, infinite bliss of Brahman (Brihadaranyaka, 4.3.32, Taittiriya, 2.8).   Knowing that one’s real Self is Brahman only and not the body-mind complex is called knowing Brahman. Knowing Brahman one becomes Brahman Himself, says Mundaka upanishad (3.2.9). Thus attaining the knowledge that one is not the body-mind complex but Brahman only, one becomes Brahman Himself.  In fact this is not attainment of a new state as everyone is in reality Brahman only, even when he looks upon himself as a limited human being in bondage.  Liberation is nothing but the removal of the wrong identification with the body-mind complex by the realization of one’s real nature as the infinite, eternal Brahman.  When a rope is mistaken for a snake in dim light and on examination with a light it is found out that it is only a rope, no one would say that there was a snake previously and that it had gone away. Similar is the case, when a person realizes that his true Self is not the body-mind complex, but Brahman only, and his ignorance only is removed as a result of sravanam, mananam, and nididhysanam..

Thus comes to an end a powerful message from Sri Sankara that exposes the incompatibility of the practice of untouchability with the Hindu philosophy. But unfortunately it is a matter of regret that in spite of such powerful messages from Sri Sankara and others like Swami Vivekananda, this blot on Hinduism is still practised in pockets even today and is not totally eradicated.

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