Advaita Makaranda -1

Verses 1 to 5

Introduction

Advaita Makaranda is a short work of 28 verses by Sri Lakshmidhara kavi, a poet in the royal court of King Bhoja, Jagannath Puri. He has also authored ‘Bhagavan nama Kaumudi’ on the greatness and sanctity of the Lord’s name, and ‘Amrita Tarangini’, notes on Bhagavatha.  Later, he became a Sanyasi by name Krishnendra Saraswati.   Makaranda means honey which is sweet and nourishing.  Here, Makaranda refers to Jnanam.  Advaita Jnanam which like honey is very sweet in the sense, it gives Ananda.  This is a Manana Grantha establishing Aham Brahma Asmi. It deals directly with doubts regarding Brahman for the benefit of mandha, madhyama adhikaris i.e. dull, mediocre students.  With this brief introduction let us enter into the text.

Verse 1

Kataksha kiranaachaanta namanmoha abdhaye namah I

AnantaanandaKrishnaya jaganmangalamoortaye II

Salutations to Lord Krishna who is Infinite Bliss, whose form is auspicious to the whole world, who by a mere beam of His side-glance dries up the ocean of delusion of those who surrender to Him.

This is an invocatory verse in which salutations are offered to the Lord for successful completion of the work.  It is called Mangalacharanam or Ishwara Namaskaraha. As one reads the sloka it becomes one’s mangalacharanam as well for the successful reading and understanding of the work.  The author’s Ishta devatha being lord Krishna he offers Namaskara to Him directly.  In that process he is also offering to his Guru indirectly.  His guru is Swami Anantananda and by referring to Lord Krishna as ananthananda Krishna, Krishna of Eternal bliss, he is offering namaskara to guru as well as Ista devatha.  Through this he is also maintaining the tradition of not naming guru directly.  Delusion is here called an ocean because it is difficult to cross over like swimming the ocean and this delusion is caused by Athma ajjnanam. Lord’s grace and guru’s Grace blessing the student’s effort to acquire Athma jnanam, dries up the ocean of ignorance. 

Verse 2

aham asmi sadaa bhaami kadaachit na aham apriyah I

 brahma iva aham atah siddham sacchidaananda lakshanam. II

I ever exist and always I shine; I am never disagreeable to Myself. Therefore it is established that Brahman of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, alone am I.

This verse highlights one of the main points of the work which is: “The inner Self of man, Athma, is the same as Brahman, the Supreme Being, whose nature is Sat-Chit-Ananda i.e. Existence-Consciousness-Bliss”.  ‘I exist”, everyone agrees, but one feels one’s existence comes to an end with death of the body.  It is not true as ‘I’ the self is not the body-mind complex and it is the witness of them including the ego.  The witness does not undergo any change or perished with what is witnessed.  So ‘I’, the inner Self ever exists.  Also ‘I’ is ever experienced as a conscious being.  In waking state one is conscious of oneself and the outer world.  In dream state one is conscious of oneself as dreamer and the dream world.  In deep sleep state one is conscious of oneself only as sleeper, which also he realises when he becomes awake. ‘I’, the inner Self is the most loved of all as Yajnavalkya tells his wife Maitreyi in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4-5-6) “Verily, not for the sake of the All, my dear, is the All loved, but it is loved for the sake of the self (Na va arey sarvasya kamaya sarvam priyam bhavathi Athmanastu kamaya sarvam priyam bhavati)”.   One loves a thing when it is a source of happiness. So one’s Self which is ever loved is also of the nature of bliss.  Putting these three together we learn our inner Self, Athma, is of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Taittreya Upanishad, Brahmanandavalli defining Brahman states “Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma”, which is synonymous of Sat Chit Ananda i.e. Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Since the essential nature of both is one and the same, I, the inner Self, am one with Brahman.  In the succeeding verses the identity of Athma and Brahman is further discussed.

Verse 3

mayi eva udeti chit-vyomni,  jagat gandharva pattanam I

atah aham na katham brahma,  sarva-jnam sarva-kaaranam II

In Me alone, the Space of Consciousness, arises the world, like the castle-in-the-sky;

therefore, how can I not be Brahman, the omniscient and the Cause of all?

In the previous verse the author has established the identity of Athma and Brahman on the basis of Swarupa lakshanam i.e both are of the nature of Sat-Chit-Ananda i.e. Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.  In this verse he tries to establish that ‘I’ as Consciousness am the Cause and the Knower of the world.  All that which is known as ‘this’ (i.e. as an object) constitute the world.   As a thing cannot be the cause of itself, the cause of the world has to be something other than everything which is known as ‘this’.  Anything other than this, the object, can only be ‘I’, the subject.  So ‘I’ as Consciousness alone am the cause of the world, Jagat Karanam. Since objects of the world are inert, they cannot know each other and only ‘I’ alone can be the knower of the world.  If we probe further we can see that a sentient ‘I’ cannot give rise to an insentient world.  So world is only an apparent phenomenon like the castles-in-the-air that appears among the clouds.  Consciousness is the substratum and illuminator of this apparent superimposition called world like the snake on the rope.  Indirect definition, Tatastha Lakshanam, of Brahman from the stand point of the world is also Jagat Karanam.  Since the essential nature of both is one and the same, I, the inner Self, am one with Brahman.

Verse 4

na svatah prati-abhijnaanaat niramshatvaat na cha anyatah I

na cha aashraya vinaashaat me vinaashah syaad anaashrayaat II

I cannot perish by myself since there is continuous memory, or by someone else, because I am part-less. And not even due to destruction of my support, can there be my destruction, for I am not dependent on any support.

Having established Jeeva-Brahma-Ikyam on the basis of Swarupa Lakshanam and as Jagat Karanam, the author is establishing identity on the basis that ‘I’ as Consciousness is nithyam like Brahman.  This verse spells out three methods by which a thing is said to be perishable and shows how they do not apply to Athma, the Self.  These three methods correspond to Swayam naasam, Anyena naasam, and Ashrayena naasam in that order.

Prati-abhijnaat - By definition, this means recollection of a previous experience (like childhood experience) after a lapse of time (like middle or old age). This is a Pramana to confirm that though the body-mind complex changes with time, ‘I’ the Self does not change. And it confirms that the same Consciousness which illumined the experience, now illumines the memory.  So Self, the Athma, is not a changing entity. It is constant forever, transcending even the limits set by birth and death.  So It does not perish by itself.

Niramshatvaat - Since Self, the Athma, does not have parts or limbs or a form, it cannot be destroyed by an external agency

Anaashrayaat - Because Self, the Athma, is not dependent on any other support, there is no possibility of destroying it by taking away its support.

As Self, the Athma, cannot be destroyed by all the three modes of destruction, it is eternal, Nithyam.  Since ‘I’ as Self is Nithyam and Brahman is also Nithyam, the Nityatva Swarupam being identical, ‘I’ as Self am one with Brahman.

Verse 5

na shosha-plosha-vikleda cha chhedaah chin-nabhasah mama I

satyaih api anila, agni, ambhah shastraih, kim uta kalpitaih II

The element of space cannot be fried, burnt, made wet, or cut, even by equally real elements like wind, water, fire and weapons respectively.  How then can I, the pure Consciousness, be destroyed by things superimposed on me? 

Among the three methods of destruction given in the previous verse, the second one

is analyzed in this verse in greater detail.   This method was discussed in verse 4 from the standpoint of the “destroyed” (the Self), the reason being It is without parts.  Now it is discussed from the standpoint of the “destroyer”, i.e. the object used for the destruction.  These can be classified into two categories:

1)    Natural causes: such as burning (fire), floods (water) and storm (air)

2)    Unnatural causes: such as through weapon, weapon representing earth, as weapons are made of material from earth.

Space, one of the five elements cannot be destroyed by the other four elements who share with it the same degree of Reality, all the five being Vyavaharika Sathyam. How then can they destroy ‘I’ as Consciousness which is of a higher order of Reality i.e. Paramarthika Sathyam.  They cannot. Space is used as a closest simile for Self, the Consciousness in this verse as Space, like Consciousness is part-less. We can recall here Lord Krishna’s description of Athma in Bhagavad Gita (2-23):

Nainam chindanti shastraani nainam dahati paavakah I

Na chainam kledayantyaapo na shoshayati maarutah. II

Weapons do not cut It, fire does not burn It, water does not moisten It, and air does not dry It.

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