Upadesha Sara

The essence of the teaching of Sri Ramana Maharshi.

Contents

Verses

Verse 1

Sanskrit

कर्तुराज्ञया प्राप्यते फलम् ।
कर्म किं परं कर्म तज्जडम् ॥ १॥

Translation

Action yields fruit,
For so the Lord ordains it.
How can action be the Lord?
It is insentient.

Verse 2

Sanskrit

कृतिमहोदधौ पतनकारणम् ।
फलमशाश्वतं गतिनिरोधकम् ॥ २॥

Translation

The fruit of action passes.
But action leaves behind
Seed of further action
Leading to an endless ocean of action;
Not at all to moksha.

Verse 3

Sanskrit

ईश्वरार्पितं नेच्छया कृतम् ।
चित्तशोधकं मुक्तिसाधकम् ॥ ३॥

Translation

Disinterested action
Surrendered to the Lord
Purifies the mind and points
The way to moksha.

Verse 4

Sanskrit

कायवाङ्मनः कार्यमुत्तमम् ।
पूजनं जपश्चिन्तनं क्रमात् ॥ ४॥

Translation

This is certain:
Worship, praise and meditation,
Being work of body, speech and mind,
Are steps for orderly ascent.

Verse 5

Sanskrit

जगत ईशधी युक्तसेवनम् ।
अष्टमूर्तिभृद्देवपूजनम् ॥ ५॥

Translation

Ether, fire, air, water, earth,
Sun, moon and living beings
Worship of these,
Regarded all as forms of His,
Is perfect worship of the Lord.

Verse 6

Sanskrit

उत्तमस्तवादुच्चमन्दतः ।
चित्तजं जपध्यानमुत्तमम् ॥ ६॥

Translation

Better than hymns of praise
Is repetition of the Name;
Better low-voiced than loud,
But best of all
Is meditation in the mind.

Verse 7

Sanskrit

आज्यधारया स्रोतसा समम् ।
सरलचिन्तनं विरलतः परम् ॥ ७॥

Translation

Better than spells of meditation
Is one continuous current,
Steady as a stream,
Or downward flow of oil.

Verse 8

Sanskrit

भेदभावनात् सोऽहमित्यसौ ।
भावनाऽभिदा पावनी मता ॥ ८॥

Translation

Better than viewing Him as Other,
Indeed the noblest attitude of all,
Is to hold Him as the ‘I’ within,
The very ‘I’.

Verse 9

Sanskrit

भावशून्यसद्भावसुस्थितिः ।
भावनाबलाद्भक्तिरुत्तमा ॥ ९॥

Translation

Abidance in pure being
Transcending thought through love intense
Is the very essence
Of supreme devotion.

Verse 10

Sanskrit

हृत्स्थले मनः स्वस्थता क्रिया ।
भक्तियोगबोधाश्च निश्चितम् ॥ १०॥

Translation

Absorption in the heart of being,
Whence we sprang,
Is the path of action, of devotion,
Of union and of knowledge.

Verse 11

Sanskrit

वायुरोधनाल्लीयते मनः ।
जालपक्षिवद्रोधसाधनम् ॥ ११॥

Translation

Holding the breath controls the mind,
A bird caught in a net.
Breath-regulation helps
Absorption in the heart.

Verse 12

Sanskrit

चित्तवायवश्चित्क्रियायुताः ।
शाखयोर्द्वयी शक्तिमूलका ॥ १२॥

Translation

Mind and breath (as thought and action)
Fork out like two branches.
But both spring
From a single root.

Verse 13

Sanskrit

लयविनाशने उभयरोधने ।
लयगतं पुनर्भवति नो मृतम् ॥ १३॥

Translation

Absorption is of two sorts;
Submergence and destruction.
Mind submerged rises again;
Dead, it revives no more.

Verse 14

Sanskrit

प्राणबन्धनाल्लीनमानसम् ।
एकचिन्तनान्नाशमेत्यदः ॥ १४॥

Translation

Breath controlled and thought restrained,
The mind turned one-way inward
Fades and dies.

Verse 15

Sanskrit

नष्टमानसोत्कृष्टयोगिनः ।
कृत्यमस्ति किं स्वस्थितिं यतः ॥ १५॥

Translation

Mind extinct, the mighty seer
Returns to his own natural being
And has no action to perform.

Verse 16

Sanskrit

दृश्यवारितं चित्तमात्मनः ।
चित्त्वदर्शनं तत्त्वदर्शनम् ॥ १६॥

Translation

It is true wisdom
For the mind to turn away
From outer objects and behold
Its own effulgent form.

Verse 17

Sanskrit

मानसं तु किं मार्गणे कृते ।
नैव मानसं मार्ग आर्जवात् ॥ १७॥

Translation

When unceasingly the mind
Scans its own form
There is nothing of the kind.
For every one
This path direct is open.

Verse 18

Sanskrit

वृत्तयस्त्वहं वृत्तिमाश्रिताः ।
वृत्तयो मनो विद्ध्यहं मनः ॥ १८॥

Translation

Thoughts alone make up the mind;
And of all thoughts the ‘I’ thought is the root.
What is called mind is but the notion ‘I’.

Verse 19

Sanskrit

अहमयं कुतो भवति चिन्वतः ।
अयि पतत्यहं निजविचारणम् ॥ १९॥

Translation

When one turns within and searches
Whence this ‘I’ thought arises,
The shamed ‘I’ vanishes –
And wisdom’s quest begins.

Verse 20

Sanskrit

अहमि नाशभाज्यहमहंतया ।
स्फुरति हृत्स्वयं परमपूर्णसत् ॥ २०॥

Translation

Where this ‘I’ notion faded
Now there as I–I, arises
The One, the very Self,
The Infinite.

Verse 21

Sanskrit

इदमहं पदाऽभिख्यमन्वहम् ।
अहमिलीनकेऽप्यलयसत्तया ॥ २१॥

Translation

Of the term, ‘I’, the permanent import
Is That. For even in deep sleep
Where we have no sense of ‘I’
We do not cease to be.

Verse 22

Sanskrit

विग्रहेन्द्रियप्राणधीतमः ।
नाहमेकसत्तज्जडं ह्यसत् ॥ २२॥

Translation

Body, senses, mind, breath, sleep –
All insentient and unreal –
Cannot be ‘I’,
‘I’ who am the Real.

Verse 23

Sanskrit

सत्त्वभासिका चित्क्ववेतरा ।
सत्तया हि चिच्चित्तया ह्यहम् ॥ २३॥

Translation

For knowing That which is
There is no other knower.
Hence Being is Awareness;
And we all are Awareness.

Verse 24

Sanskrit

ईशजीवयोर्वेषधीभिदा ।
सत्स्वभावतो वस्तु केवलम् ॥ २४॥

Translation

In the nature of their being
Creature and creator are in substance one.
They differ only
In adjuncts and awareness.

Verse 25

Sanskrit

वेषहानतः स्वात्मदर्शनम् ।
ईशदर्शनं स्वात्मरूपतः ॥ २५॥

Translation

Seeing oneself free of all attributes
Is to see the Lord,
For He shines ever as the pure Self.

Verse 26

Sanskrit

आत्मसंस्थितिः स्वात्मदर्शनम् ।
आत्मनिर्द्वयादात्मनिष्ठता ॥ २६॥

Translation

To know the Self is but to be the Self,
For it is non-dual.
In such knowledge
One abides as that.

Verse 27

Sanskrit

ज्ञानवर्जिताऽज्ञानहीनचित् ।
ज्ञानमस्ति किं ज्ञातुमन्तरम् ॥ २७॥

Translation

That is true knowledge which transcends
Both knowledge and ignorance,
For in pure knowledge
Is no object to be known.

Verse 28

Sanskrit

किं स्वरूपमित्यात्मदर्शने ।
अव्ययाऽभवाऽऽपूर्णचित्सुखम् ॥ २८॥

Translation

Having known one’s nature one abides
As being with no beginning and no end
In unbroken consciousness and bliss.

Verse 29

Sanskrit

बन्धमुक्त्यतीतं परं सुखम् ।
विन्दतीह जीवस्तु दैविकः ॥ २९॥

Translation

Beyond bondage and release,
Is steadfastness
In service of the Lord.

Verse 30

Sanskrit

अहमपेतकं निजविभानकम् ।
महदिदंतपो रमनवागियम् ॥ ३०॥

Translation

All ego gone,
Living as that alone
Is penance good for growth,
Sings Ramana, the Self.

Index: Hinduism | Advaita Vedanta