उपदेशसाहस्री (आदि शङ्कराचार्य - गद्य व पद्य भाग)

बुद्धयपराधप्रकरणम् ॥ ५ ॥
CHAPTER V
ERROR IN UNDERSTANDING
मूत्राशङ्को यथोदङ्को नाग्रहीदमृतं यथा ।
कर्मनाशभयाज्जन्तोरात्मज्ञानाग्रहस्तथा ॥ १ ॥

1. People do not receive Self-knowledge on ac-
   count of the fear that their duties (according to their
   castes and orders of life) would be destroyed like
   Udanka ¹ who did not accept (genuine) nectar which, he
   thought, was urine.
   [That people do not like to receive Self-knowledge
   is due to their ignorance of the real nature of the Self
   and a wrong and false conception about It.]
   बुद्धिस्थश्चलतीवात्मा ध्यायतीव च दृश्यते ।
   नौगतस्य यथा वृक्षास्तद्वत्संसारविभ्रमः ॥ २ ॥
   ¹ This man practised much austerity in order to please Vishnu
   so that he might get nectar from him. Vishnu was pleased and
   sent Indra with a pot full of nectar to give it to Udanka. Indra
   wanted to deceive him and in the guise of a Chandâla he hung the
   pot containing nectar from his waist. The pot was hanging in
   such a way that urine would fall into it if Indra were to make
   water. When he appeared before Udanka in that fashion and
   offered him the nectar the latter thought the pot contained urine
   and refused to accept the nectar.

96 A THOUSAND TEACHINGS [CHAP. V
2. The Self seems to be moving when the intellect
moves and It seems to be at rest when it is at rest on
account of Its identification ¹ with the intellect like trees
appearing to move in the eyes of those who are in a
moving boat. Similar is the misconception ² about
transmigratory existence.
नौस्थस्य प्रातिलोम्येन नगानां गमनं यथा ।
आत्मनः संसृतिस्तद्वद्ध्यायतीवेति हि श्रुतिः ॥ ३ ॥
3. Just as trees are thought to be moving in a
direction opposite to that of a moving boat by a man
in it, so, transmigratory existence is (wrongly) thought
to belong to the Self (by a man who has identified
himself with the intellect). For there is the passage in
the Sruti, ‘ as ³ if at rest.’
चैतन्यप्रतिबिम्बेन व्याप्तो बोधो हि जायते ।
बुद्धेः शब्दादिभिर्भासस्तेन मोमुह्यते जगत् ॥ ४ ॥
4. The modifications of the intellect are pervaded
by the reflection of Consciousness when they come to
exist. So the Self appears to be identified with sound ⁴
etc. This is the reason why people are deluded.⁵
चैतन्यभास्यताहमस्तादर्थ्यं च तदस्य यत् ।
इदमंशप्रहाणेन परः सोऽनुभवो भवेत् ॥ ५ ॥
¹ Due to ignorance. ² For people make the mistake of believ-
ing that transmigratory existence belongs to the Self instead of to
the intellect. ³ Br. U., 4. 3. 7. ⁴ The objects of the modifica-
tions of the intellect i.e., the body etc. ⁵ For unable to distin-
guish between the Self and its reflection people attribute the pro-
perties of the intellect to the Self.

2-5] ERROR IN UNDERSTANDING 97
5. As it is the object of pure Consciousness and
exists¹ for It (the ego² is not the Self). Pure Conscious-
ness is the universal Self³ when the object portion⁴ is
rejected.⁵
¹ For the agency and experience of the Self is due to the
superimposition of the ego on It.
² See footnote 3, verse 2, Chapter 2.
³ What appears to be the individual Self owing to the proxi-
mity of the ego before the attaiment of right knowledge is known
to be no other than the universal Self when the discrimination of the
Self from the ego has been accomplished.
⁴ The object portion of the consciousness 'I', i.e., the ego.
⁵ I.e., when the identification of the Self with the ego is known
to be due to a wrong conception.
7