उपदेशसाहस्री (आदि शङ्कराचार्य - गद्य व पद्य भाग)

अचक्षुष्ट्वप्रकरणम् ॥ १३ ॥
CHAPTER XIII
EYELESSNESS
अचक्षुष्ट्वान्न दृष्टिर्मे तथाऽश्रोत्रस्य का श्रुतिः ।
अवाक्त्वात्न तु वक्तिः स्यादमनस्त्वान्मतिः कुतः ॥ १ ॥

1. There is no vision in Me as I am without the
   organ of seeing. How can there be hearing in Me who
   have no auditive organ ? Devoid of the organ of speech
   I have no action of speaking in Me. How can there be
   thinking in Me who have no mind ?
   अप्राणस्य न कर्मास्ति बुद्धयभावे न वेदिता ।
   विद्याविद्ये ततो न स्तश्चिन्मात्रज्योतिषो मम ॥ २ ॥
   नित्यमुक्तस्य शुद्धस्य कूटस्थस्याविचालिनः ।
   अमृतस्याक्षय्यैवमशरीरस्य सर्वदा ॥ ३ ॥
   2, 3. Devoid of the vital force I have no action (in
   Me), and devoid of the intellect I am not a knower.
   Ever free, ever pure, changeless, immovable, im-
   mortal, imperishable and bodiless I have no knowledge
   or ignorance in Me who am of the nature of the Light
   of Pure Consciousness only.

1-8] EYELESSNESS 129
जिघत्सा वा पिपासा वा शोकमोहौ जरामृती ।
न विद्यन्तेऽशरीरत्वाद्व्योमवद्व्यापिनो मम ॥ ४ ॥
4. All-pervading like the ether I have no hunger,
thirst, grief, delusion, old age or death as I am without
a body (mind and vital force).
अस्पर्शत्वान्न मे स्पृष्टिर्नाजिह्वत्वाद्रसज्ञता ।
नित्यविज्ञानरूपस्य ज्ञानाज्ञाने न मे सदा ॥ ५ ॥
5. Devoid of the organ of touch I have no act of
touching ; and devoid of the tongue I have no sensation
of taste. I never have knowledge or ignorance as I
am of the nature of eternal Consciousness.
या तु स्यान्मानसी वृत्तिश्चाक्षुष्का रूपरञ्जना ।
नित्यमेवात्मनो दृष्ट्या नित्यया दृश्यते हि सा ॥ ६ ॥
6. It is well known that the mental modification,¹
produced through the instrumentality of the eye and of
the form of the object of vision, is always witnessed by
the eternal Consciousness of the Self.
तथान्येन्द्रिययुक्ता या वृत्तयो विषयाञ्जनाः ।
स्मृती रागादिरूपा च केवलान्तर्मनस्यपि ॥ ७ ॥
मानस्यस्तद्वदन्यस्य दृश्यन्ते स्वप्रवृत्तयः ।
द्रष्टुर्द्दृष्टिस्ततो नित्या शुद्धानन्ता च केवला ॥ ८ ॥
¹ In connection with an object the intellect gets transformed into
the form of that object. This transformation is called a modi-
fication.
9

130 A THOUSAND TEACHINGS [CHAP. XIII
7, 8. Similarly, other mental modifications in the
forms of objects of knowledge produced through the in-
strumentality of other organs and also those in the forms
of memory, attachment, etc. existing only within the
mind, and those¹ again in dream are witnessed by one
different from all of them (i.e., by the Self). The Know-
ledge, therefore, of the Knower² is eternal, pure, infinite
and without a second.
अनित्या साऽविशुद्धेति गृह्यतेऽत्राविवेकतः ।
सुखी दुःखी तथा चाहं दृश्ययोपाधिभूतया ॥ ९ ॥
9. It is through the indiscrimination between the
Self and the modifications of the mind, Knowable
adjuncts to the Self that the Knowledge of the Knower³
is wrongly conceived by the people to be impure and
transitory and the Self happy or miserable.
मूढया मूढ इत्येवं शुद्धया शुद्ध इत्यपि ।
मन्यते सर्वलोकोऽयं येन संसारमृच्छति ॥ १० ॥
10. All men misconceive themselves to be ignorant
or pure according as they identify themselves with the
mental modification, ‘ I am ignorant ’ or ‘ I am pure ’. It
is for this reason that they continue to be in transmigra-
tory existence.
अचक्षुष्कादिशास्त्रोक्तं सबाह्याभ्यन्तरं त्वजम् ।
नित्यमुक्तमिहात्मानं मुमुक्षुश्चेत्सदा स्मरेत् ॥ ११ ॥
¹ These modifications do not assume the forms of external objects
but of their impression only. ² I.e., The Self which is Knowledge
itself, just as by the heat of fire we mean the heat which is
fire itself. ³ See footnote 2 on the two previous verses.

7-15] EYELESSNESS 131
11. One should always remember the Self to be
ever-free, unborn and comprising¹ the interior and
exterior as described in the Sruti in which the Self is
spoken of as 'eyeless'² and so on if one is an aspirant
after liberation.
अचक्षुष्कादिशास्त्राच्च नेन्द्रियाणि सदा मम ।
अप्राणो ह्यमनाः शुभ्र इति चाथर्वणेर्वचः ॥ १२ ॥
12. That organs never belong to me is known from
the Sruti, 'eyeless'² etc. There is again the saying of
the _Sruti_³ belonging to the Atharva Veda that the Self is
'devoid of the vital force, devoid of the mind and pure.'
शब्दादीनामभावश्च श्रूयते मम काठके ।
अप्राणो ह्यमना यस्मादविकारी सदा ह्यहम् ॥ १३ ॥
13. As I am always devoid⁴ of the vital force and
the mind and heard of in the _Kathopanishat_⁵ as having
no connection with sound etc. I am always changeless.
विक्षेपो नास्ति तस्मान्मे न समाधिस्ततो मम ।
विक्षेपो वा समाधिर्वा मनसः स्याद्विकारिणः ॥ १४ ॥
14. I, therefore, have neither unrestfulness nor a
profound concentration. Both of them belong to the
mind which is subject to change.
अमनस्कस्य शुद्धस्य कथं तत्स्याद् द्वयं मम ।
अमनस्त्वाविकारित्वे विदेहव्यापिनो मम ॥ १५ ॥
¹ See foot-note ² verse 43, Chapter 17 and also see Mu. U., 2. 1. 2.
² Br. U., 3. 8. 8. ³ Mu. U., 2. 1. 2. (Thus both the Srutis prove the same thing.) ⁴ Mu. U., 2. 1. 2. ⁵ Kath. U., 1. 3. 15.

132 A THOUSAND TEACHINGS [CHAP. XIII
15. How can I who am pure and mindless have
those two ?¹ I am without any change and without a
mind as I am all-pervading and devoid of a body.
इत्येतद्यावदज्ञानं तावत्कार्यं ममाभवत् ।
नित्यमुक्तस्य शुद्धस्य बुद्धस्य च सदा मम ॥ १६ ॥
16. So, I who am ever free, ever pure and ever
awakened had duties² to perform so long as there was
Ignorance.
समाधिर्वाऽसमाधिर्वा कार्यं चान्यत्कुतो भवेत् ।
मां हि ध्यात्वा च बुद्ध्वा च मन्यन्ते कृतकृत्यताम् ॥ १७ ॥
17. How can I have concentration, non-concentra-
tion or other actions in Me as all men feel that the
acme of their lives is fulfilled when they meditate on
Me and know Me ?
अहं ब्रह्मास्मि सर्वोऽस्मि शुद्धो बुद्धोऽस्म्यतः सदा ।
अजः सर्वत एवाहमजरश्चाक्षयोऽमृतः ॥ १८ ॥
18. I am, therefore, Brahman, the all-comprehensive
Principle, ever Pure, ever Awakened and ever Unborn,
devoid of old age, imperishable and immortal.
मदन्यः सर्वभूतेषु बोद्धा कश्चिन्न विद्यते ।
कर्माध्यक्षश्च साक्षी च चेता नित्योऽगुणोऽद्वयः ॥ १९ ॥
19. There is no knower other than Myself among
all the beings. I am the distributor³ of the results of
¹ See the previous verse. ² See the following verse.
³ See Sankarânanda's gloss on Sw. U., 6. 11.

15-22] EYELESSNESS 133
their actions and the witness. It is I to whom all
beings owe their consciousness. Without qualities and
without a second I am eternal.
न सच्चाऽहं न चासच्च नोभयं केवलः शिवः ।
न मे संध्या न रात्रिर्वा नाहर्वा सर्वदा दृशेः ॥ २० ॥
20. I am not the three ¹ visible elements nor the
two ² invisible ones, neither am I both (i.e., their combi-
nation, the body). I am devoid of all attributes and
the three Gunas.³ In Me there is neither night ⁴ nor
day ⁴ nor their juncture ⁴ as I am always of the nature
of light.⁵
सर्वमूर्तिवियुक्तं यद्यथा खं सूक्ष्ममद्वयम् ।
तेनाप्यस्मि विनाभूतं ब्रह्मैवाहं तथाऽद्वयम् ॥ २१ ॥
21. Just as the ether is subtle, without a second and
devoid of all forms, so, I am the non-dual Brahman
devoid even of the ether.
ममात्मा स्वत आत्मेति भेदो व्योम्नो यथा भवेत् ।
एकस्य सुषिभेदेन तथा मम विकल्पितः ॥ २२ ॥
22. The distinction between the Self in Itself ⁶ and
my Self is due to the superimposition (of different ⁷
adjuncts on one and the same Self), just as difference
¹ Earth, water, and fire. ² Air and ether.
³ Sattva, rajas and tamas, the three constituent essences of Mâyâ,
the Power of Brahman transforming itself into the universe. See
Bh. Gîtâ, 14. 5-19. ⁴ These words may also mean deep sleep,
waking and dream respectively. ⁵ I.e., Consciousness.
⁶ Brahman. ⁷ The intellect etc.

134 A THOUSAND TEACHINGS [CHAP. XIII
(is wrongly conceived to) exist in one and the same
ether owing to apertures (in various objects).
भेदोऽभेदस्तथा चैको नाना चेति विकल्पितः ।
ज्ञेयं ज्ञाता गतिर्गन्ता मय्येकस्मिन्कुतो भवेत् ॥ २३ ॥
23. How can difference, absence of difference, one-
ness, manyness and the qualities of being known and
being a knower, the results of actions and also agency
and experiencing be attributed to Me who am one only ?
न मे हेयं न चादेयमविकारी यतो ह्यहम् ।
सदा मुक्तस्तथा शुद्धः सदा बुद्धोऽगुणोऽद्वयः ॥ २४ ॥
24. I have nothing to reject or accept inasmuch as
I am changeless. Always free, pure, awakened and
without qualities, I am without a second.
इत्येवं सर्वदात्मानं विद्यात्सर्वं समाहितः ।
विदित्वा मां स्वदेहस्थमृषिर्मुक्तो ध्रुवो भवेत् ॥ २५ ॥
25. One should, with great concentration of mind,
always know the Self to be All.¹ One certainly be-
comes all-knowing and free when one knows Me to
be residing is one's own body.²
कृतकृत्यश्च सिद्धश्च योगी ब्राह्मण एव च ।
य एवं वेद तत्त्वार्थमन्यथा ह्यात्महा भवेत् ॥ २६ ॥
26. He who thus knows the reality of the Self
becomes successful in attaining the goal of his life and
¹ Brahman. ² As the witness of the body gross and subtle.

23-27] EYELESSNESS 135
becomes perfect. He becomes a Knower of Brahman
and one¹ with It. One knowing the Self otherwise may
be said to commit suicide.²
वेदार्थो निश्चितो ह्येष समासेन मयोदितः ।
संन्यासिभ्यः प्रवक्तव्यः शान्तेभ्यः शिष्टबुद्धिना ॥ २७ ॥
27. This ascertained meaning of the Vedas described
briefly by me should be imparted to those who have
given up worldly action and controlled their minds
by one whose intellect has been trained (according to
the scriptures under a teacher who has known
Brahman).
¹ For a Knower of Brahman becomes Brahman. See Tai. U., 2. 1.
² For the Self remains hidden, killed as it were. See Îsh. U., 3.