Vivek Chudamani

Author(s): Chandrashekhar Bharti Swami, P Sankaranarayan
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidyabhavan

Page 30

xxvi
VIVEKACŪDĀMAŅI
saying 'I am Brahman' (aham Brahmāsmi) does not pertain to this brāhmi sthiti. In that condition there is no awareness of 1 of which am Brahman can be affirmed. Upon the breaking of the pot, ghatākaśa does not say 'I am mahākāśa'. It was mahākāśa before, and mahākāśa after the pot is broken. It is, as it were, speechless. Brāhmi sthiti is experience, transcendental, not of the worldly type; it does not permit of expression. It is being, not speaking. The Upanisadic teacher explained it by silence (maunam, vyākhyānam).
The guru confers his final upadeśa on the sixya. Earlier, when the sişya implored him to vouchsafe to him the means of escaping from the bondage of samsāra, he said, "Don't be afraid. There is no danger. There is a way to cross the ocean of samsāra—the way by which others before you have crossed. I shall instruct you in it." This promise has been fulfilled by the guru and he tells him that pursuing the path outlined by him, with detachment, knowledge and constancy, he will never more fall into the tentacles of samsāra. His final admonition to the sişya is to heed to the words of śāstra conveyed by the competent teacher, understanding their import by accordant reasoning, to meditate on them and to discover their verification in his own conscious experience. After all, the words of the guru can only show the way—as of a taţastha; it is the śişya that has to apply his mind to the discovery of his true self, aided by the anugraha of the guru.
It is to be presumed that the sisya who was a true sādhaka with all the qualifications for the pursuit of Brahmajñāna, followed the instructions of his guru and obtained realisational knowledge of the Supreme and finally turned into a jīvanmukta. The last section of the Vivekacūdāmani describes the ecstatic experience of the sisya, where he declares his discreteness from the entire experiential world and his non-difference from the Paramātman. Giving it a realistic touch, śrī Bhagavatpāda concludes the work by saying that, at the end, the śişya and the guru parted from each other, the one freed from all bonds, and the other continuing to sanctify the earth that he trod immersed in the bliss of his realisation. His Holiness has left this portion unexplained in the Commentary because it is best known only by one's anubhava and is too sacred for any explanation.
V
In regard to Vedāntic knowledge, it is necessary to draw attention to the pramānas for such knowledge. They are śruti, as im