Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha (Commentary by Swami Paramarthananda)

Sri Adi Sankara’s
SARVA VEDANTA SIDDHANTA SARA SANGRAHA

Selected 115 verses
Explained by Swami Paramarthananda

Transcribed by Sri A. Venkatesan
NOTE: Swami Paramarthananda has not verified the transcription of talks.

The transcriptions have been done with Swamiji’s blessings by his disciple.
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Abbreviations used:
SVSSS- Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha
TB- Tattva Bodha
VC- Viveka Chudamani
BMSC- Body, Mind, Sense Complex
DC- Dushta Chatushtayam
JAV- Jagrat Avastha
PBA- Pratibimba Ananda/ BA- Bimba Ananda
SCS- Sadhana Chatushtaya Sampati
PSH- Peace Security and Happiness
LHS- Left Hand Side/RHS- Right Hand Side
Sts- Sthula sharira/Sks- Sukshma Sharira/KS-Kaarana Sharira
HW- Homework
LK- Lord Krishna
OC- Original Consciousness/RM- Reflecting Medium/RC- Reflected
Consciousness/PB- Physical Body
DS- Swami Dayananda Sarawathi
BTL- Bhaga Tyaga Lakshana
BG- Bhagawad Gita
BS- Brahma Sutra
CBSC- Candidate, Benefit, Subject-matter and Connection
MC- mis conception
w.r.t- with respect to
MU- Mundaka Upanishad
ESNS- Eka Sara Nitya Satya
PORT- Possessions, Obligations, Relationship and Transactions
FIR- Frequency, Intensity and Recovery period of emotional
disturbances
CCC- Calmness, cheerfulness, confidence (or courage)
YDR- Yama Dharma Raja
KU- Katha Upanishad
NTUC- Non-hurting, Truthful, Useful, Cheerful

Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha
Adi Shankaracharya and several other Acharyas have written several

independent Vedantic works other than their commentaries on the
original शा . Commentaries on the गीता and उपिनषद् etc. explaining the
म ाs and ोका:. These are called भा ा: or ा ान ा:. They are not
independent works but explanations of some other original work.
Other than these commentarial works these Acharyas have also written
independent works known as करण ा:- Vedantic treatises. In the
करण ा they have the freedom to write the text as they want because
they are not writing on someone else’s work. In these करण ा they
have the freedom to present the entire teaching in a structured, well-
developed, progressive manner. Therefore, these करण ा are very,
very useful to give a clear view on the शा s, which is not there in the
उपिनषद्. उपिनषद् presents the teaching but not in a structured and
progressive manner.
ईशावा उपिनषद् starts with पूणमद which is a profound topic presented

without giving any background knowledge. It is not developed
teaching. Since the उपिनषद्s do not present a structured teaching करण
ा: become complementary for the Upanishadic study. उपिनषद्s have
to be studied because they are the original source. करण ा have to be
studied, not because they are the original source but because they
serve as a complementary text book for understanding the उपिनषद्. It is
like a माला with flower and thread. Without the thread the flowers
cannot form a माला. Without the flowers nobody will wear the thread.
Just as flowers and the thread are complementary to each other उपिनषद्s
are the flowers, करण ा: are the thread and together they help a
student.
Generally, in these करण ा: the acharyas take care of two important

tasks.

1. Presenting the whole teaching in a beautifully developed,
structured manner as we saw in Tattva Bodha- qualifications,
ं पदिवचार, तत्पदिवचार, अ सपदिवचार, जीवनमुि and िवदेह मुि .
2. Provide further supporting logic, supporting examples, etc. to
provide clarity to certain ideas in the original work (उपिनषद् )
which may be vague or unclear.
For many students, very profound ideas like the concept of िम ा

remains vague even after years of study. They will perhaps understand
न् but िम ा remains really िम ा- vague. Therefore, certain profound
topics require further reinforcement with more reasoning, more
examples, etc. This task is accomplished by करण ा: with a
structured presentation and supporting logic. Since they become an
integral part of Vedantic learning many acharyas have written many
करण ा: for junior students, mid-level students and advanced
students. We have all levels of करण ा:. Tattva Bodha is the junior
most level करण ा. And all these ा: that we have been learning
whether it is द णामूित ो ं , the previous text we completed and ुित सार
समु रणं of Totakacharya, िववेक चूडाम ण all of them. Some of them are
deep, some of them are lighter. Shankaracharya himself has
contributed many such करण ा:. We now focus on another करण ा
which is also attributed to AdiShankaracharya.
सववेदा स ा सार सं ह:. The title of the ा itself is so long that you may
forget the title! Short form- SVSSS. The original is a very big work
consisting of 1006 verses. To compare, िववेक चूडाम ण, which is
considered big is only 585 verses or so. Bhagawad Gita is only 700
verses. SVSS has got 1066 verses but I don’t propose to do the whole
text, at least not in the current session. I don’t know whether I will
ever do the complete text later. That is भगवत: इ ा.
The uniqueness of this text is that Shankaracharya has written 250
verses on sadhana chatushtaya sampatti (SCS), four-fold qualifications

alone and nowhere else is this dealt with so elaborately with such a
comprehensive analysis. In Tattva Bodha, we covered साधन चतु यं िकं?
िन ािन व ु िववेक: etc. in half a page and 2-3 classes. And out of those
250 verses, I have selected less than half- 115 verses just to understand
the significance of the SCS. If SCS is taken care of it is capable of
giving 75% मो ा. Even without reading वेदा ा if we only focus on SCS
that itself will clear many of our psychological problems. And SCS has
got a direct benefit. And what is the direct benefit? It can give peace,
security and happiness directly. Therefore, students should never
ignore this saying that we have completed this in Tattva Bodha.
Shankaracharya spends 250 verses to show that we can never ignore or

take SCS for granted. Before वणं it is important. During वणं it is
important. During मननं it is important. During िनिद ासनं it is important.
After िनिद ासनं it is important. It has lifelong importance. It can directly
give Peace, Security and Happiness (PSH) and indirectly also it will
help us receive Vedantic teaching, retain Vedantic teaching and
assimilate the Vedantic teaching. Thus, indirectly it helps us in ानिन ा
and give direct शा .
ानिन ा ार– ार means- by means of ानिन ा it also gives शा and आन ा. यो

वै भूमा तत् सुखं. आ डा आ रित: आ िमथुन अ ान ा:. For all these things
SCS also heavily contributes in a big way. If long study of वेदा ा doesn’t
help us, it is only because of one reason. All the scriptures and all the
acharyas uniformly declare, “If years of Vedantic study doesn’t help us
the reason is only because the student has ignored SCS.” The only way
to correct this to pay attention to what you ignored earlier.
Shankaracharya wants to emphasize this very, very heavily in the first
part of his SVSSS. Therefore, by the study of these 115 verses, we will
not only know their meaning but will also know how important they
are.

Therefore, I thought it will be a very useful reminder for all the senior
Shankaralayam students. No doubt you are senior. No doubt you may
think SCS is a foregone topic. But still I, along with Shankaracharya,
want to remind you never to neglect that. With this background we
will enter the text book. In the book I have not given the translation
so you have to make your own translation based on my class. We
don’t have any English books also to my knowledge. It is not available.
Otherwise I could have given that. I have selected and given the ोका
and transliteration. You will find serial numbers on the LHS, which are
for our use. I have given the numbers on the RHS also which show the
numbers in the original work. So when we complete verse 115 you will
see the original number in the book as verse 250 because I have
skipped several ोका in between for the facility of making it
comprehensive and simpler. Now we will go to the text proper.
अख ान स ोधो व ना जायते ।
गोिव ं तमहं व े चदान तनुं गु म् ॥ 1॥
In the first 3 verses Shankaracharya offers म लाचरणम् with an intention

to remove all the obstacles. Obstacles for himself in writing the text
book and also the removal of obstacles for the students who study
later. So, for personal benefit as well as future students’ benefit
because that is the tradition in our culture. Whatever task we
undertake, success depends upon य and साद. य + साद’=िवजय:. य
means our effort. साद means ई र साद ई रअनु ह. Success is possible only
when both occur. Even though the Acharyas know ultimate truth is
binary format when they write, they are in triangular format only. In
the ावहा रक place जीवजगत्ई र triangle is there and so we have to invoke
the grace. Therefore ई र’s grace, आ न: grace and िव े र’s grace also.
Especially during Vinayaka Chaturthi we have to invoke the grace of
Vighneswara also.

First, he invokes the grace of गोिव . Shankaracharya uses the word गोिव
in a double meaning. One गोिव refers to भगवा ोिव , सा ा ारायण. भजगोिव ं
भजगोिव ं. The word गोिव has several meanings. Vedantic meaning of
the word गोिव - गो refers to शा माणं गोडी, शा श ै:- the one who is
known and attained with the help of शा माणं . In वेदा ा, knowing भगवान्
is attaining भगवान्. Why? I can give this as homework. Knowing भगवान्
is attaining भगवान् because when I know भगवान् clearly and for real, I
know the all-pervading भगवान् can never be away from me. So when
भगवान् is never away from me, separate from me, different from me,
where is the question of getting him? Therefore, knowing itself is
getting ानं एव ाि : so शा श ै: ायते ा ते इित गोिव भगवान्. This is one
general meaning but in the case of Shankaracharya गोिव refers to his
गु also. Who is the गु of Shankaracharya? गोिव भगव ाद. He was in
Madhya Pradesh and Shankaracharya walked all the way from Kerala to
Madya Pradesh and gained knowledge. गोिव ं means गोिव भगव ाद गु म्.
So, this ोका becomes ई रनम ार and गु नम ार simultaneously. गोिव ंअहं
व े. The rest of ोका: is the description of गोिव .
We will take the first meaning- भगवान्. य व नात् अख ान स ोध: जायते.

By worshipping भगवा ारायण and by the grace of भगवा ारायण what benefit
will we get? स ोध: जायते. स ोध: means स ानं बोध. स ोध means is born.
स ानं means clear knowledge. Doubtless knowledge is born because
of ई रआराधन. LK gives a promise in BG- तेषां सतत यु ानां भजतां ीित पूवकम
ददािम बुि योगं तं एनमांउपया ते. “If a person worships me sincerely for ानं
and मो ा,” भगवान् says, “it is my responsibility to provide him with the
opportunity for knowledge.” I have got a गु agency just like transport
agency OLA and when a श ा is ready I will send a गु and make sure
that my भ ा gets knowledge. Shankaracharya says य व नात्- by the
worship of गोिव , स ोध: जायते one gets clear knowledge. How? Through
गु s sent by God. भगवान् cannot directly inject the knowledge into the
brain. There is no intravenous transfer of knowledge into the blood

stream or brain. Like petrol you send through tubes to everyone. That
is not possible.
Therefore, भगवान् helps by providing a गु and an opportunity to attend

class. Attending the class you have to do. You cannot say, ‘भगवान् you
do that also!’ भगवान् cannot attend the class on your behalf. You have
to make use of the opportunity. Then स ोध: जायते. What ानं ?
अख आन :. अख आन : means भुमान :. You can understand- य ना प ित
ना णोित अख अ ैत अमृत प आन बोध:. In short, आ ानं . So अख ान
स ोध means आ ानं comes by worshipping ई र. And what is the nature
of that भगवान्? चदान तनुं . तनु: means पं . चदान तनु: means चदान प:
शवोऽहं. So, चदान तनु: means चदान पं . That means who is of the nature
of consciousness and happiness. And गु म्. He makes the word गु
because he is Shankaracharya’s गु who happens to be my गु also. Thus,
गु नम ार cum ई रनम ार is done through the first म ा. This is म लाचरणम्
1. म लाचरणम् means invocatory verse or prayer.
Next ोका-
अख ं स दान मवा नसगोचरम् ।
आ ानम खलाधारमा येऽभी स ये ॥ 2॥
In the second verse Shankaracharya says, “I surrender to the आ पं

itself which I propose to reveal through this text book.” आ ानं अहंआ ये.
I surrender to the आ ा itself. What is meant by surrender to आ ा?
Invoking and remembering the nature of आ ा. आ प रणं एव
आ आ य:. As Ramana Maharishi says in स शनं ’- त िृ त त ढै विन ा.
Remembering आ ा, the surrendering to आ ा for a ानी is remembering
आ ा (is surrendering to आ ा. ) Remembrance is surrender. So आ ानं
आ ये. I surrender to आ ा.

What type of आमा? Description of most of the words you can
understand. अख ं which is division less, which cannot be divided.
Indivisible. य ना प ित ना णोित. स दान ं you can understand. सत् -
pure existence, चत् - pure consciousness, आन ा-pure happiness. When
using the word ‘pure’ we have to recollect the five features. We should
apply not a part, product, property, etc. You should apply these five
features to existence, to consciousness also, to happiness also. Don’t
ask me what 5 features are. Ok? You know.
Then, अवाङ मनस गोचरम् -which cannot be directly described by words. It

can be only indirectly described. Suppose आ ा cannot be talked about
directly or indirectly what will happen? Suppose neither direct words
nor indirect words will help. What will the intelligent श ा ask? Why
are you conducting the class? What are you doing in the class? Words
and words and words. And Shankaracharya is writing what? Words and
words. If words cannot describe directly or indirectly, श माण itself
will become redundant. Therefore, we should underline this fact-
words cannot reveal directly but words definitely can reveal the truth
indirectly. वा ाथ:न सं भवित. ल ाथ: सं भवितएव. In िवचारसागर class, Nischala
Dasa highlighted this principle.
वाचं अगोचरं- not available for direct description and similarly मानसं अगोचरं -
not directly available for thought or objectification. It is not an object
of thought. That is why I repeatedly say, knowing न् is possible
without objectification. Knowing न् is possible only in the form of
claiming. You cannot experience न् as one of the objects in the
creation and therefore, not directly available for the mind but
indirectly available. So अवाङ मनस गोचरम्. This is the translation of यतो वाचो
िनवत े अ ा मनसा स: of तैितरीय उपिनषद्.
आ ानं अ खलआधारं you can understand. That which is the आधारं, the
support of the entire creation including time and space. अ खल आधारं,

िव ाधारं, सवाधारं all are one and the same. And आधारं indirectly means
कारणम् because कारणम् alone is the आधार for काय. Therefore, अ खलमाधारं
आ ये. I surrender, I take recourse to by remembrance. For what
purpose? अभी स ये - for the success of my favorite venture. अभी ं
means what? My venture that I propose to undertake for the
fulfillment of my wish. That is the translation. “For the fulfilment of
my wish.” What is Shankaracharya’s wish? Shankaracharya is writing
this work and communicating something which cannot be directly
communicated. And Shankaracharya does that brilliantly. This work is
also a very, very beautiful work of Shankaracharya. With this the
second म लाचरणम् is over.
Then the third one- िव े रनम ार:-
यदाल ोदरं ह सतां हू स वम् ।
तदाल े दयाल ं ल ोदरपदा ज

ु म् ॥ 3॥
ल ोदर पदा ज
ु ं अहं आल .े सदालं बे should be split as सत् आल .े आल े is the
verb. I resort to. I surrender to. I hold on to. I firmly hold on to the
पदा ज
ु ं , the lotus feet of ल ोदर. ल ोदर means what? The big stomached
भगवान्. The potbellied भगवान्. ल उदर- hanging उदर:. ल ोदर पदा ज
ु ं - lotus
feet, आल े - I hold on to. And why seek his support? Because he never
denies it because he is दयालं बं - a repository of compassion, abode of दया,
an abode of compassion. Therefore, whoever prays he will bless
without batting an eyelid.
And why do I worship िव े र? As the very name shows, whenever we

undertake something, the first obstacle that comes is in the form of
our own diffidence. Can I do that or not? And even if we have some
amount of doubtful confidence the neighbours are there to pull us
down. “Are you going to do that?” They question, “Are you going to

भि ? Are you going to के दार्? Are you going to कै लास?” They ask a few
questions. And generally, in our culture there are more people to
discourage then encourage. I don’t know why. General psychology.
Why can’t you say, “You can do it. Go ahead, I will also pray for you.”
General tendency, I don’t know the reason, people discourage.
Therefore, we immediately fear whether we will succeed or if there
will be dangers, etc. Thus भयम् of obstacles, िव भयं is universal. िव भयं
means fear of obstacles. Even making kolakattai (a sweet rice
dumpling) can fail. We know that since we tried it last year and it
ended up as something else. Don’t ask, “How do you know?”
Therefore, even for small things we are afraid whether it will work
well.
Shankaracharya says, “I am not taking up a small job but writing a

work on the inexplicable न्.” Therefore, यदाल :- by taking the
support of िवनायक य आल : य भवित ब ीिह. Whoever has the support,
the walking stick given by िवनायक, दरं ह . दर means भयं . You can see
Shankaracharya has made a wise pun. First line -यदाल ोदरम्. You take it
as two separate words. In the second line -ल ोदरम्. ल ोदर .
ल ोदरपदा ज
ु ं . Even Sanskrit-wise it is a beautiful construction. दरं means
भय . Otherwise, he could have written भयम् itself यदा लं बो भयं ह .
Why does he choose दरं? So that ल ोदर punning can also take place. So
भय सतां. सतां means all for the devotees. Noble devotees. And what
is the fear they have?
क
ु सं भवं . क
ु means िव : meaning obstacles which have not yet come.
Only imaginary obstacles. Suppose I want to go to Badrinath-
somebody says 10000 feet high and rarefied atmosphere. You will not
be able to breathe. Already you are 60 years old. And temperature is 7
degrees. And you are born and brought up in Madras. So, even though
no such things have happened the imagination brings up breathing
problem and temperature problem. Therefore, क
ु सं भवं means fear

born out of possible obstacles. That means imaginary fear. Many of
our fears are not only imaginary, they are irrational also. And all such
fears, ह . िव े र will remove. And Shankara says, “I am also confident,
because िव े र will help me in completing सव वेदा स ा सार सं ह. With
this the म लाचरणम् is over.
Next, he introduces the intention. What he proposes to do in this

particular work. Purpose presentation. Something like a preface.
वेदा शा स ा सारस ह उ ते ।
े ावतां मुमु ण
ू ां सुखबोधोपप ये ॥ ४॥
He says, “My aim in this work is taking the extract of the essence or
the central message of वेदा शा . So सं ह: means an extract. The extract
of what? स ा सार:. The essence of the central message. स ा ं स ा
means what? The central message -the ता य. सार: means the essence.
So, the essence of the central message of वेदा शा म्. He uses the word
वेदा शा because the whole वेद is divided into two शा ा ण. Even though
वेद is one only given by भगवान् it is divided into वेद पूव शा ं - कम का ं and
वेद अ सा ं - ान का ं. They are divided into two शा ा ण because the
subject matters are different. वेदपूव has got two-fold aims- materialistic
aim and spiritual aim.
The materialistic aim of वेदपूव is presenting lot of का कमा ण. Do you

understand the word का कम? Many rituals and prayers for fulfilling
worldly desires, for warding off worldly obstacles, curing health
problems, solving financial problems, solving loan problems, getting
the children married. So many things are there. All worldly purposes.
For that वेदपूव presents का कमा ण. The same वेदपूव has got a spiritual aim
also through िविहत कमा ण. Same वेद prescribes certain other compulsory
कमा ण called िविहत कमा ण to be done by all the people called nitya
naimittika कमा ण. In the third chapter of the Gita, Lord Krishna calls it

िनयतकमा ण. िनयतं कु कम ं कम ायो कमण:. And these िविहत कमा ण, mainly
प महा य : are prescribed for the spiritual purpose only.
का कमा ण are for material purpose. िविहतकमा ण are for spiritual purposes.
If a person performs these, he will get spiritual benefit. What is the
spiritual benefit? ान यो ता ाि :. Can you understand the Sanskrit
word? ान यो ता means fitness of the mind to receive the knowledge.
So वेद पूव will give धमाथकाम. वेद पूव will also give ान यो ता. Both वेदपूव will
give. You have to carefully note धमात काम on one side and ान यो ता on
the other side. But वेदपूव can never give ानं . Therefore, only वेदपूव can
never give मो ा. It can give धमाथ काम and यो ता. And we are supposed
to go through वेदपूव and get यो ता. We are supposed to go through
वेदपूव, which part? प महा य प वेदपूव and get ान यो ता. And once we get
ान यो ता we have to go to वेदअ . And Shankaracharya says, “I am
focusing not on वेदपूव. I assume what? You have done that. Without
seeking a certificate, I take it for granted. And I am dealing with वेद अ
शा स ा सार सं ह:” And for whom? मुमु ण
ू ां.
Those people who have made use of वेद पूव properly are now मुमु :ु .
They are not interested in धमात काम. They are not even interested in ान
यो ता because they already have it. They are interested in ानं only. For
those मुमु ण
ू ां, ज ासूनां Lord Krishna gave a special title. आत, अताथ
thereafter ज ासुभ ानाम्. मुमु ण
ू ां means ज ासुभ ानां. No more आत भ :. आत
भ : do you understand? भि for solving family problems. अताथ means
भि for success in worldly ventures. They are all in the background
े ू नां.
मो छ े ावतां–and who are intelligent students. े ावतां means
observant. They are much focused and े ा- those who observe things
very well. For them I am presenting.
With what purpose? Even though the उपिनषद् themselves give the
knowledge I am writing the करण ा because उपिनषद् do not give

structured teaching. I am going to give a structured teaching of 250
verses for SCS. No उपिनषद् mentions the four qualifications directly.
You look for िववेक वैरा ं ष सं पि : मुमु ु ं . Where is it mentioned? They
are scattered all over. In some म ा: िववेक will be mentioned. That too in
a different language. And in some other म ा वैरा म् will be mentioned.
In some other उपिनषद् मु ु ं will be there, शम somewhere दम somewhere.
They are scattered all over. I am going to present them in one place
and elaborate them in 250 verses. What is my intention? सुखबोध उपप ये.
For the easy understanding of my dear students. This is the intention.
More in the next class.

2. Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha verse 4 to 8
Verse 3-
यदाल ो दरं ह सतां हू स वम् ।
तदाल े दयाल ं ल ोदरपदा ज
ु म् ॥ 3॥
वेदा शा स ा सारस ह उ ते ।
े ावतां मुमु ण
ू ां सुखबोधोपप ये ॥ 4॥
In the first three verses, Shankaracharya presented म लाचरणम् invoking

the grace of the Lord and the गु for the successful completion of the
text. For Shankaracharya successful completion of his writing and for
us, successful completion of the reading.
The third verse on Lord Ganesha is a beautiful verse. We can use that
verse for general purposes also. And we can prescribe this verse for
others also. Whenever we have some undertaking, we have an anxiety
whether it will get over properly or if there will be obstacles, whether
we will be able to cross over the obstacles or not. All these fears are
common for human beings. There are some people who are the
worrying type. They worry for everything. They are very successful in
worrying. For all such worrying type of people, this ोका is wonderful
and worth getting by heart. यदाल : दरं ह . दर: means भयं . Fear is the
most powerful emotional problem. And that fear Lord Ganesha
removes. Fear in general and here fear with regard to the obstacles, of
any obstructions.
One small correction for Sanskrit students. यदाल :. In the last class, I
said ब ीिहसमास but it is त ु षसमास only. यदाल :- य आल : यदाल :.
Others need not bother about samasa. Ignore this.
After म लाचरणम्, he introduced the subject matter. He said, ‘I am not

writing anything new but I want to extract वेदा शा . And in the

tradition whenever we talk about वेदा शा ं , we should remember, the
original source of वेदा शा is known as ् सु ा ण. We don’t say the
उपिनषद: is the source even though उपिनषद: are the source because, in the
उपिनषद्, वेदा ाशा is not presented in a cogent, systematic manner. It is
like the seeds are available but not in the form of a full-fledged tree.
The science of वेदा ा has been extracted from the उपिनषद: by ासाचाय.
And he has presented in a systematic manner in four chapters-
सम ा ाय: अिवरोधा ाय: साधना ाय: and फला ाय:. The first chapter extracts
the central teaching of the उपिनषद: which is not very explicitly
available. The extraction has been done by ासाचाय and Shankaracharya
through his commentaries. That is why the word सम य means the
central message.
In अिवरोधा ाय, the second chapter, ासाचाय has defended वेदा ाशा ं by
answering all the questions raised by other दशनािन. There are 11 दशनािन-
six ना कदशनािन, five आ कदशनािन. He has confronted 11 दशनािन and
defended वेदा ा in the second chapter, अिवरोधा ाय.
So, primary teaching in first chapter, defending the thesis is second

chapter.
In the third chapter, he has extracted all the spiritual disciplines. What
is कमयोग. What is उपासनयोग. All spiritual disciplines have been collected
from all the sources in the उपिनषद् and then presented in one chapter.
That is called साधना ाय- the third chapter.
The fourth chapter is called फला ाय. If you follow the साधनs and study
वेदा ा what blessed benefit we will get. All portions of वेदा ा are
analysed. And the फलम् is extracted in the form of जीवन मुि , in the
form of िवदेह मुि and in the form of म मुि . All three types of मुि have
been talked about. Thus, a systematic presentation of वेदा ा as a branch

of knowledge, we find only in सु ा. Therefore, if you say वेदा ाशा ं ,
we should know it is सू . Of course, सू is an extract from the
उपिनषद्ic teaching where many ideas are not explicit, many ideas are
not there. We have to derive. Why am I telling you all this? वेदा शा ं
= सू ं this is what I am saying. Who is the author of the वेदा or
उपिनषद?. Very careful. वेदा or उपिनषद् is a part of वेदा -which is at the
end portion of the वेदा. वेदा including वेदा is not authored by any
human being and has been coming down through the ऋषय:. We
believe the author of the वेदा or the उपिनषद् to be भगवान् and ऋषय:. are
the pipelines through which we have received it. So वेदा or उपिनषद्,
author is भगवान्. वेदा शा ं सू the author is ासाचाय.
So, we should know the difference between वेदा , the उपिनषद्, and
वेदा शा ं . All the करण ा: are based on वेदा शा ं of सु ा in which
उपिनषद् has been analysed. I hope I am communicating. And what is
SVSSS? It is वेदा शा स ा . स ा means all the final conclusions,
derived messages. सं ह:. An extract that I am going to present for
intelligent students of Sankaralayam. So े ावतां- े ावता means those who
are observant. Those who carefully note and not mechanically
nodding. Those who think and accept. Thinking students. And what
type of students are they? मुमु ण
ू ां who consider spirituality as the
primary aspect of their life. For the seekers of liberation or spiritual
freedom. सुख बोध उपप ये- for the sake of easy understanding. सुख बोध:
means easy understanding. उपप ये means for that purpose. Up to that
we saw in the last class. Continuing.
We are now travelling together. The number in our extract and the
original are tallying. Thereafter we will find we are jumping.
Verse 5-
अ शा ानुसा र ादनुब चतु यम् ।

यदेव मूलं शा िनिद ं तिदहो ते ॥ 5॥
And generally, in all the introductory portions of वेदा ाशा , they will
introduce two Sanskrit words. One is अनुब चतु यं . Another is साधनचतु यं .
And these words can be confusing because the word चतु यं comes in
both. अनुब चतु यं , साधन चतु यं .
साधन चतु यं refers to the 4-fold qualifications required for a Vedantic

student to get the full benefit of the study. Without these
qualifications, one can study वेदा ा. Not that the head will fall down.
One can study but the warning is- we won’t get the full benefit of
what वेदा ा is supposed to give. The benefit will vary depending upon
the degree of qualification. म अ धकारी will get म फलम्. म म will get
म मफलम्. उ म will get उ मफलम्. The benefit is directly proportional to
the degree of qualification. This is a statutory warning to the student.
Don’t complain that I didn’t get anything. So, these are 4-fold
qualifications are going to be elaborated in this particular text.
Another topic that is also presented in the introduction is अनुब चतु यं .

It means four factors required for propounding a science or a शा ं , For
introducing a distinct शा ं like तकशा ं , मीमांसाशा ं , ाकरणशा ं or वेदा ाशा ं .
To introduce a new branch of science we need to have four
conditions. अनुब चतु यं means four conditions to start a शा ं . शा आर
अपे तगठकािन - factors required for introducing a शा for example- if
वेदा ाशा is to be introduced as different from सं ा योग ाय वैशेिषक
पूवमीमांसा. All these शा s are there. Why should ासाचाय introduce वेदा ा
as a new branch of science which is called a new दशनम्? For starting a
दशनम् there must be four conditions called अनुब चतु यं . Shankaracharya

says, ‘I am going to present those four factors associated with वेदा ाशा
now.’ And he says, ‘These four factors I am not introducing in Brahma
Sutra which is our original science. ासाचाय has already done that in
the first सू -अथातो ज ास:.’
The entire सू which has अनुब चतु यं is introduced by the word अथा. I
am going to only borrow from Brahma Sutra and present those four
factors which make वेदा ाशा distinct from other शा s. Therefore, he
says अ , अ means for this SVSSS शा अनुसा र ात्-being based on the
original शा ; what is original शा ं ? सू मूलम्. शा अनुसा र ात् means
सू अनुसा र ात्. I have to only go to Google. For Shankaracharya what
is Google? His own brain. For us everything is Google. For them their
own brain was Google. They were not even notebooks and books. All
these things were kept in there.
Therefore, being based on BS, अस् यअनुब चतु यं . अ must be connected

with अनुब चतु यं . The four conditions or factors associated with वेदा
दशनं यदेव मूलं िनिद ं which has been already mentioned in the मूलं BS. तद इह
उ ते-I am just presenting them. BS is in सू form and Shankaracharya’s
commentary is in prose form so remembering the four factors is
difficult. But here, he presents all the four factors in the form of a
verse. The advantage of verse form is what? We can get it by heart.
Very beautiful ोका enumerating the four factors. Not only for वेदा
शा , तक शा also has its own अनुब चतु यं . ाकरण also should have its
own. Like in college if a person wants to join a particular course, they
will tell you what are the conditions for joining. So that we will find
out now.

अ धकारी च िवषयः स योजनम् ।
शा ार फलं ा रनुब चतु यम् ॥6॥
What a nice ोका, worth remembering! The four factors are presented
in ोका form. I will change the order. The second one that is given is
िवषय:. िवषय: means a unique subject matter should be there for starting
a unique branch. If the subject matter is already discussed in other
branches of science why should you talk about this again? वेदा ा need
not talk about physics. Physics is already there, the topic is discussed.
Mathematics is a distinct शा . Chemistry is a distinct शा . Astrology
ौिदषं is a distinct शा . If वेदा ा is going to discuss any of them we need
not start a new branch when it is already there. So, वेदा ा must have a
subject matter which is different from other branches of science. So,
conditions for a new or unique subject matter is compulsory. So, िवषय:
means unique subject matter. By unique, I mean unique to this
particular branch of science so that it will not overlap with other
branches. That is called िवषय:.
The second one is अ धकारी. There must be people who are interested in
learning, isn’t it? Say, I know something and I want to teach. Who is
interested? If you all say none of us are interested why should I write a
book? So, there must be a candidate who is desirous of learning.
Otherwise, writing a book is a waste of ink, paper and time. We
should never do anything which is a waste. So, we need a candidate
who is interested in learning that. We can call it the target audience.
There must be an audience. That is why now you find that in
universities not many are not there for Sanskrit language. So, they take
away all subjects. The professors hunt for students. Suppose you walk
by that road, they will call and ask, “Why can’t you join? Age doesn’t
matter.” Because if they don’t find enough students for one or two
years, the dept. will be closed. Why should somebody spend money
for the course where students are not there. That is why Sanskrit is

vanishing. Only good news is, it is growing in other countries. You
will find it in England and Germany. In America one student said that
he was interested in Sanskrit. The authorities introduced the dept. for
the student. After sometime we may have to go abroad to learn
Sanskrit. Anyway, what I want to say here is, a book is non-relevant if
there is no candidate. Therefore, the second thing is अ धकारी.
The next factor is योजनं because human beings are interested in some
personal benefit. Human beings are utilitarian by nature and therefore,
they have to say, what is the benefit? It is called phalam or योजनं -
benefit.
Lastly, more a technical thing, the connection between the book and
the subject matter. Of course, sometimes different pairs are taken.
Book and benefit or student and benefit. Different pairs are taken to
talk about connections because connections always require two. So
अ धकारी and योजनं , अ धकारी and िवषय, िवषय and योजनं . Candidate and
subject matter. Subject matter and benefit. Candidate and benefit. Any
pair can be taken. Here, Shankaracharya takes the pair of books- योजनं -
SVSSS and योजनं of वेदा ाशा ं . In Sanskrit it is called स :.
What are the four? I have coined four English words- Candidate,
benefit, subject matter, connections. CBSC. First also C. Last also C.
CBSC. I have presented in this order so that you can remember CBSC
board. Your children might be in that Board. And therefore, you will
never forget. What is अनुब चतु यं there? It is CBSE. Here it is CBSC.
Candidate, Benefit, Subject, Connection. This is अनुब चतु यं . So,
remember this ोका or if you protest then I will suggest CBSC. And
only when these four conditions are there a new branch of science can
be introduced. So शा ार फलं . The presence of अनुब चतु यं leads to a
new branch of science. Do you understand? And that is why there is a
big discussion in advanced work, whether वेदा should be treated as one

branch of science or two branches of science. वेदाएकशा ं वा? Or शा ा यं वा?
We take the whole वेदा as a शा coming from भगावान्. Should we treat it
as एकशा ं or शा ा यं वा? This is a big debate. It goes on and on.
Shankaracharya concludes वेदा must be treated as two distinct branches.
Not शा एकं but शा यं . कम का ं must be treated as separate शा ं . ान का ं
must be treated as separate शा ं . Religion and spirituality must be
separated. Many religious people are there who are not at all interested
in spirituality. They go to temple because of LKG admission for
grandchild. So religious people need not be spiritual at all. Therefore,
Shankaracharya establishes a distinct अनुब चतु यं .
CBSC of वेद पूव is different. That is why जैिमनीमहिष wrote a separate शा ं

called पूव मीमांसाशा ं taking the first part of the वेदा as a separate branch
of science. जैिमनी wrote पूवमीमांसासू ा ण making it a separate branch of
science. Vyasacharya wrote another group of सू ा ण called
उ रमीमांसासू ा ण. Both of them are what? वेदा only but divided into two.
What is the argument? अनुब चतु यं being different, they must be treated
as distinct शा ं . Don’t mix up and mess up. ानकमसमु यख नं is a very,
very important topic Shankaracharya engages in all his commentary
because, during his time, many people were mixing them up. Anyway,
lot of diversion topics. I never thought of discussing that. Because of
the word शा ार , I got diverted. diverted. I just got lost. Now let us
come to our topic.
A new branch can be started only when there is a distinct unique

अनुब चतु यं CBSC. Now he is going to talk about the four factors from
verse 5 to verse 11- अनुब चतु यं - conditions for starting a शा ं and he has
enumerated them. Now he is going to elaborate each one-
1. Who is the candidate?

2. What is the subject matter?
3. What is the benefit?

4. What is the connection?
Verse 7-
चतु भः साधनैः स ो युि द णः ।

मेधावी पु षो िव ान धकाय स तः ॥ 7॥
So here comes the second चतु यं called the साधनचतु यं , the four-fold
qualifications, which make a person a fit candidate. If the qualifications
are absent or deficient, you will find the interest in वेदा ा will gradually
wane. It will be difficult for a person to survive. Even if that person
survives it will not give expected benefit. Like they say, using ग ा जलं
for washing bathroom. Thus, वेदा ा will be used for time pass. “It is
intellectually stimulating, Swamiji, I am not interested in मो ा.” They
openly told me. Or, “Shankaracharya’s commentary style is
wonderful.” Thus, different people may come for different purposes.
But a candidate with these qualifications alone can reap the proposed
benefit. Very important. चतु भ: साधनै: स क् सं प :. सं प : means richly
endowed with. Richly endowed with what? Different types of
ornaments? No. Different types of internal ornaments, not external.
Inner ornaments- what are they? A candidate is defined as one richly
endowed with four qualifications. From verse 13, we will know what
the qualifications are. स क् सं प : - with 4 qualifications.
Then, युि द ण: since वेदा ा focuses on understanding its message.

Here, we are not teaching particular types of disciplines for getting
spiritual experiences. We do not believe in spiritual experiences or
mystical experiences. If we are interested in that we should be
teaching more and more of how to work for that/ how to
meditate/how to get in a higher state and all that will be more. But we
are conducting more and more classes which means we believe in
knowledge. We are focused on knowledge and not any new

experience. I have repeatedly warned. वेदा ा doesn’t want to change
any of the available experiences. World will be world. People will be
people. Water will be water. वेदा ा doesn’t aim at changing the present
experiences. वेदा ा doesn’t aim at giving new experiences or ordinary
experiences or extraordinary experiences. वेदा ा doesn’t function in the
field of experience at all. Then what is वेदा ा attempting? Very, very
careful. Based on our experiences we have made some conclusion.
Like experiencing sunrise, what is our conclusion, before we study in
school? Sun is going around the earth is the conclusion based on our
experience. And by going to school we revised the conclusion that the
sun doesn’t go around the earth. Earth goes around the sun but even
after changing the conclusion, what is our experience? Same.
Therefore, वेदा ा doesn’t function in the field of experience but
experience-based conclusion. The fundamental conclusion is – the
world is big and I am small. World is so big. I am so tiny. This is the
conclusion based on our experience. वेदा ा wants to revise the
conclusion. I am infinitely big and the world is too small. पादो िव ा
भूतािन. िव ाहिमदंकृ मेका सेन तो जगत्. This is revision. Unbelievable. And
after the revision also experience will be what? I will be sitting in one
of the chairs only. Not that after वेदा ा you will require bigger and
bigger chair. No experience- no variation. Experience based
conclusion, there is a big variation. And since it involves knowledge, it
involves thinking. ानं means बुि is important. Buddhu cannot enter.
And that is why I love bhakti yoga, Swamiji, because whatever
knowledge we have that will also go. We don’t have to think at all.
We have to sing some bhajans and do activity. I am not saying it is
useless. There, we don’t learn anything. We don’t correct our
misconceptions also. How can singing some bhajans correct our
misconceptions? Singing will bring a person to वेदा ा. One should
make use of this.

Thinking means reasonable reasoning. Therefore, he says युि द ण: -
the one who is intellectually fit to reason sufficiently. We don’t have
to be great intellects and all. Simple reasoning should be enough. And
मेधावी- capable of remembering the previous class at least. If every day
the class appear fresh, you must be fresh but intellect also should not
be fresh every day. So, once you learn साधनचतु यं you should remember
at least what is साधन चतु यं . I will introduce certain Sanskrit words. We
should be familiar with at least those words. And therefore, मेधावी-
enough memory power.
And िव ान्. िव ान् means sufficiently informed regarding the other

branches of science including grammar. Sometimes in वेदा ा they have
a grammatical analysis. Here we don’t have much but in other several
places. In the last class I said, यदाल : ब ीिह. It is त ु ष I said. That
would be meaningless if you don’t know. I am not asking you to learn
grammar. If I say object and subject you should not ask, “What is
that?” You should know what is subject object verb etc. And whatever
other basic information are required. For any science you require that.
That is called िव ान्. Sufficiently informed. We talk about सा ा योगा and
all those things. So मेधावी युि द ण: िव ा ाधनचतु य सं प :अ धकारी. He is the
fit candidate to reap the fullest benefit. When? Here and now. We are
not talking about a benefit after death. There is no method of
verification because you won’t verify and come back. Here, वेदा ा
promises the result here and now.
अ धकारी अ . अ means वेदा ाशा े सं मत:- is approved by all the आचाया:. So,
we have dealt with candidate. Now what is the next one? The subject
matter. In my thing I gave CBSC. Here the order is different. Subject
matter.
िवषयः शु चैत ं जीव ै ल णम् ।

य ैव ते सववेदा ानां सम यः ॥ 8॥
The subject matter is a profound one. Very difficult to swallow.
Normally, we look upon ourselves as जीव:, the individual. जीव: means a
living being. So, I am a जीव:- जीवा ा. And there is a जगत्- a world in
front of me. And both of us are created by some भगावान् called परमा ा.
Thus परमा ा has created जीवा ा and the world and जीवा ा has been
dumped where? In this world. To fend for myself. And I have got
varieties of problems. And परमा ा gives all kinds of experiences because
भगावान् is supposed to be the controller of everything. And we are
supposed to be puppets also. And we have to regularly go to परमा ा
seeking help. This is our general thinking. This is called दासोऽहंभावना.
ै तभावना. ािम भावना. Thus, I look upon myself as a helpless individual
affected by the world and affected by God also. So, first sometimes we
say world gives me problems. Some people say, everything comes
from god so god gives the problem. So, either world or god is
continuously giving me problems. Thus, I am a helpless, hapless
struggling living being. This is our untaught philosophy. And वेदा ा
wants to revise the दासोऽहंभावना. It says hold on to this भावना for some
time until one gets साधनचतु यसं पि : until I become a fit candidate for
वेदा ा. दासोऽहंभावना is useful. Therefore, continue to worship, do पूजा,
continue to practice कम योग, उपासना योग. How long? Until one becomes
a candidate for challenging this notion. दासोऽहं. Is it correct or not? Or
have I taken it for granted? Without question. This view is challenged
only by वेदा ा. Almost all others only reconfirm. Almost all religious
and within Hinduism itself all other दशनािन also reconfirm this
philosophy. What philosophy? वेदा ादशनम् challenges दासोऽहं and all other
दशनम् successfully. When I am ready to challenge then I should come
to वेदा ा. वेदा ा removes the first letter from the sentence दासोऽहं- da goes
away and it will be revealed. Very difficult to even challenge this
attitude. Challenging and studying and understanding and assimilating
and shifting from triangular format to binary format is the project in
our hand.

Therefore, Shankaracharya says िवषय:जीव ऐ ल णं . िवषय: is
जीवा ापरमा ाऐ ं . ल णं means, in the form of the subject matter it is
जीवा ापरमा ऐ but the word ऐ ं may be misunderstood as union.
Many people talk about the जीवा ा after death, travelling and going and
joining भगावान्. And in movies also the भ ा will die somewhere, plane
will come out of his heart, negotiate all the streets and finally go to the
local temple. And शुभं. Movie is over. This is very well registered in our
mind. We also keep on looking for plane. Ok. For that he has to die.
We think जीवा ा is here, परमा ा is somewhere and they have to join.
वेदा ा says, drop all these misconceptions. There is no question of
joining जीवा ा and परमा ा. Why? According to वेदा ा they are not two
separate entities at all. The separation is a misconception. Division is
misconception. वेदा ा doesn’t join these two. वेदा ा only removes our
misconception. The only benefit of वेदा ा, if you consider worthy
benefit, is helping me drop the misconception that I have to join
परमा ा one day. That expectation must go away. I learn to claim परमा ा
has never been away, is never away, will never be away. I, the जीवा ा
am seemingly different but really परमा ा only. अहं ा . And Shuddha
chaitanyam to indicate, not uniting but only with two different names-
जीवा ा and परमा ा.
ॐ पूणमदः पूणिमदं पूणात् पूणमुद ते ।

पूण पूणमादाय पूणमेवाव श ते ॥
ॐ शांितः शांितः शांितः ॥
03. Sarva Vedanta Siddhanata Sara Sangraha verse 8 to 13

Page verse 8-
िवषयः शु चैत ं जीव ै ल णम् ।

य ैव ते सववेदा ानां सम यः ॥ 8॥
Shankaracharya, after introducing the subject matter of वेदा ा, wants to

talk about the four factors called अनुब associated with वेदा ाशा .
Because every शा ं should has its own unique अनुब चतु यं . Then only it
deserves to be a distinct शा . To remember those four factors, we have
to remember the four- letter CBSC-
C- candidate
B- benefits
S- subject matter
C- connection between subject matter and the text book
Shankaracharya has dealt with the candidate by simply mentioning that

a Vedantic candidate must have 4-fold qualifications. What the four
are, he will talk later. Here, we should note four qualifications are
required and we insist on these four because without that वेदा ा
becomes a book of information. It should not be a book of
information but a book of transformation. Having entered my
personality, it should bring about total positive change in me. I must
be the embodiment of peace and happiness. I should be able to radiate
peace and happiness to others also. That is the transformation
expected. The teaching can bring about the transformation in a
candidate just like a seed can grow into a plant only in a prepared
ground. If the ground is not suitable ground even the best imported
seed will not sprout and produce the fruit. Similarly, the guru is
sowing the seed of ानं . The brain of the student should not be clayey
soil. Then all the sowings will produce no benefit. Therefore, the soil
must be prepared with the fourfold qualifications. Details later.
The next thing is the subject matter itself. What is the subject matter
of वेदा ा? There are so many, interpreting the same set of उपिनषद्. Each

one comes up with a distinct idea. TF, we should know what the
central theme of वेदा ा is. Shankaracharya says अ ैतं is the central theme
of वेदा ा. No doubt it starts with the triangle of जीवा ा, परमा ा and
अना ा. जीवा ा means जीव:, परमा ा means ई र:, अना ा means जगत्, the
world. So जीवा ा परमा ा अना ा three vistas. The aim of वेदा ा is collapsing
these three into one. Through महावा ं , जीवा ा and परमा ा are made into
एका ा. And through सृि करणम् the अना ा is negated as िम ा, having no
separate existence. Through सृि करणम्, अना ा is resolved into एका ा.
Through महावा ं , जीवा ा and परमा ा are resolved into एका ा. Finally, how
many आ न: are there? Only one. All the उपिनषद: uniformly converge
into one, starting with three and converging into one. That
convergence is called सम य: TF he said, सव वेदा ाना सम य:. We find that
the convergence of all the उपिनषद: is only to this particular idea of एक
आ ा. TF, what is the subject matter? अ ैतं. अ ै त चैत ं . चैत ं is the subject
matter. Up to this we saw in the last class.
Now comes the third अनुब namely the सं ब :. Connection.

Connection means, the relationship between the book and the subject
matter.
एतदै मेय माण ािप च त

ु ःे ।
स ः क ते स ब बोधकल णः ॥ 9॥
So ुत:े माण एकदै मेय एकदै म् means जीवा परमा ऐ ं mentioned in

the previous ोका, (otherwise called अ ैतस ं ) is called पमेयं. पमेयं means
central message. अ ैतं is the central message, the convergence message.
And what about the उपिनषद्- वेदा ं ? They are all words revealing the
message. The revealing words are called माणं . Whatever reveals
something is called माणं . Eyes are called माणं because it reveals forms
and colours. Suppose you close your eyes forms and colours will not
be revealed. So, forms and colours are called पमेयं. Similarly, the sound
that you are hearing is पमेयं. And your ears are माणं . How to prove?

Close your ears. Sound will not be heard. Thus, revealer is called माणं
and the revealed is called पमेयं. Words are also called माणं because
words can reveal different messages. And the message that I reveal is
पमेयं.
Similarly, वेदा वा ािन are called श माणं . िनदु श माणं . And with this
वेदा वा म् the माणं reveals the पमेयं message. What is the message?
There is only one आ ा. There is no plurality at all. नेह नाना िक चन.
Plurality is an appearance but the व ु is one. Ornaments are many.
Gold is only one. So, what is the relationship or connection between
वेदा ा and अ ैतं? वेदा ा is the revealer. अ ैतं is revealed. TF, it is called
बोधयबोधकसं ब :. सं ब : क ते between वेदा ा and अ ैतं in the form of
बोधयबोधकल ण:.
Another word used is ितप ितपादकल ण:. In English- revealer, revealed

relationship. बोधक means revealer. बो ं means revealed. वेदा ा is revealer
and अ ै तं is revealed. Who says that? स :. स : means all the traditional
आचाया: declare this fact.
Now, Candidate is over. Subject matter is over. Relationship is over.

Only one is left out. B. B means benefit, योजनं . What will I get if I
attend your class? What benefit I will get? That is the question.
Verse 10-
ा क
ै िव ानं स ः ा ः योजनम् ।
येन िनःशेषसं सारब ा ः मु ते ॥ 10॥|
So, what is the योजनं ? There is a direct योजनं and an extended योजनं .
What is direct? वेदा ा reveals अ ैतं so by studying वेदा ा I will understand
अ ै तं. Very simple. The newspaper reveals the message that India won

the cricket test. Newspaper is the revealer and winning the test is the
revealed message. As long as I don’t read the newspaper, I won’t know
the message. The moment I read the newspaper I will know that
message. Thus, by employing वेदा ा I will know अ ै तं. Because वेदा ा
reveals अ ै तं, by employing the revealer वेदा ा I come to know the
revealed अ ैतं. That means the योजनं is अ ै त ानं . अ ै तम् is the subject
matter. अ ै त ानं is the योजनं . अ ैतं योजनं you should not say, अ ै त ानं is
subject matter you should not say. अ ैतं is the subject matter and अ ै त ानं
is the benefit. So, this is the direct benefit. Not only वेदा ा माणं . Physics
you read, physics is the subject matter and knowledge of Physics is the
benefit. Chemistry book you read. Chemistry is the subject matter.
Chemistry knowledge is the benefit. Everywhere माणं has a subject
matter. माणं study will give ानं as benefit. This is the direct benefit.
What is the extended benefit? Any ानं will remove ignorance. Now
you have the knowledge that India won the match. That ignorance
you had until you read the newspaper or listened to me is gone. For
many, I am the newspaper. So, for your benefit only I read because
you don’t have time. So, until you got the knowledge you won’t
know what happened to the test match. You are carrying the
ignorance and the moment I utter the word you get the knowledge.
Ignorance got removed without you requesting the ignorance to
kindly vacate the mind. The moment knowledge comes ignorance
goes. Just as the moment light is switched on darkness goes.
Therefore, ानं is the सा ा योजनं , अ ानिनवृि is its corollary. So, 1. ान ाि
2.अ ानिनवृि . Don’t exchange and say अ ान ाि , ानिनवृि . अ ानं is already
there.
Then, another important benefit is whatever notions and

misconceptions are there w.r.t अ ैतं are removed. All misconceptions
w.r.t anything are born out of ignorance. If I think that the sun is
going around the earth it is a misconception. Because of what?
ignorance of the fact that the earth is going around the sun. Until I

know this fact the ignorance will lead to misconception. And the
beauty is (whether it is beauty or ugliness I don’t know)- ignorance
may be one but misconceptions can be many. Generally, I give this
example- Suppose here on my left or right I keep a box or something
and cover it with a black cloth. All of you can see something is
covered with black cloth. Now, for all of you that day’s class is washed
out. What is inside the box? Is Swamiji going to distribute any prasad
or is he going to distribute some book? If there are 50 students there
will be 50 different conceptions because of one ignorance. TF, अ ानं is
one, misconceptions are many. And misconceptions are there w.r.t
जीवा ा, परमा ा and अना ा. And what is the misconception? जीवा ा is
different. परमा ा is different. अना ा is different. I see them distinctly. All
because of the ignorance of the fact that all three are nothing but
एका ा. This ignorance leads to division of जीवा ा परमा ा bheda; जीवा ा
अना ा bheda; अना ा परमा ा bheda. Thus, there will be so many
misconceptions like जीवा ा is कता-bhokta; father, mother. We saw in
द णा मूित ो ं - िव ं प ित काय कारण तया ािम सं ब तत: श ाचायतय िपतृपु ा ा ना
भेदत: े जागित व य एष पु ष: मया प र िमत: - misconception regarding
everything.
The most fundamental MC of these 3-fold misconceptions is about

‘me’. The deadliest MC is self-misconception. I am small. I am
created. I am कता etc. All these are put together. All misconceptions
put together is called सं सार:. What is सं सार? Misconception regarding
जीव, जगत्, ई र. And the most fundamental being that I am a mortal,
struggling miserable, helpless, SOS-sending जीव:. This is called सं सार.
सं सार is because of misconception. Misconception is because of
ignorance. Once the ignorance goes away misconception goes away.
सं सार also goes away. What remains is सार. सार means essence, truth,
एका ा. ा क
ै िव ानं - this Advaitic knowledge is योजनं - the direct
result of Vedantic study provided, the student has the qualifications.

Otherwise, the study will not lead anywhere. Study can generate
knowledge only in a qualified mind. So ानं is the direct योजनं .
What is the extended योजनं ? येन, by this knowledge, िन:शेषसं सारब ा ब you
can understand- all the samsaric shackles. All the bonds of सं सार
regarding जीव and ई र. Whenever we get problems and we seek help
from the Lord and if help doesn’t come, we get angry towards God.
God is very, very unjust. All these are misconceptions regarding God.
भगवान् is unfair. All the corrupt people are thriving. This is a common
question. All corrupt people are thriving and I am such a fair person.
That is question mark. Ok. I am fair and good but I am not doing
well. So, भगवान् seems to be partial. These are all misconceptions even a
sincere bhakta develops now and then. This is called crisis of faith. Is
भगवान् really available or is it a figment of my imagination? And
whenever there is natural calamity, there will be an article by an
atheist questioning, “Is there a merciful god?” At no other time will
this article come. “Merciful”, that adjective is very important. “Is there
a merciful god?” because so many children died. If you don’t read the
article you are safe. But if you read you will also doubt whether there
is भगवान् -first question. And if there is one, is he a just and fair भगवान्?
This is also part of सं सार. Therefore, all forms of सं सार based on the
misconceptions of जीव जगत् and ई र िन:शेष - totally, completely मु ते- is
gone. So, all the सं सार is removed. And how long it will take? Getting
knowledge will take time because we have to go through वणं मननं and
िनिद ासनं and so many doubts and all. Between ानयोगा and ानं the gap
is very long. ानयोगा means वणं मननं and िनिद ासनं . Between ानं and मो ा
what is the gap? Like waking up from dream and freedom from
dream-problems, how much time will it take? I will repeat. Waking up
and freedom from dream problem. Very careful. Not waker’s.
Freedom from dream problems immediately goes because I know that
I am the waker. All the dream events are seemingly there. I thought
they really belonged to me. And TF, the word स : is important.

Between ानं and मो ा there is no time gap. And if a person says, I have
ानं but मो ा has not yet come, Swamiji. If you say मो ा has not yet
come, what is our answer? In Malayalam they say, “It will be like
turmeric.” I know what is अ ानं . अ ानं means kajal. It is dark. I know
what is अ ानं and how it is- it is white like turmeric powder. Similarly,
if a person says, I know वेदा ा well but liberation has not yet come, it
means he doesn’t know. TF, knowledge and मो ा occur
simultaneously. TF स : मु ते. Continuing.
Verse 11.31.26-
योजनं स वृ ःे कारणं फलल णम् ।

योजनमनुि न म ोऽिप वतते ॥ 11॥
With the previous ोका the 4th factor also has been enumerated. In
CBSC all the four have been covered.
1. Candidate is one who has four qualifications.
2. Benefit is freedom from सं सार
3. Subject matter is अ ैतं
4. Connection is Vedantic study which reveals अ ै तं and produces ानं
Now, Shankaracharya asks, of these four factors, CBSC, which one is

the most important? And he says, B is the most important one. B
means what? Benefit, because everybody is interested in benefit only.
And if he is not interested in that particular benefit, he is not going to
pursue that. When will you walk one mile to fetch some water? When
you don’t have water at home you will walk. If it is already there you
are not going to walk to get it. TF, every pursuit is for the sake of a
particular benefit only. Nobody loves a pursuit for the sake of the
pursuit. Nobody loves an undertaking for the sake of the undertaking
itself but for the benefit only. Between means and end, a person loves
the end only. Once the end is accomplished, means becomes

nonrelevant. TF, among these four, योजनं called मो ा, freedom from
सं सार, is the most important. He says, योजनं the benefit, namely
freedom from सं सार, फलल णं which is the result of वेदा ा ानं . अ ै त ानं is the
most important fact which makes a person pursue वेदा ा. You would
have heard the idiom carrot and stick. That is why in villages they put
a stick and hang a carrot in front of the bullock cart. So, the cow or
the bull thinks, if I move forward I can get the carrot. Unfortunately,
it is tied to the yoke with the stick. So, when the bullock moves the
carrot also moves. योजनं उि . The bullock doesn’t want to do कम योग, I
want to do. I want च शुि . It doesn’t know any such thing. It wants
that and so it walks on. Similarly, human beings also will not move
even one inch unless he expects some योजनं . Similarly, once you show
मो ा योजनं , then people will be interested. TF, योजनं is a general
statement.
Without expecting some benefit म : अिप- even a dull-witted person- न्

वतते-will not work. Only difference is dull-witted person will keep a
dull-witted योजनं in view, that is all. But even he has got his own
योजनं . That is why in all advertisements they put in block letters, “Pay
one rupee, own a TV.” Ah, wonderful. That is written in big letters.
And in the bottom in small letters, “Pay Rs. 1000 monthly lifelong.”
What you have to do they won’t highlight. What you will get they will
highlight. 5000 years ago वेदा has said that the rule is people want
benefit. Utilitarianism is instinctive tendency.
So, with this, अनुब चतु यं topic from verse 5 to verse no 11 is now over.
Hereafter, we are going to focus on the first of the अनुब ं -the
candidate is going to be highlighted. And who is the candidate? The
one with four qualifications. The rest of the book is only about the 4-
fold qualifications. We are going to study from verse 12 up to verse 115
and that too abridged version. The original is still more. More than
200.

Introduction. We will read. Here the ोका is in an abnormal metre.
Verses are of two types- normal metre - सम वृ ं and abnormal metre-
िवषम वृ ं . When the verse is in an abnormal metre you cannot recite like
a verse. We have to read it a like a prose only. So 12th verse is a िवषम
वृतं.
साधनचतु यसुस ि य ा धीमतः पुं सः ।

त व
ै त
ै लसं सि ना िक दून ॥ 12॥
So, this is a Vedic statement which we call a disclaimer. In business,

they always put a disclaimer so that they are safe. So, if this is not done
in this manner you won’t get the benefit. Don’t sue the doctor or
businessman. Similarly, वेदा ा says, वेदा ा can give ानं and मो ा only
when the students fulfill the conditions. If the conditions are not
fulfilled, वेदा ा will end as an academic study. Or, even if it benefits us,
lesser the qualification, lesser the benefit. TF, watch your
responsibility. Don’t put 100 % responsibility on वेदा ा. You have to do
what you alone can do. And unlike कम का ा, you cannot delegate the
गु to do that. In कम का ा when you cannot do नवराि देवी भागवतं पारायणं
what you can do is call a priest and engage him by giving appropriate
द ण. During नवराि that person will read on behalf of me. And भागवत
पारायणफलं who will get? I will get. Even though the reader is that priest.
I will get the फलम्. Then why will the priest come? He will not get the
फलम्. Priest will get a different फल ण. So, भागवत पारायणफलम् to यजमान,
द ण to the reciter. So, you can delegate some things. In वेदा ा you
cannot tell Swamiji, “I don’t have time for SVSSS. TF, on behalf of me
you do it and I will give you some extra द ण.” It won’t work. You

have to work for your साधन चतु यसं पि . There is no short cut at all. No.
वेद says, you can take your own time. In Hinduism we have many ज ा:.
TF, you can carry forward to next ज , next ज , whenever you get
these properly. Then वेदा ा can work instantaneously. TF, he says,
य धीमता: पुं सा:- that intelligent student- धीमान् means intelligent,
responsible, discriminate. य साधन चतु य सं पाि अ - one who has 4-fold
qualifications in sufficient measure. They talk about cut-off marks. You
have to have sufficient to fall within that because absolute SCS doesn’t
exist. Because SCS, belongs to आ ा or अना ा? अना ा. At अना ा level
100% SCS doesn’t exist. That is why I said sufficient to receive the
teaching, to retain the teaching, to assimilate teaching and to
transform my life to a ान िन ा. That much optimum I have to get. य
अ - whoever has them त एव- only for such people, एव is very
important, that means not for others.
Veda promises one thing. Suppose a person without SCS comes, वेदा ा
has got two-fold functions. The primary function is, it can generate
knowledge. It is primarily meant for generating liberating knowledge.
Suppose a person lacks or is deficient, then the very same वेदा ाशा माणं
becomes capable of giving पु ं to the student. Because we are listening
to वेदा ावा ं शा वा ं we are listening to शा श . शा श is म ल श , म ल
श ् ावण एव फलं अ . That is why it is said that those who listen to
Vishnu Sahasranamam will get पु ं . Not only listeners, the people who
chanted and those who organized chanting will all be benefitted. A
purifying capacity. TF, in those people वेदा ा itself will serve as SCS
generating shaastram. That means what? Instead of ानयोग the class will
become कमयोग. Otherwise, you will wonder, “Swamiji, we have doubt
whether we have SCS or not.” In fact, many students don’t even say

‘doubt’. “We are very sure we don’t have. Should we come to next
class or not?” Remember, it will become कमयोग or ानयोग. कमयोग says it
will give qualification. If he qualifies it will give knowledge. TF, वेदा ा
gives qualification or knowledge as the case may be. TF, वेदा वणं
never goes waste. That was what I wanted to say. But there are
wonderful ोका: which say, one minute वेदा ा वणं =1000 अ मेद याग. A
full ोका is there. The whole earth दानं is there. Next class I will tell
you the ोका so that you will come to the class. One minute बणं to so
much दानं , so much गङ् ानं . त एवफल सि :. फल सि : means ान सि :.
ना -not for others. िक त् ऊन . ऊनं means lacking. So, who is lacking
in any one of these qualifications for him, ानं won’t be there. But the
benefit will be that SCS will come. Continuing,
च ा र साधना वद परमषयः ।
मुि यषां तु स ावे नाभावे स ित व
ु म् ॥ 13 ॥
So, in the previous ोका it was said that for the one who has SCS ानं
and मो ा will come and for the one who doesn’t have, even if he
studies, ानं won’t come. What is the logic? He says, अ य ितरेक logic.
अ य ितरे क logic means-in its presence result comes. In its absence,
result doesn’t come. And TF this must be the cause of that. Like they
add sugar to the milk and taste it. You don’t add sugar and taste it will
not be sweet. So, sugar स े sweetness स ं . Sugar अभावे sweetness अभाव:.
Don’t ask me what language it is. First sentence is called अ य:- co-
presence of sugar and sweetness. The second statement is called ितरेक
means co-absence of sugar and sweetness. What is the conclusion?
Sugar एव sweet asya कारणं . In Sanskrit सकराएवमा कारणं . Similarly, when
we have a bunch of students going through वेदा ा program rigorously,
at the end some students are able to claim, that I am मु :. They don’t
look upon themselves as साधका. They are able to claim, “I am a ानी and

I am मु :.” Some are able to and some are not able to. They say,
“Wonderful etc.” But are you ानी and मु :? Wait, I will tell you later.
When you see the difference, we can see the difference is because, in
that group which succeeded SCS is there. In the other it is lacking.
Thus, by experimentation or statistical study- how do they experiment
with new drugs? They give the drug and see the result. When this is
given the disease is cured. When it is not given the disease is not
cured. So that medicine is the cause of the cure. It is the well known
co-present, co-absent logic. And that logic Shankaracharya gives here.
Look at the second line. एषां स ावे मुि :. In the presence of these four
factors, four qualifications, मुि : भवित. वेदा ा works. अभावे in the absence
of these four qualifications न स ित.मुि :. You have to read twice. “मुि :
स ित. मुि : न् सु ित”. मुि : स ित is co-present. मुि : न् सु ित is co-
absent. So, we can never, ever ignore the four qualifications. Look at
the first line. अ , in the case of मो ा, परम ऋषय:, all the traditional आचाया:
वद - talk about the compulsory necessity of च ा र साधनािन. TF, regular
introspection becomes compulsory. So, what am I? Do I have these
qualifications? I have to check. And if I don’t have, it is my
responsibility to fulfill them. Otherwise vedantic study will be another
academia study. I can tell others ‘I have done गीता’. Once, a student
said to Chinmayananda, “I have finished and gone through 10 उपिनषद:.”
Chinmayananda asked, “You have gone through 10 उपिनषद्s, how many
उपिनषद्s have gone through you?” TF, it should be a life changing
project. So इित परम ऋषय: वद . Up to this – introduction to the fourfold
qualifications. Hereafter, there will be enumeration which we
generally call 4 Ds-
1. Discrimination
2. Dispassion
3. Discipline
4. Desire

And if you want to have 5 Ds make it deep desire. Not casual desire.
“I want so many things. Along with that let मो ा also come.” It should
not be a casual desire. It must come from the innermost heart. For
that only bhagavan gives battering in life at regular intervals so that we
know the basis of samsara and so that we know the value of मो ा.
When do you know real value of water? When you are thirsty. Like
the child playing with toys until hunger comes. Child can’t remember
mother because toys are wonderful. When hunger comes mildly it will
say, “Amma” once. When the hunger becomes heavy the child throws
the toys and rushes to the mother because it has reached saturation.
That is called ती मुमु ं deep desire. The fifth D.
ॐ पूणमदः पूणिमदंपण
ू ा ूणमुद ते ।
ॐ शांितः शांितःशांितः ॥
04. Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha verse 13 to 18.
Page 3 verse 13-
च ा र साधना वद परमषयः ।
मुि यषां तु स ावे नाभावे स ित व
ु म् ॥ 13 ॥

After म लाचरणम् and introduction the आचाय presented the अनुब चतु यम् -
the four factors associated with वेदा शा - the candidate, the benefit,
the subject matter and the connection. CBSC. And having presented
the अनुब चतु यम् he now enters into the topic of qualifications which
make a person a candidate for वेदा ा. They are four qualifications
known as साधन चतु यम्. And in the entire text we are going to study the
analysis of that alone, which he started from verse 12 up to the end of
this book, that is, verse 115. The whole book is analysis of the 4-fold
qualifications only.
First, he mentions the general rule that without these qualifications

vedantic study will not give the expected benefit completely. Of
course, the primary साधना for मो ा, according to वेदा ा, is self-knowledge
only. ानात्एवकैव ं is the rule. Knowledge is not one of the means for
liberation. Knowledge is the only means of liberation. वेदा ा makes this
very clear. The next point वेदा ा says is that any knowledge can be
gained only through the intellect. Self-knowledge also can be gained
through the intellect only. Intellect alone is the instrument through
which we have to gain any knowledge -spiritual or worldly. अपरा िव ा
or परा िव ा. This also it makes very clear. मनसा एव इदं आ ं - कठोपिनषद्. मनसै
वेदमा ं नेह नाना िक न. Elsewhere, the same उपिनषद् says ते तु अ य
े ा बु ा
सू या ु द श भ:. With the help of a fine intellect one has to gain this
knowledge. TF a fine and prepared intellect is required. The intellect
will not give मो ा. The intellect has to receive the knowledge. A fine
and prepared intellect can receive the knowledge, retain the
knowledge, assimilate the knowledge and enjoy the benefit of the
knowledge. Receive, retain, assimilate and enjoy the benefit of the
knowledge. For that a fine intellect is required. So, naturally the
question is - what will make the intellect fine? According to वेदा ा

these four qualifications will make the mind or intellect fine enough
for going through three stages.
TF, in the 13th verse, second line, the आचाय said एषां स ावे- only in the
presence of these four qualifications will the intellect be fine enough
to receive, retain, assimilate and enjoy the benefit. In their presence,
vedantic study will be successful. In their absence vedantic study will
be a spiritual failure. TF, न अभावे. अभावे means अभावेसित. In the absence of
them, व
ु ं मुि न स ित. मो ा definitely cannot be attained. There is no
question of short cut or धमदशनं and other दशनं and all. When there is a
long queue you have got another method. You give something to
someone. If this is धमदशनं Swami Dayananda asks the question -what
will be other one? It will be अधम दशनं only. Similarly, you cannot do
something and go through short cut. There is only one धम दशनं . And
that is -साधनचतु यसं पि ार दशनं is धम दशनं . No other way is possible.
Now comes the crucial question- what are those blessed qualifications?
First, Shankaracharya enumerates them in the following two ोका:.
And thereafter, he will elaborate each one of them. So, we will go
through the enumeration.
Verse 14-
आ ं िन ािन व िु ववेकः साधनं मतम् ।

इहामु ाथफलभोगिवरागो ि तीयकम् ॥ 14 ॥

आ ं साधनं . All of them are mental qualifications. You have to note that
no physical qualifications are insisted upon -that you should be a male
or female or 50 years. No physical distinction, what matters is the
mind. Not वण, not आ म, not any other physical distinctions. Whoever
has got these qualifications, as Shankaracharya says, in मनीषा प कं -
चा ालोs ु स तु ि जोसsतु गु : इ षे ा मनीषा मम:. Let him belong to any caste it
doesn’t matter. TF, the qualifications are internal and not external.
What is the first one? िववेक:. Discriminative knowledge, a knowledge

which can differentiate between the following two -िन , अिन व .ु व ु
means anything or any being. िन ं means permanent or eternal. अिन ं
means impermanent or non-eternal. First, the intellect must identify
what is अिन म्. And then on study what do we find? If I ask, “what is
अिन ं in the world?”, you will ask a counter question, “What is िन ं ?
Everything that I experience, including galaxies, they all appear and
disappear. And according to astronomers they even explode and
disappear. From the smallest atom to the biggest star everything exists
within time and space. TF, सवम् अिन म्. The intellect must register this
in the mind. This includes our own physical body. Then the next
question is, “If everything is अिन म्, then what is िन ं or is there
something that is िन ं ?” Unfortunately, the instruments of knowledge
that we have can never know what is िन ं because the sense organs
register only the world which is अिन म्. TF, naturally, we have to
depend upon the scriptures to know whether there is a िन व ु or not.
And when we go through the scriptures the वेदा: talk about something
called िन ं . In the वेदपूवभाग, ई र: or भगवान् is said to be िन ं . अ तु ाय नम:,
अन ाय नम:. We daily do आचमनं in which god is introduced as िन :. I
don’t know what is God, who is God, where is god, how is God? I
have no idea. I only know only from the scriptures that god is
permanent. This is called परो ानं - indirect knowledge through शा
माणं . TF, God is eternal. World is non-eternal. God is permanent.
World is impermanent. This the mind has to register well. And when

you go to the वेदअ भाग, the very same God is now slightly changed
from God to न्. Whether you use the word ई र or whether you use
the word न् words are two but they are not two eternal things. One
and the same eternal व ,ु वेदपूव भागे ई रइ ु ते, वेदअ भागे इित उ ते. So,
we can say God, aka . Nowadays they use that. Aka means also
known as न्. So, God, aka न्, is िन ं . And other than न्, every
blessed thing is अिन ं . This knowledge is called िन -अिन व िु ववेक: the
details of which, Shankaracharya himself is going to explain. This is
only enumeration.
What is the second qualification? िवराग: or dispassion. िववेक: means

discrimination. Discrimination in the positive sense. Discrimination
has also got a negative meaning- racial discrimination, gender
discrimination, caste discrimination where discrimination means
partiality. Here, the word discrimination means clarity regarding what
is what. Clarity is called िववेक:. And िवराग:, otherwise called वैरा ं , means
dispassion. Dispassion w.r.t what? इहअमु अथ फल भोगिवराग:. अथ: means all
things and beings, पदाथ:, िवषया:. Obtaining इह and अमु . इह means- in
this world, experienced by us. अमु means- in the other world as
described by the शा s. I don’t have access to the other world but from
some शा I come to know 14 लोका: are there. चतुदश भुवनािन are there. All
of them are called अमु . Thus, all the पदाथ obtained in this world as
well as in the other world. फल – फल means that which can be obtained
by our effort or actions. फलम् means- attainable as the result of our
own कम. According to शा , we have not got this physical body
accidentally. If I have a particular body with particular features, with
some congenital plusses as well as minuses, all these things are not
accidental. It is the result of my own कम. TF, every object in the world
is called कमफलम्. Either लौिकक कम फलं or शा ीय कम फलं . TF, every अथ is
called a फलं . Are you able to understand? Every पदाथ is a फलम्. And by
using the word फलम्, the result, आचाय conveys a corollary. What is that?
Anything that is the result of an action is the product of that action.

Result means a product. And whatever is a product has got a date of
manufacture and a date of expiry as well. Now there is so much
consumer awareness. They say -never buy anything without seeing the
expiry date, especially powerful medicine. If you buy and consume
without seeing the expiry date it will become your expiry date. TF
anything that is a product is अिन ं . TF, इहमु ाथफल is another word for
अिन व .ु So अिन व भ
ु ोग:. भोग: means pleasures derived from them. And
pleasures or even security derived from them will be permanent or
impermanent. Pleasures derived from impermanent things also will be
impermanent not lasting. TF, w.r.t worldly pleasures or w.r.t the
emotional dependence on them for either peace or security or
happiness (PSH) is a risky proposition. TF, develop dispassion or
detachment, freedom from emotional dependence. Be very careful- वेद
doesn’t say you should reject them. Dispassion doesn’t mean rejection.
They cannot be taken as goals of life. Why? They are not worthy of
being a goal because they are all temporary. TF, they don’t deserve to
be goals but they can be very much used. Can you fill up the blank?
They can be very much used as a means to attain the िन ं . Shifting my
attitude from goal भावना to means भावना is called dispassion. Money is
सा ं or साधनं ? If you ask money as a सा ं , वेद criticizes. Money as a साधना,
वेद glorifies. In तैितरीय उपिनषद् is a special ritual for money. Do you
remember? असा तं , अिन ं . That only is gone. आवहित होम ततो मे यमावह.
And Shankaracharya raises the question- “When we are interested in
मो ा why should we be interested in अिन मो ारथं ? मो ा you cannot go
on मो ा: and so, money as a means is wonderful. Our own physical
body as a means is wonderful because without body you cannot attend
the class as a ghost. TF, you require a body. Thus body, money,
family, everything is useful but only as a means, never as an end. So,
when I downgrade the world from सा ं status to साधना status it is called
वैरा ं . So, dispassion is the attitudinal change w.r.t the impermanent
things in the creation. OK. One, two is over. What is the third one?
We will read.

शमािदष स ि तृ ीयं साधनं मतम् ।
तुरीयं तु मुमु ु ं साधनं शा स तम् ॥ 15 ॥
So, the third qualification is mental discipline which is further

subdivided into types. We will name it as 6-fold disciplines. We won’t
count as 6 साधनािन but all six put together are called mental discipline.
First one is शम:. शम: means thought regulation, the capacity to regulate
my thoughts at my will. In Sanskrit, मनोिन ह:. In योग शा , च वृि िनरोध: is
शम:. So आिद means etc. Like thought regulation ष , a group of six
disciplines are there, called ष सं पि :. सं पि : means richer or richest. This
mental discipline for internal wealth is far superior to all forms of
external wealth. If I have got all forms of external wealth but I don’t
have thought discipline, I can suffer from depression. On the other
hand, if I have got internal wealth, even if I don’t have any external
wealth मूलंतरो: केवलमा य :- even sitting under a tree one can enjoy life.
External wealth is useful but if there is a choice between external and
internal wealth, we have to vote for internal wealth only. In fact, when
सं ा सन: renounced the world, they renounced external wealth in
search of internal wealth only, which is superior. In तैितरीय, िवणं चसं
ानं is considered the most valuable internal wealth. So, शमािद ष सं पि -
inner wealth of mental discipline- is the third.
And then comes the fourth one तुरीयं . Here the word तुरीयं means the
fourth one. You should not unintelligently connect मा ू 7th म ाना
ं न बिह ं . There the word तुरीयं means तुरीय: पाद:. Here, it is तुरीयं साधनं .
The word is common but the context is different. So, what is the तुरीयं ,
the fourth qualification? मुमु ु ं . मुमु ु ं means desire for freedom- मो ा:.
Freedom from what? Freedom from अन ं or mortality. असतोमा स मय
तमसोमा ोितगमय मृ ोमा अमृतंगमय. Freedom from the three-fold shackles.
असत् means untruth, तम: means ignorance, मृ ु means mortality. These

are the three-fold shackles of सं सार. Freedom from untruth, ignorance
and mortality is called मो ा: and a passion. Previously, we talked about
dispassion w.r.t. िन म् or अिन म्. Careful. Dispassion w.r.t अिन म्
whereas deep passion with regard to िन म्, which is immortality. And
as long as I don’t come to immortality, two-fold fears will be there-
fear of death or fear of rebirth. These are the two fears. That is why
many people pray this must be last birth, “O lord, I should not be
born again.” TF, सं सार is fear of death or rebirth or both. And freedom
from that fear is called मो ा: and desire for that freedom is called मुमु ु ं .
So, साधनं शा सं मतं - it is given by शा ं . What is the original शा ं ? I
mentioned it in my introductory talk. You should say BS is the
original शा ं because, there alone a clean दशनं is codified and presented.
TF, शा सं मतं means सू े िन तं . In the first सू अथातो ज ास. The
meaning of the word अथ: is साधन चतु य सं पाित (SCS) अन रं . So, मुमु ु ं .
तुरीयं साधनं .
So now, what are the four? We can remember as 4 Ds:-

1. Discrimination
2. Dispassion
3. Discipline
4. Desire or deep passion
The four Ds put together is called mental qualification. Whoever has

the qualification will not get मो ा but Shankaracharya is going to
elaborately establish that these qualifications themselves will bring us
very close to मो ा. Even by merely acquiring the qualifications, even
without going to वणं , मननं , िनिद ासनं a person can get शा and िन ा. यु
कमफलं ा शा मा ोित नैि क .ं LK says in the गीता that even a कमयोगी who

acquires these four qualifications enjoys a very deep peace of mind
born out of SCS. It can give 60%, 70%, even 80% शा and आन : and
is TF worth pursuing. But 100%, or total मो ा is possible only through
ानं . When I say ानं - receiving, retaining, assimilating and enjoying.
Thus, enumeration is over but hereafter, each one is going to be
elaborated. So, what we saw in TB in four lines is going to be here in
100 or odd verses. Verse 16. We are still going parallel with the
original numbering.
व
ै िन म ु िन िमित वेदनम् ।
सोऽयं िन ािन व िु ववेक इित क ते ॥ 16 ॥
So, you can understand. Simple Sanskrit only. एव िन ं . In the वेद पूव
भाग, the religious portion, instead of न् we say God alone is िन ं .
Since we have come to वेदअ भाग, Shankaracharya replaces God with
न्. He uses the word एव. एव means न् alone is permanent. And TF,
what is the corollary? अ -ु everything else other than न् or God is
अिन ं . TF, they are unstable. TF, they are not reliable for our peace,
security and happiness. Impermanent means unstable. Unstable means
unreliable. TF, अिन ं इितवेदनं . So, conviction w.r.t the fact. It should not
be a casual, mechanical statement but it should be a conviction.
सोऽयं - this conviction is called िन अिन व ुिववेक:. Discrimination. How to

get that conviction? वेदनं means knowledge. Not Tamil vedanai. वेदनं
means ानं . So how can one get this knowledge? That is going to be
explained. The topic of िववेक is taken up from verse 16 up to verse 21.
Six verses deal with िववेक:.
So, what is the source of knowledge? We can know through several

methods. In MU there is a very important म ा - परी लोका म चता

ण:िनवदमायात्. The first lesson we gather from our own experiences. In
life, we hold on to many things as our support thinking that either
that object or that person- will be always available. And then at regular
intervals Bhagavan gives us battering. The source from where we
expected definite support, that person says, “Sorry, I cannot help.”
First time we get hammering. I depended on this person or this
position or this object or our own body. Up to certain years, body
supports. After that we have to help the body. Thus, one by one
whatever we considered lasting, that gives way. An intelligent person
will learn within 20-25 years. Many people require battering. I gave
the example of the monkey and groundnut. This person was drying
the nuts on the ground and the monkey used to come and take and
run. The owner was disturbed. He wanted to teach the monkey a
lesson. He made a pot with a narrow neck and fixed it on the ground.
Only the mouth is open and it has a narrow neck. Inside are the
favourite nuts. The monkey came as usual and it could put its hand
inside the pot. Empty hand will go in. Then it collected a fistful of
nuts and tried to take it out. Now the hand has become big and so
doesn’t come out. The owner came with a stick and stared giving
blows. The monkey gets battering. What is the method to escape?
नकमणानपरजयाधनेन ागेनैकेअमृत मानशु:. Similarly, we are like the monkey
because we are supposed to be the evolutes of monkey. Whether we
are evolved is doubtful but the monkey character continues. We hold
on to one thing or the other. Even if we lose one, we again replace it
by another ephemeral thing and Bhagavan is giving thrashing. That is
called fear, worry, anxiety and stress. All the emotional disturbances
are भगवत: battering to teach us a very important lesson. Don’t hold on
to अिन व .ु णािनवदमायात्. A िववेक will turn away from the world and
turn towards god. As LK said in the गीता- “आ ह् भुवना लोका:पुनरावृि नोजुन
मामुपे तुकौ य
े पुनज निव ते.” अजुन, you can go to all the 14 लोका: but you
cannot escape. Come to me and you can escape. मांउपे .

What is the first माणं ? अनुभव माणं . माणं does teach a lesson if only
we are open to learning. The next माणं is शा माणं . The शा ं itself
clarifies योवै भूमात त
ु ं य ना ित ना णोित ना जानीित सभूमा. Do you find
this familiar? छा ो 7th chapter- न् alone is िन ं . Where there is
duality they are all अिन ं . शा ं itself teaches अ ै त ै त or पं चिववेक.
माणं . आगम माणं . Shankaracharya in his परी लोकान् commentary says,
all these different माणािन can teach us these lessons. What is the third
माणं that alone is highlighted in these verses and what is logic or
reasoning? कायकारणिववेक: we have done earlier and we have to
remember now.
When you have got a कारणं - a lump of gold and many products in the
form of ornaments- we saw the four features of the कारणं . And four
features of the काय. Do you remember? Should I give you imposition?
एक सारिन स ं . कारणं is एकं . सारं -that alone is substantial. िन ं - that alone is
relevant for us. That alone is eternal. स ं -it is independent existence.
स ं त स ाह:. एकसारिन स . I have shortened it to ESNS. कारणं is
essence. एकसारिन स ं - before the ornaments came, gold was. Where the
ornaments are, gold is. When ornaments are melted gold will
continue. ि कालेअिप gold ित ित ि कालेअिप ornaments आभरणं नित ित. Once
we have learnt this logic, we can apply this ाि - य य कारण ं त त
िन ं . य य काय ं त त अिन ं . The entire world is a product- a काय
which came. According to शा ं and modern science also, the world is a
product. We say srishti, they say BB. BB means big bang. Thereafter,
time and space evolved and then came everything else. TF, the whole
universe is काय. And if it is काय there must be a कारणं . We don’t know
what it is. There must be some कारणं . The scriptures name the कारणं as
न् or ई र:. So ई र: कारणं , प : काय. Based on this knowledge, we can
make two inferences- अनुमानं . िन ं कारण ात्. Like what? ण ात्-like
gold. Then प अिन :, काय ात् अभारनवत्. न् is िन ं , being the cause.
World is अिन ं , being the product. Thus, माणं , ुित माणं and
अनुमान माणं give me िन अिन व ु िववेक:.

First, he explains the examples. मृदािद कारणं िन म्- you can understand,
any cause like clay, etc. etc. means gold, wood etc. they are all िन ं .
Why? ि षु कालेषु दशनात्- because they are there in all the three periods of
time. What do you mean by three periods of time? Before the
products come, during the existence of the product and after the
products are resolved. काय उ :े , पूव काय अव ान काले, काय नाश अन रं is
called ि षु कालेषु दशनात्. So, what is the conclusion? घटािद अिन ं -pot etc. is
अिन ं . Etc. means ornaments, furniture, etc. are अिन ं . Tat काय. So यत्
काय, तत् अिन ं . Why? त ाश: ई ते. We are experiencing the destruction of
all the products. We can either deliberately destroy or it gets destroyed
in the course of time in some people’s hands. Butter fingers. Have you
heard? You will experience यत् य ाय त त् न रं. Why? Butter fingers स त्.
TF, you experience. TF, this ाि ानं . This we have to extend to न्
and the universe.
Verse 18-
मृदािदकारणं िन ं ि षु कालेषु दशनात् ।

घटा िन ं त ाय यत ाश ई ते ॥ 17 ॥
तथैवतै ग वमिन ं कायतः ।

त ारणं परं भवेि ं मृदािदवत् ॥ 18 ॥
तथैव - in the same way, as in the case of the example- एतत् सव जगत्. This
entire universe is अिन ं . Why? कायत:- because it is a product of न्
or ई र:. TF, जगत् अिन ं काय ा घटवत् is the अनुमान वा ं . Now the next अनुमानं
is w.r.t न्. त ारणं िन ं भवेत.् And न्- the कारणं of तत्, (तत् means
जगत्) of this universe, is िन ं , is permanent or eternal. What the
example is here? मृदािदवत्- like clay. Thus, अनुमान ार अिप िन ािन व ु िववेक:
ा ते. More in the next class.

ॐ पूणमदःपूणिमदंपण
ू ा ण
ू मुद ते ।
पूण पूणमादायपूणमेवाव श ते ॥
ॐशांितःशांितःशांितः ॥
05. Sarva Vedanta Siddhaanta Sara Sangraha Verse 18 to 22
Page 4 verse 18-
तथैवतै ग वमिन ं कायतः।

त ारणं परं भवेि ं मृदािदवत्॥ 18 ॥

Shankaracharya pointed out that साधनचतु यसं पि is a compulsory
requirement on the part of the students’ mind if वेदा ा has to work.
When we say वेदा ा has to work we mean receiving the teaching, not
the words but the message. Receiving the teaching, retaining the
teaching, assimilating the teaching and deriving the benefit of the
teaching. All these four can happen only if these qualifications are
there. If they are not there, even the best गु is utterly helpless. Even
भगवान् will raise his hands saying that he cannot help. If भगवान् could
help he would have done that for all the seekers long ago. भगवान्
cannot do anything. Shankaracharya says in िववेक Chudamani that when
the father is carrying a load, the son can help the father by taking the
load from his father’s hand. If father has a loan (from load to loan),
then the son can take up the father’s loan and say, “I will pay back on
behalf of my father.” But when the father is hungry, the son cannot
eat for the sake of the father. If the father is sick, the son cannot take
the medicine on behalf of the father. So, there are certain things
which one has to do oneself. Gaining the knowledge of a job is to be
done by student and student alone. No family member can help. No
गु can help. Even भगवान् cannot help. The student alone is responsible
and the student alone decides whether he has to get मो ा or not. Since
these four qualifications are important, Shankaracharya wants to say
that the student should pay 100% attention to these qualifications even
while he is going through वणं . I pointed out as a side note that
वेदा ा वणं can help the qualified student and the unqualified student
also in two different ways. For a qualified student वेदा ा becomes a
माणं - which will give knowledge itself whereas in the case of an
unqualified student वेदा ा वणं can function as a purifying agent. The
unqualified student will be converted into qualified student and so
वेदा वणं should be doubled. First, वेदा वणं is for converting
unqualified into qualified. And the second is to convert qualified अ ािन
into (fill up the blank- qualified अ ािन) into ािन.

वेदा ा वणं can give पु ं also and I said there is a verse which talks about
the glory of वेदा ा वणं - even one minute वणं =maha पु ं . Very
interesting and inspiring ोका. You cannot copy. It is a long and
kadapuda ोका. Just hear it, and enjoy.
नातं तने सम तीतस ललेद ाचसवाविन:

य ानांचकृ तं सम श म खलादेवा सं पू जता:सं सारा समुि ता िपतर:
ि लो ापु ो तौय िवचारणे णमिपतैयमन: ा य
ु ात्|
नातं तने सम तीतस लले one minute वेदा ा वणं is equal to taking a dip in all
the sacred waters without travelling. Just coming to Shankaralayam
सम तीतस लले. द ाचसवअविन: it is equal to भूदानं in which the entire earth is
given as दानं to someone. Normally a person gives how much भूदानं ?
Quarter or half cent something like that. But here, he gives equal to
the दानं of the entire earth. Sarva avani dhata. Not a part but all of it.
य ानांचकृ तं सह ं equal to the performance of 1000 यागा:. अ खलदेवा सं पू जता is
equal to the worship of all the देवता:. And सं सार समुि ता िप ा: even
without doing ा ंतपणं महालयं etc. all the ancestors are released from
their bondage by this person. िप ा: सं सारा मुि ता. And not only that
ल
ै ो पू ोऽिपअसौ he becomes so great that he is worshipped by all the
people in all the three worlds. A person will get all these फलं put
together by doing what? य िवचारणे णमिप even one णं of िवचारणं is
done. तैरयं मन: पा य
ु ात् with a firm mind. So, if one णं of वेदा ा वणं can
give you this much पु ं , if you listen properly for one hour, week after
week, how much पु ं will come? TF, वेदा ा वणं never goes waste. That
is the message. This is all for unqualified people but for qualified
people like you it is not पु ाि : but jnana prapti itself.
TF, pay attention to the four qualifications for jnana prapti. The first
one he has taken up is िववेक:- differentiating between the िन ं and अिन ं .
And the most important message is that the entire world is अिन ं

आ भुवना लोका: पुनरावितन: अजुन. There is only one िन व ु and that is called
ई र in religious language. It is called न् in spiritual language. We
should know the difference between God and the world. And to know
that God or न् is eternal, we have got only one माणं because न् is
not accessible to any other माणं . TF, िन ं is known only through
ुित माणं . And the अिन ं of the world, the impermanence of the world,
we can know through ुितयुि and अनुभव. Our own experience shows
how everyone is अिन ं . Our forefathers have gone, our parents are gone
or going and we ourselves are growing, greying and going. This is our
own experience. माणं .
Then ुित माणं . ुित clearly says everything other than न् is also अ ं . योवै
भूमा तदमृतं तत् अ सवम . Finally, logic also proves the अिन ं of the
world. And it is the logical reasoning that he is giving here, which we
were seeing in the last class. We are using two inferences, or logical
reasoning based on the general principle य ारणं त ं . Cause is always
िन ं because the cause is there even before the product is created.
Cause continues when the product is. Cause will continue even after
the product resolves. ि कालेअिपित ितकरणं . Whereas काय is always अिन ं .
Before its origination, कायम् was not there. After the resolution कायम् is
not there. So, भूतकाले ना , भािवकाले ना . Before manufacture not there,
after expiry not there. Only वतमाना काले अ . So, कायम् अिन ं , कारणं िन ं is
the ाि :.
Based on that we make two inferences. ई र: िन : कारण ा दृ वु त्. God is

eternal being the cause of everything like what? The clay which is
relatively eternal. Then the second inference is jagat is अिन ं - the world
is impermanent. What is the reason? काय ात्- being a product. Like
what? घटवत्. That is the reasoning he gives. Look at the ोका.
ततैवएत जग वअिन ं . The whole world is अिन ं . Why? कायत:. Because it
is a product of णा:. And if the world is a product of न्, णा: is the
cause of world. So, tad कारणं पर - the पर which is the कारणं of the

entire universe is िन ं , is eternal, मृदािदवत् - like the clay. Now the next
question is - how do you know the world is born out of न्? How do
we know the world is born out of न्? If you ask what is the माणं for
that? Shankaracharya says ुित alone is the माणं to show that the world
is a product of न्. That is given in the next verse.
सगव त ा ाएत ािद िप ुितः।

सकाशा ण ादिन ने सं शयः॥ 19 ॥
He quotes the ुित माणं and in support of that, त ा ाएत ात् in inverted
commas, which occurs in तैितरीयउपिनषद् second chapter, first अनुवाक. So,
त ा ा एत ात् is the ुित quotation. But in this quotation the word, न्,
doesn’t occur. From that, the world is born. ‘From that’, is a pronoun.
What is the meaning of the pronoun? we don’t know from this
statement. TF, Shankaracharya fills up that in the second line. ण:
सकाशाद्. So, you have to connect it with the first line. त ा ा एत ा ण:
सकाशाद्. From that न्:. And how do you know that the pronoun is
referring to न्? A pronoun can stand for any noun. For that, look at
the context. If I talked about रामा for ten minutes and said, “he”, the
“he” refers to रामा. Similarly, in तैितरीयउपिनषद् it starts with िवत् आ ोित
स ं ानं अन ं . It has talked about न्. And then the उपिनषद् uses the
pronoun, ‘from that’. Then the meaning of that is contextual न्. TF,
Shankaracharya says एत ा ण: सकाशाद्. That सकाशाद् indicates अपादाने
प ािम and अपादानं is अपादानाथ अपादान प ािम. From न् the उपादान कारणं . And
from that, अ , सगवि . सग here means origination. So, origination of
‘this.’ (Another pronoun). This again means context. This entire
universe. गोचर प सग. सग means उ ि :. And TF, the world is a
product. Whatever is a product, it has got a date of manufacture. And
anything that a date of manufacture will immediately have at the
bottom, not even the next page, just underneath itself date of expiry.
Either, they will give date or they will say three months or six months.
If it is an Ayurvedic product, 3 years. But it also has a date of expiry.

So what? World is अिन ं अिन े न सं शय:. There is no doubt at all.
Continuing. The next verse is also is a verse of abnormal metre. TF,
you have to read it like prose only.
सव ािन स
े ावयव ने सवतः स े।
वैकु ािदषुिन मित मएवमूढबु ीनाम्॥ 20॥
In this ोका, Shankaracharya is refuting the views of some of the other

scriptures which are also part of Hindu scriptures. Here, some
fundamental things are worth noting. In Hinduism, we look upon वेदा:
as the primary scriptures. And later, for clarification and elaboration of
the Vedic teaching, we have several secondary scriptures like पुराणािन,
इितहास, िृ त, etc. In fact, it is a very vast literature. And all of them are
called secondary scriptural literatures. Secondary to primary वेदा:. This
is the fundamental assumption of all Hindus-वैिदका:. Among the
secondary scriptures we have a set of scriptures called आगमा ा:- set of
आगमा otherwise called त शा ा ण. The word आग, and the word त ं are
used synonymously. These आगमा ा: focus on the worship of various
deities because even though भगवान् is only one, the one भगवान् himself is
given several forms for the sake of worship. We don’t have several
Gods but we have got several forms for worshipping one formless
God. God being infinite, God cannot have any particular form. The
all-pervading space doesn’t have any form. If भगवान् is all-pervading,
भगवान् cannot have any particular form. And even though there is one
formless God, worshiping formless God is difficult. TF, we have several
forms. शवा form. िव ु form. During नवराि देवी form etc. And we have
got thousands of such forms. Even for one deity Krishna himself,
Balakrishna is there, adult Krishna is there, Radhakrishna is there and
गीता Krishna is there- the teacher of गीता. Thus, we have several forms.
आगमा शा concentrates on worshiping a particular form of deity and we
have several such आगमािन. All the शैव आगमािन will focus on what? You
should guess. शैव आगमािन or शव आगमािन will concentrate on how to

worship शवा how to build शवा temple, how to do िन आराधन and how
to conduct the main function every year called ् ो व. When the
temple gets old you have re-कु ा भषेकं जीण ारण कु ा भषेकं. How to
conduct that? All the details, regarding शवा आराधन in a public place as
well as in private homes. प ायतन पूजा. All details are there in शैव आगम.
वै व आगमा will talk about िव ु आराधन. शा आगमा will talk about शि
आराधन. Thus, we have got several आगमा ा:. And in my discussion on
नारद भि सू :, I pointed out we accept all the आराधना: along with various
rituals. Even these आराधनाs are accepted for getting च शुि . We
incorporate. That is how Shankaracharya is called ष त: ापकाचायाय: नम:-
worship any form. Either िव ु or शव or Devi all forms are equally
efficacious. There is no superiority or inferiority. If you remember BG
योयो यांयां तनुं भ : ा चतुं इ ित त त ाचलां ा तामेव िवददा ाहं|Any form.
And, not only that, we sometimes add new ones also. सं तोषी माता. One is
added. They said if you worship माता all your desires will be fulfilled.
The word सं तोषी माता means you should be contented with what you
have. सं तोष: means what? Contentment. And now what do they say?
You worship माता you can get anything. Thus, they add newer and
newer ones. Shirdi Sai baba. He has been added now. And there is a
very big debate also. One of the Shankaracharyas said he should not be
added as they are all spurious ones.
आगम शा ा means how to give form? What should be अ ो अचन, सह नाम

अचन, नैवे म everything. And what is our view? Worship any form. All
the आगमाs are accepted by Hinduism for ई र आराधन and च शुि and
incorporated as an integral part of कमयोग: but unfortunately, all these
आगमा introduced their own spirituality and started talking about their
own मो ा and method of getting मो ा. Unfortunately, the मो ा they talk
about as well as the means of मो ा they talk about are both
contradictory to the original वेद माणं . Not only contradictory to वेद but
also contradictory to logical reasoning ुित युि अनुभव िवरोध. In BS, there
is a discussion of शैव आगमा, वै व आगम and ासाचाय refutes them showing

their impropriety. And what is the common flaw in all of them? They
all say मो ा is my going to a particular place. The वै व आगमs will talk
about which place? वैकु . शैव आगम will talk about शवलोका. In newspaper
we can see “sivaloka prapthi adainthaar.” Sivaloka praapthi means
reaching sivaloka hence “adaindhaar” is not required at the end. That
is a different thing. Saiva आगमs talk about मो ा as a place somewhere.
शा आगम also talk about a place ीपुरं which is a place which is nearby.
Hare Krishna people talk about गोलोक बृ ावनं . All people have
earmarked their own place for मो ा and each one is very sure that that
alone is मो ा. They say, “You will reach Moksha only if you come to
our place, not when you go to your place.” Each one is very sure that
my place alone is place of मो ा. And they add that by going to that
place this person will become eternal. How? By remaining an
individual. So, you go as a शवा, individual शवा. You go to वैकु or
कै लाश. भगवान् will be there and I will be here. I will be limited by my
place with my own body. I can eternally serve the Lord. And, this
eternal service will be done to the Lord in the respective place. As a
शव भ eternally serving शव. That service they call कै य. And this
enjoying the beauty of the Lord and serving the lord eternally is मो ा.
This is the spirituality of all the आगमा ा:.
Now, Shankaracharya says, you use the पूजा given in आगम ा. In fact,
Lalitha Sahasranama and नवराि पूजाs are all based on आगमा only.
Shankaracharya says, “Do it.” Do नवराि nicely and keep dolls. All these
things are wonderful. But the philosophy part you have to reject
because मो ा cannot be a particular place. Any place that you talk
about will be limited or unlimited? It will have to be limited. It is not
here, it is elsewhere. They go to वैकु because it is not here. That
means वैकु is located somewhere. How can a located वैकु be eternal?
How can a located भि be eternal? And how can a located िव ु be
there? If िव ु is a person located somewhere, that िव ु also must be
logically eternal. If िव ु can be located and eternal, then why can’t I be

located in Shankaralayam and be eternal? So, we are located and non-
eternal. And if िव ु is a particular God located, then logically, िव ु also,
cannot be eternal. वेदा ा clearly says, य ना प ित ना णोित ना ि जानाित
सभूम. योवै भूमा तद मृतं. Division-less reality alone is मो ा. अ ै तं alone can be
मो ा. ि ती ा ै भयं भवित. Thus, using the Upanishadic teaching both
ासाचाय and Shankaracharya in their ान य भा ं establish that all आगमा
philosophy is wrong but you can take आगमा पूजा.
In this disturbing ोका, especially for वै व people, he mentions the

name also in this place सव अिन -े when everything that is available
here is established as अिन ं because of two reasons. One reason is
already said- born out of न्. Second reason-सावयव ने सावयवम् means
that which has got form and several parts or limbs. So, the physical
body is सावयवम् or िनरवयवं ? It is सावयवम् with several parts. That is why as
we age, one by one all parts depart. That is why it is called departure.
The hair will depart and thereafter the teeth will depart. I have told
you that one person jocularly wrote a ोका- the teeth were very proud
that they were the whitest part on the face. Then, the hair turned
whiter and overtook the teeth. Then the teeth felt ashamed and
decided to quit. That is called old age. So, parts are that which will fall
apart and depart. TF, यत्सावयवं तत् अिन ं . And any place in the world is
अिन ं . And if भगवान् is also a person with limbs then भगवान् will also be
अिन ं . That is why we say any form is a representative of the formless
God just as the flag is not the nation but represents the nation. Every
िव हा, every मूित represents the formless Lord. Very, very important.
सवता: स े- when it is totally established-वैकु ािदषुिन मित. There is the
misconception that वैकु is eternal, कै लाश is eternal, ीपुरं is eternal,
गोलोक बृ ावनं is eternal. In Christianity and Islam, they talk about that
heaven which is eternal. All of them are logically untrue. If you say
वैकु is another name for ा, I will put sugar in your mouth. It is ok.
वैकु is not a place. It is the name of न्. That is in Vishnu
Sahasranama, ‘वैकु पु ष ाण:.’ Similarly, कै लाश is the name of न्. In

काशी प कं , Shankaracharya says काशी is the name of न्. काशते सव काशते
इित काशी/ सवगतं . Thus, कै लाश as न् is eternal but as a place it can
never be. So, िन मित:- the delusion that they are eternal is म:एव. It is
a false conclusion. Made by whom? मूढ बु ीनां. By those people who are
मूढा:. Like first Padma Bhushana and thereafter Padma Vibhushana,
similarly, Mundaka Upanishad says these people are मूढा: later, िवमूढा:.
Continuing.
अिन ं चिन मेवंय ितयुि भः।

िववेचनं िन ािन िववेकइितक ते॥ 21॥
Here, he concludes the first topic of qualification, namely िववेक:. िववेचनं

means discriminating and distinctly understanding अिन ं िन ं च. The
world is अिन ं . God is िन ं . World is ephemeral. God alone is eternal.
इितिववेचनं – clear understanding. During this period the seeker doesn’t
know where he stands. He has not asked the question whether he
comes under िन category or अिन ं category. That enquiry he has not
done but he has got a false opinion about himself which he has taken
for granted. What is this false opinion? That I am a mortal individual
with a date of birth and I will die one day. But he has not made any
conclusion. Here the conclusion is regarding the world and God. God
is eternal. World is ephemeral इितिववेचनं . What type of िववेचनं ? िु त युि भ:-
by using all the relevant माणं . That means it is a firm conviction and
not a vague idea. It is like when we are young and healthy, we
generally don’t know the value of health and so we violate all the rules
of health. But in old age we go one day to the dentist, one day to
ortho, one day to leg doctor. Then we are not able to do many things
and incur lot of expenditure, worry etc. That is when the beautiful
Tamil statement, “Good health without disease is the real wealth”
becomes more and more powerful. Even if we don’t have anything it
is OK if we have good health. Similarly, this िन ािन व ु िववेक:. When
we are young, we have some idea but we do not feel the full impact

until we are 50,60,70 years old though we say, “World is ephemeral
and God eternal.” (Some people do not get it even lifelong.) Only
when we grow old it becomes a conviction. The unfortunate thing is
by the time it becomes a conviction we are ready to quit. TF,
Shankaracharya says, ुित युि भ: िववेचनं . Thorough conviction is called
िन अिन ं व ु िववेक:. िववेक: was covered from verses 16-21. Now we have
to enter the second qualification from verse 22.
ऐिहकामु काथषु िन ने िन यात्।

नैः ृ ं तु बु ाय ैरा िमतीयते॥ 22॥
The word वैरा ं means dispassion. राग: means passion or attachment.

Very strong and emotional clinging, deep attachment, deep passion is
called राग:. िवराग: or वैरा ं both are synonymous- means dispassion.
Dispassion towards what? The entire अिन प :. The entire अिन प :
which is broadly classified into two- इहलोक पदाथा: and परलोक पदाथा.
ऐिहकअथषु. ऐिहहम् means इहभाव:ऐिहक:. Adjective to अथ: - all the things and
beings belonging to this world. Then आमु क अथ: अमु ाव:. आमु क:.
अमु न् means in the higher लोका:. The पुराणािन and other scriptures
describe the beautiful ग लोका and they tempt you with the advantage.
In ग लोका you go there as a youth so you need not be born there and
BCG injection is all that is required. So, straightaway go at sweet
seventeen. Then you will always be 17, 17, 17 and never become 70.
Very important. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. And then disappear
suddenly. All things are available. कामधेनु, क कवृ :, all of them. You sit
underneath and ask for anything and they all will fall down. There are
chances that some people may get (like Nachiketas in Kathopanisad)
कवैववाहा: तवनृ गेते all of them wonderful, all अ रस्, र ा, उवशी, मेनका,
dance, music everything is offered. Wonderful. Keep it with yourself.
ऐिहक आमु क अथ षुिवषयेष.ु नै: हु ं. in the second line means dispassion. नै:
हु ं is another word वैरा ं िनगता हृ ाय ा :. िन हृ ा: त भाव: नै: हु ं- the state

of being dispassionate. And this dispassion is not the ‘grapes are sour’
dispassion. You know the story. When the fox attempted it did not get
the grapes and so वैरा ं . And when somebody plucked and offered then
it came back. That means it is born out of frustration and not out of
discretion. TF, the वैरा ं must be such that, even when freely offered,
we should say no. Not got, so no is frustration. वैरा is even if it is
freely available, if you say no only then it is वैरा ं born out of
discrimination. TF, अिन े न िन य: because of the conviction that they
are अिन only. And how अिन ं ? तु बु ा- they are all worthless in
comparison to मो ा. धम अथ and काम. Among finite things there can be a
gradation. Like 10 rupees and 100 rupees. You may say 100 rupees is
far superior to 10 rupees but compared to the infinite what is the
difference between 10 and 100? The distance between 10 and infinite
and the distance between 1000 and infinite are both are same only. TF,
both of them are equally तु ं . This we should understand. Finite is
finite. Whether it is 10 rupees finite or million rupees finite. That
attitude is called तु बुि . तु ं means worthless from the standpoint of
मो ा. So तु बु ाय हु ं dispassion comes that is called वैरा ं . And a side
note, a very important note is that when we say dispassion w.r.t the
world, it doesn’t mean hatred of the world. If attachment is harmful,
hatred of the world also is as harmful or perhaps more harmful. TF,
वैरा ं means freedom from attachment and we should add, freedom
from hatred also. Never hate the world. अ े ा सव भूतानां. TF, वैरा ं doesn’t
mean hatred or rejection of the world. Neither hatred, nor rejection.
Then what does it mean? I told you in the last class. I am reminding
you.
The world doesn’t deserve to be the goal of life because it is
ephemeral, अिन ं . If I give goal status to any one of things in the world
that is मूढ बुि . But शा ं says even though the world is not the goal, the
world alone is the means through which you have to attain God. अना ा
cannot be सा ं but अना ा alone is the साधनं through which you have to
attain the आ ा. For कम योगा, you have to use the world. For उपासना योग

you have to use the world. Similarly, family also - you should never
hate the family or reject the family. गृह ा stage is also called an आ म
indicating that गृह ा म is also a very important अना ा which is not to
be hated because गृह ा म also is a means for practicing कम योगा and
उपासनायोग. The entire अना ा प must be respected. Respected as a
means. Just as we have to respect the plate and wash the plate even
though what you want to eat is on the plate. Because without plate
you cannot eat. Swamiji, what if we use leaf or hand? Don’t respect as
the end but respect. Similarly, physical body also. Never treat it as a
goal but remember physical body is extremely important. रै : अ ःै
तु ु वांस: तनू भ: where does it come from? शा पाठ. O lord, let me have a
healthy body. To sit in the class for one hour you require reasonable
health.
TF, वैरा ं doesn’t mean hatred, वैरा ं doesn’t mean rejection. Hold the
world, use the world as a means but do not treat it as an end. This is
called वैरा ं . So, what is वैरा ं ? Don’t treat the world as a goal but
respect the world very much as means.
ॐपूणमदःपूणिमदंपण
ू ा ूणमुद ते।
पूण पूणमादायपूणमेवाव श ते॥
ॐशांितःशांितःशांितः॥
6. Sarva Vedanta Siddhaanta Sara Sangraha Verse 22 to26
Page 4 verse 22
ऐिहकामु काथषु िन ने िन यात्।

नैः ृ ं तु बु ाय ैरा िमतीयते॥ 22 ॥

Shankaracharya talked about the first qualification of िववेक: from verse
16 to 21. Now, from the 22nd verse up to the 26th verse the second
topic of वैरा ं is discussed.
राग: has got two meanings. One is attachment or it can refer to desire
also. The difference between desire and attachment is subtle. Desire is
our attachment, our longing for something which has not yet been
attained. Desire is always with regard to an unattained and
unpossessed object. A longing for that. And once the object of desire
has been accomplished, attained by me, I want to strongly cling on to
that object. That clinging on, psychologically clinging on, through a
possessed object is attachment. So, longing for un-possessed objects is
desire, clinging to possessed object is called attachment or राग. The
difference is only slight. िवराग: means not being attached or detached
status. वैरा ं is the abstract noun ‘detachment’. We should note that as
much attachment is detrimental to our psychological self, hatred is
equally harmful to the psychological self. TF, freedom from attachment
includes freedom from hatred also. Freedom from likes includes
freedom from dislikes also. TF, वैरा ं means राग ेषअभाव:. With regard to
what? The entire finite creation which is other than the infinite न्.
So, everything other than the infinite न् is finite. First, we have to
register this in the mind. Some of them are finite we do see from
माणं . We know that the physical body is finite from माणं
because regularly we hear the news of expiry. We see in the obituary
column in the newspaper where we know people are dying. TF, some
of them are माणं स ं . Many of them like the earth, the solar system
etc, perceptually, we cannot see the destruction. There we have to
know by inference only. Since the systems are formed in time, they all
will be deformed and destroyed in time. Through अनुमानं we come to
know the finitude of anything. Regarding the higher लोका: which are
not available for direct ं or even अनुमानं we can know from the शा ं .

शा alone talks about the existence of those लोका:. The very शा ं that
talks about their existence says आ भुवना लोका: पुनआवितना:. All the 14
लोका: are subject to arrival and departure. Thus, through different माणं s
I have to know that everything other than न् is finite.
Once I know that everything is finite, I have to conclude that nothing

deserves to be my goal in life because it is not wisdom to get
something which is finite because once I get something that is finite, I
will be only anxious about its end. Previously I was worried about my
end now I am worried about its end. Previously I was worried about
my insecurity now I am more worried about my domestic help’s
insecurity. If I talk about that, you will understand. Nothing deserves
to be the goal because they all have दु:खिम त ं अ ुि कर ं and ब क ं . TF,
removing goal label is a very great, mature, first step. Nothing else
deserves to be my goal of life. Only one thing deserves to be the goal.
That is न् in Vedantic language or God in religious language. This is
a very first major step.
The second important, mature step is to understand that even though

the finite world doesn’t deserve to be the goal of life, the finite world
is very important as a means to attain the goal. Because, without the
world, without the body, without the mind, without the sense organs,
without a family we would not have grown up to this extent.
Therefore, family is important, everything is important. I should use
them by serving them and purifying them but not for holding on to
them as a source of security. It is a very important lesson. Never hold
on to the family as a source of security but hold on to the family for
what purpose? It is a field where I can serve and purify myself.
Similarly, institutions. Similarly, society. The entire infrastructure is a
required infra-structure. Therefore, I should never hate. I should serve
and use. I don’t hate anyone of them. So, changing the label from

‘goal’ to ‘means’ is called वैरा ं . And I avoid राग, and े ष. So that is said
here.
We saw verse 22 in the last class. ऐिहकअमु कअथषु all the अथ. अथ in
Sanskrit not only means objects, it also refers to people, relationships,
name, fame, status, prestige, all of them. When I say prestige, I am
talking about status as well as the pressure cooker. अथषुिवषयेष,ु
अिन ने िन यता. It will give you pressure. अिन ने िन यता- by knowing
them to be अिन ं . Another fact is, not only everything has got an
expiry date, for most of the things, expiry date is unknown. At least in
the case of materials we purchase from the shop expiry date is written.
But in our body nowhere is it written. Therefore, with regard to भगवत:
creation, we only know that there is an expiry date but we do not
know when it is because भगवत: products are linked to ार ं . ार being
invisible factor expiry date is also invisible. Therefore, my mind should
be prepared to lose anything at any time. In fact, one of the definitions
of वैरा ं - a mind which is prepared to lose the losable at any time is
वैरा ं or a स ासी mind. And a mind which doesn’t have that is called
loose. So, don’t be a loose. Be wise. Wisdom is mental preparedness
and I will have strength only if I hold on to भगवान्. If I hold onto भगवान्,
I can say I am ready to lose anything losable with the courage that
there is only one thing that is not losable. What is that?भगवान्.
Unlosable भगवान्. Hold on to unlosable भगवान्, your mind will be
prepared to lose the losable. This state of mind is called वैरा ं .
नै: हु ं. In the last class I explained िन ाम ं . Freedom from desire or

attachment. तु बु ा by knowing their smallness or worthlessness.
Worthlessness w.r.t what? My peace, security and happiness all these
three they cannot give. They are worthless w.r.t my basic needs of life
even though objectively, they may be worthy. Suppose I am very, very
thirsty and somebody gives me a diamond mala worth million rupees.
No doubt it is a worthy माला but right now, with regard to my need

this mala is totally worthless because I cannot consume it. Similarly,
the whole world may be valuable in several respects but w.r.t. our
basic need of lasting peace, security and happiness they are worthless.
No 1. And from vedantic angle also they are worthless because they are
िम ा having no existence of their own. They cannot fulfill my need is
one reason. And second and more powerful reason is they are all िम ा.
So, तु बु ा. बुि means attitude. With the understanding of their
worthlessness, turning away from them is called वैरा ं इितईयते. And when
I turn away with understanding, the mind will be relaxed. Without
understanding if I turn away, the mind will be missing them. And
when somebody else has them, the mind will feel jealous. I left it but
the other person is having that. The mind will go on saying, ‘I do not
have this, I do not have this.’ The mind will be missing. Mind should
not miss anything. That is called maturity. Let all the other people
have it but I don’t miss. This is called वैरा ं . Continuing.
काम िवजयोपायं सू ं व ा हंसताम्।

स प र ागउपायःसुलभोमतः॥ 62 ॥
As you can see from the previous verse number 22 I have jumped to
verse number 62. I have skipped 40 verses. That means 40 verses I
have made Anjaneyar jump. All of them I have skipped indicating that
Shankaracharya has written so many verses on वैरा ं . Anyway, I didn’t
want to select too many verses and so I skipped them. And those who
have the English translation can read the translation of the
intermediary 40 ोकाs if you have time. If you have वैरा ं for that you
need not read. Ok. Now, Shankaracharya is talking about how to
handle काम: or desire. Previously he talked about freedom from राग,
now he talks about freedom from काम indicating Shankaracharya treats
राग and काम as synonymous even though there is a subtle difference. राग
is w.r.t the possessed objects. काम is w.r.t objects NOT possessed. In
both of them I cling on to that object. How to avoid the development

of काम? Because w.r.t काम or desire, prevention is better than cure.
Like many diseases, once they come, curing is difficult. And even if we
cure, we can never be totally normal as before. Its impact is so
powerful. TF, w.r.t certain problems, prevention is better than cure.
Shankaracharya says, I will tell you how to avoid काम, I will give you
tips. So, काम िवजयउपायं –उपायं means method or means for conquering.
िवजय means mastering, conquering काम - desire for any object in the
creation. Deepavali is coming. So many offers are there w.r.t dress and
jewels and so many are tempting and attractive with beautiful
advertisements. I saw somewhere, “The ears are not for hearing. They
are for earrings.” Very nice. Even I liked that. Ears are not for hearing
but for earrings. And one attractive ear. Ok.
He says how to conquer? सू ं which is a very subtle but effective

method. अहंव ािम I shall tell you the secret. सतां. सतां means for the
intelligent people who are willing to take this. What is that?
सं क प र ाग:. I will give you the exact meaning in due course. I will
tell you what he is intending. No desire for any objects will rise in the
mind suddenly. The object will first become a known object. When it
falls within the range of my mind and sense organs it becomes a
known object from an unknown object. Because the job of mind and
sense organs are only reporting the object as it is, and at that time
there is only knowledge. There is no desire. If that knowledge of the
object has to get converted into desire it requires a lot of cooperation
from our mind and intellect. Because it is an expensive ear ring it also
requires a lot of cooperation from the mind. What is that? Mind goes
on dwelling on that object. And that cannot happen without my
support. And this goes on rounding-rounding. Then the mind begins
to add certain values to the object which it doesn’t have. It is called
शो ा ास:. Adding extra fancy and attractive values that it doesn’t have
like peace, security and happiness. All these three basic things no
object has. Now the mind attaches what? Happiness. Only if we

purchase that there is happiness or the mind imagines that my status
or अहंकार, prestige will be enhanced if I wear those clothes or if I wear
those jewels. The अहंकार value will get enhanced. Not only that, my
prestige and status in society will shoot up. Everybody will look at me
and say, “wow!”. For I should become a head turner and everybody
should look with envy. Owners pride, neighbours’ envy. We have to
go on (sa ri ga ma pa dha ni sa, sa ni dha pa ma ga ri sa) on and on
and I will take lot of time because there is enough time between
knowledge and desire. For an observant mind there is so much time
between knowledge and desire. The intellectual also starts to think.
“The same ornaments or better ornaments so many rich people have
and they don’t have happiness all the time. With all the riches they
continue to be miserable with some committing suicide also. That
means what?” Money and all these possessions alone cannot give
happiness or security. A little bit anvaya vyatireka thing य ,य jewellery
त त happiness. (Can we say this or not?) There are so many people
without any one of them and are very, very happy. And there are
many people with all of them and miserable. From that it is clear that
external object cannot add to happiness. If the intellect stops and
thinks it can, but it refuses to think and follows everybody else down
one path. Before Deepavali all shops are full so we also follow
everybody else like sheep without thinking. That is why Lord Krishna
said in 3rd chapter 27.59 इ या णमनोबुि three instruments contribute to
desire. The sense organs’ contribution is sending the object inside the
mind. Gone! If you don’t see at all, no problem. So, the sense organs
send the object inside. Then what does the mind do? ायतोिवषया ुं स:
स षे प
ू जायतेसंगा ं जायतेकाम:- the sense organs push the objects, the mind
meditates on the object. People say we don’t meditate. LK says we do
meditate a lot, only the object of meditation is different. So, we keep
on ानं . This is mind’s contribution. And the intellect’s delusion
contributes to the final thing- thinking that with that object my status
will go up, without that I cannot survive. I cannot be. I cannot even

be myself without that object. So, it is nice, worth having and without
that I cannot survive. I am hooked. Between this ानं and इ ा that
intermediary state is called सं क :. सं क has several meanings but here
सं क means dwelling on the object and attributing values which it
doesn’t have. सं य ने क नं is called fancying and therefore he says,
सं क प र ाग:. The moment the meditation happens, let the red signal
burn. I am slowly getting trapped. Instantaneously turn the attention
away. We will see later. So सं क प र ाग:. Elsewhere in the गीता, LK
says सं क भवा ामान् -any desire is born out of mentally dwelling on the
object. सं क प र ाग: is the उपाय: and this method is सुलभ: -very easy.
Anything, in the beginning stage, is very feeble like when a plant is
growing on the wall. Sometimes it happens. When it is in the form of
a small sprout or plant you can easily pull it out with one hand. But if
you neglect that, the plant will become a huge tree that will destroy
the wall itself. Similarly, you can put out a spark easily but if it
becomes a huge conflagration even the Govt. with so many
instruments is not able to stop it. सं क is handleable. कामा is un-
handleable. This is the warning. So उपाय: is handling the सं क
according to शा . Continuing,
काम बीजं स ःस ादेवजायते।

बीजेन ऽे ु रइवत ेिवन ित॥ 64 ॥
So, the same message is getting consolidated. काम बीजं सं क : - the seed
of कामा is सं क . TF, first ानं , then सं क , then कामा: - these are the three
stages. And through सं क alone कामा can come. If you nip it in the
bud, कामा cannot harm you. काम बीजं , the seed of desire is सं क :
fancying or dwelling on the object repeatedly. सं क ादेवजायते. कामा:
understood. कामा is born out of सं क alone. TF, बीजेन ेअ ु र: इव. Just as
the tree cannot sprout once the plant or seed is removed, कामा cannot
come if the सं क seed or सं क plant is uprooted. Prevention alone is

the solution. So त े. त न् means सं क ने े. Then we have to supply
कामा: िवन ित. Desire will not have the fuel to survive. Continuing.
स ानुदयेहेतय
ु थाभूताथदशनम्।
अनथ च नं चा ांनावकाशोऽ िव ते॥ 67॥
A very, very logical development. कामा rises because of सं क . If you

avoid सं क , कामा cannot rise. TF avoiding सं क is a very, important
sadhana for a spiritual seeker. सं क meaning dwelling on the object
again and again. Then the next question is how can we avoid सं क
because the mind often seems to have a mind of its own. The mind
does many things without permission. Most of the things the mind
does without our permission only. I keep saying, no, no, no. But the
mind keeps doing its own सं क . So, if you ask, how can we avoid the
mind doing the सं क of its own? He says, there are two methods to
attack the mental waywardness. What is that? सं क अनुदयेहेत:ु the method
for avoiding the सं क is two. यथाभूताथदशनं . Understanding every object
as it is. What is the first thing to be understood? Every object is finite
and अहंकार is finite. By adding a few finite objects finite अहंकार is not
going to become infinite. अपूण+अपूण=अपूण. Don’t say पूण. अपूण + अपूण is
महाअपूण. अहंकार status can never be enhanced, into infinitude or पूण ं .
There is a saying in Tamil which Pujya Swami Dayananda nicely
translates into English. A decorated broomstick is still what? A
decorated broomstick continues to be what? A broomstick only. Its
status doesn’t change. Similarly, अपूणअहंकार by adding any number of
things will still be अपूण: only. Status enhancement is a delusion but
actually no such thing is really happening. TF, no object can improve
the status of अहंकार. This is lesson number 1. The second lesson is
छा ो lesson. There is only one source of happiness in the entire
creation. छा ो 7th chapter- भूमिवदया, योवैभम
ू त ख
ु ं नअ स
े ख
ु ंअ . No finite
object or person in the entire creation has happiness as an ingredient,
or property. That is why whatever one person discards, the other

person takes. If that object has happiness in it, why did the other
person discard? People are getting and discarding not only objects but
people also nowadays. The very fact that they are taken and dropped
indicates that no object has got the ingredient of happiness. That is
why one of my guru bhai nicely says that, “Whenever you purchase an
object, they list the ingredients. Do you see happiness in any of them?
3 grams? 10 grams?” It is not available. TF, nothing in the creation. We
do require a few things for survival. Nobody denies that. But more
than that, we are attributing it so much value, which it doesn’t have.
That is called शो ा ास: सं क :.
TF, यथाभूताथदशनं means the value that I attribute is not there. Why?
Somebody is discarding that. And not only does it not have value, it
has problems also. अनथ च नं चआ ां. Every object or being in creation
has ि िवधदोषा:. You remember three दोषा:? Don’t say वातिप कफ:. That is in
आयुवद. We are talking of मुमु .ु ि िवधदोषा: means दु:खिम त ं , अ िु कर ं and
ब क ं . Some people give happiness wherever they go. Some people
give happiness whenever they go away. Similarly, all objects will give
happiness either while coming or going. Similarly, all objects will give
sorrow either while coming or while going. TF, everything in the
creation which we consider an asset is also a liability including our
own physical body. Asset or liability? I will ask you your age. Up to a
particular age, it is an asset. You do आयु होमं . And after a particular age
you will look for some मरणहोमं . We will search for that. TF, every
object is a mixture of pleasure and pain. दु:खिम त ं then अ ुि कर ं .
Whatever we accomplish, we will never be satisfied. We will look for
the next thing. Instead of enjoying what is there, we will be missing
what we can have later. And finally ब क ं . The more we depend on
external factors, we will be going from dependence to more
dependence. Our aim मो ा is what? Dependence to independence is
our aim but we travel from dependence to more dependence. Once I

understand these three दोषा: I will not dwell on them. TF, अनथ च नं चहेत:ु
भवित. आ ां. By using these two methods- looking at an object
objectively and seeing the disadvantages in them. अ अवकाश: निव ते. We
will not dwell on the object any more. Instead, we would like to dwell
on Ishvara. As Shankaracharya says in his शवापराध मापण ो ं “O Lord, I
postpone the शव ानं giving excuses one by one. In बा ाव ा I am unfit
for anything and so I did not do शव ानं . In youth, my blood was
boiling, running after all things. No question of शव ानं . And once I
get into गृह ा - middle age- the duties and responsibilities are so many.
Where is शव ानं ? Family ानं only takes place. Then I thought after
retirement, in old age, when all children will be settled well. But my
body has become unfit and the mind is thinking of the past and what
all happened in the past. So, what is the net result? My entire life went
without ई र ानं . ोमेअपराध: शव शव शवभो ी ेसंभो. शवापराध मापण ो ं . So,
whenever we tend to dwell on objects, we can replace that by ई र ानं .
At least some punya will accrue. अवकाश:. सं क अवकाश:. निव ते.
Continuing.
िववेकजांती िवरि मेव मु े िनदानं िनगद स ः।

त ाि वेक िवरितमं म
ु ु ःु स ादये ां थमं य ात्॥ 91॥
So here Shankaracharya says, among the 4 qualifications, वैरा ं plays a

very important role because a mind without वैरा ं is a preoccupied
mind. That is why LK said even a गृह ा can be a स ासी if he learns to
reduce or dilute राग and े षा. य
े िन सं या स योन ेि न का ित िन ोिह महाबाहो
सुखंब ा मु ते. राग and े ष make the mind pre-occupied all the time. A
preoccupied mind cannot do वणं , can never do मननं and िन ध ासनं is out
of the question. TF, if वण मनन िन ध ासनं should be effective वैरा ं must
be deep and clear. And TF may you take enough trouble to develop
वैरा ं . He says, ती िवरि ं एव. Not a casual वैरा ं . I told you ‘grapes are sour
वैरा ं ’ is that I don’t want something because I cannot afford it but if

somebody gives it cheap or free, I am ready. It is not because I don’t
want it but because I cannot afford. TF, that is called lukewarm वैरा ं .
Real वैरा ं is what we saw in कठोपिनषद्. Yama Dharma Raja kept in front
of him all the things free of cost. Take it. You have to imagine न चके त
situation. Imagine you are provided with all the things like न चके तस्.
What will you do? We will get doubt. That is called lukewarm वैरा ं .
Shankaracharya says मो ा requires ती िवरि ं एव - deep वैरा intense
detachment- मु े : िनदानं - िनदानं means कारणं - is the कारणं for मो ा.
Otherwise, ानं will be more academic or mere lip service or will be in
one corner of the mind as a scholarship. It will not give the expected
result. This वैरा ं should not be suppression because suppression can be
dangerous. It can derange the mind and make a person crazy also. TF,
Shankaracharya says it should be voluntary renunciation born out of
maturity. And TF he says, िववेकजांती िवरि - the detachment born out of
िववेक, discrimination, just as न चके तस् proved that it is not suppression.
He gave reasons why he rejected them. ोभवाम यद कै त व याणां
जरय तेज: अिपसवजेिवतम् अ मेवात वैववा: तव नृ गीते निव ने तपणीयोमनु ा:. This
statement a 9-year-old boy gives. Money can never give total
contentment for any person- िव ने मनु : नतपणीया:- any amount one will
not be satisfied. TF, when born out of maturity, when वैरा ं is ती ं , मो ा
is a walkover. Because मुमु ु is not very difficult. SCS part alone is
difficult. मुमु ु is relatively easier. SCS is what is the real difficulty for
everyone. मु े : िनदानं िनगद सं त: wise people िनगद means declare. That
intense detachment is a prerequisite for मो ा त ात् TF मुमु :ु िववेक - a
discriminate seeker of मो ा (िववेक and मुमु :ु should be read together). A
discriminate seeker of मो ातांिवरितंसंपादयेत् must acquire and enhance the
wealth in our bank account. If you want to deposit in वैरा ं account
you should deposit. Initially 10 units of वैरा ं . Slowly, we have to
increase our bank account of वैरा ं unit. This bank account is more
important than other bank accounts because Shankaracharya uses the
word सं पादयेत.् सं पादयेत् means earn. Earn वैरा ं more and more
सं पादये ांिवरितं थमं is the first step in spiritual sadhana. पथमं सं पादयेत.् य ात्
whatever be the effort required, may you put forth that effort. So, with
this highlighting of the importance of वैरा ं Shankaracharya concludes
the discussion on the second topic of वैरा ं . Hereafter, we will enter
into the third one शमािदष सं पि : that we will see in the next class.

07. Sarva Vedantasara Siddhaanta Sara Sangraha verses 26- 30
Page 5 verse 26.
िववेकजां ती िवरि मेव मु े िनदानं िनगद स ः ।

त ाि वेक िवरितं मुमु ःु स ादये ां थमं य ात् ॥ 91 ॥
Of the four qualifications required for a vedantic student

Shankaracharya has dealt with two- िववेक and वैरा ं . The topic of वैरा ं is
concluded in verse 26. In conclusion, Shankaracharya says, वैरा ं or
dispassion will be a healthy one only when it is born out of िववेक: or
discrimination. It is not an emotional state but a state of proper
attitude towards the world born out of understanding the nature of
the world. When we go through some happy experiences, we
generally say the world is wonderful, everything is great, etc. It is an
emotional attachment to the world because things are going well. And
when we face a few problems continuously, suddenly we develop
another emotional attitude of hatred. Both of them are emotional
states. Because of the ार that has given pleasure and pain and
because it is a mere emotional state, it will not be steady. You say, ‘life
is wonderful’ for some days. Then other days you say that life is
terrible, I want to die. Then he takes an ice cream, his attitude
changes. Whole life is beautiful. This fluctuating emotional attitude,
which is unsteady, is not healthy at all. Here we are talking about a
वैरा ं which is neither राग nor ेष but it is a healthy attitude towards the
entire universe, people, relationships, name, fame, prestige and all of
them. And what is the understanding that we are supposed to have?
The world as a whole is अिन ं or temporary. Therefore, nothing
deserves to be the goal of my life. Nothing deserves to be the goal of
my life because it is risky to pitch my emotion on a perishable,
temporary thing. It is a clean understanding. Not hatred towards
anything because this is the nature of the world. If my finger gets
burnt because it comes into contact with fire, I cannot hate the fire. It

is the nature of the fire to burn. So, after the burning I should not say
fire should be abolished from the creation. Hereafter, I will never use
the fire. No. Not required. Similarly, no hatred, no attachment but an
appropriate attitude born out of understanding. The world neither
deserves राग nor deserves hatred. World deserves understanding. And
once I know this is अिन ं and it doesn’t deserve to be the goal, then
the question comes what is the blessed goal? That alone we have
named, ‘whatever is nityam’- you may call it भगवान्. You may call it
न्. You may call it मो ा: all these three are synonymous. We don’t
make a difference between गवान् and मो ा.
And once I fix मो ा as the goal, then what should I do with this blessed
world because I have to live in this world all the time? That requires
another understanding. Even though the world doesn’t deserve to be
the goal, it is the most important means. Everything in the world is
required as a means. For example, for मो ा, I require ानं . ानं requires
mind. Even though the mind is temporary, with the help of the
temporary mind alone I can know अहं ा . And this mind will work
only when there is a healthy body. You cannot keep the body aside
and bring the mind only. We will be a ghost. If you come to the class
without body, what will happen? Each one will be a ghost. Therefore
mind, or सू शरीरं can function only when there is a healthy body.
Body has to be respected as a very important means. Even though I
should never depend on that for permanent peace, security and
happiness. It will give trouble. Therefore, body is important. Mind is
important. For protecting the body, food is important. Money is
important. A family is important because by serving the family alone I
do the िपतृ य , which is कमयोग. Service to the family is िपतृ य . That is
required for what? च शुि , ानं and मो ा. Thus, everything has its
importance. Never overvalue anything. That overvaluing is called
शोभना ास:, which Shankaracharya called सं क :. That is called romantic
attitude. Romance means शोभना ास: - that means getting into trouble.

And this kind of attitude where I respect the world as a साधना but never
overvalue it as सा म् is called वैरा ं . And that is why he said िववेकजं
ती िवरि मेव. This was said in मु क उपिनषद्. परी लोकान कम चतान्. Every
time I emotionally depend upon an अिन ं व ,ु it is going to give me
problems. And I never know that problem initially. And later, when it
gives problems, every problem I go through can give me maturity.
There is a Tamil song which means that I have been purified by
problems. Just as metals are purified by heating in a crucible.
आ ा कािद ताप यं भगवान् gives us. ताप यं is only for purifying and for
getting वैरा ं . Instead of blaming the world, I say the problem is, ‘I am
emotionally dependent.’ The problem is not on the other side. My
dependence is the problem. My expectation is the problem.
Expectations and dependences are not the problem of the world but
are my own problem. I should reduce that more and more. That is
why I say spiritual journey is from world dependence to God
dependence. This is called कमयोग or वेद पूव भाग. And then in ान योग, वेद
अ भाग, I have to discover that God as none other than I, the very आ ा
itself. Then, God dependence will get converted into self-dependence
which is called binary format. So, God appendence is triangular
format, self-dependence is binary format. Each stage should happen
out of understanding and maturity. No गु can enforce वैरा ं . It cannot
be injected. If it can be injected it will be nice. All students should
stand in line. One day िववेकं injection. Next week वैरा ं injection. No
injection will work. It has to come through hard experiences in life.
अजुन required so much time to ask for गीता from Lord Krishna even
though both were friends. अजुन never talked about वेदा ा or self-
knowledge. He talked about outing for vacation and having fun. He
required a battlefield, the pain arising out of the possibility of losing
the near and dear ones alone triggered the thinking. He surrendered
श े अहं शा ध मां प ं .

Therefore वैरायं , should be healthy वैरा ं , not hatred. Up to this we saw
in the last class. Now, we have to enter the third main qualification
which itself is a group of six sub–qualifications. And what are the six?
Now Shankaracharya enumerates in Verse 27.
The first line should be read together as one line.
शमो दम ित ोपरितः ा ततः परम् ।

समाधानिमित ो ं षडेवतै े शमादयः ॥ 94 ॥
So, the third qualification is enumerated and thereafter it will be

elaborated. This topic, शमािदष सं पि :, starts from verse 27 and goes up
to verse 110. And in the original book up to verse 220. First, he
enumerates them. शम:. शम: means relaxation or equanimity of the
mind which Lord Krishna repeatedly calls सम ं . Ultimately, if people
ask what is कमयोग in practical life, it is सम ं . What is ानयोग in practical
life? सम ं . What is मो ा is practical life? सम ं . Mental poise, mental
equanimity, deep inner relaxation is called शम:. In TB मनोिन ः. This
equanimity of the mind will be regularly challenged. Every person will
be challenged by his or her behavior. Every mosquito will challenge.
Every relationship will challenge. Every experience will challenge.
Continuous challenge to mental equanimity is life. And since it is
continuously challenged सम ं is not going to be natural to the mind.
सम ं , we have to work for. It is an uphill task. And therefore, we say,
मनोिन ः. Mind will be get disturbed regularly because of external factors
and our job is to regularly bring back the mind from disturbing
thoughts to non-disturbing state. Since it is a continuous साधना, in
त बोध it was defined as मनोिन ः.
शम: is disciplining, restraining, quietening the mind, मनोिन ः. दम: means

sensory restraint, discipline or इि यिन ः, sensory discipline. ितित ा means

endurance or tolerance to withstand the choiceless disturbances that
we have to go through. There are two types of disturbances. For some
of them we have a remedy and it will go away. For some of them we
don’t have a remedy at all. They are called choiceless situations. Every
individual will have, a few choiceless situations. Old age is a choice
less situation. Those choice less situations should not disturb the mind
too much. The mind should be tough and have deep endurance
power. Greater the endurance, lesser the impact caused by choiceless
situations. We cannot make the impact zero but we can greatly reduce
the impact. And reduction of pain is by increase of tolerance or
endurance. Both physical tolerance and mental tolerance are required.
(In त बोध the order is slightly reversed. In Tattva Bodha the order is शम
दम उपर ितित ा. Here it is ितित ा then उपर :.
उपर त: or उपर : means withdrawal from extroverted life. कमयोग requires

more and more extrovertedness because I have to be engaged in
activities. प महाय ा means a lot of extrovertedness. कमयोग requires
बिहमुख ं . ानयोग requires अ मुख ं . This cannot suddenly happen. That is
why four आ मा:- चय, गृह ा ाम, etc. Gruhasta asrama is बिहमुख ं
because of children responsibilities. And even as we discharge the
responsibilities, we are supposed to turn more and more inwards.
अ मुख समारा ा बिहमुख सुदल
ु भा. उपर means slowing down. In fact, we
need not do. Our age itself will do that but still naturally by
understanding. So, quietening down is called उपर : and
Shankaracharya is going to define उपर as स ासी:. For him everything is
स ासी. What is coffee? स ासी he will say. Anything you ask. He is a
स ासी ि य:. Therefore, उपर : is स ासी because, in स ासी, one withdraws
from all the responsibilities, formally and legitimately like retirement.
Handover charges to others and we retire. Similarly, retiring from all
the areas gradually so that the time is available, and more than time,
mind is available for वेदा िवचार. Therefore, उपर : means िनवृि : or स ासी:

or reducing extrovert activities. So उपर त: is the same as उपर :. Both
are synonymous.
ा. ा means, the attitude towards our scriptures as the only source

of valid knowledge about myself to understand my nature. All other
sources of knowledge deal with अना ा. All the five sense organs are
designed not to know the inner आ ा since sense organs are turned
outwards. Therefore, whatever we know with the help of sense organs
is आ ा or अना ा? अना ा. All other माणािन are based on data.
Therefore, they also deal with अना ा. परा खािन तृण यं भू: त राङ् प ित.
It is like I want to see my face. I want to see my face, because
somebody said it is beautiful. You can contest for Miss Universe. So, I
want to enjoy. But I am unfortunately not able to see because however
powerful the eyes are, and I use telescope, microscope whatever scope,
there is no scope for looking at my face. I have only one method.
What is that? Use a mirror. Mirror alone is the method by which I can
look at my face. But mirror can reveal only ल
ू शरीरं . It cannot reveal
even सू शरीरं . What to talk of the आ ा, the innermost self? Therefore,
the only mirror which reveals my nature is ऐत ा ं इदं सव तद् स ं स आ ा
तद ं अ स ते के तो. So गु says I am revealing your nature with the help of
शा , which alone reveals my true nature. Therefore, for self-knowledge
I have to rely upon शा alone. And if शा doesn’t give the knowledge,
instead of blaming the शा , I understand that there are some
deficiencies in me and in my approach. Therefore, I set right my
problem and again go back to the शा . Like our eyes. Eyes alone are
the instruments to reveal forms and colours. You cannot say, I am
tired of using my eyes. I want to use my ears to know the colours. It
won’t work. And no doubt, on certain occasions eyes do deceive us.
There are many conditions in which eyes delude us which are called
optical illusions. Eyes give wrong knowledge like twinkle - twinkle
little star but later I understand stars are bigger than the earth. Even
though the eyes give wrong knowledge on certain occasions, I don’t

blame the eyes. I only say, certain conditions are not correct. Eyes are
good and I continue to respect the eyes and use my eyes because if I
leave aside my eyes, who is going to be the loser? Because my eyes
gave me wrong knowledge, am I going to be a Gandhari? Tie the eyes.
No. Therefore, remember there may be certain cases where there are
problems. But never, never reject the eyes because the knowledge the
eyes can give, eyes alone can give. Similarly, never, never reject the
Upanishad however much they seem to mislead because the problem
is not with the Upanishad. The problem is in my understanding. Thus,
instead of questioning the शा , I question my understanding. This
attitude is called ा. शा doesn’t go wrong. Period. And I tend to go
wrong mostly. This attitude of reverence and faith is called ा.
ावा लभते ानं . सो . Very, very important. ा. What is the
definition of ा? Approaching the शा as the only valid source of self-
knowledge. English translation ‘faith’ is a very vague word. The full
translation should be ‘approaching the scriptures as the only valid
source of self-knowledge.’ This attitude is called ा. I have given a
one-hour talk उपजी माणं त ामा ानं . I have discussed this. So, this
is the fifth qualification. Then तत: परम्. तत: परम् is not the sixth
qualification, it means thereafter.
समाधानं . समाधानं in Tamil is used in the sense of attitude. In Sanskrit,

especially in vedantic context, समाधानं means focused approach. Not
losing sight of the goal, the primary goal of life in and through all
incidental pursuits like going through worldly education, earning
money, getting married, getting children, getting children married,
getting grandchildren, getting grandchildren married. So many things
we have. Many of them may be duties also. But in and through all the
duties there is one primary duty of जीवा to itself. I have a duty to
myself because the जीवा is struggling to get मो ा. Just as all the rivers
are flowing towards the ocean every जीवा is struggling to attain the
fullness. And that struggling जीवा’s struggle should be ended. That is

my duty to myself. And while fulfilling duty to all others, never, never
forget the self-duty. Shankaracharya says this self-duty of मो ा
attainment only I can do for myself and nobody else can work for my
मो ा. As I have said before, in कमका , proxy is there. Navaratri Devi
Bhagvatam or Saptadasi पारायणं if I don’t know, I can ask the priest to
do that. And सं क is in my name and I give द णा and get the phalam.
Therefore, what do I do? I go away. Many people go away. Proxy is
possible in कम. Proxy is never possible in ानं . Who should get my
knowledge? I only should get. You cannot say my husband is very
busy. Therefore, I will get for him also. No.
And therefore, समाधानं means not forgetting my duties to myself. This

is called focus. One is called long term focus which is not forgetting
the goal of life. And the second meaning of समाधानं is short term focus.
When I am going through वेदा वणं for one hour, my mind must be
focused on वणं with what you call as concentration or attention.
Many people have got attention deficiency syndrome (ADS). ADS can
be there as a sickness or as nature. They cannot have attention. Even if
there is attention, it is for 10 minutes or 15 minutes only. That mind
can never do वणं . शम, दम will come. उपर will be gone. ितित ा will
come. समाधानं will be gone. In breaks there is concentration. Therefore
समाधानं is long term and short-term focusing capacity of the mind.
इित ो ं . These six disciplines षडेवएते as a group is called शमािदष सं पि :.

ष m means a group of six. सं पि : means inner wealth. Money is outer
wealth, jewellery is outer wealth, real estate is outer wealth. शमािदष
सं पि : is inner wealth. Outer wealth can purchase many things. They
can never purchase मो ा. If you want to purchase मो ा you require inner
wealth. That is why it is called सं पि :. सं पि : means wealth. So, this is the
enumeration. Hereafter, each one is going to be very elaborately
discussed. This is very rarely found in any text as we have already
seen. Here, he elaborately discusses. Verse 28.

एकवृ व
ै मनसः ल े िनयत ितः ।
शम इ ु ते स ः शमल णवेिद भः ॥ 95॥
The worst sub qualification. (When I use the word sub qualification,
remember it is one of the third one). So, the first sub qualification is
शम: mental relaxation which is going to be elaborately discussed from
verse 28 to verse 54. And in the original text शम alone is there up to
verse 127. In Tattva Bodha one line शम: क:? मनोिन ह:. दम: क:? इ य िन ह:.
Swamiji Tattva Bodha is finished. So he says, एकवृ ा एव मनस: - If the
mind is totally available for any pursuit without mental fragmentation.
Whatever job we do, often only a part of the mind is available. We are
so used to multitasking. वेदा वणं also is what? Multitasking. Another
part of the mind is thinking- where should I go after the class? What
purchase do we have to do? Which shopping will be good? Thus, one
part of the mind alone is available. Other part or parts are involved in
multitasking. That fragmented mind will not be effective. Whatever
task we do especially if it is वेदा िवचार, then full mind is required. Not
only the conscious mind, according to वेदा ा. Even the sub conscious
mind should not be involved in any other thing. At least conscious
mind must be 100% available. In short, I am dead to the world. That
is called full concentration.
So एकवृ ा. एकवृि means with one function. With totality मनस: िनयत:
ित: mind engaging itself. In simple English, mind getting engaged
with full commitment. Engaged- not wedding engagement but
engaged in the pursuit of मो . ल -े in its own goal of वणं मननं
िनिद ासनं and everything allied to that. So मनस: ल े in its own goal
even though it can be applied to any particular goal. If a person is
involved in sports all the time his mind is in that only. Look at a
cricketer playing a One-Day match. Before the match they will be
running and doing exercise and all that. One match is over and their

mind is already planning for the next match. Therefore, any success
requires commitment. Therefore ल ,े here मो ल िे नयत ित:
remaining un-distractedly is called शम:. Deep relaxation.
And that is why before they do any karma, they do a सं क . After all,
we know that we are going to do a puja. Why should we say शु ांबरधरं
and ॐ भू:? The idea is you are going to do जप. Therefore, let the mind
come from everywhere else. And you are given सं क - strong auto
suggestion to mind. “O mind! Listen to me! You are supposed to do
only one job -जप.” And it should never become mechanical but the
whole mind should do the जप. That सं क indicates what? िनयत: -
commitment is indicated by that सं क :. But the interesting thing is
सं क itself is done mechanically. सं क is to remove mechanicalness but
that itself is done mechanically.
So therefore शम: इित उ ते स :. This is called शम: by the traditional

masters शमल णवेदे भ: who know the definition of शम. They declare in
this manner. Now the question is how to get this? We know one thing
definitely. The definition of शम is that which my mind doesn’t have.
What is the definition of शम:? So Nasrudin Mullah was asked what is
truth? “That which I never tell is truth”, he said. What is the definition
of शम? That which my mind doesn’t have is called शम.
The next question is, how can I ever get it? Or can I get it at all? He
says you can get it. It is hard work but it is possible. Several साधनािन he
is going to deal with hereafter.
Verse 29-
ा ोदी ा स ावे शमः स ित ना था ।

ती ा िवरि ः ा ा मुदी ा ं दमादयः ॥ 100 ॥

He talks about several methods. In SCS we have mentioned four. And
of course, in the third, six sub divisions are there. If you combine all
of them it will become 1+1+6+1=9. Now, Shankaracharya says, all these
nine are complementary. They are all interconnected. You cannot try
to take only one and successfully practice. Each one being connected
with the other, you have to give importance to others also. Like the
four legs of a stool. Sometimes, if you cannot hold one leg when it is
inside you don’t have to go underneath and hold. Whichever leg is
outside you just pull that and the others will come. You cannot
attempt this alone without taking care of others. Look what is before
and what is later? Like िववेक, वैरा शम दम उपरम. शम is the third one. We
have nine. िववेक वैरा शम next one दम. Therefore दम is the later one.
And वैरा ं is the former one. Therefore, if शम has to be strong make
sure वैरा म् on one side and दम on the other are taken care of very well.
वैरा म् means detachment or dispassion. दम: means sensory discipline.

Make sure that you give it sufficient importance because it is the sense
organs which put all kinds of rubbish into the mind. The mind is
inside and safe but sense organs are five gates which generally do not
have doors at all. And therefore, constantly, like the corporation road,
everyone dumps everything everywhere. You will find the world is
dumping and because we don’t have any इ य िन ह: all kinds of rubbish
get in. Therefore, the mind gets disturbed. First, fix the door to the
sense organs. That is what he says.
ा , उदी अ . ा ं means the previous one. Namely वैरा . And उदी -

the later one namely दम:. स ावे when they are taken care of well. Like a
sandwich. You only take two slices of bread. The middle one will
come. We need not separately touch it. These two you handle. So
उदी अ स ावे शम: स ित. शम can come to a great extent. न अनयता –
without वैरा म् and दम if you try शम alone, it will fail. So, न अनयता -not
otherwise. And Shankaracharya has said the former one and

Shankaracharya is worried we would have forgotten what is former or
latter. So he himself names that. ती िवरि : ा अ म्. So, the previous
one is िवरि :. िवरि : means वैरा म्. And what kind of वैरा म्? ती . Deep
dispassion. ा अ म् means former one. And दमा :- दम etc. and the later
ones. But the immediate one is दम or उदी अ म्. उदी means the latter
part. So, this is one method he says.
What is the next method? He gives several methods and we have to

use all of them if we want peace of mind. We always complain no
peace. If we are really interested in peace, we have to have a judicious
combination of all of them. Without effort you cannot get. As the
slogan goes, no pain, no gain. Pain means you have to take pains to
work for that. Without that you cannot gain. Ok I will introduce the
next one. Verse 30.
कामः ोध लोभ मदो मोह म रः ।

न जताः षिडमे येन त शा न स ित ॥ 101॥
Here, he mentions there are six internal enemies which destroy peace
of mind. Just as there are bacteria, virus, etc. which can destroy our
physical health, there are six subtler bacteria or virus, which disturb
our mental health. And therefore, we have to take regular shots,
inoculation to destroy those internal enemies.
In कमलजदियता कं we have one line कामादीन् आ रा हज रपुवरान्.

कामादीन्आ रान्–आ र means internal enemies. And what is the
uniqueness of the six enemies? They are all born with me and are
therefore congenital. They are universal. They are internal. And their
job is what? One-point program to disturb my peace. सहज means born
with me. सहज रपुवरान. O Saraswati Devi! Help me in handling them!
And िव ाम् शु ा बुि ं कमलजदियते स रं देिह म ं . And these six internal

enemies are enumerated. And we have to handle them. Without that
no peace of mind. The details in the next class.

08. Sarva Vedanta Siddhaanta Sara Sangraha Verse 30 & 31
Page 6 verse 30-
कामः ोध लोभ मदोमोह म रः।

न जताःषिडमेयने त शा न स ित॥ 101 ॥
Explaining the four-fold qualifications, Shankaracharya has covered the

first two. िववेक and वैरा ं . And now he has entered into the third
qualification, शमािदष सं पि : which itself is a group of six-fold
disciplines. The whole group is going to be discussed from verse 27 up
to verse 110. That is शमािदष सं पि :. After enumerating them,
Shankaracharya is taking up one after the other.
The first one is शम: or mental discipline or thought discipline, a very

important one. That is discussed from verse 27 to 54. He talks about
various methods by which the mind can be disciplined. Here, he is
giving four methods. The first method was given in verse 29, wherein
he mentioned शम as sandwiched between a set of disciplines before
and a set of disciplines later. And you have to concentrate on the
previous one as well as the later one. And if both of them are taken
care of well, शम also, will be taken care of. So, you should know the
previous and later ones. िववेक, वैरा , शम, दम. वैरा ं or dispassion is the
previous one and दम: or sensory restraint, sense control is the latter
one. If these two are not taken care of, that is if वैरा ं and sense control
are ignored and we try to nourish शम exclusively then we will
successfully fail. We will not progress at all. Therefore ask the
question, what is the level of वैरा ं ? It is in red line. And what is the
level of दम? It is far below the red line. Therefore, taking care of ा अ ं
and उदी अ ं is the first method.

The second method is given in verse 30, which we have entered into
in the last class. For mental mastery or mental relaxation, there are 6-
fold internal enemies which are capable of causing mental disturbances
or turbulence. अजुना said in BG 6th chapter- च लं लं िहमन: कृ ा
मा थबलव ढु त ाहं िन हंम व
े ायो रव सुदु रं ||३४||
The mental turbulence is caused by the six-fold internal bacteria. So,

we have to learn to handle them, otherwise peace will go to pieces.
And what are those 6-fold internal enemies? They are enumerated
here. काम: ोध: लोब: मद: मोह: and म र:. Shankaracharya doesn’t elaborate
but we have elaborately studied in the 3rd chapter of the BG where
अजुना asked the question- “What is the most powerful obstacle for
spiritual journey? LK gave the answer, which he later elaborately
discusses:
कामएष: ोधएषरजोगुणसमु भव: महासनोमहापा ािव ने िमहवै रणं || ३७||
Next, he enumerated three culprits-
इ या णमनोबुि र ा ध ानमु ते|एतैिवमोहय व

े ानमावृ देिहनं || ४०||
The sense organs which are let loose and the mind which dwells on
the external objects, ायतो िवषया स:
ुं - the mind dwelling on sense
objects and sense organs all the time grazing on sense objects and the
mind meditating on sense objects. The intellect justifying the weakness
of the mind. All these conspire together and do what? Nourish the
काम. Therefore, learn to handle the details. See BG third chapter. I am
not going into details. I will mention one or two points. One is, first
make sure the काम is illegitimate, inappropriate or immoral. Immoral
कामा: will have to be straightaway dumped into the garbage. There are
legitimately permitted सकाम. शा do permit certain legitimate desires
natural to human mind, at least initially. The desires may be fulfilled

or not because we don’t have control over anything. And therefore,
we may work to fulfill our desires. It may happen. It may not happen.
We are only contributors. We are not controllers of anything.
Therefore, even when we desire something, simultaneously we should
remember, it may be fulfilled or may not be fulfilled. I may attempt to
fulfill them. But O Lord, give me the mental strength to accept the
failure in fulfillment also. This mental preparedness will make the काम
harmless. As Pujya Swami Dayananda says, defanging the cobra. A
cobra has got poisonous fangs. As long as the fang is there, you have
to be careful. Once that fang is removed, you can handle that cobra
like Lord Siva and you can put it on as an आभरणं also. Similarly, make
sure to neutralise the capacity of desire to disturb our mind. Desire
can disturb the mind before in the form of anxiety. It also disturbs
when despite effort it is not fulfilled or is not fulfilled to the desired
extent. These also have the capacity to cause sorrow or grief. Anxiety
before and grief later- these are the two poisons which desire contains.
Remove these poisons and then the desire is called non-binding desire.
Swami Dayananda says, “Learn to manage your desires.” Managing
desire is neutralizing its capacity to create anxiety before and create
sorrow later. I attempt and if I succeed it is wonderful. If I don’t
succeed that is okay too.
सुखदुखे समेकृ ा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ ततोयु ाययु नैवं पापमवा स ||३८||BG ch2
कमयोग is a method by which, काम is made harmless. Without कमयोग, काम

(any desire) can disturb the mind in the form of preoccupation.
Preoccupation means sitting in the class and not listening. Every काम
can do that. The poor teacher will be saying त म स. So, काम has to be
detoxified. Then have non-toxic legitimate काम. In a new year talk I
spoke on ‘is desire an evil?’ and gave a formula ABCD. A-appropriate,
B-balanced, C-clean–clean means detoxified D-desire. ABCD is ok. I
don’t want to go to the details of the talk. काम: is an internal enemy.

ोध: is also an internal enemy. I have talked about anger also in one of
the New Year talks. ोध destroys three important mental virtues. I call
it three S. सम ं , सू ं and सावदान ं . सम ं means the relaxed state of
mind is disturbed. सू ं means sensitivity and consideration for others.
Anger makes a person blind. He or she will not look to see who is in
front of him. Shankaracharya says, गु ं अिप आ पित, मातरं अिप ताडयित. An
angry person may shout at his own गु or he may even thrash his own
mother. Because consideration and sensitivity go the mind becomes
very gross. Sensitivity is destroyed. सम ं , equanimity, is destroyed.
And finally, सावदान ं - the capacity to act and speak deliberately and
thoughtfully. Deliberate and thoughtful speech and thoughtful actions
are very, very important values. In anger, deliberate speech goes.
Deliberate action goes. Both are replaced by what? Impulsive words
and actions. Impulsiveness in thought and action is the worst enemy of
a human being in general but particularly bad for a spiritual seeker.
Anger cannot be avoided but anger can be managed with effort.
So ोध: and then next one लोभ:. लोभ: means greed. Want more and
more and more and more. Whatever amount I get I am never satisfied.
I should tell you this experience. Somebody told me long ago,
“Swamiji, there was a fair in the Island Grounds or some ground here.
While visiting they give a ticket and there was a lucky dip. And in the
lucky dip I got a watch.” Several years ago, the watch cost a few
hundred rupees while the entry ticket was 5-10 rupees. So, he got 300
or 500 rupees worth watch. I said, “Wonderful. You are lucky.” He
said, “No, Swamiji. Next day the prize was a scooter. If only I had
won the second day, I would have got scooter.” He is not happy he
got the watch. He is disturbed as though he has lost a scooter which
he never had. Therefore, we can never enjoy what we have. All the
time we miss what we don’t have. We completely forget, ‘Count your
blessings’. All the time complaining this is not there or that is not

there. We will not talk about whatever is available. Therefore, wanting
more and more and more is greed.
In BG sixteenth chapter LK describes these three -काम, ोध and लोभ as

special roads leading to the destination. And what is the destination?
Not Anna Nagar and T.Nagar. Hell.
|| ि िवधं नरक दे ं ारं नाशनम् आ नः
कामः ोध था लोभ ाद एतत् यं जेत् ||BG 16.21
Greed is also a dangerous mental trait.
The next one is मद: - arrogance or haughtiness because of various

accomplishments like money, name, fame, positions, etc. In the गीता
we have seen the best remedy for arrogance. Remembering those
people who have accomplished more. Then we will know that we are
nothing in front of those great people. And if we read the tenth
chapter of the Gita we will know that whatever the glories we have,
ultimately belong to ई र only and भगवान् has given to us temporarily for
using. Use, never own. Ownership will lead to problems. Therefore
मद: has to be neutralized carefully.
Then मोह:. मोह: is the fundamental delusion that the world can give
peace, security and happiness. “The world can give peace, security and
happiness” is the worst delusion because, according to वेदा ा,
योवैभम
ू ात ख
ु ं . When I say ‘भूमा’ you will know where it comes from. भूमा
means what? छा ो उपिनषद् 7th chapter, भुमिव ा dialogue between नारदा
and सन ु मार wherein सन ु मार said, “ न् alone is the source of
happiness.” The world doesn’t have even an iota of happiness. And the
world cannot give us security because the objects themselves are
insecure. You look at the security outside. He has one leg and one eye
and you say he is the security guard! What security? Therefore मोह:. I

have to find security in God during कमयोग and security in myself
during jnana योग. And if somebody asks, “When I come to the self
should I give up God then?” No, no, no. We don’t give up God. By
the time we come to jnana योग, we discover the fact that God is
present in the form of the very self. Of whom? Not of Swamiji. Of
everyone. So, world-dependence is delusion. God-dependence is
journey towards moksha. And self-dependence is moksha. मोह is not
knowing this. वेद doesn’t admit Holding on to the world, even holding
on to the family. That is why they say after 60 years take to वान .
After 60 don’t stay at home. वेद doesn’t want us to depend on even our
family. Even if we stay at home, mentally we should say, my security is
ई र only. Otherwise, what? मोह:.
The last one is म र:. म र: means competition and the corollary of

competition is jealousy or envy. So म र: or मा य means jealousy or
envy. Deepavali, if the neighbours purchase something and we don’t
have it there is some burning sense inside. Serious problem. I should
be comfortable with myself as I am without comparing with anyone.
Stop comparing yourself with others and learn to be happy with
whatever you have. य भसे िनजकम पा ं िव ं तेन िवनोदय च ं . Where does it
come? भजगोिव ं. मूढ जहीिह धनागम तृ ां गु स िु ं मन सिवतृ ं य भसे िनजकम पा ं
िव ं तेन िवनोदय च ं . य भसे-whatever you legitimately earn and with that
whatever comfort you can have, whatever vehicle you can or cannot
have, be perfectly happy. Don’t compare and feel jealousy. For every
problem there is medicine but for jealousy there is no medicine.
दुय धन biggest problem was jealousy over the पा वा:. Whole
destruction is because of this.
येनन जता: the one who has not conquered these internal enemies त for
such a person, शा : निव ते- even for minute शा will not be there.
Therefore, instead of learning to handle external enemies, learn to
handle your internal enemies. And according to वेदा ा, external

enemies are not there. The internal enemies alone show the external
world as inimical. Therefore, turn inwards. For what? मन:शा . So
षिडमेषिडमे. How should you split इमेषड् ? षड् means six enemies येनन जता:
which person has not conquered them त शा : नस ित. This is the
second method of मन:शा . And what is the third method? That is
given in the next ोका.
येननारा धतोदेवोय नोगुवनु हः।

नव ं दयं य त शा नस ित॥ 103 ॥
Here the 3rd and 4th methods are enumerated. The third method for
what? That you should not forget. मन: शा : which is another name for
शम: that means the mind is available for me whenever I want. That is
the मन:शा :. What is the third method? ई र, गु अनु ह: -the blessing or
grace of God and गु which we can receive in ample measure by
worshipping them. गु आराधन and ई रआराधन. In the 13th chapter of the
Gita आचाय पासनं , शौचं these two are mentioned. Together is the third
method. So येन देव: आरा धत:. देव: means ई र:. We are supposed to do
regular पूजा at home. प महाय ा: in which one य is देवय :. Therefore, we
are supposed to compulsorily do at least a short version. We have to
spend some time in काियकं , वा चकं or at least मानस पूजा. At the end of the
पूजा, and while doing नम ार we have to watch our mind and ask, see
what we are asking for. Here, Shankaracharya says, “At that time, a
serious spiritual seeker should ask the Lord, ‘Give me freedom from
these 6 internal enemies.’
In Shivananda Lahiri, Shankaracharya writes a beautiful ोका in an

ingenious manner. He says, “O Lord, in one of your अवतार you had
come down in the form of a hunter.” (For blessing अजुना he took िकरात
अवतारम्. Based on that alone भारिव wrote a whole का ं called िकराताजुनीयं -
िकरात: means what? A hunter.) And Shankaracharya addresses Shiva,
“You are a hunter.” That means what? You require a huge forest with

lot of darkness and lot of trees in which wild animals move all around.
And as a hunter you love hunting them. Now I am going to suggest a
beautiful hunting ground which is like a thick forest and is full of trees
and wild animals. And plenty of them. Lord Shiva, you can occupy
that place and you will enjoy hunting and removing those wild
animals and I will also indirectly get the benefit. It is a win-win
suggestion. You know what is that forest? My mind. My mind is the
forest full of darkness, ignorance and all wild animals. What are they?
काम ोधलोबमोह. You enter, you enjoy, I will also enjoy. माग ं इत तो िग र
शभोम व
े वासं कु ािम ािदिकरातमामकमन: का ार सीमा रे| मन: का ार means mental
forest. वत े ब सोमृगामदजुष: मा य मोहा : wild animals, are roaming all
over. ता ामृगया िवनोद चतालाभं च सं ा स- you will enjoy hunting and I
will be effortlessly free from all these problems. This is called ई रआराधन.
So येनदेव: नआरा धत: य गु अनु ह: वतते- the one who has got गु ’s grace
earned by गु आराधन. So, you have to supply येनगु : आरा धत:. त - for that
person, second line शा : स ित- such a person will get peace of mind.
To emphasise this, Shankaracharya is using double negative language -
the one who has worshipped will get peace of mind. But he puts it as
the one who has not worshipped will not get peace of mind. That is
why in first line नआरा धत: and नगुवनु ह: the one who doesn’t have both
त शा : निव ते. Therefore, ई रअनु ह is the third method.
And the 4th method य दयं नव ं . Here दयं means mind. व ं means
mastered or disciplined. And the one who has disciplined mind, by
following a set of values (which will be mentioned from the next
ोका) will also have peace of mind. Eighteen values are going to be
enumerated. Many of them are known to us. When I say values, which
chapter of the Gita must come to your mind? 2 chapters- 13th chapter
where LK gave a list of 20 values- अमािन ं अदंिब ं , etc. And 16th chapter
where he gave a list of 26 values- अभयं स सं षुि : etc. That is why we
always recommend Gita study as compulsory for all spiritual seekers.

Never neglect the Gita and study only उपिनषद: and करण ा:. Gita is
very important. And we should not say we have studied in 1987. Even
if one has studied, we have to keep on revisiting. That is why I
consider this SVSSS very good because Shankaracharya brings many
ideas from the BG and gives then here because he knows we won’t
revise. So, one who has disciplined the दयं by following the values.
त शा : िव ते. He or she will get शा . And here also double negative.
What is that? य दयं नव ं - the one who has not disciplined the mind
will not get peace.
Generally, what do we do? Religion has become a set of external

rituals. When religion becomes pure physical, mechanical ritual, we
know what are all the functions, rituals, kinds of puja, etc. And so, we
concentrate on physical religion but don’t concentrate on mental
discipline as a part of religion. That is why religion doesn’t give us
peace of mind. Religion also coexists. भगवान् is there, पूजा room is also
there but what is not there? Peace alone is not there because our
religion has become a shell without taking into account mental
discipline. Like the food that we eat. Our cooking is done in such a
manner that in the process of cooking we remove all the nutrients.
And we are regularly eating what? The non-nutrient part, the external
thing. Similarly, what we have done is- we are taking the shell of
religion of physical activities like going to pilgrimage, visiting temple,
giving for अ भषेकं, अचन and all those things we do except the difficult
part. We never, never, watch our mind. मन: एव मनु ाणां कारणं ब मो यो:.
When we have not watched the mind, neither religion blesses nor
वेदा ा blesses. If religion should help or वेदा ा should help, I have to
watch my mind.
Therefore, य दयं नव ं . The one who refuses to observe his mind, his
thoughts, his thought patterns, his emotions, all these things he
doesn’t watch and discipline. No benefit. Not zero benefit. We will

get some benefit but not the full impact of either religion or वेदा ा.
This creates what? Other people will mock us. You did पूजा what
happened? Went to class continuously but you are the same. Going to
temple, going to class, like न्, you are िनिवकार:. न् not changing is
good news but our mind should not remain the same. Mental
transformation is important. Shankaracharya says, य दयं नव ं त शा न
स ित.
In my Gita class, I talked about connecting from several works. I

mentioned five methods of disciplining the mind given in the Gita
16thand 17thchapters. I will just recall aloud without going into the
details. 1. िववेक: by िववेक I mean, awareness of the difference between
quality virtues and harmful traits. I should be aware of healthy mental
virtues and harmful mental traits. Like awareness of junk food,
whether it is sweet or whether it is deep fried. If you ask which one is
tasty, all those things which are unhealthy are very tasty. Mixture is
tasty and so we feel like eating. With sweets, at least brush your teeth
otherwise even the health of teeth is affected by sweets. Just as we
have to be aware of the good and bad from the standpoint of physical
health, we have to be aware of healthy virtues and harmful traits from
the stand point of spiritual or mental health. This constant awareness
is called िववेक:. I call it दैवआसुर सं प वेक. गीत 16th chapter says िववेक. There
it is said िवभागं . I said िववेक:.
Then the second method is ाथना. ाथना means regular prayer to ई र.

And the best prayer is कमलजदियता कं . That is why I introduced in our
class. It is worthy of daily chanting because we are asking Saraswathi
for िव ांशु बुि ं . O Mother! Make the mind clean! Of course, for
Saraswathi, it is a tough project but we hand over the contract to her.
So ाथना is one general method.

Then the third general method again. General means our role is more
passive. We hand over the responsibilities to others. The third one is
स ं ग:. Association with people who have these values at very high
levels. Then what will happen? Unknowingly, we also get सं गदोष. Here
it is सं गगुण: advantage of स ं ग. In नारदाभि सू , (do you feel familiar with
the name?) नारदा said दु सवता ा : those who have got high level of
काम ोधलोबमोह please avoid over contact. Don’t tell them, “You are दु I
will not talk to you.” Therefore, watch your company. Company
makes a person. There are many people who get together at 11 0’
clock for card playing. This is called सं ग. What सं ग? स ं ग?!!! Therefore,
third one is स ं ग:. Here also our role is passive only. Unknowingly we
imbibe.
For the fourth and fifth one we have to take responsibility what is
that? The fourth one is ितप भावना-entertaining neutralizing thoughts.
Whenever harmful traits come like hatred, anger, jealousy depression,
fear, worry about all these things, as and when they come. In fact, they
need not come. They are always there. When they arise, even as they
arise, neutralize them by ितप भावना. When fear comes, remember God
who is there in me as दहराकाश. In the form दहराकाश भगवान् अपहतपा ा, िवजरो,
िवमृ ,ु िवशोक: wonderful, powerful, भगवान् is in me. I have an infinite
power source. Why should I be afraid of the future? Let anything
happen. I can handle because I have back up like when Sugriva
challenged Vaali backed up by Rama. Never allow fear to overpower.
Neutralize. Either with bhakti, God-dependence or jnanam, self-
dependence. So, this is called ितप भावना which means constant
awareness. Whenever negative thoughts arrive, red light should be on.
Immediately reject. This is ितप भावना. This can be done by whom? No
गु can do. No भगवान् can do. I have to do. This is the fourth one.
And the fifth one is सं क : auto suggestion with regard to those traits
which are very strong. Everyone will have some of them very strong.

For some people, fear may be the problem. For another person regret
may be a problem. For another person, hatred may be a problem.
Jealousy may be a problem. Each of us has these problems at various
levels. Like in subject grade A, A+. Like that they are there in various
degrees. We have to start handling the topmost one. For me, it may be
anger. Why may be? For everyone, anger is a serious problem or
impulsive talking may be a serious problem. Once I identify the
serious problem, early in the morning, I just sit for a few minutes and
tell my mind I have to look for occasions when the problem may arise.
There are certain occasions, some people, certain transactions which
will create problems. Then I tell my mind that I will be alert and give
auto suggestions now itself- “I will not be impulsive. I will not be
impulsive.” This is called सं क :. And this auto suggestion can vary
depending on the occasion and our problem. This is सं क :. After
sometime once we powerfully follow, we will have सं क शि : and we
will become satya काम: and satya सं क :. The very सं क becomes very
powerful. Then in anger, words may come up to the lip but you just
manage and learn to swallow.
What are the 5 methods? िववेक, ाथना, स ं ग, ितप भावना and सं क . Of

these, two can be remembered as Sa- स ं ग and सं क . Two can be
remembered as . ाथना and ितप भावना. Then one िववेक. One V, 2 Pra
and 2 Sa. These are the 5 methods. So, from the next ोका onwards,
Shankaracharya will give the 18 virtues which we will see, from the
next class.
09. Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha Verse 31 to 37

Page 6, verse 31-
येननारा धतोदेवोय नोगुवनु हः।
नव ं दयं य त शा नस ित॥103 ॥
Shankaracharya now enters the 3rdqualification. Among the

साधनचतु यसं पाित we saw the third qualification itself is a group of 6
subsidiary qualifications. Shankaracharya is going to deal with each one
of them. The first one is शम: otherwise called शा : and a simple
translation of the word शा : is peace of mind, equanimity, relaxation,
etc. It also includes mastery over the mind or thoughts. And this is
considered a very, very important qualification because only such a
mind can receive the teaching, retain the teaching, assimilate the
teaching and finally derive the benefit of the teaching. A disturbed and
stressed mind may be a knowledgeable mind but it cannot derive the
benefit from this knowledge. Therefore, mind has to be made available
before knowledge and mind must be very much available after
knowledge also to enjoy the jivanmukti. Otherwise knowledge will be
there but the benefit will not be there.
Shankaracharya presents four methods for achieving that. The first

method is taking care of the previous and later qualification namely
वैरा ं and दम:. वैरा ं meaning detachment and दम: means sensory
discipline. This is one method of handling the mind. The second
method is tackling the 6-fold internal enemies, which have come
along with us, are very strong and therefore difficult to handle. But
they have to be handled if the mind has to be peaceful. And the 6-fold
inner enemies were enumerated - काम ोधलोबमोहमदमा य. This is the
second method of tackling आ रश :ु . The third method is getting the
grace of ई र and आचाय through both ई रउपासनं and आचायउपासनं , which
was mentioned in the 13th chapter of Gita. (8)- अमािन ं अद ं ा
ं अिहस
ा राजवम आचाय पासनं शौचं . So, worship of God and गु will also indirectly
help. This is the third method.

And the fourth method, which we have now entered into, is
developing a set of positive values, which were called ानं in the
13thChapter and दैवीसं पत् in the 16th chapter. So ानं and दैवीसं पत् are
condensed here in the form of 18 virtues. In the 13th chapter they were
20. In the 16th chapter Lord Krishna enumerated 26. Here,
Shankaracharya takes 18 of them and tells us how to nourish these 18
values. We may not be perfect in all of them. We may not enjoy 100%
of all of them but even developing them to a certain degree can bring
about a radical change in our mental state. And therefore,
Shankaracharya mentions these 18 values as the साधनं . Hereafter, these
18 values will be enumerated and defined. We will enter into that
portion. Verse 32.
मनः साद स थसाधनं ूयतांबध

ु ःै ।
मनः सादोय य
े दभावेन स ित॥ 104॥
So मन साद स थ- for accomplishing or attaining mental tranquility.

साद: means tranquility. At the end of पूजा from temple, we take साद.
Generally, we use the word साद for eatables. They are called साद
because when we receive them from the Lord, it gives us tranquility.
Therefore, by implication they are called साद. But the literal meaning
according to Sanskrit language is to be tranquil, peaceful which is
another name for पूजा. Here, the word मन: साद is another word for पूजा:
to attain this. साधनािन ूयतां बु ै:. साधनम् means method or means. Here
word साधनम् refers to the 18 virtues- साधनम् अ ादशगुण:. The 18 virtues are
together called साधनम् or a means. बु ै : ूयतां. May they be listened to by
all intelligent students. Shankaracharya gives a free title to all of us.
बु ै :, not budhus, by intelligent students, ूयतां- may it be carefully
listened to. Why am I mentioning them? Because they are not optional
virtues. They are compulsory. And why are they compulsory?

This is proved by anvaya ितरेक logic. अ यं ितरेक logic means co-
presence co-absence logic. When these 18 virtues are there मन साद is
found. When we study people, who enjoy mental tranquility we find
they have those virtues. That is called anvaya- the co-presence.
Wherever people are disturbed, we find these values are partially or
totally lacking. The simultaneous absence of both of them is called
ितरेक:. Therefore, he says, य े anvaya logic. When these are there,
मन साद: tranquility is found. यदभावे when they are not there, tranquility
is not found. That means when you do only lip service to them or they
are there only in the notebooks. When they are not there in our heart,
in our life, we don’t enjoy tranquility. यदभावे means these 18 virtues
नस ित. You have to supply the word मन साद. मन साद will not be there.
Then he enumerates these virtues. 18 of them are enumerated in three
slokas. We will read. All three, one after the other.
चयमिहंसाचदयाभूते व ता।
िवषये ितवैतृ ं शौचं द िववजनम्॥ 105 ॥|
स ं िनममता य
ै म भमानिववजनम्।
ई र ानपरता िव ःसह ितः॥ 106 ॥
ानशा क
ै परतासमतासुखदुःखयोः।
मानानासि रेका शीलताचमुमु तु ा॥ 108 ॥
These are the 18 enumerated. In the 33rd verse seven virtues were
enumerated. I will give you only the simple translation.
Shankaracharya himself will define each one of them later from the
37th verse up to 54th verse. 18 verses to define 18 virtues. There
Shankaracharya gives the definition. Here, I will give you running
translation.
1. चय- in छा ो also, we saw the same topic

2. अिहंसा- non-violence

3. दयाभुतषे -ु Compassion towards all living beings. Not only human
beings. All living beings.
4. अव ता- honesty, straight-forwardness, uprightness, integrity,
honesty
5. िवषयेषु अित वैतृ ं - वैतृ ं means vairagyam. Detachment or
dispassion, w.r.t the sense objects of the world. Use them but
never emotionally lean upon them. You can give others
emotional support but never depend on others for emotional
support. A spiritual seeker should depend on only one source for
emotional support. And that is ई र and ई र alone. In कमयोग we
depend on ई र. In ानयोग we depend on that ई र discovered
within ourselves. Therefore, world-dependence to God-
dependence to self-dependence. Here, we are talking about the
second stage -अितवैतृ ं - means not emotionally depending on the
world.
6. शौचं - purity at different levels. Physical, vocal or verbal and at the
thought level. Cleanliness.
7. दंभिववजनं - Simplicity. Not showing off. द means self-publicity or
ostentation etc. Opposite is दंभिववजनं .
8. स ं -truthfulness. Previously we had अव ता. अव ता, in the Gita, is
आजवं . अिहंसा राजवं . What is the difference between स ं and
अव ता? स ं is harmony between thought and word whereas अव ता
includes, thought, word and deed also. So, अव ता at three levels.
स ं is at two levels- thought and words.
9. िनममता- ममकार dilution, ownership renunciation. By handing over
the ownership to whom? There is only one who is the owner of
everything. It is the Lord from whom I have borrowed, and to
whom I have to return.
10. य
ै म् mean steadfastness, commitment, perseverance, etc. Not a
casual approach to spirituality. But sincere dedicated, and long
lasting साधना. र ं.

11. अ भमान िवसजनं - अ भमान: is मािन ं of the गीता. Pride because of name,
fame, position, possession, etc. Learning all these can lead to
pride. Absence of that is अमािन ं . Here it is called अ भमान िवसजनं
remembering the के नोपिनषद story.
12. ई र ान रता- ई र ानम् you can understand. Meditating upon the
Lord. Drawing the grace of the Lord and along with that these
virtues. भगवान् is supposed to be the infinite source of all these
virtues. ानम् is like charging your battery. We charge cell phone
wherever point is available. Just like that we have to charge our
mind also. The only source is भगवान्. Everyday ानम् must charge
me with these virtues. Therefore ई र ान रता. परता means
commitment. Not one day. Every day. Just as we eat food.
13. ् िव भ: सह ित: -practice of स ं ग or association with either ािनन:
or if ािनन: are not there, at least other spiritual seekers. Each one
will not pull the other down. If the other people are materialistic
people, then what will happen? Unknowingly we may also slip
down. And therefore other साधका: who also have got value for
spirituality, shaastras, mahatma, scriptures, etc. िवत् means ािन
or ज ासु. If ािन is not available, ज ासु means spiritual seekers.
सह ित:. ित means association, स ं ग. Shankaracharya talks highly
about स ं ग in Bhaja Govindam. The well known ोका स े
िन ं िन े िनम ह ं िनम ह े िन लत ं िन लत े जीवनमुि :. Up to that
it will take. That is called ् िव भ: सह ित:.
14. ानशा क
ै परता - regular study of Vedantic scriptures. Here,
Shankaracharya is addressing those people who are spiritual
seekers who value ानं and मो ा. There is a targeted audience for
SVSSS. This cannot be prescribed for all. For those spiritual
seekers, exposure to scriptural study or scriptural teaching is
compulsory. In BG 13.11, it was called अ ा ान िन ं . In BG 16.1
it was called अभयं स सं सुि : ान योग व ित:. There is no spiritual
pursuit without scriptural study says LK in the गीता.
Shankaracharya is also insisting and scriptural study means what?

Vedantic scriptures. There are other scriptures which talk about
this पूजा for that प रहारं . That पूजा for wedding, this पूजा for
childbirth and all those things. We are not talking about का पूजा.
We are talking about शा , talking about our higher nature. That
is why LK said अ ा ान िन ं . Spiritual knowledge. And ान
शा एक परता- One-pointed, well-focused commitment. That means
what? If you are serious it cannot be once a week. In between, I
should at least try to read what I have written. We have to spend
some time in revision also. That is what the word परता means -
commitment.
15. समता सुख दु:खयो:- समता- equanimity, in सुखं and दु:खं . Learning to
keep the mind as calm as possible during the ups and downs of
life. No life is uniformly up. No life is uniformly down. All lives
are a mixture of ups and downs. मा ा षा ु कौ य
े शीतो सुखदु:खदा-
our aim is trying to maintain as much calmness as possible. In
the 13th chapter what is the corresponding verse? िन ं च सम च ं
इ ािन उपपि षु. (BG13.9). How to do that? By having an internal
shock absorber. Just as all vehicles have got shock absorbers
because you know the condition of our roads. Whether all roads
require or not Indian roads require that. And what is the shock
absorber? ई र ान रता. Have the Lord in the heart when the
situation is difficult. From whom can we get strength so that I
am willing and I am confident of going through this situation
also. Therefore, may you maintain as much calmness as possible.
16. मानानासि - मानं means honour or recognition. Whichever field we
are working in, naturally there is a human tendency which wants
recognition. In companies also, they are recognizing and giving
awards and rewards. Sometimes you will find everybody else
gets. We don’t get. Similarly, in the field of art, in the field of
music, especially when others get, we feel tempted. I did not get
any Padmashree or Padmabhushan. Don’t crave for recognition.

मानं means honour, awards and rewards. आसि : means craving
अनासि : means not craving for honour.
17. एका शीलता- Learning to spend some time in seclusion. Once in a
while, avoiding company of people, Tvs, certainly avoiding
mobile phones. One mobile is enough-whole world is inside.
Therefore, learning to spend some time with myself. Swami
Chinmayananda says, have an appointment with yourself and ask
the question, “How are you?” So many things will come. I have
to know more and more about myself. In the गीता what is the
corresponding ोका? िविव देश सेिव ं अरित जन सं सिद:. Don’t try to
escape from problems by spending time with friends, parties and
all. Just drowning our सं सार by escapism. Don’t try to escape.
Confront and solve. एका शीलता is avoiding escapism.
18. मुमु तु ा- All these are meant for what? The purpose must be
known. Ultimately, they are meant for gaining knowledge
through which alone I can attain freedom from सं सार. Therefore,
desire for मो ा, value for मो ा is compulsory.
These are the 18 virtues. What about the others mentioned in the गीता?
They are all included in them. And generally, you will find all these
values are interconnected. If we try to practice some of them the
others also will automatically come because they are all
interconnected. So, now Shankaracharya concludes the enumeration
and mentions their importance.
Verse 36-
य तै ि तेसवत च ं सीदित।
न त
े मशू कारा रकोिट भः॥ 108 ॥
य एत व ते. I think you can yourself guess the meaning. य -for a

person who has these 18 virtues, in reasonable amount. शा doesn’t

expect us to be 100% complete in all of them because nobody is
perfect. No mind is perfect. Body also, if you go for a master health
checkup, the doctor will keep on underlining something. There is no
perfect sukshma sareeram. Just as we want our physical body to be
reasonably healthy, similarly, the mind also must have reasonable
virtue. Never expect perfection. At the same time, we cannot be
complacent also. We have to do our best. Otherwise guilt can be
another problem. Self-condemnation is a very serious obstacle. All the
time complaining. Swamiji, I don’t have this. I may not be able do
this. All the time we start criticism of all others and concentrated
criticism of ourselves. This is also a very big obstacle. The one who is
over self-critical can never claim अहं ा . He will postpone it
eternally. Therefore, we should be very alert. We should know our
deficiencies and work to remove them. But at the same time, we have
to be very alert. Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati says, be kind to
yourself. So दया is not only for others. We should have दया towards
ourselves when we are over critical. Therefore, what I want to say is-
let us enjoy growing. But let us not be over self-critical also. So, य
एत ते. They are there reasonably.
त च ं सीदित. His mind, here the word च ं means मन:, अ करणम्. सीदित
is generally tranquil. In our language-FIR reduction. Frequency of
emotional disturbances will come down. Intensity of emotional
disturbances will come down. And even if there is an emotional
disturbance, such a mind is able to bounce back immediately. So,
Recovery period also becomes lesser and lesser. त च ं सीदित.
Generally, such a person has a calm mind. With this, the enumeration
and importance of the 18 values is over.
Hereafter, Shankaracharya defines each one of them, in the same

order. From verses 37 to 54. So, what is the order? You should

remember those three ोकाs. In Verse 33, seven are mentioned, Verse
34 has six and Verse 35 mentions five.
First, you will have to go to the 33rd ोका where we have seven virtues
in a particular order. In that same order, Shankaracharya explains and
defines all of them.
In that list, the first one is चय. For that the definition was not given
in छा ो . Here, Shankaracharya gives the classical definition in two
verses- 37 and 38.
रणं दशनं ीणांगण

ु कमानुक तनम्।
समीचीन धी ासु ीितःस ाषणं िमथः॥109॥
सहवास सं सग ऽ धामैथनु ं िवदुः।

एति ल णं चय च सादकम्॥110 ॥
Before going to the meaning of these 2 verses, I have to give you a

general introduction to the concept of चय. This concept of चय
existed or exists in almost all religions. They had this concept and this
was taught as a moral value in almost all religions. And in all the
religious societies, where religion instituted the rules of social conduct,
it was governed by religious laws. चय was there as a moral law also
in the society. And in all those religious societies चय as moral law
existed in the form of a set of codes of conduct. And it was not one,
but a set of codes of conduct. When you study all these codes of
conduct, the essence that we find is through all those laws those
societies, especially the religious societies, through this चय males
and females were segregated. Segregation of males and females was
done through these moral laws as also the interaction and the contact
between males and females were also heavily restricted. And that was
defined as चय in those religious societies.

But as the times changed those laws changed, particularly in the
modern times those laws are undergoing drastic changes because the
societies are no more governed by religious laws. The influence of
religion is becoming lesser and lesser in these secular, democratic
societies. Therefore, the laws are governed by secular constitutional
laws. In these modern days, चय as a moral law is not much relevant.
So the segregation of the genders and restricting the interaction and
contact between them, all these things are no more valid for the
modern generation. The present generation not only doesn’t accept,
in fact, they laugh at them. They debate saying that they are all wrong.
They even challenge them. And they say that they are all obstacles to
the social progress of the society.
Therefore, there is a very big difference between religious societies

with चय and a set code of conduct and modern society. That is why
some time ago when a Swamiji was travelling by flight, no woman
passenger was allowed in that flight. Not only women passengers were
not allowed, even airhostesses were not allowed. And it created a big
furore with lot of letters. There are, of course, feminist organizations.
They strongly criticized this swami and asked doesn’t that swami have
a mother? Therefore, these concepts, models, etc. are challenged now.
Whether they can be followed strictly nowadays is the question. And
therefore what we have to do is, we have to understand the spirit
behind this concept rather than going through literally the codes of
conduct. We have to change along with time.
Our Swami Dayananda Saraswati narrated his experience. After that

arlier Swamiji’s incident, Swamiji had to travel by flight. The airhostess
was very much afraid even to come near Swamiji because this event
had just gone. She was avoiding Swamiji. Swamiji understood her
problem. He called her and talked to her and made her comfortable.

She asked it seems, “Swamiji, do you think we are so impure, that we
cannot be even looked at? Swamiji said “Don’t worry. I am a different
Swamiji. You can be comfortable.”
Therefore, what I want to say is, Shankaracharya gives the traditional

definition of चय found in धमशा of those days. The society and
social practices in those days were governed by those धमशा laws. We
will read the ोका and get the idea. And in this you will find that all
the interactions and contacts between a male and female is called मैथनु ं .
And all these different possible contacts are divided into eight types.
So, अ िवधमैथनु ं possible contacts. And चय is defined as avoidance -
अ िवधमैथनु वजनम्. Which means what? Total segregation of males and
females. In fact, if I have to follow the चय defined here, I cannot
conduct today’s class. Or I have to conduct with eyes closed. So, these
are all out of question now days. Now, I will give you the running
meaning and at the end of the class, we have to understand the spirit
behind.
The concept of चय which Lord Krishna defines in Gita beautifully,

we will mention them afterwards. Here, we will see the literal
meaning of the definition.
The first ोका 37 talks about shad षड् िवधमैथनु ं - six-fold contact. What are
they?
1. रणं - mental contact. Mental contact means constantly thinking
about the person of the other gender. ानम्इ थ: -meditation.
ीणां रणं and if it is a ी you have to reverse. पु षाणां रणं . So
मनसं योग:
2. दशनं - sensory contact with eyes like staring etc.
3. गुणअनुक तनम्- Constantly talking about the other person’s गुण and
karma, activities and virtues. In the tenth chapter we talk about
ई रिवभूित. This person talks about vibhuti of the other person.

4. समीचीन धी- Constantly analysing the compatibility, समीचीन म्
means looking at the other person as a source of peace, security
and happiness. We call it शोभना ास:. While वेदा ा says no object in
the world is a permanent source of PSH, I look upon one object
or one person. That is called समीचीन म्. समीचीन म् means
appropriateness. Here it means शोभना ास.
5. तासु ीित:- ीित: means attachment, becoming a slave of the other
person.
6. सं भाषणं िमथ: - mutual private conversation, endless private
conversation. So िमथ: mutual सं भाषणं .
7. सहवास: - Living together. That is in the next ोका in 37
8. सं सग: - physical contact.
These are the 8-fold interactions or contacts either at mental level or at

sensory level or at physical level. Any type of contacts are broadly
classified into अ िवधमैथनु ं .
Having defined मैथनु ं , Shankaracharya defines चय as avoidance of

these eight. So, एतिवल णं the opposite of these eight, अ िवधमैथनु वजनम् or
avoidance of these eight is called चय which will lead to च सादकं -
which will keep the mind relaxed or calm.
So, this is the literal definition of चय as the moral code of conduct

given by the religious scriptures of many religions. Whether we are
able to follow in letter or not, we have to understand the spirit behind
it.
Two ोका: of the गीता give the message. I will mention the ोका. We
will see the meaning in the next class. One ोका is BG 2.64-
राग ेष िवमु ै ु िवषयािन यै चरन

आ व ैिवधेया ा सादम धग ित||
The same word comes here सादंअ धग ित. In the Gita this appears in
the second chapter after the 60th verse beginning with राग े ष िवमु ै .ु
The second verse is BG 2.67-
इ याणां िह चरतां य नोअनुिव ते
तद हरित ां वायुनाविमवा स ||
The sense organs travelling in the world of objects and people will
easily carry the mind away. Never allow the sense organs to enslave
the mind. That is the second ोका. इ याणांिहचरतां. These 2 ोका: give us
the principle behind चय which we will see in the next class and
proceed.

10.Sarva Vedanta Sara SiddhantaSangraha Verses 37 to 42
Page 7 Verse 37-
रणं दशनं ीणांगण

ु कमानुक तनम्।
समीचीन धी ासु ीितःस ाषणं िमथः॥ 109॥
Shankaracharya is discussing the third साधनम् of SCS, which itself has a

group of six subsidiary साधनम्. Of those six subsidiary साधनािन the first
one is शम:-mental relaxation which Shankaracharya is discussing in
these verses from the 28th up to the 54th. Here, he talks about various
methods for bringing the mind under calmness and control. Among
various methods, the final method he is recommending is a set of
values, which one should try to follow. They are like the various
parameters of a physical checkup. If the physical checkup should be
proper, we look at various parameters like blood pressure, sugar,
cholesterol etc. And we want to know whether they are reasonably
within a particular range. There is no perfect one. If they are
reasonably closer, we consider ourselves to be physically healthy. Just
as certain parameters indicate physical health, the following 18 virtues
are the parameters which indicate the psychological or mental health
of a person. And TF our aim is to watch them, through a regular
master checkup. And if anything requires some adjustment, we have to
do the necessary things so that the mind is healthy.
Mental health is important for four things- receiving the teaching,

retaining the teaching and assimilating the teaching. For all these four
we require a very cooperative and healthy mind. He listed the 18
virtues from verses 33 to 35. And from the 37th verse onwards, he is
defining or elaborating each one of them. So, you have to track the
previous ोका to see the order.

The first one is चय which Shankaracharya defined in verse 37 and
38, which we completed in the last class. Shankaracharya gives a
definition according to the traditional धम शा ा definition which was
well known and followed in Vedic society. And as I said, since the
times and values have changed, we may not be able to literally follow
every code of conduct prescribed as part of चय. We have to take the
spirit behind this definition. We can follow what we can follow but
what we cannot follow, we have to take the spirit behind it. To
understand this better, there are two important गीता verses which are
worth remembering and attempting to follow. And what is the first
verse I quoted? The first verse I quoted is -
राग ेष िवमु ै ु िवषयािन यै चरन
आ व ैिवधेया ा सादम धग ित||3.64||
साद means शम:. One can enjoy the values of शम only if he tries to
follow this route. What is that? The sense organs will have to move in
the world for our daily transactions. We cannot close our eyes and
walk around like Gandhari. We have to keep the sense organs open.
We have to move about in the society. LK says, perfectly alright but I
will suggest some instructions. What are they? िवषयान्इ यैचरन्. LK calls
all the objects of the world िवषय:. िवषय: means that object which can
bind a person by generating either राग or े ष. A mind which is
spiritually ignorant is naturally prone to राग े ष, which is like a gum
coated object. Wherever it goes, it gets stuck like stickers. Our mind is
a gummy mind and so there are chances for any object generating
either राग or ेष. It can be an object. It can be a person. It can be a
situation. TF, there is a potential. TF, sense objects are called Vishay.
The very word Vishay is derived from the root िव+ चधातु. That which
binds the mind िव चनोित ब ाित इित िवषय: and there are certain objects
which can generate mild bondage but there are several objects which

are capable of creating temptations and attraction. TF LK says, ‘May
you be careful, when you allow the sense organs into the world.’
Shankaracharya adds an adjective अवजनीया षयान् - where there is
requirement, there alone you allow the sense organs. Where it is not
required, don’t allow the sense organs to move about in an
unrestricted manner like the street dog which goes all over. Like the
local fly sitting on the jackfruit, sitting on dirt as well as filth. Like a fly
doesn’t have any restriction don’t allow the sense organs to be like the
fly. Let it be like a honey bee. Honeybees will go only to beautiful
flowers. TF, he says, आ व ै: इ यै. आ व ै: means what? The sense
organs which are under my control, let them move in a controlled
manner. This is rule number 1 given by LK. Then the second rule is
even when we are letting the sense organs in the necessary field avoid
unnecessary areas where the objects are capable of generating राग े ष.
Whenever the sense organs, along with the mind, tend to develop
राग ेष, they like repeating the same experience. If you eat one thing,
you want the same to be repeated. Whenever I tend to repeat, then it
indicates what? Slowly, I am getting hooked to it. Then be alert and
learn to clip it before the sense organs and mind form an addiction.
TF, राग ेष िवयु ै ु िवषयान्इ यै :चरन्. आ ाव ै: िवदेयआ ा. आ ा means mind,
the one who uses the mind to control the sense organs.
If you remember the Katho Upanisad, there was an imagery in KU,

wherein sense organs are compared to horses and mind is compared to
the reins. TF, with the mental rein may you discipline the sense
organs. If you are interested in what? मन: सादं. This is rule number 1
which is an integral part of चय. चय means the life of a Vedic
student. चय doesn’t mean celibacy. means वेद. चा र means a person
who lives a life to study . What is the meaning of the word ? वेद.
So वेद पठनारथं आचार: चय. TF, this is the general discipline prescribed
for all Vedic students. Otherwise study will go away. This is the first
rule, the principle behind चय. And what is the second rule? Again,

for a Vedic student. And when I say Vedic student it includes Vedantic
student. Because Vedantic student is a Vedic student. वेदा ा is part of
वेद. And the second important rule LK gives in BG 3.67. (Lots are
there but I am only highlighting two from the BG.)
इ याणां िह चरतां य नोअनुिव ते
तद हरित ां वायुनाविमवा स ||3.67||
And if this sensory discipline is not maintained with the help of a

disciplined mind and the sense organs are let loose, then what
happens? The mind also begins to get tempted and starts releasing
those things. And once the mind also goes according to its whims and
fancy- without my permission? If the mind takes my permission, OK.
But mind just goes without asking permission. And who am I to give
the permission? Remembering KU- if the mind is the reins, the reins
are held by बुि , the intellect. The intellect should ask the question,
“Am I straying away from spiritual sadhana and getting lost in the
world?” And if the intellect is alert whenever the mind is getting
dragged uncontrollably, intellect will be able to stop it. But often the
mind refuses to take permission from the intellect. That is why when
people take the dog for a walk, often we will wonder who is taking
whom? Especially if it is a huge Alsatian, you will find it will be going
in the front and this fellow is being dragged by dog. The question is
who is leading whom? This fundamental confusion should not happen.
And if the mind gets lost what will that mind do? LK gives a warning-
मन:अनुिवधीयते. If the mind is carried away by the sense organs तद अ ां
हरित-that mind will destroy whatever knowledge the student has gained
from the शा . Because the mind can create so much turbulence, that
we have the other ोका.
ोधाद् भवित सं मोहः स ोहात् समृितिव मः

ित शाद बुि नाशो बुि नाशात् ण ित ||
BG will be in the note book, saved. Where? In the notebook. TF, ां

हरित.
ना बुि रयु न चायु भावना
न चाभावयतः शा रशा कु तः सुखं ||3-66||
Thus, LK gives the principle of चय. What is that? Sensory discipline

is very important. This is the spirit behind चय. Two ोका:. I said two
but to understand these two, other ोका: will go along. With this the
first value is over.
Now, we have to enter the second in the list. What is that? Look at
verse 33. The second one is अिहंसा. अिहंसा means non-violence. We will
read verse 39-
अिहंसावा नःकायैः ा णमा ा पीडनम्।

ा व वभूतष
े क
ु ायेनमनसािगरा॥ 111 ॥
अिहंसा is considered to be the fundamental value over which all the

ं ा is the foundation value. And this अिहंसा is
other values are built. अिहस
based on one universal principle and that is- all living beings, not only
human beings, instinctively have a basic desire. Instinctive desire for
all human beings. Not cultivated or taught desire, but instinctive
desire. And what is the desire? To avoid pain. Every animal wants
avoidance of pain. If you go and hurt a cow, what does it do? It runs
away indicating it wants to avoid pain. If you show some fresh grass in
front of a cow it is a joy, it comes towards us. TF, having pleasure and
avoiding pain is an instinctive desire. सुखंमे सवदा भूयात् दु:खं मा भूत् कदाचन I
should always be happy, never unhappy.. सुखंमे सवदा भूयात् दु:खं मा भूत् कदाचन

इितइ े सवसामा .े This desire is universal. Universal means including me.
I also don’t want pain from anyone. I would like to have joy from
others. Even if they don’t give joy, it is ok, at least if they leave me
alone without giving pain; that is my wish from my innermost heart.
As a responsible human being, it is my duty to respect this

fundamental wish of all the living beings. What is the wish? They
don’t want to have pain. TF, I should not be responsible for giving
pain to others. This must be my most fundamental effort. What the
degree of success is, is a different thing. There may be so many
obstacles to follow that. But शा ं says there must be a serious, sincere
effort to avoid this. Exceptions are possible and may be there. But if I
am going to see exceptions, I must be convinced that here it is an
exception. Without that conviction I should not violate this
fundamental rule of not hurting other living beings. If I ignore this
fundamental rule in my action or in my interaction with others, it will
only mean that I have double standards. What do you mean by that?
One rule for me, another rule for others. In my case, I don’t want to
be hurt at all. In other’s case anything might happen. That is their
ार . So, this becomes a double personality. Every time I am
thoughtlessly, mechanically hurting others, I am creating a split
personality in myself. This split personality is a spiritual disaster
ं ापरम:धमा:. TF, शा ं says, “May you never
because according to शा ं , अिहस
have double standards.” All the time remember, my first aim is
avoiding hurt. And if I have to hurt, I have to think a lot. And ask the
question, is it really required? And my aim should be to avoid even if
in the process I have to go through some inconvenience. This is a very
powerful and difficult rule. Even if we follow this one percent, there
will be a very great spiritual growth. First, we should stop justifying
our rude behaviour. Once we start justifying even Bhagavan cannot
save us just as a sleeping person can be woken up but the one who
pretends to sleep, you cannot wake up. TF, very, very important rule

वाच:, मन:, कायै not to hurt physically, verbally and even mentally. What
a tough rule! Even mentally. ा णमा here the word मा means सामा ं -
all, without exceptions. ा णसामा means all living beings which
includes even plants ा णमा अ डीनं . Not wounding and not hurting is
ं ा. Then comes the next rule.
अिहस
In the ोका भावनं is the next rule. भावनं and अिहंसा are complementary.
Where there is भावनं , अिहंसा will be natural. And what is the definition
of भावनं ? Here, Shankaracharya defines भावनं as empathy. Empathy
means sensitivity of the mind to the feelings of others. The sensitivity
of the mind includes sensing the feelings of others also. To put it in
another language, “The capacity to place myself in the position of
others. If the other is me and I am them, how will my response be?
This capacity to identify with others and sense the feeling of others is
called empathy- whether it is pleasure or pain. And even as I develop
more and more empathy, their pleasures become my pleasures, their
pain becomes my pain. Naturally I would love to give others what? I
would like to give pleasure only. Because when I give pleasure, I get
pleasure. I find it extremely difficult to give pain to others because it
becomes my pain, which I instinctively don’t want. TF, once I got
empathy or भावनं I find it difficult to hurt others. Previously, I tried not
to hurt others but once भावनं is there, I find it difficult to hurt others.
Like it happens in the family- sometimes we behave rudely with a
family member or children. And they are hurt and cry. Afterwards
what happens? It is our turn to cry. I have beaten the child. I have
scolded the child. Often, our pain is more than their pain. And even if
children say, “Amma don’t worry,” even if they forgive us, we find it
very difficult to forgive ourselves. Why? We have empathy with those
family members.
वेदा ा is asking us to extend this empathy beyond the four walls of the
family. अ े ासवभूतानां मै ा क णा एव च. That is the ािनन: description. We

have to start somewhere. TF, he says, सवभूतषे ु ा वत भावना. भावना we
have to supply. भावना means attitude of सवभूतेषु looking at all living
beings like whom? आ वत्. आ वत् means no स दान आ ा. Then you
will not get sympathy. Here, आ ा is reflexive pronoun. Just as I want
to be comfortable and not get hurt, everybody wants the same thing.
ा व. When Shankaracharya says this, he is remembering a गीता ोका-
6th chapter अ ौ प ने सव समं प ितयोजुनसुखं वा दुखं वा सयोगी परमोमत: greatest
ािन is the one who has universal empathy.
Empathy is different from sympathy. Sympathy is w.r.t people who are

having pain. But empathy is the general capacity to feel all the good as
well as bad feelings of others. This is called empathy. In physics they
talk about sympathetic vibration of something. When a wire is
vibrating in a particular frequency, another wire nearby will also start
vibrating. It is called sympathetic vibration. He says in the mind also
अनुकंपनं . In Sanskrit क नं means mind is shaken when I see, the pain of
others. TF, कायेन मनसा िगरा at all the three levels, भावनं is to be supplied.
Entertaining the feelings towards all beings as ा व as oneself. And the
sentence is incomplete. You have to add the word अनुक ा from the
next ोका - अनुक ा भवित. This is called अनुक ा. Or empathy. And this
empathy alone is called दया. That is going to be said in verse 40,41-
अनुक ादयासैव ो ावेदा वेिद भः।

करणि तये क
े पताऽव तामता॥ 112॥
ािद ावरा ष
े व
ु रै ा ं िवषये नु।
यथैवकाकिव ायांवरै ा ं ति िनमलम्॥113 ॥
The first line of this ोका must be connected to the second line of the
previous ोका. This identification with the feelings of others is called
अनुक ा. अनुक ाभवित. सा एव दया ो ा-this empathy alone is called दया in
verse no 33. In this list अनुक ा is not there but दया is there.

Shankaracharya says, “This अनुक ा alone is called दया. ो ा -is said to be
दया. वेदा वेिद भ:- by vedantic acharyas. With this, the third value is over.
चय, अिहसं ा, दया.
The fourth value in verse 33 is अव ता. This fourth value is defined in

the second line of this ोका. What is अव ता? Straight forwardness or
harmony or concordance at three levels of our personality. Straight
forwardness, integrity, uprightness concordance, harmony. Do not say,
“I don’t understand”. At least one of these you take- straight
forwardness, integrity uprightness, concordance or harmony. In BG
13th chapter, LK uses the word आजवं रजुभाव:. रजु: means straight line.
आजवं means straightness of the three layers of our personality- mind,
word and deed or action. Thought, word and deed. Or mind, speech
and body. कायवा न:. So, he says करणि तयेषु all these three are called करण.
करण means instrument because they are used for transacting with the
world. TF, they are called ि करण. Body, mind and speech are called
करणि तयं . तेषुएक पता. एक पता means all three are one. मन स एकं . वच सएकं .
कम णएकं . महा ानं mahatmas have got all these three as the same. मन स
अ चस अ म ण अ दुरा न:.
दुरा न: have got all the three different. And that means what? Their
personality is split into three different layers, each one antagonistic to
the other. That means there is a constant rub happening. So there is
strain involved every time I tell a lie. A slight internal strain is
involved. All the lie detectors and all are based on the changes that
happen in the personality, even in an expert liar because we are
violating the law. TF, there is a rub. There is a strain and long-term
strain will cause problems. TF, let them be in harmony. TF. एक पता
harmony among them, अव ता मता is called अव ता-integrity. With this
the fourth value is over.

The fifth value in the list is in verse 33. In verse 33, seven values are
there and we are seeing the fifth one- वैतृ ं which is another word for
वैरा म्. वैरा म् need not be listed here because already िववेक, वैरा म् have
been talked about. But Shankaracharya is still separately listing it
because it plays a very important role in mental peace. In fact, mental
disturbance is directly proportional to our attachment. Greater the
attachment, greater the disturbance. That is why in the first chapter of
BG, Arjuna had no difficulty in entering the battle field because when
he entered the battle field, he was thinking of Duryodhana and Karna.
And when Arjuna thinks of the war and its aftereffects, his BP rises. He
has the itch to use all the weapons against them. So much anger. TF,
he said, it is धम युद् हं. He thought, ‘I have to fight’, and he came to the
field. Then what happened? The moment he stood in front of भी ोण
and others, attachment played a role. TF, what is धमा ? What is अधमा?
Everything is forgotten.
Hey Krishna, my attachment is causing me so much pain. My thinking

is clouded. All because of attachment. TF, he says, ् ािद ावर षे ु िवषयेषु -
with regard to the entire world of objects beginning from ा up to
ावरं -a plant. Not only the living beings, we have to extend it to the
objects also including name, fame, etc. All of them िवषयेषुअनु. अनु means
based on िववेक. वैरा म् should be generated by िववेक. िववेक means what?
Understanding the negative consequences of attachment. I should
thoroughly assimilate the adverse consequences of attachment. Based
on my understanding, if I get detached, it is called अनु. अनु means
informed detachment.

Like in the medical field they say, informed consent. The doctor will
explain everything and say, “You may survive or not. Do you want this
surgery? Put your signature.” This is not a blind signature because of
pressure from someone. They want what type of consent? Informed
consent. Similarly, वैरा म् without िववेक will create more pain than राग. It
should be based on wisdom only. TF, that अनु indicates it is based on
understanding, maturity.
That is why न चके तस् after rejecting everything gave an explanation to

Yama Dharma Raja. Otherwise, YDR may think that न चके तस् is an 8-
year old boy, what will he know about gold? He may reject everything
because of childishness. न चके तस् tells यम, “Note. I am यमकातक.
Whatever I say is based on thorough understanding so भवम यदा
चैतत्. अजीयतां मम तनुपे .” न चके तस्, shows his maturity. That is why YDR
praises न चके तस्, so much in कठोपिनषद्. Normally, guru is not supposed to
praise the श ा. It will create arrogance. YDR violates this rule because
न चके तस् shows his वैरा म् based on िववेक. I am talking so much because
of the word अनु. अनु is backed by maturity. And how much वैरा म्
should it be? यथैव काकिव ायां. काकिव ा means the crow’s droppings. So,
when you are pushing aside crows’ droppings, do you think, should I
do it or not? Will it be useful tomorrow? You don’t think for a long
time. Not only that. After washing, you don’t declare it to all other
people. Do you know my वैरा म्? I have just pushed aside काकिव ा. Just
as it is effortless, in the same way, वैरा म् should be effortless.
Everything should appear a bubble or a balloon, which will break with

a prick. That is what it is. So, यथैव काकिव ायां, वैरा ति िनमलं . That is
called pure वैरा म्. Strong वैरा म्. Previously, I used to conduct sadhana
camp. Through that only I got वैरा म्. Once, I had a sadhana camp in
Yercaud where I talked about वैरा म्. We had one or two younger
children, teenagers. They said, because they are idealists, they don’t

know what fear is. They said, ‘What is the big thing?’ I told them, “I
will give you an experiment. You can try.” We had only 48 or 53
campers. ‘You have to go from room to room and tell every camper
that you should not go back home. You should stay there itself.
Swamiji will also stay there. And there will be continuous teaching.
Swamiji will make sure that you will get मो ा. You go to every room
and then get the list of people who are willing to stay. And do you
know what the result was? Only two said, “If Swamiji will permit me
to go home for one day and come back, it is ok.” So, this is called
vairagyam.
Continuing verse 42-
बा मा रं चिे ति िवधं शौचमु ते।

मृ ला ांकृतं शौचं बा ं शारीरकं त
ृ म्॥114 ॥
The sixth one from the 33rd verse is in the second line- शौचम्. शौचम्
means purity or cleanliness. In one New Year talk, I elaborately
discussed purity at different levels. काियकंवा चकं मानसं etc. Not only that,
we also have a slogan from our PM- भारत्. We don’t know whether
his dream will come true or not. When we travel on the road, we do
get a doubt but it is a value in our shaastra but least followed in our
country. That is a different thing. First, he divides into two levels. One
is external and the other is internal. External is relatively easier.
Internal is tougher than external. Keeping the surroundings clean- that
is also बा शौचम्. We cannot clean the house and put all on the road.
TF, the surroundings must be clean. The house must be clean. Not
only clean, but uncluttered. TF, cleanliness and orderliness. I should
know what is where.
Then, Shankaracharya talks about the cleanliness of the body also.

That is said here. बा म्आ रं च इित शौच िवधं उ ते. शौचम् means

cleanliness of two types. The external and the internal. What is the
बा म्? मृ जला ांकृतं शौचम्. He is talking about regular bathing by which we
cleanse the body. In those days, they used mud itself for cleaning the
body. Now that is gone and not used regularly. But in several places,
they charge and make a person dip in the mud. Mud packs, this pack
and that pack. Now in the name of health, they do the same thing and
charge. But this is what was there in tradition. TF, मृ जला ां-with the
help of mud and जलं , कृ तं शौचम् -taking the bath, cleaning the body.
The principle behind it is, our body is made up of प भूतािन and it

should be in contact with प भूता. Even when they talked about वा ु शा ं
and all whether the five भूतािन are available, whether we have plenty of
cross ventilation and sun must enter the house. अि , आप: etc. During
bathing, we come in contact with mud because body has come from
mud and is going to go back to mud only. So, मृ जला ां कृ तं शौच ा ं शारीरकं
तृ ं . It is a physical cleanliness.
The next one is mental purification. He doesn’t talk of verbal

cleanliness. That also we have to remember based on the 17th chapter.
The words must be filtered with four parameters. And I had given
NTUC formula-
N=non-hurtful words, नु ेककरं
T=truthful, स ं
U=Useful, don’t gossip, िहतं
C=cheerful, pleasant for the speaker as well as the listener, ि यं
Following NTUC is वा िु :, वा ौचम्. It is taken for granted. And the

next one is what? मन: शुि : which we will see in the next class.
ॐपूणमदःपूणिमदं पण

11. Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha Verses 42 to 47
Page 8, verse 42-
बा मा रं चिे ति िवधं शौचमु ते|

मृ ाला ांकृतं आ रं बा ं शारीरकं तृ ं || ४२|
Shankaracharya is discussing the 18 values to be practised by a Vedantic

student which will contribute to शम or मन: शा :. He first enumerated
those 18 disciplines in verse 33, 34 and 35. Now he is defining each
one these virtues. He has already commented upon five of them-
चय, अिहंसा, दया, अव ता, िवषयेषअ
ु ितवैि ष ं . Now he has come to the 6th
value - purity or cleanliness. And in verses 42 and 43, he is dealing
with the cleanliness. He divides purity into two types- external or बा ं
and internal or आ रं .
External शौचं is the cleanliness of the body which we have to do

regularly in the form of bathing the body. He defines bathing as
मृ जला ांकृतं शौचं - the purity attained with the help of मृत् and जलं . As I said
in the last class, in the olden days soap etc. was not there so they take
the mud within the river waters themselves. And rivers were also
clean, mud was also clean. Therefore, you can use both of them to
clean the body. Now you cannot use both. Imagine the river in front.
You take the water and slush underneath; we will get sick. This word
indicates water and any material to clean the body to obtain external
purity. As I said, external cleanliness not only includes the body, but
the dress that we wear, the house in which we live and all our
surroundings. भारत् we have to follow. Up to this we saw in the last
class.
He is now defining internal purity in shloka 43. In our list it is 43, the
original number is 115. We have skipped many verses.

अ ानदूरीकरणं मानसं शौचमा रम्।
अ ःशौचे तेस बा ं नाव कं नृणाम्॥ 115 ॥
Generally, internal purity is defined as removal of all unhealthy

thoughts, which will obstruct the calmness of the mind and which will
obstruct spiritual growth. We have to ward off all those unhealthy
thoughts. If you remember the 16th chapter of the Gita he divided into
two groups, दैवीसं पत् positive thought and आसुरीसं पत्, negative thoughts.
Therefore, internal cleanliness is like making the mind into a garden.
When you are tending a garden, you plant beautiful flowers which are
very nice to look at and which also give nice fragrance. So, you plant
flowering plants. And along with that what should you do? Remove all
the unnecessary weeds. Weeding out the weeds and planting the
flower plants- this is what gardening is about. Convert the mind also
into a garden. Daily plant दैवीसं पत्. Planting is not enough, you have to
watch regularly whether the plant is growing well or fading and dying
out. And also make sure unnecessary weeds are not coming in
between. If they are there, you have to weed out. Enjoy the mind like
enjoying a garden. This is called आ रशौचं . दैवीसं प मो या, िनभ याआसुरीमता.
Here, Shankaracharya is presenting slightly differently. He says अ ानं
must be weeded out and ानं must be planted. What do you mean by
अ ानं ? If you remember the 13th chapter, the word ानं means all the 20
virtues beginning with अमािन ं , अद ं ा ा राजवम all of them.
ं अिहस
एत ानिमित ो ं . So, may you plant this ानं mentioned in the 13th chapter
and अ ान दो रकरणम्.
What is अ ानं ? Lord Krishna says the opposite of these 20 virtues एत ानं
इित ो ं अ ानं यततो ता. अत: अनयता- the opposite of these 20 virtues will
be called in the 13th chapter as अ ानं . And how do you find out the
opposite. अमािन ं is a virtue. Then what is vice? मािन ं अद ं opposite
दं भ ं . अिहंसा -िहंसा. अिहंसा is दैवीस ानं . िहंसा is अ ानं . Therefore अ ान दो रकरणम्

means removal of the opposite of the 20 virtues mentioned in the 13 th
chapter. Here the word अ ानं should not be called self-ignorance.
Why? If self-ignorance is removed while acquiring qualification itself,
then qualified साधन चतु य सं प will be free from self-ignorance. If साधन
चतु य सं प is free from self-ignorance then why do you require वणं ,
मननं , and िन ध ासनं ? Remember, here the word अ ानं should not be
taken as self-ignorance. अ ानं is आसुरीसं पत्. That should be removed.
दो रकरण ानसं शौचं . It is the mental purity which comes under internal
purity.
And between these two forms of purity, which one is more important?
External or internal? Shankaracharya says, internal is more important
because ानं has to take place not in the physical body but ानं has to
take place in the mind alone. Therefore, mental purity must be given
more importance than outer purity. That doesn’t mean from
tomorrow onwards, due to water problems and no rain I will avoid
bathing. Kindly don’t say that. Both are important. But don’t neglect
the internal one. Therefore, अ ः शौचं . In the second line the word अत:
is there. If it is अत: change it to अ : there must be a dot above the
letter a. And अ : शौचे ते= if a person has sufficient internal purity then
बा ं , the external one, is of lesser importance. नाव कं - not compulsory
ones. With this, the sixth virtue is over. Now we will go to the seventh
virtue which is called द िववजनं . In verse 33, the seventh virtue is called
द िववजनं which Shankaracharya defines here.
Verse 44-
ानपूजािदकं लोके यवकरोितयः।

पारमा थकधीहीनःसद ाचारउ ते॥ 116 ॥
पुं स थानाचरणमद ं िवदुबधाः।
ु

First, Shankaracharya defines what is द or द आचार: and then says
avoiding that is a virtue. While defining द you should not mistake it
as a virtue. He defines द first and says carefully avoid. What is द :?
द : means self-publicity. Self-promotion. Drawing the attention of all
the people towards myself. Dominating in any crowd. These are all
attention drawing process. It may be done either by dressing etc. so
that everybody will look at my dress and of course through the dress
they will look at me. By wearing ornaments, etc. drawing attention or
by talking in a language etc. This can also be by talking about what all
good actions one has done. According to shaastra, we should do noble
deeds but never talk about them. Shankaracharya calls it धमि ज ं . दवज
means flag- having a flag so that everybody will look at me. I have
done this much donation. I have built schools, colleges. I have started
this and that. Thus, putting the dharmic action up above so that
everybody will see it.
This self-publicity, pomp show or ostentation is called द : and to

draw the attention, when this person talks, what will be the subject
matter of his talk? In English there is a saying - he will use only 3
pronouns- I, me and mine. Only these three words will repeatedly
occur. Therefore, Shankaracharya says ानं पूजािदकं . ानं means all the
time thinking about oneself. Self-meditation. And पूजािदकं. पूजा means
glorification षोडशउपचार:. पूजािदकं लोके रएव्. Shaastra says, मातृ दे वोभव िपतृ
देवो भव आचाय देवो भव अथीित देवो भव. This person is आ ादेवोभव. He worships
and glorifies himself only. So लोके रएव. ा means himself, the self,
the subject- य: करोितस: द ाचार: इितउ ते. He is called दंभाचारी. Sometimes
ड ाचारी. In Tamil they put ड instead of द. द ाचार: इित उ ते.
Now, this will create a problem. Shankaracharya visualizes a problem.

What is that? If self-glorification is दंभ: all the vedantic ािनन: glorify
what? आ ा. य आ ा अपहतपा िवजरोवोमृ ु िवशोका: where? Yesterday. He
says, a ािन talks about the glory of the self or the glory of the आ ा.

That means what? All the ािनन: are, दंभाचारी. They will become असुरा:
because they are all the time talking about अहं ा , अहं वृ रे रव, अहं
अ ं , अहं अ ाद:, अहं एव इदं सव - these are the declarations of a ािन. मैएव
सकलं जातं मैसव िति तम. Therefore, do you mean to say that self-
glorification is right or wrong? On the one side you say self-
glorification is द . आसुरी सं पत्. Another place you glorify the ािन who
says, ‘I am great.’ So, what is the question? Is self-glorification good or
bad? First, that doubt should not come to senior students. I am
assuming you are all seniors. But suppose such a doubt comes, what
will you do?
Self-glorification is good or bad? He gives the answer. What do you

mean by the word ‘self’ or ‘I’? Is it वा ाथ or ल ाथ - the popular
primary meaning or the shastric secondary meaning? The word ‘I’ can
refer to any one of these two. Shaastra itself uses both of them. So,
when you use the word ‘I’ in the popular primary meaning, which is
called अहंकार:, the जीव, that जीव consists of what all things? Sthulasarira,
Sukshmasarira, Karana sarira, chidabasa, the individual. When you take
the meaning of the word ‘I’, as individual, no individual deserves any
greatness. Because individual is full of several deficiencies. Any amount
of knowledge is limited only. We cannot exhaust the storehouse of
knowledge. Swami Dayananda says, ‘Even when somebody says I am
omniscient, he doesn’t know even the spelling of the word.’ So, I as a
जीव, if I claim glory, it is द : because as an individual I don’t have any
glory, and even if glories are there, according to shaastra , they all
belong to ई र, the समि only.
In the 10th chapter, Lord Krishna says, whatever glory is anywhere,

they do not belong to the individual. It is भगवत: glory coming here and
there. Like the water in the tank flowing through different types of
pipes. Pipe doesn’t have any water; all water belongs to the tank only.

बुि बुि मतां अ बलं बलवतांचहं, etc. in the 10th chapter. And in देवीमाहा ं a
series of nice ोका: are there -यादेवी सवभूतषे ु बुि पेण सं ता नम: त ै नम: त ै
नम: त ै नमो नम:. If I have some बुि that is whose glory? त ै -it belongs
to शि महाशि . OK. What is the bottom line? As an individual, if I
claim any glory, it will come under द :. Whereas when the ािन says
अहं अ ं अहं अ ाद: मैएव सकलं जातं मै सव िति तम, अहं वृ रे रव, etc. he doesn’t
use the word ‘I’ as the जीवा ा but he uses the word ‘I’ to mean परमा ा.
Which is located where? That I, the परमा ा, is not only in this body but
े ं चािपमां िवि सव े ेष.ु Therefore, as the सा ी चैत म्, if I claim the glory,
there is nothing wrong. As the ल
ू सू शरीरं , if I claim the glory, it is
आसुरीसं पत्.
Therefore, Shankaracharya adds a very beautiful note पारमा थक धीहीन:.

This दंभाचारी, uses the word I, not in the shastric sense. Shastric sense
means what? अहं ा . Not in that sense. That is called पारमा थकधी: -
शा ीय ानं वेदा ानरिहत: हीन:- without vedantic knowledge the जीव
individual claims the glory. That will come under द ाचार:. So, पुं : तथा
अनाचरणं . Avoiding his mistake- what mistake? From body-mind
standpoint, never claim any glory. If I can sing very well, that singing
glory belongs to a particular body which in turn belongs to िव पई र
only. ािन will never claim that glory. So, पुं : तथा अनाचरणं . तथा means as
a द ाचार: अनाचरणं means not conducting his life is called अद ं by the
wise people. So, in the 13thchapter अमािन ं , अद ं means this only. In
simple language, humility is a virtue. ािन is always, humble. With this
the seventh virtue is over. Now we have to go to the 34th verse where
the list is given. There the 8th virtue is स ं . In the 34th verse, 6 virtues
are enumerated. Now, one by one, he takes up that.
य ने ं स च त
ु ंत व
ै भाषणम्
स िम ु ते स िम िपभाषणम्।117||

So स ं means speaking the truth. And what do you mean by speaking
the truth? ‘Whatever is true alone’ must be shared with others.
Whatever is not true is never to be shared or talked to others. This
applies even to some knowledge of doubtful authenticity. I have got
some news from somewhere, but I am not very, very sure about it.
Casually somebody said. It may be true. May not be true. Until I have
verified and made sure that it is true, avoid talking about it. Even if
someone asks about it, better to say, ‘I don’t know’ even though I
have some vague knowledge. When I share vague knowledge, the
problem is the vague knowledge goes to another person as not vague
knowledge. I might say, ‘I may go somewhere tomorrow.’ When
another person translates it, he will never say, ‘Swamiji may go.’ He
will say, ‘Swamiji will go.’ After that, another person will say,
‘Therefore, there is no class.’ Then there is also whatsapp which
people share. In fact, several times I get phone calls, ‘Swamiji, I heard
there is no class’, even though I have never said.
Therefore, when somebody has said something and somebody has got
a mobile, they just give the message. Here itself I see several rumours
floating. For a spiritual student it is never, never appropriate. If
somebody says, verify or don’t talk about it. Say I don’t know. It is not
a lie because vague knowledge is as good as ignorance. Therefore, with
vague knowledge you can happily say, ‘I don’t know.’ Therefore,
Shankaracharya uses the word य ने स क ं - whatever I have seen
clearly, without any doubt. From a distance I might have seen
someone who resembles someone else in Mumbai and I say he has
come from Mumbai. Therefore, unless you are very sure about it. So
स क ं. ं by whom? By myself. ने ं . So that is the ultimate proof.
But everything else we may not be able to see directly.
Shankaracharya also says स तु ं - seen by somebody else and shared by

that person. Make sure you hear clearly and before spreading it, ask

that person, ‘Are you sure?’ Especially death news and all. When we
do not know never spread the news that a person has passed away.
Poor fellow may very much be alive. Therefore, ask the question, ‘Are
you sure? Have you got this information from an authentic source?’
Until sure, never talk about it. So, त
ु ंच त एव अ भ भाषणम्- only that
much to be talked about. त ांइित उ ते - that is called स ं .
That doesn’t mean all the truth must be spoken. If a person is

handicapped, don’t say, ‘You are handicapped, deaf, blind.’ Don’t use
these words even if they are true. Even truth cannot be talked about if
it is going to hurt. What are we to do in such a situation? You need
not replace truth by untruth. If truth is hurting, replace it with silence,
not untruth. Sometimes you might have to tell the truth for certain
reasons but if hurting truth has to be spoken, pad it up well, so that
sufficient cushion is there. If you want to talk about somebody’s
mistake, first talk about that person’s glory. And after talking about
ten good deeds, then talk about a wrong one so that sufficient padding
is done. And that mistake also say once, don’t go on repeating it. You
did that. Don’t do that. Mention it so that it is conveyed. Don’t go on
dwelling. Dwell on good deeds. Never dwell on wrong things.
Therefore स ं इित उ ते. This is one definition of speaking the truth.
Speaking truth is speaking fact.
Then, Shankaracharya gives another definition. In वेदा शा , स ं means

न्. In धम शा , स ं doesn’t mean न् it means any fact. In dharma
sastras स ं means any fact. What is the capital of India? You say Delhi.
This is speaking the fact. In धम शा facts are called स ं . In वेदा शा
what is called स ं ? Not Delhi. Delhi is mithya only. In वेदा शा स ं is
स ं ानं अन ं . Talking about न् will also come under स भाषणं .
Therefore, he says स ं इित उ ते. न् is called स ं . And अ भभाषणम्.
Talking about न् also is स भाषणं . Of course, this is as secondary

meaning. Primary meaning is speaking the truth. With this, the eighth
virtue is over. Now the ninth virtue.
Verse 46-
देहािदषु क य ढबुि िवसजनम्॥

िनमम ं तृ ं यने कै व ं लभतेबुधः। 118 ||
The ninth virtue is mentioned in verse 34 as िनममता which he is

defining now. मम means ownership. Claiming such and such a thing or
such and such a person belongs to me is called ममकार:. Identification is
called अहंकार:. Claiming it belongs to me is called ममकार: And this,
according to वेदा ा, is a wrong notion. It is a मोह:. Why is it मोह? Due to
two reasons. The first reason is everything belongs to ई र, the िव प:,
the totality. Suppose I just own a piece of land and say that this
particular property, schedule number so and so, of so many sq. feet
belongs to me. When you say this, remember the land existed before
my birth. It was very much there. And will it be there after me or not?
It will be. In between, I come. And pay some money and get some
patta and then I claim it as my land. And Bhagavan will be smiling
from up above. Tomorrow this fellow is going to go away. Bhagavan
has allowed us to use the universe.
Just as in educational institutions we have got a laboratory. We are

allowed to use the lab when we are studying there. And when we
come away, we cannot bring all those materials. Similarly, we are
never owners of anything. We are only users of everything. Therefore,
‘I am the owner’ notion must go away. I am the user of Bhagavan’s
property. And there is lease payment for everything. There is a lease
period and you have to pay the money. That payment ार कम is the
lease amount. And depending upon the ार म् the thing will be
available for use. The moment that ार account goes I cannot use it.

That is why certain limbs in the body stop functioning. Ears don’t
hear. It means the lease period of the ear is over. Like when you don’t
pay the money, they cut off the electricity. Similarly, Bhagavan cuts
off. That means what? Gone. Similarly, eyes. Similarly, digestion, legs.
Everything is leased out with पु पाप. And it will be cut off any time.
Better we remember. Never claim ownership. And when we cannot
claim our own body, what to talk of our children? Claiming children
as mine and trying to control their life. Do not do that. Even after
they complete 60 years, this person wants to control everything they
do. All these will create problems. Ownership and controllership are
the primary causes of samsara.
I am a user. I am a contributor. I do what I can. Thereafter, what

happens is not under my control. Many parents come and say, ‘My
son wants to marry someone else.” While they are planning on their
own, news comes that he or she has chosen. Suddenly they find that
their children don’t seem to be their children, absolutely not willing
to listen and newspapers say they went to the court. And the girl is
asked, “Do you want to go with your parents or with this boy?” In
front of all the people this girl says, “I will choose this boy.” Now the
parents feel so dejected. This girl came only now. And our boy, the
child, is rejecting the precious parents for a girl or a boy who came
only yesterday. Shattering experiences for several parents. Better this
sloka is remembered so that, God forbid, we don’t face such issues.
But there is no rule that it will not happen to us. Every parent with
children must be aware of the fact. And there are some parents who
extend the control to the grandchildren also!
Therefore, Shankaracharya says, देहािदषु- right from body onwards.

क य बु ध: It belongs to me, I belong to them. They belong to me. I
am in charge of them. इितबु ध:. बु ध: means attitude or भावना. Not
ordinary भावना. ढबु ध: very, very strongly there. ढबु धिवसजनम्. And when

that comes remember my monkey example. Monkey with peanuts
with the hand in the pot which is fixed on the ground. And peanuts or
groundnuts are there. The monkey lifted. The fist is big and it is not
able to take it out. The owner comes and gives a beating left and
right. And if monkey wants मो ा from beatings it has only one way out.
नकमणा नपरजया नदनेन ागेनक
ै े न अमृत मानाशु. Remember we are all
descendants of monkey. We are also doing the same thing. Therefore,
Bhagavan will give regular thrashing, if we don’t develop िनमम ं . So, by
Viveka we drop - that is intelligence. If we don’t drop through िववेक,
भगवान् will give us painful experiences. Some people require such
experiences.
So ढबु धिवसजनम्. िवसजनम् means giving up - renunciation. What is िनमम ं ?

And I have said this before. Wherever अहंकार and ममकार are there, all the
राग ेषा are centered on aham and मम. Because my children’s राग े षा
becomes my own राग ेषा. My grandchildren’s राग े षा becomes my own.
Wherever ममकार is there राग ेषा will get transferred from there.
Therefore, with a big family means I have not only my राग े षा, I have
also added everybody else’s. And more the राग े षा, the more the anxiety
is because events need not respect my राग ेषा. Bhagavan never acts
according to my राग ेषा. Bhagavan goes by what? पु पाप. According to
कम, he will ruthlessly give experiences. He has to because he is कम फल
दाता. So the earlier we learn, the better for us.
Therefore, िनमय ं तृ ं येन. Whoever follows this िनमय ं बुध: कै व ं लभते. बुध:
means such an intelligent vedantic student, mature vedantic student
will get मो ा by अहं ा ानं . If ममकार is not handled and वेदा ा alone is
studied, वेदा ा becomes an intellectual knowledge. I know what is
त बोध, प कोषिववेक, अव ा यिववेक. I know it by heart also. I can tell others
also. What about you? I am worried. Worry and knowledge will co-
exist with अहं मम राग ेषा दु चतु यं . If दु चतु यं is not handled, ानं and

sorrow will co-exist. So, Shankaracharya says, only by avoiding these
four बुध: कै व ं लभते- a person can attain मो ा.
Continuing. Verse 47-
गु वेदा वचनैिन ताथ ढ ितः॥ 119 ॥

तदेकवृ ात य
ै नै ं नतुव णः।
So, the 10th virtue listed in verse no 34 is य
ै . य
ै means steadiness,
steadfastness, remaining unwavering. And Shankaracharya says that
steadiness can be of two types. Like cleanliness can be physical or
mental or both steadiness can also be शरीर य
ै or मानस: य
ै . Which one
is more important? By practicing योगा ास I may be able to get
steadiness at body level. There are some people who can sit for one
hour without changing their posture. In meditation, two or three
hours. By practice physical steadiness can be attained. It will be useful
also so that you can forget the body and do वणं or पूजा, etc. Physical
steadiness is useful alright.
But what is more important is mental steadiness in spiritual path. It is

not practiced now and then. It is a consistent and systematic study I
say. Consistency is important. I am never distracted by any other thing
because for me, that is the primary thing. Therefore, he says, िन ताअथ
in the vedantic teaching. अथ - message, the teaching. िन तं -which is
arrived at; namely ानयोग:. गु वेदा वचनै: िन ते- that which has been
arrived at with the help of गु वा ं and शा वा ं . They are
complementary. गु minus शा is not गु . शा ं minus गु is not शा ं . Each
one gets the status of it only because of the other.
Husband’s husband-hood depends upon wife. Without a wife how can

a person be a husband? Therefore, गु and शा ं both become
meaningful only when they go together. Therefore, गु वेदा वचनै:
िन ताअथ. िन ताअथ means ढ ित in vedantic teaching. Trying to remain

in the teaching as often as possible. Initially, I give separate time for
मननं and िनिद ासनं without giving excuses. And after I spend some time
separately, the knowledge enters my subconscious mind. Once it
enters the subconscious mind, thereafter no problem. Because
whatever I do, in the background I know this teaching. Therefore, in
simple language, commitment to the teaching is called य
ै .
So ढ ित:. Of course, this doesn’t refer to ानिन ा. Why? We are

talking about the qualifications of the student. If the student himself is
ानिन ा: he need not go to वेदा ा at all. Therefore, here य
ै is not
steadiness in knowledge. He is only getting the qualification for
studying वेदा ा. Therefore, remember it is commitment to the
teaching. And तदेकवृ ा. तदेकवृ ा means it is there in the back of the
mind all the time just as our family members are there in the back of
the mind. You don’t require िन ध ासनं for that. You don’t require
प ासनं , ाणायाम for that. प न व स
ृ ज न् all of them are crowding the
mind. We should get िन ा in the teaching like that. So तदेकवृ ा, tat य
ै .
नै ल is called य
ै or नै . िन ल ं नतुव ण: not the steadiness of the
physical body. व ण: means शरीरं . Steadiness of the physical body may
be useful, but it is not compulsory. More in the next class.

Page 9, verse 47-
गु वेदा वचनैिन ताथ ढ ितः॥ 119॥

तदेकवृ ात य
ै नै ं नतुव णः।
Shankaracharya has listed 18 values which will help in the refinement

of the mind. Mental refinement is called शम:. शम: is the first of the
group of 6 disciplines which are called शमािद ष सं पि :. First, he
enumerated 18 values in verses 33, 34 and 35. Now he is elaborating or
defining each one of these 18 virtues.
In the 47th verse, which we completed in the last class, Shankaracharya

defined what is य
ै or रत. य
ै was mentioned in verse 34 as the 10th
value. य
ै , आ िविन ह: etc. Are also there in the Gita. Here
Shankaracharya says, the word र ं doesn’t refer to the steadiness of
the external body even though योग शा ा talks about the steadiness of
the body as a part of meditation. In fact, the very definition of आसनं in
योग शा ा is, रसुखं आसनं . A person has got perfection in a posture when
he can sit in that particular posture for a minimum of 45 minutes
without any movement. I am not expecting from you. I am talking
about the आसनं रसुखं. Not only should I be steady for that time, I
should feel comfortable also. Otherwise, I will wait for the class to
end. पूणमत will it come? Will it come? So not only it must be steady
but it also must be comfortable. This discipline is a very good physical
discipline which will be useful for meditation, both उपासना as well as
िन ध ासनं .
Shankaracharya says, more important than physical steadiness is mental

steadiness. By mental steadiness he means mental commitment. And
by commitment he means commitment to the ान शा ा, गु वेदा उपदेश

which I have defined as consistent and systematic study of vedantic
scriptures for a length of time. That requires long term commitment.
And he says, this commitment with focus is called य
ै . And नतुव ण: -
physical steadiness is useful but not compulsory. If a person has got
physical steadiness and a wandering mind, is it better? Or if a person
has mental steadiness and wandering legs that are moving all over?
Between these two which is better? Mental steadiness is better. Up to
this we saw in the last class.
Continuing to verse 48. That Sanskrit numbering is wrongly written as

58. It should be 48.
िव ै यतपो पकु लवणा मािद भः॥120 ॥

स ाताह ृ ित ाग भमानिवसजनम्।
The 11th virtue mentioned in verse 34 is अ भमान िवसजनम्. In the BG 13th

chapter it is called अमािन ं . That is the first one mentioned in the
13thChapter of Gita. अमािन ं of the Gita and अ भमान िवसजनम् both are one
and the same. अ भमान means pride because of various factors. Pride,
vanity, superiority complex, etc. is called अ भमान: which can come
because of several factors or reasons. Shankaracharya gives a few of
them.
िव ा. िव ा means education. Because of high education or because of

several degrees, several doctorate, etc., I may feel proud that I am
superior to others. That is one cause of pride.
ऐ य- generally people understand as prosperity but really speaking, ऐ य

doesn’t mean prosperity ऐ य भाव: ऐ य. To be the master of a group, a
leader, controller, governor is called ऐ य. It can be roughly translated
as power caused by position. Because of my position in a corporation

or in any group, I have got certain powers. That power can go to the
head. That can cause pride or arrogance. So ऐ य is power.
तप: means various religious disciplines or austerities that one practices,

like उपवास or राि जागरणं during वैकु एकादशी, शवराि , etc, if I keep myself
awake. Some people walk to the temple and even to Tiupati, Palani,
etc, right from Chennai. Some people walk to Badri, Kedar and other
places. And some people walk without chappals in those places. These
are all different types of austerities. Austerities are very useful for
developing ितित ा. It is very, very good. But we should be very alert to
not allow them to get into our head and leading to pride or arrogance.
Therefore, तप: austerities.
पं means the personality, beauty. I am Miss Beauty, Mr. Beauty, etc.

That पं also can be the cause of pride.
कु ल: कु लम् you can understand. कु लम् means family. A person might

belong to a family of great people-parents or grandparents who might
have accomplished a lot. And even though I don’t have anything, I
just go on telling them I am the grandson, great grandson. Thus, pride
due to family अ भमान. कु ल अ भमान:. So, the word अ भमान must be used
with each one. िव ा अ भमान ऐ य अ भमान तपो अ भमान प कु ल अ भमान.
वण means the group or the जाित that a person belongs to ा ण, ि य,

वै , शु . Claiming that I am a ह् ामणा. ा ण अ भमान. That is one.
आ म अ भमान. The four आ मs- चय, गृह , वान and सं या स. सं या स can

also lead to अ भमान because it is said that everyone should do नम ार to
सं या स irrespective of what he is. The very आ म deserves respect. Even
though it is the duty of others to give respect to a सं या स, he should not
say “Do नम ार. I am a सं या स” and he cannot demand. Therefore, सं या स
अ भमान can be another अ भमान.

आिद भ:. आिद means etc. - all these and other reasons. सं जाता अहंकृती:-अहंकृती
means अहंकार. Pride, ego, सं जाता अहंकृती त ाग:. Renunciation of them
by remembering the 10th chapter of the Gita. Whatever glory I have, if
at all, all of them belong to ई र only. I am only a pipe line through
which भगवत: glory is manifesting. I cannot take any credit. I should be
humble for whatever I have. This is अहंकृती ाग:, renunciation of अहंकार
and ममकार is अ भमान िवसजनम्. The best method of अ भमान िवसजनम् is
moving with some other people who have everything more than mine.
If I have two Ph.Ds then move with someone who has four. Then I
will know, compared to him, I am zero, I am nothing. When we move
with somebody who is less, then naturally they will look up to me. So
always have friendship with someone who has accomplished more.
That is the easiest way of having humility. अ भमान िवसजनम् or humility is
a very, very, very important virtue. Then the next verse is no 49.
ि भ करणैःस ह ावैषियक िं याम्॥121 ॥

स िघ ा ा क
ै च नं य दी र ानमी रतम्।
छायेवसवदावासो िव ःसह ितः॥122 ॥
The next two values- value 12 and 13 occurring in the 34th verse. What
are they? ई र ान परता is the 12th value. And ् िव : सह ित is the 13th.
Both of them have been defined here. In fact, it is very evident. ई र
ानम् means meditation upon ई र which is otherwise called उपासनं .
उपासनं and ई र ानम् are one and the same. And this ई र उपासनं is the
intermediary discipline between कमयोग and ानयोग.
In fact ानम् is the corridor, the linking factor which connects कम,
which is total extrovertedness and ानयोग which is total introvertedness.
For an extroverted person, suddenly turning inwards is not that easy.
From बिहमुख ं to अ मुख ं , the transition cannot take place suddenly.
Therefore, we have got a corridor in between which is called उपासन

योग. In उपासन योग what I do is gradually reduce the extroverted physical
activity and replace those physical activities with mental activity called
ानम् which will be, very, very difficult. Only when someone attempts,
one will know. Sitting for five minutes and keeping the mind in one
field will be extremely difficult. Then only we know, how wavered our
mind is. In fact, we come to know that only when we try out.
And ई र ानम् itself has been defined in different stages. First, एक प

ई र ानम्. Then, िव पई र ानम्. एक प ई र is इ देवता. िव प ई र is the
िवराट्देवता. And before both of them or during the practice of them, one
of the practices is मानस जप:. जप is also a wonderful method of
quietening the mind. Taking any म ा and learning to sit for 5-10
minutes, initially reciting or repeating the म ा loudly. Loudly means
loud enough that I can hear. Thereafter, stop using the tongue and
continue the same repetition mentally without any other job. Mind
should not do two jobs. Mind is used to multi-tasking and so, on one
side it will repeat and on the other it will worry. Completely stopping
the mind from all other activities and employing 100% mind solidly in
that मानस जप. We need not think of the meaning. We need not think of
the deity also. Total focus on the very word म ा. These are all
wonderful forms of उपासनं . मानसजप is उपासनं . मानस पूजा is उपासनं . मानस पारायणं
is उपासनं . All these will be very, very useful for disciplining the mind
making the mind my instrument. Initially, what do you find? We are
the instrument of the mind. Mind is the boss. When the mind decides
to worry, I worry. When the mind decides to get angry, I get angry.
Normally the mind is the boss. I am दास:. Can this relationship be
reversed? Reversing this mind relationship is उपासनं . And this उपासनं has
to be practiced for some time.
And once the mind is sufficiently ready, then ान योग can be given
more importance. उपासन धान life to ान धान, वण मनन धान. Having
done sufficient वणं and मननं again we have to enter into ानम्. But

after वण मनन the meditation is of different types. What is that? You
are supposed to know. In the beginning stages ानम् is दासोऽहं ानम्. ई र
is Swami and I am a दास:. ई र is different. I am different. ई र is big. I
am small. This is the meditation during उपासन. After वण मनन, we have
to convert that meditation into अभेद ानम्. दासोऽहं to सोह ानं only. One
before वण मनन. Another is after वण मनन. Shankaracharya mentions
both of them. ा क
ै च नं . He is talking about the िन ध ासनं after वण
मननम्.
Meditation upon the self is the ultimate ई र ानम्. एक प is beginners

one. Visvarupa ानम् is the intermediary one. Atma ानम् is the
ultimate ई र ानम् because ई र is ultimately none other than atma. Lord
Krishna said in the Gita- अहं आ ा गुडाके श: सव भुत शया त:. So, this is a
very important discipline.
The next one-
In the third line, the 13th value called स : is highlighted. This is also
considered to be a very, very useful discipline because our mind is
influenced by our companionship or our association. With whichever
person we constantly move, that person’s character will rub off. Just as
you keep a flower in your hand for ten minutes, the hand will have
the वासना even after you put away the flower. Therefore, in every
relationship, there is an exchange of character. And if we have got
स ,स तवे िन ं िन े िनम ह ं िनम ह े िन लत ं िन लत े जीव िु :.
Therefore, he says, सवदा ् िव भ: वास:. Being associated with a ािन or

ािनन: (as though there are many available). Shankaracharya says,
स with ािनन:, if they are available. And if ािन are not
available, the fellow साधका: also will help such a relationship because
when co-seekers join together the discussion will be hopefully not
cinema star and TV serial. If you avoid these two discussions and talk

about something worthwhile then it is सह चारी सं योग:. Among the co-
students it is called support group.
In fact, they are suggesting support groups for everything. Suppose a

parent has got a child who has some handicap. Naturally the parent
will feel diffident on how to handle etc. One of the suggestions they
give is to have association with other parents who are also in similar
situations so that they can mutually understand each other’s difficulties
and also share methods of handling. We have got support groups in
every field. ‘Alcoholic anonymous’ means among drinkers there is
support group. If support group is possible everywhere, then why
can’t we have support group among the vedantic students, exchanging
ideas with a promise that it will never be used for gossip. Very, very
important. Such a support group will be a replacement for ािन सहवास:.
if ािनन: are not available.
Suppose, you say both are not available. Swamiji, no student is

interested. The next स is being in touch with the writings of महा न:,
through the literature available, even though they existed several
centuries ago. When we are reading SVSSS we are in स with आिद
Shankaracharya even though he lived centuries ago. Read their books.
Therefore, छायाइव. छाया means like a shadow, follow them. सवदा ् िव भ:
वास: it is called ् िव : सह ित. With this the 13th value is over.
Now, the 14th value, verse 50-
य दु ं ानशा े वणािदकमेषय
ु ः।
िनरतःकमधीहीनो ानिन ःसएविह॥123॥
The 14th value is enumerated in verse 35. And there it is named as ान

शा क
ै एकपरता, meaning one pointed commitment. And ान शा ा means
you can understand spiritual literature. Commitment and एकपरता is to

the exclusion of all other things. During Shankaracharya’s time,
committed वेदा ा pursuits were undertaken only by sanyasis. The
vedantic teaching was not made publicly available. This kind of
vedantic classes were not permitted and followed. If at all discourses
took place in the olden days, the पौरा णका: were encouraged to talk
about कमयोग, उपासनयोग and values together called धमशा ं . स मा ण what
are noble कमा ण. स गुणा: what are noble values? And स ावना: what are
noble attitudes? स म, स गुण, स ावना generally called धमशा ं otherwise
called कम उपासन योग alone must be brought to the public. Not वेदा ा महा
वा ं ऐ ं ं पद िवचार. They never made all these available. These were
kept exclusively for सं या स or those ह् ामणा: who were promoting the
study of scriptures. Scholars studied those शा ा ण as part of their
scholarship.
And since that was prevalent during Shankaracharya’s time, whenever

Shankaracharya writes about these values, he keeps a सं या स in his mind.
Therefore, he always says, ‘Always be in वेदा ा only.’ When you listen
to it you may wonder- if we are going to be all the time in वेदा ा who
will run the house? Who will work in the company? There are so
many duties. Shankaracharya did not envisage गृह ा: studying वेदा ा in
the set up. That is why he writes एक परता. एक परता means commitment
to shastric study to the exclusion of all other pursuits.
Now, in these days we will have to adjust and try to find as much time
as possible to attend the class regularly. And also, between classes, if
possible, locate the book first and then try to revise it. This is the
maximum the teacher can expect from the student. If he asks for
more, they may stop coming to class itself. And just as जापित respected
इ ा and िवरोचना the modern-day teachers also should adjust. So instead
of exclusive commitment we have to say - as much as possible. And
what is that? He says य त्उ ं ानशा -े whatever has been taught in
ानशा ा.

We are introducing so many Sanskrit words; to remember all of them
ं , भौितक ं , सगुणा ं , सिवकार ं , आगमापािय ं , then four features of कारणम्
एकसार िन स ं . So many concepts, so many Sanskrit words. If a student
must remember all of them to make the classes more absorbable, we
require time so that we develop familiarity with those Sanskrit words.
All of them we require commitment. Otherwise the teacher has to
explain every Sanskrit word. ‘SCS’ you say, the student will blink.
Again, the teacher has to say िववेक, वैरा ं and define each one of them.
Imagine every day the teacher has to define everything, then the
teacher cannot move forward at all. Therefore, the student has to try
to remember the Sanskrit words and concepts as much as possible.
Therefore, य द् ानशा े उ ं whatever has been said. Nice to have a
glossary of our own. Like at the end of the book there will be a
glossary in alphabetic order. We can have our own glossary.
So य ान शा े उ ं , like वणािदकं . वणं , मननं and िन ध ासनं . िनरत:. िनरत means

mentally engaged in that teaching. It can mentally be engaged if we
are young-aged. As we grow old, remembering also becomes difficult.
All those things are there which the गु has to take into account.
Therefore, िनरत: engaged in that.
And कमधीिहन: - not involved in too many extrovert activities because it

will make the mind pre-occupied. The more the PORT is...do you
remember the PORT? Again, I don’t want to explain. PORT reduction
I said is part of spiritual sadhana. The more the PORT is, the more the
extrovertedness is. We cannot completely cut off all the activities
because we have several duties as गृह ा. TF, those duties have to be
taken care of. But where we can reduce? Where there is a choice we
can reduce and use that time for वण मनन िन ध ासनं . So कमधीहीन:
obsession with कम. हीन: means without. कम stands for both worldly
activities or even ritualistic activities. There are many people who love

big, big rituals, for पूजा 5 –6 hours or for Vedic rituals. They are useful
initially. After sometime they themselves will become an obstacle.
Why obstacles? Because you have to plan. This is to be done, that has
to be done, that person has to be contacted. Therefore, the mind is
always preoccupied. You cannot close the eyes for even one minute
because the mind will be wandering. And therefore, कमधीिहन:
Shankaracharya keeps a sanyasi in mind. In this context, we have to
take as reduction of extrovertedness. स:एव ान िन ा:. Here the word ान
िन ा must be understood as ानयोग िन ा:. Such a person is a committed
practitioner of ान योग.
Continuing. Page 10 verse 51-
धनका ा रादीनां ा कालेसख

ु ािद भः।
िवकारहीनतैव ा ख
ु दुःखसमानता॥124 ॥
So the 15th value is mentioned in verse 35 and that value is समता. समता
means equanimity, mental poise, mental balance. And what do you
mean by mental balance? Even when there are provoking situations.
Life is full of varying situations because our ार कम is regularly
unfolding. And in the case of a human being not only ार कम, some
of the आगािम कमा ण also. Now what is आगािम कम? In the current ज ा
whatever कम I have done, some of them can produce good and bad
results in the current ज ा itself. ार is the फलम् of previous ज ा. आगािम
is the फलम् of the current ज ा actions. Both of them are unfolding
regularly and both of them are invisible. Next one hour what is going
to happen we do not know. And the ार is always a mixture and so
मा ा शा ु कौ य
े शीतउ सुखदु:ख they are going to continuously flow. No
human being can stop it.
Therefore, since कम cannot be changed, better to change our mind.

Where the world cannot be changed, use the energy to change the

mind. If rain cannot be stopped, I can at least put on a rain coat. So,
whenever world cannot be changed, situation cannot be changed,
instead of wasting my time and energy complaining about the
situations, I start working on my mind so that it is strong enough to
reduce the negative impact, dilute the impact. That is called िन ं च in
the 13thchapter िन ं च सम च ं इ अिन उपपि षु. The best method
Bhagavan has given in the BG is, ई र साद भावना. Even as you are
starting the day, you give a message to the mind. “Whatever comes
today, O Lord, give me the mental strength to accept without
resistance.” Because, my कमफलम् who has to go through? I have to go
through. Since I have to go through my कमफलम्, I am certainly willing
to go through. I will not complain to anyone. I only pray to you
today. Today’s morning prayer is for today’s management. What about
tomorrow? Let us see. Tomorrow we will start tomorrow morning.
Again, we will charge the battery. Today I should be able to accept
whatever ार brings. This toughening of the mind is to withstand the
ups and downs and maintain mental balance. सुखदु:खे समेकृ ा लाभालाभौ
जयाजयौ ततो यु ाय यु नैवं पापमवा स- Lord Krishna said in Gita. This is
otherwise called कमयोग method of keeping mental balance.
सम ं योग उ ते. Therefore, he gives a few examples- धन, का ा रादीनां

ाि काले. Some examples for unpleasant situations and others for
pleasant. धनं . धनं means wealth. When wealth comes, is it a pleasant or
unpleasant situation? Normally if it is not 500 and 1000- rupee notes
धनं is pleasant. Then the other extreme is रं. रं means what? Fever.
Fever represents unpleasant situation. Nobody is going to enjoy fever.
One example for pleasant, another for unpleasant. And Shankaracharya
places का ा in the middle. का ा means what? Wife. Or it can be taken
as husband as the case may be. The spouse, he intelligently places in
the middle. Depending on the type of spouse you can add it on left-
hand side or right-hand side. Whether Shankaracharya thought or not,
I am interpreting. Ok. If the spouse is a welcome one धनका ा- read

together. Then र: is a separate one. If का ा is terrible, causing fever,
then धनं in the left side and का ा and र: on the right side. You can
decide how you are going to sort out.
So धन का ा रादीनां. When such situations come ा कालेसख

ु िद भ: the
natural response of the mind is सुखं or दु:खं . Because, whenever a
pleasant situation comes, mind naturally responds with happiness.
Whenever an unpleasant situation comes, the mind naturally responds
with unhappiness. This emotion is common but what Shankaracharya
says is, may you learn to balance them, manage them. Don’t get totally
lost when pleasurable situations come. Over-rejoicing or over-elation
is also not correct because good situations are also not permanent.
Therefore, elation also is not good. Similarly, when negative situations
come, sorrow cannot be avoided. Let sorrow be there but let us learn
to tone down or manage that also. Both do not overpower me. Not
allowing them- both happiness and unhappiness- to overpower is the
discipline here.
िवकारहीनता. Reduction of mental disturbance. In my language reduced

FIR. F means Frequency of emotional disturbances. ‘I’ stands for
Intensity of emotional disturbances, ‘R’ stands for Recovery period. All
these three must gradually come down and in their place the three Cs
must increase. First C standing for Calmness, second C standing for
Cheerfulness and third C standing for Confidence or Courage. These
three must gradually increase. I am prepared for the world today and
in the future also. So कमधीिहन:. Avoidance of over turbulence of the
mind is called सुखदु:ख समानता. And remember we are not going to avoid
them totally. That is why I said FIR reduction.
You can never eliminate happiness and unhappiness. These feelings are
natural to the mind. Mind is mind only when these feelings are there.
Because mind is designed to have feelings. Feelingless mind is a rock

and वेदा ा never wants to convert into rocky human beings. Human
feelings are natural. Human feelings are beautiful also but never allow
any one of them to overpower. Our discrimination power must be
intact even when it is a painful situation. In the entire Ramayana,
Rama’s life shows how to maintain धमा even when the situations are
painful. So, this is called सम ा. With this, the 15th value is over.
Then the 16th value, I will introduce in verse 52, which is there in
verse 35. What is the name? मानानासि :. How do you split the word
properly? मान अनासि :. मानम् means honour, respect, admiration, etc.
Expecting them from others is called आसि :- always looking for
admiration from others, honour from others, praise from others.
Especially if we get praise a few times when we are never used to. In
some houses we never get. We get only the opposite अचना. That is not
a problem. But if we are used to getting praise here and there,
naturally the mind will look for that. This looking for praise is called
आसि : and Shankaracharya says अनासि : - not having a longing for
praise from others or admiration from others. And even if it comes,
immediately hand over that either to Bhagavan or गु . And what will
गु do? He will hand over to his गु who will hand over to his गु .
Ultimately, it will reach Bhagavan safely. This is मान अनासि :. We will
see the exact meaning in the next class.

Page 10, Verse 5-
े ं पू ं िविद ामांमानय ज
ु नाभुिव।
इ ास ािवहीन ं मानानासि ते॥125 ॥
We are studying सव वेदा स ा सार सं ह: and we are seeing selected

verses which deal with साधन चतु य सं पि of which the first two we have
completed. िववेक and वैरा ं . Now we have entered into the third
qualification which is a group of internal disciplines. All the six
disciplines put together is the third qualification. Of them, we have
taken up the first internal discipline called शम:. शम:, in TB, was defined
as मनोिन ह: - learning to manage the mind. Or learning to manage the
thoughts that arise in the mind so that the mind can be maintained in
a relatively calm, poised, equanimous condition. Shankaracharya said,
this शम can be accomplished through several methods. Some of them
he mentioned earlier. Then, he pointed out that following the virtues
prescribed in the shastra called sat guna or sat dharma also contribute
to mental equanimity. Just as we talk about various parameters for
physical health like the right pressure, sugar, cholesterol etc. when we
have a master checkup. When we see that these readings are
reasonably ok and when these parameters are maintained, it is an
indicator of the physical health. Just as important parameters indicate
physical health, these values are the parameters indicating mental
health. Many values are mentioned in shastra and of them
Shankaracharya picks up 18 values enumerated in verses 33, 34 and 35.
Having enumerated them, Shankaracharya is defining each one of

them. Now, we have entered into the 16th value which is defined in
verse 52, which saw in the last class, before the mini vacation. What is
the 16thvalue mentioned? मान: अनासि :. Literally, the word मानं means

honour or respect like garlanding, glorifying, worshipping, पाद पूजा all
come under मानं or honour. Opposite of अपमानं . मान: and अपमान:. So मानम्
means honour from others. आसि : means craving for that
acknowledgement from others, respect from others. अनासि : means the
opposite of that. Not craving for honour and respect from others. We
need not seek अपमानं . We neither seek मानं , nor we seek अपमानम्.
Whether we seek or not, according to our ार कम, both are going to
come. According to our ार कम, we will be respected by some and
we will be disrespected by some or many. And when both of them
come according to ार we try to practice मानापमानयो तु : तु ो िम ा र
प यो” सवार ः प र ागी गुणातीत स उ ते. LK says,
etc. I don’t invite अपमानं . I don’t crave for
मानं also. This neutral attitude welcomes all experiences as ई र साद.
Because according to the कम, भगवान् is going to regularly give both
pleasant and unpleasant. And it can happen in our own family.
Shankaracharya says in BG, as we grow older, our contribution to the

family becomes lesser and lesser. Sometimes, not only do we not
contribute, we become what? A load on the family also. Then, they
may not respect us or behind our back, they may say, “When is he
going to leave?” “When will we be free from this?” All these things,
we may have to face. We need not look for that. Have a mind which is
ready for all those situations because we might depend on others even
though psychologically, we may become independent. ानं only
promises internal independence. ानं never promises external
independence. Even the greatest jnani, after a particular age, may
require a stick for walking. Or he may require the help of somebody
else to move. Or he may even become bedridden. ानं doesn’t save us
from external dependence. That is why we said, ानं removes सं चतकम,
ानं avoids आगािमकम. ानं cannot handle ार कम. ार may lead to
dependence. Nobody can stop it. We should be ready for that
dependence also. God forbid, if we become dependent, others may

serve us with a smile. Or others may serve us with cursing or frowns.
We should be ready to accept both. For that, the preparation is either
भि or ानं . If we are in triangular format, the solution is भि . If we are
in binary format, the solution is ानं . We have to be ready. TF, the
value is, “Don’t crave for respect.” When we had completed our
spiritual training in the आ म, Swami Chinmayananda gave us
instructions. Swamiji said, “Don’t go out stretching the leg for पादपूजा.”
Your opportunity in the society is for साधन. Even teaching is a form of
साधन. Never, never develop arrogance. “I am a teacher. I am a गु . I
deserve respect.” Nothing like that. Be humble. That is the indication
here. So, the thought of a person who is craving for respect is
mentioned here in the first line. In the second line, he says don’t do
that. The first line describes a person who seeks respect. What does he
say? जना: मां मानय .ु The thought of the respect, worship craver. मानय ु
let everyone respect me, honour me, adore me, do पादपूजा to me, give
purna kumbham to me, garland me is मानय ु. And how should we do
that? Knowing I am great, so े ं पू ं मांिविद ा. Society might recognize
me as े ा. Great and noble, Mahan. And पू ं . That I am worship-
worthy. I deserve honour and पूजा. िविद ा. Thus, recognising my glory,
जना: मांमानय .ु May the people honour me where? भुिव everywhere. Not
only here. Wherever I go I should be honored. This is within inverted
commas. Shankaracharya says, avoid that. इितआश ा. Such a craving
आसि : means deep craving. िवहीन ं - freedom from such a craving and
rejecting such a thought is called मान:अनासि :. In simple language, not
only humility must be there, there should not be seeking of any
honour or respect also. And even if by chance honour comes,
generally what happens is when a person becomes more and more
humble, he doesn’t demand respect. But what happens? He begins to
command respect. And even if he doesn’t want, wherever he goes he
will get it. Then also sastram warns, if at all honour comes, never take
it for yourself. Immediately hand over by e transfer, electronic transfer,
give to your गु . Andगु will hand over to his गु . And ultimately it will

go to भगवान् who deserves all the honour. TF not only the deserving
भगवान् will get, we will be free form spiritual fall also. Taking the
honour as my honour will lead to spiritual fall. Some swami jocularly
said, if somebody is doing पादपूजा and you receive it as your own पूजा,
remember they are not worshipping your legs. They are pulling your
leg. It is only jocular expression. Theidea is you will fall down. This is
the 16th value. Now we will go to the 17th. Verse no 53.
स न स ाधोिव ोऽयं िनजनेततः।

य
े िम क
े एवा चे व
ै क
ै ा शीलता॥126 ॥
So the 17th virtue is enlisted in the 35th ोका, and in that ोका, it was
titled एका शीलता. एका शीलता means taking to seclusion whenever
possible andnot getting lost in the company of people. Socializing is
ok. But it should not become an addiction to such an extent that I am
never able to be alone. And whenever such a situation comes, I
immediately look for getting out and seeking the company of people.
Either seeking physical company, ornow a dayscell phone is there.
Immediately contact someone. This getting lost in the company of
people is an obstacle to spiritual growth. LK mentions this in the BG
13th chapter सं सिद means company of
people. रित: means reveling- all the time cutting jokes and drinking,
eating and going out, loitering -thus having a gala time. This is
interesting alright but never get addicted to that. Friendship is
wonderful. Socialization is a must, especially when a person is part of
the society. For sanyasi it is banned. No socialization allowed for a
sanyasi. For a gruhasta it is allowed but not overdoing because in the
company of people, we become more and more extrovert. We will
never have an opportunity to look into our own mind, our own
personality, no opportunity for introspection. Introspection is a very
important thing to understand where I stand. What are my
weaknesses? I should know. Only when I identify my weaknesses, I
can work on rectifying that. TF, now and then, seek seclusion. Go for
a walk alone. Or go to a beach and sit there for some time. Don’t seek
company all the time. This is possible only when we understand that
it is an obstacle for spiritual thoughts. That is what is said here- सं भादा:
in the first line. सं भादा: means crowd or groups, company of people.
सं भादा: means company of people. Assembly of people. जनसं सिद of the
13thchapter of BG. The same idea is referred to as सं भादा:. Not सं ब .
सं ब you know because you are all सं ब ी. So here it is सं भादा: crowd is
िव : an obstacle. Constant company of people is an obstacle. Obstacle
for सत च न . सत् च नं means noble thoughts. The word सत् can be
taken as noble, or the word सत् can refer to न् also, सदेव सो इदं अ
आसीत् एकमेवाि तीयं the word सत् means noble also. The word सत् means
pure existence also. TF, स नम् can be translated as noble thoughts or
न् thoughts. So both meanings are ok. For this न् thought िव is
सं भादा:. And that is why you will find between two classes also if you
had many activities, you had visitors or navaratri you have to join
others, others have to come. Lot of interactions take place. You don’t
have even time for revision. Even if time is there, mind is not available
because you have to plan to entertain. Either you will be in host
thought or in guest thought. If you have to be a guest -what should I
wear? One week before. To wear this or not? Green and yellow or
yellow and green? Last moment they change also. That is why sanyasis
have no choice. Monday what dress? Kaavi, Tuesday Kaavi. TF, you
don’t have to bother about dress and also you don’t have to bother
about hairdo. TF, lot of socialization will make you more body
conscious and interaction conscious. अ ो र आ ा ाणमय itself we cannot
go where is the question of मनोमय, िव ानमय, आन मय? All out. TF, तत: if
you are a spiritual seeker that is the condition. If not a spiritual seeker,
we don’t tell all those things. But if a person is a spiritual seeker all
these fine rules will have to be followed. TF, िनजने य
े म् may you take
to seclusion now and then. य
े म् means seclusion. य
े म् means one
should take to िनजनं . And in his गीता commentary, Shankaracharya gives

an exception. If you don’t have to look for seclusion you can have
company of people. He gives an exception where you can have the
company of people. But what people? Those who will talk about
अ ो र आ ा ाणमय:, अ ो र आ ा मनोमय: not the people who discuss the
type of dress and ornaments. Don’t combine with dress discussion
ornament discussion people. Only the आ ा discussing people. That
company will be known by a name- स ं ग:. स ं ग is OK. But often what
happens? People join together for plan for स ं ग. Five minutes वेदा ा.
Then देवा ा. It becomes completely different topic. What is your son-
in-law doing? Daughter-in-law doing? No family discussions. We
should completely avoid family discussions. If at all discuss, discuss
this, otherwise depart. That is Shankaracharya’s ruthless instructions.
So एक एव अ . Safe and remaining एक:. एक: means alone. Learn to stay
alone. And this not done once, but every now and then one has to do
that. I have told about this. When Swami Chinmayananda used to
conduct camps in Siddha Bari where there is a vast area, beautiful
nature, trees and rivulets and all. Evening you walk and think on the
classes that went by. And Chinmayananda used to instruct to walk
alone and you know what the campers do? When they go out of the
campus they go one by one. And they will fix the place of meeting
one or two Kms away and there they will be a group of 2, 3 or 5.
What discussion? Chennai in Siddha Bari. Chennayil thiruvayaru, like
that chennayil siddhabari. एका शीलता should be a habit. Continuing.
सं सारब िनमुि ःकदाझिटितमेभवेत।्

इितयासु ढाबुि री रतासामुमु तु ा॥ 127 ॥
So now comes the 18th and final virtue which is called मुमु तु ा. Which
occurs in verse 35. Even though मुमु ु ं is going to be separately
mentioned later as the 4th main qualification, but still Sankaracharya
says that is important as a means for शम: and so he enumerates and
defines separately. And what is मुमु ु ? Desire for liberation. So, desire

for liberation is freedom from सं सार. And सं सार or bondage is defined in
several manners. One definition which is generally given and which
can be understood by most people is freedom from the cycle of birth
and death. पुनरिप जननं पुनरिप मरणं this cycle is called सं सार. This is one of the
definitions. And desire for freedom from that. Either a person is afraid
of death or a person is afraid of rebirth or a person is afraid of both.
These are the general human tendencies. TF, in the first line he defines
the thinking of this seeker. So सं सार ब िनमुि : freedom from the
bondage of सं सार, mortality.
कदा मे भवेत?् When am I going to discover that? There must be an

anxiety. There must be an urge, not casual urge but a serious urge.
They give the example of a person whose head is under water. He
wants to breathe and his struggle for breathing is how intense?
Somehow or the other. Suppose there you talk about SCS and all he
will say , “No sadhanam or chatushtayam. I am not able to breathe!”
Just as a person under water desperately looks for breathing, similarly,
the desire for freedom must be a deep craving. That is why झिटित. झिटित
means how quickly I will get? Not relaxedly. When ever it comes let it
come. It is भगवत: problem. TF, not a casual approach. How quickly
will I able to get मुमु ु ं . इित सु ढा बुि : this firm thought. This firm urge.
This intense craving for liberation is called ती मुमु ु ं . That is why the
desire also they will classify into म , म म and ती . When we take food
three or four times a day, we don’t know what is hunger. Then why
are you eating? That is my lunch time. TF, a person doesn’t have
desire for eating. Generally we eat because it is the time of eating and
other person also says, “You finish, I have to wash the vessels.” TF, we
don’t know how we will look for food if we haven’t eaten for a few
days. That is called ती मुमु ु ं .
So, within the 18 virtues there is a कारणं for शम, the काय, कायकारणसं ब
between values and शम has been shown. And with this the topic of शम

is over. Where did it start? From verse 28 up to verse 54 is शम:. And
now comes the next topic of दम:. All these are what? 6-fold internal
disciplines. दम: is going to be discussed in only two verses. Sorry. Not
two verses. 55 to 58 – four verses deal with दम:. We will enter.
चयािद भधमबु ेद षिनवृ ये।

द नं दमइ ा दमश ाथकोिवदाः॥128 ॥
In TB, दम was given one definition, whereas here, Shankaracharya gives

two. TB definition will come in the next sloka and a new definition is
given here. What is that? When we deliberately practice the above
mentioned 18 virtues, we discipline the mind because normally the
mind is what? Wavering mind. It will entertain all types of involuntary
thoughts. It is like a forest. We ourselves don’t know what all thoughts
came and what will come? Our effort to discipline the mind, the
practice of discipline by or with the help of the 18 virtues, is called दम.
If the practice of 18 virtues is दम: then what is शम:? Both look the
same. A very fine difference.
The practice is called दम: and the result is शम:. And why do we insist
on practice? It is not enough that you know the 18 virtues. I know
what are the 18 virtues. Which ones do you practice? I won’t practice.
I know that very well. I have written in the note book also. If you
want, I will read out to you. Knowledge will not give you any benefit.
They are meant for practicing and this practice is called दम. The result
is called शम:. Deliberate disciplining is दम:. The natural discipline that
is there is called शम:. For a person who has attained शम, these virtues
are naturally there. A person who is in दम, is deliberately practicing
that. TF, he says, बु े: दोषिनवृ ये to free the mind from its instinctive,
deficiencies or flaws.

दोष means what? Flaw. Mistakes. Deficiency. Problems like anger,
worry, anxiety etc. They are now natural to us. We don’t have to sit
and worry. You don’t have sit in प ासनं and शुचौ देशे ित ा . Why are you
sitting? I want to practice worry. No. You don’t require any
preparation. Worry is very natural. All these natural weaknesses of the
mind, I have to deliberately push out one by one. When I push, they
go away and come back through the other door. TF, it requires
repeated practice. Anxiety, worry, fear, hatred, depression, inferiority
complex, all these are mental दोषा: िनवृ ये. Eliminate these mental
blocks. द नं . द नं means practicing the discipline of the mind. With
the help of these 13 virtues- ह् मचयािद भ:. Why does he say ह् मचयम्? You
should know the reason. Because, that is the first virtue he
enumerated. TF, he says ह् मचय आिद भ: the 18 virtues beginning from
ह् मचयम्. धम:. धम means values or virtues. द नं - disciplining the mind.
TF, each virtue is like a stick, like a cane the police keeps. Similarly,
we have to keep these 18 canes and go on punishing the mind when
these problems come. द नं दम: इ ा :. In simple English, practice of
mental discipline is called दम: The success that follows is called शम:.
This meaning is only in SVSSSS. And now he gives the regular
definition from TB. We will read.
त ृि िनरोधेनबा े यिविन हः।

योिगनोदमइ ा मनसःशा साधनम्॥129 ॥
So, this is the popular definition of दम: if you remember TB, by

chance, there we asked question. शम: क:? मनो िन ह:. दम: क:? इ य िन ह:.
इ य:- the sense organs, िन ह: - discipline. TF, दम: means sensory
disciplines. शम: is mental discipline. दम: is sensory discipline because
just as the mind wavers, the sense organs also run all over like a one or
two-year-old baby. It runs all over and pulls everything. Handling one
baby is difficult and we have got how many? 5+5. Five ाने या ण and
five कम या ण. All of them are continuously doing something or the

other. Even the hand will not remain still for many people. If there is a
piece of paper, they will tear it. If there is a pencil it will be eaten. Or
nail biting. These are all what? चे ा of the sense organs. That is why
when children are asked to chant or recite, they say, “Fold your
hands.” This is important. Don’t do anything else. We can keep like
this on the head also. The ता य is not in where you keep. The ता य is
don’t do anything. Or you keep like that. That is also nice because
then they are not prone to चे ा. TF, he says त ि ि िनरोधेन. वृि means the
movement of the sense organs. वृि literally means वृि or functioning.
What is the function of sense organs? Move around in its field. The
eyes will move in the field of forms and colours. Ears will move in the
field of sound.
Thus, each sense organ has got its own field. In that field they keep on
roaming, wandering or loitering. And if they wander, often it is
harmless. But there are sometimes occasions where, the object can
trigger either राग or ेष. Any object is a potential generator of either
like or dislike. And once the object becomes liked or disliked, the
object will sit in the mind. That is why the object is known by two
different words in Sanskrit. When it is a neutral object, where I have
neither like nor dislike I look at the object. The object enters my
mind. I turn away. For the object also, out of sight is out of mind. All
those objects are called neutral objects, पदाथ:. But there are some
objects capable of creating either like or dislike- राग or े ष. And what is
the indication? When I look at it, it will enter. When I look in another
direction the object will also sit, like some tenants who occupy your
house and never vacate it. Similarly, many objects are tenants without
our permission. They refuse to vacate. Be careful. TF he says, learn to
restrain the sense organs. And I didn’t tell you the name of the object.
When the object is no more neutral but it sits in the mind and disturbs
it is called िवषय:. िवषय: means it will occupy your mind. पदाथ: means it
will enter and go like courier fellow. He comes, does the job and goes.

You don’t sit and meditate on him. But there are certain things which
are capable of binding. That is called िवषय: and the warning given is
when पदाथ is becoming िवषय, when पदाथ is turning to िवषय, a red light
should burn. And you should withdraw the sense organs and if the
object is still there in the mind we have to displace that object.
Remember the second chapter BG? ायतो िवषयान् पुं सा:. TF, वृि िनरोध:
means withdrawing the sense organs from potential िवषय: tempting
objects. And the philosophy of advertisement is what? They have to
tempt you. Then only you will buy that object. TF there is a constant
fight between all the business people- the sellers. That is why they are
called commercials. What we called advertisement before, nowadays
they call it commercial. Every board on the street is trying to hook
you.
TF, त ि ि िनरोधेन. िनरोध means restraining those sensory functions.

बा इ यिविन ह:- restraining the external sense organs. The sense organs
are called external because mind is an internal organ. Compared to the
mind which is internal, sense organs are called external because sense
organs can contact the world directly. Mind cannot contact the world
directly. Mind can contact the world only through the sense organs.
TF, mind is considered अ र यं . Sense organs are called बा े यं . िविन ह:
योिगन:. योिगन: means all the spiritual masters. दम: इित आ : - all these
sensory disciplines as दम:. In अ ा योग of Pathanjali it is called ाहार:.
आहार means not food. आहार: means withdrawal. ाहार means
withdrawal of sense organs from the tempting sense objects ाहार or
दम:. And why this is very important? He says, दम is a very important
means for शम:-mental peace. For mental peace, दम is important. Why?
What is the logic? Because, when दम is not there, sense organs will
push the sense objects inside. And when they are pushed inside and राग
and े ष are generated, राग े ष will not allow the mind to remain quiet. It
will push the mind. Go shopping. Go shopping. Go shopping. It will
push you into shopping. TF, stop over shopping. That is

Shankaracharya’s advice. Don’t get wild with me. Shankaracharya’s
advice. TF, मनस: शा साधनं -शा means शम: it is the means of mental
peace. More in the next class.
ॐपूणमदःपूणिमदं पण

14.Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha
Verses 56 to 60
Page10, Verse 56
त ृि िनरोधेनबा े यिविन हः।

योिगनोदमइ ा मनसःशा साधनम्॥129 ॥
In these five verses, beginning from the 55th verse up to the 58th verse,
Shankaracharya is dealing with the qualifications called दम:. And he
gives two meanings for that word. The first meaning is given in verse
55 which we saw. And it is nothing but deliberately practicing the
right values while deliberately avoiding the wrong values, with effort.
Always because of our own वासनािन, the wrong value in the form of
wrong thought, like hatred, anger, jealousy etc. continuously arise in
the mind. We need not invite them. Without invitation, they naturally
rise. What is called आसुरीसं पत् in the BG. And when those tendencies
arise in the mind, deliberately push them out, right in the beginning
itself, nipping in the bud by deliberately practicing the opposite value.
So, when the hatred comes, avoid that by looking at the background
of the person and also by understanding that we also have our own
problems and in spite of our problems we don’t want others to hate
us. If I don’t want to be hated by others, I should also not hate others.
Thus, by employing appropriate thought patterns, removal of the आसुरी

सं पत् like hatred is a discipline. Like gardening, weeding out the wrong
plants and planting the right ones and carefully tending them. These
practices are called दम:. And the difference between शम and दम
according to this definition is the deliberate practice is called दम:.
When the mind naturally entertains noble thoughts without invitation,
compassion comes. Without invitation, consideration thought comes.

Without invitation, generosity comes. When they have become
spontaneous it is called शम:. When practised deliberately it is called
दम:.
Thus, दम: is कारणं , शम: is कायम्. दम is effort, शम: is the result. So, this is
the first meaning of the word दम: -deliberate practice of values. In
other words, disciplining the mind or thoughts. And that meaning is a
rare meaning given by Shankaracharya himself.
In the 56th verse, Shankaracharya gives the second meaning which is

the most popular meaning which we have seen in TB, VC, वेदा सार -in
all of them. The second meaning which I introduced in the last class-
disciplining the sense organs because disciplining the sense organs will
also help in quietening the mind, because the sense organs are the
gateways through which the external world enters the mind. Out of
sight out of mind. If I don’t have discipline over the sense organs, all
kinds of rubbish will enter. Just as they have got garbage cans where
everything is dumped, our mind also will become what? Overflowing
garbage can where the five sense organs constantly dump all kinds
rubbish, junk material just as they come in your internet. But there is a
delete button. You should keep on deleting even here all the wrong
things, tempting things, the creator of kama, krodha etc. when they
tend to enter, we should turn the sense organs away. The example LK
gave in the BG is the example of a tortoise or turtle which has got four
legs and one head. Whenever there is danger, what does it do?
Withdraw. कू मा ािन सवश:. And how long will it remain in that
condition? It is within the thick shell until the danger passes. Danger
means, generally, human beings. So, when the danger is gone, they
will again come out. Similarly, don’t allow the sense organs to roam in
all the fields. And once the sense organs have pushed some object into
the mind, which is capable of disturbing, the mind takes over. This is
a cooperative endeavor, joint venture which LK describes in the 3rd

chapter. Once the sense organs have pushed the wrong material, I
develop either राग or े ष. Either way, the mind begins to dwell on the
object. The object has gone out of the range of sense organs. Even
though the object has gone, the mind keeps on replaying. VCP and
VCR. I keep on playing again and again. That is called ायतोिवषया स:.
ुं
We have to avoid both. Here we are talking about sensory disciplines.
Otherwise once the राग ेष are generated, mind will lose peace of mind.
That is what is said here in verse 57, which we will read.
इ ये याथषु वृ ेषय
ु या।
अनुधावितता व
े मनोवायुिमवानलः॥130 ॥
All these are nice ideas are borrowed from the BG. In the second
chapter, there is a verse इ याणां िह चरतां य नोनु िवदीयते तद हरित ां वायुनाव
इवा स. The same example is also given here. इ येषु वृ ष
े -ु when the
sense organs are engaged in the external field, वृ ं means engaged,
engaged in the external field. य या by chance, not that I wanted to
see but the object fell within the range of the sense organs. That is
why the word य या means what? Without my willing or planning
which I cannot control because it is य या. But after it has fallen
within the range whether I should remain in that field or turn away is
not dependent on य but is dependent on the will. If I don’t use the
will to discipline what will happen? The mind will begin to run. TF,
he says, मन: तािनअनुधावित. The mind will run after those sense objects
which are capable of generating either राग or े ष. अनुधावित like what? मन:
अनुधावितवायुं इवअिनल:, sorry अनल:. अनल: means what? The forest fire.
Initially, the forest fire comes because of some wind and friction of
two dry trees in the forest. And because of the friction the flame
comes. That is by chance. And thereafter the direction of the flame is
determined by what? The wind. And just as the fire travels along with
the wind the mind also will begin to travel along with the sense
organs, along with the sense objects, along with राग and ेष, along with

emotional disturbances. The mind is no more my instrument. I have
become a slave of the mind and sense organs. TF, never allow such a
situation to arise. Continuing to verse 58-
इ येषुिन े षु ावेगंमनः यम्।

स भावमुपाद े साद ने जायते॥
स स
े ित च ऽे मुि ः स ितना था॥131 ॥
The previous ोका and this ोका are complementary. The previous
ोका talked about the consequences when the sense organs are not
disciplined. This ोका talks about the positive benefits if the sense
organs are mastered. The previous one is ितरेक:, this ोका is अ य:.
इ येषुिन ेष-ु when the sense organs are restrained. If you remember the
कठोपिनषद् context where life itself is compared to a journey. The
physical body is the chariot. The sense organs are the horses. Mind is
the reins which control the horses. Intellect is the driver who has to
handle the reins. And jivatma is the traveller. TF, sense organs must be
controlled by the mind.The mind must be instructed by the intellect.
And when intellect is informed and it gives the right instructions to
the mind and the mind appropriately restrains the sense organs, what
will happen? ावेगंमन यं . The mind will drop its passion. वेगं means
what? The momentum of the mind. Because of which momentum, I
am caught in what? The external world of राग े षिवषय. That momentum
is reduced. The passion for things is diluted. So the mind loses its
momentum. Momentum represents the रजोगुण of the mind. The रजोगुण
of the mind is diluted and it will be replaced by what? स गुण. A mind
which is relaxed, which is calm, which is contained and which is
available for my job. So, स भावम्उपाद े sometimes it happens. In certain
families there is one car available. Nowadays every family member gets
one car because of the availability of loan. TF each one has but
sometimes there are many members and one car. There is always a
fight. Always there is competition. And when I want the car, it will

not be available. Either the spouse has taken or children have taken or
the neighbour has taken. Similarly, the mind is like the car I want to
use, one car and five sense organs are there. Constantly keeping the
mind captive, what is the net result? When I want the car, it is not
available. That means the mind is not available for SVSSS वणं . It may
not be available for anything.
TF, स भावम् उपाद े mind becomes calm. And तेन साद: जायते. The mind
becomes सा क् and because of सा क् conditions the mind becomes
tranquil. साद; means tranquility of the mind is the result. And a
tranquil mind is available for my task. That means the mind can be
engaged in वणं , engaged in मननं and िन ध ासनं . For मननं and िन ध ासनं
we require greater control. For वणं , I don’t require that much because
a गु is available and he is talking and sometimes raising his voice also.
TF, because of an external factor the mind can concentrate. Many
people are able to concentrate the mind in the class because you have
an external support in the form of the गु . But when I have to do मननं
by myself, you will find often that the mind is not available. For मननं
the self-control required is more. And if it is िन ध ासनं it is still more.
And if it is a िन ध ासनं with closed eyes, it becomes extremely difficult
because I don’t have external support. Mind has to find enough
strength and control to dwell on it. And generally you will find that
there are so many-I have told you-family members are there march
pasting one by one. They won’t leave us alone. TF, closed eye
meditation is the toughest form of िन ध ासनं . Many people can read
notes, listen to CD. They are all controlled by external factors. In
closed eye meditation, I should have enough mastery to direct the
mind in the field that I want. That is the biggest challenge worth
trying to find out where I stand in सम. Best examination to know
where I am is in closed eye meditation.

TF, स े सित-when the mind is at my disposal, मुि : करफलायते. You have
to add this sentence here. वणं , मननं and िन ध ासनं become possible and
efficient also. Otherwise it will listen for five minutes, then it will go
around- who have all come? What dress are they wearing? Just
wandering for a few minutes. Again poor Swamiji says something. Let
us listen to him also. So listen, wander. Listen wander. Listen wander.
Similarly meditation also. When the mind is under my control, all
these happen hundred percent. And for such a mind, mukti: मो ा: is
करफलायते. Is like a fruit on the palm. Easily available. मो ा is handily
available. All because of what? Sensory control. TF, know the
significance of दम:. So, with this the topic of दम is over. Then comes
the next topic of ितित ा. Verse 59.
आ ा कािद या :ु खं ा ं ार वेगत:|
अच ा त हनम् ितित ेित िनग ते || ५९||
In TB we also studied शमािद ष स ि . There, the six disciplines were

enumerated in a particular order. What is the TB order? शम, दम, उपरम,
ितित ा. So, the third one was उपरम and the fourth one was ितित ा. In this
book, 3rd and 4th are reversed. 3rd is ितित ा. उपरम comes later. उपरम is
also handled very, very elaborately. So, ितित ा topic is from verse 59 up
to verse 63. What is the original number in the मूलम्? 137 to 149. 13
verses. We are only taking five verses.
What is ितित ा? ितित ा can be roughly translated as tolerance or

endurance. Tolerance or endurance of what? He says- all forms of pain
or दु:खं . Tolerance of दु:खं - दु:ख सिह तु ाित ित ादु:ख सहन शि ितित ा
endurance of pain- both physical pain as well as mental pain. And this
endurance is a required discipline because life involves opposite
experiences. Opposite experiences mean both pleasurable as well as
painful experiences. Not only are both involved we have no means of
knowing the sequence and the intensity. We have no knowledge of

what is going to happen tomorrow. We have no idea what is going to
happen one hour from now. Shankaracharya says ार वेगत, because of
the momentum or the force or the current of ार . That is the best
translation. Because of the current of the ार painful experiences are
also bound to come. Also, the intensity we have no way of knowing.
Since it is an integral part of life, intelligence is preparation, caution,
insurance. Not external insurance but mental insurance. Money
cannot do anything to the mind. Money cannot help the mind. TF,
the only insurance is ितित ा or increasing the level of endurance or
tolerance. And if the endurance or tolerance is higher, what will
happen? Will those pains come or won’t come? ार is going to
continuously generate. We cannot touch that because we don’t even
know what it is. ार वेगत:. Since the external pains are unpredictable
and TF uncontrollable, we have to control our mind only. Since the
world cannot be controlled by us, direct all your efforts to handle the
mind-whose mind? Not the children. Not the spouse. Your mind. We
cannot control others mind. When our own mind doesn’t listen to our
instructions where is the question of controlling?
To some extent we do have control over the mind. TF, put all your
effort in handling your own mind. And handling the mind is building
up, endurance or tolerance. India is the best country, to build up
tolerance. Anybody in the world if they want to builds up tolerance,
let them come here and survive for one month, they will build up.
Now the question is what is the advantage of increasing endurance or
tolerance? Two-fold advantage. The immediate advantage is the strain
caused by the pain will be diluted or reduced. The pain is capable of
causing strain in our body and mind. This strain, caused by the pain,
will get diluted. The amount of pain remaining the same, a person
with greater ितित ा will feel lesser strain. A person with lesser
ितित ा___fill up the blank-will feel greater strain. TF the intensity of
strain is inversely proportional to ितित ा. Even as you increase ितित ा,

the adverse impact on the mind and body will come down. TF, what
is the immediate benefit? Reduction of strain. And because of the
reduction of the strain in the mind, we get two-fold benefits. One is
we can avoid impulsive and violent reactions. When the strain is more,
the mind reacts impulsively and violently which carries a great risk. All
violent reactions, all impulsive reactions, carry great risk for whom?
For both ourselves, our family, our interests, everything we are putting
in risk. We don’t know what is going to happen.
TF, one benefit is reduction of violent and impulsive reaction which

means I can follow the value of अिहंसा more and more. As the ितित ा
increases I am able to follow अिहंसा more and more. When ितित ा
decreases I will follow more and more what? िहसं ा. Verbal िहंसा or
physical िहंसा which is going to produce more पाप काम एष ोध एष रजोगुण
समु व: महाशनो महापा ा -पा ा means पापम्. TF, lesser the ितित ा, more पापम्,
I am earning. Greater the ितित ा, less पापम्. And more पापम् means
obstacles to मो ा. So one benefit is reduction in impulsive and violent
responses. And the second positive benefit is, when the mind is
strained lesser and lesser the mind is available for other constructive
activities. Lesser the mental strain, more I can use the mind for other
activities. When the mind is strained too much, the mind cannot
engage in anything, because the mind will be constantly grumbling.
Cribbing. DS says “grumbling”. It keeps on grumbling both internal
and external grumbling. Some people talk to themselves also. A
grumbling mind is not available for any job. So, when ितित ा is more,
strain is less, grumbling is less and the mind is available for
constructive activities. Thus so many benefits are there because of
ितित ा. TF, it is very important. That is why LK highlighted -

This is the principle of ितित ा. Look at this sloka. ार वेगत: दु:खं ा ं .
Because of the flow of ार , pain comes in life. We don’t say pains
alone will come, pleasurable experiences also will come.
Shankaracharya doesn’t talk about that because in the context of ितित ा
I need to talk of endurance. Endure your pleasure. That I don’t have
to say. TF, he doesn’t talk about that. The pains are divided into three-
आ ा कं , आिदभौितकं, आिददैिवकं .
आ ा कं pains coming from our body, mind, sense organs. Some old
painful memory. In the past so many good things have happened but
sometimes the mind has very selective amnesia. And it only
remembers painful memories only. All these things it remembers even
though the situation is pleasant. This is called आ ा क दु:खं . It can
happen in class also. Suddenly you remember something. The source
of दु:खं is my own BMSC is आ ा क दु:खं .
आिदभौितकं -when the pain is caused by surrounding living beings. भूत

means not प भूता. भूत means ा णन: it can be people, animals, of course,
mosquitoes. Most important one. All of them will come under
आिदभौितक दु:खं .
Then the last one is आिद दैिवकं. That means all natural forces because of
too much heat or too much cold or summer heat etc. or natural
calamities like more rain, less rains, cyclone, earthquake. They are
called आिददैिवकं because all natural forces are presided over by देवता:.
Here the word देव represents natural forces. When summer heat is high
it goes to सूय देवता. TF, आिद दै िवक दु:खं .
All these three will continuously come. And what is our job? Second
line त हनम् developing the endurance to go through them. Of course
we admit the fact that we can avoid many of the pains by taking
appropriate remedy. Like illness etc. when it causes pain. We need not

be fatalistic. We can take to remedy. Either लौिकक remedy or even
sastriya remedy like ाय कमा. We can certainly use our resources to
ward off or neutralize many of the दु:खं s. वेदा ा never says you should
not or that we should go through all the pains. भगवान् has given the
capacity to avoid. But there are some pains which become unavoidable
त ात् अप रहायत न ं सो चतुमहित. Many can be avoided by remedial
measures. But there are many unavoidable. That is why we divide ार ं
into दुबल ार ं and बल ार ं weaker ार and stronger ार .
TF, whenever such pains are there, we have to choose to use them as
an opportunity to develop endurance. Always choose some pains for
developing the tolerance. BU says diseases can be used as an
opportunity to develop endurance. Once I use them, when
unavoidable problems come I have got ितित ा handy. TF, I know to
ignore them. So, learn to endure some of the pains either of your
choice or of भगवत: choice. My choice means, even when I can remedy,
I choose not to and let me go through. Choose some pains voluntarily
to develop ितित ा or if we don’t choose, then भगवान् will certainly
choose and he will give. No doctor will say there are four different
medicines for this. If you take this medicine this problem will go. But
it will be replaced by another problem. Medicine no. 2 is there. That
will also cure it. It will create another problems. What is your choice?
Which problem you want? Because many pain killers and all you take,
it will lead to stomach problems. Steroids you take so many other
consequences. TF, do you want disease or side effect? What a choice!
Choose whatever you want. Either disease or side effect. And choose it
and use it. Use it for what? Use it for building up ितित ा. If we start
practicing early, we will be well prepared for our later life. And TF
त हनं .
Then, Shankaracharya puts a condition also. While we decide to

endure the pain, make sure that you don’t grumble. Avoid both

external and internal grumbling. अ च य- अ च य means without
worrying too much about it, without dwelling on it all the time is
called अ च य. Same idea comes in VC साधनं सव दु:खानां अ तीकार पूवकं च ा
िवलाप रिहतं . ितित ा िनग ते. There, Shankaracharya gives one more point.
Sometimes the pain comes through some other person also. When
pain comes through some other person, according to वेदा ा, the person
is not the cause of the pain but our कमा is the cause of the pain. The
person is only the medium. The person is the postman carrying it to
hand over. And since that person is not responsible, avoid hatred.
Even the thought of revenge is to be avoided. You should never curse.
TF, अ तीकार पूवकं, अ तीकार means revenge, retaliation etc. Don’t entertain
those thoughts. You may not be able to love that person. That is
difficult. At least avoid developing hatred अ े ा सवभूतानां is our ultimate
goal. TF, no revenge idea, no grumbling and enduring at least some of
the difficult situations if not all. That is called practice of ितित ाइित
िनग ते. Continuing.
चयमिहंसाचसाधूनाम गहणम्।
परा प
े ािदसहनं ितित ोरेव स ित॥141 ॥
So here, the importance of ितित ा is highlighted by pointing out that

many other values are based on this ितित ा only. The most important
ं ा. Non-violence requires lot of tolerance. Not losing the
being अिहस
ं ा. Then
temper. TF, he says, अिहस चय. Here the word चय refers to
the general disciplines followed by a Vedic student in the गु कु ल.
Because in चया म comforts are not provided, especially in the olden
days. Now many of the आ मा: increase the comfort level because
otherwise devotees simply don’t come. I went to one आ मा where they
follow so many rules and strictly prohibited TV. The manager said,
many people who want to come do not come once they know that
there is no TV. TF, they were planning to change the rule. So like
that, in चया म most of the comforts are denied because a गु wants

श ा to develop ितित ा. Both in चया म and स ास आ म comforts are
kept at a minimum. Comforts are allowed only in one आ मा. What is
that? The lucky आ मा you are in. There all are allowed. And that is
why, in some wedding when the boy goes to Kasi yatra he is given
chappal for the first time, they give all the comforts, putting eyetex for
the eye, indicating all the perfumes etc. Everything is allowed-
decorations, ornaments during Kasi yatra indicating that until now he
didn’t have that because he is supposed to have come from the
gurukulam. And this boy comes from America for Kasi yatra. They all
have become hoax only. Anyway, where was I? चय living a simple
life.
काक तर this is the definition- काक ि भग ानं ान िन ा ततैव च अ ाकार: जीण

व ं एवं िव ाित ल णं . काक ि : means sharp vision. भग ानं means
concentration like that of the crane. Crane example is given because
that bird crane – white one- it will be on the shore of the water body
where the fish are. You will think it is meditating when suddenly it
will put the beak down and come out with a fish. That means so much
concentration. भग ानं . ान िन ा. He should never sleep deeply. He
must be always ready for the call of the गु . If the गु calls once, I
should run. The गु should not come and shake him and this fellow
doesn’t get up at all. TF ान िन ा. ततैव च. अ ाकारम्. Not overeating. And
जीण व ं - non-expensive, simple clothes. एवं िव ाित ल णं . A simple life
requires lot of tolerance. Otherwise it will become a luxurious life. I
want all the comfort. And if any comfort is not there I flare up. TF,
चय अिहंसा and साधुनाम् अगहणं . गहणां means criticism, censure, talking ill
of sadhus. साधू means saints or even the गु . Sometimes the गु may give
a difficult task to a disciple which requires a lot of pain. And if the
श ा has ितित ा he will say गु has chosen me, it is a blessing. Otherwise
the श ा will wonder why is he giving me this job? My neighbor is
there. My गु is partial. So, the श ा begins to criticize the गु himself.
So, साधुना गु णां अिप अगहणं avoidance required. ितित ा.

Finally, पर आ ेपािद सहनं . The previous one I avoid criticism. Then the
next one is I tolerate the criticism of others. What set of values?
Generally, we follow the other way around. I avoid criticism and I
learn to tolerate other’s criticism. Now what do we do? We freely
criticize but if someone criticizes us, we cannot withstand. So, all
these values require the foundation of ितित ा. And if the गु extends the
class beyond time, you must stay. But I don’t know whether you will.
That is why I conclude the class on time.

15. सव वेदा ा स ा सर सं ह
Verses 60 to 64
Page 11 Verse 60
् चयमिह सा च साधुनाम गहणं |
परो पािदसहनं ितित ोरेव स ित ||६०||
Shankaracharya is dealing with the group of six disciplines, which

make the third qualification for a vedantic student. Of those six
disciplines two have been completed and we are now on to the third.
And here, Shankaracharya follows a slightly different order. In TB, शम,
दम, उपरम is the third one. Whereas, here goes शम दम ितित ा and then
comes उपरम. ितित ा means the capacity to tolerate difficulties -both
physical and mental. For many difficulties we do have the resources to
either avoid or remedy. We can use our skill and resources and
prevent and remedy those problems. Like many types of diseases-
medical science is advanced enough so we can avoid some of the
diseases and cure some others. But we all know that there are diseases
for which there is no cure at all. It comes in spite of our careful life.
And once it comes the doctors themselves say that you have to live
with it lifelong. I was talking about that in my new year talk. It is
called अप रकाय अथ: - choiceless situations, helpless situations. Minor and
major helpless situations are bound to come to a person before
knowledge and after knowledge also. And if we do not have enough
tolerance then the strain caused by those situations will be more. As I
said in the last class, lesser the tolerance, greater the impact and strain.
Greater the tolerance, lesser the impact and strain. When these
choiceless situations have a greater impact and our mind is disturbed,
it will be an obstacle to a spiritual seeker. It will be difficult to follow
साधनािन also and even after ानं to enjoy its benefits also will be difficult
because my tolerance level is low. The mind should enjoy at least

some relative calmness to draw from the knowledge corpus I have got
within me. If I am totally disturbed, knowledge will become absolutely
useless. TF, tolerance is required before ानं for the साधना. Tolerance is
required after ानं to enjoy the benefit of knowledge. TF, we have to
work on tolerance and the only method is when choiceless situations
come we have to work on them. And that care was my New Year talk
ॐ नमो भगवते अन ाय. Either borrow strength from god or borrow
strength from your own self. Wherever you borrow from, the mind
has to be charged otherwise spirituality won’t work. Shankaracharya
says ितित ा is the greatest discipline among all the disciplines.
And then in this sloka which we completed in the last class

Shankaracharya said that many of the other values are dependent on
ं ा is a very important value. अिहंसा परमो धम: it is
ितित ा. For example, अिहस
said. For an intolerant person, अिहंसा is impossible. Similarly,
Shankaracharya gives four examples. चय - a simple life - requires
tolerance because if I don’t have tolerance I will require so much
paraphernalia. Even if the height of my pillow is .01 cm less, I cannot
sleep. I need the right room, the right bed, right temperature. I am so
particular about everything and if anything is disturbed even a little
bit, I cannot tolerate that. They are called perfectionists. That means
the most intolerant one. Perfectionism with tolerance is great but
many perfectionists make the life of other people a hell. If a
perfectionist head is there in the family it means the members have a
bad ार . वेदा ा doesn’t say, don’t be perfectionist. If you love
perfectionism, you follow that. But in parallel develop tolerance also.
Other people may not be and will not be. And if they are employees,
definitely they will not be to your expectation. TF चय, अिहंसा, साधूनां
अगहणं and पर आ ेप सहनं . पर आ प
े means other people’s criticism. It will
be always there. In Tamil there is a saying உைல வாைய
னா ம் ஊர் வாைய ட யா . You cannot shut the
mouth of the people around. They will keep on saying something. If

you want to follow all these values you have to develop tolerance.
Next verse.
साधने िप सवषु ितित ो मसाधानं |

य िव ा: पलाय े दैिवका अिप भौितका: ||६१||
सवषु साधनेषु म े - among all the spiritual साधनािन ितित ा उ म साधनं . ितित ा is
the greatest साधना because it is relevant before and after knowledge.
Until death we require ितित ा. And as I said in the New Year talk, as we
grow old helpless situations are only going to increase. If we do not
have ितित ा we are going to have a tough time. TF, उ म साधनम्. And the
greatest advantage of this साधनम् is िव ा: पलाय .े Many obstacles which
others look upon as big obstacles will be insignificant for this tolerant
one and he can treat them as pinpricks and ignore them. Because if
you are going to work on every obstacle in life, then lifelong you will
be working only on obstacles and never reach your main project. And
if you have to remove all the obstacles and come to वेदा ा, you will
never reach वेदा ा. Some of the primary ones you may remove but
learn to brush aside others as insignificant. He says, obstacles run away
from such a person. Look at Anjaneyar. All the obstacles in his great
mission of finding Sita became insignificant because of his mental
strength born out of राम भि . गो दी कृ तवाराशीं मशक कृ त रा सं रामायण महामाला
र ं व े अिनला जं . In fact, remembering आ नेय is one of the methods of
building up tolerance. When everyone saw the huge समु ं between
India and Sri Lanka as a huge obstacle it was a mere puddle for आ नेय.
गो दं means the hoof mark of a cow. The amount of water collected in
the pit of a cow hoof. And how big it will be? As big as the hoof mark.
And when you want to cross that do you wait, take a deep breath and
all that? No. Walking with your friend, you just go across. For
anjaneyar समु became what? गो दी कृ तवाराशीं. वाराशीं= समु . Terrible रा सा:
obstructing आ नेय movement but to आ नेय they all became
mosquitoes, मशक कृ त रा सं . So, obstacles become insignificant for a

strong person. Anjaneyar got that strength because of his faith in
Rama. ॐ नमो भगवते अन ाय रामाय until we discover the inner strength
through अहं ा . Triangular format - depend on god, binary format-
depend on yourself. God dependence or self- dependence, learn to put
up with all these problems.
िव ा: the obstacles पलाय े run away. What type of obstacles? दैिवक means
आिद दै िवक िव ा: which are the natural obstacles like rain, thunder,
lightning etc. भौितक:- obstacles coming from other living beings.
आ ा क: like illness etc. or some physical discomfort. You can find
two types of people at home. There are some who get slight cold, they
get into bed and never get up. You have to give them coffee and food
in bed. And there are others who even with a lot of physical
discomfort can do everything. All obstacles will become insignificant
for a ितित :ु .
Verse 62-
त ा म
ु ु ोर धका ितित ा सं पादनीयो तकाय स ये|
ती ा मुमु ा च मह पु े ा चोभे ितित ासहका रकारणं || ६२||
त ात् means therefore, since ितित ा is the greatest among preparatory

disciplines for मुमु ो: -spiritual seekers, अ धका ितित ा- intense tolerance or
great endurance, सं पादनीया- must be attained, acquired. In fact, all types
of तािन we have got as a part of rituals and functions like ekadashi
fasting, or तं to go to Shabarimala or Tirupati will be to live austerely
for 15-30 days. The purpose of these तािन is to develop ितित ा. When
we go on pilgrimages you don’t get the regular comfort of home and
you might have to sleep in different places, eat different types of food,
drink different types of water and endure different types of weather.
Thus, we develop ितित ा. When we follow austerity before big
pilgrimages, we become ready for all types of situations. So, these are

the methods of सं पादनं which will help us in building ितित ा. Even now
people practice these things. From here they walk to Tiupati or to
Sabarimala, the four 4 धाम् - गा ो ी यमुनो ी and के दार् ब ी, from Bengal ग ा
सागरा where ग ा merges into the ocean up to उ ि of ग ा गा ो ी.
Thousands of people do नमदा प र मा every year. Not only do I get अ
पु म् I also get toughness of body and mind and these are all methods
of building up ितित ा. Of course, they should be started relatively
young. After certain age don’t try all these. You won’t come back. If
you come to class, that is your austerity. I don’t expect too much from
you.
सं पादनीया for ई ता काय स ये- for accomplishing the desired goal, मो ा,

स ये means success. For the successful accomplishment of मो ा you
have to earn ितित ा. And then he gives two supporting causes for
developing ितित ा. One is मुमु ा- desire for मो ा. Greater your desire,
greater your willingness to sacrifice your comfort. Suppose you have
not had water for a few days and you want water badly and someone is
distributing water but there is a long queue. You won’t mind waiting
for hours because your desire for water is so great. Sacrifice is
proportional to the desire. Sacrifice includes sacrifice of comfort also. I
recently saw a biopic on ािम च यान ा where they showed some
episodes which I never knew of. ािम च यान ा takes स ास from ािम
शवान ा and wants to study the scriptures but there is no facility in
Rishikesh for that. So, शवान ा decides to send ािम च यान ा to ािम
तपोवनं in उ र काशी which is 400 feet above Rishikesh and over 100 kms.
The only mode of transport is to walk. ािम तपोवनं is very, very strict.
He wants to know how serious this student is and so gives lot of tough
tests also. च यान ा used to say, to survive under तपोवनं as a श ा itself is
tough. He goes there and tells ािम तपोवनं that ािम शवान ा asked me to
come to you for learning. ािम तपोवनं told him, “I want a letter from
ािम शवान ा.” So, he comes walking all the way down the 100 kms and
gets a letter and goes. He did not mind. We would have renounced

वेदा ा. If मो ा is available on my own terms give it to me. I will oblige
you by receiving your मो ा. Otherwise vacate the place. ती ा मुमु ा,
intense desire, makes you ignore all discomforts. And महती उपे ा. उपे ा
literally means indifference but here it should be taken as वैरा ं , an
absence of राग and ेषा, a neutral attitude w.r.t creation is called उपे ा.
So, if intense desire for मो ा is there and intense वैरा ं with regard to
world is there, sandwiched between ती मुमु ा and ती वैरा ं , ितित ा will
grow very well. So, चोभे - च उभे, both of them सहका रकारणं - are supportive
causes for ितित ा. Now, he concludes that topic.
त ाि ित या सो ा त दु:खमुपागतं |
कु या नु पेण वणािद शनै: शनै: ||६३||
त ात् – therefore, since ितित ा is very important for attaining मो ा,

त दु:खम् उपगतं सो ा- enduring all the discomfort that comes on the way
to मो ा. So unless it is a very big obstacle and remedy is a must, you
don’t bother about smaller, obstacles because you have to save time
for main साधना. सो ा means साधनम् कृ ा, enduring minor obstacles and
difficulties उपगतं -which arrive because of ार . ितित या -by jacking up
your endurance level. Naturally you now have time because you are
not particular about perfect conditions. In whatever available set up
you want to move on. TF, time is available, mind is also available.
Both of them you can find if there is ितित ा. And within that available
time what should you do? All these are for primary साधना- ान योग वणं
मननं िनिद ासनं . TF कु यात्- may you practice ान योग. And Shankaracharya
is very considerate- शि अनु पेण- according to your capacity. He never
pressurizes because the brain has got a limit on how much it can take.
The guru may be ready to give five talks per day but shishya must be
able to go through them because वेदा ा is a serious topic and needs
time to assimilate. So, शि अनु पेण may you practice ान योग in the form
of वणािद. And there also he says शनै: शनै:- your aim is not finishing.
च यान ा Swamiji says you have finished गीता, उपिनषद्. So you have gone

through 10 उपिनषद:. How many उपिनषद: have gone through you? It
should be assimilated well. शनै: शनै:. The idea is to take your own time
without comparing with other students because not all have the same
capacity. TF you go at your pace without comparing.
The next sloka has an abnormal metre so we have to read it like prose.
You cannot chant it.-
उपरमयित कमाणी प
ु रितश ेन क ते ास:|
ासेन िह सवषां ु ा ो ो िवकमणाम् ाग:|६४||
Verses 59 to 63, 5 verses were on ितित ा. Now, Shankaracharya enters

into the next one, उपरम or उपरित- both are the same and he is going to
treat this also very elaborately. Just like शम was discussed over 27
verses, उपरम is discussed from verse 64 to 99. And in the original one it
is covered from verse 152 to 208. So many verses on उपरम. In TB, उपरम
was in one sentence. उपरम: क:? धमानु ानं एव. Over. He treats it so
elaborately here because the word उपरम has got several meanings and
the acharya emphasizes different साधनािन through the word उपरम. In TB,
उपरम was defined as धम अनु ानं - committed pursuit of one’s own
गृह ा म धम especially consisting of प महा य which means avoiding or
withdrawing from all the other का and िनिष कमा ण meant for worldly
purposes or which are prohibited. Renounce का िनिष कमा and stick to
िन नैिमि क कम for the sake of च शुि . TF, उपरम literally means
withdrawal from का िनिष कमा and commitment to धम. This is the
meaning given in TB. In VC, it is given as continuing the control of
the mind achieved through शम and दम. Maintenance of the control. It
is not like avoiding certain things during तं like fasting where the ानं
is on food and not on भगवान् and then compensate by feasting at the
end. It is not शम and दम practice alone. Lifelong maintenance of that is
called उपरम. There is a third meaning by several Acharyas, including
Shankaracharya in this work- that is स ास:, renunciation of गृह ा म and

entering the monastic lifestyle- िविविदषा स ास:. Taking स ास for
practicing वणं मननं िनिद ासनं , at least वणं in a गु कु लं is called िविविदषा
स ास. It is like study holiday or a working person’s sabbatical. The
only difference is there you can you’re your sabbatical and come back
but in स ास आ मा you cannot, though some don’t give up स ास आ मा
but will involve themselves in worldly activities. Even a सं या स is not
away from कमा all the time. He is away during the study. Thereafter
लोक सं हमेवािप सं प न्. And this स ास आ मा is taken as the meaning of
उपरम: by Shankaracharya and he is going to discuss that topic.
Before that I would like to add a note because the traditional classical
sastric स ासआ मा which is in the mind of Shankaracharya has now
become very, very non-relevant. When Shankaracharya talks about
स ास आ मा, he clearly defines it as formal renunciation of Vedic ritual.
A gruhasta takes up Vedic rituals formally, like joining a company by
taking the appointment order. Then, he has to resign the company
also in a proper way. The formal taking of GA and Vedic rituals is
initially through upanayanam and later with अि आदान कमा. The
renunciation of sacred thread and अि : िनरि : is the formal renunciation
of Vedic rituals. The most fundamental Vedic ritual Shankaracharya
talks about when referring to कमा is अि हो ािद:. Now if you ask the
average Hindu in the current society, “What is अि हो ं ?” He will blink.
Even among Brahmins if you ask how many regularly do अि हो ं , what
will the response be? This is the most fundamental daily, not yearly,
ritual to be done in the morning and evening. When Vedic rituals are
not there, what will he renounce? Like a person says I renounced my
car. When did you have a car? He never had. I just renounced. You
cannot renounce something which you don’t have. वैिदक कमा स ास: in a
formal ritualistic manner is the स ास आ मा. TF, we are discussing this
स ास only academically. On the other hand, I have redefined स ास in
one of my guru poornima talks. What is स ास? Which is the स ास that
we have to understand in the present day? What is the aim of स ास?

Sabbatical. Sabbatical means I require time and mind for involving
myself in वेदा ा. That is स ास. You may find time to come to
Shankaralayam. That is great. But remember, during this one hour you
are physically here but I hope that mentally also you are here. You
may or may not be. What is the use of physical presence and mental
absence? I have given two formulas which I will briefly mention.
One method for finding time is PORT reduction. Reducing P-

possessions, O- obligatory duties, R- relations, T- transactions.
Possessions must reduce otherwise you will spend a lot of time

maintaining them. Obligatory duties, you only do whatever duties are
already there but don’t add more. Relations- you maintain all current
available relationships but do not add more. Maintaining relationships
requires regular visits, you have to remember DOB, wedding days, all
those things are a big hassle. T -transactions. If 1,2,3 are there the
transactions will be more and more. And all these four are
interconnected. If you have any one it will increase the other three.
Like the four legs of the table- if you pull one the other three also will
come. TF, PORT reduction will give time for वेदा ा. This is one part of
स ास whether you are in Chennai or Rishikesh or anywhere.
Then the second one is CLASP rejection. Note that PORT reduction
because you cannot abolish all PORT but you can reduce as much as
possible. CLASP you have to reject.
CL - claiming ownership and controllership. I own and I want to

control which leads to mental stress and worry. And what is the truth?
I don’t own anything. भगवान् is the owner. I cannot control anything. I
am not able to control my own body and mind. TF, stop all claiming.
I am the user and contributor. I use and contribute and then forget.
Whatever happens let it happen including raising the children. We can

never control our children’s future 100%. TF, we do our best.
Worrying doesn’t solve the problem.
A - anxiety. Constantly thinking of them. So, whenever anxiety comes

go to CL and reduce it and anxiety will come down.
SP is special prayer. If you want to pray for every child every

grandchild, every great-grandchild and its in-laws, you will only be
doing prayer all the time. सव भव ु सु खन:. “Swamiji, can I say सव and my
grandchild.?” Grandchild is included in the सव. If you enter special
prayer, astrologer etc. it will be endless ाय . TF, raise your ितित ा
and put up with all issues.
A person who is a सं या स cannot do any ritual as a ाय म्. A सं या स

cannot go to the astrologer and even if consults he cannot do any
ritual because he has renounced his right to do ritual. Then what? Let
ार takes its own course. TF, in formal स ास special prayer is banned.
In an informal स ास I should try to avoid special prayer. In GA it may
be difficult because other members will pressurize. And TF it doesn’t
matter if we cannot avoid, we can reduce. Then the mind will be
relaxed. अन ा य ो मां येजनाः पयुपासते तेषां िन ा भयु ानां योग ेमं वहा हम्.
भगवान् gives his promise to every सं या स - You take स ास. I will take care
of you. TF, surrender to god and be relaxed. Stop worry over family.
This is called CLASP rejection.
Doing these two things- PORT reduction will give me time; CLASP
rejection will make the mind available. This is called स ास in the
modern days. Whether you take कावी, काषाय व ं or not.

16- सव वेदा ा स ा सर सं ह
Verses 64 to 70
Page 12 verse 64-
उपरमयित कमाणी प
ु रितश ेन क ते ास: |
ासेन िह सवषां ु ा ो ो िवकमणां ाग: ||६४||
Discussing the various qualifications required for मो ा, Shankaracharya

has discussed िववेक, वैरा ं and the third qualification of a group of 6
disciplines of which he has already covered शम, दम and ितित ा. Now the
topic of उपरित or उपरम. Shankaracharya is taking a particular meaning of
उपरम as वैिदक कम स ास:, renunciation of all Vedic rituals. Shankaracharya
does accept the importance of कम for च शुि , purifying the mind.
Until this purification is accomplished one has to remain either in
चय आ म or in गृह ा म and continue to perform the rituals like
sandhyavandanam, agnihotram etc. And the full result of Vedic कम or
कम योग is accomplished when a person’s desire for liberation becomes
very intense. The desire for liberation should become so intense that it
should swallow all other worldly desires. The intensity of desire is
measured in terms of the number of other desires it swallows. Spiritual
desire is a cannibal which eats up all other worldly desires. And when
the intensity has reached its height the person doesn’t have any other
desire in life other than this single desire and not only it should reach
ती ता or intensity, in parallel, his detachment from worldly things also
must reach its height. Then he or she doesn’t have attachment to any
blessed thing, including family. When desireless-ness and detachment
reach their peak then the कम has done its job. In fact, the role of कम
ends at this stage. And for such a person, since कम doesn’t have any
more role to play, वेदा offers a possibility of formal renunciation of कम
which itself is a ritual. A ritualistic way of renouncing ritual by which

he removes all the indications of वैिदक कम, like the sacred thread and
tuft he is supposed to keep. He renounces all of them formally. In
स ास आ म he can pursue only one thing. स ास आ म is designed
exclusively for the pursuit of मो ा and मो ा alone. There is no provision
for pursuing any other thing. And if I want pursue something else in
addition to मो ा, वेदा says better continue in GA or चया मा. You
should choose स ास आ म only when you don’t have any other pursuit
in life. And if कम has become redundant for and TF गृह ा म and
चया मा have become redundant for such a person what should he
pursue in स ास आ म? It is the pursuit of वणं , मननं and िनिद ासनं and
nothing else. For the survival of the body he can seek भ ा from गृह ा:
without choosing the भ ा. Whatever भ ा comes he manages with that
and pursue only मो ा. This formal renunciation of वैिदक कम is called वैिदक
स ास.
And nowadays there is another type of स ास called लौिकक स ास which

is taken by many people for renouncing worldly duties which even
though they are not performing any वैिदक कम at all. It comes under
informal renunciation.
Shankaracharya strongly argues that कमा ण are non-relevant after a

particular stage and once that happens a person can renounce Vedic
rituals but it in a proper manner only not while remaining in GA. It is
वाय पापं . He has to leave GA, take to स ास आ म go to a गु . ति ानाथ
like इ and िवरोचन who went in search of Prajapati for knowledge. We
should keep in mind that this kind of स ास by a qualified person is
what Shankaracharya is discussing. TF Shankaracharya wants to
establish that after कम has purified the mind, कम doesn’t have any role
to play because it cannot give ानं nor मो ा. Suppose I want to know
the colour of this dress. What should I do? I should use the instrument
of knowledge called माणं , in this case, eyes. Look at the cloth and in
half a second the job is over. It is orange colour. So ान उ ि : माणेन

सं भवित. Suppose I say I don’t want to use any माणं . I want to be
different. I will chant Vishnusahasranama. For what? For knowing the
colour of the cloth. Vishnusahasranama will purify the mind but even
if you chant 100 times it will never give you the knowledge of the
colour. Our respect for Vishnusahasranama should not make us foolish.
Respect means understanding what it can give but I should also know
what it cannot give. Chanting is a verbal action. And action cannot
produce worldly knowledge nor spiritual knowledge. So कमणा न लौिकक
ान वा or आ ानं वा. If I want knowledge, I should use the appropriate
माणं . वेदा शा म् is the माणं for आ ानं . Shankaracharya wants to
establish that कम cannot give मो ा. No doubt कम can purify the mind
but a pure mind is not a wise mind. Before कम, one had impure,
ignorant mind. After कम, one will have pure, ignorant mind.
Underline that. TF, after purity one has to do वणं and वणं alone.
Nothing else will help in getting what he is after. And Shankaracharya
wants us to register this message clearly. Then the role of स ास आ म
will be clear. Whether we take स ास or not, we should have clarity on
the role of स ास आ म. From the 64th verse to the 83rd verse, he
establishes that कम cannot give मो ा. This is the first part of स ास
discussion. The second part of स ास discussion is from verse 84 to 99.
In the first part, he says उपरम: means स ास, or formal renunciation of

वैिदक कमा ण. Look at this line- उपरमयित कमा ण उपरित श ेन. By using the
word उपरम, कमा ण उपरमयित the scriptures, encourage this spiritual seeker
to drop the कमा ण. After what? After the seeker develops intense desire
for मो ा to the exclusion of all other things. Remember the Naciketas
story of कठोपिनषद्? यमधम राजा offered house, land, gold, elephants and
everything free of cost. With only one condition. Don’t ask for मो ा.
We have to mentally ask ourselves what I would have done in
Naciketa’s place. Then we will know where we are. You need not tell
anyone. So whatever else भगवान् offers free of cost, without batting an
eyelid, without thinking twice, instantaneously I should say “No”. And

I should say, “I want spiritual knowledge, मो ा.” That is the intensity.
Once that is there, वेदा says, उपरित श ेन कमा ण उपरमयित.
क ते ास: - this dropping of the कमा ण is called ास: or स ास:. Sanskrit

students - इित is in the हे थ य ात् कमा ण उपरमयित त ात् उपरित श ेन ास:
क ते. ास: means renunciation. िन+अस् to renounce. And ासेन िह - by
resorting to the formal Vedic renunciation ु ा कमणां ाग: ो :. And
what type of कम? िवकमणां- िविहत कमणां all the कमा ण which are prescribed
by the वेदाs can be dropped. Like when you pass the examination,
examiners allow you to go to the next class. You should not say, ‘I
love this class very much. And the teacher is so loveable,’ and sit in 6 th
standard. You are supposed to go to 7th etc. Similarly, from कमयोग we
are supposed to dedicate our life to ानयोग. इित िवकमणां वेदा िविहत कमणां
ास: ो :- this is the proposition. Now he wants to elaborate.
Verse 65-
कमणा सा मान ािन ं य ू ते यत: |

कमणानेन िकं िन फले ो: परमा थन: || ६५||
Here Shankaracharya says by doing the worldly action or sastric action

we can fulfill several of our worldly desires. In my उपिनषद् introductory
talk, I will talk about काियकं कम वा चकं कम मानसं कम. All उपासनािन come
under mental कम. All पारायणम् जपं , etc. come under verbal and all पूजा
परिद णं , pilgrimage etc. come under physical कम. Through that we can
get धम अथ and काम. अथ means all types of wealth. काम means all forms
of sense pleasures belonging to even higher लोका:. like भुवल क सुवल क
महल क जनलोक तपोलोक स लोक where all better pleasures, sense objects are
available. वेदा talks about all these possibilities but also says, “Any
amount of कम you do is finite because you are doing them with your
finite body, a finite instrument for a finite time.” You may do
Laksharchana, Koti archana. But since all the कमा ण are finite, as the

cause is so the result will be and hence all कम फलं will also be finite.
You can enjoy them for some time and then you will find the amount
in your credit card is depleted and nothing is left. TF, even if you go
to लोक and enjoy pleasures, once the कम is over, one has to come
back. TF, it is अिन ं and has three दोषा: दु:ख िम त ं अ ुि कर ं ब क ं . It is
mixed with pain when it ends. It will never give you total satisfaction
because it is finite. And it will make you more dependent because,
once I am used to certain pleasures and comfort, I am enslaved by
them. At first, I am their master but after sometime they become my
master. Because they don’t work, I am disturbed. They can make me
unhappy. कम can never give permanent result. मो ा is defined as the
eternal one. TF, कम cannot give eternal मो ा. We ourselves experience
the impermanence we do not need वेदा to say that. We earn money and
build up a bank balance. If you stop earning money and start spending
what happens? It gets depleted. TF, अिन ं ूयते. In मु क उपिनषद्,
For this reason only, we say, even the popular bhakti people practice
in the form of िन पूजा, नाम सं के तनं are all great साधनािन alright but they are
all कम. They will give different results or even च शुि but can never
give ानं or मो ा. If you have a doubt you can try. Take the japamala
and start hare rama hare rama. You won’t know. You have to employ
the relevant माणं . माण ज ं ानं न तु कम ज ं . Even if it is the most sacred
कम in the world and we should not feel bad to assert that. भगवान्
கண்ைண த் வாேரா. No such thing. Bhagavan will be happy
because he knows we are using our brain a little bit at least. Bhakti
doesn’t mean renunciation of thinking. Many people think to become
a भ ा you should activate the tear glands and deactivate the brain.
Thinking tells me कमा cannot give ानं and Veda also confirms that. ूयते
यत: tasmat TF अनेन कमणा –by all these कमा ण फलं ई ो for a person who
is interested in मो ा and मो ा alone, मो ा ई ो. परमा थन: for the seeker of
परमाथ or परमपु षाथ मो ा, कमा has no relevance.

Verse 66-
उ ा मा ं सं ाय िवकाय प रग ते |
चतुिवधं कमसा ं फलं ना िदत: परम् ||६६||
Here he says that all कमा ण, whether worldly or scriptural religious

activities can do only four types of jobs- उ ि : आि : सं सकार and िवकार.
1. उ ा ं - कमा can produce something like a farmer produces crops
with his efforts.
2. आ ं - कमा helps in reaching a destination like when you travel
and reach Shankaralayam.
3. सं ाय - कमा is purifying
4. िवकाय - कमा helps in modifying one thing into another.
These are four possible results or products of कमा. What is मो ा? मो ा =

न् because in वेदा ा, मो ा prapti is identical with ाि . Because both
of them are one and the same we will use the word न् in the place of
मो ा. Now we have to ask, is न् attainable through production? By
reaching? By purifying something? By modifying something? Is it a
purified result, reached result, produced result or modified result?
Shankaracharya says, unfortunately न् doesn’t come under any of
these things. TF, कमा is not relevant in the context of मो ा. इत: परम् अ त्
फलं ना . There is no 5th result possible for कमा other than these four.
Hereafter, Shankaracharya is going take each one and elaborate- 1. Is

न् producible? You sow न् seeds and reap न् crop. It is not
possible.
Look at this-
नैतद तमं कदा भिवतुमहित |

त: स ं सवदा ं शु ं िनमलमि यं ||६७||

न एतत् अ तमं . Here the word न् and मो ा are interchangeably used.
न् or मो ा is not any one of these four-अ तमं . Which 4? Production,
reaching, purifying or modifying. भिवतुं अहित. Why?
1. त: स ं because न् is already there, eternally existent. So, you
need not produce.
2. सवदा आ ं - ever attained. It is always reached because what is the
place न् resides? Where is न्? Don’t say वैकु . Because वैकु
एकादशी is moved. Don’t think भगवान् or न् is in some place. The
very word न् means the infinite, all-pervading one and so you
don’t have to travel to reach न्.
3. शु ं िनमलम्. It is ever pure and free from all impurities. No
purification process is required. And that is why when we say KY
is meant for शुि . शुि of what? We say च शुि , not शुि because
च ं requires महा purification but न् doesn’t require.
4. अि यं – not subject to modification. अि यं means that which is
िनिवकारं .
Now in the following ोका: he is going to explain each one of them

very patiently and very systematically. All this must be very well
assimilated. Then only we will know what is ानं and what is मो ा. The
significance of ानं will be thoroughly known only when these portions
are registered deeply in mind. Otherwise the student will attend the
वेदा ा lasses for 25 years and will ask, when will I get मो ा? The very
question reveals that these portions are either not learnt or successfully
forgotten. Where is the question of getting मो ा? If it is a thing to get it
will come. Students ask for a special blessing on new year day- “At
least in this ज ा I should get मो ा.” When I ask for मो ा, I should ask
myself if I have assimilated these teachings. If I have, these questions
should not arise even in a dream.
Continuing-

न चा क च िनते ागमेन िनिष ते|
कारणं ् ण ाद् नो ा िम ते ||६८||47.30
From this shloka onwards, Shankaracharya will negate each one of the
four separately. First one- उ ि : िनषेद: which was already indicated by
the word त: स ं which is explained in this sloka. He quotes a ेता तर
उपिनषद् म ा (6th chapter, 9th verse, 4th line) here, “न च अ क त् जिनता.”
What does it mean? अ ण: जिनता न अ . Nobody can produce or
create this न्. जिनता -creator. There is no creator of न्. We don’t
say there is no creator. We say न् is not a created or produced entity.
Not because न् is not there but because it is already there. इित -
through this म ा, आगमेन- by this vedic म ा, िनिष ते – negated. What is
negated? ण: कारणं - a cause for न् is negated. If न् doesn’t have a
cause, न् cannot be….? Fill up the blank. If न् doesn’t have a cause,
न् cannot be an effect or a product. So where is the question of
उ ि :? Once I say न् cannot be produced, मो ा also cannot be
produced. And that is why I jocularly say, “You can only say मो ा is
produced on the first of April.” नोद्पा ं इ ते- न् is not producible,
not a product.
Verse 69-
आ ा यो ु भेद दे ा ा चा मवा ते |
आ ु पमेवत
ै द् ना ं कदाचन || ६९||
The second one is ‘Reaching’. न् cannot be reached as a particular

goal, or destination. Why? For something to be a goal or to be
reached, two conditions are required. 1. It should be different from
you. 2. It should be distant from you. Example- Sankaralayam- when
you are at home in the morning, Sankaralayam is a destination to be
reached because it is different from you and is away from you. The
cloth is different from me but I still can reach the cloth because it is

not away, it is on my body. It should be both distant and different.
Now Shankaracharya says, न् doesn’t fulfill either conditions. न्
cannot be distant. How can all-pervading न् be away from me.? And
through all the महावा उपदेश, the उपिनषद् says न् is not different. ऐतता ं
इदं सव तत् स ं स आ ा तद् ं असी त
े के तो. That न् happens to be you
yourself, the seeker. And how can you travel to reach yourself? You
can travel to try to meet someone but never to meet yourself. न्
being myself, I can never travel to reach न्. आ ु आ यो भेद: चेत.् भेद:-
difference between आ -ु traveler and आ ं - the destination. If there is a
difference and a distance between the traveller and the destination,
then, चेत,् in that condition आ ु आ ं अवा ते. The destination is reached
by the traveller who is different and distant. But unfortunately, or
fortunately, आ ु पं एव एतत् - this न् the उपिनषद् is talking about is
the very nature of the seeker. पं - very nature. A wave cannot travel
to reach water. Why? Water is the very पं , the nature of the wave.
There is a Hindi poem also. I often quote this even though I don’t
know much Hindi.
लेहर दू े लेहरको
कपडा दू े सू ो
जीव दू े को
तीनों ऊ े ऊत्.
लेहर दू े लेहरको- the wave went in search of water. कपडा दू े सू ो- the

cloth went in search of the thread. The जीव went in search of न्. And
all these three deserve Padmashree, Padmabhushan and
Padmavibhushan for foolishness. ऊ े ऊत् means the worst, most foolish
person. How can wave go in search of water? How can you go in
search of न् when you happen to be essentially न् itself? This is
what that sloka says. So त ात् कदाचन न आ ं . It is never a reachable
one.
The next one- purification.

म लन व
ै सं ारो दपणादे रहे ते |
ोमवि शु णो नैव सं या || ७०||
The word सं सकार or सं या, refinement, शा ा divides into two types.

One is the removal of the contamination or impurity in the object. If
water has got some impurities then you filter the impurities or heat
up. Purification involves removal of the unwanted or adding
something to increase its value or power. दोष अपनयनम्. गुण आधानं .
Removal of the defects and adding beauty. Beautification- गुण आधानं .
When we go for bath- दोष अपनयनम्. And then in front of the dressing
table there are so many lotions, foundations. I heard I don’t know
what exactly it is. So you apply all kinds of foundations and then
lipstick and eye thing and all that. They all come under what? Not दोष
अपनयनम् but गुण आधानं . That is why bathroom and dressing room are in
the neighborhood because both go together in making one
presentable. Now why can’t we do something like that for न्? न्
you cannot add positive attributes because it is िनगुणं . So, no गुण can
be added. You cannot remove any दोष because न् doesn’t have any
दोष. Verses 70 and 71 negate दोष अपनयनम्. Verses 72 negates गुण आधानं -
beautification of न्. We will continue in the next class.

Verses 70 to 76
Page13, verse 70-
म लन व
ै सं ारो दपणादे रहे ते|
ोमवि षुध णो नैव सं या ||७०||
Shankaracharya is talking about उपरम. We should be very clear that कमा

can give साधन चतु य सं पि or च शु ध but never ानं or मो ा. Any
knowledge has to come by operating a relevant instrument of
knowledge called माणं . Wherever माणं is not involved, all such human
activities come under कमा. All activities a human being does without
involving an instrument of knowledge- माण रिहतं ापारा: सव अिप कम ण एव.
कमा cannot give आ ानं or मो ा because the four results of कमा are all
अिन ं whereas मो ा is equal to न् which is िन ं . So अिन ं giving कमा
cannot give िन ं .
He is now discussing the four types of results. He talked about

producing something as कम फलम्. Reaching a destination as कमा फलम्.
Purifying a thing as कम फलम्. Modifying a thing as कम फलम्. We have
already discussed producing and reaching.
Now, Shankaracharya is discussing the purifying process. Purification

or सं ार in Sanskrit conveys two ideas- elimination of impurity and
beautification or addition. As I said in the last class- there is bathroom
and dressing room. Bathroom is for दोष अपनयनम्, dressing room is गुण
आधानं . Pure न्, poor न्, cannot purify, cannot apply scent, snow,
lipstick etc. न् cannot have गुण आधानं also. These two ोका: talk about
दोष अपनयनम्. One ोका talks about गुण आधानं .

The 70th ोका talks about म लन एव सं ार:. म लनं means whatever has
become dirty or dusty. We know that in our homes everything is
covered with a coat of dust after half a day. Here the example is of a
mirror. When the mirror is dirty you will not be able to see your face
clearly. What do we do? We wipe the mirror. म लन दपणादे: सं ार: इ ते.
Cleaning can be done by wiping or melting metals like iron to remove
impurities in its ore form. Gold goes through so many stages of
purification. Tonnes of ore after purification is reduced to mere kilos
or grams. There are many such processes and they all come under दोष
अपनयनम्.
What about our न्? In fact, I should not say ‘Our न्’. We are न्.
So, योमवत् िन शु . न् which is ever pure like आकाश, सं य नैव इ ते-
there is no question of purification. As I said, by doing कमायोग etc. we
are not purifying the atma, but we are purifying our mind which gets
impure. Almost every transaction adds impurities like frustration,
anger, hatred or jealousy and so our minds require purification for
gaining knowledge but atma doesn’t require purification. Continuing.
Verse 71-
के न दु ेन यु ते व ु िनमलमि यं |
य ोगादागतं दोषं सं ारो िविनवतयेत् || ७१||
Any object can get dirty or impure because of contact with another
impure object. That is why those who talk about health awareness ask
you to wash your hands regularly when you go out and handle many
things, especially those things that are handled by so many people.
They might have some contagious disease and with their contaminated
hand they would have handled the door. Public doors are handled by
thousands of people. You touch them and go home and straightaway
eat food. They say, the most impure thing in the world is the rupee

note. Of course, now it is less. Almost every surface you touch is
impure we just can’t see with our eyes. You can see with a microscope
only. A thing becomes dirty because of दु सं योग:- contact with an
impure thing. Even the mind can become dirty when you have got
दु when you have friends who all have all kinds of thinking.
Constant association with materialistic people makes me also
materialistic. दु is not only at the physical level, it is also at the
mental level. This problem न् doesn’t have. Why? न् is अस : non-
contaminable like आकाश and काश. If न् had दु सं योग and it became
impure then you would have to wash न्. Shankaracharya says, what
does सं योग cause? What impurity for न्? के न दु ेन यु ते ? With what
impure object can न् come in contact?
What type of न्? िनमलं अि यं व -ु pure and motionless न्. We move

all over. न् doesn’t move anywhere. यदोगात् आगतं दोषं . If the स had
taken place and if the impurity had come, (which is imagination) आगतं
दोषं - because of the possible impurity, सं ार िविनवतयेत-् can the
purificatory process eliminate? Such a स is not there nor is there such
a दोषा and so such a सं ार is not required. िविनवतयेत-् not required.
With these two ोका: दोष अपनयनम् problem is over. Now, गुण आधानं -
value addition for न्.
Verse 72-
िनगुण गुणाधानमिप नैवोपप ते |

के वलो िनगुण िे त नैगु ं ूयते यत: || ७२||
िनगुण ण:- न् is described as िनगुणं . And when the उपिनषद् says न् is

िनगुणं , we should note it is not only िनगुणं in the present, it is िनगुणं in all
the three periods of time. Which means िनगुणं cannot be made सगुणं in
the future. Since न् is always िनगुणं and cannot become सगुणं, where is

the question of adding गुणा: to ? TF he says, िनगुण ण: गुण आधानं अिप
-आधानं means addition of a virtue or a property, नैव उपप ते -is never
possible. Why? Because the उपिनषद् defines ण: के वल: िनगुण: च. Two
reasons-
1. के वल- there is no second thing other than न्. अ ी ात्- no
second thing.
2. िनगुण:च- नैगु ं , the attributelessness of न् is ूयते is heard in
shvetashvatara उपिनषद् 6th chapter 11th म ा, 4th line.
Now, naturally the question arises- “If न् is always िनगुण, how do we

talk about सगुणं ?” This is called मननं . Whenever you get a statement,
your intellect must come up with a relevant question. You say न् is
िनगुणं in all the three periods of time which means सगुणं is not
possible. In yesterday’s class - if you remember by chance- we talked
about six chapters dealing with सगुण उपासनं . Next six chapters
dealing with िनगुणं jnanam. Yesterday you talk about सगुणं न्.
Today you say सगुणं is not possible. Aren’t you contradicting? If this
question comes to you, you are doing मननं . If it doesn’t come, you are
blindly swallowing whatever samiyar says. TF, we should ask, ‘How
can we talk about सगुणं ? What is our answer? In fact, I should not be
answering. You are all such senior students that I should give this as
homework and you must come up with the answer. Really speaking,
न् was, is and will be िनगुणं only. न् doesn’t become सगुणं but
appears as सगुणं in the presence of maya or prapancha. An ignorant
person mistakes the appearing सगुणं as actual सगुणं. What is the well-
known example in the शा ा? One popular example is the colored
crystal. When a person has done अचन to a िटक ल ं , a crystal शव ल ,
with varieties of flowers, the शव ल ं also appears coloured but it
doesn’t become coloured. You need not remove the colour. Even
when it appears as red, blue, green etc. it always remains clear crystal.
न् is like a crystal in the presence of red flowers, which represent
maya. In the presence of maya, न् appears सगुण. According to वेदा ा,

there is no सगुणं in all the three periods of time. अ ािन talks about
सगुणं , for a ािन सगुणं doesn’t exist, only िनगुणं . Who is that िनगुणं
? You yourself. That I am that. TF, गुण आधानं is not there. सगुण
upasana is for अ ािन because he thinks न् is सगुण, omniscient,
omnipotent. They are all not acceptable to us. TF, के वल: िनगुण इित य
ू ते.
With this the third कम फलं is also over. What are they? Producing,
reaching and purifying. Now, the fourth one- modifying.
Verse 73-
सावयव ीरादेव नु : प रणािमन: |

येन केन िवका र ं ा ो िन मव नु : ||७३||
Shankaracharya says, modification and transformation are possible only

for a finite entity with different parts of its own. Like the human body
with its various parts. The part can expand or contract or go out of
shape. Modification is possible for the body. Hair can turn grey, teeth
can disappear. यत् सावयवं तत् सिवकारं . That is why आकाश, which is all-
pervading and part-less, doesn’t undergo any change. Everything else
changes. Shankaracharya gives the example of milk which gets
converted into curds either naturally in time or by our own effort.
सावयव ीरािद so milk etc. which are सावयवं व नु ा: प रणिमन:- which are
subject to प रणाम or change. व ु means any substance. एनके नािप िवका र ं
ात्. येन के न अिप- by one method or the other. In one of the previous
verses I forgot to tell you. Page 13, 67th verse कदा is there in the first
line. There also कदािप must be added- अिप कदािप अ तमं व ु भिवतुं न अह स.
Here also के नािप- अिप is understood. िवका र ं ात् िन म व नु ा न. िन म –
actionless, changeless, part-less न् cannot undergo any change. That is
why we say, न् doesn’t produce or become the world because
production requires movement, change, etc. We never accept न्
producing or becoming the world because it is िनिवकार: िनिवकारं. That is
why we say world appears in न्. The world is not a product or

becoming but न् appears as the world without undergoing a change.
ा ो िन मव नु :. What is the माण for that? He gives the िु त support-
िन लं िन यं शा ं िनरव ं िनर नं |
इ व
े व नु ं िु तयुि व तं || ७४||
Again, he quotes from ेता तर उपिनषद्, 6th chapter, 19th म ा, first line.
िन लं - part less. कल - part, िन ल -without any part. िन यं - without any
ि या or activity. शा ं - tranquil. िनरव ं - without any दोषा. अव ं means दोषा,
िनद षं . िनर नं - अ नं - ignorance or maya, without ignorance or माया. In
short, न् is without a second thing. Here, we should note whenever
we say न् is without a second thing we mean without a second real
thing. There are many unreal things which we are ready to admit
happily. How many unreal things we can admit? You can have infinite
number of bodies and objects etc. वेदा ा happily admits आकाश, वायु, अि ,
जलं , पृ थवी and yet वेदा ा says there is no second thing. Is it not
contradiction? There are infinite unreal things other than न् in the
form of Nama and rupa. इ व
े व नु ा त ं . This is the nature of व ,ु ुित
युि व तं . Established by ुित माण and युि माण also. Logical
reasoning also because if न् is eternal it should be part-less, it should
be changeless. They are logical consequences of the eternity of न्.
With this, all the कम फलािन have been negated as अिन ं . Now here the
मुमु ,ु seeker of मो ा is interested in िन ं . That is why the first
qualification is िन ािन व ु िववेक:. You want to hold on to some
support, may you hold on to something stable. And the only stable व ु
is न्. TF, the मुमु ु is not interested in अिन व ु and not interested in
कमा also because कम can give only अिन ं . If I want to purchase some
cloth, what will I do in a shoe shop? कम shop has got अिन पदाथा:. I
want to shop for िन padartha. TF, Shankaracharya says, renounce all
the कम. For renouncing लौिकक कम we don’t require स ास whereas for
renouncing वैिदक कम, we have to get permission from वेदा. वेदा gives कमा
at the time of उपनयनं . वेदा absolves me of all कमs only when I remove
my sacred thread. And removal of sacred thread cannot be a casual

thing like people do nowadays. Whenever it is inconvenient, they have
got sacred thread stand like coat stand. They just hang it there, finish
the job and put it on again. Even during the वण कालं when you put on
the new one you have to chant the म ा and remove the old one also
while chanting the म ा. They cannot be without thread. If thread has
to be given up, it has to be through formal स ास involving two days of
rigorous ritual. Ritual to remove ritual. Like you remove a thorn with
the help of a thorn. कम is removed with कम. So, what I am
emphasizing here is, the whole discussion is renunciation of vedic
ritual for which स ास is a must. That is said here in verse 75.
त ा कमसा ं ह् मणोs कु त न |
कमसा ं िन ं िह िन ं सनातनम् ||७५||
From the previous discussion, the conclusion we have arrived at is िन ं

cannot be attained through कम which can give only अिन कमफलं .
त ात्, TF ण: कमसा ं न अ . न् can never be attained through कम.
And when we say कम, we should add, after वेद, so many आगम शा ा ण
like वै व आगम, शैव आगम, शा आगमा: etc. have all come and they
prescribe varieties of पूजा: to the Lord, called भि शा . Vedic कम का
has been now replaced by all the भि शा ा ण. They talk about varieties
of पूजा to deity अ समपयािम, आसनं समपयािम, पा ं , ानं , समपयािम, अ भषेक,
ल ाचना, कोिट अचना, अख नाम सं क तनं etc. All these come under कम only.
So when Shankaracharya uses the word कम, you should extend it to all
भि activities, all devotional exercises, which cannot give मो ा. भि
cannot give मो ा because a bhakta is involved either in physical activity
like doing अल ार, पूजा, or verbal like chanting stotram etc. or mental
activities like meditation etc. कम and भि are essentially the same. Just
because the word भि is a separate word we should not consider it as a
separate sadhana. भि is also a form of कम. When it comes from वेद you
call it कम, when it comes from आगम शा ा you call it भि . Only the

source is different but the essence is the same. TF, neither of them can
give मो ा. This also we have to register, because many people think कम
doesn’t give मो ा, but भि is an easier method to get मो ा. Only you
have to shed tears for god. காதலா க ந் கண்ணீர் மல் க.
All the bhaktas are described in the puranas as doing all these things.
We can respect the भ ा:, we can respect the भि exercises. And we can
also say that they purify the mind. Tears will also purify the mind just
as water purifies- not tears for wife and children, tears for god. When
this is said many people are disturbed but Shankaracharya is ruthless
because he wants to discuss facts and his aim is not to please his
disciples. Whether you like or dislike ानेन एव मो ा. कम and भि can
purify. This must be very, very, clear. We need not tell everyone but
in our minds, there should be no confusion if we are sincere and
serious seekers. That is why DS says, preaching and teaching are
different. In preaching, you have to satisfy the audience and keep the
crowd coming and so you should tell them things they like to hear. A
preacher can compromise. A Teacher cannot afford to compromise
because it goes against his own conscience. Whether the student is
hurt, he likes it or not whatever has to be said, it has to be said. What
is that? कम can never give मो ा. भि can never give मो ा. You have to
come to SVSSS. वण मनन िनिद ासनं . You can postpone it if you don’t
like but you cannot avoid.
Verse 76.
देहािद: ीयते लोको यथेवं कमणा; चत: |
तथेवामु को लोक: सं चत: पु कमणा || ७६||
So incidentally Sankaracharya clarifies a point by refuting one of the

views of the पूव मीमांसक, a group of philosophers who hold on to the
ritualistic part of the वेदा. They claim that वेदा gives varieties of rituals
and while some rituals give अिन फलम् there are certain other Vedic
rituals which give िन फलं also. वेदा itself makes certain statements like,

‘If a person does a very big ritual called चातुमा याग (There are two
types of चातुमा , one practiced by स ासी during the rainy season, the
other is a याग which is performed by गृह ा also), the result of which is
eternal. अ ँ ै चातुमा ा जन: सुकृतं भवित- the पु ं produced by चातुमा ritual is
अ यं - inexhaustible, eternal, permanent. वेदा says चातुमा ritual gives िन
फलं , TF we can get moksha through rituals themselves. Why should I
attend your class? Why do I require वेदा ा? Shankaracharya says, we
have to resolve this issue because when वेदा says you cannot be casual.
If somebody else says, you can say, ‘Get lost!’ Shankaracharya now
quotes another part of Veda, which says, the celestial body attained
through any कमा, whether it is चातुमा or any कमा, will only last for
some time. Thereafter, one will have to return back. He takes that
quotation from Chandogya Upanishad, 8th chapter, 1st section, 6th म ा
which says त थेह कम जतो लोक: ीयत एवमेवामू पु जतो लोक: ीयते. Just as the
physical body attained by कमा will be here for some time and go away,
so also by doing पु , you can go to higher लोकs and get a celestial
body and you may go to vaikunta. The वै वा: claim that the body in
vaikunta will be eternal. Shankaracharya says, ‘Nothing doing. It is
illogical because it is a body attained through कमा or पु ं . So, even that
body will have to fall sometime.’ That is said here. The first line gives
the example- कमणा: चत: देहािद लोक:. In the म ा the word लोक: is there.
Shankaracharya says, लोक: must be translated as the body. So, the body
etc. which is called लोक in छा ो , and कमणा: चत: which is attained
through कमा. The first one is the example. मनु शरीरं ीयते. ीयते - it
degenerates and dies. Then extending the same principle आमु क: लोक:
you may go to भुवल क सुवल क महल क जनलोक तपोलोक or स लोक. The word
स लोक alone is called brahma लोक in the वेदाs, called िव ल
ु ोक by वै वा:,
शवलोक by शैवा:. They are all different names of the 7th heaven the
highest. We do accept such a लोक and we do accept an extraordinary
body also. And we accept the body will last for a very, very long time
but we will never accept eternity. Instead of 100 years you can say 10
million or billion or trillion years. Keep it. You can have as much as

you can think of but it cannot be eternal because it is the result of कमा.
And if it has a beginning, it will have an end. So, वै व philosophy says,
for moksha the उपासक will have to go through शु गित and there is a
river known as िवरजा नदी. Dip in that. Before dipping ordinary body,
after dipping an extraordinary body. And they say it is अ ाकृ त शरीरं and
that sareeram will be permanent. Shankaracharya says, I wish I could
accept but logic doesn’t permit me to accept. ुित itself doesn’t accept
that. So आमु क: लोक means in the higher world लोक: - the body. पु
कमणा सं चत. सं चत- means acquired. Here सं चत is not सं चत कमा. It means
acquired body through पु कम, we have to complete the sentence
ीयते- that also will perish one day or the other.

Verses 76 to 81
Page 14
देहािद: ीयते लोको यथैवं कमणा चत: ||

तथैवामु को लोक:स त : पु कमणा || ७६||
In these important verses, Shankaracharya is discussing the role of कम

in spiritual sadhana. And throughout this portion, Shankaracharya is
using the word कम to mean Vedic ritual- वैिदक कम. A गृह ा has to
compulsorily do िन and नैिमि क कम. िन कम- regular compulsory duties
which have to be performed wither daily, fortnightly or annually.
नैिमि क कम- compulsory duties which arise under certain conditions or
िनिम ं like birth or death where जातकम and ा कम are done respectively.
These are different from का कम. का कमा ण are optional Vedic rituals
done to fulfill certain worldly desires like desire for money, children,
wealth, cattle. These are not compulsory. िन नैिमि क कमा ण are
compulsory and omission of those कमा ण will give pratyavaya papam.
Here, Shankaracharya is talking about the role of िन नैिमि क कमा ण in

the case of a spiritual seeker. He says these rituals are extremely useful
for spiritual seekers because they can give च शुि . TF, one must note
the advantage and utility of those कमा ण and make use of them. While a
spiritual seeker should know the advantage of those कमा ण, he should
also know their disadvantage, which is, they can never give ानं . TF,
Shankaracharya’s recommendation is that those गृह ाs can drop those
कमा ण after साधन चतु य सं पि and च शुि have been attained. The
advantage of dropping those rituals is you get lot of time and lot of
mental quietude because every कम involves lot of distraction, attention.
Procuring things, contacting priests. They will come. They will not

come. Come at the wrong time. All these are distractions. TF, time
and mind availability. And those गृह : can plunge into वेदा ा वण, मनन,
िन ध ासन. But there is a problem. A गृह ा cannot drop vedic rituals
while remaining a गृह ा. (Of course, I am talking about those days.
These days, we have already dropped all the rituals.) So, what should
be done? If one has to renounce those vedic rituals, one has to
renounce गृह ा status also because they go together. You cannot retain
गृह ा status and drop the गृह ा duties. If you want to renounce vedic
rituals for the sake of वेदा ा, you can certainly do that. Renounce
गृह ा म formally into सं ासा म. वान ा म for upasana, सं ासा म for ानं .
TF, Shankaracharya recommends all Vedic ritual performing गृह ा: to

take to स ास ashrama, go to गु कु ल and engage yourselves in enquiry
like इ ा and िवरोचना.
To talk about the limitation of कम he pointed out that कम can only

give four types of finite results. आि उ ि सं सकार िवकार. They are gained
in time and lost in time. कम फलम् is अिन ं , मो ा is िन म्. TF, कम फलम्
cannot be मो ा, doing कम is redundant. This is supported by all the
three माणं - ुित माणं , युि माणं , अनुभव माणं .
अनुभव माणं is our own experience. We earn money, enjoy its benefits
and even as you spend, it gets depleted. It is not अ यं . कम फलम् अिन ं .
Like the body, which is growing, greying and going. The result is
directly proportional to the cause. Since every कम is अिन ं , कम फलम् also
will be अिन ं -कमणां अिन ात् कमफल ािप अिन ात्. This अनुभव reveals. युि
reveals. And finally, ुित itself says, that is what we saw in verse 76
wherein छा ो 8-1-6 is quoted.
The उपिनषद् says that even in the heavenly world whatever you
accomplish through Vedic rituals you can enjoy for some time- ते तं
भु ा गलोकं िवशालं ीणे पु े म लोकं िवश . You will have to come back.

देहािद लोक: कमणां चत: यथा ीयते:- just as this human body attained through
कमा will die one day, even heavenly bodies gained through कमा,
whether इ शरीरं, अि शरीरं or even चतुमख
ु body, ाजी can be enjoyed
for a certain period only. ाजी himself will also have a last day and the
next ाजी will be booked and ready. TF, आमु का: loka- here loka
means कम फलम् even the कम फलम् belonging to the other world. सं चत:
पु कमणा:. This सं चत: is not सं चत आगािम ार . Here, सं चत: means acquired
in time. We have to supply the verb in the second line – ीयते- will also
get exhausted. This is what was covered in the last class. Continuing.
Verse 77-
कृ तक मिन े हेतज
ु ागित सवदा|
त ादिन े गादौ प त: को नु मु ित || ७७||
Here, Shankaracharya reminds us of the universal law of expiry. Any

product purchased has an expiry date because there is date of
manufacture. That is why is called products. They are all produced in
time. This is called ाि in तक शा ा. य य manufacturing date त त
expiry date is called ाि :. TF, he says कृ तक म्. कृ तक म् - date of
manufacture is the हेतु for अिन ं - temporariness. That means, the date
of expiry is the हेतु, the logical reason applicable. सवदा- you cannot say
in कृ त युगं this law was there and we have amended the law in
parliament in क लयुग. Remember, there are certain universal laws,
which no parliament can amend. This law of य य manufacturing date
त त expiry date cannot be altered even by भगवान्. That is why, when
भगवान् takes अवतार he also has a date of arrival and a date of departure
also. We call it वैकु आरोहणं . Whatever be the word we use, the body
that comes will also have to go away. Once this has been well
assimilated by an intelligent spiritual seeker, what does he do? त ात्-
TF, अिन े गादौ- in all the worldly results up to the heaven, धम अथ काम,
in all these three पु षाथा:, क:? प ता: an intelligent, informed person

मु ित will not get deluded. He will not a fall a victim for the Vedic
advertisement. Just as we have local advertisement, वेदा also talks about
the greatness of ग यािममां पु तां वाचं वद िवप चत:, glorifies heaven and
invites people. वेदा also uses commercial methods but Shankaracharya
says, ‘No intelligent person will fall a victim for such expressions of
the वेदा. मु ित means he will not fall for those rituals. Continuing.
जग े तोs ु िन ं सवषामिप सं मतं |

जग े ु म व
े वावदीित ुितमु : ||७८||
We are repeatedly saying कमा can give only अिन फलम् and not मो ा
because मो ा is िन ं . Now a person may ask this fundamental question-
‘Who said मो ा is िन ं ?’ Shankaracharya says, all philosophers have
uniformly accepted that liberation or मो ा is eternal. Even other
religions like Christianity or Islam talk about reaching eternal heaven.
All religions and philosophers talk about salvation or liberation or मो ा
and uniformly agree that मो ा is िन ा:. The word मो ा is used for an
eternal benefit only. Shankaracharya says the same is true for वेदा also.
वेदा also declares मो ा as identical with न् or god. TF, मो ा ाि is ई र
ाि is ाि . Once a person has attained that- न च पुनरावतते. Where
does this line come from? छा ो उपिनषद् last sentence. न च पुनरावतते
means one who attains god will not come back to सं सार again.
Whether he attains through म मुि or अ म मुि . अ म मुि means स ो
मुि :. मुि : is eternal because मुि is न् and न् is eternal.
Now, Shankaracharya quotes certain माणं to show न् is eternal. What

is the purpose? By showing that न् is eternal, Shankaracharya wants
to say मो ा is eternal and TF कमा cannot give eternal मो ा. This is the
roundabout argument. We have to follow closely.
He says, जग े तो ण: न्. The cause of the universe, whether you call it

न् or god is accepted by all religions. God is seen as the cause of the

universe, the creator. There is consensus in all religions and
philosophers. Shankaracharya says, सवषां- this is acceptable for all
people. This is logical also. If you remember, I talked about four
features of कारणम् and four features of कायम्. Let me have a weekly test.
एक सार िन स ं . कारणम् is एकम्, सारम्, िन ं and स ं . What is the third one?
िन ं . एक सार िन ं that you have to underline. What is the example? Gold
was there before the creation of ornaments. Gold is there after the
creation of ornaments. Any doubt? Gold is very much there and will
be there even after melting the ornaments. ि काले अिप ित ित कारणम्
whereas कायम् is आदौ अ े च ना . And TF िन ं . कारण ात् णवत्. TF he
says, जग े ु म एव. अ means ण: - for this न्. जग े ु म् - that it is
the cause of the universe. ुित: मु : मु : वावदीित- the उपिनषद् repeatedly
emphasizes. In almost in all उपिनषद्s, creation is one of the important
topics. Whether you take मु क, कठ, कै व or तैितरीय very rarely सृि is
omitted. के नोपिनषद् is an exception where सृि is not mentioned. Once
creation comes कारणम् and काय come. And all the उपिनषद: say न् is
कारणं . This topic is compulsory because then alone I can establish कारणम्
स ं , कायम् िम ा. I can establish स ं , जगन् िम ा. Only by showing
स ं कारण ात् णवत्. जगत् िम ा काय ात् आभरणवत्. Both can be shown only
by सृि . वावदीित means it is emphatically stated. Continuing.
एतता िमदं सव त िमित च िु त: |
अ व
े िन तां तू े जग ेतो: सत: टु म्|| ७९||
So, these are the places where the students will get scope to do lot of
homework. Shankaracharya says उपिनषद् repeatedly says that न् is the
कारणं of the world. Which उपिनषद्, which mantra mentions न् is कारणं ?
Since students have no time for homework because of िन नैिमि क कमा
Shankaracharya says सं ास. And TF the गु himself has to give the
answer also. I will give you one reference. तैितरीय भृगव
ु ी, first म ा - यतो
वा इमािन भूतािन जाय े येन जातािन जीव य य िपसं िवश ीित तदिव ज ास त िे त.
This is one. If you want more references, you do homework.

Now he quotes another उपिनषद् mantra. छा ो 6-8-7- एतता िमदं सव
त म्- it is repeated nine times before तत् ं अ स. What is the meaning
of the statement? न् alone is the essence, the सार, of the entire
creation. एतता िमदं means सार:. What is the सार:? न् is the सार:- the
essential substance, because the rule is, cause alone is the essence of all
the products. If you separate the cause, the product cannot even exist.
So सवम्, the entire creation’s essential nature is न्. TF only तद् स ं .
स ं- having independent existence of its own. कारणं exists
independently whereas काय is dependent upon the कारणं . TF, कारणं स ं .
Whatever is स ं is िन ं . So तत् स ं तत् िन ं इित अ व
ै िन तां तू .े
The उपिनषद् mentions अ ( ण:) िन ं -eternity. What is the name of

न् in छा ो उपिनषद्? Of course, it has three different names- in the 6th
chapter it is called सत्. सत् means pure existence. In the 7th chapter न्
is given the title of भूमा. यो वै भूमा तदमृतं. So here since the quotation is
from 6th chapter- सत: ण:- the न् which is pure existence and जग े तो:
which is the cause of the universe, िन तां तू े िु त- reveals its eternity.
How टु म्- very, very clearly. So, from this it is very clear that न् is
िन ं . TF, मो ा is िन ं and so कम cannot give मो ा. Continuing,
न कमणा न जया धनेनिे त यं ुित: |

कमणो मो हेतु ं सा ादे व िनषेधित|| ८०||
Here, Shankaracharya takes another उपिनषद् वा ं which directly says कमा

cannot give मो ा. Until now we only indirectly argued. Then this गृह ा
asks- “I am willing to renounce कमा but I don’t want to renounce the
children because they are dear to me. Will children give मो ा?” गृह ा’s
favourite desire. The उपिनषद् makes it very clear- न जया- if they don’t
give more bondage you are lucky, certainly they will not give मो ा. न
कमाण: मो ा:, न जया मो ा:. Then the next word धनेन is there. There the न
is missing because the उपिनषद् doesn’t say न there. So, we can easily
misunderstand this वा ं and read it as धनेन मो ा: and imagine money

can certainly give मो ा. TF, go to some amazon.com and order one kg
मो ा. धनेन अिप न मो ा:. The उपिनषद् doesn’t add न but Shankaracharya says,
you better add it. न धनेन मो ा: इित यं ुित: - what ुित ? कै व उपिनषद्
declares and also महानारायण उपिनषद्. In fact, that is the mantra chanted
when a सं ासी has to be invited because that is relevant for him. He is a
सं ासी and in his presence the गृह ा also says, ‘I know this’, and chants
that mantra welcoming the सं ासी. When पूणकु ं is presented, four
mantras are chanted and the first is न कमणा न जया.
So, इित यं ुित: कमणा: मो ा हेतु ं सा ात् एव िनषेधित- the उपिनषद् directly
negates the possibility of मो ा through कमा, children and money. Don’t
ask what about grandchildren? Grandchildren are also children and so
the rule can be extended- इित िनषेधित. Continuing,
ानादे व तु कै व िमित ु ा िनग ते |

ान मुि हेतु म ावृि पूवकं || ८१||
Here, Shankaracharya quotes another उपिनषद् वा म् and the source of

this वा म् is not clear because it is not available in this manner. ानात् एव
तु कै व ं is an often quoted mantra but we are not able to trace it in any
of the उपिनषद्s. We do get a parallel idea in many उपिनषद्s. What is the
parallel idea? Spiritual knowledge alone gives liberation. Nothing else.
The most popular one is the पु ष सू म ा - तमेविव ान् अमृत इह भवित न अ
प ा अयनाय िव ते. The knower of god will become immortal. तं िव ान् -
knower of god or brahman becomes immortal. Other than this
knowledge there is no other माग. अ : प ा: - alternative path. So here
alone is a very big misconception. People talk about मो ा as one
destination and they say you can reach through this road among many
just as our Sankaralayam can be reached from this side or that side.
You can land by helicopter also. मो ा cannot be reached by many paths
at all. अ : प ा:. Why? We should know the reason why. Sankaralayam
can be reached because it is away and different from you. Remember

different and distinct. A place which is away from you can be reached
by several roads but unfortunately or fortunately, मो ा is not a
destination to somewhere for you to reach through कम माग, भि माग, नाद
माग so many मागs. We say it is illogical because मो ा is not a destination.
मो ा happens to be my very nature so where is the question of
reaching? People say भगवान् will give मो ा whenever he wants. We say,
even भगवान् cannot give मो ा because it is already with us. TF, nobody
including भगवान् can give मो ा. The maximum भगवान् can do is tell you,
मो ा is your nature. That is called ानं . TF, ानं is not one of the
methods, ानं is the only method by which we don’t get मो ा. Through
ानं we claim, ‘I was, I am and ever मु :, so where is the question of
many paths?’ All these are thoughtless propagation of wrong ideas.
Any propagation of wrong ideas has to be thoughtless only. TF, we
don’t have many paths at all. There is only one path which is nothing
but knowing what I am. And TF, ु ा - the ुित declares ानात् एव तु
कै व ं . And Shankaracharya says there you have to underline a word.
The ुित doesn’t say मो ा is through knowledge. If we say मो ा is
through knowledge somebody will add, through knowledge also.
Once you say through knowledge also, it means there are other
methods. So, the उपिनषद् doesn’t want us to use the word ‘also’. And
the उपिनषद् uses the word, ‘only’. Once the उपिनषद् uses the word ‘only’,
you cannot write also. TF, मो ा is through knowledge only and never,
never say ‘also’. That is why I say एक साधन सा ं . I don’t know whether
you remember. मो ा is only through one method. That is knowledge.
Even if भगवान् has to give me मो ा he can never take मो ा as one of the
materials like Tirupati laddu and hand over मो ा because we have
already have मो ा. भगवान् can give us मो ा only by becoming a गु .
வாய் அ ள் வாய் ஹேன. If भगवान् wants to give us मो ा,
he has no choice. Either he has to send a गु or become a गु himself, as
in the case of अजुन, and he has to say, ‘O seeker, you don’t have to get
मो ा.’ That is why we give the example of the key which is seemingly
lost but is actually hidden within the folds of the man’s kerchief inside

his pocket. He puts his hand in the pocket but cannot find the keys
because it is hidden within the kerchief. Not only that. He scolded
everyone at home and all the people at home, including his poor wife
bear the brunt of all the taunting. Then he searched his bike and
naturally he got tired and sweaty and wanted to wipe his face. So, he
removed the kerchief from the pocket and the key fell. And his wife
looked at his face. DS says, ‘You have to take a picture.’ You can see
drops of அச So how did he get the key? He never got it. He
understood it was always with him. And TF, ान मुि हेतु ं -
knowledge is the only means of मो ा. The ुित declares, अ ावृि पूवकं ,
by excluding other methods. अ -other methods, ावृि - exclusion,
पूवकं - along with. Along with the exclusion of कम माग, भि माग. That is
another widely prevalent thing. In Kaliyuga, भि माग alone will work.
Shankaracharya says, भि will give liberation if भि means ानं . If the
word भि means anything else other than ानं we will firmly say भि
cannot give liberation. But we will add a note. भि can give च शुि .
That we never question. It will give CS. Yoga will give CS. कम will
give CS. कु लिन rising - that is another one. All of them can perhaps
purify the mind. I say perhaps because कु लिन rising is not said
anywhere in ान यं . It is the invention of some people. Other
methods can give CS but only ानं can give मो ा. That is why the
expression ‘ ानात् एव’ means only, इित ु ा िनग ते.
TF, what is Shankaracharya’s message? Do कम drop कम. Enter िवचार.

Gain मो ा. Enter GA. This is in these days. Enter GA. Drop GA. Enter
स ास आ म. Gain मो ा. TF, the word उपरमा: - our topic. The word उपरमा
in SCS refers to स ास आ म. This is the course of discussion. We have a
long way to go and a lot of discussions are going to come. We will
enjoy them in the following classes, hopefully.

Verses 81 to 85
Page 15 Verse 81-
ानादे व तु कै व िमित ु ा िनग ते |

ान मुि हेतु म ावृि पूवकं || ८१||
िववेिकनो िवर ् िन वेिदन: |

त ावे ोरिन ाथ त ाम े कु तो रित: ||८२||
िववेिकन: - an informed spiritual seeker who knows the difference

between the roles of कम and ानं . कम can give अिन फलं , ानं gives िन फलं .
He has िन ािन व ु िववेक. He is िवर - the mind is sufficiently purified.
The primary indication of purification is no more interest or passion
for worldly pursuits. He has to eat food for the sake of keeping the
body going. TF, he will perform minimum activities for survival but he
will not go after the things of the world because he doesn’t have an
interest in them. That is called purity of the mind. Freedom from raga
or attachment or passion is called purity. िवर : means वैरा वता: and
िन ं वेिदन:. He knows that there is only one thing which is permanent
in the creation which the उपिनषद् calls न्. The very word न्, means
that which is not limited by time, space or attribute. Any attribute is a
limitation. When you say something is a chair, it is limited because it
is only a chair. Chair is limited by what? Chariness. It is not a carpet.
Carpet is limited by carpetness. Everything in creation is limited by
that -ness because it is one of the objects in the creation. न् is not
one of the objects but it is in and through all of them. That is the
meaning of देश काल व ु प र े द शू ं . देश- spatial, काल - time, व ु -
attribute. प र े द means limitation, शू ं - without. That is called न्.
That alone is पूण- पूणमद: पूणिमदं. So, िन ं वेिदन: तदभाव इ ो: and the

seeker is interested in attaining that पूण ं . If I am अपूण: and attain
another अपूण व ,ु I do not become limitless. A limited one by getting
another limited one cannot become limitless. He has to seek the
limitless one. TF तदभाव इ ो: इ ो: - desirous of that न्hood. तदभाव here
means bhava, which is another name for मो ा. Shankaracharya has
enumerated all the qualifications for one who is desirous of मो ा. िववेक
वैरा ं and मुमु ु ं . त ावे ो:-the मुमु :ु for him, कु त: रित:? How can he ever be
interested in anything finite in the world? अिन अथ in an अिन व ,ु an
impermanent thing.
There is the story of Tenali Rama who said that the value of a thing is
related. The King asked, ‘How do you say so? Tenali Rama said, ‘I will
tell you at the appropriate time. Tenali Rama took the king to an
island for a picnic. Upon reaching the island he sent away the boat so
they were stranded on the island for 1-2 days. The king gets very
thirsty. Then Tenali Rama says, ‘I have got some water. I can give you
the water but you have to give me all your ornaments and all
expensive things.’ The King says, ‘I am ready to give even the
kingdom to you. I want water now.’
Spiritual thirst is like this. A spiritually thirsty person is not interested

in any worldly thing, including heaven. His spiritual thirst will be
quenched only by the spiritual water called ानं . TF, कु त: रित:? How can
he show interest in any other thing and त ाम े च साम ं - the
infrastructure that goes along with it, that is कम and the infrastructure
required for कम. A spiritual seeker is not interested in either. Why? कम
cannot give him what he wants and so it is non-relevant for him. And
if कम, the Vedic rituals are not relevant, the infrastructure required to
perform them is also not relevant. And in the Vedic society what is the
infrastructure for vedic rituals? Family life. So, a householder’s life is
the infrastructure because a bachelor cannot do Vedic rituals, a स ा स
cannot do Vedic rituals, a hermit or a वान ी cannot do Vedic rituals.

TF, कम and गृह ा म are synonymous in Vedic society. In
Shankaracharya’s dictionary, कम ाग: = गृह ा म ाग: = स ास आ म ीकार:.
Thus, this is the classical वेदा ा that Shankaracharya is presenting. Here,

साम ं refers to गृह ा म. Where is the relevance of family life for a
serious, sincere spiritual seeker? Shankaracharya’s contention is, if he is
a चारी and interested in spirituality, the next आ म for him is स ास
आ म. If he is a गृह ा and seriously interested in spirituality, the next
आ म for him is स ास आ म. TF, he is inviting all the spiritually inclined
people to take to स ास and committed pursuit. So, कु तो रित:? Where is
the relevance for the infra-structure? Continuing.
त ादिन े गादौ सादन ने चोिदतं |

िन ं नैिमि कं चािप सव कम ससाधनं |
मुमु ण
ु ा पर ा ं भावमभी नु ा|| ८३||
त ात-TF, third line - मुमु ण

ु ा - a spiritual seeker प र ा ं should renounce.
Renounce what? सव कम- all the कमा ण. Don’t take the meaning as सं चत
आगािम ार but िन ं , नैिमि कं कम and ससाधनं साधना – infrastructure, the
relevant set up and GA. Why? Because they are not relevant for him.
Why not? Go to the first line- because they are all meant for finite
results. सादन ने चोिदतं means they have all been prescribed as a means to
acquire अिन े गादौ - impermanent goals like ग - heaven. According
to वेदs there is no such thing called eternal heaven. Eternal heaven is a
logical contradiction. If there is a place called heaven, that also will be
ephemeral only. TF, let him renounce वैिदक कम and free up time and
mind for committed pursuit.
Nowadays, we have to define renunciation differently because Vedic

rituals have all been dropped. So, if at all I have to prescribe you take
care of लौिकक कम, the advice of the teacher will be, ‘May you trim your
extroverted activity,’ which I generally call PORT reduction. You need

not renounce the family and take to kashaya vastram but design your
life in such a manner that you are not lost and carried away by too
many worldly activities. May you trim so that time is available
between this Tuesday and the next to revise these ोका:. That is स ास.
More importantly, make your mind available. TF modern definition of
स ा स is a person for whom there is availability of time and mind so he
can commit to वणं मननं and िनिद ासनं . This is called लौिकक कम स ास:.
प र ा ं – renounce, if भावं अभी ुना - desirous of attaining भाव-
attaining मो ा. With this, Shankaracharya concludes the first part of the
discussion. What is the topic under discussion? In the four-fold
qualifications, we have come to शम दम उपरम: which is defined here as
स ास. This is the first part.
Now, he is going to enter the second part of the same discussion उपरम:
where Shankaracharya will refute another philosophy that claims that
वैिदक कम should not be renounced. Shankaracharya has said Vedic
rituals must be renounced and replaced with वेदा िवचार. The other
philosophers claim Vedic rituals should never be renounced, never
take to renunciation and do not go with Shankaracharya because he is
स ा स. Their argument is that renouncing Vedic rituals is पापम् and
moreover, Vedic rituals are very useful for मो ा. This philosophy was
very prevalent during Shankaracharya’s time and so in almost all his
commentaries, he analyses this philosophy and refutes. Now, we will
enter that topic.
Verse 84-
मुमु ोरािप कमा ु वणं चािप साधनं |
ह ावद् यमेद काय साधिय ित || ८४||
Shankaracharya is introducing a challenge here. Verse 84 to 86 present

the view of the opponent or पूवप . Shankaracharya introduces a lot of
shastric words and concepts. It is a technical discussion.

Before entering the discussion, I will summarize their view and our
view briefly. This philosopher is called ान कम समु य वादी. वादी-
philosopher, समु य – combination of वेद अ ानं and वेद पूव कम. Their
argument is that both ानं and कम must be combined by one who
wants मो ा. Previously, he was doing all the Vedic rituals because that
is the duty of a गृह ा. When he wants मो ा he should continue the
rituals and study वेदा ा to gain knowledge. अहम् ा इित ानं also he
should gain. He should also retain that ानं , keep the knowledge alive
in his mind through वणं मननं and िनिद ासनं and conduct िन कमा ण
सं ाव नं अि हो ं औपासनं all the कमा ण also. When he does that throughout
the life, then at the end of his life, when he dies, he will get मो ा. This
philosophy is called ान कम समु य वाद: and the philosopher is called
वादी. They say entire वेद must be respected, the first part of rituals and
the second part of knowledge and it is inappropriate to neglect one
part of the वेद. This is good news for गृह ा. Retain infrastructure means
you can continue to happily have the spouse around. In fact, all गृह ा
will vote for them only. TF, in his philosophy स ास आ म doesn’t exist
and renunciation is wrong. This is the पूवप ा.
I will now summarize Shankaracharya’s primary argument against this

philosopher. He is presenting in a very technical language. I will try to
explain it later but for now I will give a brief summary. According to
पूवप ा, मो ा is the goal or सा ं to be attained. The साधना or means to
attain it is a combination of ानकम. The one who wants मो ा and
follows this combination is called समु य कता- the गृह ा who combines
both of them and is a spiritual seeker- साधका:. Seeker=साधका:,
combination=साधनम्, मो ा= सा म्. साधका, साधनम्, सा म्- combiner,
combination, destination.
Shankaracharya says, there is a fundamental problem in this equation.

A गृह ा with an intention to attain मो ा and combines ान कम studies

वेदा ा thoroughly for getting ानं . So that he can do the समु य. वेदा ा
gives the knowledge- ऐतदा ं इदं सव त ं स आ ा त मस त
े के तो . The शा ा
says, तत् ं अ स, you are That. Be careful so you understand the
pronoun contextually. DS says when the teacher said, ‘You are That’,
the boy looked outside and saw a donkey or a dog. In the context of
छा ो 6th chapter तद् means न् तदेव सो इदं अ आसीत्. When the student
finally gains the ानं that अहम् अ . And what is the nature of न्?
िन मु पं : न् - that which is eternally free which means the person
gathers that ‘I am free’, ‘मो ा is my nature’. The moment one gains ानं ,
मो ा is no more a goal. Very significant argument. If he attains ानं , in
his vision, मो ा is no more a goal. Why not? Because it is my very
nature. And TF, the first casualty is मो ा is no more a सा म्, goal, and
so ान कम समु य cannot be a साधनम् because means is only for
accomplishing an end. When मो ा is no more an end, how can समु य
be called साधनम्? सा म् is no more सा म्. साधना is no more साधना. Two
casualties. What is the third one? That you can do homework.
Now I can no more look upon myself as a Seeker of मो ा because if

मो ा is not a goal, how can I seek मो ा? Because I have claimed मो ा as
my very nature, I can never be called a seeker. After ानं , the one who
has attained the ानं , cannot be a seeker. TF समु य कता is not a साधका.
समु य: is not साधना. मो ा is not सा म्. Where is your philosophy?
Because his philosophy’s fundamental basis is समु य कता साधका. समु य is
साधनम्, मो ा is सा म्. These are the fundamentals of the समु य वाद and
we have negated all the three.
TF, after ानं , a गृह ा cannot do कमा, even vedic rituals, a ािन as a means
of मो ा. I don’t say a ािन cannot do कमा. A ािन can do the ritual but he
cannot do the ritual as a seeker or as a means for मो ा. TF,
Shankaracharya says, for a ािन कमा ण are no more relevant and so he
need not do them. Even if he performs them, the कम has lost its साधनम्
status and cannot produce any फलं . That is why we say, ािन doesn’t

have आगािम पु ं or आगािम पापम्. A ािन cannot acquire any आगािम because
ािन’s कम are like roasted seeds which can never germinate. TF ािनs कम,
cannot be called कम, if at all you want to call it, it is as seeming कम. It
is कम आभास:. It has no relevance because he doesn’t want any benefit of
the कम. And even if he performs सं ाव नं , अि हो ं etc. a ािन continues to
be a गृह ा as he performs his duty as a PMY. Even if he does as LK said
in the BG, गतस मु नानाव थचेतस:| य ाया चरत: कम सम ं िवलीयते|| कम
resolves without producing any पु ं or पापम्. It doesn’t produce ानं
because he is already ािन. It doesn’t produce मो ा because he is already
मु :. If कम is like a roasted seed it doesn’t deserve the name कम. It is
like our 1000 rupee note. Very gross example which will immediately
strike a chord in your mind. When you attain the de monetization ानं
what happened to the 1000 rupee note? Money, amoney भवित- called
अमनी भाव:. So, money becomes non-money. TF, where is ान कम समु य?
You may, at the most, want to use the word ान कम आभास which may
exist. Even it exists it is no more a साधनम् for मो ा, because मो ा is
already the पं . This is Shankaracharya’s reply to the समु य वादी.
Now we will go through the पूवप . The समु य वादी (SV) says, मुमु ोरािप
कम- मुमु ो: अिप let the spiritual seeker continue to perform vedic rituals.
Let him not renounce and not become a सं या स. He should perform the
कमा, वणं चािप साधनम्. He should start doing वणं also. Do the कमा and
पूजा in the morning and attend the class at 11 O clock. वणं means वेदा ा
िवचार:. अिप indicates combination. This combination is the साधनम्. ह ावद्
यम् एत काय साधिय ित. He gives a nice example of employing both
the hands for doing action. One hand is ानं , the other hand is कमा
which will help to accomplish things faster. He doesn’t say, ‘Faster’. I
am saying. ह ावद् like the two hands, यं – ानं and कम, एत -for this
combiner, काय - his aim. What is his aim? मो ा -मो म् साधिय ित.
यथा िवजृ ते दीपो ऋजुकरणकमणा |

ऋजूकरणकमणा तथा वणजो बोध: पुं सो िविहतकमणा||

Here, the same opponent argues that कमा will be useful in getting मो ा
and for Vedantic study. And when कमा is performed along with
Vedantic study the ानं that arises will be brighter. If you do puja in the
morning and attend class, you will understand better. If you don’t do
puja you will understand lesser. I am not saying this, the purvapakshi
is. He says, the brightness and quality of knowledge will be enhanced
by the performance of rituals and will help ानं and मो ा also. His first
example was of two hands. Now he gives another nice example.
Suppose you light an oil lamp. There is the lamp, oil holder and wick.
You light the lamp and it burns. But after some time, you will see that
soot is forming on the tip of the wick. The black crust encrustation on
the tip of the wick will make the flame a little bit dull. So, you will
have to use some instrument and remove the soot from time to time.
Temple priests are very good at it. They just knock and you find the
flame becomes brighter. This clearing of the soot is like वणं and doing
regular कमा also which will enhance the brightness. Then, ानं will be
without any soot and will be bright. दीपा: यथा िवजृ ते -just as the flame
becomes bright. By ऋजुकरण - adjusting the wick of the lamp. तथा- in
the same way, वणज: बोध: - the knowledge that rises because of
Vedantic study will be very bright if one follows Vedic rituals also in
parallel. TF, ानं and कमा must be joined.

Verses 85 to 88
Page 16, Verse 85-

यथा िवजृ ते दीपो ऋजुकरणकमणा |
ऋजूकरणकमणा| तथा वणजो बोध: पुं सो िविहतकमणा ||85||
Shankaracharya equates उपरम with स ास आ म (SA) and encourages

taking up SA to perform only one duty- वणं , मननं and िनिद ासनं .
Remember, after SA only after acquiring च शुि (CS). It is important
to have CS otherwise SA will be disastrous. A very strong warning.
Then we saw an objection - ान कम समु य वाद: where it is said that a

गृहा ा should not renounce वैिदक कम. It is a पापं to renounce वैिदक कम,
because it will generate वाय पापं . TF, one should continue GA as well
as वैिदक कम. He should now add one more extra job. Entering into वण
मनन िनिद ासनं . By practicing them the गृहा ा will become a ािन गृहा ा.
This ानं and कम combination will give him liberation after death. Who
says this? Not Shankaracharya but an opponent to Shankaracharya’s
contention. This theory is called ान कम समु य वाद. Shankaracharya will
elaborately refute it by introducing lot of technical terms but I will
simplify his answer.
Shankaracharya’s contention? Let us assume a गृहा ा continues वैिदक कम

and performs or practices वण मनन िनिद ासनं and becomes ािनन: like
you. This गृहा ा ािन will be combining the ानं which he already has
and he will be doing his regular कम as a गृहा ा. He will be a ािन गृहा ा
combiner. The समु य वािद says the ािन गृहा ा should combine these two
as a साधना and will attain मो ा after death. The combiner is साधका.
Combination is साधना. मो ा is सा म्. What is wrong in that? Why do you
insist on स ास? स ास is disadvantageous according to पुवप (PP)

because a स ासी cannot combine ानं and कम because स ासी cannot do
Vedic rituals. गृहा ाs are all in an advantageous position and can
combine.
Shankaracharya dismantles the whole argument. Sankaracharya says,

suppose the गृहा ा becomes a ािन and gets the knowledge of अहं
अ , then he can never look upon मो ा as a goal anymore. PP agrees
that he will get this ानं through वण मनन िनिद ासनं . The first job of ानं
is it will never make you look upon मो ा as a goal. If he has understood
वेदा ा, then मो ा is no more a destination. मो ा is my very nature. How
can my nature be a destination? Destination is away from me. Nature
is not even close; it is one with me all the time. TF, the first thing that
happens is the गृहा ा ािन cannot look upon मो ा as the साधना. This is the
first flaw समु य वाद.
The second flaw is that if मो ा is not a destination, the combination of

ानं and कम cannot be a साधना or means for मो ा. साधना is relevant only
when you have the सा म्. Once the सा म् is dismantled, साधना is no
more relevant. Suppose you come in a car to reach Sankaralayam. You
sit in it until you reach Sankaralayam. Afterwards, if you insist that you
will remain in the car, it is meaningless because the destination is
already here. Car cannot be a means to reach Sankaralayam because
Sankaralayam is already there. Similarly, how can you call the
combination as a साधना? PP sees ान कम समु य as a साधना. Shankaracharya
says, it doesn’t deserve साधना status at all. And when कम is no more a
साधना, a कम which is not a साधना cannot be technically called कम. It will
be called कम आभास. TF, गृहा ा ािन cannot do ान कम समु य. What he can
do is only ान कम आभास समु य. And he cannot do even that
combination for मो ा because he looks upon himself as मु :. In BG 4th
chapter, गतस मु ानाव त चेतस: LK is describing a गृहा ा ािन.
गतस मु नाव तचेतस:|
य ायाचरतः कम सम म् िवलीयते ||४.२३||

A ािन गृहा ा कम is no more a कम. It is like a roasted seed which cannot
germinate into a plant. ािनन: गृहा ाs कम cannot germinate into any फलं
including मो ा. TF, ान कम समु य is not a साधनं . In fact, ान कम समु य is
not there. ान कम आभास समु य alone can be there. I hope you are
understanding. These are highly technical arguments which have been
simplified. Shankaracharya himself will present more technical
arguments later.
The final flaw of the PP is he claims ािन गृहा ा as a combiner of ानं and
कम is a साधका. Shankaracharya says, a ािन गृहा ा can never be called a
साधका. ािन cannot be a साधका and a साधका is not a ािन. As long as I look
upon myself as a साधका, the teaching has really not been received and
conviction has not come. Assimilation has not taken place. Once ानं
has entered into me, I cannot look upon myself as a साधका. Why? साधका
is a seeker of मो ा. As a ािन I cannot seek मो ा because I am मु :. As
मु : how can I seek मो ा?
Mistake 1- मो ा सा ं
Mistake 2- समु य’s साधन ं
Mistake 3- गृहा ा ािनन: साधक ं
TF, ान कम समु य is not possible. This is the essence of the technical

answer that Shankaracharya is going to give. How Shankaracharya will
talk about it, we will see later.
In the next verse, Verse 86, PP concludes his argument.
अत:सापे तं ानमथवािप समु यं |

मो साधनिमित वद वािदन: ||८६||

The समु य वािद who started from verse 84 is concluding his arguments
in verse 86. He says अत: -TF, ानं and कम must be combined for which
one should necessarily remain in GA. Only then can he perform अि हो ं
etc. अि हो ं ritual cannot be performed by either a चारी or स ासी. GA
is compulsory for Vedic rituals. TF, combination is a must.
This combination also is divided into three types.

1. ान धान समु य: - ानं is dominant with about 75% and कम is
supportive at 25%. This is only a sample number. What is 25%? It is of
a less dominant role. ानं goes forward and कम supports ान from
behind.
2. कम धान समु य: - कम is dominant. 75%, 85% anyway more than
50%. कम goes forward as a leader and ानं supports कम.
3. सम धान समु य: - Both of them are equally important with neither
dominating. Like 50: 50.
I don’t know whether I can give this example. Three types of

marriages- Husband धान marriage, wife धान marriage which means
very obedient husband and the third one is सम धान. Every marriage
you can see all these समु य:.
Here, PP says, you can choose any one of these but you have to
combine. Here, we are not analyzing who is interested in कम धान. We
are only focusing on the fact that no matter what the percentage, the
combination is a must. अत: सापे तं ानं - means ान धान समु य:. सापे तं -
supported by कम. कम plays a supportive role only and not the main
role. अथवा- or. समु यं - means सम धान समु यं where both have equal
importance. The third one you have add सापे तं कम- कम is dominant.
अपे - supported by. Supported by ानं . मो साधनं - is solely the means
of मो ा.

For all the three types of combinations one requires what आ म? GA.
Whether 75, 50 or 25 GA is compulsory. TF समु य वािद’s vote is for
गृहा ा. If a स ासी comes he will raise a black flag. ‘Down, down स ासी’
is his slogan. He wants to say गृहा ाs alone can get मो ा. It is nice to
hear the PP, at least temporarily. Shankaracharya will dismantle it. इित
वािदना: वद . So here, Shankaracharya calls the समु यवािद also वािद.
here means वेद. वािद means a Vedic follower. So, we are not the
only Vedic followers, the समु यवािद is a Vedic follower and not a
ना का. He actually says, ‘I am the real Vedic follower because I give
equal importance to वेद पूव भाग and वेद अ भाग while you are only over
emphasizing ान का .’ इित वेद वािदन: वैिदक ान कम समु य वािदन: वद . Until
here and the first half of verse 87 is the PP.
मुमु ोयु ते ाग: कथं िविहतकमणा:|

इित श ा न कत ा मूढव तो मै: ||८७||
The PP completed his arguments and now questions the स ा

Shankaracharya. PP asks, त ात्-TF, मुमु ो: ाग: कथं यु ते? How can a
spiritual seeker ever think of renouncing वैिदक कम and गृहा ा म? It is a
sacrilege to renounce वैिदक कम. To renounce that, he has to remove the
sacred thread also. The very thread is called sacred thread. How can
you think of renouncing the sacred thread and the tuft? The tuft is also
considered to be very important for a Vedic गृहा ा. Nowadays majority
of Hindus, even Brahmins, do not keep tuft. To perform the ritual, he
has to keep a tuft also because for most of the म ाs अ ास and कर ास
are required. दयाय नम: शरसे ाहा शकायै वषट् . When he says शखायै he has
to touch his शखा. The PP asks, how can you hope to get मो ा by doing
the wrong thing? वेद म ा says याव ीवं अि हो ं जुहोित. We have to do Vedic
rituals as long as we are alive. In fact, Vedic rituals called अ इि सं ार
are used to cremate also. A स ासी has to renounce the ritualistic fire.
So, PP asks, ‘How can you renounce fire because that fire alone has to
be preserved until death.’ िविहतं - means said to be compulsory in वेद.

याव ीव - as long as you are alive अि हो ं जुहोित. In ईशावा उपिनषद, ‘कु व व
े हे
कमा ण इ जवीषे शतं समा’ you have to live 100 years, performing rituals.
Thus, he quotes left and right and says, it is inappropriate to renounce
कम. कथं िविहत-िविहत means compulsory ritual. ाग: - renunciation. कथं ?-
How can it be done? And that is why I said these म ाs are not relevant
today because whether to renounce or not is not a question because
these कमा ण are not done at all. All these discussions are based on Vedic
society. Now, these are all of only academic relevance. कथं िविहत कमणा:
ाग: how can they be renounced?
Shankaracharya now puts the whole thing within inverted commas and
says इित श ा न कत ा- this doubt which came to ान कम समु य वािद. This
doubt should not come to Sankaralayam students. इित श ा- such a
doubt. Whether Vedic rituals should be renounced or not, whether कम
gives ानं and मो ा these doubts should not come. इित श ा न कत ा मूढवत्-
like a foolish person, like the foolish ान कम समु यवािद you people प त
उ मै: - who are well informed people. Shankaracharya is relaxed and
not disturbed by all these पूवप ा because when Shankaracharya talks
about SA, not only is he talking from a practical angle but SA is
prescribed in वेद itself. TF, whatever he says is not his personal view.
The very वेद which PP is quoting, the very same वेद is there for
Shankaracharya’s support also. The most favorite म ा being-
वेदा िव ानसुिन ताथा: सं या ोगा तया: शु ा. When वेद itself talks about SA,
why are you so much disturbed by it? वेद gives कम for purity. वेदा
suggests dropping the कम after purity just like entering college is a
temporary set up to prepare for advancement. You enter and go out.
Just as गभ वास for a baby is important as any growth requires a set up.
That set up becomes irrelevant after it serves its purpose. Similarly, कम
is an infrastructure which everyone has to enter to purify and grow out
of. This is not Shankaracharya’s view. वेदा itself talks about ऋतं च ा ाय
वचनेच स ं च ा ाय वचने च जाच ा ाय वचने च- get children and get
grandchildren. The very same वेद says न कमणा न जया न धनेन. Only if you

have the total vision of वेद will there be no confusion. If you take only
a particular part, it will create confusion. प तो मैः - thinking people
should not get this doubt.
From here on, Shankaracharya will analyze the whole topic by

introducing lot of technical terms. I don’t know how far you are ready
for this topic. Let us see.
Verse 88-
कमण:फलम ु वण फलं पृथक् |

वैल ं च साम ो ोभय ा धका रणो:|
कामी कम धकृ तो िन ामी वणेमत: ||८८||
I will just give you a picture of the development of Shankaracharya’s

argument. Shankaracharya wants to point out that वेदा is one शा ं ,
which we accept as the teaching given by the Lord himself. यो ाणं
िवददाित पूव यो वै वेदां िहणोित त .ै We look upon वेदा as a gift from the
Lord. The rishis received the वेदाs in their ानं . ते ान योगा: अनुगता: अप न् -
त
े ा तर. They received Vedic म ा and did not invent the Vedic म ा.
Thereafter, they transferred to the next generation. ॐ नारायणं प भुवं व स ं
शि ं च त ु पराशरं च | ासं शुकं गौडपदं महा ं गोिव योगी मथा श ं || ी
श राचायमथा प पादं च ह ामलकं च श ं | तं तोटकं वाितककारम ान्अ गु न्
सं ततमानतो || This is the list of the गु श पर र. Who is the first one?
नारायणं . He gave this to who passed it down. We will see this in BU
next Monday. In छा ो also, the last म ा was त ै त ा जापतय उवाच
जापितमनवे मनु: जा :. TF, the whole वेदा is ई र gift and all the other
later scriptures like पुराण, रामायणं etc. though based on वेदा are written by
human beings. TF, other scriptures are called smriti. They have got
borrowed authenticity whereas वेदा has got intrinsic authenticity. पुराणs
have got borrowed authenticity. वेदा and Vedic म ा: have got intrinsic
authenticity. Shankaracharya admits that the entire वेदा should be

respected but insists that even though वेदा is one, it should be treated as
two distinct शा ा ण- वेदा पूव भाग- कम शा ं and वेदा अ भाग- ान का ं or ान
शा ं . They must be treated as two different शा ा ण.
Naturally, the question is what should the basis for dividing be? Now
we are entering technical topics. Until now we were discussing values-
स ं वद. Don’t hurt others. All values to be followed where we need not
use our intellect too much. Now, suddenly we are entering the
intellectual field.
The law is, a शा ं enjoys the status of a शा ं because of four factors

called अनुब चतु यं which we learnt in the beginning of this book itself.
I will give you the reference. Verse 6, page 2. They are अ धकारी, िवषय:,
सं ब :, योजनं : - CBSC.
1. C- Candidate addressed by the शा ं . That means for a different
candidate this शा ं is not relevant. Suppose, one of the values for
spiritual growth given in the 13th chapter is, ‘Don’t be attached
to your spouse and children.’ This is relevant to whom? A
married person. चारी should not say, ‘I want to get married so
that I can practice this value.’ No. For example, a bald-headed
person need not pick up a book on how to get shiny the hair.
TF, अ धकारी -the relevant candidate must be mentioned so that
others need not waste their time. If a person is not interested in
मो ा he says, ‘I am not interested in मो ा and so a शा ं which is
talking about मो ा is not relevant to me at all.’ We can say
initially itself don’t come to class. TF candidate is very
important.
2. B- B is benefit of वेदा ा which is spiritual liberation. It is not
solving worldly issues. I have changed the order for convenience.
If मो ा is the benefit of the शा ं , then a person who is not
interested in मो ा will not come. If a person is interested in
money, I call him for BU class. That is why DS said, don’t learn,

earn. So, I should ask the question, am I interested in money?
Am I interested in curing diseases in family members? Am I
interested in doing some प रहार: to रा and के तु? If astrological
issues are there, BU is a sheer waste of time. It is not addressing
those issues at all. TF, don’t go to the wrong place and waste
your time.
3. S- Subject matter which can be अिन ं or िन ं because that is the
whole creation. There are so many अिन ं , finite things like
money, position, possession, health, wealth, marriage etc. What
is वेदा ा offering? What is वेदा पूव offering? िन ं or अिन ं ? Before
entering a shop. You should read carefully. It is BATA. If you are
interested in shoes, enter the shop. If you are interested in cloth,
why enter the shop? TF, let the subject matter be very clear.
4. C- Connection. What is the connection between this knowledge
and the benefit? वेदा पूव भाग, knowledge of rituals, can never give
the benefit unless you do the ritual. The connection is not direct,
it is indirect. Whereas for िन व ,ु gaining knowledge you need
not do something to produce िन ं . Why not? How to produce
िन ं ? िन ं is that which is already there. How far away? TF, after
knowing, no doing is involved. TF the connection is direct
benefit.
Shankaracharya says, between वेदा पूव भाग and वेदा अ भाग, candidates,
benefits, subjects and connections are different. So, how can you
combine both of them? Because the one who is seeking one, is not
seeking the other. One is who is seeking the other will not seek this
one. TF, अनुब चतु य भेदात् शा भेद:| शा भेदात् समु य न सं भवित because the
candidates are different. This is going to be the analysis which we will
see from the next class.

Verses 88 to 91.
Page 16, verse 88-
कमणा: फलम ु वण फलं पृथक् |

वैल ं च साम ो चोभय ा धका रणो:|
कामीकम धकृ तो िन ामी वणे मत: ||88||
Shankaracharya is analyzing ान कम समु य वाद:. वेद पूव भाग deals with

Vedic rituals and वेद अ भाग deals with ानम्- अ ैत ानम्, अहम् ा ानम्.
वेदs give both कम and ानम्. We accept वेद as a valid source of
knowledge and have to follow the instructions of वेद. TF, कम must be
respected and ानम् must be respected. The वप ी also will say we
require both कम and ानम्. Shankaracharya also says both are required.
So, we all agree till here. Where do we disagree.? Very, very subtle
topic. The question is whether कम and ानम् should be simultaneously
practiced or sequentially practiced. PP argues that both must be
simultaneous and in GA alone. गृह ा मे समाने काले ान कम समु येन मो ा:
मरणा रं भवेत्. मो ा will come after we die. This is पूवप ा’s condition.
Shankaracharya’s vehement argument is that they must be not be
combined simultaneously but only sequentially because they are totally
different things. Like the joke - A person asked what is a flask meant
for? ‘Keeping hot things hot and cold things cold.’ So, this person put
both hot and cold things together in the flask. He did सम समु य. You
cannot store both simultaneously. Similarly, कम and ानम् are totally
different and need very different infrastructure. The very mind set
required is different. TF, they should be sequentially combined and
Shankaracharya says, the infrastructure also must be conducive to these
two साधनािन. Shankaracharya admits two important आ म for two साधनािन
to be sequentially followed.

The next question is, if they have to be sequentially followed what is
the sequence? After graduation, post-graduation or post-graduation,
graduation? Some students say, “Swamiji, I started with BS and ended
with TB.” We should always know the correct sequence? TF,
Shankaracharya says, कम and गृह ा म first. ानम् and स ास आ म next.
This is the Vedic vision. ् चयात् गृही भवेत् गृही भू ा वनी भवेत् वनी भू ा जेत्
sequence is given in the वेद itself- जाबाल उपिनषद्. Even if a person doesn’t
take to स ास आ म, even in गृह ा म, these two साधनािन must be followed
sequentially only. Initially, कमयोग धान life and gradually it has to
become ान योग धान. The time devoted and the proportion also varies.
And even as a person goes from कमयोग to ानयोग in गृह ा म itself, the
mindset should become similar to स ासी for गृह ा ािम to successfully
follow ानयोग even while remaining in गृह ा म. अहंकार reduction, दु
चतु यं -अहंकार reduction, ममकार reduction, राग reduction, े ष reduction and
main desire is only for मो ा. As गृह ा he performs his आ म
responsibilities but pursues ानम् and ानम् alone. Either become actual
स ासी or become आ र स ासी. PORT reduction and clasp rejection. I
am happy. At least you remember the word. Whether you follow or
not. TF गृह ा म कम, स ास आ म ानम् should be the sequence. It is
improper and impossible to combine. He gives a technical argument
stating that the four factors required for वेद पूव and वेद अ are totally
different. CBSC- Candidate, Subject Matter, Benefit, Connection are
all different for the two. ान फलयोगो: सं ब : अिप different. Shankaracharya
is going to present them one by one. Not in the same order that I
have given but in his own way.
Look at verse 88- कमण: फलम् अ त् वण फलम् पृथक्.

The फलम्, results are different. This is a proposition, which he will
explain later.

The second difference is वैल ं च साम ो- the infrastructure, the setup is
different. The infrastructure for a factory and a library will be different
because their purposes are different. Library will be meant for ानम्.
Factory- कम धान. How can you mix the two? साम ो:- षि ि वचनं , वैल ं-
different. This is also a proposition which he will explain later.
उभय अ धका रणो:- अ धका र – the Candidates are also different. In कम का ,

धम अथ and काम are the goals. The seeker must choose whether he
wants to earn more or acquire more पु म्. To seek better results here
or go to higher लोका:. धम अथ काम are the materials kept in कम का shop.
In the मो ा का , the अ धका र is focused on मो ा and has understood
deeply the limitations of धम अथ and काम and the three-fold दोषा: of दुःख
िम त ं अ िु कर ं ब क ं . Deeper this discovery, deeper the intensity of
the desire for मो ा. मुमु ु ं , ती मुमु ु ं , ती तर मुमु ु ं , ती तम मुमु ु ं . अ धका रणो:
च उभयतर वैल ं - The candidates have got different goals.
Since the candidates, subject matter, infrastructure are all different, the
result is also different.
From the third line he is going to explain each one. First, he takes the
candidate. He goes in the reverse order. He enumerated them as
Result, Infrastructure, Candidate. Now, while explaining he goes from
Candidate to Infrastructure to Result. What is the difference? कािम
कमा ण अ धकृ त:. कािम means an utterly materialistic person who doesn’t
value spirituality at all. Even if he comes to religion and god, he
doesn’t use them for spirituality but for material purposes. So, every
time he does नम ार he is seeking material goals. That is what I tell all
the students. What comes to your mind when you do नम ार? Watch.
Don’t tell others, especially me, because then I will get वैरा म् towards
teaching. TF, watch the mind to see if ान वैरा स थ comes to the
mind when we do नम ार or various other things come to mind. A कािम
is an absolutely materialistic person even though he is a महा भ ा. Such

a person is कमा ण अ धकृ त: both worldly activities and religious activities.
Whereas वणे िन ािम अ धकृ त: - वणं is for a person who no more has
materialistic goals of life, is interested in ानम् and मो ा and even if he is
a गृह ा, every कम that he does is िन ाम कम and does no more सकाम कम.
I said, ‘special prayers for special benefits’, where varieties of contract

deals with god. And that too god must do first and only then will I
fulfill my part of the contract. We don’t trust anyone, including god.
So, a िन ािम, even if he does कम as a गृह ा, the कम are प महा य धान.

सकाम कमा ण are taken out of his dictionary. So, either he is a स ासी with
no कम or he is a गृह ा only with िन नैिमि क कम for which, the सं क is
ान वैरा स थ. For one who is already a ानी, then ान िन ा स थ ितब ः
िनवृ थ- no more other things and the mindset is totally different. TF,
िन ािम स ासी or िन ािम गृह ा: is वणे अ धकृ त: is the candidate for वणं .
Thus, Candidates are different.
Now the next one he goes to is साम ी or infrastructure.
कमणा:साधनं भाया ु व
ु ािदप र ह: |
नैवा साधनापे ा शु श
ू ो ु गु ं िवना || 89||
What is the साम ी or साधनं -infrastructure? Both are synonymous.

Throughout this discussion, Shankaracharya refers to Vedic ritualistic
portion as कम. According to शा ा, almost 95% of all कमा ण can only be
done by a couple together. That is why marriage is defined in the शा ा
as, ‘सह धम चा रणी सं योग:’- the combination of a male and female for
practice of Vedic धम. स: - combined practice. For that – चा रणी - the one
who will walk along with the husband or the one who walks along
with the wife. वेद gives the couple all the कमा ण. वेद makes no gender
discrimination because it given neither for male nor female but only
for the couple. चारी cannot do. वान cannot do. स ासी cannot come

anywhere near कम. TF, if a person wants to perform Vedic rituals, what
is the first qualification? Get married.
Shankaracharya says कमणा: साधनं infrastructure is भाया - wife or husband

as the case may be. Within six months of getting married he has to get
initiated again by doing a special ritual called अि आधानं after which he
will be called आ शति गृह ा. Only after that is he qualified for
performing the most fundamental वैिदक कम called अि हो ं . And the wife
will procure materials necessary for the ritual. The wife procures the
materials and together they are a team called गृह ा. TF, Shankaracharya
says, भाया is required. Here, Shankaracharya mentions two types of
wooden ladles used in the rituals क
ु and व
ु ा:. These are specially
made. आिद means etc. in addition to so many other things which have
been prescribed in great detail.
If you remember मु क उपिनषद् by chance, there was a list of Vedic

rituals in Chapter 1, Section 2, where अि हो दश चातुमा आ यणं were
listed. These are all names of the rituals.
TF, in कम field, he must have lot of PORT. Possessions are required

and actually increase because he has to purchase those materials, give
द णा and varieties of दानं . If you get a car, you have to get a driver.
Then, you not only you have to take care of him, but also his family. It
will go on expanding. Every P will increase ORT. Every O will
increase PRT. Every R will increase POT. Every T will increase POR.
You can see expanding, expanding, expanding. This is the
infrastructure. He has to preserve even a used dabba as DS says, काम् मे
आगया. Not only materials, lot of creatures also will be there like rat,
cat, cockroaches,
So, Shankaracharya must be smiling while writing this ोका. भाया क

ु
व
ु ािद प रगह:. प रगह: - acquiring. Acquire, acquire, acquire. When a

person is not interested in कम or कम फलं , धम अथ or काम but only in मो ा,
he only needs a गु because मो ा comes only through knowledge and
knowledge comes from गु . ति ाथ स उ मेव अ भग े त् सिम ा ण ोि यं ् िन ं .
TF, he requires only a गु for वण मनन िनिद ासनं . Any possession
becomes a burden because योग requires म
े . योग means acquisition and
it requires maintenance. Between morning and evening look at any
part of the house and there is a dust coating. You have to regularly
clean it. And then after some time the cloth used for cleaning has to
be cleaned. Until it dries up, you have to have a replacement cloth.
So, योग and म
े takes time, mind and attention.
PORT reduction is the slogan for ान का ा. TF, he says शु षू ो:. शु षू ु: - the

one who is desirous of वणं . In Sanskrit the word शुसु ूषा is any service,
serving the elderly people, sick people etc. The secondary meaning
also has a connotation, which I will discuss later. The literal meaning is
desirous of listening. ोतुं इ ा शुसु ष
ू ा: - interest in study. When the
student has शुसु ष
ू ा, he goes to a गु . In the गु कु लं , he does service to the
teacher. So, because of his desire for वणं , not only he does listen, he
also wants to show his gratitude to the गु . He doesn’t have anything to
pay him and so he in exchange for gaining knowledge from the गु , he
serves him.
Thus, शुसु ष
ू ा is a natural corollary of the study and in this context
शुसु ष
ू ा means गु शुसु ष
ू ा but by extension any service got the name
शुसु ष
ू ा. शु षू ु: - desirous of learning. He only requires a गु :. That too, in
the olden days, all the teachings were कण पर रा done orally and so no
possession was required. Under the foot of a tree the गु sits, the श ा
sits. One teaches, the other listens. Nowadays, we have made that also
into a thing where we require lot of materials like a note book, a pen,
a CD and of course a recorder. And an almirah to maintain all that.
We convert study also into another PORT increase. Instead of keeping
the knowledge in our heads and recording here, we record everywhere

else. That is why the CD will get liberation. I am not asking you to
stop writing notes. You do that but it is more important that it goes
inside. That is why Shankaracharya says, other than गु nothing else is
required. The ears must be functioning. That is the only condition.
Thus, infrastructures needed are opposite like factory and library. So,
साम ी भेद:.
Next one is फलं . This is the answer to verse 88, top line कमणा: फलं अ त्
explained in the 90th ोका. We will read.
उपयुपयह ारो वधते कमणा भृशं|

अह ार िव ित: वणेन ित णं || 90||
Shankaracharya presents फलं of कम and ानं in a peculiar but very telling

manner. Normally we say कम gives धमाथकाम, अिन फलं whereas ानं will
give मो ा which is िन फलं . While this is correct Shankaracharya presents
it in a different manner. While performing कम we have to invoke the
अहंकार more and more and nourish it more and more. What is अहंकार?
Our individual personality consisting of BMSC because in every सं क
he has to narrate his गो ा, sutra, न ं , रा श, वण, आ म, वय: अव ा. Are these
for अहंकार or आ ? What न ं is the आ ? You also have to say, ‘I am son
of so and so, grandson of so and so for three generations. With all
these things we fatten and fatten अहंकार., all of them he has to
remember and retain for doing the कम and for getting the फलं . Nobody
loves कम for the sake of कम. Everybody loves कम for the sake of the फलं
only. He wants the अहंकार for performing the कम and he would like to
retain the अहंकार, so that when the result comes, he will be there.
Otherwise, imagine? The result comes but he is out. TF, he wants to
be an अहंकार as a कता now he also wants to protect the अहंकार for
becoming a भो ा later. TF, is कम nourishing अहंकार or weakening अहंकार?
Nourishing अहंकार.

Whereas वेदा ा is consistently saying य द े म् अ ा ं अगो ं अवण अ ु ो ं तद
अपा ण पादं िन ं िवभुं सवगतं सुसू ं etc. You are not the body. न जायते ि यते वा
कदा चत्. When I have no birth, what is my birth star? Where is the
question of गो ं ? गो ं is based on the ancestry which is based on ज ा.
TF, one is अहंकार धान, another is आ धान. One fattens अहंकार, the other
weakens अहंकार. Shankaracharya asks, how can you combine both of
them? And TF, कमणा by कम, अहंकार: उप र उप र वधते. He is very proud also.
This is my spouse. These are my children, my grandchildren, great
grandchildren. All of them for आ or अहंकार:? अहंकार. वेदा ा says अहंकार is
the enemy to मो ा but instead of feeling bad about अहंकार, he is very
proud about अहंकार. The mindset itself is different. िनममो िनरह ार: समा दुख
सुख शमी सं तु सततं योगी. िनमम ं and िनरह ार. Here you have to do the
opposite. TF, he says कमणा through कम again especially वैिदक कम, where
specific qualifications of अहंकार are invoked. अहंकार: वधते उप र उप र grows
higher and higher.
वणेन - if a person listens to वेदा ा, where the गु repeatedly says

remove अहंकार, remove ममकार, they are दु चतु यं , अह ार िव ित: - the
student will feel the अहंकार thinning slightly, even if he doesn’t want it.
Through वणं अहंकार snaps by handing over everything to िव प ई र - तन्
मन् धन्. Very beautiful sloka, very beautiful prayer. “All of them are
yours” to be merged in ई र महा अहंकार. For ई र अहंकार is not a problem.
After surrendering the अहंकार to ई र, I should stand as अस सा ी चैत ं . I
cannot give my आ to ई र आ . Why not? “Why Swamiji I have to give
only अहंकार?” There is no ई र आ and भ आ . Who is going to give
what?
TF, अहंकार िनवेदनम् is called आ िनवेदन भि . सव धमान् प र मां शरणं ज- hand

over अहंकार to भगवान्. Continue to perform the duty but never have
ownership. This is ान का ा.TF अह ार िव ित: वणेन ित णं . Every
moment the गु is rubbing off श ा’s अहंकार with a sand paper.

Continuing-
वतकम् कमशा ं ानशा ं िनवतकं |

इ ािदवैपरी ं त ाधने चा धका रणो: || 91||
स भेद is illustrated here. What is the difference between the

knowledge gained from कम का ा and knowledge gained from ान का ा?
How do the instructions differ? All very subtle and beautiful points.
Vedic instructions will vary. वेद in the कम का ा teaches varieties of कम
when the candidate is interested in धम अथ and काम. It then tells the
candidate, ‘It is not enough to just know. To get any results you need
to do the कम.’ Like the योगासना teacher who teaches योगासना for seven
days. Then, remember knowing योगासना will give no benefit unless it is
followed by doing. In कम का ा knowing + doing=result. TF, the
instruction is always, ‘Do, do, do.’ Encourage, persuade and propel
the candidate to do more.
When the student asks for मो ा and he is trying to do something to get

मो ा, the गु says, ‘Don’t do something to get मो ा. You won’t get मो ा
by doing.’ मो ा can never be ‘got’. Are you getting the point? Why? It
is my very nature. The more you do, the more you are reinforcing the
ignorance that मो ा is something that will come in the future. TF, the
गु says, you have nothing to do. If you want धमाथ काम it is do, do, do
only but if it is मो ा you want, there is nothing to do. It is something
to know and for which no work needs to be done. That is one पु षाथ
one need not work for it is my very nature. The गु s job is to point out
how मो ा is our very nature. ल
ू सू कारण शरीरा ित र : अव ा य सा ी
प कोश िवल ण: स दान प:. ानं doesn’t require doing. In कम the
candidate is encouraged to do, in ानं the candidate is discouraged
from doing. The गु ’s aim is to make the student claim, ‘I am already
the mukta:.’ When? At 11.54 a.m. That is the time now. Where? At

Shankaralayam. TF, ान फलयो: सा ात् स : whereas in कम का ा- ान फलयो:
कम ारा सं ब :. Through action alone you will get result. In वेदा ा no
action is required. It is a matter to be claimed here and now. Those
details in the next class.

22. सव वेदा स ा सार सं ह
Verses 91 to 93
Page17 verse 91-
वतकम् कमशा ं ानशा ं िनवतकं |

इ ाितवैपरी ं त ाधने चा धका रणो: || 91||
Sankaracharya is refuting the ान कम समु य वाद. Even though he

accepts कम and ानम् can be combined, he says the combination should
be sequential. Start with कम, purify the mind and then only gain ानम्.
Simultaneous combination is not possible because there are many
differences between the कम शा म् called वेद पूव भाग and ान शा म् called
वेद अ भाग. Further, the analysis of these two portions has not been
done by the same ऋषय:.
जैिमनी महिष took up the वेद पूव भाग for analysis called पूव मीमांस सू ं . ासाचाय
took the वेद अ भाग for analysis in the form of उ र मीमांस सू ं . उ र मीमांस
सू ं is another name for सू ं . If the entire वेद can be treated as one
शा म्, one महिष would have done the analysis for the both together.
They are two different branches of science.
Shankaracharya is talking about the differences between the two.

Candidates- अ धका रण: are different. In वेद पूव भाग, कम शा ा, one has to
nourish the अहंकार more and more to perform वैिदक कम and he has to
retain the अहंकार to enjoy the result of the कम. In ान शा म्, the direct
attack is on कता भो ा अहंकार. वेदा ा says, अहंकार is the problem. How can
nourishing and perishing be the same? So, योजनम् are different. The
साम ी, infrastructure is also different. For कम you need a lot of
infrastructure. For ानम्, infrastructure is not necessary and they can

actually become an obstacle and distraction. Thus, साम ी भेद, फल भेद,
अ धकारी भेद.
In the 91st ोका, the very way the शा ा functions is also different. The
very mode of instruction is different. Very, very subtle point. In कम
का , the वेद teaches the कम and asks the person to do the कम.
Knowledge of कम will not give any benefit. We have to actually do it.
Any amount of knowledge is not useful, you have to work to get the
result. कम शा म् always persuades a person to do and does not allow the
person to sit quietly. That is called वतकम्-persuading to do. For a
person seeking मो ा, ान का asks that person not do anything to attain
मो ा. That will only reinforce my ignorance. If I do something for मो ा,
I am looking forward to मो ा as a future event. I believe that I have to
do the साधना, as a result of which, one day in the future, say the First of
April, I will get मो ा. Doing means making मो ा a सा ं but वेदा ा says,
doing is born of misconception. मो ा is not a सा व .ु मो ा is a स व .ु
धम is सा ं . अथ is सा ं , काम is सा ं but मो ा is स ं. It is my very nature. न्
कमणा न् जया न् धनेन ागे नैके – ाग means renounce the कम. Renounce the
साधना for मो ा. You can do साधना for other things. For मो ा nothing to be
done. Something to be claimed. TF it discourages the person by saying
तद् ं अ स. Like the 10th man searching for the 10th man. When the
परमान श , not परमाथान श ा, is looking for the 10th man, the guru
says, ‘Don’t go in search of the 10th man. तद् ं अ स. TF, one is वतकम्.
The other is िनवतकं . One makes you extrovert; another turns you
towards yourself. How can ानम् and कम which are opposites be
combined like poring both hot water and ice cream in the same flask
because somebody said flask keeps hot things hot and cold things cold.
We cannot combine. इित –in this manner, आिद वैपरी ं -there are so many
opposing features or characters between tad- तयो:, साधना- कम ान साधना.
Continuing-

एककता यो ह ो कम धकृ तावुभौ |
सःयोग योयु ो न तथा ानकमणो: || 92||
Earlier, the समु य वादी gave the example of two hands being better or
even necessary to achieve something and he says, similarly, we can get
मो ा in double speed by combining ानम् and कम. Verse 84, page 15.
Now, Shankaracharya says, the two hands used in the पूवप ’s example
works only because both hands belong to the same person but do not
hold good in the case of ानम् and कम. These two do not belong to the
same person as the one who is has got ानम् has no use for कम, and for
the one who has कम, for him, ानम् is not available. There is no
possibility of both coexisting in one person so this example does not
work. That is said here.
ह ौ- the two hands which you give as an example, एक कतृ आ यो:- they
belong to the same person, उभौ कमा ण अ धकृ तौ- one can do the कम, any
action, with the help of both the hands. तयो: -(second line) सह योग: यु :-
TF the combination of both the hands is possible when you are doing
any कम, whether it is वैिदक कम or लौिकक कम. That is why कम उपासना
समु यं is possible because a person can combine काियक कम and मानस कम
as both belong to the same कता. उपासनम्, meditation, comes under मानस
कम like chanting िव ु सह नाम where you can mentally meditate on िव .ु
शा ाकारं भुजग शयनं etc. It is a मानस कम. Thereafter, you can chant िव ु
सह नाम which is a वा चक कम. Both being कमा ण they can be clubbed
together.
However, you can never combine कम and ानम्. That too what ानम्?
आ ानम्. He says, तथा -like that, ान कमयो: सह योग: - we have to add- सह
योग: तथा न भवित- cannot be combined like that. Why not? Because the
moment I have got ानं , I am a ानी and from that very moment I don’t
look upon myself as a seeker of मो ा. And I don’t look upon मो ा as a

सा म्- a destination because, for a ानी, मो ा is his very nature. TF, I am
not a साधक. मो ा is not a सा म्. So, even if I do any कम, वैिदक कम, I won’t
look upon the कम as a साधना. My attitude towards कम is totally
different. I may continue like any गृह ानी. As a गृह ानी I may also do
अि हो , औपासन, all of them but my भावना will remain- प न् वन् श
ृ न्
ज न् अहम् नैव िक त् करोिम. I am अकता. I am अभो ा. I am िन मु ा:. I am not
a साधक. I don’t seek मो ा. I don’t look upon this कम as a means for मो ा.
The moment my attitude towards कम changes, the कम is not called a
कम at all. Like a roasted seed. A roasted seed looks the same as the
unroasted seed but will not germinate. In ानी’s vision, the कम has been
roasted by ानं . His attitude is, I am not doing कम as a साधना for मो ा at
all. And since the भावना is different, the कम is roasted कम. It will not
produce पु म् or पापम्. It will not produce anything. It is a dummy कम.
If at all it will benefit others- लोक सं हमेवािप. That is called कम आभास:. In
ानी’s life, कम doesn’t exist, only कम आभास. Even if he is doing PMY as
before it is not the same. Outwardly they may appear the same but
they are different in nature like the seed and roasted seed. A ानी
गृह ा’s अि हो ं and अ ानी गृह अि हो ं will look the same but only one is
कम, the other कम आभास. TF, Shankaracharya asks, ‘Where is कम for a
ानी?’ And if there is no कम, where is the question of ानकम समु ? I
hope you understood. It is a very important argument.
What is the माणम्? The BG ोक- गत स मु ानाव त चेतस: य ाया

आचरत: कम सम ं िवलीयते. A very important shloka in the 4 th chapter. This
sloka is talking about a गृह ानी’s state of mind. गत स - the ानी गृह
doesn’t have any attachment or अ भमान either to the body or family. He
doesn’t have अहंकार ममकार राग and ेष - गत स . मु - remaining in GA,
he is free. ान अव ता चेतसा:. Even though he interacts with other
people, in his mind, in the background प न् वन् अहम् नैव िक त् करोिम.
आ िन ा is there because of long वणं , मननं and िनिद ासनं . He has got
ान अव ित: but remains a गृह and continues to perform Vedic rituals.
TF, य ाया आचरत: कम - every कम, PMY he continues because गृह cannot

give up his duties. In स ास आ म he can renounce कम but in GA even
when he does the कम his भावना is, ‘I don’t do कम. I don’t want पु म् or
पापम् out of it.’ So, what happens to that कम? Very important word -
सम ं कम. The whole कम along with its फलम् िवलीयते - is dekarmified. My
English. Like demonetized means the money becomes no money.
Similarly, भगवान् will turn ािन कम into dekarmifcation- सं ाम् िवलीयते and
it is not maintained in ािन’s account. That is why we say ािन doesn’t
have आगािम पु म् or आगािम पापम्. How is this relevant to our context?
This is the reply to समु य वादी. कम doesn’t co-exist along with ानं , only
कम आभास. TF, ान कम समु य is not possible.
Continuing,
क ा कतुमकतु वा था कम श ते |
न तथा व नु ो ानं कतृत ं कदाचन || 93||
Shankaracharya discuses a subtle and technical subject matter. This is

an answer to a possible doubt. Shankaracharya imagines that we are
very intelligent students and have posed a difficult question and he is
answering that. What is that? Why do you make a distinction between
ानं and कम, ान का ं and कम का ,ं वेद पूव and वेदा ा? You are making this
distinction treating ानं as different from कम. Is not ानं - knowing, also a
type of कम?
Take the example of knowing SVSSS. See the number of actions we

perform for this knowledge. We leave home, travel by various modes,
attend the class, listen, write notes. These are all different types of
actions.
TF, isn’t knowing also a type of action? In Grammar, all actions are
indicated by verbs. ‘Know’ is also a verb like any other verb. Every
verb relates to action. TF, ानं also must be treated as an action. And

when both of them are actions, why do you separate knowledge
alone? You are also separating वेद पूव भाग and अ भाग, कम का ं and ान
का ,ं कम योग and ान योग.
TF, the technical question is can we treat ‘knowing’ as a form of

action? Shankaracharya has discussed this aspect very clearly in several
places and here also he discusses this topic. He says, for all practical
purposes ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’ resemble each other. For knowing I
use instruments of knowledge and for doing I use instruments of
doing.
For writing I use the pen as an instrument. Writing comes under

‘Doing’. Hearing is done with the help of ears. Ears are my
instrument. One is called करणं another is called माणं . Here also कता कम
and ि या are all there. माता माणं मा are also all there. Grammatically
also, the verb is there. Then why do you insist on separating? There is
a subtle difference. I will try to explain. Listen carefully.
In the class, you are hearing using the ears. The ears come under
ाने यं , as do all the five sense organs. When you know something by
using your ears to listen to my कम यं श माणम् you are a knower. In
the class, you are doing the ‘knowing’ or listening job. Listening is a
type of knowing through ears. As a listener, you are a ाता- a knower.
After hearing, you write notes using कम यं , thereby becoming a कता.
TF, you are playing the role of both ाता and कता in the class. If not
simultaneously, at least in turns.
Shankaracharya asks, “As a ाता and as a कता, what is the difference? He

says as a listener, the listening process is happening, but you decide
whether to listen or not and what to listen. As a listener, listening
takes place but the listener has no choice with regard to what he
listens in terms of material or content. You have to listen whether you

like it or not. Whether he likes it or not, the listener will have to listen
Sanskrit, English, Tamil, meaningful words, meaningless words. TF,
the knower doesn’t have a choice w.r.t the contents of knowledge.
Whatever the ear reports will have to be. Similarly, with eyes also. You
can choose to go to a movie or not but once you go, you become a
seer and the seer doesn’t have a choice w.r.t the contents of the sight.
DS says about the smeller. Suppose you are travelling and a fish cart
passes by. Or you are meditating in your room and the neighbours are
making onion bajji or garlic something. You can close all your sense
organs except the nose. In meditation you have to do deep breathing.
TF, the smeller has no choice w.r.t the content of the smelling.
Hence, माता has no choice w.r.t the मा, िवषयं . Whereas, when you use
the pen, you are the writer and you have a choice to write what you
want and in any manner. As a writer the contents of the writing is
within your choice. TF कता and माता, are fundamentally different. In
the form of the choice being there and not being there. For this we
use technical language. ानं is not पु ष त - content of the knowledge is
not within the control of the ाता -the person. कम is पु ष त ं - within his
control. Whereas in ानं the content of the knowledge will depend not
upon माता, but either on the माणं that I use or the object that used by
the instrument. If I am using the eyes, what will be the knowledge?
प ानं . If I amusing the ears what will be knowledge? कम यं श ानं .
The knowledge content will not depend on the individual. It will
depend on the instrument used or the object used. If a donkey is in
front of you, what दशनं you will have? Donkey दशनं early morning. TF,
it will depend upon मेयं or माणम्, never upon the माता. मा or ानं
depends upon मेयं or माणं but never upon the माता. Whereas कम
depends upon the कता and not on करणं or the path and so you cannot
treat them alike. This is the first difference.
We saw the second difference earlier. कम can produce one of four

results. Producing something – उ ि , reaching some place- आि :.

सं ार:- purifying or modifying something. Production, reaching,
modifying or purifying. सं ार, िवकार. If there is a dirty room, you can
reach that dirty room, you can clean by action, you can modify that
room. All these you can do by कम. Now suppose you enter the room,
use your eyes and know that the room is dirty. By that knowledge can
you get any one of the four benefits? Can seeing produce something?
Reach something? Modify something? Purify something. Knowledge
doesn’t produce any of the four कम फलं . Knowledge only reveals an
object as it is. Knowledge is only a revealer. TF, ान फलं is different and
कम फलं is different.
If ानं is कम, मो ा gained through ानं also will be कम फलं . This is why
Shankaracharya is particular. Suppose ानं is a कम and through ानं you
get मो ा, the मो ा will come under कम फलं . If मो ा is कम फलं then what is
the problem? It will be produced and lost also. Or it will be reached
and you will come away also. Thus, if ानं is कम, ान फलं will be कम फलं ,
then मो ा will be कम फलं and मो ा will be अिन ं . Shankaracharya argues,
since ानं is not कम, मो ा is not कम फलं . TF, मो : िन ा:. िन ं of मो ा can
be established only when you establish ानं as not कम. I will repeat the
statement. Eternity of मो ा can be proved only when ानं is proved to
be different from कम. If ान is कम, मो ा will become कम फलं . And if मो ा
is कम फलं ते तं भु ा मो : लोकं िवशालं ीणे पु े म लोकं िवश . TF, फल दात् प
भेदा च. ानं should not be treated as a type of कम. Very technical point. If
you understood wonderful otherwise you have to know.

Verses 93 to 98
Page 17, verse 93
क ा कतुमकतु वा था कम श ते |
न तथा व नु ो ानं कतृत ं कदाचन || 93||
In these verses Shankaracharya is pointing out the difference between

ानं and कम. This is applicable to any ानं as well as any कम, in this
context we are dealing with वैिदक कम and आ ानं . The most important
difference is that ानं is not will-based at all. Our will has nothing to do
with the type of knowledge we get. We don’t have a choice at all. For
any knowledge to take place three factors should come together- माता
माणम् and मेयं.
For this particular class for you to listen, माता must be there. You must
come to the class. माणम्- that is my words based on the text is there.
Whatever you are listening to, that subject matter is मेयं. If it is an
ordinary perception, ‘I am माता. My eyes are माणम्. Whatever I am
looking at is the मेयं.’ Until we bring these three together, we have a
choice. The माता can choose to come to the class. The eyes, the माणम्
can be opened or closed. That is also my choice. The मेयं is I should
turn in that direction. That also I have a choice. Bringing the ि पुटी is
within the will power but once these three have joined together, then
what knowledge takes place, I don’t have a choice at all. If I am using
the eyes, the knowledge will be of colours and forms only. Eyes
cannot perceive the sound. TF, once I have brought the eyes, I don’t
have choice on the type of knowledge. Not only the माणम् will decide,
the मेयं of what is in front of the eyes will also decide. माता has no
more control. Until I bring the माता and माणम् together I have a

choice. Once they have come together, there is no choice at all. TF it
is not कतृ त ं .
Now, observe the difference when doing a कम. Suppose I have some
dough, so I the कता is there, the dough is there and the hand is also
there. करणं कता कम all three have come together. With this dough what
should I shape. Should it be round chapatti, square chapatti or
triangular chapatti? TF, what I should do is not decided by the hand
by itself, nor decided by the dough by itself. I, the कता can decide what
the outcome should be. TF, कम is within the choice of कता not the करणं
or the object, the மா .
When it comes to माता माणम् मेयं, once these three have come
together माता cannot decide what I should know. It is based on
whatever माणम् and मेयं are there. Based on the माणम् and मेयं,
knowledge will occur. TF, one is will-based, another is not will-based.
We also saw the second difference where कम produces अिन फलम् in the
form of four-fold results of reaching, producing, modifying and
purifying. ान doesn’t produce any of these. ानं cannot help me
produce something, reach something, modify or purify something. ान
फलम् is only one thing. अ ान िनवृि :-removal of ignorance. Once
ignorance is removed, all misconceptions which are based on
ignorance will also go. From the stand point of फलम् also both are
different. By very nature, they are both different. Very important
point.
Now, कता अकता कतु अकतृ अ था वा अकतु श ते. An object can be shaped in
any way according to his will. Look at writing the notes. You have a
book, pen and a hand. You are there. All these things, कता कम करणं are
all there. You can choose to write or not write or write in any way you
like. कतु -to do, अकतु - not to do, अ था वा (कतु)- to do it differently. You

may choose to take down my English speech in some other language
or translate it and write. All the notes will be different because it is a
कम. कम is common to all but your listening will be the same because
that is not will based. अ था वा कमकतु श ते –it is will based. Whereas
व नु ा ानं -the knowledge of any object for that matter, तथा –तथा means
like the कम- कतृ त ं कदाचन भवित-it is never based on the will of the माता,
the knower. It is based on माण त ं , depending on the type of माणम् or
मेय त ं - depending on the object available. Either माण त ं or मेय त ं is
the ानं , never मातृ त ं based on the will of the knower.
Continuing,
यथा व ु तथा ानं पमाणेन िवजायते |

नापे ते च य मवा युि कोशलं ||94||
Shankaracharya is refuting a suggestion given by the पूव प ी, ान कम

समु य वादी-a person who says Vedic rituals and Vedantic study must be
combined. In verse 85, the PP said, Vedantic knowledge will be
brighter if you perform वैिदक कम regularly. कम will improve the
knowledge of the enquiry or the माणम् - produced knowledge. TF, in
स ास आ म, स ासी cannot get the best knowledge because he doesn’t do
regular agnihotram whereas all the gruhastas come to class after
performing some कम. TF, they will get better knowledge. Enquiry
produces better knowledge when it goes along with कम was the PP’s
stand.
Shankaracharya says, माणम्’s capacity to reveal or produce knowledge

is always the same and that capacity cannot be enhanced or reduced
because of some कम in parallel. For example, you are listening and you
are also doing some work with your hand. Your listening cannot
increase because you are doing some work. Perhaps it may decrease
because you are distracted. So माणम् always produces the knowledge it

is designed to produce. It can never be enhanced or decreased because
of कम that a person performs or not. TF, you cannot say, ान कम समु य
can give मो ा or even better knowledge.
Shankaracharya gave the example of the wick covered by soot. When

you adjust the wick, the flame becomes brighter because of the
रजुकमणा कम, adjusting action. The PP would say that ानं will be better
if some adjustment actions are done during वणं but Shankaracharya
disagrees vehemently. He says माणम् produces the same amount of
knowledge. If the mind of a person is impure or unrefined, then the
knowledge is not produced which is not the defect of the माणम् but
the defect of the listener. Imagine there is a qualified listener and a less
qualified listener. The गु gives the same teaching. Remember the
छा ो 8th chapter with इ ा and िवरोचना? The teacher was the same,
among the three students one is fully prepared, one partially prepared
and one unprepared. Each receives knowledge differently- either
completely, partially or none at all. Is it because of the deficiency of
the गु or the disciple? The disciple only because even when one did
not understand the other disciple says, ‘It is very clear. I am free,’ and
goes. This means माणम्’s capacity is always the same only the माता’s
capacity will vary. That is why Shankaracharya says don’t try to prepare
the mind while listening. Do the कम and prepare the mind, then
operate the माणम् and the माणम् will work instantaneously. कम
combination is not required. A mind prepared by कम before coming to
वेदा ा. Prepare the mind. वेदा ा will give full knowledge to the prepared
mind. TF never say, माणम् can be improved by combining कम.
यथा व ु तथा ानं , माणेन िवजायते. All these are very significant ोकाs. ानं is
generated by the माणम्. माणम् means any instrument of knowledge.
We are all supposed to know this since we have studied six माणािन in
our उपिनषद् class.
1. माणम्
2. अनुमान माणं

3. उपमान माणं
4. अथापि माणम्
5. अनुपल माणम्
6. श माणम्
I am assuming you know all these. If you have not heard or have
successfully forgotten, note this much. माणम् means any instrument of
knowledge. Words are also instruments of knowledge. When we are
reading the newspaper, what is the माणम्? The words which are
written. Written and spoken words are called श माणम्. Here we are
talking about एव श माणम्. उपिनषद् श माणम्. It is capable of giving
knowledge to the prepared mind. If the knowledge doesn’t take place
it only reveals the deficiency in the preparation of the mind.
माणेन-through a relevant instrument of knowledge, ानं िवजायते-

knowledge rises. Where does it rise? In the mind of the student. What
type of knowledge? यथा व .ु As the object of knowledge is so must be
the type of knowledge. Knowledge is right knowledge only when the
knowledge and the fact coincide. TF यथा व ु तथा ानं . You have to call
an object by its name. If you call it by some other name it is not
knowledge. माणेन िवजायते यथा व ु –as the object is. न् अपे ते य त्.
माणम् doesn’t require any other additional help to do its job. It is
independently capable of doing the job. य त्-nothing else, कम वा -in
the form of any कम, युि कोशलं - or your reasoning skill. All these are not
required. युि कोशलं न् अपे ते – not required. TF Verse 85 suggested by
पूवप ी is not acceptable.
Continuing-
प ानं यथा सं य ृ ौ स ां भवे था |

ुित माणे स व
े ानं भवित वा वं || 95||

प ानं - if I want knowledge of any particular color then I must employ
the appropriate instrument. when I want to know the color, the
instrument I use is not based on my will or choice. I have to use only
the relevant instrument. The eyes. We cannot say, ‘For a change, I will
use my ears.’ Because eyes are माणम् for पम्, ears are माणम् for श ,
nose is माणम् for ग ा. माणम् मेय सं ब in the creation has already been
laid. We have no choice or capacity to alter that. We have to use that
माणम्.
Now, for आ ानं , what is the relevant माणम्? You cannot use
माणम् because sense organs are meant to reveal the अना ा only. For आ
ानं we require श माणम्. What श ? Not the newspaper word, not
physics or chemistry books. They are all dealing with अना ा. Not even
the कम का of the वेदा: because it deals with rituals and not आ . TF,
the only माणम् available is वेदा ा श माणम्. We have no other choice
except to use that. Shankaracharya says, वेदा ा श माणम् is capable of
giving full knowledge. It doesn’t require any additional assistance. Just
as eyes are enough to give the knowledge of color, श माणम् is more
than enough to generate knowledge. If the knowledge is not
generated the problem is not with the माणम् but with the receiving
mind. TF, he says, स क् ौ स ां. ि :-च :ु , eyes. स क् - must be in good
condition. Suppose there is cataract or some other problem, then it
won’t work. Similarly, in the case of श माणम् also, we should know
how to interpret the माणम् words properly. That is why we have got a
rigorous method called उप मािद षि ै : वेदा ानां ता य िन ता:. The six
methods by which we can extract the message of the वेदा. If I don’t
employ the appropriate method, माणम् will not do the job. When I use
the एव माणम् properly it is like using the correct eye. That is why he
says, स क् ौ स ां. When it is there प ानं भवेत्. The knowledge of the
color will take place even if I don’t want. When my eyes come in
contact with your beautiful dresses, whether I like it or not, the eyes
will generate the knowledge of the color of the object. भवेत् एव. In the

same way, if I have a prepared mind and if I study the एव in the
appropriate manner, even if I don’t want, knowledge will helplessly
take place. That is why we say a गु is required. The गु employs the six
methods उप मो स ारौ अ ासो अपूवता फलम् अथवाद उपप ी च ल ं ता य िनणये
while interpreting the एव. If the student is qualified. Very big if.
Shankaracharya says, ुित माणे सित ए- by the mere presence of एव माणम्,
without the help of any additional factor by which he means the वैिदक
कम suggested by समु य वादी.
वैिदक कम was required until purification of the mind. वैिदक कम was very
much relevant. Washing the plate is relevant how long? Until the plate
is clean. After the plate is clean do you continue washing or do you
then proceed to eat? Similarly, wash the mind and start the study.
This is Shankaracharya’s message. ुित माणे सित एव by the mere माणम्
िवचार वा वं ानं - right knowledge, valid knowledge, unshakeable
knowledge, un challengeable knowledge will be generated in the mind
of the student. TF वैिदक कम is no more relevant, after purification.
Continuing,
न कम िक चदपे ते िह पोल ौ पु ष च :ु |
जञानम तथैव वनािदज ं व ु काशे िनरपे मेव ||96||
This is consolidation of the same idea. पु ष च :ु पोल ौ कम न अपे ते.

पु ष च :ु - the eye of a human being, य त् कम न अपे ते- doesn’t
depend upon any parallel कम. In fact, when you want to know
something very important you don’t do any कम. We suspend all the
कमा ण and we are all attention. If anybody tries to even touch us, we
say, ‘Wait, I am listening to what happened to the cricket match.’ Or
the result of an important exam. Or the report from the hospital. TF,
we don’t want any additional कम. On the other hand, we suspend all

the कमा ण. पु ष च :ु the eye of the human being य त् कम न अपे ते
doesn’t require any additional कम w.r.t प उपल ौ. उपल : means ानं . प
ाने w.r.t the knowledge of the colour we don’t require anything other
than the eye. Similarly, आ ानं also requires only माणं of वेदा श . TF,
he says वणािद ज ानं - the knowledge rising out of वेदा वणं - listening
to the Vedantic teaching coming from a गु .
That is why we say गु should have two qualifications- ोि य and

िन ा:. िन ा:- he must be very clear he is न् or जीवा. The teacher
must not have a doubt. That is called ् िन ं . The teacher must have
the very important qualification of ोि य ं - the methodology of
communicating the Shastric message. ोि य ं or सं दाय ं means the
method of communication. When, from such a गु , the knowledge
arises in the mind, it will reveal the truth of आ ा or न्. And in that
knowledge of the truth, िनरपे ं एव - the माणं doesn’t require any support
of any type of वैिदक कम. व ु काशे - in revealing the reality, the
knowledge gained by वणं doesn’t require any help in revealing the
reality. Here, व ु means reality. आ ा ऐ ं . िनरपे ं एव.
If at all we consider मननं and िन ध ासनं , they are not meant for
knowledge. They are meant for removal of doubt. If we are not
convinced and we have doubts, it is a problem of the intellect. This
varies from student to student. Is it the problem with the teaching or
the student? It is the student because different students get different
types of doubts. मननं doesn’t produce the knowledge but removes the
doubt.
Look at the example of कु ी telling कण that he is not the son of a

charioteer, not a राधॆय but her, कु ’s own son, कॊ य
े . In Mahabharata
we know Karna did not know he was the son of कु ी. Listening to her,
Karna has received the message that he is the son of कु ी. It is a fact
and so whatever he has received is knowledge only because it tallies

with fact. But when Karna listens for the first time, does he consider it
knowledge? May be कु ी is bluffing because she has some ulterior
motives in the battle. Here, the problem was not with the माणं . Not
with knowledge also. Karna got the knowledge but because of his own
ideas and misconceptions he could not accept the knowledge as
knowledge. And so, कु ी has to tell him all the old stories- the boon
from Surya भगवान्, Karna’s birth, leaving him in a box etc. Even as he
listens, Karna doesn’t get knowledge. He has already received the
message, ‘I am कु ी पु ा,’ but the story doesn’t contribute to knowledge
at all. It only removes the doubt.
Similarly, वेदा says, वणं gives knowledge. The student has received
knowledge because it is in keeping with the fact as revealed by the
माणं . Just like Karna, the students do not accept the knowledge as
knowledge. What is the proof? If somebody asks, ‘Are you a ािन?’,
everybody withdraws. ‘Swamiji, whom are you asking?’ Nobody wants
to answer that question. Where is the problem? In the intellect. A ािन
refuses to accept himself as a ािन not because the fact is not fact. Not
because माणं has not revealed it. Everything is there. But the student
refuses because of पु ष अपराध म लन िदषण- because of either intellectual
problem or emotional problem. Intellectual problems are sorted out
by मननं . Emotional problems are to be sorted out by िनिद ासनं . Thus,
both मननं and िनिद ासनं are not meant for knowledge. Knowledge has to
come from वणं only. Look at the ोका. ानं वणािद ज ं , व ु काशे –in
revealing the व ,ु िनरपे ं एव- doesn’t require वैिदक कम.
Continuing,
क ुत ं भवे म कमत ं शुभाशुभं |

मणात ं िव ानं मायात िमदं जगत्|| 97||

He consolidates all the ideas that he had stated earlier refuting ान कम
समु य वाद from verse 88 onwards. All these discussions are
consolidated here as, कतृ त ं भवेत् कम. Any कम, whether worldly or
scriptural, depends on the will of the doer alone. If the doer doesn’t
want to do, nobody including god can do anything. God can tell you
स ं वद but god cannot make me स ं वद. TF, what I do depends on my
will alone. कम कतृत ं –action depends on the doer, the agent. कम त
शुभाशुभं - all the पु म् and पापािन in a person’s account depend upon कम.
Thank god we don’t see it! Otherwise, we would have swooned right
now. So many bundles are there. कम means कम फलं , पु पापम् depends
on कम. We cannot transfer the account. My कम will give me पु पापम्.
कम फलं depends on कम, कम depends on कता.
The second line, माया त ं इदं जगत्. The entire universe depends upon
माया, not the will of god. God cannot decide what type of creation it
must be, only माया can decide because all the स त कमा ण, the total पु
पापम् of all the जीवा: are hidden within माया alone. When there are जीवा:
with पु कम, we require heaven, when there are जीवा: with पाप कम, we
require hell. When there are जीवा: with िम कम -mixed we require
human ज or भूलोक. Thus, the type of world is determined by जीवानां
कमा ण. Instead of कम, Shankaracharya says माया because all the कमा ण are
hidden dormant in माया alone. That is why, माया क त दे श काल कलना वै च
च ीकृ तं . मायात ं इदं जगत्. Now the series is very clear.
1. The world depends on कम फलं .
2. कम फलं depends upon कम.
3. कम depends upon कता.
4. कता depends upon no one because he has free will.
भगवान् has given free will to every जीवा so a कता has got free will. God
also taught us what will give पु ं and what will give पापम्. Neat list is
given. We have to decide what we want to produce. TF, these three
are interconnected.

The 4th one is माण त ं िव ानं . Knowledge doesn’t depend on माया, कम
फलं , कमा or कता. Knowledge depends upon the माणं that we choose. TF
माण त ं िव ानं . TF, come to वेदा ा because वेदा ा माण gives knowledge
which in turn gives मो ा. So, know how important वेदा ा is. TF, माण त ं
िव ानं .
Next is the last verse of that section-

न ानकमनोय ा ह योग ु यु ते|
त ा ा ं य ने कम ाने ु ना वु ं ||98||
Here, Shankaracharya concludes the negation of ान कम समु य वाद

which started in verse 84. Both पुवप and स ा both will say ान कम
समु य is required but they disagree on whether they should be
combined simultaneously or sequentially. पुवप wants it combines and
does not recommend स ास आ म. Remain in गृह ा म, combine and get
मो ा. Shankaracharya says, enter गृह ा म, do कम, enter स ास आ म,
follow ानं . The आ मा should be entered sequentially.
Naturally, you all will be wondering, ‘Does that mean that next class
we all should come as सं या सना:?’ Nowadays, the situation has changed.
वैिदक कमा doesn’t exist at all. In Shankaracharya’s vision गृह ा म is
relevant only for वैिदक कमा. When वैिदक कमा itself is not there how can
you talk about गृह ा म, which is meant for that? Where is the question
of renouncing because वैिदक कमा is not there? TF, Shankaracharya’s
approach was relevant during his time. We have to relook at the whole
situation and arrive at what kind of समु य we have to do in current
times. We will find out in the next class.

Verses 98 to 100
Page 18, Verse 98-
न ानकमनोय ा ह योग ु यु ते|

त ा ा ं य ने कम ाने ु ना वु ं ||98||
Shankaracharya is concluding the refutation of ान कम समु य वाद: and

has established that ान and कम cannot coexist. KY, in the form of our
contribution to the society can be done in any आ म - either by a चारी
or a गृह ा but Vedic कमयोग involves Vedic rituals. Shankaracharya
advocates taking up SA, since Vedic rituals cannot be given up by a
गृह ा. स ास आ म is specially designed by the वेदा: for the sake of वण
मनन and िनिद ासन. स ास आ म is also two-fold. The first one is called
िविवधा स ास where the गृह ा who takes up स ास goes to a गु कु ल, stays
with the गु and studies the scriptures. िविवधा स ास is meant for वणम्
and मननं . वणम् and मननं require गु and so he has to stay in the गु कु लम्.
Upon completion of वणम् मननं , गु and गु कु लम् are not required for
िनिद ासनं . He takes up another type of स ास called िव त् स ास in which
he doesn’t stay in गु कु लम्. He becomes परमहंस प र ाजकाचाय. प र ाजक - one
who doesn’t stay in one place but moves from place to place
practicing िनिद ासनं only. Of course, he could choose to start a गु कु ल.
All these distinctions were in the Vedic period. Now, we don’t have
such clear-cut demarcations. We are bringing JY to the society now.
Only traditional आचाया: do not approve of Vedantic teaching in public
at all. We are starting this new method of sharing. Now you cannot
talk about a separate GA, separate स ास आ म. It is all one Avial आ म.
Since we have all kinds of people, we have to redesign the whole
spiritual journey.

What I can visualize is, (of course this is only my personal view, no
scripture has said this) all people should start studying the भगव गीता. We
do not have to decide whether we are कमयोगी or ान योगी or where we
stand. We should just start getting exposure to BG, because it contains
everything from कम योग, उपासना, ान योग and values. It is like a spiritual
buffet. The first step is exposure to BG teachings, preferably a
systematic teaching. Studying one chapter here, pulling one chapter
there will not work. It has to be studied consistently and systematically
and progressive study. The next step is, everyone should concentrate
on KY alone. People cannot directly understand जीवा परमा ऐ ं.
स ं जगन िम ा जीवो व
ै ना परा. A beginner BG student generally won’t
understand. If at all he or she understands, it only means योग ा from
पूव ज . So, continue to study BG teachings and follow कम योग धान life.
In the BG class, I have talked about four parts of कम योग. I have given a
formula also to remember. RIDE. What is कम योग? Riding. “Swamiji,
we cannot even stand, so where is the question of riding and all?”
RIDE –
R- gradual reduction of आसुरी सं पि mentioned in the 16th chapter of the
BG. आसुरी सं पि are tendencies which are obstacles to spiritual growth.
Do not bother about the rate of success, it is important to attempt.
Gradually they will come down. The rate will vary from student to
student, effort to effort, how sincere we are or are we only casual
students of BG for time pass.
I - gradual increase of दैवी सं पत्. 26 of them LK has enumerated. अभयं
स सं षुि : नायोग व त: ानं दम यज etc. etc. You are all supposed to
have studied BG. It is not for studying and forgetting but for studying
and practicing. Don’t reverse it and make it gradual reduction of दैवी
सं पत्! Then people will ask, ‘Who is the samiyar teaching you?’ R and I
are initial practice of कम योग.
D- dedicating all our actions, worldly or religious, सकाम or िन ाम, our
duties or our personal activities, any blessed कम dedicate to ई र. In one

part of BG, Shankaracharya adds even िनिष कम. I am not asking you add
that. TF, dedicate all the कमा ण to ई र and say, ‘I am ready for any type
of consequence.’ I have to tell God this without any hesitation, even
though I have certain preferences, even though I want success only.
We can even tell God that I want success. Nothing wrong in that but
after saying, ‘I want success’, we should add a clause- “Even though
that is my desire, I will accept whatever the consequences that you
choose to give me according to the LOK. You give me only the
mental strength to accept any result that I deserve.” The more
important the कम is, the more important this declaration is.
Dedication of all कम is called ई र अपण भावना.
E- experiencing all the experiences or all situations. Successes as well
as all failures also. I am willing to experience failure also as सादं of ई र
without resistance, without complaining, without scolding God. No
crying and lamenting, “Lord, why are you giving me, of all the people,
all these problems? Maybe the neighbor deserves it. Certainly not me.”
This is called ‘Why me?’ syndrome. ‘Why me?’ should not come from
the mouth of a कम योगी. If ‘Why me?’ question comes, you have to ask,
‘Why not me?’ because if other people have done good and bad
actions, in what way am I different? I am also a जीव who is liable to
make many mistakes if not in this ज , then in past human ज ा: Past
animal ज s will not produce पापम्. TF, anything यत् यत् भ ं भवतु भगवन् पूव
कमानु पं . Always the hands are open, आगते ागतं कु यात्- whatever comes
welcome. ग ं न् िनवारयेत-् whatever goes, don’t stop. This भावना is called
साद भावना.
These are the four important components of कम योग that everyone

should practice. Even if one doesn’t want spiritual growth कम योग can
be practiced for peace of mind and for reducing reactions in life. Even
a non-spiritual person can practice कम योग and improve mental health.
If mental health is there, physical health is also there. And if the कम

योगी is a spiritual seeker, he can include in his पूजा – ‘ ान वैरा स थ’,
spiritual growth along with peace of mind. Serenity and spirituality
both will grow. This must be the beginning stage of spiritual sadhana
for all people while simultaneously continuing BG exposure. Initially
only the 13th chapter is interesting. Only third chapter, 10th chapter,
11th chapter etc. Wherever hardcore वेदा ा comes, people skip it
because the mind is not ready. It doesn’t appeal to the mind and its
relevance is not known. Gradually we will find the ान योग part also is
appealing and then begin to feel that BG doesn’t deal with ानयोग
sufficiently. We need some more of the Vedantic portion. The hunger.
BG will become an appetizer. We can gradually expose to a few
उपिनषद: also, because उपिनषद: are concentrated teachings of ान योग. You
will find many people like BG but not उपिनषद् indicating that the mind
is not ready to digest. As long as I don’t want उपिनषद्, perfectly alright.
Continue BG. Continue RIDE. Both of them should go on.
Thereafter, give more attention to the chapters े ं चािप मां िवि -that
ोका: also. ना ं गुणे ; कतारं यदा ानु प ित गुणे परम् वेि म ावं सो भग ित,
नासतो िव ते भाव:. Those ोका: will become more appealing and
important indicating my preparedness. Then I can go further to the
उपिनषद्. Thus gradually, कमयोग धान life will get converted into ान योग
धान life. This must be the transition. As far as आ म is concerned, we
are in the good old आ म only. No आ म change. Infra-structure may be
some PORT reduction, if possible but the stress is from कम योग धान life
to ान योग धान life.
Now getting back to Shankaracharya- for him, it is गृह ा म to स ास

आ म. That is what he says. ान कमाण: सह योग: - co-existence- is not
possible for the reasons he gave. ान and कम cannot co-exist. ान and
कम आभास can co-exist. त ात् - since it is not possible, कम य ने त ा ं -
renounce those rituals along with GA itself. That is why य ने - with all
the necessary rituals etc. because स ास आ म also includes several rituals

like का ा ं, िवराज होमं , night-long गाय ी होम. So many म ा: are there. Two
days full-fledged rituals are involved. TF, Shankaracharya uses the word
य ेन- this is called िव धवत् स ास. िव धवत् - ritualistic renunciation, formal
renunciation. कम should be connected with ा ं . कम ा ं व
ु ं firmly
clearly. One person said, “Swamiji, I was planning स ास for several
years. When it came near, I was wondering who will give me my
morning coffee.” TF, व
ु ं - without any hesitation, firmly, one should
renounce. Under what condition? ान इ ु ना. If he is really desirous of
spiritual knowledge, of course under a गु , स ास is given by the गु
himself. In fact, soon the after the गु gives स ास दी ा, the teaching
begins on the very same day. It is symbolically done when श ा does
पादपूजा and गु starts with any महावा ं and gives the gist of महावा ं
because it is िविव धषा स ास. Thereafter, he stays with the गु and
continues the journey. Continuing.
स से िु वर : सं ि हामु ाथ: सुखात् |

अिवर स ासो िन लोsया ागवत् ||99||
Now Shankaracharya concludes this topic with a warning note. He

talked about the स ास आ म as a part of ान योग pursuit. But he gives a
warning that स ास आ म is only after remaining in कम योग for sufficient
length of time so that one understands fully the limitations of all the
worldly pleasures, entertainment, comfort, including relationships. If a
person has got even the slightest attachment for any one of them, then
वैरा ं is not ripe enough. If the वैरा ं is not ripe enough then स ास आ म
will become an obstacle because the mind will desire some of the
worldly things. In स ास आ म there is no provision for that. Going to
movie, going for parties, going for this and that. All the generally
considered entertainments etc. are not available. If his mind has a
value for them, then he will be in the आ म physically but his mind will
be looking at the worldly गृह ा. This is most important because स ास
आ म is one-way traffic. There is no question of ‘OK, I will go back. I

have tried for a few days.’ No. GA is available for entry and then स ास
can be taken. But there is no स ास of स ास doesn’t exist. TF only LK
also, gave a warning –
कम या ण सं य य आ े मनसा रन्
इ याथा मूढ ा िम ाचार: स उ ते|| .
Externally detached but internally riddled with worldly desires. This
will not work. It is called double personality. िम ाचार-hypocrisy, which
is not good for the person, the गु , आ म or society. TF, Shankaracharya
says, and that is the reason also that the गु decides whether the श ा
can be given स ास or not. That is why in the olden days, श ा lived
with the गु for a length of time so that the गु saw his attitude, his
behavior, speech, activities and how he uses his spare time. Even if
श ा desires, गु has to approve. It is only through a consensus between
गु and श ा that स ास is taken. TF, this warning is given. इह अ त
ु ाथत:
सुखात् - from all worldly pleasures, of this world as well as अमु ा because
in गलोक better pleasures are promised. Wonderful dance program,
music program, र ोव श मेनका all are there, all promises are there. TF इह
सुखं as well as पर सुखं.
With regard to all these pleasures, remember which student of which

उपिनषद्? न चके तस् was offered all those pleasures by YDR free of cost.
Only one condition- ‘Don’t ask for ानं .’ But न चके तस् refused all this
and said that, ‘I want this and this alone.’ न अ ं वरं, न चके तस् वृणीयते. This
is called clarity regarding the goal. इह मु ाथ: सुखात्-from worldly
pleasures, सु िवर :- not ordinary detachment. Detachment is two-fold. I
sometimes say I don’t want because I cannot afford it. Do you want
BENZ car? No, because I only have 5 lakhs. It is called grapes are sour.
I cannot afford. Our वैरा ं will be really challenged when things come
free. Many times, when things are given freely, we stretch our hands
even without knowing what it is. TF, whatever comes, let it come.
Let it remain in a corner. TF, our वैरा ं will be challenged when things

come. सु िवर : means beings detached even when available. Such a
person of ripe वैरा ं , सं यसेत् -should take to स ास for the safety of स ास.
अिवर स ास:-renunciation by a person who is not fully detached from

the world. When one has half-baked वैरा ं , it is compared to a raw fruit
that cannot be plucked. Even if you pluck it, there will be some sap
oozing. That is the tears. TF, there is more grief than happiness. Not
only that, the raw fruit will not be sweet also whereas when the fruit is
ripe, it just falls of its own accord. There is no sap, the tree also
doesn’t shed tears and the fruit is ripe and sweet. उवाहिमव ब नात्
ि ोमु ीयमामृतात्.
अिवर स ास -renunciation of an attached person, is िन ल:- will not

give the full benefit of ानं and moksha. अया यागवत्- like a याग, Vedic
ritual, done by an unqualified person. The Veda says, every Vedic
ritual must have a qualified candidate in terms of वण and आ म. A गृह ा
can do an अि हो ं ritual and it will produce the promised result. If a
चारी performs the very same अि हो ं just because he loves it or because
they want to purify the air, what will happen? The Vedic result will
not be there. The air may get purified. During the Bhopal gas tragedy
there was a report that somebody was doing अि हो ं regularly and that
gas did not affect that family. Thereafter people started doing अि हो ं
for air purification, forgetting its real purpose. If a चारी or सं या स
performs अि हो ं no फलं . राजा राजसूयने यजत. राजसूय याग can be done by a
ि या only. Even if a ह् ामणा is a गृह ा he has no right to do राजसूय याग
and even if he performs what is the result? No result. This is called
अया याग:. अया -unqualified person or un-prescribed ritual. अया यागवत्
िन लम्. Here, what is िन लम्? स ास is िन लम् when taken by a
spiritually immature person. With this, ान कम समु य क न is over.

Now we get back to the original topic of 4-fold qualifications of which
we were dealing with the third one which has six subsidiary
qualifications where we were looking at उपरम: after शम दम and ितित ा.
Shankaracharya says, the word उपरम in साधन चतु य सं पि refers to स ास

आ म. And in our language, if not external स ास, at least internal स ास.
उपरम topic which started in verse 64 ended in verse 99. 36 verses in
our selection although it has more verses in the original. Continuing-
गु वेदा वा षे ु बुि य िन या का |
स िम व
े सा ा िनदानं मुि स ये ||100||
The next topic is ा covered from in five verses from verse numbers
100 to 104. ा is also a very important qualification. We don’t have an
appropriate translation for the word ा. Faith, trust etc. are very
remote approximations only. The translation of ा is ा. I will try to
explain the concept of ा. ा is our attitude, towards the scriptures.
Primarily, scriptures means वेदा:. All others are secondary scriptures
which explain and clarify the वेदा:. ा is our attitude towards the वेदा
where we consider वेदा as an independent and valid source of
knowledge which forms the basis for conducting our life. In Sanskrit,
it is called ामा भावना. In this ोका, Shankaracharya uses the word स
भावना, which must be understood as ामा भावना. This attitude is
explained with this example traditionally- like sense organs which give
knowledge. Each sense organ gives a type of knowledge- श , श, प,
रस and ग . Each one is an independent source which means, each one
gives a knowledge which cannot be given by any other sense organs.
Independent source means that alone can give this knowledge. The
ears cannot give the knowledge of श, प, रस and ग . It is a new
knowledge which cannot be given by any other means. Independent
also means, what one sense organ reveals, the other sense organs can
never prove or disprove.

Similarly, वेदा is an independent source of knowledge which means वेदा
gives a new knowledge that cannot be given by any other source. It
also gives knowledge which is useful to me. For example, if I say Sirius
is star which is 4.5 light years away, you will say, ‘So what? It is of no
interest to me. This knowledge doesn’t benefit me in any way.’ वेदा is
not like that. It makes a value addition to our life. वेदा is an
independent, valid and useful source of knowledge and does not
overlap. Just like our sense organs. Sound and forms are not
overlapping area. Each area is distinct and each sense organ deals with
its own distinct area and doesn’t even have access to other areas.
When it doesn’t have access, how can it pass judgment? I say, ‘This is
orange colour.’ You say, ‘I challenge it. How do you know? I tried
with my ears.’ Using the ears, you cannot challenge the knowledge
given by the eyes. Likewise, वेदा gives a knowledge which is unique,
independent, valid and deals with an area not accessible to any of the
माणम्. Other sources of knowledge have no access to the Vedic
teaching. Then how can they dare to pass a judgment on the Vedic or
Vedantic teaching of स ं जगन् िम ा? They cannot come anywhere
near nor pass judgment. We should know all this when we study the
वेदा:. Then alone, our attitude will be ामा बुि :, where we have the
attitude that it is an independent and valid source of knowledge that
cannot be challenged by others. This is one part of ा.
The second part of ा is, suppose I see a contradiction between Vedic

teaching and the knowledge derived from other sources, other माणािन
like , अनुमान, उपमान, आगम, then we should not question the validity
of the माण because each माण is valid in its area. We should question
our understanding of the वेदा:. Don’t challenge the माणम्, challenge the
बुि which is anyway used to commit mistakes. That is its job. We are
experts in doing that. So, question the understanding and revise either
through independent study or with the help of a guru which is called

मननं . In BS an exclusive chapter called अिवरोधा ाय: is designed for that.
अिवरोधा ाय: - no contradiction between वेद माण and अ माण. If there is
a contradiction, I challenge my understanding, relook at the scriptures
and get a revised understanding. Then I question- “Is this revised
understanding contradicting?” If it is, revise again and again until I get
the message clearly and until I find absolutely no contradiction
whatsoever among other माणािन and वेदा माणम्. स ं जगन् िम ा जीवो
व
ै ना पर: doesn’t contradict any माणम्. I should understand. This is
the second part of ा. Don’t challenge the माणम्, challenge the
understanding. First, accept वेदा as an independent and valid source,
second, don’t challenge the वेदा but challenge your understanding. This
भावना is called ा. ावान् लभते ानं .

Verses 100 to 104
Page 18, verse 100-
गु वेदा वा षे ु बुि य िन या का |
स िम व
े सा ा िनदानं मुि स ये ||100||
After elaborately discussing the qualification of उपरम: by taking it as

स ास or renunciation, Shankaracharya has come to the next
qualification, a very important qualification called ा. ा refers to
our attitude towards वेद माणं where we treat the वेद as the primary
means of knowledge. Just as when the sense organs reveal something,
we treat it as the final knowledge. We never try to verify it with the
help of any other means of knowledge, because each primary
knowledge has its own area of operation where other माणािन cannot
function. The eyes, ears, nose are each a primary माणं . Each primary
माणं has its own area and what it reveals is taken as the final
knowledge. I don’t use any other primary माणं to confirm or
contradict the primary माणं . A secondary माणं can be corroborated by
primary माणं but not primary माणं itself. Inference is considered to be
a secondary माणं because inference requires a data collection. And
secondary माणं can be proved or disproved by primary माणं .
श includes written and spoken words as a source of knowledge, an

instrument of knowledge like, a newspaper where we get a lot of
information from. So, is श माणं a primary or a secondary source? In
Sanskrit, उपजी माण or उपजीवी माण? The tradition says, words are of
two types. Words can be secondary or primary. Words are secondary
when a person is reporting in the newspaper. While those words surely
give knowledge, the got that knowledge from another person or from

his own sensory perception. All newspaper reports are based on
ं माणं and so they come under secondary only. That is why there is
contradiction also.
Remember, all the words written by human beings are called

लौिककश माण. This is knowledge collected from another source of
knowledge and only transferred through written words. These words
are not the producers of knowledge, only carriers of knowledge which
has already been generated by ं माणं . Newton’s law of motion.
Gravitational Law. Newton got it only by observation and study. Then
it came into the note book. We got it by heart and poured out and got
the marks. We never made any calculations. Are our physics books
primary or secondary? Secondary.
Whereas वेद doesn’t talk about things which are available for sensory
perceptions. अती यिवषय - it talks about the ultimate अती यिवषय which
is the very आ ा itself. Since वेदs or ऋषय: are talking about the आ ा
which is अती यिवषयं , you cannot say some reporter went and saw the
आ ा and made notes and reported that आ ा is िन ं शु बु ं. Then you
will say, if one reporter can go and see the आ ा why can’t I go and
see? TF, remember अती यिवषय that वेद gives is not a secondary
knowledge derived through other instruments of knowledge. वेद gives
primary knowledge exactly like the sense organs, ं . TF, लौिककश is
secondary and not as great as sense organs but वैिदकश is primary and
on par with ं माणं . In BS, ाशाचाय uses the word ं for वेद to
indicate it is primary knowledge.
What वेद reveals you have no way of verifying through other

instruments because they are not accessible to other instruments. We
only have to make sure about one point which is that we extract the
right message from the वेदs. Since वेद is in the form of words, we have
to know what the central message of the वेदs is. Our effort is not to

verify the वेदा: but to understand the message of the वेदs properly. That
is why we have methods of उप म उपसं हार, षड् ता य ल ािन etc. of finding
out the central message of the वेद. Otherwise a person will take one
sentence from the वेद – स वा एष पु ष: अ रस मय: - वेद says body is आ ा and
वेद is माणं . Don’t read one sentence. Look at the next sentence -
अ ो र आ ा ाण मय:. We have to study the entire वेद, see the beginning,
the end, the benefit. We have to use six methods to extract the
message. Once we extract the message, it is the knowledge which
cannot be verified by other instruments because what वेद reveals is not
accessible.
The first rule is to study the whole वेद or the whole उपिनषद् to extract
the message. Never take portions and conclude. We have to extract
the proper message which we claim as स ं जग ाजीवो व
ै ना पर:.
How much effort our आचाया: have put to extract this message? The
second rule is, a primary माणं will never contradict another primary
माणं . If it contradicts then the other primary माणािन will be falsified
and will no longer be considered primary माणं . So, when we extract
the message from the वेदs, we make sure that it doesn’t contradict
other माणािन. Of course, other माणािन cannot prove the Vedic message
because they don’t have access. We only have to make sure that it
doesn’t contradict other माणािन.
Extracting the message is called वणं , making sure that it doesn’t

contradict other माणािन is called मननम्. It is called reconciliation
process. In law, one law will have to be reconciled with another law
when two laws are overlapping the same area. That is why
constitutional experts are required. This is called reconciliation
process. Through वणं and मननम् we have to get this knowledge that
स ं जग ा जीवो व
ै ना पर:, a message uniquely given by the वेद and
never contradicted by any other माणािन including modern science.
Modern science also is not capable of and doesn’t contradict what वेद

reveals. वेद reveals what science doesn’t reveal and what is not
contradicted by science. TF, वेद must be approached as primary माणं ,
उपजी माणं - like a sense organ. This attitude towards the वेद, exactly
like the attitude towards the eyes or ears is not new because we
already have it towards our sense organs. We simply need to transfer
that attitude to वेद. When we study वेद with that भावना it is called मीमांसा-
पू जतिवचार: मीमांसा. This is different from enquiry, िवचार:, into any other
book, लौिककश :, which is a secondary source.
The enquiry into वेद carries lot of reverence. It is the source of

knowledge, वेदा वा ं , which will lead me to the ultimate goal of
liberation. That is why in tradition, before studying the वेदs, उपिनषद्s or
BS, they carry the book on a platter, go to the temple, keep it in front
of the Lord and perform पूजा to the book. Then the book is brought to
the lecture hall. पादपूजा is done to the गु also, because he is going to
help me in extracting the message and also reconcile with other माणं .
TF, the गु becomes as important as the शा . If that भि भावना and
ाभावना is there, ावान् लभदे ानं मो च. It is a doubtless truth
experienced by every traditional आचाय. And tradition says, you also
have the same attitude and study. See whether मो ा will come or not.
It will definitely bless you. TF, गु वेदा वा षे ु is not like newspaper. In
the words of the शा and गु , यािन या का बुि : the firm conviction, that
it is स ं - primary source of knowledge, उपजी माणं - like sense organs.
Not like inference or लौिककश :. “स ं ” within inverted commas, this
भावना is called ा.
Shankaracharya says, this ा is the fundamental cause for liberation.

िनदानं - कारणम्, मुि स ये- for claiming liberation here and now. Otherwise
I will never be able to claim liberation. I will take it as some statement
of somebody. I will have only a casual attitude. Continuing.
ावदामेव सतां पुमथ: समी रत: स ित नेतरेषां |

उ ं सुसू ं परमाथत ं ध सो िे त च वि देव: ||101||
Verses 100-104 is ा topic. Here also he restates the same thing for
confirmation. पुमथ: स ित. पुमथ: - पु षाथ:, the fourth पु षाथ: called मो ा:,
समी रत: - which is promised by वेद. िवत् व
ै भवित. िवत् आ ोित परम्. अभयं
ित ां िव ते. That मो ा is promised by वेद itself. That promised पु षाथ: is
called समी रत: - promised or stated. स ित – will come definitely. For
whom? सतां- noble people, पु वान्. Lot of पु म् is required to develop
ा in the वेद. The first advantage a person will have is to be born in a
culture and to be born in a family where the parents and grandparents
already have that भावना. In that environment the child unknowingly
imbibes. When you keep a rose in your hand for some time, then your
hand will smell like rose. Similarly, when we are surrounded by आ क
जना: who have got ा, we will also develop the same feelings. The
word आ क means, we all belong to a group which looks at the वेद
reverentially as valid and for our own wellbeing. By discarding or
ignoring the वेद, वेद is not the loser, God is not the loser, ऋषय: are not
the losers because they are not going to get royalty for every class. We
are going to be the losers by being loose. TF, have ा in the वेद. There
is ासू ं in which ा is personified as ा दे वी, just as money is
personified as Lakshmi Devi and knowledge is personified as वेदा ा दे वी.
चारी prays to ादेवी-give me that attitude because modern society is
dismissing all these things as superstition. Not being shaken by that
and continuing to have ा requires lot of पु म्. TF, सतां- पु वतां because
they have got ा. पुमथ: स ित- पु षाथ: will come.
Now वेद warns - न इतरे षां- not for others because they will always ask for
proof for the वेद. Once I declare it is primary माणम्, we should not ask
for separate proof. Just as we don’t ask proof for sense organs. We
cannot give proof because वेद deals with an area that does not fall
within the other माणम्. TF इतरेषां- for other people, मो ा is never
possible. This ा is important because उ ं परमाथत ं सुसू ं . The truth

revealed in the वेद is extremely subtle and not available for
objectification because it is not an object. And why is it not an object?
Because it is the subject. Being the very subject, you cannot
experience न् one day in meditation where न् will come, smile at
you and go away. Whatever comes and smiles is not न्. It is our मा.
न् is not to be experienced as an object but has to be claimed as the
subject. TF परमाथत ं उ ं सुसू ं - extremely subtle means िनगुणं . Use the वेद
as a mirror to look at your own real nature. 4th line – वेद: च वि the वेद
itself declares, सो . वेद is addressing every student, ‘हे सो , O
pleasing one, - may you look upon the वेद as a valid means of
knowledge. Where does this सो mantra come? छा ो 6-12-2.
Continuing.
त ा सुसंपा ा गु वेदा वा यो: |

मुमु ो: द् धान फलं स ित ना था || 102||
त ात्- ा is crucial to decide whether Vedic knowledge is a

knowledge or hypothesis. I don’t take as casual information a fact
revealed by the वेद. ा- my translation is वेद Validity Attitude, VVA.
सुसंपा ा- you should acquire and that too it should be deep ा, not a
superficial or casual one. Shankaracharya doesn’t say how to develop
that. He only says develop it. That is why in our tradition created
many physical external actions or attitudes to develop ा, which is an
internal attitude. Not attitude, external exercises. That is what we see
in the BG- ति ि ितपानेन. नम ार: is one method of developing faith. That
is why when we are children, we are asked to do नम ार to the gods,
mahatmas as well as scriptures. नम ार is a physical action which can
gradually bring about transformation in the mind. प र ने –when you
ask the question, ask with humility and reverence. It is not , it is प र.
सेवया- service like पाद पूजा etc. are all for developing ा towards the गु .
In the 13th chapter अमािन ं , अदंिब ं , अिहंसा ा राजवम, then आचाय उपासनम्-

उपासन of आचाय. गु ा गु िव :ु गु दवो महे र: all these गु ो ं , गु सेवा are to
develop reverence towards the गु , and also reverence towards the
words of the गु . A person brought up in a traditional family would
have already developed ा because he already does regular पूजा,
सं ाव नं etc. He follows a Vedic way of life, PMY etc because of his
faith in the वेद.
Suppose a person is not brought up in a traditional manner, then what

happens? First, he has to develop ा towards गु by service, पूजा etc.
Then he finds the गु himself has got reverence for the शा because
whatever he says, he collects it from वेद. The श also begins to imitate
the गु ’s attitude towards the वेद. He should either get it before coming
to वेदा ा or he should get it after coming to वेदा ा by observing the
आचाय.
वेदा ा पूजा is there in our tradition. During वेदा ा पूजा we worship all the
books including the वेद. Human knowledge gets revised every now and
then, but Vedic teaching does not need any revision even after
thousands of years. Take the example of coconut oil, my standard
example as I am from Kerala. We were floating and spinning in
coconut oil earlier. Then, they said it will produce this and that.
Kerala people are still alive. Thereafter, they came to neutral from
villain. Now, they are saying neutral to hero. TF, human knowledge
will get revised but never the Vedic teaching, whether dharma शा or
brahma शा . It is valid.
TF, मुमु ो: -a seeker of मो ा has to develop ा, सुसंपा ा गु वेदा वा यो: in

the words of वेदा ा and गु . If one is a seeker of मो ा, then फलम् स ित.
First sentence is complete in the first line त ात् गु वेदा वा यो: ा
सुसंपा ा. The next sentence, मुमु ो: द् धान - a seeker of मो ा who has got
ा in the वेद, फलम् स ित- gets benefit in the form of ानं and मो ा
definitely, न अ था- not otherwise. Statutory warning. Continuing,

यथाथवािदता पुं सां ाजननकारणं |
वेद े र वा ा थाथ े न सं शय: || 103||
Words are accepted as a source of knowledge माणम्, by all people,

including all other systems of philosophy. All philosophers
communicate their philosophy through their own books. Written as
well as spoken words are accepted as sources of knowledge. TF, it is
called श . Different people define श माणम् in different ways. In अ ै तं
वेदा ा, श म् is a माणम् by itself. त: माणम्. Some other philosophers
define श माणम् in a slightly different manner which we also accept.
They say, words become a valid source of knowledge when the Words
come from a reliable person. श माणम् is defined as आ वा म् माणम्.
आ : - a reliable, trustworthy person. If we have moved with a person
who generally tells truth and thereafter if he tells us something, we
accept it as a valid knowledge. Shankaracharya takes that definition
and says, you accept the words coming from a reliable human being.
Not reliable words, but a reliable person as valid. वेद comes from the
most reliable one as per that definition. In the case of other human
beings, reliability may be doubtful. Even if they are reliable, they
themselves may not know properly. They might have wrong
knowledge which they might very faithfully convey. They are truthful,
but what they know is wrong. TF if a reliable source of words is valid
knowledge, then वेद must be given the highest position because it is
coming from ई र himself, who is the most reliable one, who will not
mislead humanity. यो ाणं िवददाित पूव यो वै वेदां िहणोित त .ै भगवान् creates
the world. भगवान् creates brahma. We saw in BU 1-4. The first म ा is ा
was born and he also had सं सार. He got knowledge from सा ात् ई र
himself.
Shankaracharya says, यथाथवािदता पुं सां- when a person speaks the truth
always, धा ान कारणम् - he helps us develop faith. The truthfulness of a

person is the cause for our developing धा, faith in him. If someone
misleads us one day, thereafter, whatever information he gives, we
always take it with a pinch of salt. Even if he violates it only once. So,
यथाथवािद is धा ान कारणम्.
In the case of वेद, वेद ई र वा ात्. वेद being the words of भगवान् himself,
the ऋषय: serve only as a pipeline, conduit. ऋषय: have not produced the
वेदs, they have only received the वेद in their meditation. भगवान् is the
transmitting centre, ऋषय: are receiving centre. Transmission from
भगवान्. वेद ई र वा ा त् यथाथ े न सं शय: -there need not be any doubt in
the validity of the वेद. यथाथ े -in the validity, न सं शय: - there is no doubt.
I can accept the words of the वेद, but why should I have faith in the
words of the गु ? Shankaracharya gives the reason here.
मु े र प ा रु ोवागिप ता शी |
त ा ा यो: ा सतां स ित धीमतां || 104||
Shankaracharya gives two reasons to prove the validity of गु वा म्.One
regular, conventional reason is when गु teaches he is not teaching a
knowledge that is invented by him. If it is his invention, then his own
limitations will colour the knowledge. The गु , while inventing
something with the help of his intellect, being a human being will
have limitations like ाय and एिषक दशनं . They are all inventions of
human intellects and hence contain fallacies. When the गु conveys the
teachings found in the वेदs, he is only presenting it in his own words,
the contents belong to the वेद. That is why even LK himself, even
though he is सा ात् ई र, claims validity in the गीता by saying, ‘I am
teaching what has been given in the वेदs.”
इमं िवव ते योगं ो वानहम यम्
िवव ान् मनवे ाह मनु र ाकवेअ वॆत्|| 4.1||
रिष भब दा गीतं चा ो भ: िविवदै पृथक् - just as we say BG is the words of LK,

content is from the वेद, similarly गु ’s words are reliable because the

words are his but the content comes from the वेद. This is the
conventional argument. Here, Shankaracharya gives a radical argument
that because गु is a ािन who has discovered his oneness with ई र, and
has realised अहम् ा , and so he is equal to ई र:. ािन तु आ वै मे मतं . गु
वा म् is equal to ई र वा म्. माणम्- also as good as वेद. गु वा म् is वेद
वा म्. This is said here.
मु ई र प ात्. मु : - a ािन who is liberated is, ई र प ात्- is सा ात् ई र

himself. TF, गुरो: वागिप- even the words of the गु is ता शी- the same as ई र
वा म्. त ात्- since गु वा म् and ई र वा म् are one and the same,
त ा यो:- you should treat वेद वा म् and गु वा म् on equal footing. तद् -
गु ई र वा यो:, धा – will be there for सतां- all noble people. सतां धीमतां
for good students who have पु म् will have equal धा towards both गु
वा and वेद वा .
With this the धा topic is over but we are still in साधन चतु य सं पाित. The
next one is समाधानं which we will see in the next class.

Verses 104 to 108
Page 19 verse 104-
मु े र प ा रु ोवागिप ता शी |
त ा ा यो: ा सतां स ित धीमतां || 104||
Shankaracharya is discussing साधन चतु य सं पि , four qualifications of

which the third one is a group of disciplines called शमािद ष सं पि :. We
have dealt with शम, दम, ितित ा and उपरम and in the last class we began
the fifth one, ा, which is our attitude towards वेद in general and वेदा ा
in particular. The correct attitude is that the वेद is a valid source of
knowledge which has given knowledge to all our पूव आचाया:. Even if I
find there are certain portions are not acceptable to my intellect, I
should question my own understanding instead of questioning the
scriptures. We need not blindly swallow what our intellect cannot
accept. If you feel there is some illogicality, don’t swallow that idea.
Instead, question your understanding and study the scriptures again
with the help of a गु or an informed person. I will then find that does
not contradict any माणं . The attitude that scriptures are valid is called
ा. I gave a talk one GP where I defined ा as उपजी त ामा ानं
ा. This is a summary of that talk.
Shankaracharya says we accept the words of the scriptures based on the

तक शा . Using आ वा ं माणं - words of a reliable person, so ई र himself.
If it is गीता it is given by ई र अवतार. TF both of them are आ . गु ’s words
are to be accepted because the गु is only communicating the message
of the शा . The words are from the गु but the content is taken from
the शा . Shankaracharya goes one step further and says a true गु has
discovered oneness with ई र himself. So, गु वा ं is as good as ई र वा ं

itself. TF, his words also are माणं . That is what we saw in verse 104 in
the last class.
मु ई र प ात्- गु being one with ई र, गुरो: वागिप ता शी. ता शी- valid and
ई र वा ं तु ं . त ात् -TF, तद् व यो: - words in the शा म् and words of the
गु , one should have ा - faith. सतां स ित धीमतां- is naturally there for
आ का: who have done lot of पु ं . Without पु ं , ा is not easy. ना क ं
is said to be a type of पापं . Lack of ा is also a type of पापं because we
are losing the guidance of भगवान् and शा . Continuing,
ु ु ाथावगहाय िवदुषा ेयव िु न|

च सं यगाधानं समधानिमतीयते || 105||
Now we focus on समाधानं which is the 6th and final sub-qualification of

the third main qualification after शम दम ितती उपरम ा. समाधानं means
focus or concentration. स क् आधानं . आधानं - fixing the mind clearly on
any destination or goal. Mental fixing, mental focus, concentration is
called समाधानं . In TB the definition of समाधानं is च एका ता- one
pointedness of the mind. This is a qualification required for any
pursuit. In cricket, if a batsman facing a fast bowler loses
concentration for just half a second then he only hears a sound and
then finds one of the stumps missing. Whether it is a chess game or
painting or art, music all of them require concentration. Spirituality
also is a pursuit which requires both long term focus and short-term
concentration. By long term focus what I mean is, spiritual journey is a
very long journey between fixing मो ा as the primary goal and attaining
that मो ा. The time gap is very big. Not that I decide to get मो ा today
and tomorrow by 12 o’ clock मो ा is in my bag. There is a long journey
including कमयोग for च शुि , उपासनयोग for च एका ता, long वणं for
gaining knowledge, long मननं for removing doubts and the longest
िनिद ासनं for assimilating this message. Since this journey extends over
many lives, at least extends to one’s entire life one should never forget

the goal while pursuing other things. Especially when a person enters
GA, many secondary goals arrive including, earning, getting children
educated, getting them married and so many other responsibilities. In
and through all of them, one should always remember the ultimate
goal. The entire GA is an intermediary stage of life for getting िववेक,
वैरा ं etc. There is वान ा म. There is स ास आ म. Whether I enter those
आ मा: or not I have to dedicate the latter part of my life. Hopefully I
will have reasonably good health for वण मनन िनिद ासन. When I am
performing my GA duties, त ात सवषु कालेषु मामनु र like LK said. यु -
you may fight the war of life but in and through all the worldly
pursuits never forget the goal because human life is primarily meant
for मो ा, the highest पु षाथ. That is why I say, ‘Now and then, go to
स so even if we forget they will remind us of the primary goal of
life. This is called long term focus.
Short term concentration is needed during शा िवचार. We should never

forget the central message of the शा , which is, स ं जगन् िम ा जीवो
व
ै ना पर:. शा talks about many things including सृि , प कोश, पुनज ,
गलोक but all of them are meant to reveal जग ा ं , even heaven is
not permanent and न् alone is the reality. We don’t believe in
eternal heaven. Other religions talk about eternal heaven for them and
eternal hell for us. We don’t believe in eternal heaven or eternal hell.
Eternity is only for न्. Everything else is non-eternal and so non-
reliable. Use them as a means, never as an end.
So, either स ं will be the focus or जगन् िम ा will be the focus. The
central message is that न् is never an object of experience or
attainment. You can never attain न्. What an anti-climax. You say
न् is great, wonderful and reliable and then quietly the गु says, ‘ न्
is not attainable.’ Scriptures give the reason न् cannot be attained
because that wonderful न् happens to be ‘I myself’, ‘I’, my real
nature. Superficially, I am the dying body but the real ‘I’ happens to

be न्. महावा ं is the third central message. स ं जगन् िम ा अहं वै
these three topics we should never forget.
Two more topics. One is, how to gain this knowledge because this is a
mind-boggling message. Even now modern science doesn’t know what
is reality. वेदा ा is talking about that reality which nobody else is able
to talk about. न् is a mind-boggling topic. In the end, the उपिनषद् says
that न्, you are. It is like swallowing the whole pumpkin. That
difficult. What preparations are required to assimilate this message?
शा says, without preparation this message will never enter but with
preparation you can easily swallow it like a peeled banana. LK says,
अवगमं ध सुसखं कतु अ यं . Very easy to know when prepared. Very
difficult to know when un-prepared. श
े ोिदकतर ष
े ां. So, the fourth topic
is how to aim for this message of स ं जगन् िम ा जीवो व
ै ना पर:.
The fifth topic is, ‘What will I get if I assimilate this message.’ So ानं ,
ान साधनं , ान फलं are the topics covered in all the शा s. The student
should never miss these five topics and any portion I hear, I must
immediately be able to slot it into one of the above categories. That is
called informed listening. Otherwise I will be carried away or lost in
अ मयकोश or some other topic. I should never forget the main teaching.
This is also called समाधानं at the time of वणं .
So, first समाधानं is long term focus in and through our worldly life.
भगवान् and मो ा is the goal. Short term समाधानं is whenever I do वणं , I
should be able to listen properly and categorise the topic in the
appropriate category. In BG LK says,
वसाया काबुि रेकेह कु न न
ब शाखा न ा बु यो वसाियनाम् ||२.४१||
People of right resolve will always remember the goal. Those who do
not have clarity of goal are lost in various pursuits. They do something
for some time and there after change it to another thing. I practiced

meditation for 12 years, then I did ‘who am I’ enquiry for one year
then I did नाम सं के तनं . In bits and pieces, I do so many things and find
that I remain in the same place like pedaling a stationary cycle.
TF, Shankaracharya says, ु ु अथ अवगाहाय. अवगा: - understanding,

grasping, ु ु अथ - the central message, the ता य of the Veda, िवदुषा -
by an intelligent student. What is required? च स क् आधानं - focusing
the mind on the words of the scriptures and the words of the गु
without distraction or preoccupation. A preoccupied mind is not a
hundred percent available. I always say, “When you leave the chappal
outside, renounce ahamkara, mamakara, raga and dwesha along with
the chappal.” Then the whole mind is available. च आधानं - fixing the
mind, ेयव िु न - on the object to be known. स क् आधानं समाधानं इित ईयते -
I am dead to all the surroundings and am alive only to what is in front
of me. This is called समा ध in योग शा . यम िनयम आसन ाणायाम the अ ा योग
is only to develop the faculty of getting absorbed in any task. Total
absorption, like children. We all had that focusing power when we
were children. Now we have developed so much that we have lost that
absorption power except when we are watching TV serials. If we bring
that same absorption to वेदा ा, we will get instantaneous liberation. I
know you all have focus. समाधानं इित ईयते. Continuing,
स े समाधानमसाधारण कारणं |
यत तो मुमु ण
ू ां भिवत ं सदामुना || 106||
Verses 105 to 107 focus on समाधानं - focus or concentration.

Shankaracharya says here that this concentrated वणं is very important
because ultimately spiritual knowledge comes only through वणं .
Teaching takes place only at the time of वणं . During कमयोग, we are
not learning anything new. We are only doing पूजा, जप etc. for
purifying the mind. In उपासना we take an इ देवता and try to meditate on

that देवता. Again, no new learning. Only during वणं , scriptural study,
learning process happens. ानं can take place only in वणं .
मननं is not meant for knowledge. मननं is meant for removing doubt
with regard to the knowledge that I already have. In िनिद ासनं also, I
am not learning anything new because there is no source of new
knowledge. A new knowledge can come only when I use an
instrument of knowledge. In िनिद ासनं , I am not using any instrument
of knowledge. It is only internalizing something I have learnt during
वणं . िनिद ासनं is valid only after वणं . TF, वणं is the most crucial part
of our spiritual journey where we are getting systematic teaching from
the गु and शा ा. All other साधनािन are only for helping this crucial
sadhana. That is why LK said, ति ि णपातेन प र ेन सेवया. MU- ति ानाथ स
गु मेव अ भग े त.्
TF, scriptural learning is the central part of spiritual journey and समाधानं
is the most important qualification because scriptural learning requires
a mind which has concentration. Otherwise the गु will go on talking
and though the student is physically present, no learning happens.
Learning requires the participation of the गु because he has to
communicate. Learning requires participation the participation of the
disciple called समाधानं . Otherwise, वणं will be meaningless. TF, समाधानं
makes वणं meaningful. स े - for successful attainment of spiritual
wisdom, सि :-success in getting the wisdom, self-knowledge. समाधानं –
concentrated, focused, undistracted listening. असाधारण कारणं - is the
special qualification or cause. असाधारणं – unique, special or specific
cause of knowledge. यता तत:- because of this reason, मुमु ण
ू ां - if a person
is really interested in मो ा. If वेदा ा is a time pass it is ok. One student
told me, “Swamiji, I am an intellectual and I find वेदा ा intellectually
stimulating. I love the class and study. I don’t have interest in मो ा and
all.” मुमु ण
ू ां अमुना भिवत ं - this concentration during वणं must be
maintained. That is why we chant the शा पाठ like भ ं कण भ:. Every

उपिनषद् is preceded by a शा पाठ and we say ॐ शा शा : शा because
obstacles to concentration come from three different sources- आिद
दैिवकं, आिद भौितकं , आ ा कं .
Sringeri आचाय was narrating this incident- At the end of the discourse
somebody came and said, “Swamiji, I loved your discourse today.”
Swamiji was very happy and asked him, ‘Why?’ “You uttered the name
of my grandson, ेयस्.” In वेदा ा य
े : means मो ा and Shankaracharya
talked about मो ा and he had thought about his grandson. This is
called आ ा क obstacle.
Any word can trigger any other thought and create आ ा क, आिदभौितक,
आिद दै िवक obstacles for समाधानं . TF, ‘O Lord, for one hour, let my mind
be not distracted by any of these causes,’ is the fervent prayer of every
student.
मुमु ण
ू ां- अमुना भिवत ं भावे योग:. अमुना - this qualification means समाधानं
भिवत ं should be there. Make sure you develop concentration in the
class. Continuing.
अ ती वैरा ं फल ल ा मह रा |
िव ा माधान कारणं ||107||
How to develop this concentration? He gives a beautiful reason. Love
and value for something will naturally bring concentration towards
that. Whatever I love- a particular TV program, a particular book.
When I love something, the mind naturally goes towards that. So, if I
want concentration in वणं , I should have a value for this knowledge.
This value will come only when I know, this is the only means for
मो ा. If I have value for मो ा, then I will have value for ानं . When I have
value for ानं , I will have value for वणं . It is transferred value. मो ा इ ा
will get converted into ान इ ा, ान इ ा will get converted into वण
इ ा. How you are coming even in the hot sun? Not easy. Why do you

come? Because you value this knowledge. मो े ा to ाने ा to वण इ ा,
when that desire is there concentration will be natural. TF, develop
desire for मो ा which will become desire for knowledge, which will
become desire for 11 o’ clock class.
Then Shankaracharya adds one more. He says, not only must there be
value for मो ा it should become our top priority It so happens that
while we love मो ा, we also love many other things. Then it will
become a question of priority. Suppose at 11 am, there is another event
that you like as much as coming to Vedanta class and you have to
choose. TF, priority w.r.t the goal should be there. Love for all others
should be lesser. That is called वैरा ं . Lesser priority in comparison to
मो ा. मो ा alone is the primary end. TF, he says अ ती वैरा ं - intense
detachment with regard to other things in life. Detachment does not
mean hatred but understanding that they can only serve as means but
never the goal. They cannot be the goal because they are perishable,
they have 3-fold दोषा: - दु:ख िम त ा, अ िु कर ं and ब क ं . None of them
deserves to be the goal and so they are subservient to मो ा. This
understanding is called वैरा ं . Seeing them as a means is वैरा ं , seeing
them as an end is राग:. सा भावना राग:. साधन भावना वैरा ं . We don’t say they
are useless. Everything is useful but they are all only means. So, अ
ती वैरा ं . फल ल ा. ल ा - desire to attain फलम् fruits of my Vedantic
study, that is मो ा.
तदेतदुभयं then the concentration will become more and more and more.
There is the story of जनक and a few other sanyasis who were studying
शा ा from one गु . All the sanyasis looked down up जनक because they
had that superiority complex that were all सं या सन:. स ास is to renounce
अ भमानं but they felt जनक was inferior because he was a gruhasta. जनक ,
despite being a gruhasta, had all concentration. The गु wanted to
teach his students a lesson. He created an illusion of the whole area
burning. When the whole place was burning, these sanyasis who had

meager possessions of a thatched shed and only one extra cloth, ran in
the middle of the class to protect that thatched shed and old cloth.
The गु is teaching कारणं , काय and all but the shishyas ran. They found
that it was an illusion and felt very bad because they had renounced
the गु . So, they ran back to the गु . The class was continuing and there
was only one student. जनक. जनक said, िम थलायां ती ायां न मे िक न ित?
Even if the entire kingdom burns, now I am in वणं . I don’t have
ममकार. Of course, don’t take it as, ‘he is an irresponsible king.’ That is
not the idea here. It only to show that he had intense concentration.
तदेतदुभयं िव ात् समाधान कारणं - these are the causes of concentration. With
this, समाधानं topic is over.
बिहर ं िु त: ाह चयािद मु ये |
शमािदष मेवतै द र ं िवदुबधा:
ु || १०८ ||
In the following three ोकाs, Shankaracharya consolidates शमािद ष

सं पि : as one main sadhana. शम दम etc. are only the subsidiaries and all
these six put together is the third main sadhana called शमािद ष अ ि .
He says, the third one is extremely important and one of the primary
means for ानं and liberation. For gaining शम- mental balance or मन:
शा he gave a list of 18 values from verses 33-35. The first one in that
list was चयािद. Here, Shankaracharya says, those 18 values are the
means, शमािद ष सं पि is the end goal. Values themselves are useful only
when they are converted into शमािद सं पि . Otherwise, just by being
dharmic, a person will not get liberation. Between the 18 values and
शमािद ष सं पि : which one is directly connected to ानं ? चयािद or शमािद
ष सं पि :? शमािद is directly connected to ानं . चयािद values will lead to
शमािद and शमािद will lead to ानं . Only when the 6-fold inner discipline
is there will वेदा वाणािदकं will be effective. Between बिहर ं and अ र ं we
should focus on अ र ं . TF, regularly check whether you have शमािद ष
सं पि . Make a checklist - शम दम उपरम ितित ा ा समाधानं and constantly
check. Shankaracharya says that shruti declares बिहर ं चयािद ाह. The 18

values चयािद are बिहर ं - remote means, शमािद ष म् एव अ र ं - proximate
means. इित उधा: िवदु:- wise people declare. Values and morals should
lead to शमािद सं पि : which alone will lead to वणं , मननं and िनिद ासनं .
शमािद ष ं एवअ र साधनं . You practice values but they should be
converted into शमािद ष सं पि : otherwise no ानं , no मो ा.

Verse 109 to 115
अ र ं िह बलवद् बिहर ा त त: |
शमािदष ज ासोरव ं भा ा रं ||109||
बिहर ात्–compared to the 18 moral values, अ र साधना- the 6-fold inner

discipline is बलवत्- stronger and important. यत: तत:- since this inner
discipline is important TF आ रं शमािद ष ं - the internal 6-fold discipline,
अव ं - is inevitable, compulsory, a necessity, indispensable. ज ासो:- for a
person interested in knowledge. While discussing this, Shankaracharya
is taking for granted certain basic messages of वेदा ा शा ा. A person
must have reached the conclusion that मो ा alone is the goal.
Shankaracharya’s first assumption is this person is interested in मो ा.
The second assumption is this person knows that मो ा cannot be
attained through different methods. There are not many methods, मो ा
is not a multi-path goal. मो ा is a goal with only one path.
Shankaracharya assumes his audience is aware of these two. मो ा is the
primary goal. मो ा has got only one path- ानात् एव कै व ं . Without ानं ,
मो ा is impossible. ानं means अ ै त ानात् एव मो ा: because उपिनषद् says,
ि तेया ै भयं भवित. ैतं means भयं and दु:खं . अ ैतं alone is मो ा:. The third
assumption is that ानं is possible only through वण, मनन, िनिद ासनं
under the guidance of a गु . गु शा ा उपदेश वण मनन िनिद ासनं .
Shankaracharya assumes, we fully know this- listening to the teaching
of शा ा coming from a गु , followed by मननं and िनिद ासनं . The student
who knows these three fundamentals clearly is given a title, ज ासु:.
Now for वणं to take place, inner discipline is compulsory. ज ासो - for
a student for whom these three fundamentals are clear, inner discipline
is भा ं - compulsorily be there. If you don’t have these 6-fold
disciplines will you bar me from वेदा ा class? Shankaracharya does not

have to bar anyone. वेदा ा simply won’t work on such a person, that is
all. Like a person who eats without digestive power eats through one
hole and it will go out through another hole without nourishing the
body.
अ र वेहीन कृ त वणकोटय: |
न फल यथा यो रु धीर ा सं मद: || 110||
अ र वेहीन -the one who doesn’t have the proximate means in the
form of 6-fold disciplines, reasonably well. 100% is not possible. It is
idealistic. For such a person वणं will not be holistic. वेदा ा is structured
teaching where each idea is built upon –like mathematical steps. If a
math student misses one intermediary step, he will not be able to
arrive at the right answer. Every step is connected. Similarly, in वेदा ा,
ं पद िवचार, तत् पद िवचार अ स पद िवचार. To assimilate this structured
teaching, the mind has to be focused. The listening cannot be casual
listening. If the mind is not focused कृ त वणकोटय: - even if he listens to
वेदा ा one crore times nothing will happen. Maybe I can get some
Sanskrit words here and there with which I can intimidate other
people but nothing more than that. That wisdom स ं जगन् िम ा, अहं
स ं जगन् िम ा, अहं व
ै ना पर: which is the bottom line of वेदा ा will be
out of reach. So, वणकोटय; - it will remain as undigested food which
can be more dangerous. There is a सुभािषतं - अन ाते िवषं शा ं अजीण भोजनं
िवषं िवषं सभा द र दुजन . अन ाते िवषं शा ं - undigested शा ं can be a
problem in the sense that it will only create another shastric ego. “I
finished BG.” “I have finished उपिनषद्.” It can cause arrogance. In the
BU ष ा ाय ते के तु came back from गु कु लं arrogant. TF, knowledge, if not
digested, becomes the poison called arrogance- अन ाते िवषं शा ं . अजीण
भोजनं िवषं - digestion is not good and yet you keep on dumping. It will
become िवषं . िवषं सभा द र - for a द र any assembly is िवषं because he
feels bad to come in front of people because of his poverty. दुजन
सुभािषतं - for a wicked person if you talk of values it won’t work, it will

be िवषं . All this is not relevant to us. What is relevant is that शा ं will
not be digested, if the qualifications are not there. न फलं इित – will not
be fruitful. He gives a beautiful example to show that internal
qualification is more important than the external qualification. A
soldier goes to the battle field and he has all the modern weapons in
his hand. Only problem is, he doesn’t have courage. Without courage
the weapons are useless. On the other hand, a courageous person will
fight with anything that is available. Weapons are useful alright but for
a soldier, internal courage is more important than external weapons.
Similarly, for Vedanta students, समा ध ष सं पि : is extremely important.
Another example is, for good health, we need both external hygienic
clean place and internal immunity or resistance. Between internal
resistance and external hygiene resistance is more important because if
resistance is there, you can live in Madras. We are surviving because of
resistance. अ र ं is resistance. बिहर ं is शौचं . अ र is more important than
बिहर ं . It doesn’t mean we should live in the slum. Wherever we live,
we have to make sure that our resistance is good. For Vedanta student
the resistance is समा ध ष सं पि :. So, यो :ु - for a soldier, अ सं पत: - an
abundance of weapons, will be absolutely useless if अधीर –if he
doesn’t have courage.
With this, समा ध ष सं पि : has been wound up, from verse 27 up to verse
110. Now we will have to take stock. What are the 4-fold
qualifications? िववेक वैरा ष सं पि : मुमु ु ं . In English, remember the four
Ds. Discrimination, Dispassion, Discipline, Desire. Shankaracharya has
now covered three - Discrimination, dispassion and discipline. What is
left? The fourth - desire.
Desire for what? Earlier I could say, ‘desire for मो ा’, but nowadays I
cannot say that and keep quiet because there is a shop called मो ा
diamonds. So, I mean spiritual मो ा not diamond मो ा. Fourth D- desire
for मो ा, spiritual freedom. This must be a very strong desire. Not म

मुमु ं or म म मुमु ं but ती मुमु ं . We say ती मुमु ं alone will bring
commitment to Vedanta. When मुमु ं is lukewarm the approach to
Vedanta will be casual. When a mild discomfort becomes a serious
disease, we will run to the doctor. We don’t care to visit the doctor
when we have a mild toothache. When it becomes a terrible
toothache, we rush to the doctor. Similarly, we have to discover the
limitation of the world and the importance of मो ा. That is called मुमु ं
or मो े ा. This is defined in the following portion from verse 111 to 113.
् ा क
ै िव ानादयि ा ो ु िम ित |
सं सापाशब ं त म
ु ु ु ं िनग ते || 111||
अयं िव ान् -this mature, intelligent person, िव ान् doesn’t mean a ािन. If he
is a ािन he already knows he is मु : and does not desire मो ा. A mature,
informed person, मो ंु इ ित - wants to release himself from the shackles
of सं सार, the invisible shackles, सं सार पाश. ब - bondage caused by the
shackles called सं सार. There is a sense of limitation. As a कता, I am
limited. As a भो ा, limited. As a ाता, limited. Combined it is called
अहंकार. I experience limitation all the time, which expresses in the 4-
fold form.
Remember my definition HAFD? H - helplessness in many situations.

What I want to do, I am not able to do. What I don’t want to do, I
have to do. As a कता, I feel helpless. As a ाता, I don’t know why
something happens? This helplessness is a continuous symptom of सं सार
and leads to anger towards people, person or the source because of
which this happened. Then I shout and do all kinds of things. The
only result is my throat is damaged but nothing changes because the
others get used to our shouting and develop immunity to our
shouting. TF, after anger, frustration, then depression. Helplessness,
Anger, Frustration, Depression. What should you do? Adjust, smile,
not get irritated.

All these put together, the entire life is called सं सार. Can death be called
freedom? Death cannot be freedom because, I am going to be born
again, reborn with more HAFD. पुनरिप जननं पुनरिप मरणं is long term
HAFD. I want to get out of this सं सार for good. अ ते व
े ो उपासीत. सृि करणम्.
वेश करणम्. सं सार करणम्. मो ामाग करणम्. मो ा ाि करणम्. To transcend the
अपूण अहंकार and come to पूण आ ा is the only solution. This, this person
knows. Shifting from अहंकार to आ ा is called ् ा क
ै िव ानात् - by
gaining the knowledge of ा ा- पूणा ा. This desire to know and get
freedom for good is called मुमु ा. Continuing.
साधनानां तु सवषां मुमु ा मूलकारणं |

अिन ोर वृ िु त: नु त लं || 112||
Shankaracharya says, among the four qualifications, the most important
one is मुमु ा or desire for मो ा. Only then, all the other qualifications
become relevant. Is it not? Only if I have desire for मो ा, will I have to
get ानं . For getting ानं alone, I have to get all the qualifications. Then
alone, कम योग becomes relevant, उपासन योग becomes relevant,
Sankaralayam becomes relevant and 11 o’ clock becomes relevant.
Everything else become relevant only when I have the connected
desire. Suppose I have a desire to go कै लास, मानसरोवर्, then all the other
preparations like getting money for that, contacting travel agency,
physical fitness through daily ाणायम् and walking, then to go to 20000
feet height, to see if I can breathe comfortably, all these become
relevant. One who doesn’t have desire need not know such things
even exist. TF, desire alone leads to action and action requires
qualification. If desire is not there, pursuit doesn’t exist. If there is no
pursuit, there is no relevance for the qualification. TF. first you have to
ask yourself if you want मो ा? Then you can start SCS and all those
things. TF, he says, सवषां साधनानां तु - among all the qualifications for मो ा,
मुमु ा - the desire for मो ा is मूल कारणं . That is the fundamental cause.
Then naturally I will enquire into all the things I require. वृि -

seeking, desire is वृि : कारणम्. Suppose you feel thirsty, naturally the
desire for water arises, then वृि starts. You look around, see if
someone has a bottle, or you go searching for the water. You go
towards water because of desire. There is a rule, य द्कु ते कम त त् काम
चेि तं - all actions are the results of desire or caused by desire. Even
Vedantic pursuit is caused by desire. When you say िन ाम कम etc. you
should know the word िन ाम means freedom from desire for all other
things. िन ाम कम is to be understood as मो ा कम. TF, मो ा इ ा is
important. अिन ो अ वृ - a person who doesn’t have desire and so
doesn’t seek मो ा, a non-seeker, ुित:- where is the question of Veda,
BG, or उपिनषद् ? All those are completely nonrelevant. नु त लं - where
is the question of the result of that pursuit? That is also not relevant.
He concludes the मुमु ा discussion by talking about the means for
developing desire for मो ा. How can we nourish the desire for मो ा?
िन ािन िववेक देहा णकतामित: |

मृ ोभ ित ताप मुमु ावृि कारणम् || 113||
What are the means of developing desire for मो ा? We are not taking
about getting मो ा. That is far away. LK has presented the means of
getting desire for मो ा very well in the 13th chapter of the BG. ज मृ ु
जरा ा ध दु:ख दोष अनुदशनं - LK beautifully conveys in just one line- ‘May
you constantly see and remember the problems of the aging physical
body.’ Generally, when we are young, we never think of the
possibility of old age. In the olden days, three generations used to be
present in the joint family. Even as children, we would know the
problems of aging gradually developed by the tatha and Patti. Ear will
not hear, eyesight will deteriorate. Then we know that we are also in
that same long queue. We all go through all of these and we also have
to face old age, disease and death. The body is an integral part of
अना ा. Even if the body is भगवत: body, that also will have all these
things. So अना ा can never be a source of long-term comfort or

reliable. In BU अकृ ो िह स:- we have to transcend अना ा. असतोमा स मय
तमसोमा ोितगमय मृ ोमा अमृतं गमय. From mortality and cycles of birth and
death, I have to come to immortality. Body cannot be made immortal.
Mind cannot be made immortal. There is only one thing which is
already immortal. In religious language it is called god. In spiritual
language it is called आ ा. In कम योग level, we say love god. May you be
devoted to god. Once you come to ान योग, we say, that god is all-
pervading. All-pervading god must be in me also. So, find that Lord in
yourself. ान ोका. आराधयािम म ण सं िनभं अ ल ं . आ ा is like a ल ं . मायापुरी
दय प ज. TF transcending अना ा and coming to आ ा is the only
solution. In materialistic life we are continuously replacing one अना ा
by another अना ा or adding more अना ा, expecting security. Insecure +
insecure= महा insecure. Materialism is adding more insecure things.
Spirituality is going towards the only secure thing अभयं ित ां िव दते अतसो
भयं गतो भवित. Spirituality must be an informed choice, not a time pass
or because my friends are going. No. Shankaracharya says, it should be
an informed choice born out of a fear of YDR.
Look at this shloka. िन ािन िववेक - understanding the world is insecure

and God alone is secure is called िन ािन िववेक:, देहा णकतामित: - that this
physical body is growing, greying and going should be clear. णकता-
fleeting nature, impermanence of the body. मित:- awareness. मृ ोभ ित -
YDR is waiting there. Only thing is he comes very slowly because his
vehicle is the buffalo. मृ ो: भ ित - fear of the arriving YDR. In fact,
people will not be afraid of death but before death there is a stage.
That is the problem. ताप - ताप: means 3-fold pain आ ा क आिदभौितक
आिददैिवक ताप: - all types of pain – physical, emotional, intellectual. All
these pains मुमु ा वृि कारणम्. That is why अजुना himself came to गीता शा ं
only because of िवषाद. Until then, though he and LK were friends, he
did not talk about मो ा even by mistake. Only on the MB battlefield,
he saw the death of Bhishma, Drona and others on whose lap he had
grown up. Suddenly वैरा ं comes and काप भगत: - अजुना surrenders. TF

pain, दुःखं also is useful, according to वेदा ा. The utility of pain is
attending वेदा ा class. One will gradually develop a value for वेदा ा. मुमु ा
वृि कारणम्- it will increase the desire for मो ा. With this, the topic of
मुमु ं , the 4th qualification is also over.
Now, Shankaracharya sums up the beauty of all the four qualifications

by imagining the four qualifications as a human being. He symbolically
presents them as various parts of a human being. It is a nice ोका
where we see which part will give िववेक, which part will give वैरा ं etc.
शरो िववेक ं वैरा ं वपु ते |

शमादय: षड ािन मो े ा ाण इ ते || 114||
For the साधन चतु human being, िववेक: - is the head, वैरा ं -body, शमा
षड् अ ािन- the limbs are the six-fold qualifications and मुमु ं is the very
ाण itself.
िववेक: शर: भवित. Discrimination between god and world. God alone will
give security; the world can never give me security. This
understanding makes me a भ ा. First, आत भ ा, then, अताथ भ ा and
finally ज ासु भ ा. The head is the भ ा which is very important.
अ ं वैरा ं वपु: उ ते. अ ं वैरा ं - intense dispassion or detachment

where the world is seen only as the means and never as an end in itself
is the body. The world deserves to be handled as a साधनं . Give enough
importance to the vehicle but the vehicle is not the destination.
शमा षड् अ ािन - the 6-fold qualifications are all the limbs- the arms and
legs

मो े ा ाण इ ते – the desire for मो ा is the ाण. If ाण is gone, what is the
use of body, head and limbs? All of them are relevant and meaningful
only when I desire for मो ा.
ाण is important and the body, head and limbs are also important.
Without ाण, the body will be a corpse. Without body, the ाण will be
a ghost. TF, anything meaningful requires the combination of STS and
SKS. मो े ा is like SKS, others are like STS. Together the SCS will
accomplish the goal. Concluding.
ई शा समायु ो ज ासुयिु कोिवद: |

शूरो मृ ुं िनह व
े स ाना सना व
ु ं || 115||
Shankaracharya gave the example of a soldier in verse 110. He now

extends the same example and says, every spiritual seeker is like a
soldier or warrior fighting against सं सार, मृ ु or mortality which is सं सार,
the enemy. If the soldier has got all these qualifications- ई श अ समायु :
- all these limbs, ाण, body and head, ज ासु: desirous of knowledge, युि
कोिवद: - capable of thinking well because knowledge takes place in the
intellect. युि कोिवद: is one who is intellectually sound with proper
thinking. ज ासु: and शूर: -who has internal courage and शमािद ष सं पि : -
external weapons. स: मृ ुं िनह एव- he will certainly destroy मृ :ु or सं सार:
with the sword called अ स:. स क् ान अ सना. अ स: - a sword of clear and
doubtless knowledge is that ानं . That is the अ स: with which he will
destroy अ ानं अहंकार मृ ु and claim, अहं अमृतं अ .
What is the guarantee? Shankaracharya says, ‘I will give you the

guarantee card.’ व
ु ं - it will definitely happen. You can see for
yourself. If वेदा ा doesn’t work it means we have not fulfilled some of
these conditions properly. Otherwise ानं is definite, मो ा is definite.

With this, साधन चतु य सं पि topic is over. We have 115 ोका: In
Shankaracharya’s original work, it is 250 ोका:.

27. Summary of सव वेदा स ा सार सं ह
Today I will give you a summary of selected portions of the book सव

वेदा स ा सार सं ह:. The title is big and the original text is bigger than
िववेक चूडाम ण, with more than 1000 verses of which we have selected 115
verses which deal with च शुि .
In the first four verses, Shankaracharya introduces the text book by

offering a prayer to the गु and Lord Ganesha. He points out that this
book is an extract of the entire वेदा शा ा.
From the 5th verse up to the 11th verse, Shankaracharya mentions the
अनुब चतु यं of वेदा . The four factors which differentiate वेदा from the
वेद पूव भाग or ान का ं from कम का . The four factors which are different
are CBSC. C- Candidates, B- Benefits, S- Subject matter, C-
connection.
The candidates are different because in the कम का , the seeker of धमाथ

काम is the candidate whereas in ान का , the seeker of मो ा is the
candidate. The benefits are different. In the कम का धमाथ काम: are
benefits, in ान का मो ा is the benefit. In कम का the subject matter is
कम, in ान का the subject matter is ानं , आ ानं . The connections are
also different. In कम का , we have to learn, do and get the benefit.
Mere learning alone will not give the benefit in कम का whereas in ान
का , we have to only learn and understand and we do not have
anything to do because मो ा happens to be my very nature. In one, the
relationship is indirect, in the other, the relationship is direct. One
shot, one dose and सं सार close, not the student, the सं सार. If a person is
not interested धमाथ काम, then कम का is no more relevant for him. A
person can go to कम का for च शुि but if a person has च शुि already
because of पूव ज साधना and he is not interested in धमाथ काम in the
current ज , he can directly come to ान का . How do I know that

from पूव ज I have got च शुि ? If ान का ं works for me, if I am able to
get at least some benefit, it means we have the benefit of पूव ज . If that
पूव ज च शुि is not there, a student cannot survive in the class.
Survive means sooner or later he will develop वैरा म्. वैरा म् for वेदा . If
I develop वैरा म् for वेदा it means I don’t have the advantage of पूव ज .
Then, I have to focus on प महा य ा: of कम का . To show this, the
अनुब चतु यं is indicated from verses 5 to 11.
From the 12th verse up to the 15th verse, Shankaracharya indicates the
4-fold qualifications which one must have got by following कम का
either in this ज or in the past ज . वेदा doesn’t bother how you got
them or when you got them. वेदा only wants you to have these 4-fold
qualifications. Then, कम का becomes non-relevant for that person. A
person may continue to follow it for the benefit of the next generation
or for other people but he doesn’t need कम का . िववेक, वैरा म्, षड् क सं पि ,
मुमु ु ं , the four Ds- Discrimination, Dispassion, Discipline, Desire.
Shankaracharya points out that only if these are present can we draw
full benefit from वेदा . Only with these qualifications will one have the
power to receive, retain, assimilate and get the benefit of the
knowledge. Reasonable qualifications. No student comes with 100%
qualification. Ideal students are found only in the उपिनषद like न चके तस or
त
े के तु. They are all ideal just for us to have a benchmark so that we
know where we stand.
From 16th he explains each qualification. From 16 to 21, he explains the

first qualification of discrimination, िववेक. िववेक is कारण ई र or कारणं
alone is िन :, काय प : is अिन :. ई र is एक सार, िन , स ं . काय प is अिन ं .
If I want peace, security and happiness, I should rely only upon कारणं ,
never कायम्. This discernment becomes very important that ई र is कारणं ,
TF िन ं . The world is कायम्, TF अिन ं . We get this from ुित माणं , युि
माणं or through our own अनुभव. Many things that we hold on to just
goes away. Our own body is growing old, youth is going. मा कु धन जन

यो न गव | हरित िनमॆशात् कालं सव||. Even when we are holding onto things
tightly, they slip away right in front of our noses. This is अनुभव माण.
परी लोकान् कम चतान् in मु क. Thus, िन अिन व ु िववेक: is important.
Then alone I will develop a proper attitude towards them.
The proper attitude is to use one of these two as the means and the
other as the end or goal. साधनं and सा म्. By using one, we have to get
the other. So, do we use िन ं to work for अिन ं or use अिन ं to work for
िन ं ? It is unintelligent to use भगवान्, िन व ,ु for gaining अिन व .ु On
the other hand, if I use अिन प to gain िन ई र: that is िववेक:.
The second quality, वैरा म्, is explained from verses 22 to 26. Once I
see the entire काय प only as a means, none of them is an end in
itself, that is वैरा म् or dispassion. This does not mean hating the world
or rejecting the world but using the world not as an end, but as a
means. The world is not the सा म्, goal. TF, give enough importance
but not over importance. Giving enough importance is called साधना
bhavana. Not giving too much importance is called dispassion.
Verses 27 to 110 deal with षड् क सं पि :, the 6-fold disciplines. Since six
disciplines are to be covered, Shankaracharya takes a larger canvas to
deal with them. Of these six, he deals with two in a very elaborate
manner. The first one is शम; mental or thought discipline. All our
emotional problems are in the form of thoughts alone. What is worry?
A thought. What is fear? A thought. What is anger? Another thought.
What is hatred? Another thought. Every emotion, positive or negative,
is in the form of thought. TF, emotional management is mind
management. Mind management is thought management and so the
capacity to manage thoughts is the most important one. I said there
are voluntary thoughts when we apply our will. When we do not
apply our will, involuntary thoughts rise by themselves, bubbling up
from our own SC mind, from our own पूव वासना:. Thus, the mind is

continuously in either voluntary or involuntary thoughts. First, I
should know which thought is voluntary and which one is involuntary;
which one I am entertaining and which one is happening by itself.
Once I become aware of these two, I can ignore involuntary thoughts
as long as they are harmless because the only damage is a waste of
where my mind is not used constructively. But when involuntary
thoughts become harmful by causing worry, fear, hatred, depression
etc. then I should be able to immediately them. Any disease that goes
beyond limit becomes unmanageable. Nipping it in the bud is
important in physical disease and even so in the case of involuntary
thoughts. Even as worry rises, fear rises, I should know it is dangerous
to support it or allow it. I have to immediately replace the involuntary
thoughts with voluntary thoughts. We have choices. We can read some
books or watch a movie. Anything you do but push it out with any
blessed thing before it becomes overwhelming. This skill which I call
‘thought displacement skill’, TDS, is called शम:, मनोिन ह:.
Shankaracharya gives us a set of 18 values to be used for thought

displacement. Whenever negative thoughts come, we have to choose
the appropriate positive value. When fear thought comes then think of
courage. When hatred thought comes, think loving thoughts. When
greed thought comes, think contentment thoughts. Thus, for every
negative one, आसुरी स त्, use the corresponding opposite one. This is
called ितप भावना, neutralization thought. By following these 18
virtues, we also use our will. These virtues include ई र, गु or आचाय
आराधन. With that we get the grace of गु and ई र which will also help in
मनोिन ह:. With the help of all these we have to learn to manage the
mind. This is the toughest task in वेदा साधना. Shankaracharya gives 27
verses for शम and in the original work 33 verses on शम alone.
Remember, शम is different from मा. शम means मन: शा , a calm, quiet
and un-preoccupied mind. मा means the toughness of the mind to
withstand difficult situations, shock absorbing skills.

The second one is दम: which means sensory restraint. Making sure that
the sense organs are my instruments and I am not their instrument.
We employ certain domestic help and after sometime we will wonder
who is the boss and who is employee. Similarly, the sense organs are
supposed to be our instruments but in due course, they decide what I
should drink and when. When they ask for a coffee, we have to give
otherwise they will throw tantrum. दम: is sensory restraint, not
suppression, but deliberate management.
The third one is ितित ा, otherwise called मा. ितित ा is developing the
power to endure pains in life because life includes pain. Pain is also
useful because it will give वैरा म्. When objects give pleasure, we
develop attachment and when they give pain, it is भगवान्’s method to
give us वैरा म्. Pain is very useful as a spiritual साधना if we know how to
convert pain into वैरा म् like converting snake poison into medicine.
Poison is both good or bad. If you consume the venom it is dangerous
but the very same venom used properly can become medicine.
Similarly, pain can be a blessing if we convert that into वैरा म्. For that
we require a lot of toughness to go through it and benefit. Otherwise,
we won’t survive. We have to survive the pain and get the benefit.
Like they say building a house with stones thrown at us. You can use
pain for वैरा म् and that requires lot of toughness.
The 4th one is उपरम: which Shankaracharya treats very elaborately in the
original in 58 verses, 36 verses more than शम. उपरम has several
meanings but here he takes the meaning of स ास: - renunciation of
Vedic rituals after finding them irrelevant because one has no interest
in धम अथ काम. And I already possess च शुि so कम का becomes
irrelevant. Formal renunciation is called स ास आ म ीकार. Ritualistic
entry into the 4th आ म either from ् चाया म or GA. If he has followed
कम का in पूव ज then he doesn’t require GA so he from ् चाय to

स ास. If he requires कम का in the current ज , then he enters गृह ा म,
follows Vedic rituals, gets च शुि and then enters स ास from गृह ा म.
Shankaracharya says कम का is not relevant for a qualified seeker and

discusses two topics. One is कम cannot give मो ा:. कम can give धम, अथ,
काम, च शुि but कम can never give मो ा. He elaborately discusses this
and talks about four different कम फलािन-
1. आि reaching a place
2. उ ि producing a thing
3. सं ार: purifying a thing
4. िवकार: modifying a thing
Reaching, production, purification and modification are the four फलािन

of कम. All of them are अिन ं . मो ा is not reaching, not producing, not
purifying and not modifying. TF, कम is not relevant for मो ा. This was
first part of the discussion.
The second part was whether कम can join ानं and produce greater
effect. Independently, कम may not be useful but why can’t कम and ान
join and produce मो ा? Just as a male cannot produce a child by
himself nor a female cannot produce a child by herself and a child is a
joint venture called दा ं . Here, it is called ान कम समु य वाद.
Shankaracharya negated that also by pointing out that they are
diagonally opposite in nature like light and darkness. He gave several
reasons which I will not state here but I would like to highlight one.
That is, in कम one has to nourish the कता भो ा अहंकार more and more.
कम involves nourishing कता भो ा because the one who performs is कता.
कम is nourishment of अहंकार whereas ानं is negation of अहंकार. One is
अहंकार धान another is सा धान, आ धान. How can they be ever
combined? Then I gave you an argument which is also worth
remembering. That is, once a person in गृह ा म attains ानं , he will not
require कम to join and give him मो ा. ान मा ेण he has claimed मो ा. TF,

why does he require कम? Suppose I have a small rope and I am trying
to tie something with it. If it is not sufficient, then I look for another
rope to join them so it gets longer and I can do the job. But if the first
rope I have is sufficient enough to do the job, why should I look for
another rope to join? ानं is more than enough for मो ा because मो ा
happens to be my very nature. A ािन doesn’t look for the assistance of
कम because the moment he becomes a ािन, he is no more a साधका and
मो ा is no more a सा म्, no more a goal. So, why should he look for कम
to attain मो ा? Even if a ािन performs कम, that कम is called कम आभास:
like roasted seeds which can never germinate. In the BG, LK says य ाया
आच रतं कम सं ाम िवलीयते. It is not a कम at all. TF ान कम combination is
also not possible. कम is neither required independently nor jointly. TF,
कम can be renounced and mere ानं can give मो ा. कम योग and ान योग
can be combined because during ान योग one has not yet attained ानं .
ान योग means he is still in the process. He is doing वणं , he
understands some and gets confused some. Since a ान योिग has not yet
attained ानं , कम योग and ान योग can be combined but the moment ान
योिग becomes ािन, then his कम is neither कम nor कम योग but is कम आभास.
TF ान कम आभास समु य is possible. ान योग कम योग समु य is possible. ान
कम समु य is not possible. TF, here, उपरम: means सव कम स ास:.
Nowadays, there is no question of renouncing Vedic rituals because

nobody is doing them and स ास has a different connotation. In
modern context, the definition of स ास is PORT reduction and CLASP
rejection.
PORT. Reduce P- Possession, O- Obligatory duties (manage what you

have, don’t add more) R- Relationships, T- Transaction. Every
relationship requires regular transaction. Birthday greetings, wedding
day wishes, gifts. No time for SVSSS. PORT reduction is external स ास
whether we are सं या सन: or गृह ा:.

CLASP rejection is internal स ास. CL- claiming ownership and
controllership. Never claim ownership, remember everything belongs
to िव प: ई र: I am only the user, a trustee. I don’t have control over
anything including my own body. We are not able to control our
thoughts so how can we talk about controllership. I am never the
owner or the controller. I am only the user and contributor. I do what
I can do. And leave the rest to ई र:. This is called CL- अहंकार ममकार ाग:,
internally. You can have ownership. At the end of the class, you have
to take your chappal. Don’t take some other chappal saying ‘I don’t
have ownership.’ For the sake of वहार, you have to take your car,
your chappal and all that. For वहार, you need to handle them. This is
different from strong ownership and attachment. Next one is A-
anxiety. Anxiety can be renounced only by repeatedly saying, ‘O Lord,
whatever you do, I am willing to accept.’ W.r.t my own body, my
own family, after making my contribution, whatever happens, is god’s
will. I am ready to accept god’s will. Without giving note to god to
please adjust and grant me what I want. I tell God unconditionally,
‘What you want me to go through, I am willing to go through.’ This is
called surrender. Surrender is not physical action; it is a mental
attitude or bhavana. It is declaring to god regularly that I am willing,
without any reservation or hesitation, to go through what you want
me to go through because I know that you are always fair. Everything
happens as per the Law of कम. TF, I don’t want to escape from
anything. What I have to go through, go through. When surrender
increases, anxiety decreases. When surrender decreases, anxiety
increases. Surrender and anxiety are like a seesaw. So, you decide
where to sit. Surrender, surrender, surrender. मां एकं शरणं ज. This is
mental स ास: represented by reduced anxiety. The last one is SP. SP -
special prayer to influence god. Gradually reduce special prayer. This is
especially difficult for गृह ा:. There may be many problematic
situations. ाय प रहार का कम ण etc. Our aim is to gradually reduce
wherever possible. If it cannot be reduced, perform that prayer and

thereafter, surrender to god. This प रहारं itself may work or not. I only
have the right to do the प रहार. Whether my प रहार कम will work or not
will be decided by भगवान् alone. Surrender after doing the प रहारं -
whether it works or not, I am ready. This is called स ासी mind. PORT
reduction + CLASP rejection is modern स ास. With this उपरम is over.
शम, दम, उपरम, ितित ा.
The fifth one is ा. ा is faith in the validity of the scriptures and the
words of the गु . गु वेदा वा षे ु िव ास: is ा. If I am not able to accept
certain parts of the teaching, instead of questioning the गु and शा , I
question my understanding and revise it. This attitude is called ा.
This covers शमािद षडक सं पि : from verses 27 to 110.
From verses 11-113 comes the fourth qualification, मुमु ु ं or desire for
मो ा. The desire for िन ं . Dispassion towards अिन ं is called वैरा ं . If you
want to have some passion, have it for मो ा. Passion for मो ा, not मो ा
diamond, but strong desire for िन व ु is called मुमु ु ं . With this all the
four qualifications have been covered. Discrimination, Dispassion,
Discipline and Desire.
In the last two ोका: Shankaracharya concludes the discussion by

imagining the four qualifications as a human being. िववेक: is the head,
वैरा ं is the torso, शमािद षट् सं पि is all the limbs and मुमु ु ं , the for मो ा
is the very ाणा, the life, because if there is no desire for मो ा then I will
not be interested in the qualifications also. Once मो ा desire is strong
somehow or the other, I will work for the other qualifications. Thus,
this beautiful imagery.
He also gives another imagery likening the one who has the 4-fold
qualifications to a soldier, that अ धका र ं , who can destroy the enemy
called samsara or अ ानं with the sword of knowledge. A qualified

soldier can destroy the samsara enemy with the sword of ानं and attain
मो ा सांरा ं .
With this he concludes the introduction in the original book. वेदा

teaching begins from verse 251 in the original book. The rest of the
original book is all about जीव िवचार ई र िवचार ऐ िवचार. The next book
that I propose to take up is another work of Sankaracharya’s called
वा वृि where we will also conduct that very same िवचार. वा वृि is
महावा िवचार where a qualified student can analyse महावा ं त ं अ स.
ॐ पूणमदः पूणिमदं पूणात् पूणमुद ते ।

ॐ शांितः शांितः शांितः ॥


Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha (Commentary by Swami Paramarthananda)

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Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Sara Sangraha (Commentary by Swami Paramarthananda)

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Sri Adi Sankara’s

SARVA VEDANTA SIDDHANTA SARA SANGRAHA

Explained by Swami Paramarthananda

NOTE: Swami Paramarthananda has not verified the transcription of talks.

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Adi Shankaracharya and several other Acharyas have written several

ईशावा उपिनषद् starts with पूणमद which is a profound topic presented

Generally, in these करण ा: the acharyas take care of two important

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For many students, very profound ideas like the concept of िम ा

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Shankaracharya spends 250 verses to show that we can never ignore or

ानिन ा ार– ार means- by means of ानिन ा it also gives शा and आन ा. यो

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गोिव ं तमहं व े चदान तनुं गु म् ॥ 1॥

In the first 3 verses Shankaracharya offers म लाचरणम् with an intention

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We will take the first meaning- भगवान्. य व नात् अख ान स ोध: जायते.

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Therefore, भगवान् helps by providing a गु and an opportunity to attend

अख ं स दान मवा नसगोचरम् ।

आ ानम खलाधारमा येऽभी स ये ॥ 2॥

In the second verse Shankaracharya says, “I surrender to the आ पं

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Then, अवाङ मनस गोचरम् -which cannot be directly described by words. It

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Then the third one- िव े रनम ार:-

यदाल ोदरं ह सतां हू स वम् ।

तदाल े दयाल ं ल ोदरपदा ज

And why do I worship िव े र? As the very name shows, whenever we

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Shankaracharya says, “I am not taking up a small job but writing a

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Next, he introduces the intention. What he proposes to do in this

The materialistic aim of वेदपूव is presenting lot of का कमा ण. Do you

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In the first three verses, Shankaracharya presented म लाचरणम् invoking

After म लाचरणम्, he introduced the subject matter. He said, ‘I am not

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So, primary teaching in first chapter, defending the thesis is second

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अ शा ानुसा र ादनुब चतु यम् ।

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साधन चतु यं refers to the 4-fold qualifications required for a Vedantic

Another topic that is also presented in the introduction is अनुब चतु यं .

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Therefore, being based on BS, अस् यअनुब चतु यं . अ must be connected

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CBSC of वेद पूव is different. That is why जैिमनीमहिष wrote a separate शा ं

A new branch can be started only when there is a distinct unique

1. Who is the candidate?

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चतु भः साधनैः स ो युि द णः ।

Then, युि द ण: since वेदा ा focuses on understanding its message.

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And िव ान्. िव ान् means sufficiently informed regarding the other

िवषयः शु चैत ं जीव ै ल णम् ।

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ॐ पूणमदः पूणिमदं पूणात् पूणमुद ते ।