Karika # 1: upāsanāśrito dharmo jāte brahmaṇi vartate | prāgutpatterajaṃ sarvaṃ tenāsau kṛpaṇaḥ smṛtaḥ || 1 1. The Jīva betaking itself to devotion (upāsanā) thinks itself to be related to the Brahman that is supposed to have manifested Himself He is said to be of narrow intellect because he thinks that before creation all was of the nature of the […]
Continuing his teaching Swami Paramarthananda said, having completed chapter # 2, now we will enter chapter # 3 known as Advaita Prakaranam. This chapter has 48 Karikas and is an important chapter related to Karika’s and entire Vedantic literature. Our clarity of Advaita relies on clarity of this chapter. If we have to understand this […]
Continuing his teaching Swamiji said, today I will give you a summary of the Chapter # 2 that is also known as Vaithatya Prakaranam. Mandukya Karika is an analysis of the Mandukya Upanishad. In this Karika Gaudapada is expounding from the Upanishad, not his own opinion, rather, whatever is implicit in the Upanishad is made […]
Karika # 34: This manifold does not exist as identical with Ātman nor does it ever stand independent by itself. It is neither separate from Brahman nor is it non-separate. This is the statement of the wise. After pointing out in Karika # 32 that from Turiya Drsihti or Turiya point of view, there is no creation at […]
Karika # 30: etaireṣo’pṛthagbhāvaiḥ pṛthageveti lakṣitaḥ | evaṃ yo veda tattvena kalpayetso’viśaṅkitaḥ || 30 || 30. This Ātman, though non-separate from all these, appears, as it were, separate. One who knows this truly imagines (interprets) (the meaning of the Vedas) without hesitation. Gaudapada gave an elaborate list of various misconceptions of different philosophers; he says they commit mistake of looking at reality […]
Karika # 18 niścitāyāṃ yathā rajjvāṃ vikalpo vinivartate | rajjureveti cādvaitaṃ tadvadātmaviniścayaḥ || 18 || 18. When the real nature of the rope is ascertained all illusions about it disappear and there arises the conviction that it is the one (unchanged) rope and nothing else; even so is the nature of the conviction regarding Ātman. Continuing his teaching […]
Karika # 24: kāla iti kālavido diśa iti ca tadvidaḥ | vādā iti vādavido bhuvanānīti tadvidaḥ || 24 || 24. The Knowers1 of time call It time2; the Knowers of space (ether) call It space (ether). Those versed in disputation call It the problem in dispute and the Knowers of the worlds call It the worlds.3 Continuing his […]
Karika # 16: जीवं कल्पयते पूर्वं वचो भावान्पृथग्विधान् । बाह्यानाध्यात्मिकांश्चैव यथाविद्यस्तथास्मृतिः ॥ १६ ॥ 16. First of all, is imagined the Jīva (the embodied being) and then are imagined the various entities, objective and subjective, that are perceived. As is (one’s) knowledge so is (one’s) memory of it. Continuing his teaching Swamiji said, by taking the dream example, Gaudapada established […]
Karika # 12: कल्पयत्यात्मनाऽऽत्मानमात्मा देवः स्वमायया | स एव बुध्यते भेदानिति वेदान्तनिश्चयः ॥ १२ ॥ 12. Ātman, the self-luminous, through the power of his own Māyā, imagines in himself by himself (all the objects that the subject experiences within or without). He alone is the cognizer of the objects (so created). This is the decision of the Vedānta. Continuing his teaching […]
Karika 15: अव्यक्ता एव येऽन्तस्तु स्फुटा एव च ये बहिः । कल्पिता एव ते सर्वे विशेषस्त्विन्द्रियान्तरे ॥ १५ ॥ (Things) which are (experienced) within are not clear. (Things) which are (experienced) outside are clear. All of them are projected only. The distinction is due to a different sense organ. In chapter 2 Gaudapada wants to […]