The Upanishads

Sadananda's Essence of Vedanta

Invocation

To the Absolute

अखण्डं सच्चिदानन्दम् अवाङ्मनसगोचरम् ।
आत्मानमखिलाधारम् आश्रयेऽभीष्टसिद्धये ॥१॥

1) I take refuge with Him who is sheer Existence, Intelligence and Bliss, impartible, beyond the purview of speech and mind, the Self in whom the whole Universe exists—may my desire and purpose attain fulfilment.

To the Masters

अर्थतोऽप्यद्वयानन्दान् अतीतद्वैतभानतः ।
गुरुनाराध्य वेदान्त-सारं वक्ष्ये यथामति ॥२॥

2) After homage to the Masters who in deed as well as word delight in the One without second and from whom the seemings of duality have passed away, I will declare the Essence of Vedanta according to my intellectual capacity.

Preliminary Statement

The Training of the Vedantin

वेदान्तो नाम उपनिषत्प्रमाणम्, तदुपकारीणि शारीरक-सूत्रादीनि च ॥३॥

3) By Vedanta is meant the Upanishads as authoritative basis of the philosophy and as useful supplementary inquiries the Aphoristic Books that treat of the Embodied Soul.

अस्य वेदान्तप्रकरणत्वात् तदीयैरेवानुबन्धैस्तद्वत्तासिद्धेर्न ते पृथगालोचनीयाः ॥४॥

4) Now since Vedanta is the subject of this work, its circumstantia

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—the conclusions sought to be established being similar in both—are the same as those of the Vedanta and need not be separately discussed.

तत्र अनुबन्धो नाम अधिकारिविषयसम्बन्धप्रयोजनानि ॥५॥

5) In circumstantia we include four things, the fit hearer, the subject, the logic of relation, the object of the work.

अधिकारी तु विधिवदधीतवेदवेदाङ्गत्वेन आपाततोऽधिगताखिलवेदार्थः अस्मिन् जन्मनि जन्मान्तरे वा काम्यनिषिद्धवर्जनपुरःसरं नित्य-नैमित्तिकप्रायश्चित्तो-पासनानुष्ठानेन निर्गत-निखिल-कल्मषतया नितान्त-निर्मलस्वान्तः-साधनचतुष्टय-सम्पन्नः प्रमाता ॥६॥

6) Now the fit hearer of Vedanta must be one who is competent to form a right judgment of it. He must therefore have mastered by proper study of Veda and its accessory sciences the entire meaning of Veda, he must in this life or another have begun by abandoning forbidden actions and actions prompted by desire and then by the performance of daily observances, occasional observances, penance and adoration freed himself from all sin and stain and attained to perfect purity of the mind and heart; and he must be in possession of the four Ways and Means.

काम्यानि स्वर्गादीष्टसाधनानि ज्योतिष्टोमादीनि ॥७॥

7) By actions of desire is understood all ways and means by which we pursue various kinds of happiness from Paradise downward—the Jyotishtoma sacrifice for example.

निषिद्धानि नरकाद्यनिष्टसाधनानि ब्रह्म-हननादीनि ॥८॥

8) By forbidden actions is meant all ways and means by which we compass all our ills from the torments of Hell downward,—Brahminicide for example and other sins and disobediences.

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नित्यानि अकरणे प्रत्यवायसाधनानि सन्ध्यावन्दनादीनि ॥९॥

9) By regular observances is meant ceremonies like the evening prayer etc., the non-performance of which turns them into means of offence and stumbling-blocks.

नैमित्तिकानि पुत्रजन्माद्यनुबन्धीनि जातेष्टयादीनि ॥१०॥

10) By occasional observances is understood ceremonies circumstantial to particular occasions, such as the Blessing of the New-born attendant on the birth of a son.

प्रायश्चित्तानि पापक्षयमात्रसाधनानि चान्द्रायणादीनि ॥११॥

11) By penances is understood vows and forms of self-discipline such as the Chandrayan vow which are means only towards the purging away of sin.

उपासनानि सगुणब्रह्मविषयक-मानसव्यापाररुपाणि शाण्डिल्यविद्यादीनि ॥१२॥

12) By adoration is understood the various forms of mental working which have for their whole subject and purpose the Eternal in His aspect as a Personal Deity—Shandilya's Art of Divine Love, for example.

एतेषां नित्यादीनां बुद्धिशुद्धिः परं प्रयोजनम्, उपासनानान्तु चित्तैकाग्रयम् ।
तमेतमात्मानं वेदानुवचनेन ब्राह्मणा विविदिषन्ति यज्ञेनेत्यादिश्रुतेः,
तपसा कल्मषं हन्ति इत्यादिस्मृतेश्च ॥१३॥

13) The main object of the first three, observances regular and occasional and penances, is the purification of the Understanding; but the main object of adoration is singleness of heart and mind towards one object. This is proved by such passages as these from the Revealed Scripture, "This is that Self of whom the Brahmins shall seek to know by exposition of Veda and by Sacrifice shall they seek to know Him"—and by other passages from the Unrevealed Scripture such as "By Tapasya (energism of will) one slayeth sin."

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नित्यनैमित्तिकयोरुपासनानाञ्च अवान्तरफलं पितृलोकसत्यलोकप्राप्तिः ।
कर्मणा पितृलोको विद्यते देवलोकः इत्यादिश्रुतेः ॥१४॥

14) A secondary result of observances regular and occasional and of adoration and worship is attainment to the world of the fathers and to the world of the Living Truth. For so the Scripture says, "By action the World of the Fathers is found and the World of the Gods also."

साधनानि नित्यानित्यवस्तु-विवेकेहामुत्रफलभोगविराग-शमदमादिसम्पत्तिमुमुक्षुत्वानि ॥१५॥

15) By Ways and Means we understand Discrimination of eternal objects from the transient; Disattachment from enjoyment in this world or another; Calm, Self-Conquest and the other moral excellences; and Desire of Salvation.

नित्यानित्यवस्तु-विवेकस्तावत् ब्रह्मैव नित्यं वस्तु ततोऽन्यदखिलमनित्यमिति विवेचनम् ॥१६॥

16) By Discrimination of eternal objects from the transient we understand the discernment of Brahma as the one thing eternal and of everything other than Brahma as transient and perishable.

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