स्वरूपानुसन्धानाष्टकम्
SVARUPANUSANDHANASHTAKAM.
तपोयज्ञदानादिभिः शुद्धबुद्धि
र्विरक्तो नृपादेः पदे तुच्छबुद्ध्या।
परित्यज्य सर्वं यदाप्नोति तत्त्वं
परं ब्रह्म नित्यं तदेवाहमस्मि॥1॥
दयालुं गुरुं ब्रह्मनिष्ठं प्रशान्तं
समाराध्य भक्त्या विचार्य स्वरूपम्।
यदाप्नोति तत्त्वं निदिध्यास्य विद्वान्
परं ब्रह्म नित्यं तदेवाहमस्मि॥2॥
यदानन्दरूपं प्रकाशस्वरूपं
निरस्तप्रपञ्चं परिच्छेदहीनम्।
अहं ब्रह्मवृत्येकगम्यं तुरीयं
परं ब्रह्म नित्यं तदेवाहमस्मि॥3॥
यदज्ञानतो भाति विश्वं समस्तं
विनष्टं च सद्यो यदात्मप्रबोधे।
मनोवागतीतं विशुद्धं विमुक्तं
परं ब्रह्म नित्यं तदेवाहमस्मि॥4॥
निषेधे कृते नेति नेतीति वाक्यैः
समाधिस्थितानां यदाभाति पूर्णम्।
अवस्थात्रयातीतमद्वैतमेकं
परं ब्रह्म नित्यं तदेवाहमस्मि॥5॥
यदानन्दलेशैः समानन्दि विश्वं
यदाभाति सत्त्वे तदाभाति सर्वम्।
यदालोचिते हेयमन्यत्समस्तं
परं ब्रह्म नित्यं तदेवाहमस्मि॥6॥
अनन्तं विभुं सर्वयोनिं निरीहं
शिवं सङ्गहीनं यदोङ्कारगम्यम्।
निराकारमत्युज्ज्वलं मृत्युहीनं
परं ब्रह्म नित्यं तदेवाहमस्मि॥7॥
यदानन्दसिन्धौ निमग्नः पुमान् स्या-
दविद्याविलासः समस्तप्रपञ्चः।
तदा न स्फुरत्यद्भुतं यन्निमित्तं
परं ब्रह्म नित्यं तदेवाहमस्मि॥8॥
स्वरूपानुसंधानरूपां स्तुतिं यः
पठेदादराद्भक्तिभावो मनुष्यः।
शृणोतीह वा नित्यमुद्युक्तचित्तो
भवेद्विष्णुरत्रैव वेदप्रमाणात्॥9॥
8 -3- 2021.
Talk on
SVARUPANUSANDHANAM
By Swami Shivprakashanandji
Today we are going to start a new text ‘Svarupanusandhanam’.
I have shared the text and I hope all have received it.
Today is the introduction.
It is a Prakarna Granth. The are three main texts of Vedanta-
Upanishads
Bhagwad Geeta
BrahmaSutras
These three are the sourcebooks of Vedanta. They are called Prasthantraya.
In addition to these three, there are many texts written by various Acharyas like Shankracharya, Vidyaranya and Madhusudan Saraswati.
There have been many, countless. We don’t even know their names.
They all have contributed to Vedanta Literature.
We have many texts on the same subject matter and these texts are called
Prakarana Granthas.
There are hundreds of them. Some of them are very popular among Vedanta students like Vendantasara, Panchadasi, Viveka Chudamani, Tattva Bodha and so on.
Then there are some Prakarana Granthas that are not well known and one such text is Svarupanusandhanam.
Not well known, not very popular. A very rarely studied Prakarana Grantha.
What is a Prakarana Grantha?
We have a definition in the tradition. śāstraikadeśa-sambandham
The Prakarana Grantha deals with a part of the Shastras and in this context the Shastras are the Vedas.
The Vedas have two portions.
Karma Kanda and Jnana Kanda.
This Prakarana Granth deals with only one portion --- Vedanta and not with Veda Purva.
It deals with one portion, one component of the Shastra. One part of the entire teaching of the Shastra and it serves a purpose in addition to the purpose served by the original Shastras. This should be understood.
Let me give an example There is a house and in the house, there is a mother and there is a four-year-old kid.
The mother bought rice, vegetables etc from the market and she has kept it in the kitchen.
Then the mother says that now I have to go to the kitchen and start cooking. Then the four-year old will ask, “Why should you cook? There is rice and there are vegetables. Why should you cook?”
The mother says though we eat rice and vegetables we have to cook and make it soft and tasty so that it can be eaten. Cooking serves a different purpose. Cooking does not manufacture rice or vegetables.
Using the same rice and vegetables you make it eatable by the process of cooking.
In fact, a Prakrana Grantha is also like cooking! The knowledge is revealed in the sources --in the Upanishads and in the Bhagwad Geeta but the Prakarana Grantha makes it more palatable and easier to understand.
Presents it in a way that people can understand with greater ease.
That is the additional purpose served by the Prakrana Grantha. It is as though it presents the teachings of the original Shastra in a ‘thali’, on a ‘platter’!
These Prakarana Granthas vary in their presentation according to the taste of the students.
The mother has to cook. Likewise, the Acharyas have written the Prakrana Granthas to cater to various types of minds.
Some people can understand if it is presented in a particular way but some people may need more clarifications.
After cooking a mother knows that her five-year-old can eat without spoon-feeding but then the one-year-old baby which needs spoon-feeding.
On the other hand there is a five-month-old who cannot be fed with a spoon and the food has to be in a liquid form and thus the food has to be ground in a paste.
Likewise, there are different levels of students with different abilities to understand. Various Prakarana Granthas cater to the various types of students.
So, they serve an additional purpose. Such texts are called Prakarana Granthas.
The Acharyas have written Prakrana Granthas to cater to various tastes and various minds.
Some Prakarna Granthas are very long like Viveka Chudamani and Panchadashi running into 500, 600 hundred and even 2000 shlokas whereas this Prakarana Grantha is very short. Only 8 verses.
That is why it is called Ashtakam. A group of 8 verses.
We have even smaller Prakrana Granthas. There is an Eka -Shloki
Prakrana Grantha and the teaching is condensed into one shloka. It is a very popular shloka among Vedanta students. A very beautiful verse.
In one shloka it is presented in a very beautiful way as a dialogue between Guru and Shishya.
Kim Jyothistava Bhaanumaanahani Me Ratrau Pradeepadikam
Shyaadevam, Ravideepadarshanavidhau Kim Jyothiraakhyahi me
Chakshuhtasya Nimeelanaadisamaye Kim Dheehrdheeyo Darshane
Kim Tatraahamatho Bhavaanparamakam Jyothihtadasmi Prabho
It is very interesting. Now I don’t want to deviate. There are some with three Shlokas.
There is one called Prataha Smaranam Shloka and the teaching is completed in three verses.
प्रातः स्मरामि हृदि संस्फुरदात्मतत्त्वं
सच्चित्सुखं परमहंसगतिं तुरीयम् ।
यत्स्वप्नजागरसुषुप्तिमवैति नित्यं
तद्ब्रह्म निष्कलमहं न च भूतसङ्घः ॥१॥
Prátah smarámi hrudi samsphuradátmatattvam
saccitsukham paramahamsagatim turèyam
yatsvapna jágarasussuptamavaiti nityam
tadbrahma niskalamaham na cha bhutasañgha.
Then there is Panchakam --a group of five Shlokas. There is a text called Advaita Pancha Ratnam.
Then six shlokas- NIrvaan Shatkam and then there Ashtakam and there is Dashakam also -ten shlokas. These are the shorter Prakrana Granthas.
So, this ‘Svarupanausandhanam’ is a short one, only eight shlokas and the teaching is condensed in 8 shlokas.
If you look into the text you will see 9 shlokas. The ninth one is not counted as it is the Phala Shruti / फल श्रुति
This is why it is called Ashtakam. The name of the text –Svarupanausandhanam is interesting.
What is Svarupa? In Vedanta we repeatedly use the word Svarupa/स्वरुप.
Svarupa is one’s own true nature. The word Rupa also means colour/form. In this context Rupa means nature.
The Atma has two Rupas.
Sopadhika Rupa and Nirupadhika Rupa.
Upadhi—most of you know what Upadhi means.
Upadhi is an external factor that seems to limit the Atma and which seems to superimpose certain attributes on the Atma.
For example, there is a clear crystal. You keep a red hibiscus flower near the crystal then the hibiscus flower projects its red colour into the crystal. In fact, the hibiscus does not even touch the crystal and yet it projects it redness on the crystal.
'Upasmape stithava'
It stands near and it projects its attributes.
And because of the Upadhi ( the hibiscus flower) the crystal appears as a red crystal and you can even mistake it for a red stone—a pandmanarag shila –a Ruby! A red stone.
So now the redness of the crystal is Sopadhika Rupa. It is because of the Upadhi when we say red crystal we are identifying the redness of the crystal. The nature of the crystal with the Upadhi, with the conditioning caused by the Upadhi of the hibiscus.
In Samskrit hibiscus is called Jabakusuma and when you remove this flower and happens? The crystal is again clear-It is Nir-Upadhi --without Updahi . The crystal is clear it is Shuddha Sphatika. It is the Nirupadhika Rupa of the crystal, without any Upadhi, without any superimposition.
The clear crystal is Nirupadika Rupa and this is its own Svarupa and the Sopadhika Rupa is not it’s own. It is because of Upadhi.
The Nirupadhika Rupa is its own Intrinsic nature. The Nirupadhika Rupa is called Svarupa-- Own nature.‘Sva’ means own and ‘Rupa’ means nature. Therefore, Svarupa means the Nirupadhika Rupa.
We have to understand our Svarupa. We have to arrive at our Svarupa and as long as we don’t arrive at our Svarupa there will be problems of Samsara. Because of Ajnana and ignorance of our Svarupa our true nature, we identify with the Sopadhaika Rupa.
The body is an Updahi .
The mind is an Upadhi .
The senses are an Upadhi.
We identify with the Upadhis and the attributes of the Upadhis are superimposed on us.
Birth, death, height, weight, age, gender and so on.
All these are the attributes of the Upadhi and we identify with them and therefore when we say that I am a Man, I am a Woman, I am sixty years old we identify with the Sopadhika Rupa. We are not aware of our Svarupa. That is ignorance. Right from birth, it is so. As long as we are not aware of the Svarupa and as long as there is ignorance of the Svarupa we shall be psychologically vulnerable. We are subject to sorrow and depression. Sense of loneliness and insecurity--all these problems.
There may be occasions when we don’t have problems because of our Punyas. As long as we have punya there will not be problems and that is why some people say I am happy and I don’t need Vedanta, but that does not mean that they are not vulnerable to problems. When Punya gets exhausted problems start coming.
Some relations will go away. There may be loss of wealth and there may be loss of health and loss of relations.
It can happen to anyone at any point of life and when it happens we become vulnerable to the psychological unpleasant emotions, sorrow and helplessness and so on. It is Samsara.
Psychological vulnerability is Samsara and this will continue as long as we have Svarupa Ajnana. Ignorance of our true nature!
Therefore, the solution to Samsara is Jnana. The knowledge of the Svarupa because Ajnana can be removed only with the help of Jnana and there is no other means to remove Ajnana. There is no other means to remove ignorance!
How to get Jnana? Any knowledge requires a proper means of knowledge. No knowledge is possible without a means of Knowledge.
If I have to know the colour of my cloth, I have only one means of knowledge and they are my eyes –my Chakshu Indriyas.
I have to employ my ‘Chakshu Indriyas’. I cannot taste the colour, I cannot smell. I can only see. There is a particular and specific means.
In our tradition they have analysed how knowledge takes place. The means of knowledge is called—Pramana.
Our eyes are Pramana – they are the means of Knowledge.
We have 6 Pramanas in Vedas –
Pratyaksha- प्रत्यक्ष
Anumana- अनुमान
Upamana - उपमान
Arthapati -अर्थापत्ति
Anupalabdhi - अनुपलब्धि
Shabda - शब्द
These are the six Pramanas / प्रमाण
Pratyaksha is the means of direct perception. Eye senses--they are Pratyaksha.
With the help of our eyes, we can perceive the object directly.
Then there are things we cannot see with our senses. Anumana does not mean doubting.
It means –Inference.
For example, you see smoke on the mountain and with the help of smoke
you can infer the presence of fire.
Seeing the smoke, you can arrive at the conclusion that there is fire.
This an Anumana --an inference.
The third Pramana is Upamana -analogy. Knowledge of Similarity.
Sadrishya Jnana.
This is another means of Knowledge. Someone is going to the forest for the first time to see a particular animal and the animal is called ‘gavayaa’.
It is found in the forest. It is an animal that looks like a cow. It is also called Neelagaya in hindi ( an antelope) .
This person wants to go and see the Neelagaya and he does not know how to recognise as he has not seen it before. Then someone will tell him you will find an animal which is similar to cow but it is not a cow. Then you can identify it as a Gavayaa. Then he goes to the forest where he sees an animal like a cow and he arrives at a conclusion --that this is Neelagaya.
With the help of the ‘knowledge of similarity’ he arrived at a conclusion.
This is Upamana.
Then there is Arthapati.
Presumption -- Another way of using Logic. Let me give an example There is a person named Devadutta who is very fat. We know Devadutta, he does not eat during day time.
What can you conclude? He eats during the night otherwise it is not possible.
If Devadutta is fat and he does not eat during the day and then we can conclude that he eats at night. This, kind of knowledge is called Arthapatti. I don’t want to get into the technical details of it. I am just giving you a sample. There is a lot of technical details to it.
Anupalabdhi –Non- Availability This is the fifth one.
It is like the absence of evidence, is ‘evidence’ of absence!
It is very much used in Law. The lawyers know this very well. How can you prove that someone has not committed a crime?
If there is no evidence that means that he has not committed a crime.
Absence of evidence is absence of crime. It is Anupalabdhi If I don’t see anything that means it is absent.
How can I conclude that there is no elephant in a room? I don’t see an elephant and it is absence of evidence and because of that, I can conclude that there is no elephant. It needs some thinking and I am not getting into details. Even if you don’t understand it is ok.
The sixth Pramana is-
Shabda Pramana– words.
Words are a means of Knowledge. It is very much used.
All verbal communication--- because words are a means of knowledge
How can you know? As long as I don’t say that you will not know.
When I say that I am hungry you can understand Swamiji is hungry! It is verbal --- Shabda Pramana.
Even history, India got freedom in 1947. How do you know?
Shabda Pramana and the Shabda is of two types –
Laukika Shabda and Vedic Shabda.
Laukika Shabda means what human beings speak. The words of human beings are called Laukika Shabda. It is a Pramana sometimes it will not provide valid knowledge and sometimes it will not act as valid knowledge as long as the person is trustworthy. Sometimes it will not be a Pramana and sometimes it will not produce valid knowledge and sometimes it will not act as a means of valid knowledge, therefore, you cannot always trust the Laukika Shabda, especially the media nowadays. We cannot trust them as they have their own propaganda.
Then there is Vedic Pramana. The words of the Vedas are Pramana for many things. We cannot know them through any other Pramanas like Pratyaksha, Anumana etc.
We have to rely on the words of the Vedas - the Vedic Shabda. It is true with respect to Punya and Paapa and Swarga and other Lokas.
And it is very much true when it comes to Self - Knowledge.
The words of the Vedas are Pramana for Atma Jnana .
Which portion of the Vedas? In the first portion, Karma Kanda does not talk much of the Svarupa as it talks about Karma therefore it is not Pramana for Self-Knowledge. Then what is the Pramana? The final portion of the Vedas is called Ved-anta.
Vedanta is the Pramana for Atma Jnana and therefore to arrive at the Svarupa one has to take recourse to Vedanta Pramana.
