Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier
Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai
Om ! O Devas, may we hear with our ears what is auspicious;
May we see with our eyes what is auspicious, O ye worthy of worship !
May we enjoy the term of life allotted by the Devas,
Praising them with our body and limbs steady !
May the glorious Indra bless us !
May the all-knowing Sun bless us !
May Garuda, the thunderbolt for evil, bless us !
May Brihaspati grant us well-being !
Om ! Let there be Peace in me !
Let there be Peace in my environment !
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !
I-1-2. The king of Yogins, Nidagha, prostrated flat (like a rod) before Ribhu, that pre-eminent knower of Brahman. Then, rising, that ascetic respectfully said, ‘Teach me the truth about the Self; by what kind of adoration have you, Oh Brahmana, attained this state ?
I-3-4. Teach me that grand science which yields sovereignty over the empire of emancipation. ‘You have done well, Nidagha ! Listen to the eternal science by the knowledge of which alone will you be liberated life. Lodged in Om that envelopes the Root of phenomena (Brahman), supporting the syllable ‘aim’,
I-5-7. ‘Eternal bliss, independent (‘hrim’), renowned, with streaming stresses (‘sauh’), the ruler of the world (‘srim’), Mahalakshmi, (at once) desire (‘klim’), fulfilment, and humanity, is the divine Annapurna. ‘I begged of Her, using the celebrated and quintessential incantation of 27 syllables, cultivated by hosts of female ascetics,
I-8. ‘Namely, aim, hrim, sauh, srim, klim, aum namo bhagavatyannapurne mamabhilashitam annam dehi Svaha. [Salutation, O divine Annapurna, vouchsafe the food I desire]: ‘Thus have I been instructed by my father. From then on have I established myself in (this) discipline, persisting in the activities of my station (in life) and have given myself up to the daily practice of this incantation.
I-9. ‘When many days passed thus, there appeared in front of me Annapurna, wide-eyed, her lotus-face beaming with a smile.
I-10. ‘Seeing her, I prostrated flat on the ground, and (then) stood up with folded hands. “Well, child, you have done well; ask of me a boon, delay not.”
I-11. Oh (Nidagha), best of sages ! Thus hidden by the wide-eyed (deity) I spoke: ‘O Daughter of the mountain, may the truth of the Self dawn on my mind’.
I-12. Saying ‘be it so’ she vanished, then and there. Then, through the perception of the world’s variety the idea (mati) arose in me.
I-13. Delusion appears five-fold; it will be presently set forth. Due to the first delusion, Jiva and God appear to have different forms.
I-14. Due to the second, the attribute of agency dwelling in the Self appears to be real. The third (consists in) deeming the Jiva associated with the three bodies as having attachment.
I-15. The fourth takes the world-cause (God) to be mutable. The fifth delusion ascribes reality to the world as distinguished from its cause. Then, also, in the mind flashes the cessation of the five-fold delusion.
I-16. From that moment, spontaneously, my mind was assimilated to Brahman. O Nidagha, thus may you, too, secure knowledge of reality.
I-17. With humility and respect (Nidagha spoke to Ribhu: impart to me, having faith (in you), the peerless science of Brahman.
I-18. Gratified, Ribhu said: ‘so be it’. I shall impart to you the knowledge of reality, O sinless one. Be a mighty agent, ardent enjoyer, and a great renouncer. Having this investigated your own real nature, be happy.
I-19. ‘I am Brahman, ever manifest, pure, first, endless; there is no room for the slightest dallying with aught else’ – thus think, having become blemishless; achieve Nirvana (permanent peace) having purified and quietened all movements of the mind.
I-20. Know that none of the things seen here is there; it is all like ‘the city in the sky’ and ‘water in the desert’.
I-21. On the other hand, what is nowhere seen, at all, is not given (as an object); beyond the range of the sixth sense, mind, O sage — assimilate yourself to That.
I-22. Grasp: I am That which is the indestructible, infinite, Spirit, the Self of everything, integral, replete, abundant and partless.
I-23. Due to the absolute contemplation of absence (or nihil), when the mind dwindles, there results the state of the being-in-general (satta-samanya), of that whose essence is unqualified consciousness.
I-24. Surely, devoid of all objective tinge, when consciousness (chit) subsides, there supervenes the exceedingly transparent being-in-general that resembles non-being.
I-25. For the liberated Self, both embodied and disembodied, surely there occurs this ultimate perception known as the state-beyond-the fourth.
I-26. O sinless one, this occurs in the case of the knower both when he has risen from Concentration (Samadhi) and when he is established in it; being born of awareness, this does not happen for the ignorant alone.
I-27. All waverings between states of reasoning, etc., having vanished long since, his face steeped in the lovely light of Brahmic bliss, (the sage) attains the blessed state through right knowledge alone.
I-28. The inner cool (calm repose) of him who perceives this multitude of gunas as non-Self is said to be Concentration.
I-29. The steady mind is empty of latent impulses; the same is (the state of) contemplation. The same also is Aloneness. Besides, it is nothing but perpetual quiescence.
I-30. The mind with attenuated latent impulses is said to be bound for the highest state. Next, the mind, without such impulses, attains the status of the non-doer.
I-31. On the other hand, the mind’s imagination of being the doer is replete with latent impulses; it causes all sufferings; therefore attenuated latent impulses.
I-32. When the imagination of unity with all objects is mentally discarded, due to its constant introverted state, all things are resolved into empty space.
I-33. As crowds in a market, though active, are as good as non-existent (to the observer) when he is not related (to them), so too, to the knower is a village like unto a forest.
I-34. Being inwardly withdrawn, the knower, either asleep, awake, walking or reading, beholds a city, country-side, or village as if it were no other than a forest (i.e. with total disinterestedness).
I-35. Once the inner cool is won, the world is cool. To those scorched by the inner thirst, the world is afire.
I-36. For all (unliberated) beings what is within is projected externally.
I-37. But the lover of the inner Self, though operating through the organs of action, is unaffected by joy and sorrow; he is said to be concentrated.
I-38. He who, as a matter of course and not through fear, beholds all beings as one’s own Self and others’ possessions as clods of earth, alone sees aright.
I-39. Let death come now or at the end of cycles; he remains unblemished as gold (fallen) in mire.
I-40. Consider in your mind: who am I ? How is all this (brought about) ? How do death and birth (happen) ? Thus (considering) will you earn the great benefit (of investigation).
I-41. Your mind will shed its (discursive) form and quietly win repose, once, through investigation, you comprehend your real nature.
I-42. O Brahmin, your mind, cured of its feverishness, no more sinks in empirical activities, as an elephant does not, in the hollow made by a cow’s hoof.
I-43. But a petty mind, O Brahmin, does sink in any petty affair, just as a battered mosquito does, in the water collected in the hollow made by a cow’s hoof.
I-44. O best of ascetics, to the extent all objects are readily renounced, the supreme Self, the transcendent light, alone remains.
I-45. So long as all objects are not renounced, the Self is not won. What remains after the renunciation of the entire objective manifold is said to be the Self.
I-46. Therefore, in order to realize the Self, renounce everything. Having cast off all (objects), assimilate yourself to that which remains.
I-47. Whatever object is beheld in the world around is but the vibration of Consciousness, it is nothing permanent.
I-48. O Brahmin, by the term Samadhi (Concentration) the wise denote transcendent understanding that is concentrated, eternally appeased, and is cognisant of things as they are.
I-49. The term Concentration denotes the stable, mountain-like, status (of the self) that is unagitated, unegoistic, and unrelated to dualities.
I-50. O Brahmin, it denotes the perfected flow of the mind that is sure, choiceless and goalless.
