Sadhana

[Ravi Mayavaram]

On Tue, 5 May 1998, sadananda wrote:

>It is interesting to note that Shankara does not mention about the caste,
>creed or nationality in the list.  In fact his very first sloka in the
>meditation verses in VivekachuuDaamaNi emphasizes this:
>
>        jaati niiti kula gotra duuragam
>        naama ruupa guNa dosha vargitam|
>        deshakaala vishayaativartayat
>        brahma tatvamiti bhaavayaatmani||
>
>One needs to contemplate on the nature of the Brahman that which is far
>beyond the qualifications related to ones birth - jaati, niiti, kulam,
>gotram, name, form or qualities or defects, beyond the place of birth or
>time etc.

namaskAram:

The book I have does not have this meditation verse. Is the meditation
verse part of vivekachUDAmaNi?  The book I have is by aNNa (shrI
venkataraman)  published by Ramakrishna Mutt, with word by word
translation from Sanksrit to Tamil.

Take the first five verses, often people mention only  the verse 3. In
verses 2,4, and 5 shrI shankara empasizes of the birth as man
(pUMstvam, pauruSham) and what about the word "viprataa" is the
second verse?  Should we condition our reading, based on the century
we are in? I saw some english translations of vivekachUDAmaNi, they
simply keep quiet on these issues and empasize only on verse 3!

with respects,
Ravi


sarva vedaanta siddhaanta gocharaM tam.h  agocharam.h .
govindaM parama aanandaM sad.hguruM praNataH asmi aham.h .. 1..

jantuunaaM nara-janma durlabhaM ataH pu.nstvaM tato viprataa
                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
tasmaat.h vaidika-dharma-maarga parataa vidvattvaM asmaat.h param.h .
aatma anaatma vivechanaM sva anubhavo brahma atmanaa sa.nsthitiH
muk{}tirno shatajanmakoTisukR^itaiH puNyairvinaa labhyate .. 2..

durlabhaM trayaM evaitad deva anugraha hetukam.h .
manushhyatvaM mumukshutvaM mahaapurushha sa.nshrayaH .. 3..

lab{}dhvaa kathachin{}narajanma durlabhaM
    tatraapi pu.nstvaM shrutipaaradarshanam.h
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.
yas{}tvaatmamuk{}tau na yateta muuDhadhiiH
    sa hyaatmahaa svaM vinihan{}tyasad.hgrahaat.h .. 4..

itaH ko n{}vasti muuDhaatmaa yastu svaarthe pramaadyati .
durlabhaM maanushhaM dehaM praapya tatraapi paurushham.h .. 5..
                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^