Saturday 4 April 2020

Learning the अष्टाध्यायी Part 2

ॐ 
॥ परमात्मने नमः ॥
॥अथ॥

Studying the अष्टाध्यायी during lockdown in South Africa is proving enjoyable, rewarding, immensely educational, humbling and inspiring. 
For each sutra, the process is to read the sutra, sound it, and then read the entire passage from the published work translated  by श्रीश चन्द्र वासु.  When reading, attention is focused so as not to gloss over complex issues, but rather to ensure that the mind has an accurate understanding of the import of the sutra.
Should there be any definitions, usages or directions of a general nature stated in the commentary on the sutra, this is noted in a notebook.  There are now a few pages of such notes.  Some will clearly be elucidated as sutras later in the work, but others are conventions and traditional foundations for the study which require stating.
At this point,the web site  ashtadhyayi.com is referenced.  This site provides the Sutra (It also has a Dhatu Patha) together with a number of commentaries in Sanskrit.  There is a simple English translation of the sutra,  And best of all, a sound clip of the sutra.  This is played and chanted along with a couple of times.
And so the process is established, the pages are being turned - and the understanding?  Strangely (or not so really) the real key is not to assume anything especially about one's understanding.  If the idea is not substantiated - it can not be trusted.  The fact that the idea is mine is the worst possible reason to believe it to be true - and yet the most utilised by the mind in so many of its dealings.
May the Lord Bless further study.
And may the mind realise that prosperity is not an individual attribute - it is communal.

॥ इति  परमात्मने नमः॥

Monday 30 March 2020

Learning the अष्टाध्यायी

 ॥ परमात्मने नमः॥
॥ अध ॥
Lockdown. A blessing in so many ways - and time which was spent travelling daily to the office and back, lifting sons and visiting - all this time is now available for study and reflection.
Many years ago, I had begun writing out the अष्टाध्यायी (aṣṭadhyāyī) as a study.  This work is for us the most ancient work of grammar.  Seen in another way, it is the last work of true grammar.  The author, पाणिनि (pāṇini) arranged in his mind in an ordered manner around 4000 sutras to express the grammar.  Together with  a recitation of dhatus (seed sounds - Western grammarians say "root" but that is all Werstern languages carry, unlike Sanskrit), a recitation of categorised words and of course the sutras revealed to him by the Lord Siva. The work is entitle "8 lectures" - we say books - and I had got through book 1 and was beginning the second, when I was asked to teach a class of Laghu.Siddhanta Kaumudi and changed the track of my study.
So with this new found time, a decision was taken to re-awaken this study but alas, to dive into the Samasas without having the whole of book 1 अनुवृत्ति (anuvṛtti) so to speak and fresh in the mind.  this is a technique employed by pāṇini where ideas, words, are effective in sutras subsequent to the one in which they are introduced.  They are not stated, but are in operation.
In the time since writing this out I had written both AS and A level exams and followed the grammar set therein and this was a marvelous experience and a huge learning.
So with the refined understanding (and associated increment in the level of awe and reverence for the language) the idea now is to go back to the beginning and really read, understand and learn the sutra - as well as write it out once up to book 2.
If 5 pages could be done a day...
Well here is the start - as to how it goes from here, as the blind man once said "We shall see..."

॥ इति  परमात्मने नमः॥

Tuesday 16 January 2018

Translation of Hastaamalakiiyam

ॐ 
परमात्मने नमः । 
अथ॥

Here is a translation into English of the beautiful, deep and profound Stotra called Hastamalakeeyam.  It is a statement of pure advaita, spoken from the mouth of a seven year old boy who was born having realised the Absolute.

It was spoken when he met with Adi Shankara and was asked (verse 1) who he was.
The child, Hastamalaka, became a disciple of Adi Shankara and was appointed as the first pontiff of the Math which Shankara established at Dvaraka.

I often wondered, when I first heard the story, why a realised person would need to be a disciple of a guru.  This idea shows not only my ignorance but also the supreme humility of so many sages who do not really NEED anything, but simply move through this world as an example to those who wish to become free from ignorance as they are.

The child-like nature of the answer and the simplicity of the allegories give an insight into this great man's direct knowledge of reality.  The answer (this stotra) impressed Adi Shankara so much, that he wrote a commentary on the piece - even referring to Hastamalaka as "guru".

Please feel free to point out any errors which may have crept in...

I pray that I have done justice to the work.

आचर्य उवाच
कस्त्वं शिशो कस्य कुतोऽसि गन्ता
किं नाम ते त्वं कुत आगतोऽसि ।
एतन्मयोक्तं वद चार्भकत्वं
मत्प्रीतये प्रीतिविवर्धनोऽसि ॥१॥

Teacher asked:
Who are you, O Child? What lineage? Where are you going to?
What is your name? Where have you come from?
Tell me this – Speak O Child
For I love you, and you increase this love.

हस्तामलक उवाच
नाहं मनुष्यो न च देवयक्षौ
न ब्रह्मणक्षत्रियवैश्यशूद्राः।
न ब्रह्मचारी न गृही वनस्थो
भिक्षुर्न चाहं निजबोधरूपः॥२॥

Hastamalaka answered
I am not a man, a god or a spirit.
I am not of the priestly, royal, merchant or servant castes.
I am neither student, householder nor forest dweller
Nor am I a mendicant – my form is unborn consciousness

निमित्तं मनश्चक्षुरादिप्रवृत्तौ
निरस्ताखिलोपाधिराकाशकल्पः  
रविर्लोकचेष्टानिमित्तं यथा यः
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥३॥

The cause of the manifestation of the Subtle and Physical bodies
Complete, without any limiting adjunct just as space
In the same way as the sun controls the activities in this world – He:
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

यमग्न्युष्णवन्नित्यबोधस्वरूपं
मनश्चक्षुरादीन्यबोधात्मकानि  
प्रवर्तन्त आश्रित्य निष्कम्पमेकं
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥४॥

He (just as heat is the nature of fire, immanent consciousness is His nature) on whom
The subtle and physical parts, unconscious and inert,
are dependant for activity – Who is unmoving and One
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

मुखाभासको दर्पणे दृश्यमानो
मुखत्वात्पृथक्त्वेन नैवास्ति वस्तु  
चिदाभासको धीषु जीवोऽपि तद्व — 
त्स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥५॥


The image of a face is seen reflected in a mirror
Other than the face, the reflection has no real existence
In the same way, an individual is a reflection of the consciousness in the intellect (or Heart)
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

यथा दर्पणाभाव आभासहानौ
मुखं विद्यते कल्पनाहीनमेकम्  
तथा धीवियोगे निराभासको यः
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥६॥

When the mirror is removed, the reflection disappears
The face is found (as the only thing existing) without a reflection - One
In the same way, it (pure consciousness) is unassociated with the intellect and without reflection
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

मनश्चक्षुरादेर्वियुक्तः स्वयं यो
मनश्चक्षुरादेर्मनश्चक्षुरादिः  
मनश्चक्षुरादेरगम्यस्वरूपः
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥७॥

He who, Himself detached from the subtle and physical parts
(Who) Of the mind is the mind, of the eye is the eye
Subtle and physical parts cannot perceive Its nature
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

य एको विभाति स्वतः शुद्धचेताः
प्रकाशस्वरूपोऽपि नानेव धीषु  
शरावोदकस्थो यथा भानुरेकः
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥८॥

He Who is One, appearing variously of Himself - The Pure Consciousness
Although Lustrous by nature – (appears) differently in the intellects
Just as the one sun (appears) in the water in earthen jars
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

यथानेकचक्षुःप्रकाशो रविर्न
क्रमेण प्रकाशीकरोति प्रकाश्यम्  
अनेका धियो यस्तथैकप्रबोधः
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥९॥

Just as the Sun Shines variously in the eye (of different jivas)
The light (of the sun) simultaneously lights the objects perceived
Just as in many “hearts and minds” He Who is The One Source of Awareness (lights them equally)
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

विवस्वत्प्रभातं यथारूपपक्षं
प्रगृह्णाति नाभातमेवं विवस्वान्  
यदाभात आभासयत्यक्षमेकः
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥१०॥

Just as an object, illumined by the sun, the eye
Perceives – but (the eye does) not (perceive) those unillumined.  So too, the sun
Which is one, illumined by whom, illuminates the eye
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

यथा सूर्य एकोऽप्स्वनेकश्चलासु
स्थिरास्वप्यनन्वग्विभाव्यस्वरूपः  
चलासु प्रभिन्नासु धीष्वेवमेकः
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥११॥

Just as the sun, which is one, (appears as) many in unsteady water
In steady (water) though, it is perceived as identical in nature.
In the unsteady, divided intellect - in this way the One (appears as many)
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

घनच्छन्नदृष्टिर्घनच्छन्नमर्कं
यथा निष्प्रभं मन्यते चातिमूढः  
तथा बद्धवद्भाति यो मूढदृष्टेः
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥१२॥

Just as, when clouds cover the sight. An extremely stupid person would think
“Clouds have covered the sun, and It no longer shines.”
So too, one of dull vision (thinks) “It appears bound”
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

समस्तेषु वस्तुष्वनुस्यूतमेकं
समस्तानि वस्तूनि यं न स्पृशन्ति  
वियद्वत्सदा शुद्धमच्छस्वरूपः
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥१३॥

The One, in pervading the objects of the creation binds them
(But) the pervaded objects cannot touch it (the One).
Like air Its nature is always pure and always immaculate
That One whose nature is eternal presence – I am that Self

उपाधौ यथा भेदता सन्मणीनां
तथा भेदता बुद्धिभेदेषु तेऽपि  
यथा चन्द्रिकाणां जले चञ्चलत्वं
तथा चञ्चलत्वं तवापीह विष्णो ॥१४॥

Just as imperfections added to crystals make them appear different
So to You also appear different in the imperfections in the different minds.
Just as moonbeams appear moving in agitated water
So to do you appear to be in motion here (in this world) O Vishnu!



॥ॐ तत् सत्॥

Saturday 13 January 2018

By way of Introduction

ॐ 
परमात्मने नमः ।
अथ  ॥

Namaste Dear Reader

On commencing anything new, the wise tell us it is prudent and beneficial to first dedicate what is to come to the Supreme Self, the Absolute, the One without a second.  And so the dedication is given above.  This is indeed a first - a blog - or in fact any form of published writings since various poetry and essays were printed in a school yearbook way back in the 1980s.

In many ways, there is nothing to say.  As time progresses, the beautiful instruction of silence as propounded by Sri Dakshinaamurti and also by Sri Ramana Maharshi and other great sages seems to be only instruction capable of revealing the Truth.  Of course, the Truth is ever revealed and the statement above is highly subjective - perhaps a more accurate statement is that the Supreme Reality is not comprehended by the mind, and all instruction aimed at providing the mind with ideas, fresh and new or otherwise, will only provide the mind with food for movement, but not bring it to rest.

So with nothing to say, and a desire to still the mind - why choose to publish a blog at all?  Clearly some desire exists to express the ideas and concepts churning in the mind  - a desire driven by the idea that the expression may assist others in the search for the Truth.  With this as a premise, effort and care shall be taken to express as little of "my ideas" as possible and instead allow what Sanskrita and the Veda present to shine through.

In addition, what has this to do with the Study of Sanskrita?  In fact, there may be readers of this piece who are asking "What is Sanskrita in the first place?"  Sanskrita or Sanskrit is the oldest language we as humans have.  I have spent the past 25 years studying the language and could spend many lifetimes in the same pursuit.  It is beautiful, structured, complete and has the special ability of being able to convey extremely subtle concepts directly.  The ancient Vedic texts were composed in Sanskrit and kept as oral tradition for long periods of time before being written down - written because our ability as humans to retain anything in memory is vastly diminished and diminishing daily.  There are indeed vast numbers of Sanskrit texts which have followed the Vedic period, right up until to our time.

Sanskrit is not an "ancient language" - it is as alive and relevant today as it has ever been.

This blog has been begun with the sincere wish that those who read it will gain some benefit.

Ryan