Theosophy - Ode On Self - translation of Sri Sankaracharya's sonnet
ODE ON SELF
Translation by A.
G. of Sri
Sankaracharya' s sonnet
known
as "Atma-Khatak". [Lit Poem of six slokas
on Atma (Self)]
reprinted
from “Theosophical Siftings” Volume - 3 -
[Page
20] I am not the body [Three
in number – Sthula,
Sukshma and Karana] nor the (fleeting) objects of
the senses; and not to speak of a wife, a son, property or
riches, I am not Ahankára (Egoism), the Pranas[Vital
airs — five in number — Pran, Apan, Vyan, Udyan
and Aman] nor Buddhi (spiritual Ego); I am the everlasting,
the witness (of what was, is or would be) the Pratyagatmá.
I am the Siva.
2. Verily as the words of the wise dispel the delusion of
mistaking the rope for the snake, the instruction of the
Guru destroys the false notion of conceiving (oneself) as
Jiva (embodied self). I am the Siva.
3. There is nothing in the cosmos but I. And it is in me
the non-dual, and through Maya (illusion), the phenomenal
world assumes reality like the reflection (of objects) in
the mirror. I am the Siva.
4. As in the stupefication of sleep even the unreal appears
as real, Mohâ (infatuation) causes this world (of objects)
to shine out as real in Atma of the form of Sat (truth), Chit (consciousness) and Anandam (bliss). I am the untainted,
the perfect, the everlasting, the non-dual. I am the Siva.
5. I am not born. I do not grow. I do not perish. These (birth,
growth and death) are spoken of the body as but virtues of
Prakriti. [Cf. Bhagavat Gita, Chaps 2 and 3, vs 20
and 27] The power to generate action belongs to (is with)
the Atma — the Chinmaya — the all-consciousness — and
not to Ahankara (embodied personality). I am the Siva.
6. I am not the body — what are births and deaths to
me ? I am not the Pranas — what are hunger and thirst
to me ? I am not Chittam (mind), grief and delusion. I have
none; I am not the doer of liberation (Moksha) or bondage.
I have none.
