RAMANA, SHANKARA & the FORTY VERSES by Ramana Maharshi and Shankara

RAMANA, SHANKARA & the FORTY VERSES by Ramana Maharshi and Shankara

Forty Verses on Reality (which makes up the second part of this book) was originally written as twenty verses by Ramana Maharshi in Tamil in 1928. At the request of Muruganar, a disciple and respected poet and scholar, he added twenty more and Muruganar arranged them into a classical Hindu poetic form of 40 verses. Ramana apparently liked the result, as he translated the verses himself into two additional Indian languages. Later S. S. Cohen, also a disciple, prepared this simplified English version from half a dozen translations that already existed, and wrote a short commentary on each verse.

In an effort to make non-dual teaching available to his neighbors in Tamil-Nadu in a culturally relevant form, Ramana translated several of Shankara’s shorter works from Sanskrit into Tamil (just two of India’s 24 major languages). The longest of those included in this book is The Crest Jewel of Discrimination, which consists of seven questions and answers: What is bondage? How did it arise? How does it continue? How is one released from it? What is the not-Self? Which is the supreme-Self? How is one to distinguish between them?

Unlike other translations of Shankara made directly into English, these were made from Ramana’s Tamil version by Arthur Osborne, an Oxford professor and resident for many years at Ramanasraman. In other words, these translations spring from Ramana’s understanding rather than from traditional Hindu religious scholarship.

Can Shankara, the enlightener of the Self, be different from one’s own Self? Who but he, does this day, abiding as the inmost Self in me, speak this in the Tamil language?

Who was Shankara historically? An 8th century Indian teacher credited with helping revive Hinduism after the era of Buddhist dominance. The most distinctive feature of his teaching was the synthesis of Vedanta with Advaita, which he explored in commentaries on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras. Perhaps if you look again at the seven questions above, you’ll understand why a minority of scholars believe this integration of non-duality with Hinduism was influenced by Buddhism. Could Buddhism and Hinduism, even Taoism actually have the same source?

We like this book because it gives a good taste of Ramana's teaching, and of Ramana’s take on Advaita Vedanta.

Published by Watkins Publishing 2002
Softcover 160 pages
ISBN 9781842930427

Excerpts from Ramana, Shankara and the Forty Verses

from The Crest Jewel of Discrimination:

Now I am going to tell you about the real nature of the supreme Self, by realizing which, man attains liberation and is freed from bondage. That realization of “I” is indeed the Self which is experienced as “I-I” shining of its own accord, the absolute Being, the witness of the three states of waking, dream, and deep sleep, distinct from the five sheaths, aware of the mental modes in the waking and dream states, and of their absence in the state of deep sleep. That Self sees all of its own accord but is never seen by any of these. It gives light to the intellect and ego but is not enlightened by them. It pervades the universe and by its light all this insentient universe is illumined, but the universe does not pervade it even to the slight extent. In its presence the body, sense, mind, and intellect enter upon their functions as if commanded by it. By that unbroken knowledge, all things from the ego to the body, objects and our experience of them, occur and are perceived. By it life and the various organs are set in motion. That inner Self, as the primeval spirit, eternal, ever effulgent, full and infinite Bliss, single, indivisible, whole and living, shines in everyone as the witness awareness. That Self in its splendour, shining in the cavity of the heart as the subtle, pervasive yet unmanifest ether, illumines this universe like the sun. It is aware of the modifications of the mind and ego, of the actions of the body, sense organs and life-breath. It takes their form as fire does that of a heated ball of iron; yet it undergoes no change in doing so. This Self is neither born nor dies, it neither grows nor decays, nor does it suffer any change. When a pot is broken, the space inside it is not, and similarly, when the body dies, the Self in it remains eternal.’

from Forty Verses on Reality:

19. Disputations as to which prevails over the other, fate or free will, are for those who have no knowledge of the Self, which is the ground of both fate and free will. Those who have realized this ground are free from both. Will they be caught by them again?

21. The Scriptures declare that seeing the Self is seeing God. Being single, how can one see one’s own Self? If Oneself cannot be seen, how can God be? To be absorbed by God is to see Him.

33. It is ludicrous to think ‘I know myself’, or ‘I do not know myself’, admitting thereby two selves, one the object of the other. That the Self is only one is the experience of all.

34. Without trying to realize in the heart that reality which is the true nature of all, and without trying to abide in it, to engage in disputations as to whether the reality exists or not, or is real or not, denotes delusion born of ignorance.

36. The thought ‘I am not the body’ helps one to meditate ‘I am not this: I am THAT’ and to abide as THAT. But why should one forever think ‘I am THAT’? Does a man need always to think ‘I am a man’? We are always THAT.

37. The theory that in practical life duality prevails, whereas non-duality prevails in the (spiritual) attainment, is false. Whether one is still anxiously searching for the Self, or has actually attained it, one is not other than the tenth man.*

* You might also be interested in Wei Wu Wei's book The Tenth Man.

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