Upadesa Sahasri 10.5 Translations

 

Translations

śarīra-buddhīndriya-duḥkha-saṃtatir na me na cāham mama nirvikārataḥ asattva-hetoś ca tathaiva santater asattvam asyāḥ svapato hi dṛśyavat 

[5] The succession of sufferings pertaining to the body, senses and intellect is other than myself and does not belong to me, since I am changeless, and also because it is unreal. It is unreal like the succession of visions beheld by a dreamer. ~Alston

5. As I am changeless the series producing pain viz., the body, the intellet and the senses are not myself nor mine. Moreover they are unreal6like dream-objects, there being a reason for inference that they are so. ~Jagadananda

10.5 The body, intellect and senses are the causes of suffering but they are not me nor are they mine for I am changeless. Since the visible objects like the dream objects are not absolutely existent but only relatively so, thus I am indeed one alone. ~Denton

5. The continuous series of pains due to the body, the intellect and the senses is neither I nor ofMe, for I am changeless. And this is because the continual series [of pain] is unreal; it is indeed un¬ real like an object seen by a dreaming man. ~Mayeda

Line 1: śarīra-buddhīndriya-duḥkha-saṃtatir na me

• śarīra (शरीर): Body.
• buddhi (बुद्धि): Intellect / mind.
• indriya (इन्द्रिय): Senses / sense organs.
• duḥkha (दुःख): Suffering / pain / misery.
• saṃtatiḥ (संततिः): Continuous stream / series / succession.
• na (न): Not.
• me (मे): Mine / to me.

Line Translation:
"The continuous stream of body, intellect, senses, and suffering is not mine."

Line 2: na cāham mama nirvikārataḥ

• na (न): Not.
• ca (च): And.
• aham (अहम्): I.
• mama (मम): My / mine.
• nirvikārataḥ (निर्विकारतः): Because of being changeless / immutable / without modification.

Line Translation:
"And I am not that, nor is it mine, because I am completely changeless."

Line 3: asattva-hetoś ca tathaiva santater

• asattva (असत्त्व): Unreality / non-existence / lack of substantiality.
• hetoḥ (हेतोः): Because of / due to the reason of.
• ca (च): And.
• tathā eva (तथैव): In the very same way / similarly.
• santateḥ (सन्ततेः): Of the continuous stream / series.

Line Translation:
"And also due to the unreality of this continuous stream itself..."

Line 4: asattvam asyāḥ svapato hi dṛśyavat

• asattvam (असत्त्वम्): Unreality / illusory nature.
• asyāḥ (अस्याः): Of this (stream).
• svapataḥ (स्वपतः): Of a sleeping person / during dream.
• hi (हि): Indeed / surely.
• dṛśyavat (दृश्यवत्): Like objects seen / like a dream vision.

Line Translation:
"...this stream is indeed unreal, just like objects seen by a person sleeping in a dream."

~Google search

My Transcreation in Progress

The continuous suffering of body, intellect, and the senses are not mine

and I'm not theirs, for I am changeless

and also because of the unreality of this stream.

It's unreal like the dreamlike visions of a sleeper.

All transcreations to date:

Transcreating Upadesa Sahasri Verse Chapter 10 dṛśi-svarūpa paramārtha-darśanam

Transcreating Upadesa Sahasri Verse Chapter 10 dṛśi-svarūpa paramārtha-darśanam (4 of 14)

1. 

The seer itself, the sky-like supreme;

ever-shining and changeless, one alone and unborn;

stainless, all-pervading, nondual:

thus I am that eternally released. Om.

2.

I am the seer, pure and unchanging.

By my very nature, there aren't any objects to me.

Before and behind, above and below, everywhere is 

the all-pervading reality, unborn and abiding as the Self.

3.

Birthless, deathless, and accordingly ageless,

immortal, self-luminous, and all-pervasive, I am nondual—

neither cause nor effect, impeccably pure, 

and ever content in complete liberation. Om.

4.

Deep sleep, the waking state, and the dream state are not my experiences

and do not exist for me at all, like illusions.

They neither exist independently nor are they dependent on the real. 

Thus I am always the Fourth alone, the nondual seer.

Introductions

In the post-war years, western and western-inspired scholarship, notably that of Paul Hacker and Sengaku Mayeda, has tended to show that the only surviving independent work that can with safety be ascribed to Śaṃkara is the Upadeśa Sāhasrī or Thousand Teachings in both its prose and verse parts—though it would be incautious to suppose that there was finality in this judgement...

The independent works other than the Upadeśa Sāhasrī are not safe guides to the doctrine of the historical Śaṃkara, while the Upadeśa Sāhasrī itself is. Hence its importance today as a relatively compact statement by Śaṃkara of his own view, eminently suitable as an introduction to the inherently more diffuse work of the commentaries...

It is, however, not certain that either the prose or the verse parts of the Upadeśa Sāhasrī originally constituted a unity. The whole work is very possibly a compilation of short pieces that originally stood on their own...

Of the verse part, Chapters I, XVII, XVIII and XIX appear from their dedicatory verses to have been separate works originally. Chapters II to XVI, also, are most probably a compilation of works that were originally separate, as it is hard to explain the fact that they stand in ascending order of length as being due to mere chance...

~Alston

The Upadesasahasri consists of two parts, one in verse and the other in prose. The verse or Metrical Part (Padyabandha) comprises nineteen chapters (prakarana). Manuscripts indicate that the two parts were regarded as independent works, as it were, and studied or commented upon separately. They also suggest the possibility that any single chapter could be selected, copied, and studied apart from the rest. This means that reading of the text may begin anywhere. 

~Mayeda

Sankara’s manner of exposition does not present us with the usual but avoidable additional difficulty which is obscurity of expression. He wrote magnificent works, both in prose and verse; and all of them are marked by depth of thought and lucidity of language. 

Among his major works are the great commentaries on what are known as the three canons of Vedanta, viz., the principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad-gita, and the Brahma-sutra, and such independent manuals as the Upadesasahasri and the Vivekachudamani. 

The quintessence of the philosophy of Sankara is stated in the following words which constitute a half-verse in Sanskrit; ‘‘The Absolute Spirit is the reality; the world of appearance is illusory; the so-called individual soul is the Absolute itself, and no other.”

~Mahadevan

Bibliography

The Thousand Teachings trans. by A.J. Alston

Upadesa Sahasri trans. by Swami Jagadananda

A Thousand Teachings trans. by John Denton

A Thousand Teachings trans. by Sengaku Mayeda

Upadesa Sahasri 10.4 Translations

 

Translations

suṣupta-jāgrat-svapataś ca darśanam na me ’sti kiṃcit svam iveha mohanam svataś ca teṣām parato ’py asattvatas turīya evāsmi sadā dṛg advayaḥ

[4] I have no true experience in dreamless sleep, dream or waking—the delusion that appears to afflict me here is not really mine1. It cannot be established as real either as self-established or as introduced from without. Therefore I am ever the Fourth (i.e. beyond waking, dream and dreamless sleep), pure consciousness, one without a second. ~Alston

1 Reading ‘svam iveha’ for ‘tu materhi’ with Jagadānanda and Mayeda.

4. No perception whatever in waking, dream or deep sleep belongs to Me but it is due to delusion. For these states have no independent existence nor an existence depending4on the Self. I am, therefore, the Fourth5which is the Seer of all the three states and without a second. ~Jagadananda

10.4 Any perception during deep sleep, dreaming or waking is not mine. Even if it appears to be so this is just due to delusion. For dreaming and the others have no real existence. I am ever the fourth state one alone, perceiver of all. ~Denton

4. Whether in the state of deep sleep or of waking or of dreaming, no delusive perception appears to pertain to Me in this world. As those [three states] have no existence, self-dependent or other dependent, I am always the Fourth, the Seeing and the non-dual. ~Mayeda

4. None of the perceptions of waking, dream and deep sleep belong to Me. This is due to delusion in one’s own Self. These three states (or objects) do not have an independent existence, nor do they have an existence dependent on the Self. I am therefore the fourth, which is the Seer of all the three states and one without a second. ~Bodhatmananda

Word-by-Word Breakdown

Line 1 Words

• suṣupta (सुषुप्त): deep, dreamless sleep state.
• jāgrat (जाग्रत): the waking state.
• svapataḥ (स्वपतः): of the dreaming state.
• ca (च): and.
• darśanam (दर्शनम्): perception / experience / seeing.
• na (न): not.
• me (मे): for me / mine.
• asti (अस्ति): exists.
• kiṃcit (किंचित्): whatsoever / any at all.
• svam (स्वम्): one's own.
• iva (इव): like / as if.
• iha (इह): here / in this world.
• mohanam (मोहनम्): delusion / illusion / infatuation. 

Line 2 Words

• svataḥ (स्वतः): inherently / by themselves / intrinsically.
• ca (च): and.
• teṣām (तेषाम्): of them (referring to the three states).
• parataḥ (परतः): dependently / through another / extrinsically.
• api (अपि): also / even.
• asattvataḥ (असत्त्वतः): due to non-existence / unreality.
• turīyaḥ (तुरीयः): the Fourth (the transcendental state of pure consciousness).
• eva (एव): alone / indeed / certainly.
• asmi (अस्मि): I am.
• sadā (सदा): always.
• dṛg (दृग्): the Seer / Witness / Pure Consciousness.
• advayaḥ (अद्वयः): non-dual / without a second.

~Google search

My Transcreation

Deep sleep, the waking state, and the dream state are not my experiences 

and do not exist for me at all, like illusions.

They neither exist independently nor are they dependent on the real. 

Thus I am always the Fourth alone, the nondual seer.