my Advaita Makaranda (a work in progress (11 of 28))

1.

kaṭākṣa-kiraṇācānta-naman-mohabdhaye namaḥ,

anantānanda-kṛṣṇāya jagan-maṅgala-mūrtaye.

2.

I am. Always I illumine. Never am I unbeloved.

For I am Brahman alone and my nature is satcitananda.

3.

Rising in my space of consciousness is this universe like a castle in the sky.

Thus how can I not be Brahman, all-knowing and the cause of all?

4.

I always know myself. Without parts,

origination, shelter, or support, I am indestructible.

5.

There is no drying, burning, wetting, cutting, or dividing that space of awareness.

The real is untouched by wind, fire, water, weapons, or other instruments of illusion.

6.

This universe cannot be experienced without the revelation of consciousness.

I am that onnipresent light of awareness which is all-pervading.

7.

Without light, the world does not exist. Without consciousness, there is no light.

Without the unreal superimposed on the real, there is no union with consciousness. For I am nondual.

8.

Neither body nor senses am I. Nor life-force nor mind nor intelligence.

These have been embraced as mine only because of this play of thoughts in the mind.

9.

The witness, all-pervading and beloved am I, and I am never

changing, limited, nor afflicted with suffering.

10.

The mind’s I in deep sleep doesn’t see sorrow, imperfection, or fault.

Samsara belongs to ego and not the witness of the traveling samsari.

11.

The one who sleeps doesn’t know sleep. The one who doesn't sleep neither wakes nor dreams.

I am the witness of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, and thus beyond those states.

12. 

Worldly knowledge ends in deep sleep. It rises in dreaming and waking.

How can these three states belong to me, their witness, eternally aware?

13.

I am the knower of things with six states of change. Otherwise, I am free of all change.

Observing these changes would be impossible if I weren't free of them.

14.

In various ways appearances rise and fall again and again. 

How can such changing things observe these changes?

15.

No one can ever see their own birth or death. 

These two are the final point of prior non-existence and initial point of later non-existence.

16.

Makaranda 16 Sanskrit

• na (न): Not.

• prakāśe (प्रकाशे): I shine / I am manifest / I am conscious (from the root kāś, 1st person singular present tense).

• aham (अहम्): I.

• iti (इति): Thus / quote marks (indicates that "I do not shine" is a statement or a thought).

• uktiḥ (उक्तिः): Statement / utterance / expression.

• yat (यत्): Whose / of which.

• prakāśa (प्रकाश): Illumination / light / consciousness.

• eka (एक): Solely / alone / only.

• bandhanā (बन्धना): Bound to / dependent upon / tethered to.

• svaprakāśam (स्वप्रकाशम्): Self-luminous / self-shining / illuminating itself.

• tam (तम्): That / to that.

• ātmānam (आत्मानम्): The Self / the soul (Atman).

• aprakāśaḥ (अप्रकाशः): Non-illumination / darkness / ignorance / lack of consciousness.

• katham (कथम्): How?

• spṛśet (स्पृशेत्): Can touch / can affect (potential mood of the root spṛś).

Makaranda 15 Sanskrit
Word-by-Word Meaning
First Line: na ca svajanma-nāśaṁ vā draṣṭum-arhati kaścana
• na (न): Not
• ca (च): And / Also
• svajanma-nāśam (स्वजन्म-नाशम्): Compound word splitting into:
o sva (स्व) = One's own
o janma (जन्म) = Birth
o nāśam (नाशम्) = Destruction / Death
o Meaning: One's own birth or one's own death (as an object of perception). [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
• vā (वा): Or
• draṣṭum (द्रष्टुम्): To see / To perceive / To witness (Infinitive of the root dṛś). [1, 2]
• arhati (अर्हति): Is able to / Is capable of / Deserves. [1]
• kaścana (कश्चन): Anyone / Any person whatsoever.
Second Line: tau hi prāg-uttarābhāva-carama-prathama-kṣaṇau
• tau (तौ): Those two (referring to birth and death). [1]
• hi (हि): Indeed / Because / Surely. [1]
• prāg-uttarābhāva-carama-prathama-kṣaṇau (प्रागुत्तराभावचरमप्रथमक्षणौ): A complex technical Sanskrit compound (Dvandva combined with Tatpuruṣa):
o prāk-abhāva (प्रागभाव) = Prior non-existence (the state before an object is created).
o uttara-abhāva / pradhvaṁsa-abhāva (उत्तराभाव) = Posterior non-existence (the state after an object is destroyed).
o carama (चरम) = Last / Final.
o prathama (प्रथम) = First / Initial.
o kṣaṇau (क्षणौ) = Dual form of kṣaṇa (moments).
o Meaning combined: They are indeed the final moment of prior non-existence (birth) and the first moment of posterior non-existence (death). [1]

Makaranda 14 Sanskrit
• tena tena (तेन तेन): by that and that; in various; as this or that
• hi (हि): indeed; surely; because
• rūpeṇa (रूपेण): in the form; through the appearance
• jāyate (जायते): is born; arises; manifests
• līyate (लीयते): dissolves; vanishes; merges
• muhuḥ (मुहुः): repeatedly; again and again; constantly
• vikāri-vastunaḥ (विकारिवस्तुनः): of a changing object; of modifyable matter
• teṣām (तेषाम्): of those (changing forms/states)
• anusandhātṛtā (अनुसन्धातृता): the status of being the continuous observer, linker, or rememberer
• kutaḥ (कुतः): how?; from where?; how can there be? 
Makaranda 13 Sanskrit
Line 1
• ṣaḍ (षड्) — Six.
• vikāra-vatām (विकारवताम्) — Of those things which possess modifications or changes (referring to the body, mind, and the physical world).
• vettā (वेत्ता) — The knower, witness, or perceiver.
• nirvikāraḥ (निर्विकारः) — Without modifications; changeless / immutable.
• aham (अहम्) — I am.
• anyathā (अन्यथा) — Otherwise
Line 2
• tad (तद्) — Their / those.
• vikāra (विकार) — Modifications / changes.
• anusandhānam (अनुसन्धानम्) — Closely tracking, observing, synthesizing, or remembering a continuous sequence.
• sarvathā (सर्वथा) — In any way; by all means.
• na (न) — Not.
• avakalpate (अवकल्पते) — Is possible / is fit / is conceivable.
(Note: na + avakalpate combine via Sandhi rules to form nāvakalpate, meaning "is impossible

Makaranda 12 Sanskrit
Word-by-Word Breakdown
• vijñāna-viratiḥ (विज्ञान-विरतिः)
o vijñāna: specific, objective, or worldly knowledge.
o viratiḥ: cessation, stopping, or pause.
o Meaning: The temporary stopping of objective or worldly knowledge. 
• suptis (सुप्तिः)
o Meaning: Deep, dreamless sleep (sushupti). 
• tat-janma (तज्-जन्म)
o tat: its (referring back to vijñāna, objective knowledge).
o janma: birth, arising, or manifestation.
o Meaning: The arising or rebirth of that objective knowledge. 
• svapna-jāgarau (स्वप्न-जागरौ)
o svapna: dream state.
o jāgarau: waking state (dual noun form grouping them together).
o Meaning: The dream and waking states.
• tat-sākṣiṇaḥ (तद्-साक्षिणः)
o tat: of them (the three states).
o sākṣiṇaḥ: for the witness / observer.
o Meaning: For the witness of those three states.
• kathaṃ (कथं)
o Meaning: How? (expressing impossibility).
• me (मे)
o Meaning: To me / mine / my.
• syuḥ (स्युः)
o Meaning: Can they be? / Could they belong?
• nitya-jñānasya (नित्य-ज्ञानस्य)
o nitya: eternal, constant, changeless.
o jñānasya: of knowledge / of consciousness.
o Meaning: Of the one who is eternal consciousness. 
• te (ते)
o Meaning: They / those.
• trayaḥ (त्रयः)
o Meaning: Three (referring to waking, dreaming, and deep sleep).

Makaranda 11 Sanskrit
Line 1: suptaḥ suptiṁ na jānāti nāsupte svapna-jāgarau
• suptaḥ: The sleeping person (the one who is asleep).
• suptiṁ: Sleep itself (or the state of deep sleep).
• na: Does not.
• jānāti: Know (realize or experience).
• na: Nor / and not.
• asupte: In the non-sleeping state (i.e., in the waking or dreaming states).
• svapna-jāgarau: The dream and waking states
Line 2: jāgrat-svapna-suṣuptināṁ sākṣyato’ham-atad-daśaḥ
• jāgrat: Waking state.
• svapna: Dreaming state.
• suṣuptināṁ: Of the deep-sleep states.
• sākṣyataḥ: As the witness.
• aham: I (am).
• a-tad: Not those (different from those three states).
• daśaḥ: States (conditions

Bibliography

The One and One Only: Advaita Makaranda by Swami Tejomayananda

Advaita Makaranda - The Nectar of Non-duality of Sri Laksmidhara Kavi, translation and commentary by Swami Atmarupananda

A Nip of Nectar: A translation of Advaita Makaranda of Poet Lakṣmīdhara by Anonymous

Advaita Makaranda Translation & Commentary by Ann Berliner

11-12-25

Transcreating Shankara's Upadesa Sahasri Verse Chapter 10 dṛśi-svarūpa paramārtha-darśanam

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.

Unborn, undying, and accordingly ageless,

deathless, 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.

5.

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.

6.

It is my truth that change does not exist for me

and the cause of change is never mine due to my nondual nature.

Thus I possess neither merit nor sin, liberation nor bondage,

social class nor stage of life for I'm without a body.

7.

Beginningless and without attributes, I claim no action nor its results.

For I am the Supreme without a second.

As space is all-pervading yet untouched,

I permeate this body with my subtlety.

8.

Always and equally in all beings, I am Isvara, the Supreme Ruler.

Beyond the mortal and immortal, I am the highest and the ultimate.

Although that Supreme Self of Reality and Nondual Being,

I am mistaken to be otherwise by the nescience of ignorance.

9.

Detached from ignorance, imagination, and action,

the limitless Self is completely pure.

Endowed with the powers of seeing and such, I am nondual,

established in my true nature, and motionless like the sky.

10.

I, Parabrahman, Atman, with surest vision, see—

no one is born again, as the Vedas say.

When the seed is absent, there's no creation.

No fruit is born where there's no delusion.

11.

This is thus mine and that like this is yours;

I also alone oversee my world and not otherwise:

such is the delusion of people's imagination.

Eternally equal is Brahman in that auspicious nonduality.

12.

That nondual knowledge is exceedingly pure. 

The great ones thus experience neither sorrow nor delusion. 

In the absence of both, there's neither birth nor binding action. 

Such assuredness arises in the knowers of the Vedas.

13.

As in deep sleep while in the waking state is the one who doesn't see duality

while seeing through it to that nonduality.

Similarly is the one performing actions although actionless.

One is the knower of the Self and no other is the conclusion here.

14.

Thus this vision of supreme truth that's been declared

by me surely is the highest observation of Vedanta.

One is completely liberated if it is firmly understood.

As the sky is never stained, so is it here by action.

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

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

Upadesa Sahasri 10.14 Translations

itīdam uktam paramārtha-darśanam mayā hi vedānta-viniścitam paraṃ vimucyate ’smin yadi niścito bhaven na lipyate vyoma iveha karmabhiḥ 

[14] In these words I have proclaimed the nature of vision of the highest reality, the supreme conclusion of Vedānta. If a man becomes convinced of it he is liberated. Like the ether, he is no longer tainted by activity here in this world. ~Alston

14. This Right knowledge described by me is the highest because it is ascertained in the Vedântas. One becomes liberated and unattached (to actions) like the ether if one is perfectly convinced of this Truth. ~Jagadananda

14. This view which has been declared by me from the stand¬ point of the highest truth is the supreme [view] as ascertained in the Vedanta. If a man has firm belief in it, he is released and not stained by actions,10 as others are. ~Mayeda

My transcreation in progress:

Thus this vision of supreme truth that's been declared

by me surely is the highest observation of Vedanta.

One is completely liberated if it is firmly understood.

As the sky is never stained, so is it here by action.

All transcreations to date:

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

Google:

Line 1: itīdam uktam paramārtha-darśanam

• iti (इति): thus / in this manner
• idam (इदम्): this
• uktam (उक्तम्): spoken / declared / taught
• parama (परम): supreme / highest
• artha (अर्थ): reality / purpose / truth
• darśanam (दर्शनम्): vision / philosophy / realization

Line 2: mayā hi vedānta-viniścitam paraṃ

• mayā (मया): by me
• hi (हि): indeed / surely (used for emphasis)
• vedānta (वेदान्त): Vedanta (the end/essence of the Vedas)
• viniścitam (विनिश्चितम्): thoroughly ascertained / conclusively proven
• param (परम्): ultimate / highest

Line 3: vimucyate ’smin yadi niścito bhaven

• vimucyate (विमुच्यते): is completely liberated / freed
• asmin (अस्मिन्): in this (supreme truth/self)
• yadi (यदि): if
• niścitaḥ (निश्चितः): firm / convinced / resolute
• bhavet (भवेत्): should be / becomes

Line 4: na lipyate vyoma iveha karmabhiḥ

• na (न): not
• lipyate (लिप्यते): is tainted / smeared / affected
• vyoma (व्योम): sky / space
• iva (इव): like / just as
• iha (इह): here / in this world
• karmabhiḥ (कर्मभिः): by actions / by karmas

Upadesa Sahasri 10.13 Translations

suṣuptavaj jāgrati yo na paśyati dvayam tu paśyann api cādvayatvataḥ tathā ca kurvann api niṣkriyaś ca yaḥ sa ātma-vin nānya itīha niścayaḥ 

[13] He who, though seeing duality when awake, yet on account of his awareness of non-duality does not see it as if he were asleep, and who is apparently active yet really actionless for the same reason—he alone is a knower of the Self. Such is the settled conclusion of our tradition. ~Alston

13. It is the conclusion here (in the Vedântas) that one who, though perceiving16the world of duality in the waking state, does not,17like a man in deep sleep,18 perceive it owing to duality being negated, and who is (really) actionless even when (apparently) acting, is a man of Self-knowledge ; but no one else is so. ~Jagadananda

13. He who, in the waking state, like a man in the state ofdeep sleep, does not see duality, though [actually] seeing, because of his non-duality, and similarly he who, though [in fact] acting, is actionless—he [only]is the knower ofAtman, and nobody else. This is the firm conclusion here [in the Vedanta]. ~Mayeda

My Transcreation:

As in deep sleep while in the waking state is the one who doesn't see duality

while seeing through it to that nonduality.

Similarly is the one performing actions although actionless.

One is the knower of the Self and no other is the conclusion here.

All transcreations to date:

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

Google:

Line 1: suṣuptavaj jāgrati yo na paśyati dvayam

• suṣuptavad (सुषुप्तवत्) = like in deep sleep (where no world or duality is perceived)
• jāgrati (जाग्रति) = while in the waking state
• yaḥ (यः) = who
• na paśyati (न पश्यति) = does not see
• dvayām (द्वयम्) = duality / multiplicity / two-ness

Line 2: tu paśyann api cādvayatvataḥ

tu (तु) = but / however

paśyann (पश्यन्) = seeing (physically perceiving objects)

api (अपि) = even though / although

ca (च) = and

advayatvataḥ (अद्वयत्वतः) = due to the state of absolute non-duality (advaita)

Line 3: tathā ca kurvann api niṣkriyaś ca yaḥ

• tathā (तथा) = in the same manner / likewise
• ca (च) = and
• kurvann (कुर्वन्) = performing actions
• api (अपि) = even though / although
• niṣkriyaḥ (निष्क्रियः) = actionless / free from the sense of agency
• ca (च) = and
• yaḥ (यः) = who

Line 4: sa ātma-vin nānya itīha niścayah

saḥ (सः) = he

ātma-vit (आत्मवित्) = the knower of the Self / the enlightened one

na (न) = not

anyaḥ (अन्यः) = another / anyone else

iti (इति) = thus

iha (इह) = here (in this world / in Vedanta)

niścayaḥ (निश्चयः) = the firm conclusion / certainty