UPADESA SARAM
(The Essence of the Teachings)
by
Bhagavan
Sri Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Professor K. Swaminathan
With brief commentary/explanatory notes by Tom Das
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Introduction
In Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi’s Upadesa Saram (The Essence of Instruction),
we have in concise form all we need to know in order to attain liberation in this life.
The teaching is densely packed in, making the teaching all the sweeter for the ripe
seeker of Truth.
Here you will find universal teachings for enlightenment, the true Vedanta.
That said, two other of Ramana’s texts which compliment this work are Nan Yar?
(Who am I?) and U lladu Narpadu (Forty Verses on Reality). Together, in
my view, these three texts form a comprehensive and complete teaching for
liberation in concise form.
I have made some comments (in italicised red) which hopefully make the
teachings clearer, but have attempted to keep these to a minimum so the actual
force, beauty and true meaning of the text is not diluted and lost amidst my
verbiage!
!Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya Om!
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The Text
1. कतरा
ु या ा यते फलम ् ।
कम कं परं कम त जडम ् ॥ १॥
kartur ājñyayā prāpyate phalaṃ
karma kiṃ paraṃ karma tajjaḍam
1. Action yields fruit,
For so the Lord ordains it.
How can action be the Lord?
It is insentient.
Cause and effect (‘action’ and ‘fruit’ respectively, or karma) is essentially a
mechanical process, insentient, subject to change, and not at all the Divine. Put
differently, the world of cause and effect is not, in essence, the Self or the Lord. The
world of cause and effect, or karma, is all non-Self.
2. कृ तमहोदधौ पतनकारणम ् ।
फलमशा वतं ग त नरोधकम ् ॥ २॥
kṛti-maho-dadhau patana-kāraṇam
phalama-śaśvataṃ gati-nirodhakam
2. The fruit of action passes.
But action leaves behind
Seed of further action
Leading to an endless ocean of action;
Not at all to moksha.
This here is a very important verse. All actions are limited, and therefore give rise
to limited effects. These effects then in turn become the cause for another limited
effect, and so on. Limited actions cannot give rise to That, in which there are no
limits, so no limited actions can lead to Moksha.
The unstated implication is THAT which we are looking for -The Absolute,
Brahman, call IT what you will – THAT is already fully and completely here – no
action is required to attain the Self, as we are already THAT. Delving around in the
world of objects and cause and effect will not lead to Liberation, which already IS.
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3. ई वरा पतं ने छया कृतम ् ।
च शोधकं मिु तसाधकम ् ॥ ३॥
īśvarārpitaṃ necchayā kṛtam
citta-śodhakaṃ mukti-sādhakam
3. Disinterested action
Surrendered to the Lord
Purifies the mind and points
The way to moksha.
Becoming increasingly disinterested in things that happen in the world, carrying
out your social and ethical duties whilst surrendering all to Him – this is conducive
to Liberation.
4. कायवा मनः कायमु मम ् ।
पज
ू नं जपि च तनं मात ् ॥ ४॥
kāya-vāṅ-manaḥ kāryam-uttamam
pūjanaṃ japa-ścintanaṃ kramāt
4. This is certain:
Worship, praise and meditation,
Being work of body, speech and mind,
Are steps for orderly ascent.
Bhagavan gives us a hierarchy of spiritual practices, starting with worship (which
utilises the body), then going to use praise (which utilises speech), and then to the
higher practice of meditation (which utilises the mind).
We are not to greedily jump straight to meditation as it is the higher practice,
unless we are naturally ripe for this, but to start where we are for ‘orderly ascent’.
In the next few verses Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi will explain these practices
to us in greater detail:
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5. जगत ईशधी यु तसेवनम ् ।
अ टमू तभ ृ दे वपज
ू नम ् ॥ ५॥
jagata īśadhī yukta sevanaṃ
aśṭa-mūrti bhṛd deva-pūjanam
5. Ether, fire, air, water, earth,
Sun, moon and living beings
Worship of these,
Regarded all as forms of His,
Is perfect worship of the Lord.
Worship of God can be worship of Him in any form, as long as we realise that the
object itself is not Him, but just a divine expression of Him.
6. उ म तवाद ु चम दतः ।
च जं जप यानमु मम ् ॥ ६॥
uttama-stavād-ucca-mandataḥ
cittajaṃ japa dhyānam uttamam
6. Better than hymns of praise
Is repetition of the Name;
Better low-voiced than loud,
But best of all
Is meditation in the mind.
The practice becomes, in time, increasingly subtle, starting from coarser practices
involving the body and then speech, to subtler practices of the mind, as per verse 4.
7. आ यधारया ोतसा समम ् ।
सरल च तनं वरलतः परम ् ॥ ७॥
ajya-dhāraya srotasā samam
sarala cintanaṃ viralataḥ param
7. Better than spells of meditation
Is one continuous current,
Steady as a stream,
Or downward flow of oil.
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Over time, meditation should move from the sporadic to the continuous. A
wonderful traditional metaphor of a continuous current of a river or a steady
stream of oil as it is poured is used so there is no mistake as to what this means:
continuous meditation means continuous meditation. What what exactly is this
meditation, and how can it be done? Worry not! Bhagavan will explain all to us in
later verses. How lucky we are to have these beautiful teachings of His!
8. भेदभावनात ् सोऽह म यसौ ।
भावनाऽ भदा पावनी मता ॥ ८॥
bheda-bhāvanāt so’hamityasau
bhavana’bhidā pāvanī matā
8. Better than viewing Him as Other,
Indeed the noblest attitude of all,
Is to hold Him as the ‘I’ within,
The very ‘I’.
A key part of the teachings is this – to realise that all is non-separate from Him.
Furthermore, He is none other that the essence of You, the ‘I’ within. In earlier
verses such as 5 and 6 it may be thought that God is an entity external to you.
However here it is made clear that you are not praising a divine entity that is
separate from your Being. All this is implied in verses 20 and 23, and more clearly
stated in verse 26.
The next verse also continues this same theme, but going one step further, the form
of devotion and worship becoming ever more subtle and direct:
9. भावशू यस भावसिु थ तः ।
भावनाबला भि त मा ॥ ९॥
bhāva śūnyasad bhāva susthitiḥ
bhāvanā-balād bhaktir-uttamā
9. Abidance in pure being
Transcending thought through love intense
Is the very essence
Of supreme devotion.
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10. थले मनः व थता या ।
भि तयोगबोधा च नि चतम ् ॥ १०॥
hṛtsthale manaḥ svasthatā kriyā
bhakti yoga bodhaśca niścitam
10. Absorption in the heart of being,
Whence we sprang,
Is the path of action, of devotion,
Of union and of knowledge.
For the more intellectually inclined, this verse can be illuminating. Bhagavan is
stating here, in line with the Upanishads (eg. Amritabindu Upanishad verses 2-5)
and Bhagavad Gita (eg Chapter 5 verse 4), that all the main yogas are, at this stage
in the practice, essentially one and the same.
Abiding as the Self IS the path of action, abiding as the Self IS Devotion,
abiding as the Self IS Yoga (‘union’), abiding as the Self IS Knowledge.
Amritabindu Upanishad, verse 5: ‘The mind should be prevented from functioning,
until it dissolves itself in the heart. This is Jnana, this is Dhyana, the rest is all mere
concoction of untruth.’
Bhagavad Gita 5.4: ‘Only the ignorant say that the yoga of knowledge and the yoga
of devotional action are different, wise people do not. One who is perfectly
established in one, obtains the result of both.’
11. वायरु ोधना ल यते मनः ।
जालप व ोधसाधनम ् ॥ ११॥
vayu-rodhanāl līyate manaḥ
jāla-pakṣivat rodha-sādhanam
11. Holding the breath controls the mind,
A bird caught in a net.
Breath-regulation helps
Absorption in the heart.
A key teaching that regulation of the breath is a useful aid to Abiding as Self. The
invitation is to take up this advice an incorporate it into your practice.
12. च वायवि चि यायत
ु ाः ।
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शाखयो वयी शि तमल
ू का ॥ १२॥
citta-vāyavaś cit-kriyāyutāḥ
śā khayor-dvayi śakti-mūlakā
12. Mind and breath (as thought and action)
Fork out like two branches.
But both spring
From a single root.
Both the mind and breath or actions, in fact all phenomena, arise from a single
Source. The implication is that finding the source of the mind can also be done by
finding the source of the breath.
13. लय वनाशने उभयरोधने ।
लयगतं पन
ु भव त नो मत
ृ म ् ॥ १३॥
laya vinaśane ubhaya-rodhane
laya-gataṃ punar bhavati no mṛtam
13. Absorption is of two sorts;
Submergence and destruction.
Mind submerged rises again;
Dead, it revives no more.
The implication is that death of mind is the goal, rather than just a mere temporary
quiescence of mind. Next the method by which the mind can be killed is given:
14. ाणब धना ल नमानसम ् ।
एक च तना नाशमे यदः ॥ १४॥
prāṇa-bandhanāt līna-mānasam
eka-cintanāt nāśametyadaḥ
14. Breath controlled and thought restrained,
The mind turned one-way inward
Fades and dies.
Why kill the mind? It is through killing the mind that one abides as the Self and
returns to one’s own ‘natural being’, which is without action:
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15. न टमानसो कृ टयो गनः ।
कृ यमि त कं वि थ तं यतः ॥ १५॥
naṣta-manasot-kṛṣṭa yoginaḥ
kṛtyam asti kiṃ svasthitiṃ yataḥ
15. Mind extinct, the mighty seer
Returns to his own natural being
And has no action to perform.
Yoga Vasishta, one of Ramana’s favourite traditional texts, says:
‘Supreme Bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the senses with their
objects. The supreme state is that in which the mind is annihilated through
one-pointed enquiry.’
and elsewhere it also states:
‘Every moving or unmoving thing whatsoever is only an object visualised by the
mind. When the mind is annihilated, duality (i.e. multiplicity) is not perceived.’
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Now we are half-way through the text. The essential teaching has
already been given and the text could end here. However, in the second
half further elucidation and clarification will be lovingly dispensed:
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16. यवा रतं च मा मनः ।
च वदशनं त वदशनम ् ॥ १६॥
dṛśya-vāritaṃ citta-mātmanaḥ
citva-darśanaṃ tattva darśanam
16. It is true wisdom
For the mind to turn away
From outer objects and behold
Its own effulgent form.
What is true wisdom? It is for the mind to turn away from all objects and
phenomena and abide as the Self.
Some confusion may arise as to how the mind, the nature of which is thought (verse
18), can behold it’s ‘own effulgent form’. When the mind is turn outward, occupied
with objects such as thoughts, feelings, the body and the outer world of objects, it is
called the mind. When the mind is no longer occupied with these things, it is none
other than the Self.
Ramana states In Day by Day with Bhagavan: ‘The mind turned inwards is the
Self; turned outwards, it becomes the ego and all the world’
Yoga Vasishta states: ‘Consciousness which is undivided imagines to itself desirable
objects and runs after them. It is then known as the mind.’ and also elsewhere
states:
‘After knowing that by which you know this (world) turn the mind inward and then
you will see clearly (i.e. realize) the effulgence of the Self.’ and elsewhere states:
‘O Rama, the mind has, by its own activity, bound itself; when it is calm it is free.’
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17. मानसं तु कं मागणे कृते ।
नैव मानसं माग आजवात ् ॥ १७॥
mānasaṃ tu kiṃ mārgaṇe kṛte
naiva mānasaṃ mārge ārjavāt
17. When unceasingly the mind
Scans its own form
There is nothing of the kind.
For every one
This path direct is open.
Another key verse here. The insight here is that the mind is not a real entity, just an
imagined one. When searched for, it cannot be found as a distinct entity. What a
wonderful and essential teaching is presented here! It is further expounded on in
the next two verses:
18. व ृ य वहं व ृ मा ताः ।
व ृ यो मनो व यहं मनः ॥ १८॥
vṛttayastvahaṃ vṛtti-maśritaḥ
vṛttayo mano viddhayahaṃ manaḥ
18. Thoughts alone make up the mind;
And of all thoughts the ‘I’ thought is the root.
What is called mind is but the notion ‘I’.
The mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts, and it is founded upon the I-concept.
The concept of a separate ‘me’ or ‘I’ is the mind.
19. अहमयं कुतो भव त च वतः ।
अ य पत यहं नज वचारणम ् ॥ १९॥
ahamayaṃ kuto bhavati cinvataḥ
ayi patatyahaṃ nijavicāraṇam
19. When one turns within and searches
Whence this ‘I’ thought arises,
The shamed ‘I’ vanishes –
And wisdom’s quest begins.
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The above verse states this is but the beginning of self-enquiry, ‘the quest’. How do
we proceed after we have searched for the source of the I-concept and found it to be
non-existent? Let us see:
20. अह म नाशभा यहमहं तया ।
फुर त वयं परमपण
ू सत ् ॥ २०॥
ahami nāśa-bhā-jyahama-hantaya
sphurati hṛt-svayaṃ parama-pūrṇa-sat
20. Where this ‘I’ notion faded
Now there as I–I, arises
The One, the very Self,
The Infinite.
The Self is defined as that in which there is no I-concept, no concept of a ‘me’. This
can only be realised non-verbally through practice and direct experience.
21. इदमहं पदाऽ भ यम वहम ् ।
अह मल नकेऽ यलयस या ॥ २१॥
idamaham padā’bhikhya-manvaham
aham-ilīnake’pyalaya sattyā
21. Of the term, ‘I’, the permanent import
Is That. For even in deep sleep
Where we have no sense of ‘I’
We do not cease to be.
A pointer here that what is known as ‘I’ is actually none other than THAT, ie. God or
the Absolute, the Infinite – the Self. Ramana states in Who Am I? (Nan Yar?) ‘By
a steady and continuous investigation into the nature of the mind, the mind is
transformed into That to which ‘I’ refers; and that is in fact the Self’.
Even in deep sleep, whilst there is no I-concept, we still exist do we not? This gives
us a clue as to our True Essential Nature (True Self).
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22. व हे ि य ाणधीतमः ।
नाहमेकस जडं यसत ् ॥ २२॥
vigrah-endriya prāṇa-dhītamaḥ
nāhameka-sat tajjaḍam hyasat
22. Body, senses, mind, breath, sleep –
All insentient and unreal –
Cannot be ‘I’,
‘I’ who am the Real.
Rather late on in the text Ramana introduces to us the teaching of discerning the
Self from the non-Self (Viveka, or Atma-anatma-viveka). The essence of what we
are, which does not change, which is ever-present and ‘Real’, cannot be that which
changes and that which has no consciousness of its own (ie. ‘insentient’). The real is
that which illuminates the unreal, ie. is consciousness or sentient.
23. स वभा सका च ववेतरा ।
स या ह चि च या यहम ् ॥ २३॥
sattva-bhāsika citkva vetarā
sattyā hi cit cittayā hyaham
23. For knowing That which is
There is no other knower.
Hence Being is Awareness;
And we all are Awareness.
Awareness needs no second light to illuminate it. Indeed there is no second thing
apart from the Self that can know the Self, for the Self is One and All, and there is
nothing outside of or apart from it. We may need a light source to illuminate a
common everyday object in darkness, but the sun needs no secondary light source
to be seen. It is self-shining. Similarly the Self is self-shining. It needs no other to
know itself.
To know the Self, THAT, is not really a knowing in that there is no second object to
be known (for the Self is non-dual), but ‘knowing the Self’ really is just BEING the
Self, or BEING AWARENESS.
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24. ईशजीवयोवषधी भदा ।
स वभावतो व तु केवलम ् ॥ २४॥
īśa-jīvayor veṣa-dhī-bhidā
sat-svabhāvato vastu kevalam
24. In the nature of their being
Creature and creator are in substance one.
They differ only
In adjuncts and awareness.
Ramana makes some clarifications here so we are clear on what is being said. He is
stating that the nature of the individual or jiva (ie. ‘creature’ which is actually a
translation of jiva) is the same as the essential nature of God or Ishvara (‘creator’,
which is a translation of Isa or Isvara, ie. the Lord). The difference is only in the
phenomenal appearance, but both are in essence BEING-AWARENESS. This
reasoning is taken further in the next verse:
25. वेषहानतः वा मदशनम ् ।
ईशदशनं वा म पतः ॥ २५॥
veṣa-hānataḥ svātma-darśanam
īśa-darśanaṃ svātma-rūpataḥ
25. Seeing oneself free of all attributes
Is to see the Lord,
For He shines ever as the pure Self.
Therefore, if you ‘see’ yourself devoid of all phenomena and ‘attributes’, which
means to be aware but to be devoid of thoughts, feelings, body and worldly objects,
then you are seeing your essential nature, which is to see God (Isa or Ishvara). Your
essential nature is Him. Remember, the word seeing doesn’t mean you are seeing
something, for there is no duality here. Ramana, out of his love and compassion for
us, tells us as follows:
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26. आ मसंि थ तः वा मदशनम ् ।
आ म न वयादा म न ठता ॥ २६॥
ātma-saṃsthitiḥ svātma-darśanam
ātma-nirdvayād ātma-niṣṭhatā
26. To know the Self is but to be the Self,
For it is non-dual.
In such knowledge
One abides as that.
He reminds us that this is not a dualistic knowing (of objects), but just BEING
THAT. The word ‘know’ is just a dualistic phrase used, dualistic as it implies a
knower and something that is known, whereas here there is no knower or known,
just BEING-AWARENESS. Ramana continues to make it clear for us:
27. ानविजताऽ ानह न चत ् ।
ानमि त कं ातम ु तरम ् ॥ २७॥
jñāna-varjitā-jñana-hina cit
jñānam-asti kiṃ jñātum-antaram
27. That is true knowledge which transcends
Both knowledge and ignorance,
For in pure knowledge
Is no object to be known.
True Knowledge is simply a synonym for the Self, and there are no objects in the
Self or apart from the Self. There is only the Self.
The Amritabindu Upanishad says, in verse 4:
‘The mind severed from all connection with sensual objects, and prevented from
functioning out, awakes into the light of the heart, and finds the highest condition.’
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28. कं व प म या मदशने ।
अ ययाऽभवाऽऽपण ू च सखु म ् ॥ २८॥
kiṃ svarūpamit-yātma darśane
avyayābhavā” pūrṇa-cit sukham
28. Having known one’s nature one abides
As being with no beginning and no end
In unbroken consciousness and bliss.
Importantly, this state is to be ‘abided in’, for want of better wording, meaning that
we are not to be attracted to sense-objects and become involved with thoughts and
feelings and things (ie. the world) and so give birth to the mind (see verse 16 and
commentary), but to remain in Truth as Truth, as BEING-AWARENESS (sat-chit)
devoid of any objects, which is known as BLISS (written as sukha here, which
means happiness in Sanskrit, often called ananda, which also means happiness.)
29. ब धमु यतीतं परं सख
ु म ्।
व दतीह जीव तु दै वकः ॥ २९॥
bandha muktyatītaṃ paraṃ sukham
vindatīhajī vastu daivikaḥ
29. Beyond bondage and release,
Is steadfastness
In service of the Lord.
Again, like in verse 28, verse 29 implies a continuance in remaining in this stateless
state which is transcendent to both liberation and bondage, which are both to do
with phenomenal existence.
In verse 28 the language of knowledge is used, ‘Having known one’s nature…’. here
in verse 29 the language of devotion is used.
In verses 1 and 2 Ramana has hinted that the world of insentient objects is not the
way, and in verse 10 Ramana has already told us that true devotion and true
knowledge are simply to abide as sat-chit-ananda devoid of adjuncts or
phenomena. This is written here poetically as ‘steadfast service of the Lord’.
Continue to abide as the Self, That which is beyond dualities of liberation and
bondage, That in which there is no change, That which is the nature of ‘unbroken
Consciousness and Bliss’ (verse 28).
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30. अहमपेतकं नज वभानकम ् ।
मह ददं तपो रमनवा गयम ् ॥ ३०॥
aham-apetakaṃ nija-vibhānakam
mahadidaṃ tapo ramaṇa vāgiyam
30. All ego gone,
Living as that alone
Is penance good for growth,
Sings Ramana, the Self.
Remaining as the Self, that in which there is no ego, is the only way to Moksha. It is
the culmination of the path of devotion, knowledge, yoga and action. It is both the
highest Knowledge and highest Devotion and also beyond knowledge and devotion.
To abide as the Self that is of the nature sat-chit-sukha, until the ego is destroyed,
never to arise again (cf. verses 13-15) is Moksha (liberation) itself.
So sings Guru Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi!
!Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya Om!
!Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya Om!
!Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya Om!
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