CHAPTER XX

Vidya Gita
1-20. I shall now relate to you an ancient sacred story.
On one occasion very long ago there was a highly disting-
uished gathering of holy saints in the abode of Brahma, the
Creator, when a very subtle and sublime disputation took
place. Among those present were Sanaka, Sananda, Sanat-
kumara and Sanatsujata, Vasishta, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu,
Brighu, Atri, Angiras, Pracheta, Narada, Chyavana, Vama-
deva, Visvamitra, Gautama, Suka, Parasara, Vyasa, Kanva,
Kasyapa, Daksha, Sumanta, Sanka, Likhita, Devala and
other celestial and royal Sages. Each one of them spoke of
his own system with courage and conviction and
maintained that it was better than all the rest. But they
could not reach a conclusion and so asked Brahma: Lord!
We are Sages who know all about the world and beyond,
but each one’s way of life differs from that of the others
because the dispositions of our minds differ. Some of us are
always in nirvikalpa samadhi, some engaged in philosophical
discussions, some sunk in devotion, some have taken to
work, and others seem exactly like men of the world. Which
is the best among us? Please tell us. We cannot decide
ourselves, because each thinks that his way is the best.
Thus requested, Brahma seeing their perplexity an-
swered: Best of saints! I also would like to know. There is
Parameswara who is the All-knower. Let us go and ask
202 Tripura Rahasya

him. Collecting Vishnu on their way, they went to Siva.

There the leader of the deputation, Brahma, asked Siva
about the matter. Having heard Brahma, Siva divined the
mind of Brahma and understood that the Rishis were
wanting in confidence and so that any words of his would
be useless. He then said to them: Hear me, Rishis! Neither
do I clearly see which is the method. Let us meditate on
the Goddess — Her Majesty Unconditioned Knowledge.
We shall then be able to understand even the subtlest of
truths by Her grace. On hearing these words of Siva, all of
them, including Siva, Vishnu and Brahma, meditated on
Her Divine Majesty, the Transcendental Consciousness
pervading the three states of life (waking, dream and sleep).
Thus invoked, She manifested in Her glory as the
Transcendental Voice in the expanse of pure consciousness.
They heard the Voice speak like thunder from the
skies: Speak out your minds, O Rishis! Be quick, the desires
of my devotees will always be fulfilled immediately.
21-28. Hearing the Voice, the exalted Rishis prostrated
and Brahma and the others praised the Goddess — namely
Absolute Consciousness pervading the three states of life.
Salutations to Thee! The Greatest! The Best! The
Most Auspicious! The Absolute Knowledge! The
Consciousness of the three states! The Creatrix! The
Protectress! The Dissolver in the Self! The Supreme One
transcending all! Salutations again!
There was no time when Thou wert not, because Thou
art unborn! Thou art ever fresh and hence Thou never
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growest old. Thou art all; the essence of all, the knower of
all, the delighter of all. Thou art not all. Thou art nowhere,
with no core in Thee, unaware of anything, and delighting
no one.
[Note: Since there is no ‘all’ or ‘place’ or ‘anything’ in
Her natural state, She is everything that ‘is’ and ‘is not’.]
O Supreme Being! Salutations to Thee, over and over
again, before and behind, above and below, on all sides and
everywhere.
Kindly tell us of Thy relative form and Thy transcen-
dental state, Thy prowess, and Thy identity with jnana. What
is the proper and perfect means for attaining Thee, the nature
and the result of such attainment? What is the utmost finality
of accomplishment, beyond which there remains nothing to
be accomplished? Who is the best among the accomplished
Sages? Salutations again to Thee!
29. Thus besought, the Goddess of ultimate knowledge
began with great kindness to explain it clearly to the Sages.
30. Listen, Sages! I shall categorically explain to you all
that you ask. I shall give you the nectar drawn out as the
essence from the unending accumulation of sacred literature.
31-40. I am the Abstract Intelligence wherefrom the
cosmos originates, whereon it flourishes, and wherein it
resolves, like the images in a mirror. The ignorant know
me as the gross universe, whereas the wise feel me as their
own pure being eternally glowing as ‘I-I’ within. This
realisation is possible only in the deep stillness of thought-
free consciousness, similar to that of the deep sea free
204 Tripura Rahasya

from waves. The most earnest of devotees worship me

spontaneously and with the greatest sincerity, which is
due to their love of me. Although they know that I am
their own non-dual Self, yet the habit of loving devotion
which is deep-rooted in them makes them conceive their
own Self as Me and worship Me as the life-current
pervading their bodies, senses and mind, without which
nothing could exist and which forms the sole purport of
the holy scriptures. Such is my Transcendental State.
My concrete form is the eternal couple — the
Supreme Lord and Energy — always in undivided union
and abiding as the eternal consciousness pervading the
three phenomenal states of waking, dream and sleep, and
reclining on the cot, whose four legs are Brahma (the
Creator), Vishnu (the Protector), Siva (the Destroyer) and
Ishwara (Disappearance) and whose surface is Sadasiva
(grace), which is contained in the mansion known as the
‘fulfilment of purpose’, enclosed by the garden of ‘kadamba’
trees, in the jewel island situated in the wide ocean of
nectar surrounding the cosmos and extending beyond.
Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Ishwara, Sadasiva, Ganesa,
Skanda, the gods of the eight quarters, their energies,
other gods, celestials, celestial serpents and other
superhuman beings are all manifestations of Myself.
However, people do not know Me because their intellect
is shrouded in ignorance.
41. I grant boons to those who worship Me. There is
no one besides Me worthy of worship or capable of fulfilling
all desires.
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[Commentary: All deities who receive worship and all

conceptions of God are My manifestations, because I am
pure intelligence which cannot under any circumstances
be transcended.]
42. The fruits of worship are put forth by Me according
to the mode of worship and the nature of individual desires.
I am indivisible and interminable.
43. Being non-dual and Abstract Intelligence, I spon-
taneously manifest even as the smallest detail in the
universe, and as the universe.
44. Though I manifest in diverse ways, I still remain
unblemished because absoluteness is My being. This is
My chief power, which is somewhat hard fully to
understand.
45. Therefore, O Rishis! Consider this with the
keenest of intellect. Though I am the abode of all and
immanent in all, I remain pure.
46-49. Although I am not involved in any manner
and am always free, I wield My power — called Maya. I
become covered with ignorance, appear full of desires,
seek their fulfilment, grow restless, project favourable and
unfavourable environments, am born and reborn as
individuals, until growing wiser I seek a teacher and Sage,
learn the truth from him, put it in practice and finally
become absolved. All this goes on in My pure,
uncontaminated, ever-free absolute intelligence. This
manifestation of the ignorant and the free, and of others,
is called My creation which is however, without any
accessories — My power is too vast to be described. I shall
206 Tripura Rahasya

tell you something of it in brief. It is that the cosmos is

only the obverse of the mind which is projected from
consciousness.
50. Knowledge relating to me is complex but it can
be dealt with under the two categories, dual and non-
dual, of which the former relates to worship and the latter
to realisation. On account of their intricacies, there are
many details in them leading up to different results.
51. Dual knowledge is manifold because it depends
on the concept of duality and manifests as worship, prayer,
incantation, meditation, etc., all of which are due to
nothing more than mental imagery.
52-53. Even so, they are efficacious in contradis-
tinction to daydreams, for the law of nature provides for
it. There are degrees in the efficacy of the methods, of
which the most important concerns the aspect mentioned
before (see above the concrete form of Devi). The ultimate
goal of all is certainly non-dual realisation.
[Commentary: Mental imagery cannot put forth
tangible results either directly or in successive stages. But
the imagery relating to God differs from ordinary
daydreams in that it purifies and strengthens the mind, in
order to make it fit to realise the Self. Again, the most
efficacious among the concepts of God is the one already
mentioned, namely, the eternal couple. Although it will
not directly remove ignorance, yet it will help its removal
for the resurrection of the man as a full-blown Jnani.]
54. Worship of Abstract Intelligence in a concrete
form is not only useful but essential for non-dual real-
 Chapter XX 207

isation. For how can one be made fit for it without Her
benediction.
55. Non-dual realisation is the same as pure Intel-
ligence, absolutely void of objective knowledge. Such
realisation nullifies all objective knowledge, revealing it
in all its nakedness to be as harmless as a picture of a
pouncing tiger or of an enraged serpent.
56. When the mind has completely resolved into the
Self, that state is called nirvikalpa samadhi (the undiffer-
entiated peaceful state). After waking up from it, the
person is overpowered by the memory of his experience
as the one, undivided, infinite, pure Self and he knows ‘I
am That’, as opposed to the puerile I-thought of the
ignorant. That is Supreme Knowledge (vijnana or
pratyabhijna jnana).
[Note: The advanced state of meditation is savikalpa
samadhi, where the person is aware that he has turned
away from objectivity towards subjectivity and feels his
proximity to the state of Self-realisation. When he actually
sinks within the Self, there is no knowledge apart from
the simple awareness of blissful existence. This is nirvikalpa
samadhi. Waking up, he sees the world just as any other
man does, but his outlook has become different. He is
now able to know his pure Self and no longer confounds
himself with the ego. That is the acme of Realisation.]
57. Theoretical knowledge consists in differentiating
between the Self and the non-self through a study of the
scriptures, or the teachings of a Master, or by one’s own
deliberation.
208 Tripura Rahasya

58-62. Supreme wisdom is that which puts an end to

the sense of non-self once for all. Non-dual realisation admits
nothing unknown or unknowable and pervades everything
in entirety so that it cannot in any way be transcended
(e.g., a mirror and the images). When that is accomplished,
the intellect becomes quite clear because all doubts have
been destroyed; (doubts are usually with regard to creation,
the identity of the Self and their mutual relationship) and
then the predispositions of the mind (e.g., lust, greed, anger,
etc.) are destroyed, though any remnants of these that may
remain are as harmless as a fangless viper.
63. The fruit of Self-realisation is the end of all misery
here and hereafter and absolute fearlessness. That is called
Emancipation.
[Note: There is an end of misery in sleep; but the
potentiality of misery is not ended. Realisation destroys the
cause of misery and sets the man free forever.]
64-65. Fear implies the existence of something apart
from oneself. Can the sense of duality persist after non-dual
Realisation, or can there be darkness after sunrise?
O Rishis! There will be no fear in the absence of duality.
On the other hand, fear will not cease so long as there is the
sense of duality.
66. What is perceived in the world as being apart from
the Self is also clearly seen to be perishable. What is perish-
able must certainly involve fear of loss.
67 Union implies separation; so also acquisition im-
plies loss.
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68-70. If emancipation be external to the Self, it implies

fear of loss, and is therefore not worth aspiring to. On the
other hand, moksha is fearlessness and not external to the Self.
When the knower, knowledge and the known merge
into unity, that state is totally free from fear and hence
moksha results.
Jnana (Supreme Wisdom) is the state devoid of
thoughts, will and desire, and is unimpeded by ignorance.
71. It is certainly the primal state of the knower, but
remains unrecognised for want of acquaintance with it. The
Guru and sastras alone can make the individual acquainted
with the Self.
72-77. The Self is Abstract Intelligence free from
thought. The knower, knowledge and the known are not
real as different entities. When differentiation among them is
destroyed, their true nature is evident in the resulting non-
dual consciousness, which is also the state of emancipation.
There is in fact no differentiation among the knower,
etc. The differences are simply conventions retained for the
smooth working of earthly life. Emancipation is eternal and,
therefore, here and now; it is nothing to be acquired. The
Self manifests as the knower, knowledge and the known. The
cycle of births and deaths endures with all the apparent reality
of a mountain so long as this manifestation lasts. As soon as
the manifestation is realised to consist of the Self alone with-
out any admixture of non-self, the cycle of births and
deaths comes to a standstill, and is broken down to
fragments like clouds dispersed by strong winds.
210 Tripura Rahasya

78. Thus you find that earnestness is the only requisite

for emancipation. No other requisite is needed if the
longing for emancipation is intense and unwavering.
79. What is the use of hundreds of efforts in the
absence of a real and unswerving desire for emancipation?
That is the sole requisite and nothing else.
80-81. Intense devotion signifies mental abstraction
as the devotee loses himself in the desired object. In this
particular instance, it will mean emancipation itself. For
such unwavering devotion must certainly succeed and
success is only a question of time — which may be days,
months, years, or even the next birth, according as the
predispositions are light or dense.
82-83. The intellect is ordinarily befouled by evil
propensities and so nothing good flourishes there. Conse-
quently, people are boiled in the seething cauldron of births
and deaths. Of these evil propensities, the first is want of
faith in the revelations made by the Guru and in the sastras;
the second is addiction to desires; and the third is dullness
(i.e., inability to understand the revealed truth). This is a brief
statement of them.
84-85. Of these, want of faith is betrayed by one’s doubts
regarding the truth of the statements and by failure to under-
stand them. The doubt arises whether there is moksha; and
later misunderstanding leads to its denial. These two are sure
obstacles to any sincere efforts being made for realisation.
86. All obstacles are set at nought by a determined
belief in the contrary; that is to say, a determined belief
 Chapter XX 211

regarding the existence of moksha will destroy both

uncertainty and misunderstanding.
But the question arises how this determined belief
will be possible when faith is wanting. Therefore cut at its
root. What is its root?
87-88. Want of faith has its root in unfavourable
logic. Give it up and take to approved logic as found in
holy books and expounded by a Guru. Then enlighten-
ment becomes possible and faith results. Thus ends the
first evil propensity.
89-95. The second propensity, namely desire,
prevents the intellect from following the right pursuit.
For the mind engrossed in desire cannot engage in a
spiritual pursuit. The abstraction of a lover is well known
to all; he can hear or see nothing in front of him. Anything
said in his hearing is as good as not said. Desire must
therefore be first overcome before aspiring for spiritual
attainment. That can be done only by dispassion. This
propensity is manifold, being in the forms of love, anger,
greed, pride, jealousy, etc. The worst of them is pursuit of
pleasure which, if destroyed, destroys all else. Pleasure
may be subtle or gross. Neither of these must be indulged
in, even in thought. As soon as the thought of pleasure
arises, it must be dismissed by the willpower developed
by dispassion.
96-99. In this way, the second evil propensity is
overcome. The third, known as dullness resulting from
innumerable wicked actions in preceding births, is the
212 Tripura Rahasya

worst of the series and hardest to overcome by one’s own

efforts. Concentration of mind and understanding of truth
are not possible when dullness prevails.
There is no remedy for it other than worship of the
Goddess of the Self (adoration, prayer, meditation, etc.).
I remove the devotee’s dullness according to his worship,
quickly, or gradually, or in the succeeding birth.
100-102. He who unreservedly surrenders himself to
Me with devotion, is endowed with all the requisites necessary
for Self-realisation. He who worships Me, easily overcomes
all obstacles to Self-realisation. On the other hand, he who
being stuck up does not take refuge in Me — the pure
intelligence manipulating the person — is repeatedly upset
by difficulties, so that his success is very doubtful.
103-104. Therefore, O Rishis! The chief requisite is
one-pointed devotion to God. The devotee is the best of
aspirants. The one devoted to Abstract Consciousness excels
every other seeker. Consummation lies in the discernment
of the Self as distinguished from the non-self.
105-112. The Self is at present confounded with the
body, etc. Such confusion must cease and awareness of
the Self must result as opposed to nescience in sleep.
The Self is experienced even now; but it is not
discerned rightly, for it is identified with the body, etc.
There is therefore endless suffering. The Self is not
hidden indeed; it is always gleaming out as ‘I’, but this
‘I’ is mistaken for the body, owing to ignorance. On
this ignorance ceasing, the ‘I’ is ascertained to be the
true consciousness alone; and that sets all doubts at
 Chapter XX 213

rest. This and nothing else has been ascertained by the

Sages to be the finality. Thaumaturgic powers such as
flying in space, etc., are all fragmentary and not worth
a particle of Self-realisation. For this is the unbroken
and immortal bliss of the Self in which all else is
included.
Thaumaturgic powers are also a hindrance to Self-
realisation. Of what use are they? They are but simple
acrobatic tricks. The Creator’s status appears to a Self-
realised man to be only a trifle. What use are these powers,
unless for wasting one’s time?
113. There is no accomplishment equal to Self-real-
isation, which is alone capable of ending all misery, because
it is the state of eternal Bliss.
114. Self-realisation differs from all accomplishments
in that the fear of death is destroyed once for all.
115. Realisation differs according to the antecedent
practice and, commensurate with the degree of purity of
mind, may be perfect, middling or dull.
[Note: Realisation of the Self and eternal inherence
as unbroken ‘I-I’ in all surroundings are the practices and
the fruit.]
116-119. You have seen great pandits well versed in
the Vedas and capable of chanting them quite correctly amidst
any amount of distractions. They are the best. Those who
are capable businessmen, repeat the Vedas quite correctly
when they engage in chanting them without other distrac-
tions. These are the middle class.
214 Tripura Rahasya

Whereas others are constantly chanting them and do

it well. Such are of the lowest order among pandits.
Similarly there are distinctions among the Sages also.
120-121. Some Sages abide as the Self even while
engaged in complex duties, such as ruling a kingdom (e.g.,
King Janaka); others can do so in the intervals of work;
still others can do so by constant practice alone. They are
respectively of the highest, the middle and the lowest order.
Of these, the highest order represents the utmost limit of
realisation.
122. Unbroken supreme awareness even in the dream
state is the mark of the highest order.
123. The person who is not involuntarily made the tool
of his mental predispositions, but who invokes them at will,
is of the highest order.
124. He who abides in the Self as ‘I-I’, as spontaneously
and continuously as the ignorant man does in the body, is
again of the highest order.
125. He who, though engaged in work, does not look
upon anything as non-self, is a perfect Sage.
126. He who, even while doing his work remains as if
asleep, is a perfect Sage.
127. Thus the best among the Sages are never out of
samadhi, be they working or idle.
128-133. He who is, from his own experience, capable
of appreciating the states of other Jnanis, including the
best among them, is certainly a perfect Sage. He who is
not influenced by happiness or misery, by pleasure or pain,
 Chapter XX 215

by desires, doubts or fear, is a perfect Sage. He who realises

pleasure, pain and every other phenomenon to be in and
of the Self, is a perfect Sage. He who feels himself pervading
all — be they ignorant or emancipated — is a perfect
Sage. He who, knowing the trammels of bondage, does
not seek release from them and remains in peace, is a
perfect Sage.
Those perfect among the Sages are dentical with Me.
There is absolutely no difference between us.
134. I have now told you all this in answer to your
questions. You need no longer be perplexed with doubts.
135. Having said so, Transcendental Intelligence
became silent.
Then all the Rishis saluted Siva and the other gods and
returned to their own abodes.
I have now told you the sacred Gita of pure knowledge,
which destroys all sins and purifies the mind. This Gita is the
best among Gitas because it has proceeded from Abstract
Intelligence Herself and it leads one to emancipation, on
being attentively heard and cogitated upon.
This Gita is the raft to save one from sinking in the
ocean of samsara (the cycle of births and deaths), and so it
must be read or repeated every day with love and care.
Thus ends the chapter of “Vidya Gita” in Tripura
Rahasya.

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