Self Knowledge by Adi Sankaracharya Notes

Edited and Compiled by Subhash Mahajan

4-5
The soul appears to be finite because of ignorance. When ignorance is removed, the
Self reveals Itself as the Sun becomes visible when the clouds pass away. Constant
practice of knowledge purifies the Self stained by ignorance. The practice is not
needed once the goal of Self Realization is realized, just as a cleaning powder settles
down and is not needed after cleansing the muddy water.

6-8
The world, full of attachments and aversions is like a dream. It seems real to the one
who is unawake, but is unreal to the one who is awake. Like bubbles in the water,
the worlds rise, exist, and dissolve in the Supreme Self, the cause of everything.

9-11
All objects and beings are extensions of the eternal all pervading Self whose nature
is Existence, Intelligence, and Bilss, just as all gold ornaments are made from gold.
One Self appears diverse because of its association with different conditionings.
Ideas such as caste, color, position, race, and national origin are super-imposed
upon the Self as multiple colors are superimposed on the white light as it passes
through a prism.

12-14
Each person possesses a physical body, a medium through which pleasure, pain, and
many other sensations are experienced. It is affected by one’s past actions and is
made of five elements that have undergone through a five-fold divisions and mutual
combination. Each person also possesses a subtle body. It is made of five pranas
(types of life force), ten organs (five senses and their internal counter parts), the
manas (mind), and the buddhi (intelligence), formed from the basic elements
(tanmatras) before their five-fold division and mutual combinations. Ignorance that
is indescribable and is without beginning forms the causal body.

15-16
The Self is not these three conditioned bodies. Due to the identification with the five-
sheaths, the Self appears to take their qualities as a crystal appears colorful because
of whatever is in its proximity. Through discriminative self-analysis and rational
thinking, one should separate the pure Self within from its sheaths as one separates
rice from its husk.

17-19
As one sees an object clearly reflected through a mirror, the all pervading Self shines
through the intellect upon purification. The Self is distinct from primordial nature that
forms the body, senses, mind and intellect. It witnesses their functions. For the one
who is not discriminating, the Self appears to be active, while body, mind, senses,
and intellect are acting, just as the moon appears to be moving, when in reality the
clouds are moving.

20-22
By the light of the c onsciousness, the body, senses, mind and intellect perform their
functions, just as people do their work by the light of the Sun. The ignorant lacking
in discrimination superimposes on the Self, the varied functions of the body and
senses, just as blue color is superimposed on the clear sky. As the waves in the
water are attributed to the reflecting moon, the mind, intellect, senses, and their
activities are delusively attributed to the Self.

23-25
Attachment, desire, pleasure, and pain exist as long as the intellect and mind
function. They are not experienced in deep sleep. They belong to the mind and not to
the Self. As luminosity is the nature of the Sun, coolness of water, heat of fire, so
the nature of the Self is eternity, purity, reality, consciousness, and bliss. By the
indiscriminate blending of the Existence and Knowledge aspect of the Self, and the
thought waves of the intellect, the notion of “I know” arises.

26-27
The Self does not act, and the intellect on its own cannot experience ‘I know.’ But
due to delusion, the ego thinks that we are the seer and the knower. As a person
thinking a rope to be a snake becomes fearful, so does one identifying with the ego
becomes deluded. The Self alone is our true essence that reflects through our
purified ego and intellect.

28-30
As a lamp illumines a jar, so also the Self illumines the mind and the sense organs.
The material objects cannot illumine themselves because they are inert without the
light of the Self. A lighted-lamp does not need another lamp to illumine its light. So
too, the Self that is Knowledge itself does not need any other knowledge to know it.
By a process of negation of the conditionings through the help of the scriptural
statement ‘not this, not that,’ oneness of the individual soul and the Self is realized.

31-33
The physical, subtle, and causal bodies are the objects perceived and are perishable.
Through discrimination realize that you are the pure Self separate from these bodies.
You are other than the physical body and are free from the changes such as birth,
wrinkles, senility, and death. You are not the sense objects or the sense organs. You
are not the mind and therefore, you are free from sorrow, attachment, malice and
fear, for your pure Self is without breath as stated in the Upanishads.

34-36
The Self is without attributes and actions. It is eternal and is without any desires,
thoughts, and impurities. It is changeless, formless, ever liberated, and pure. Like
the space It fills all things within and without. It is stainless, motionless, eternal,
free, indivisible, non-dual, and infinite Knowledge.

37-38
Your constant practice of “I am Self” removes ignorance and its associated agitations
from the mind, just as the medicine removes the disease. Sit in a solitary place, free
the mind from desires, control the senses, and meditate unswervingly on the Self.
39-42
The wise one should intelligently discern the Self alone in the midst of various
objects and constantly think of the Self that is not contaminated by anything. The
one who has realized the Self is no longer identified with the objects of names and
forms. He constantly dwells in the Self and realizes that his true essence is the Self.
There are no distinctions such as “Knower”, the “Knowledge” and the “Object of
Knowledge” in the supreme Self. The Self does not see any distinctions within Itself,
and It alone shines by Itself.

43-46
In the early dawn, darkness disappears as the sun rises. The divine consciousness of
the Self arises within us when the darkness has been removed through the
Knowledge. The Self is ever-present, and yet due to ignorance it is not realized. As
the ignorance is removed, the Self is realized. The Self appears to be a soul stained
with ignorance, just as a post seems to be a ghost in the dark. The ego-centric -
individuality is set aside when the real nature of the soul is realized as the Self. The
ignorance resulting form notions of ‘I,’ “Me” or ‘Mine’ is removed by the knowledge
gained through the realization of the Self.

47-49
The one who has realized the Self sees through wisdom the entire universe as his
own Self. Nothing exists besides the Self. The Self is behind the manifest world too.
As pots made of clay cannot be anything but clay, so too, an enlightened soul
perceives everything as the manifestation of the Self. A liberated one, endowed with
Self-knowledge, gives up all conditionings, abides in the Self, and realizes the Self.

50-53
After overcoming delusion and freeing oneself from likes and dislikes, the spiritual
aspirant becomes peaceful and dwells in his own realized Self. The Self-abiding
liberated one, relinquishes all his attachments to the illusory external happiness and
is satisfied with the bliss of the Self, shining within like a lamp in a jar. Though he
lives with conditionings, he has no attachments and is not concerned about anything.
Once freed from the conditionings, he is totally absorbed in the Self, the all
pervading Spirit.

54-57
The realization of the Self does not leave anything else to be known or seen, and
does not result in any future births. The Self is non-dual, infinite, eternal, indivisible,
and indivisible. Per Vedanta, it is realized after the negation of all manifest objects.

58-60
The deities experience only a portion of the unlimited bliss of the Self. All objects are
pervaded by the Self. All actions are possible because of the Self. The Self permeates
everything as butter permeates the milk. The Self is neither subtle nor gross, neither
short nor long, and is without birth, change, form, qualities, color, and name.

61-64
The light of the Self is behind the luminosity of the Sun and the Moon. Pervading the
whole universe within and without, the supreme Self shines of Itself, just as fire
permeates a red hot iron ball that glows by itself. Nothing exists that is not
permeated with the Self. If anything other than the Self appears to exist, it is unreal
and is an illusion. Everything that is perceived or heard is the Self. Upon attaining
the knowledge of this reality, one sees the world as the non-dual absolute Self.

65-68
The Self is pure Consciousness and is present everywhere but is perceived through
wisdom alone. The one who is stained with ignorance does not see the Self as the
Sun is hidden from a blind person’s eye. The soul free from impurities and purified by
knowledge shines of its own accord as the Self. The knowledge of the Self is unveiled
from within us as ignorance is removed. The Self sustains all, shines through all, and
makes everything shine. One who is free from all limitations of time and space,
worships his own omnipresent Self, becomes all-knowing and all-pervading Self, and
attains immortality.

References:
Translation by Chinmayananda