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Athmopadesha Shathakam Verse-1

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Athmopadesha Shathakam (One Hundred verses of Self-Instruction)
This is the most important purely philosophical work of Guru in the Malayalam language. Guru dictated this to his disciples Sivalinga Swami and Chaithanya Swami while camping at Aruvippuram in 1897. This work expounds the philosophy of Advaitha (Non-dualism) in his own original way, as an Upanishadic Rishi of the Age of Science.

Translation & explanation of Verse-1
Rising even above knowledge, what within the form
Of the one who knows, as equally without, radiant shines,
To that Core, with the eyes five restrained within,
Again and again prostrating in adoration, one should chant.

(“Arivilumeriyarinjidunnavan
Thannuruvilumothu purathhumujjvalikkum
Karuvinu kannukalanjumulladakki-
Theruthere veenu vanangiyothidenam”):

Explanation:
This sequence of verses, as the first verse here indicates, is a contemplative hymn or sacred scripture intended by the Guru to be sung or chanted, like the Vedas, the Quran or the Psalms of the Bible. It concerns the Self which is to be located neither inside nor outside the contemplator. Self-knowledge is to be sought introspectively with the outward-going interests restrained and directed inwards, in terms of consciousness, which can be said to be both subjective and objective at once. The prostrations here are indicated without violating the requirements of human dignity in its everyday sense.
Rising even above knowledge (Arivilumeriyarinjidunnavan) - Here the Guru refers to a central Reality which transcends the two aspects of the visible and the intelligible. In the Upanishads, paraavidya refers to the knowledge of the intelligible and aparaavidya to the visible. Paraa- Aparaa is a term used in the Upanishads too; referring to what transcends these twin aspects of knowledge. When fully realized, the wisdom of the Self would have no vestige of duality as between the source of light and light itself.
Within the form of the one who knows, as equally without (Thannuruvilumothu purathhumujjvalikkum) – The equal status given here to the subjective and objective aspects of knowledge is not an alternation as between the light within and without. The ‘substance’ as understood by the Guru is unitively conceived. Even the last vestiges of duality persisting in the notion of consciousness (eternally present) considered as a stream are here abolished by the Guru, when he underlines the perfect equality of status as between its own subjective or objective aspects.
To that Core (Karuvinu) - Core can be a substance centrally situated in an organism like its nucleus and the source of its functional side. The Core is not matter as in biology, but something more subtle as a functional basis of consciousness, which is the meeting point of outgoing and incoming conscious impulses.

With the eyes five restrained within (kannukalanjumulladakki) - Afferent impulses tend to dominate every day consciousness through the outward directed attention fixed on objects of interest succeeding one another in cyclic succession, depending on biological or other urges normal to living beings. A detachment from the empirical world and a state of mind resembling that of pure mathematics is implicit in all contemplation.

One should chant (Theruthere veenu vanangiyothidenam) - No obligation to chant is here implied. Pure philosophy, as in the Upanishads and the Gita, is distinguished by its perfect freedom from any trace of obligation. This composition is a work that treats philosophy and religion unitively and has the characteristics of both Veda and Vedanta. What would be good philosophically to understand should be good to apply or adopt into one’s way of life. The duality of sruthis (heard wisdom teachings) and smrithis (the ones remembered from the teachings) is here brought together by the Guru in his treatment of the subject of Self-Realization and the yogic disciplines that form an inseparable part of it in reality.
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