Samartha Ramdas on Pure Brahman

[Ram]

Dasbodh Chapter: 7, Sub-Chapter: 4
Explanation of Pure Brahman

|| ShriRam ||
1. Brahman is more clear than the cloudless sky that appears empty
when looking at it. Like the sky, Brahman is formless, huge, and
limitless.
2. Twenty-one heavens and seven lower-worlds (patalas) are all
contained within the sphere of creation. The limitless pure Brahman
permeates all of this.
3. Brahman is endless above and below the universe. There is no place,
or even the smallest particle that it does not permeate.
4. Brahman permeates all of the water, land, wood, and stone. Not a
single being is without it.
5. Just as water is in and around water animals, in the same way, this
pure Brahman is in and around all living beings.
6. However, this simile with water is not entirely appropriate,
because there are dry places which exist apart from water, while it is
not possible that anyone can ever go outside of Brahman.
7. If one tries to run outside of the sky, it is not possible because
the sky is always found in front of us. Similarly, there is no end to
the endless Brahman.
8. But even though it is only Brahman that we meet continuously, it is
inseparable from the body, and though it is what is closest to
everyone, it is also hidden.
9. One exists within it but does not know it. One imagines to have
understood it, but really the Absolute Reality cannot be understood
10. When clouds are seen in the sky it seems as if the sky has somehow
become muddied, or that something has been mixed into it, but that is
false, the sky remains clear and pure.
11. If one fixes one's gaze at the sky, tiny specks, like little
bubbles or droplets are seen to the eyes. Similarly, visible
appearances are unreal to the Knowledgeable (Jnanis).
12. Although it is false, it is still seen, like a dream for one who
is asleep. Only upon becoming awake does one understand that it is not
true.
13. Similarly, one becomes awakened with Self-Knowledge in one's own
experience, and thereby begins to understand the nature of Illusion.
14. Now enough of this enigmatic talk. That which is beyond the
universe will now be shown by way of explanation and selective
analysis so that it may be deeply understood.
15. Brahman is mixed in with the entire creation, permeating all
objects and diffused into every particle in existence.
16. All of creation appears in Brahman, and Brahman is in all of
creation. However, the experience of this world appearance is but a
small fraction of Brahman.
17. Only a small fraction of Brahman is within the entirety of
creation. Who can know it's boundaries outside of creation? How can
all of Brahman be contained within creation?
18. It is like trying to put the whole sky in a small pot, it is not
possible. Therefore, we say that the pot contains a small fraction of
the sky.
19. Brahman is mixed in with everything, but it is not disturbed. It
exists in everything, yet is still beyond everything.
20. Brahman is mixed in with the five elements but is also beyond them
and not limited by them, like the space that permeates the mud, yet is
not dirtied by it.
21. No simile can be given for Brahman, yet in order to understand,
the simile of the sky (space) is given and some means of explanation
are required.
22. The Upanishads and other ancient texts say that Brahman is like
the sky, so in keeping in accordance with those texts, the simile of
the sky is given for Brahman.
23. In the absence of tarnish, brass is only pure gold in color.
Similarly, in the absence of the attribute of emptiness, the sky would
be untainted pure Brahman.
24. Brahman is like the sky, and Illusion is like the wind that can be
felt but cannot be seen.
25. The creation that is formed out of words appears and dissolves
from moment to moment. Like the wind it cannot remain still.
26. Illusion is false like this, let it be as it is. Eternal Brahman
is One, yet it is seen to be permeating all things.
27. Brahman is permeating the earth but it is not hard like the earth,
and no simile can be given for its softness and subtlety.
28. Understand that water is softer than the earth, fire is softer
than water, and the wind is softer than fire.
29. Understand, that the sky, or space, is much softer and more subtle
than the wind, and that the fullness of Brahman is more subtle than
the sky.
30. Brahman has penetrated the hardest of weapons, but still its
subtlety is not lost. It is neither hard nor soft. There is no
accurate simile for it.
31. Brahman pervades the earth, but the earth is destructible and
Brahman is not. Brahman is in water, but water gets dried up, and
Brahman does not dry up.
32. Brahman is in fire but cannot be burned. Brahman is in the wind,
but it does not move. It is in the sky, but the sky is known, and
Absolute Reality cannot be known.
33. It is occupying the whole body, but it cannot be found. It is both
very near to us, yet it is far from us at the same time. How amazing
this is!
34. It is in front of us an on all sides and all seeing takes place in
it. It is Self-evident and Self-established.
35. One's self is in it alone, and only it is in and all around
oneself. If we have to give it some comparison, it can be said that it
is like the sky without anything other appearing in it.
36. It is not felt to be anything, yet it is filling everything. It is
like a great wealth that is one's own yet cannot be seen.
37. Whatever object is seen, it is prior to that. One must solve this
mystery in one's own experience.
38. Space is all around and contains all objects, yet it remains the
same even without the presence of objects. With or without the
presence the earth, the space remains the same.
39. Whatever has name and form is Illusion and non-existent. The
secret beyond name and form is known to the experienced.
40. Like a huge cloud of smoke rising into the sky takes on the
appearance of mountains, similarly, the Goddess of Illusion (Maya)
shows her trick that looks like the creation of the universe.
41. Understand that Illusion is impermanent, and that Brahman is
Eternal and spread out everywhere at all times.
42. While reading this spiritual text, Brahman is the letters and
words. It is the seeing of them as well as the subtle presence that is
in the eyes that are seeing.
43. That which hears the words when listening, that which is the mind
that sees thoughts, and that which permeates the mind through and
through, is only the Supreme Reality itself.
44. The feet that are walking, the pathway that is being walked on,
all that is encountered by the body, and all that is picked up with
the hands along the way is only Brahman.
45. Let it be like this. Everything exists in Brahman only. The
understanding of this fact is what destroys the desire for the objects
of the sense organs.
46. Brahman is that which is closest to us. If one tries to see it, it
cannot be seen, but it exists even though it is not seen.
47. Brahman can only be understood by experience. Only the absence of
the appearance of the visible leads to the Self-experience that is the
realization of Brahman.
48. Correct seeing must be with the eyes of Knowledge and not with the
physical eyes. The recognition of this correct inner-seeing is the
witness of the inner-seeing itself.
49. Understand that the one who knows both Brahman and Illusion is the
one who has the experience of being the "Witness of All," that is
called the "Fourth State," or Turya. (The first three states are the
waking, dreaming, and deep sleep states)
50. Witnessing is the instrumental cause of the attitudes of mind, or
the focus of attention. Understand that the absence of the attitudes
of mind is "no-mind" where even the awareness of oneself as an entity
is dissolved. That is called "Spiritual Knowledge," or Vidynana.
51. Where Ignorance (Avidya) has disappeared, and Knowledge (Vidya)
does not remain, and even the higher Spiritual Knowledge (Vidynana)
dissolves, this is Parabrahman, the Absolute Reality.
52. Like this, Brahman is Eternal, whereas all imagination ends.
Understand that this is the blissful solitude of the yogis.
Thus in Shri Dasbodh, a dialogue between the Guru and disciple, Sub-
Chapter 4 of Chapter 7, named "Explanation of Pure Brahman" is
concluded.