TRUTH REVEALED (SAD VIDYA) in 40 verses

Synopsis

(i) Reality is at once Being and Consciousness. To know That is to be that in the Heart, transcending thought.

(ii) Absolute surrender to the Supreme Lord, whereby the 'I' and 'mine' are destroyed is the means to realize immortality.


1. The Supreme Being, the one ultimate Cause of the universe manifests Himself as many which do not exist apart from Him.

2. Any dispute regarding the nature of manifestation can arise only so long as there is the ego. To destroy the ego and Be as the Self is the Supreme method of attainment.

3. Since the one aim is to realize the Self by destroying the ego, to engage oneself in verbal wrangling about the nature of the world is but vain.

4. To him who is one with the formless Self, everything is formless.

5. Existence of the world is merely relative to the sentient body.

6. The world is really a synonymous with the mind.

7. Since it is knowledge that illumines the world, the former is ulterior to the latter. That Knowledge is alone real which ever remains changeless.

8. Worship under name and form is only a means to realize one's absolute identity with the Nameless and Formless.

9. He alone that has realized the Self in the Heart has known the Truth. Having transcended the dualities, etc, is never perplexed.

10. That alone is True Knowledge which reveals the Self through the enquiry "To whom pertains the interdependent pair - of knowledge and ignorance?"

11. Self knowledge in which both knowledge and phenomenon fall off is alone True Knowledge because the Self is the Source of all. To know all else except the Knower is but ignorance.

12. The Self being Knowledge Absolute, it is neither knowing nor not knowing. It can never be nescience.

13. The Self being one and universal, knowledge of diversity is but ignorance which too is not apart from the Self.

14. On enquiry as to the nature of the 'I', knowledge of diversity is but ignorance which depends on the 'I'. The Self alone then shines as the one Reality.

15. Since past and future have never been without the present, to know the eternal Now is to know the Truth.

16. The changeless infinite Self transcends time and space, which are relative to the body and the mind.

17. To the ignorant the 'I' is the self limited to the body; to the Wise the 'I' is the Self Infinite.

18. To the ignorant the world is the sole self existent reality; to the Wise that formless infinite Being which underlies the world is the one Reality.

19. The Sage who has realized the Self transcends both free will and destiny with which only the ignorant are concerned.

20. God is none other than the Self. To see the Self, having destroyed the ego is to see God; all else is but a vision of the mind.

21. The Self is one and is identical with the Lord. In order to see the Self or to see the Lord, the ego must get consumed and lost, having surrendered itself to the Supreme Being.

22. The Lord shines as the source of the mind. To turn the mind within towards that Source and to abide therein steadfastly is the only way to seek the Lord.

23. Seek within the Source of the 'I' which cannot pertain to the body but with which rise all other things.

24. The ego is the subtle bond between the un-Self-conscious body and the Absolute Self-conscious Reality.

25. The ego is verily a ghost with no form of it's own - but feeding on any form it holds, which when sought for takes to flight.

26.Since with the rise of the ego all else rises and with it's subsidence all else subsides, to destroy the ego through Self-enquiry is alone true renunciation.

27. The Self-conscious Being of 'I'-lessness is That which is one's true State realized by destroying the ego through Self-enquiry.

28. With breath and speech controlled and with a one pointed mind one should dive deep within and reach the Source whence rises the 'I'.

29. To dive thus within is alone Atma-vichara (Self-enquiry). Meditation on a precept concerning the nature of the 'I' is merely an aid thereto.

30. On reaching the Heart, Atma Vichara, the one continuous Self awareness or 'I-I' reveals itself as the Perfect Being, whereupon the 'I' subsides and is lost.

31. For the one who has realized that State of Perfect Being which is verily the inherent Bliss indescribable of the Self Absolute, nothing else remains yet to accomplish.

32. Even as the Srutis (scriptures) declare, one is and ever has been That alone. One should therefore abide as That. Instead thereof, merely to meditate on the nature of the 'I' is a confession of one's mental weakness.

33. The Self is one; and Self knowledge is unique in that the knowing Self is itself the known Self. It can never become a known or unknown object.

34. To be as the Self in the Heart is supreme Wisdom. All verbal wrangling about the nature and existence of the Self is but the play of maya (the world illusion that makes one think of the real as unreal and the unreal as real).

35. To abide as the eternal self-existent Reality is the Siddhi Supreme (highest spiritual state). All other Siddhis (spiritual powers) are as unreal as a dream. The Sage awake to the Self is never concerned with them.

36. Since one is ever the Supreme Reality and nothing else, it is superfluous to affirm it in thought or by speech. Such affirmation can be an aid only to rid onese;f of the notion 'I' am the physical body.

37. Advaita (non-dualism) being the Supreme Truth, it cannot become contrary to itself (that is become dvaita - dualistic) during sadhana (living application of spiritual principles).

38. If one considers oneself as the karta (the doer), one has to reap also the fruits of the three-fold karma. When the ego is destroyed through Self-enquiry, there is neither the karta (doer) nor the three-fold karma. The ever-present State of Liberation alone remains.

39. The notions of bondage and liberation are correlative and co-existent. On enquiry "Who is bound?", the notion of bondage vanishes and so does that of Liberation. The One eternally Free alone remains Self-revealed.

40. Questions regarding the nature of Liberation can arise only so long as there is individuality. Dissolution of this individuality is alone true Liberation eternally attained.

The above insights of Sri Ramana Maharshi are known among spiritual seekers the world over and prized for their great inspirational power, which transcends all religious differences. Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879 - 1950), was one of the greatest spiritual teachers of modern day India. At the age of seventeen he attained a profound experience of the true infinite Self without the guidance of a Guru and thereafter remained conscious of his identity wth the Infinite (also labelled as Holy Spirit, Brahman, Allah, Buddha nature, Tao, soul, etc) at all times. After some years of silent seclusion he finally began to reply to questions put to him by spiritual seekers all over the world. He followed no particular path or traditional system of teaching, but rather spoke directly from his own experience of non-duality. Sri Ramana Maharshi wrote virtually nothing; his teaching took the form of conversations with visitors seeking his guidance (as transcribed by followers), the brief instructions he left with his followers and a few songs. His method of instruction was to direct the questioner again and again to his true self and to recomment, as a path to realization, a tireless form of self-inquiry featuring the question "Who am I?" .