I didn’t know much about Adi Sankaracharya until recently when we went on the Narmada Parikrama, a 3500 km walking pilgrimage. Adi Sankaracharcya lived around the 8th century AD and is considered to be responsible for consolidating many of the ideas which are today known as Hinduism. The advaita vedanta philosophy or rather the advaita vedanta way of being can be traced to Adi Sankaracharya.
At the age of 8, a young boy left home in the pursuit of the eternal question, “who am I” and on the banks of Narmada River he encountered a sage who asked this boy the same question. In reply, the young boy who went on to be known as Adi Sankaracharya recited the Nirvanashtakam (also called Atma shatkam). Isha Foundation’s rendition has really inspired me which led me to try and understand the meaning. And this process led me to make the following:
I don’t really know Sanskrit but find the mantras/chants very powerful and I try learn it through these chants. There are 6 shlokas in the Nirvana-shtakam and each is painted out in one image. There is a slide show you can scroll through and below, am providing the entire text in english.
Rishi asks the young boy, “Who are you?”
Adi Sankaracharya replies:
Neither am I the mind, not the intelligence or ego.
Neither am I the organs of hearing, nor that of tasting, smelling or seeing.
Neither am I the sky nor the earth, neither the fire nor the air.
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, the ever pure blissful consciousness.
Neither am I the vital breath nor the five vital airs.
Neither am I the seven ingredients of the body, nor the five sheaths of the body.
Neither am I the organs of speech nor the organs of holding (hand) or movement (feet) or excretion.
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, the ever pure blissful consciousness.
Neither do I have hatred/ill-will nor attachment; neither greed nor infatuation
Neither do I have pride, nor feelings of envy or jealousy
I am not within the bounds of Dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (desires) and moksha (liberation) [the four purusharths of life]
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, the ever pure blissful consciousness.
Neither am I bound by merits nor sins, neither by worldly joys nor by sorrows
Neither am I bound by sacred hymns nor by sacred places,
neither by sacred scriptures nor sacrifices
I am neither enjoyment (experience), nor an object to be enjoyed (experienced),
nor the enjoyer (experiencer)
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, the ever pure blissful consciousness.
Neither am I bound by death and its fear, nor by the rules of caste and its distinction
Neither do I have a father and mother, nor do I have birth
Neither do I have relations nor friends, neither spiritual teacher nor disciple,
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, the ever pure blissful consciousness.
I am without any variation and without any form
I am present everywhere as the underlying substratum of everything, and behind all senses
Neither do I get attached to anything nor get freed from anything.
I am the ever pure blissful consciousness,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, the ever pure blissful consciousness.
I don’t know if there can be anything else that can be said but after reading this some one may feel that if everything is negated, it is such a nihilistic or negative point of view. Anyone who feels the same, I’d just like to add a note that this negation comes from an extremely positive space, a space of light. It does not shun life. It just dissolves the notion of self or ‘I’.
Every thing and every one is perfect as it is and as they are. The all-pervading joy or bliss (as mentioned in the 6th stanza) comes from deep within. One can call this the self/ god/ peace. Negation of every other thing/sheath reveals this light, this inner god.
Prayers and best wishes.
