Sankaracarya's Vivekachudamani 397

जहि मलमायाकोशेऽहंधियोत्थापिताशां

प्रसभमनिलकल्पे लिङ्गदेहेऽपि पश्चात् ।

निगमगदितकीर्तिं नित्यमानन्दमूर्तिं

स्वयमिति परिचीय ब्रह्मरूपेण तिष्ठ ॥

jahi malaMāyākośe'haṃdhiyotthāpitāśāṃ

prasabhamanilakalpe liṅgadehe'pi paścāt |

nigamagaditakīrtiṃ nityamānandamūrtiṃ

svayamiti paricīya brahmarūpeṇa tiṣṭha ||

(Sankaracarya's Vivekachudamani 397)

First give up the desires generated by the sense of 'I' in the physical body, a bundle of filth; then, with great persistence, do the same with the subtle body. Realizing Brahman—the personification of eternal Bliss--which the scriptures eulogize as your own Self, live as Brahman.

The maya is explained very nicely in the Bhagavata, yathabhaso yatha tamah. Just like the sun is reflected in the water, and the light is reflected again on the wall. This is the exact explanation of maya. Reality, this material world, the man who manufactured all these things, nobody knows where he has gone, but these things are taken as reality. This will be also finished. It will remain as relics, like Rome, relics, but when it was..., the houses were prepared with great enthusiasm as reality. And now it is as relics. So the energy expended for manufacturing those houses, that is also Maya, and now they are being visited as relics. That is also maya. So all these things are mayara vaibhava, expansion of maya.

Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke. According to Vedic literature, this body is prepared in three elements: fire, water, and clay. So I am not the combination of fire, water, and clay. Then I am this house, I am this room. So yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke [SB 10.84.13]. So basic principle of my knowledge is false, that I am considering this material body as "I am." And if the basic principle is wrong, then, in relationship with this body, because I am born in this land of America... "I am born" means my body is born. Or because my body is born from another body, my father and mother, so I think that "This body is my kinsman, and this country is mine," and so on. But the basic principle is false, that "I am considering, falsely identifying myself with this body. But I am within this body." That is a fact. And how can I understand how I am within this body? I can understand I am within this body by my feeling. If there is some pain or pleasure on my body, I can feel it. I am conscious that I am there. In consciousness, I am there. And what is this consciousness? This consciousness is the reflection of real myself. Myself means soul. So as soon as the soul is within this body, there is the perception of pains and pleasure, heat and cold, and so many things. That is consciousness. And as soon as the soul is out of this body, there is no more pain, pleasure, or heat and cold. A dead body, if you cut it into pieces, it will not protest. Therefore the soul, or consciousness, the symptom of soul, consciousness, is my self. My consciousness is the symptom of my real self. Similarly, there is another consciousness.

God-consciousness, should be taught from the very beginning of education. This is the greatest drawback of modern education, that not only in your country or any country they have completely neglected what is meant by God. And in India, they are especially... Now, as soon as there is any question of God, they see phobia: "Oh, this is all nonsense." They have become so clever.