Books and Essays
by S N Sastri

Biography

S.N.Sastri was born in Kerala, India, on 27th June 1922. After taking an M.A. Degree in Mathematics, he joined the Internal Revenue Service of the Government of India as an Income-Tax Officer in 1944. He rose to the position of Member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the apex body entrusted with the administration of the Direct Tax laws in India. He retired from service in June 1980. After retirement he studied advaita vedAnta under two eminent traditional scholars in Chennai, India.

Bibliography

S.N. Sastri has authored the following books:

• Commentary in English on nArAyaNiyam, a famous literary-cum-devotional work in Sanskrit by the devotee-poet MelpathUr nArAyaNa BhaTTatiri who lived in Kerala in the 16th century A.D. (Published by Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, Mumbai, 1972; second edition published in January 2005. It contains the verses in Devanagari script, word-by-word meaning, and detailed explanatory notes bringing out the vedAntic import of the verses.)
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• Commentary in English on shatashlokI of Shri ShankarAchArya. (Published by the author.)


• Commentary in English on HastAmalakIyam of HastAmalaka, one of the four disciples of Shri Shankara. (Published by the author.)


• English translation of SiddhAntabindu of MadhusUdana Sarasvati. (Published by Adi Sankara Advaita Research Centre, Chennai.)


• Edited the English translation of a monumental commentary in MalayAlam on nArAyaNIyam. (Published by The Bhaktaranjini Trust, Bangalore, 1994.)

Links & Downloads

The following may be read online from this site or downloaded:

pa~nchadashI of shrI vidyAraNya svAmi

• Introduction - Sri Vidyaranya Swami flourished in the fourteenth century A.D. He was the guru as well as the Prime Minister of Harihara I and Bukka, the founders of the Vijayanagara Kingdom. He is reputed to be the greatest among post-Sankara Advaitins. He was the head of the Sringeri Sarada Pitha established by Sri Adi Sankara Bhagavatpada from 1377 to 1386 A.D. Panchadasi is one of the works attributed to him. This work is so named because it consists of fifteen chapters. It is a comprehensive manual of advaita vedAnta. The fundamental teachings of advaita are presented in this work in a clear and lucid manner. It is therefore the best text for the novice who desires to get acquainted with this philosophy...


• Chapter 1 Tattvaviveka - The Discriminative Knowledge of the Ultimate Reality: in the first verse of the first chapter Sri Vidyaranya salutes his Guru, Sri Sankarananda, who 'dedicated his life to the task of destruction of the monster of primal ignorance together with its manifestation, the phenomenal universe.' This verse serves also as a prayer to the Supreme Being for the successful completion of the work, since the name 'Sankarananda' also means the supreme brahman who is bliss itself...


• Chapter 2 Mahabhutaviveka - The Discriminative Knowledge of the Five Elements: brahman, the non-dual reality, can be known by discriminating it from the five elements. To enable this, the five elements are first described. The element ether has only one quality, sound. The element air has sound and touch as its qualities. The element fire has sound, touch and colour. The element water has sound, touch, colour and taste. The element earth has sound, touch, colour, taste and smell. These elements are perceived by the corresponding five organs of perception...


• Chapter 3 Panchakosaviveka - The Discrimination of the Five Sheaths: The Taittiriya Upanishad describes brahman or the Self as 'hidden in the cave'. The 'cave' is the five sheaths known as annamayakosa (physical sheath), prANamayakosha (the sheath of the vital airs), manomayakosa (the mental sheath), vij~nAnamayakosha (the sheath of the intellect) and Anandamayakosa (the sheath of bliss). The outermost is the physical sheath or the gross physical body or sthula sarira. Within it are the vital, mental and intellect sheaths, in that order. These three sheaths together constitute the subtle body or the sUkShma sarira. The innermost sheath is the sheath of bliss. This is the causal body or kAraNa sarira...


• Chapter 4 Dvaitaviveka - Discrimination of Duality: In this chapter the duality created by Isvara and that created by the jIva are described and differentiated. This will show what is the cause of bondage and what has to be rejected by the aspirant for liberation. The Svetasvatara Upanishad says (iv.10): 'Know mAyA to be prakRRiti and brahman associated with mAyA as Ishvara.' Isvara is the Creator of the Universe. The Aitareya Upanishad says that before creation there was Atman (i.e. brahman) alone. He willed, 'Let me create,' and He created the world by His will. The Taittiriya Upanishad says that from the Self or brahman arose in succession ether, air, fire, water, earth, vegetation, food and bodies. Isvara willed, 'Let me become many, let me create,' and meditated and thus created the universe...


• Chapter 5 MahAvAkyaviveka - Understanding the import of the �mahAvAkya-s�: In this chapter the meaning of four mahAvAkya-s from the four vedas is explained. The first mahAvAkya taken for explanation is �praj~nAnam brahma� (aitareya upaniShad (3.1.1) in the rigveda). This means that brahman is pure consciousness. It is because of this consciousness that all creatures are able to see, hear, smell, speak and distinguish different tastes. The same consciousness enlivens gods, men and all other creatures. This consciousness is brahman. The next mahAvAkya is �aham brahma asmi� (bRRihadAraNyaka upaniShad (1.4.10) in the shukla yajurveda), which means �I am brahman�. The infinite, supreme brahman, which, as the indwelling Self of all, is the witness of all the functions of the intellect, is known as �I�. The person who has acquired the necessary qualifications such as control of the senses, control of the mind, total detachment towards all pleasures and an intense yearning for liberation is fit to realize his identity with this Self...


• Chapter 6 CitradIpa - The Picture on Pure Consciousness: The supreme Self is explained by comparison with the canvas on which a picture is drawn. Just as there are four stages in the painting of a picture, there are four stages in the apparent modification of the supreme Self. In the painting of a picture the four stages are, a clean white canvas, the canvas stiffened with starch, the canvas with outlines drawn on it with a black pencil, and the canvas with colours applied to the picture. The corresponding four stages with regard to the Self are, pure Consciousness, Consciousness as the indwelling controller in all beings, Consciousness as associated with the totality of subtle bodies, and Consciousness as associated with the totality of gross bodies...


• Chapter 7 tRiptidIpa - Fulfillment on Realization of Pure Consciousness: The bRRihadAraNyaka upaniShad (4.4.12) says that a person who has realized that he is the pure Self (brahman) will not afflict his body for the fulfillment of any desire. This statement is analyzed thoroughly in this chapter to enable us to understand the state of perfect bliss of a liberated person. Ishvara and the jIvas are both reflections of brahman in mAyA. The whole universe is the creation of Ishvara and the jIvas. From the determination of Ishvara to create, down to his entrance into the created objects, is the creation of Ishvara. (The term �entrance� means only the presence of Ishvara as the antaryAmI or inner controller in all jIvas). From the waking state up to liberation, which constitutes �samsAra�, is the creation of the jIva...


• Chapter 8 kUTasthadIpa - The Lamp of Immutable Consciousness: In this chapter, kUTastha or pure Consciousness, which is eternal and immutable, is being distinguished from the reflection of pure Consciousness in the modifications of the mind (vRRitti) with the help of an example. When the rays of the sun fall on a wall, the wall is illumined and looks bright, though by itself the wall has no brightness. When the rays of the sun fall on a mirror and the rays reflected from the mirror fall on the wall, the wall looks even brighter. Similarly, because of the presence of pure Consciousness within, the physical body acquires sentiency....


• Chapter 9 dhyAnadIpa - Meditation on Pure Consciousness: According to the teachings of vedAnta, a person who has acquired the four preliminary requisites, namely, discrimination between the eternal and the ephemeral, total dispassion towards all pleasures in this world and in higher worlds, the spiritual disciplines such as control of the mind, control of the senses, etc., and intense yearning for liberation, attains liberation through hearing of the scriptures from a guru, and reflecting and meditating on them...


• Chapter 10 nATakadIpa - The Lamp of the Theatre: The supreme Self is compared to the lamp, which lights the stage in a theatre. The lamp illumines the empty stage before the play starts; it illumines the play when it is in progress; and after the play is over and there is no one on the stage, the lamp continues to illumine the empty stage. Similarly, the supreme Self which is self-luminous exists before the origination of the universe, during the period of appearance of the universe, and also after the dissolution of the universe...


• Chapter 11 YogAnanda - The Bliss Of Yoga: On the attainment of the bliss of brahman one becomes free from all present and future miseries. He who realizes that he is the supreme Self and remains established in that realization becomes free from all fear; but he who perceives even the slightest difference from the Self is overcome by fear...


• Chapter 12 AtmAnanda - The Bliss of the Self: Love of the means to happiness shifts from one object to another, but love of one�s own Self ever remains the same. Even when a person desires to end his life because of poverty, disease, humiliation or any other reason, it is the body that he wants to get rid of and not the Self. Thus the Self is the dearest to every one...


• Chapter 13 advaitAnanda - The Bliss of Non-Duality: The taittirIya upaniShad says that the world is born from bliss, it abides in bliss and finally merges in bliss. This bliss is the same as brahman. brahman is thus the material cause of the world...


• Chapter 14 vidyAnanda - The Bliss of Knowledge: The happiness arising from external objects is a modification of the intellect. Similarly, the bliss arising from the realization of brahman is also a modification of the intellect. This bliss has four aspects: absence of sorrow; the fulfillment of all desires; the satisfaction of having done all that had to be done; and the feeling of having attained the goal of life...


• Chapter 15 viShayAnanda - The happiness from External Objects: Mental modifications (vRRitti) are of three kinds�calm (sattvic), agitated (rajasic) and dull (tamasic). The sattvic modifications are detachment, forbearance and generosity. The rajasic modifications are craving, attachment, greed, and the like. The tamasic modifications are delusion, fear, etc. The Consciousness aspect of brahman is reflected in modifications of all kinds, but the bliss aspect is reflected only in sattvic modifications...

Other essays:

• Elucidation of Terms and Concepts in Vedanta: Downloadable pdf (558kb)


• Brahman cannot be described by any word whatsoever: Taittiriya Upanishad (2.9.1) says that words turn back along with the mind, failing to reach Brahman. Sri Shankara points out in shloka 10 of his dashashlokI that none of the words such as �one�, �absolute�, etc., can be used to denote Brahman. The shloka is: 'It is not one; how can there be a second different from it? It has neither absoluteness nor non-absoluteness. It is neither void nor non-void since it is devoid of duality. How can I describe that which is established by the entire Vedanta!�


• Reason for vRRitti at the location of the object: According to vedAnta paribhAshA, perceptual knowledge (pratyakSha j~nAnam) arises when the Consciousness limited by the mental mode (vRRitti) coincides with the Consciousness limited by the object. The theory is that the mind goes out through the visual organ to the place of the object and takes the form of the object there. This is a vRRitti.


• The meaning of the mahAvAkya 'tat tvam asi': It is stated in vivekachUDAmaNi, shloka 243 (the shloka numbers differ slightly in different editions) that the words �tat� and �tvam� indicate brahman and Atman (or the individual Self) respectively. But this is not on the basis of the primary meanings of the two words, but on their implied meanings...

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