Sadhana Panchakam – Fifth Verse 5

Fifth Verse

ekaante sukha maasyataam paratare cetah samaadheeyataam
purnaatmaa susameekshyataam jagad idam tad-baadhitam drishyataam
praakkarma pravilaapyataam chitibalaan naapyuttaraih shlishyataam
praarabdham tviha bhujyataam atha parabrahmaatmanaa stheeyataam

Translation

ekaante= in solitude, when alone; sukham = happiness; aasyataam= flow; paratare = in supreme self; cetah = mind; samaadheeyataam = shall be absorbed; purna= absolute, complete, all-pervading; aatma= self; susameekshyataam = examined, inquired, investigated, understood; jagad idam = all this world; tat = by That; badhitam = troubled; drishyataam = shall be seen; praakkarma = pask karma; pravilaapyataam = shall be completely dissolved; chitibalaat = by mental strength or resolve; na = not; api = also; uttaraih = future karma or agami karma; shlishyataam = attached, associated; praarabdham = prarabdha karma or ripened karma; thu = and; iha = in this world; bhujyataam = exhausted, consumed; atha = then; parabrahma = supreme Brahman; atmanaa = in the self; stheeyataam = shall remain established.

Meaning

In solitude, let happiness be flowing. Let the mind be always absorbed in the supreme Brahman. Let the absolute self be examined. Let the world be perceived as troubled by That. Let the past karma be dissolved. With mental resolve, let there be no attachment to future karma. Let the ripened karma be expended. Then, let yourself be established in the supreme Brahman

Explanation

This verse is about the rules which the renunciants are expected

In the first verse we learn about study and preparation for a life of renunciation and spiritual practice. The second verse is about spending time with good natured, god-loving people and finding a guru for initiation and guidance. The third verse is about learning and contemplation. In the fourth verse, the focus is upon how to deal with the world and people amidst the dualities of the world such as heat and cold when one goes on daily rounds begging for food. In this verse we learn how one can live in solitude and practice self-purification to get rid of all past, present and future karmas so that one can enter the world of Brahman and stay there forever.

This is the five-step practice which is briefly presented in Sadhana Panchakam in 40 practical instructions. Through them one goes on an exhilarating and transformative journey in which one progresses from worldly life into intense spiritual life, from extroversion into introversion, and enjoying the world into enjoying the solitude in the silence of the mind and contemplation of Brahman. The fivefold practice will ground the practitioners in the reality of Brahman as the all-pervading self, by changing their knowledge and perspective about themselves and the world in which they live through a self-cleansing process, neutralizing their karmas to escape from samsara.

Although, Shankara summarized the whole process in five simple verses, the practice is not as simple as it appears. It involves a lifetime of effort, sacrifice, and endurance of pain and suffering. Only a few can emerge from them with the light of the Brahman shining in them. However, spiritual practice is never in vain. If there is a setback, one may return to it later, in this life or next, and continue the effort. This must be assuring to many since in today’s world it is difficult to abide in spiritual life or live in solitude when the whole world is witnessing an unprecedented revolution in materialism and worldly enjoyment due to the advances in our knowledge, reach, science and technology.

1. In solitude, let happiness flow

2. Fix your mind in the transcendental self

3. Inquire into the absolute self

4. See the world as troubled by That

5. Dissolve the Prakkarma

6. With mental resolve free yourself from future karma

7. Resolve the prarabdha karma

8. Then, become established in the transcendental Self