Hindu Vedic Philosophy (The Paramardha Tattwam)

Translated from the Telugu by

C.P. Brown

[1829]

 

Translated from the Telugu Verses

By not knowing clearly the corporal frame that exists in the external frame, those that are without become outcast. To know that external that is within this external--this is Divine knowledge.
All matter is concreted in the world and all is again resolved into space. That which we call the Divinity if we comprehend it, beatitude shall be manifested to us.
If thou make the face of the heaven and thy own face to be one and manifest the true nature of the external figure of the divinity, thou shalt by knowing outward external attain bliss. (loose version, the original being more obscure).
All connections are produced in this world; they are not aboriginal; and those ties shall again be resolved into primordial matter--view this well, if these connections be doomed to become resolved into space, then the path to beatitude is found to be in void (paraphrase).

The god knows him who is in the eye pupil: behold in the sky, Him who is in the pupil. The eye and the sky become the sky of the heart.
A man must become eternal by knowing the source of truth; and learning carefully the inmost word (the signification of the scriptures or upanishads) consider who that word is and closely view it.
If thou know the five lettered name of Namassiva thou knowest the supreme! If thou know the supreme, thou shalt for ever shine. He who shines glorious becometh the Spirit.
If the unborn enters our inner man as we meditate, we shall attain beatitude, but never shalt thou attain it by gazing on external shapes.

If by holding the Linga we become resolved into primitive nature, gazing on our bodies, we shall be happy. But men will not know the signification of the Linga, and thereby attain that coalescence. (Observe this curious grammatical construction)
The teacher, the image of Siva, compounded the three worlds into one, and combined the six worlds; thus he remains firm (these nine worlds, or regions are the nine mystic chacras of the human form).
If, ignorant of the postures thou learn not of thy teacher, their secret force (murma & curma) and fix not thy heart how shalt thou become of the second birth? (Dwija signifying a Brahmin, means, reform-regenerate)
The body is the Mundane Egg; what is called soul is air. The eyes are the moon and sun in our estimation. Where is there a Divinity beyond this? Ye are gods in your own estimation.

We are born in air and grown in air. Understand the order of blessing in the air. For, from air is born that air of the soul which is our essence.
He who has himself become the universe and knows that the great whole dwells in him and who has learned to unite his inner man with all that is external this man while yet on earth, has attained perfection.
Meditate on the thought that is within our thought and know it; this thou must do in the appropriate mode by giving up all thy other thoughts. The thought of thought is essence (tatwa); it is soul (or it is the essential spirit).
Connection originates in this outward world. Let it be resolved again into universe. If we resolve it fairly into universe, this is the path to happiness.

If thou become the universe, the great all shall shine resplendent in thee, that man who knoweth the god who shineth within him shall hereby attain beatitude.
If thou canst see that the all is one, thou shalt attain a sure knowledge of God; thy eye-lid shall not close night or day. Behold that great spirit that is the light of light.
Unless thy outward form be (humbled) mortified thou shall not see the living form. But who is able to mortify that outward form? Unless the creation be destroyed, we cannot behold the creation.
All fear belongs to the body; If we quit fear the certainly we shall attain will be that of the great spirit; the only destruction shall be that of the body. Teach men that victory is the property of the soul.

The yogee who knows the one letter (Om) shall know the (param) Deity, beholding him and attain his nature. He shall himself become the forms in which the Deity exists and all the rest of the creation, becoming a particle of the primeval unity.
The yogee who raiseth his palms aloft fixeth his feet, fixeth his gaze full on heaven becometh hereby part of the universe and attaineth length of days.
Consider that fire, and air, and all worlds exist in the body at their proper places. Then touch and behold the Teacher in thy mind.
If thou quit not the hopes of the place above and devise a mode attain it, thou shalt arrive therein, that place and thou shalt be united, and thou shalt become the self-existent Deity.

He is himself metamorphosed into the worship and into the worshipper that performs adoration. He becomes himself sacrificial implement. Wherever he performs worship he becomes himself (Omnipresent). He is myself, and I myself am, he.
All that is born on the earth was born in the earth. All reality is born in the body. The great whole is produced from toil . Let us ourselves become that mighty whole.
If the soul be closely united with the body though it be devout, unless it quits, the body is not blessed. Through the body must we attain the abode of beatitude.
If thou know that the prime existent is single and fix thy mind on that prime, never quitting the prime thou shalt become the unborn. He that path quitted the prime is like to the blind.

Without making distinctions of situations (lit, without saying there or here) as we behold all things, the god (Vishnu) ever views and comprehends all things. The circumambient (God Vishnu) goes around the orbit of the world.
By considering forms thou shalt attain the unseen and thy form shall assimilate to his. Devoid of both these (i.e., body and mind) become thus invisible. (loose version)
By viewing thyself inwardly, thou shalt become the joy of the world. By viewing what is external, thou shalt be immersed in earthly connections. By beholding thyself, the divinity shall become thy salvation.
That divinity who is our rescue is attained by deep thought. If thou comprehend him by meditation thou shalt become that being, If thou know the thought of thought, thou shalt become it.

All those who possess pure wisdom gaze of the Mundane Oval. If thy mind be pure, thou shalt ever gaze on the admirable pindanda universe of the body.
Being born in a human generation and grown up in it, if, after becoming a man, a man cries scorn on the line of men, and (become a Haracula) becomes a participator in the nature of Siva; he shall become Siva.
The devotee who knoweth the great secret walketh with out considering the burning sunshine, he shall live to all time on the earth. Is the attainment of wisdom in the power of a glutton?
To nourish our bodies let us cease from all mental occupation and by the aid of the living being let us daily rove free from care. By considering our bodies, we shall perceive that the Divine soul permanently resides within us.

In the one body of the universe there are forms innumerable. How many forms shine in it! When they perish all shall become one whole. Thus is the nature of spirit. (This ataveladi has four versions).
(A difficult verse in pure Telugu)
It is only one man here and there who can try and explain the second birth of (yatees) the recluse with extreme exactitude. It is an extraordinary qualification; sense is more stable than even worship.
Where is heaven for that soul full of cupidity, that thinks his body is his own self and entangled in his own (vāsana, smell) attractions ensnared in repeated births and deaths. Ignorant of all matter wallows in lusts.
He who grips his foot in the palm of his hand and with an eye fixed on heaven stands firm. He shines transformed into the universe and shall live long.

Those voluptuaries who forget their thoughts and principles (i.e., themselves; lit. chitta is the faculty of doubt and buddhi that of assurance) are given up to vain confidence and cannot collect their whole attention and fix it on Siva. They shall never attain bliss (terribly difficult).
How should those who imagine themselves to be one with their body, and who remain immersed in the ocean of the cursed three attachments (to wife, son and wealth) attain the knowledge (sangati) of the truth (moksham).
He exists in the shape of the universe and is the general soul. He is the all witnessing spirit. He hath truly converted.. himself into the soul. Look at the universal world. He is himself all and even exists in truth.
He that has seen is greater than who has heard. But he that possesses Him is greater than who hath beheld. Greatest of the noble is he in the earth.

It thou firmly fix the idea of the divinity in the mind, and establish thyself in the temple of the body, thou shalt be firm in the earth and attain the inner vision.
If thou excuse that life (jiva tatwa) that possesses the marks of vitality, to be united to the teacher, he is greater than the life. He who thus restrains the body is himself.
The great whole exists within us. If we know that we are, if, by this means of salvation in this soul shall the man who thus walks attains heaven.
If a man be converted into his intrinsic self in the midst of all external he would contract no alienation. I swear by my father. If we were converted into self how should we entertain any anxiety?

If he be himself prudent cautiously will he save himself, and in every manner he considers himself as the great spirit.
If he knows that he is himself the universe and the universe himself; that he is himself all essence, if, knowing this he fails to walk accordingly, there is no salvation for that map.
(Pure Sanskrit) Water, earth, fire, sky, air--it is well known that these compose the world. The natural body, the invisible form, the body of delusion, if thought on, are the basis of all.
To say I will not this (i.e., wish not for it) and still not to leave it but remain entangled in the desire of things convenient nor quit them. This is origin of worldliness.
p. 50
If the face and name are unalterable, the name and the face are both implicated in our acts. It would be well if we could lose both our name and face.
The devotee to Siva who understands all the properties of the body, shall not entangled in desire and deceived to his ruin. How should a juggler be ensnared by any man?
The exalted sages have declared in the earth that when through instruction a man relinquishes the desires (or schemes) of his mind, he shall through his love of them attain the abode of purities.
If thou be thyself excellent, but, as the bliss be wedded to nature and ruin thy beatification thou shall not behold that preceptor who caused the creation of precepts.
Doth an infant know any thing of (dressing) roasting stones to extract metals? The god-like sage alone comprehends it. Know thou the degraded nature metal and leave it?
p. 51
If thy mortal form perish, thy inward eye shall clearly shine. If the fruits be destroyed that tree becomes free as the tree of desire. If thy eye be humbled to see with it is happiness.
Where is shame hidden? Where is the darkness of ignorance hidden? Where is hunger hidden? In the soul! Learn ye the hiding of the hidden sleep of abstraction.
Look on thy chief (jewels or foes) passions! Haste to destroy them nourish the whole of thy friends (or lovers). He who thus behold the great light and in the midst of the body fixes his desire--this man is himself Hari.
Our own shadow is our foe, and our shadow is a witness to us of our bulk in the body; my passions are my enemies and my mind is the only aid I have. This is true.

To cut off the evils (diseased) of the body ceasing the look of love towards the robbers (evil wishes) knowing the origin, attaching our thought to him and uniting the mind to him--If the devotee thus recognizes the (friendship) mutual love between the creature and the creator, this is the institute of sanctity.
Though the sage be touched (or affected) by any object of sense, he is not in truth moved truly. Vemana hath learnt, in the host of sensual objects and passions to abstain from the six evils (cama, crodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsara) and all other sources of sin (durvishaya). (a tremendous puzzle, but correctly done.)
If we consider our real form however great we may seem in our own delusions, and those of ascetics, and be filled with them can we hereby see god.
He that hath seen and can name the place of his primordial birth, walks in wisdom in the earth; the place of our origin is in the divinity (tatwa).

From fire which was produced from air was water created; in the atmosphere it appeared, being self born; such is the history of Maya, that had no father.
Those who in their minds muse on the gem on the summit of essence are skilled in tatwa. He who hath truly beheld in the midst of darkness, the great light, this is the devotee. He who truly knoweth that the soul exists in God and God in the soul hath religious vision. He is the pure, who in the Sankhya yogamu (which enumerates the qualities of spirit) hath ascertained that the entire world is in Siva. In any but this path shall any one ever attain the deity? If the life leave the belly, and depart how should it be puffed up?

If thou walk not so as to become free from. (set aside) all the evil qualities of thy acts how should thou acquire the divine essence? Will a lamp devoid of oil blaze merely by filling it with dry sesasum oil seeds--that are not freed from their hurtful substance.
Like as the seeds and the husk (between themselves) are born together in water but the husk (goes) is destroyed so the concomitant evil fruits of his acts who knows the essence of God will leave him undefiled--Indeed it is thus.
Acts of religion are far removed from the wise and the wise is far from acts in Caliyuga. The man of purity who ceaseth both works and knowledge truly hath attained beatitude, For, when he is perfect, faith and works shall both terminate.
If thou be not a performer of acts thou knowest not good works. He who is trueth to works shall not see any good. Unless thou enter the water, surely thou can't know the depth; nor, devoid of works know happiness.

If thou look upon the fruits of thy actions as being defiled will hypocrisy; then shalt thou attain the fruits of thy righteousness. Felicity consists in surpassing both thy righteousness and thy good works.
Fruits (senses) produced in a tree (the body) exulting, united in fair beauty, ripen--eat the fruits (beatitude) and know the leaves of a tree. (Here it is impossible to discriminate in English between caya and pandu).
Like as a swan will not touch the (mansodakam) heavenly stream but turns it off, thus let the yogee be untouched by acts; he shall ramble in all delight.
Searching well into the body and setting God before our eyes, and throwing aside our future acts, verifying our mind and quitting the love of our various ties, he that applies himself to stand there, is the best:
The Puranas of acts are a great deep. In those acts never shall we see Siva; surely none is able to declare Siva, the destroyer of acts. Acts are vile, and vile.

Vishnu, Brahma, the demigods, the munis and all the rest were nobly born and then lost their state of happiness, regularly proceeded through the state of decrepitude and death. This was through the savour of delusion.
They who perpetually enquire which among three Gods is the chief (or root) cannot, being fools, know the chief--surely there is a higher root of the three.
There are men who being unable first to perceive which is the noblest of the three, go into destruction. There is one original substance of which the three are formed.
Know ye (ascertain and learn) that root that knoweth the three. First know Him who is above the three and extol him with the tongue.