Dasa Sloki or Nirvana Dasakam
By
Adhi
Sankara Bhagawat Pada
Translated by
P.R.Ramachander
(These ten verses of philosophy is the
essence of the thoughts of Sankara, the philosopher. There are two stories
about its origin. One says that when Adhi Sankara approached Sage Govinda Pada
and requested him to make him his disciple, then it seems Govinda Pada asked the
young boy, “Who are you?” and this is his reply. Another story tells that when
Sankara said that he is about to leave this earth, his disciples wanted to tell
them all his teachings in a summary form and this is the reply. Swami
Madhusudhana Sarawathi has written a commentary called “Sidhantha Bindu” on
these ten verses.)
Na bhoomir
na thoyam na thejo na vayu,
Na Kham
nendriyam vaa na thesham samooha,
Anaikanthikathwath
suspthyeka siddha,
Thadekovasishta
Shiva kevaloham. 1
I am not earth, I am
not water.
I am not light, I am
not wind,
I am not ether, I am
not sense organs,
Nor am I a
combination of these,
Because they don’t
always exist.
I am simply Shiva
the self,
For this remains even in sleep,
After everything is
taken out.
Na
Na me
dharana dhyana yogadhayopi,
Anathmasrayo aham mamadhya sahanath,
Thadekovasishta
Shiva kevaloham. 2
I am not the caste,
I am not the caste rules,
I am not stages of
life,
I am not rules , I
am not the just conduct,
I am not meditation,
I am not yogic practice,
For the concept of I
and me destroy all these.
I am simply Shiva
the self,
For this remains even in sleep,
After everything is
taken out.
Na matha
pitha vaa na deva na loka,
Na veda na
yagna na theertham bruvanthi,
Sushupthou
nirasthadhi soonyath makathwath,
Thadekovasishta
Shiva kevaloham. 3
Neither the mother
nor the father.
Neither the celestial
gods nor the earth,
Neither the Vedas
,nor the fire sacrifice,
Nor the holy waters,
they say, exist in sleep.
But there is no void
in sleep, either.
So I am simply Shiva
the self,
For this remains even in sleep,
After everything is
taken out.
Na
sankhyam na saivam na thath pancha rathram,
Na jainam
, na meemamskader matham vaa,
Visishtanubhoothya
vishudhath maka thwath,
Thadekovasishta
Shiva kevaloham. 4
Neither the Sankhya
principle,
Nor the doctrine of
Shaiva,
Not the principle of
pancha rathra,
Nor the doctrine of
Jainas,
Nor the principle of
Meemasa,
Are Unique
experiences,
For the soul is the
purest known truth.,
So I am simply Shiva
the self,
For this remains even in sleep,
After everything is
taken out.
Na shuklam
na krishnam na raktham na peetham,
Na peenam
na kubjam na hruswam na deergam,
Na roopam
thada jyothirakarakathwath,
Thadekovasishta
Shiva kevaloham. 5
Neither white nor
black,
Neither red nor
yellow,
Neither large nor
thin,
Neither short , nor
tall,
And neither with a form
is the soul,
For this soul is the
form of the light,
So I am simply Shiva
the self,
For this remains even in sleep,
After everything is
taken out.
Na
jagranna me swapnako vaa sushupthi,
Ne viswo
na vaa thaijasa pragnako vaa,
Avidhyathmakathwath
trayanam thureeyam,
Thadekovasishta
Shiva kevaloham. 6
Neither the state of
waking,
Nor the state
of dream,
Nor the state of
deep sleep is for me,
Neither the earthy
feelings,
Nor the glorified
feelings of dreams,
Nor the feeling of wakefulness in sleep am I,
For these are the
souls of avidya,
And I am the fourth
, the thureeya, which is beyond these,
So I am simply Shiva
the self,
For this remains even in sleep,
After everything is
taken out.
Na sastha
na sasthram na sishyo na siksha,
Na cha
thwam, na cha aham na cha ayam prapancha,
Swaroopavabadhadhi
vikalapa sahishnu,
Thadekovasishta
Shiva kevaloham. 7
Neither the origin
of knowledge,
Nor the books of
knowledge,
Neither he disciple
nor the teacher,
Neither you, nor me
and nor this world am I,
For this is not
tolerated by innate realization,
So I am simply Shiva
the self,
For this remains even in sleep,
After everything is
taken out.
Na
chordhwam na chadho na cha andhar na bahyam,
Na madhyam
na thiryang na poorva paraddik,
Viyad
vyapakathwath Akandaika roopa,
Thadekovasishta Shiva kevaloham. 8
Neither above , nor
below,
Neither inside nor outside,
Neither the middle ,
nor the across,
Neither the east nor
the west am I,
For like the all
pervading ether,
I am spread
everywhere,
So I am simply Shiva
the self,
For this remains even in sleep,
After everything is
taken out.
Api
vyapakathwadhi Thathwa prayogath,
Swatha
sidha bhavananya asrayathwath,
Jagat
thuchamethath samastham thadanya,
Thadekovasishta
Shiva kevaloham. 9
Being all
pervasive and goal oriented,
Being dependent on
its own nature,
Than depending on
any out side thing,
This world is
trivial as it is different from self.
So I am simply Shiva
the self,
For this remains even in sleep,
After everything is
taken out.
Na chaikam
thadanyath dweetheeyam kutha syath,
Na chaa
kevalathwam na vaa kevalathwam,
Na soonyam
na chaa soonyamadvaidhakathwath,
Kadam
sarva vedhatham sidham braveemi 10
It is not even one
and how can it be two,
Neither is it unique and nor not unique,
Neither is it a
vacuum nor something different from it,
For it is the
essence of non dual reality
So how can I tell
about what is established by all philosophy?