Shankaracharya's Eka Shloki

Thanks to Shri Aravind-ji who provided me this topic to write on.

Is it your light that shines in the day as the sun and as the bright lamp in the night?
Let it be. Which light shines when I close my eyes? (in mental vision) Which light
illumines in my mental perception? You are that supreme light that illumines the
awareness of 'aham' and I am that light.

(Translated by: Dr. Saroja Ramanujam)

Unless the composition is split up at the right places, it would seem baffling at the
first sight, to a beginner. The piece is in the form of a catechism or what in modern
pedagogy would be called a one on one interactive session. There are five
question-answer pairs, one affirmation and one authoritative live-wire exhortation of
the teacher and a final total concurrence, by the disciple, after his instant
transformation. We shall now proceed with what may, euphemistically, be termed
an exegesis of the verse. As will be seen in the sequel, what is attempted here is
not a word-to-word rendering in to English, nor even a mere paraphrasing of the
work; it is rather an attempt to enter to, and to bring out the traditional import of
this Vedantic composition, to the extent my limited faculties permit. Much pertinent
digression from the text has been indulged in, in the exposition.

The break up of the verse, is as follows :-

Q 1 :kim jyotih tava ? what is your illuminator? By this question, the teacher is
trying to ascertain a baseline, as it were, of the pupils understanding so as to lead
him thence to higher levels. This was a well established methodology of spiritual
instruction in the days of yore. It may be noted here that the question is a general

one with no adjuncts of time or place specified. The student however thinks the
question pertains to daytime and to things within his visual range.

A: bhhaanumaan ahani me The daylight of the Sun sir. This answer establishes
that the seeker has his vision riveted on the external objects the out-going vision,
the so-called paraak pasyati concept of the KaThopaniShad.

Q 2 : raatrau ? what after Sun-down ? what illumines then ?

A: pradiipa aadikam light of the various kinds of lamps which includes illumination
from the moonlight, bonfires, lighted torches et cetera; it may be noted that the
field being covered is still the outer world.

Affirmation : syaad evam. rightly so my dear; here the guru seems to be saying to
himself Oh my! your answers are correct as far as they go; but they do not go very
far. Here is the next question:

Q 3 Ravi diipa darshana vidhau kim jyotih ? Akhyaahi me Now tell me what
enables you to visualize the objects so illumined by the Sun, the lamps etc.Here the
preceptor is shifting focus from the outer to the inner world of the mind. Even the
sun, the lamps etc. stand in relation of visible objects to the perceiving eye.

A: caxuH My eye, sir, is the perceiving light in this context Now the student is
made to understand the eye as the window to his inner cognitive apparatus the
mind.

Q4 : tasya nimiilana adi samaye ? If your eyes are shut, what then? The reasons for
the shut-down may be many; one may choose to turn a blind eye like Nelson or to
give a more noble example, one may actually be blind like Helen Keller. The word
aadi in the Sanskrit original in the above question may include a legion instances
The guru is taking the student in to deeper waters here, to turning his minds eye
inward and enable him to watch the gyrations of his own mind

A: dhiiH, sir, it is my intellect that provides me the illumination necessary for my

purposes, I can think thoughts that would navigate the scenes for me

Q 5: dhiyaH darshane (kim) ? you are right again my son! But thought is like a
spring or a fountain. There must be some faculty to get to its mainspring its source
as it were What ultimate light is it that stands as a witness or sAxI as it is
technically termed, to your cognitive equipment?

A: tatra aham sir, Shorn of the baggage of all acquired accretions, appurtenances
and appearances in short, of all objective super-impositions I stand in all my
majestic aloofness, and isolation (kaivalya). as Myself.

The great spiritual warrior in Sankara has finally drawn the bitterest foe of his pupil
-the beginning-less spiritual ignorance to the edge of the precipice. with a view to
pushing it over to its final annihilation. With a solemn and apocalyptic, coup de
matre a masterstroke, he is going to deliver the final push the student would be
led to his beatitude meaning perfect blessedness or happiness. In devising this
stepwise instruction Sankara has trodden the path of the ancient sages, established
for ages. The famous dialogue between the sage YaaGYavalkya and Janaka the king
in the BRRihadaaranyaka Upanishad chapter iv-3, the kaTha Upanishad III-10 as also
the Bhavadgiitaa chapter III-42 have laid down the same rising hierarchical levels of
consciousness viz sense objects, sense organs, intelligence, intellect and the
highest of all the PuruSha- the non plus ultra, higher than Which there can be
nothing. To use the those very Sanskrit words pregnant with proven meaning
proven to mystic seers of all creeds and climes in their deepest visions down the
millennia saa kaashThaa, saa paraa gatiH. THAT is the summum bonum the last
post.

And what may that stupendous, staggering declaration be ? Let us see that in the
next line:-

THE FINAL PUSH : ataH bhavaan paramakam jyotiH Therefore my child, you are
verily that Light of lights, which the Vedanta asserts in stentorian voice and
peremptory tone- tat tvam asi THAT THOU ART . It is not the denoted dictionary
meanings of the words of the scriptural testimony that will bring the peace that
passes understanding but the inner experience of the truth which is transforming in
nature.

The finish : tat asmi prabho !!! Oh my master I am indeed that Light of Lights
because I have just experienced that ecstatic mystic state, by your bounteous
grace. It is another matter if experience of that state is communicated in words only
after descending somewhat from those Olympian heights. But at all events he has
been raised to that dizzy altitude of sage-hood, the memory of which shall stamp its
hallmark on every thought word and deed ever-after.