CONTENTS
Ch I Metaphors of Creation
Ch II Logic of Causality
Ch III The Illusion of the un-Real
Ch IV The Vision of MAYA
Ch V Categories of Consciousness
Ch VI The Nature of Action
Ch VII On Awareness
Ch VIII On Devotion
Ch IX On Yoga
Ch X On Nirvana
The Darsana Mala, or Garland of Visions, was one of the last major works of All Saint Brahmasree Guru Narayana , dictated about 1916. His disciple, Swami Vidyananda, transcribed the dictation and made a short commentary on each verse. The commentary was read to, and corrected by, Narayana himself, though he characterized it as being "for children."The original dictation was in Sanskrit, but the work was published only in the Malayalam language of Kerala State, S. India, Narayana's home. In 1976 an English translation was included in AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE POEMS OF NARAYANA GURU, published by the Narayana Gurukula in Kerala.
Narayana Guru's successor was Nataraja Guru. At Narayana's instigation, Nataraja received a Western education at the Sorbonne as well as his training in the ancient wisdom-school represented by Narayana himself. in 1948-49 Nataraja Guru undertook the translation of the Darsana Mala into English, and it was this translation included in the ANTHOLOGY. Nataraja Guru also made the Darsana Mala the philosophical frame-work for his own monumental work, the three- volume INTEGRATED SCIENCE OF THE ABSOLUTE, which he completed in 1968. At this writing one volume has been published in Kerala, and the other two are in preparation.Shortly after Nataraja Guru's death in 1973, four notebooks were discovered in his quarters at the Ooty Gurukula in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamilnadu. Nos. II & III were his working notes from 1948-49, and contained all the trial translations and corrections of the Darsana Mala, except for the first seven stanzas of Chapter VI, the Karma Darsana. These notebooks were edited and put into typescript by Mark and Judy Albert. They contain anywhere from two to fifteen variations on each stanza.
For the most part these source materials were obtained for me through the kindness of the American sadhu/ scholar Johnny Stallings, long time student and companion to both Nataraja Guru and Guru Nitya.For many years I have been indebted to Guru Nitya for his unfailing friendship and generosity in making available to me his own works, as well as those of his predecessors in the parampara. My deepest gratitude to him.
These renderings were made by Shri.Don Berry in the Fall of 1979 for the meditation of his son, Duncan
CHAPTER .1
Adhyaropa Darsana / Metaphors of Creation
1
At its origin this world
existed as nothingness, dreamlike.
Thereafter the Absolute Being created
everything existent by willing.
2
At its origin this world
existed as latent function.
Thereafter the Absolute Being created everything
through his own power of MAYA,
like a magician creating an illusion.
3
At its origin this world
was latent in the Absolute Being
as a sprout is latent in a seed.
Thereafter it manifested itself of its own power.
4
This power is to be known as two kinds,
brightness and heaviness. As in the case of light and dark,
they are polar opposites,and there is no co-existence.
5
At its origin this world
was like a picture in the mind.
Thereafter the Absolute Being realized it
in all its variety, like an artist.
6
At its origin this world existed
as PRAKRITI, the matrix of possibility.
Thereafter the Absolute Being worked
out its powers like a Yogi.
7
When knowledge of the Absolute
Self is veiled, AVIDYA (ignorance)
arises. Then the name-and-form world looms ghostlike.
8
This world is emptiness, like some ghostly city.
Thus did the Absolute Being create
this whole universe -- a marvel!
9
If this world evolved in a series of stages
from the sun, then it is not at all from the Supreme Self.
But everything was manifested at a single stroke,
of its own inner vitality, as though
the universe were waking from sleep.
10
That from which all this world
is manifested like a fig tree from a seed,
That is Brahma, That is Siva, That is Vishnu.
That is the Transcendent.
Indeed, everything is That alone.
CHAPTER. 2
Apavada Darsana / Logic of Causality
1
This world, material, non-material and spiritual,
has all come to be in and from living intelligence.
When existent, everything is Real as Being (SAT).
When non-existent, everything remains Real as Intelligence (CIT).
2
An effect cannot have existence independent of its cause.
Therefore, how can there be an origination of non-Being?
And how can there be re-absorption
of something un-originated?
3
That which is not subject to origin and re-absorption
is the transcendent Absolute alone.
The idea of origin and re-absorption as present in the Self
is the veiling effect of MAYA.
4
As the effect is non-different from its cause,
how can Being arise? And in the same way,
how can there be non-Being for the cause itself?
5
Because it is an effect, this world
does not have primary reality.
The Absolute alone, as cause, is Real.
Unclear minds mistake it as un-Real.
6
The One Alone is the Real.
Where can another exist?
If we say "in existence," it is a tautology.
If we say "in non-existence," it is a contradiction.
7
Having carefully analyzed the component parts of existence,
one sees that the whole world is not other
than the Intelligence of the Absolute.
It is as if MAYA had been banished.
8
Pure Intelligence alone shines.
There is nothing whatever beyond Pure Intelligence.
That which does not shine is un-Real,
and that which is un-Real does not shine.
9
ANANDA indeed is the Real, and nothing else.
The whole world is of the form of ANANDA.
Apart from ANANDA, nothing else exists.
10
Indeed, everything is SAT-CIT-ANANDA.
(Being, Intelligence, Value.)
There is not a trace of plurality in this.
He who sees this as if pluralistic,
goes from death to death.
CHAPTER . 3
ASATYA DARSANA / THE ILLUSION OF THE UN-REAL
1
This world is all mind-maya.
But the mind is not in any specific place.
The world is seen in the Self
as the blue is seen in the sky.
2
This apparent world is an image, created in the mind
by AVIDYA, the veiling ignorance.
When this is re-absorbed by VIDYA, the clear knowledge,
it is as though the whole world were a mere configuration.
3
To a coward, the ghost looming in the darkness seems real.
To the wise man, the wakeful state is seen
as such a dream-world.
4
This world is seen as willed images.
It is seen only when willing is present,
as when a rope is mistaken for a snake.
5
There is no difference whatever
between the willed images and the mind.
That AVIDYA-darkness state (which is the mind),
is a marvel like Indra's magic.
6
To the wise man, this world shines in the Self like a mirage.
To an infant, by confusion, even a reflection
may seem real.
7
As milk remains milk even when churned,
The Absolute Self does not change into some other form.
Therefore, the whole world exists only as an image in the Self,
as if created by Indra's magic. (Indriyas = the senses.)
8
MAYA herself is the fundamental cause of the apparent world.
Everything here is only the maya-maker
creating with magical, un-Real effects.
9
To the mature mind, this universe
seems like a sky-forest mirage in the Self.
But a child sees even a puppet-form as real.
10
One alone is Real, not a second.
What is un-Real seems indeed to be Real.
But the Siva-lingam is stone only,
not a second made by the mason.
CHAPTER.4
Maya Darsana / Vision of Maya
1
What is not Absolute, that is MAYA.
She is the negative principle of opposites, as with the pairs
knowledge-ignorance, beyond-within, inertia-prime potency.
Thus She, of herself, arises as the many forms of Nature.
2
Before the origin of things, there was
the clay itself, the Absolute ground of Being.
Whatever is not known as the Absolute-in-itself, is MAYA,
the principle of non-Absolute possibility.
3
"The non-Self is un-Real, the Self is Real."
That is knowledge of the Real, as in recognizing
the reality of the rope through the snake appearance.
4
"The Self is un-Real, the non-Self is Real."
That is AVIDYA dominating awareness,
as in mistaking the rope for a snake.
5
That which creates the sensory system, the mind,
specific intelligence and the five vital processes
far transcends even these non-material
limbs of the Self-intelligence.
6
The Self-intelligence adopts these limbs as its own
and, by its own MAYA, imagines itself
as in pleasure or pain.
But none of this has primary Reality.
7
In the world of senses and sense-objects,
what emanates forth from the Self
is the willing-imaging self,
the basis of the material world.
8
Lack of knowledge of mother-of-pearl
is the basis for an illusion of silver in the shell.
That principle which, in the Self, is the basis
for the apparent world, is called TAMAS.
9
Because of its marvelous aspect
of containing all this universe like a tree in a seed,
(or by virtue of its importance)
the prime potent power is called PRADHANA.
10
Because the marvelous diversity of nature (PRAKRITI)
is created by the three modalities (tamas, rajas, and sattva),
She is known as PRAKRITI-TRIGUNA.
(Nature-of-the-three-modes.)
CHAPTER.5
Bhana Darsana / Categories of Consciousness
1
Equally present within and without,
in constant bee-like agitation,
object-consciousness is of two kinds,
the generic and the specific.
2
The basis of object-consciousness is four-fold,
consisting of: The material, the non-material,
the causal, and the fourth kind.
These names are also applicable
to the appropriate states of consciousness.
3
"I am the body. This is the pot."
What arises in awareness based on material objects
is known as STHULA, or concrete.
4
Here, the consciousness of "body" and "pot" is the specific.
The consciousness of "I" and "This" is the generic.
5
What arises in awareness based on
the senses, mind, intellect, sense-objects
and the five vital processes,
is known as SUKSMA, or subtle,
because of dependence on non-material objects.
6
"I am ignorant." This consciousness is
called KARANA, or causal (pertaining to itself.)
"I am" is the generic, "ignorant" is the specific.
7
"I am the Absolute." This is praised as TURIYA,
or consciousness of the fourth kind.
"I am" is the generic, "Absolute" the specific attribute.
8
Where there is this awareness,
there is an object-of-consciousness.
Where there is no such awareness,
there is no object-of-consciousness.
Thus, by agreement and difference, certitude arises.
9
As the eye cannot see itself, the Self cannot perceive itself.
The Self is not an object-of-consciousness.
What the Self perceives is an object-of-consciousness.
10
Whatever is an object-of-consciousness is conditional.
Whatever is not conditional
is not an object-of-consciousness.
What is conditional is un-Real.
But what is utterly unconditional, that is the Real.
AUM TAT SAT
CHAPTER .6
KARMA DARSANA / THE NATURE OF ACTION
1
It is the Self alone which acts.
Although it is by nature self-luminous and detached,
the Self through its power of MAYA
assumes many varied forms,
like the creative dreamer in sleep.
2
"I think, I speak, I grasp, I hear."
All such forms of action are done by the Supreme Self,
acting through the agency of the individuated self
with its intelligence, its organs of perception,
and its organs of action.
3
Before action, the Self alone exists.
There is not a trace of any "other."
Therefore, all action is accomplished by the Self alone,
through its own power of MAYA.
4
The Self has, inherent in its nature,
a certain power that is difficult to define.
By this power, the appearance of action
is projected in the actionless Self.
5
The Self is always completely unattached.
It is through lack of awareness that action
is done as though attached.
Where the Seer is aware, "It is not I who am acting,"
he remains unattached, even in action.
6
It is the One Self alone which burns as fire,
blows as the wind, supports as the earth,
and flows as the river.
7
It is the One Self alone, itself remaining actionless,
which moves upward as Prana and downward as Apana.
It is the One Self alone which
beats, murmurs and pulsates in the nerves.
8
The six changing aspects of this world
-- existence, birth, growth, transformation,
deterioriation, and extinction --
all proceed from the unchanging
Self alone, and not another.
9
In spite of actions always being self-accomplished
by mental and sensory functions,
the wise one knows,
"I am the unattached one, the rock-steady."
10
Because it is an object of experience,
even the personality-"I" is an illusory projection,
like the illusion of silver seen in mother-of-pearl.
Today and tomorrow, firmly established
above all else, One alone is.
CHAPTER.7
NJANA DARSANA / ON AWARENESS
1
Awareness, though essentially one,
is known as conditioned or unconditioned.
That awareness which is free
of the ego-sense of "I am," etc.,
is the unconditioned.
2
That awareness which arises
as "I"- consciousness inside,
and "this"-ness outside
(accompanied by the corresponding
mental modulations,)
is known as the conditioned.
3
That awareness by which one experiences,
as pure witness, the non-Self
(such as the ego "I"-consciousness, etc.,)
is true Self-awareness.
The witness alone is the immortal one.
4
That awareness which is identified
with effects belonging to the non-Self
(such as the ego-"I" consciousness, etc.,)
is non-Self-awareness.
5
When things are known as they are,
(as in perceiving the truth of the rope
beneath the snake appearance,)
that awareness is meaningful.
What is otherwise is meaningless.
6
When, by mere presence alone,
everything is illuminated by itself,
that is characterized as "awareness-by-direct-perception,"
or immediate knowledge.
It is also called "inner" knowledge.
7
That form of awareness which arises
by performing mental action on the possibilities
of co-dependent phenomena,
and thus inferring their common source,
is known as inductive knowledge.
8
On going near and recognizing
according to the pattern : "This animal conforms
to the description I have heard of a cow,"
such is called awareness-by-inference,
(or analogical knowledge.)
9
Awareness characterized as "I-Mine"
is called personalized knowledge.
Awareness characterized as "This-That"
is called sensory knowledge.
10
That awareness which is verbally expressed
as AUM TAT SAT (Aum, That is the Real)
and experienced as the union of the Absolute and the Self,
empty of functions like willing --
that is known as the ultimate knowledge.
CHAPTER.8
BHAKTI DARSANA / ON DEVOTION
1
Bhakti is meditation on the Self,
because the Self is the source of all Value (ananda).
A knower-of-the-Self meditates
by the Self upon the Self, forever.
2
The Absolute is meditated
because the Absolute is the source of all Value.
Constant meditation on the Absolute
is thus known as Bhakti.
3
All meditate the highest Value.
No one meditates suffering.
That meditation on the highest Value
is taught as Bhakti.
4
The Self alone meditates the Absolute.
The knower-of-the-Self
meditates the Self alone, and no other.
Meditation of the Self is thus called Bhakti.
5
Value, the Self, the Absolute, are said
to be the names of the One.
He who has sure awareness of this
is called a Bhakta.
6
"I am Value. I am the Absolute. I am the Self."
He whose vital imagination
always takes such forms
is known as a Bhakta.
7
The wife does not adore only the husband,
nor the husband the wife.
It is the very form of highest Value they adore,
shining within every sense object.
8
Thus, one-who-knows sees not a trace
of anything other than
the bliss of the Self anywhere.
His is truly the highest Bhakti.
9
Where there is sympathy
toward the Father of the World, toward one's own Guru,
toward Father and Mother, toward the Fathers of Wisdom,
toward those who walk the same path ...........
10
Toward those who put down evil,
toward those who do good to all -- that also is Bhakti.
But that which pertains to the Supreme Self alone
is the ultimate Bhakti.
CHAPTER. 9
YOGA DARSANA / ON YOGA
1
Yoga is that form of mental restraint
which unites the personal mental faculties
with the Self-as-Intelligence.
2
As long as potentiating tendencies (vasanas) exist,
the heart should be held in that state (samadhi)
where the distinction between
the Seer, Sight, and the Seen is extinguished.
To the knower of Yoga, this is Yoga.
3
When all this world of name-and-form
is known as not other than the Absolute alone,
the mental faculties are always absorbed in the Absolute.
That also is recognized as Yoga.
4
When the modulation of the mind
flows unbrokenly, like a stream of oil,
it incessantly finds joy in the Self.
That also is remembered by Yogis as Yoga.
5
When the mind is distracted by this and that attraction,
it should always be brought back to oneness in the Self.
Let it be united in this Yoga.
6
The sources of all disasters for man are:
his willed conceptual formations, the objects of his willed desire,
and the subtle potentiating tendencies of his past,
which condition his willing. These are to be uprooted
and restrained in the Self.
7
Fundamental Reality does not reside
in the seen object as such, but in the Seer.
The Seen is the form of the Seer.
He who unites these is the superior knower of Yoga.
8
When the mind-bee, guided to the Flower of Union
by the soft winds of Yoga, drinks the honey-sweet
nectar of Self-knowledge,
it flutters no more.
9
Meditation with gaze fixed betweeen the eyebrows,
and the tongue tip touching beyond the uvula,
is the Khechari Mudra,
which has the capacity of dispelling
fatigue, sleep, and the other distractions to Yoga.
10
In this world Yoga is of two kinds:
the Yoga of Wisdom, and the Yoga of Action.All further elaboration of Yoga is included in these.
CHAPTER.10
NIRVANA DARSANA / ON NIRVANA
1
The state of Nirvana is of two kinds,
the pure and the impure.
That which is free of subtle
potentiating tendencies (vasanas) is the pure.
That which is qualified by such latent tendencies is the impure.
2
The pure Nirvana is also of two kinds,
the ultra-pure and the pure.
The impure state is further categorized as
the pure-impure, and the impure-impure.
3
The ultra-pure state is again subject to three grades:
the elect, the more elect, and the most elect.
The pure exists in the (simple) knower of the Absolute.
4
The pure-impure state
(though qualified by the subtle tendencies)
is free of rajas and tamas.
The impure-impure is subject to rajas and tamas.
The first is the state of one
whose goal is ultimate liberation.
The second is the state of those
who seek the various psychic powers.
5
A knower of the Absolute, firmly established in the Absolute,
having burnt up everything in the fire of wisdom,
aiming at the good of the world,
performs actions according to what is considered right.
6
The elect knower of the Absolute is one
who is firmly established in the Absolute
and who renounces all willful action.
He wanders in the world, continuing
the course of bodily life.
7
The more elect is one who knows
when prompted by others, but by himself does not know.
He always enjoys absorption in the Absolute.
8
The most elect is one who
by himself knows not,
and even when prompted by others knows not.
He is empty of all mental modulations,
and is the Absolute alone.
9
There is certainly nothing of this world
to be accepted or rejected.
As for the Self, it is self-luminous.
With this understood, one should withdraw.
Thereafter the agitations of the mind
do not repeat themselves.
10
The Absolute alone, One-without-a-second, is the Real.
There is nothing other.
In this there is no doubt.
Understanding this, the well-instructed one
withdraws from all duality.
He does not return again.
AUM TAT SAT
The End
Nataraja Guru (Malayalam: നടരാജ ഗുരു) (Dr. P Natarajan) was a direct disciple of Narayana Guru, a great sage and social reformer of India. Nataraja Guru founded Narayana Gurukulam, a worldwide contemplative community based on the teachings of Narayana Guru. He translated into English and wrote commentaries on all the major works of Narayana Guru. He has also written on a wide variety of subjects, employing throughout a protolinguistic or structural approach which could be said to be his unique contribution to the perennial wisdom-heritage of mankind.
He first met Narayana Guru at his home in Bangalore. After completion of his studies Nataraja Guru met Narayana Guru again in Kerala and expressed his wish to be admitted in the latter's Ashram. Narayana Guru explained to him the difficulties associated with the path of a renunciate (Sanyasin) but later admitted him in the Ashram convinced of his earnestness. Initially Nataraja Guru stayed in Advaita Ashram, Alwaye and later at Sivagiri, Varkala.
Nataraja Guru went back to Varkala and stayed with Narayana Guru for a few months. Narayana Guru's health was deteriorating and he was taken to different places for treatment. Nataraja Guru accompanied him in many of those trips, during which both exchanged many ideas and Nataraja Guru's many doubts were cleared by Narayana Guru. Narayana Guru was helpless at that time to accommodate Nataraja Guru amongst his disciples. So he gave him 1500 Indian Rupees and asked him to go to Europe for higher studies.
