Sanatana Dharma Gita


1.Only a speck among the countless stars;
This orb, this earth, in loneliness of space;
More lonely still, but not far away from God,
The groping, blind, and foolish human race.

2.What other worlds can see our tiny orb,
Or know that of its surface God has blessed,
The land of India as the place supreme,
To be the guide and leader of the rest?

3.For in this Holy Land, the Lord did light,
The flame of Wisdom to illume the earth,
And to great saints, reveal the only path
To lead a man to God and end rebirth.

4.From whence came Man, or how, we cannot tell,
For none can solve the riddle of the past;
But though we cannot ever know the first,
God has revealed what is to come at last.

5.What is the path which men should try to tread;
What is the way that men should try to live?
The way to God has clearly been revealed,
And this, the Science of God, we now must give.

6.The greatest miracle of all, is God;
A sacred chant, a spell, a mystic verse;
The Great Divine Magician of all power,
Whose magic circle bounds the universe.

7.Beyond imagination is the Best;
Unlimited by thoughts of what might be;
Beyond the terms of tangible and test;
Such is the One, beyond eternity.

8.How can man ever feel he is alone,
If God is always present in his mind;
How can he ever be alone when God
Is ever guiding him the path to find?

9.Like as a palace built of brilliant stars,
A galaxy of joy and bliss, divine;
Is the abode of God the Absolute
The paradise for which all Souls do pine.

10.A virtuous man will want and want for God;
With joy and bliss to come, he ofttimes sings;
The foolish man will spend his life in greed
And wanting for the wrong and useless things.

11.If good is God and God is all the good,
Then while this cosmic drama does endure,
Should not we see Eternal Moral Law,
Since evil cannot come from what is pure?

12.The true belief in God is based in trust;
The man who is sincere will act on this;
His management is best in every way
And gives a life of harmony and bliss.

13.The Universe is large and God is Great,
But is a man content to only be,
Just what he is, a tiny speck of dust;
A drop of water in a boundless sea?

14.A teeming world of unimportant folk,
Performing their inconsequential deeds;
Achieving nothing much of any worth,
Like gardeners, producing only weeds.

15.A vast procession coming on life's stage,
An endless cast of actors, one by one,
Playing some minor role and then to bow,
And make their exit when the play is done.

16.So what is all this acting and this play,
The passing panorama of humanity;
An endless stream which stays awhile and goes,
To leave this foolish world of pride and vanity?

17.In this one life we may not get reward;
In this one life the goal may not be won;
But righteousness will always be supreme;
In course of time, true justice will be done.

18.Though evil goes unpunished in this life
And wicked people flourish day by day,
They cannot cheat the moral law of God;
The time must come when debts they have to pay.

19.There is a lamp which burns eternally,
A thing of splendour, hidden deep within;
Until its light is liberated, free,
How can real joy and happiness begin?

20.From life to life, in blindness groping on,
The Soul with homesickness does wend its way,
And growing tired of toil and body forms,
Awakens to a new and wondrous day.

21.Suffering and tears belong to the body;
The Soul alone exists and bears no pain;
The Soul can never die; it knows no death;
In every life the Soul must live again.

22.Reborn and yet reborn again, again,
And life on life is like an endless chain,
For only when this rebirth process ends,
A man will know the end of grief and pain.

23.The Soul remains the particle of God;
It is not ever soiled and knows no ``sin'';
Knows of wrong but is not sullied by it,
Though dragged through birth and death and suffering.

24.Rebirth will come according to our deeds
At any age in time and place in space;
Reborn in heaven, hell, or other spheres;
Perhaps, reborn within the human race.

25.Whatever way a body comes to birth,
It can but only live its ordained span;
But in the ways of rebirth of the Soul
'Tis rare to be reborn again as man.

26.For most must go as animals to live
Or into hell or heaven's wider plains;
All those who come again to human kind,
Will do so from the merit they have gained.

27.By thought and speech and deed we karma make,
For future bad or for our future good;
For making happiness or bringing woe,
And all our life, this must be understood.

28.Neutral actions do not make for karma
If with dispassion these deeds are performed;
It is intended bad we must avoid
And live a life of purity reformed.

29.The kinds of karmic action are these three,
The good, the bad, the neutral daily made.
Much neutral action we must daily do,
But any evil action must evade.

30.The soul may yearn in silence for the day,
When fool turns wise and evil actions cease;
When karma does not hold the Soul in bond,
And the imprisoned splendour finds release.

31.The Soul which seeks for God must find release,
As ancient saints and sages have given proof;
But not without great effort can man win,
For faith to change to knowledge of the Truth.

32.You are the architect of hell and pain,
Although you can but live a tiny span,
All your desire will make for birth again;
You waste your years because your name is MAN.

33.Though many lives must pass, we still must pay,
For evil deeds performed so long ago;
And even saints must suffer from their past,
Since man must ever reap as he does sow.

34.So when the Soul is tired of woe and birth;
When it becomes the judge of wrong and right,
And when the Soul again knows harmony,
It then is fit to join the infinite.

35.In animal, in human form or god,
There is no permanent or lasting peace;
All misery belongs to worldly life
And only ends when man has found release.

36.The seeds you plant you sometimes have to reap;
Desire and want will bring you endless birth,
For only when you break attachment's chain,
You see this worldly life of little worth.

37.The body is fleshly garment worn
Until, with death, it must be cast away;
The Soul again reborn in better garb,
With wisdom which will help it on its way.

38.In ignorance men struggle through their lives,
And in delusion, all the human race,
Pursue the hope of sometime happiness,
To make the world of men a better place.

39.There is no lasting peace in human life;
There cannot be a paradise on earth;
There is no end to misery or woe
Within the span of life which follows birth.

40.The richest soil is sometimes choked with weeds;
Fertility will always follow rain;
No deed to evil is without its price;
No deed of goodness is without its gain.

41.The keenest sword if never cleaned, will rust;
Neglect will turn a field of grain to weeds;
A harvest that is rich and prosperous,
Comes only when we plant the proper seeds.

42.None of the world and its enchanting sight,
None of the things of which you are so fond,
Those precious gems, or clothes, or joyful nights,
Will go with you into the Great Beyond.

43.When death has come, and vanity has gone,
The body turns to ashes or to earth,
But not one single coin which greed did seek
Will go with you into the future birth.

44.When life does end and rebirth is no more,
We then alone will know the perfect bliss;
No language can describe the realm of God,
Like arrows which are shot but always miss.

45.In worldly life we ruminate and think,
We live in hate and pass our days in greed;
We live in competition and not love;
We crave and want for things beyond our need.

46.Life, love, and grief are like an ocean wide,
The world is like a great and endless sea;
The Dharma is the boat which carries one
Across the ocean to tranquility.

47.The senses are not ever satisfied,
The wants of man are like a forest fire;
The senses keep him wanting more and more;
The fuel which feeds the flame is his desire.

48.Greed is a fetter which a man must break
And is a poison which infects the mind;
Break all the fetters if you would be free;
When they are broken they no longer bind.

49.The ego needs applause and endless praise;
It is the greatest enemy of man;
Yet people love it and they think it real;
Do nothing to destroy it when they can.

50.A savage beast endangers human life;
From tiny creature, sickness can arise;
A rotting tree is safest when cut down;
The rule of pride must end when ego dies.

51.Man can exist to run the race of time,
Living delusion and an endless thirst;
Walled in by flesh and sense which are weak,
Forgetting always, only God is first.

52.Among your friends and relatives you'll find,
A teacher who'll dispel your fondest dreams;
And teach you there is no one you can trust,
For even blood is watery, it seems.

53.The peace and happiness which people want,
Are seldom or if ever, found at home;
For nothing seems to hurt or wound so much
As evil done by one's own flesh and bone.

54.When wealth has gone, the best of friends will go;
Love has no pain when we are old in years;
The lake has gone when all the water dries;
When God is known, the world then disappears.

55.All worldly things are bubbles on a stream,
To last a fleeting moment, then to go;
Nothing in this world is really ours;
Attachment to them only brings us woe.

56.The things you try to keep, you soon must lose;
You cannot keep them, never, never, never;
But the things you give away will always bring
Eternal merit and be yours for ever.

57.Into this world we came as naked babes,
And naked from this world we have to go;
So when we die and leave this sorry life,
Just what of worldly gain have we to show?

58.Live wise and well and do your duty now,
For death may come and leave you deeds to do;
Seek well to profit from each passing hour
As good investment for rebirth anew.

59.A rocket soaring through the dark night-sky;
A bursting flash, a moment's sight and sound;
Such is the fleeting rebirth of mankind;
The empty shell once more falls to the ground.

60.Time is a bridge which goes from life to life,
A passing panorama of mankind;
Eternally the life of people cross,
Until each can the way of Dharma find.

61.Life occupies the merest tick of time;
Death comes alike to beggar and to king;
The efforts of the worldly go to waste;
The life of man is but a fleeting thing.

62.Your world of gold is only tarnished brass;
The tinsel which will tarnish with your tears;
However bright the sun may shine by day,
It cannot light the darkness of your fears.

63.It is not wrong to seek success and wealth;
The time will come when you must surely learn,
That these are not the things you really want
And then, unto the Absolute must turn.

64.Man must drink deep of life and have his fill;
Experience in every Dharma gain;
He must live well the good, endure the bad;
He must know every joy and every pain.

65.How can the Soul again unite with God,
Until it has the rounds of life endured?
How can it sit in judgment once again,
Till love for worldly life is fully cured?

66.What man loves most he must in time, become;
Stone if he loves stone; fire if he loves fire,
Or if his love is for the Absolute,
He must, in time, attain his heart's desire.

67.The bloom of youth has one; prepare to die!
You may not know how many years remain,
But let them be well-chosen and well spent
And make for better, should you come again.

68.The writing on the sand is washed away;
The sword which won an empire, turned to rust;
The monuments have fallen to the ground;
The victor and the vanquished turned to dust.

69.If we are right in Truth revealed by God,
And if the Dharma's Law, which is supreme,
Is seen and known and understood by men,
Then mortal life is like an empty dream.

70.The man who goes to God and asks for things,
Is but a beggar wanting things to hoard;
The man who prays to God and gives his love,
Does never need to beg things of the Lord.

71.Thin the veneer of civilization;
Beneath the crust we find the savage beast;
The cultured man with grasping, greedy ways,
Who takes the most, and tries to give the least.

72.Unthinking men heed not the Dharma's Law,
While greed and hate become their normal trends;
Without control the tongue speaks much too free
And quarrels with the very best of friends.

73.You cannot wonder why the saints despise
The human race and all this worldly life;
Nor wonder that the saints do not compete
In all the worldly worries, fears, and strife.

74.A man is fighting with a tiger fierce,
His vision all obscured by Maya's veil;
Although he tries to drive the beast away;
He firmly holds the creature by the tail.

75.You cannot fight for freedom with one hand
And with the other hold the world so tight;
You must unclutch It fully if you would,
Win full the victory of a mental fight.

76.When oil is gone, the lamp will give no light;
A house with bad foundation always weak;
A shadow goes when sun is hid by clouds;
A bell without a tongue can never speak.

77.The way devoid of worldly pride and ego,
In which no hatred rises up in thee;
With simple living people meek and humble,
Contented with the lowest place to be.

78.If you can dress in rags, yet without shame,
Be modest in your want and in your need;
Remain unmoved, though men decry your name;
Then you can know that you have conquered greed!

79.The questions of philosophy are these:
Why am I here and why I came to birth?
What kind of world is this in which I live?
Why then is there a universe, an earth?

80.The speculations of mankind go on,
With ethics high and politics uncouth;
Yet in this Dharma, all has been revealed;
The way to God explained as simple Truth.

81.A wise man therefore, does not speculate
About the past and future yet to be;
He sees the duty he must do today,
To know the Self and try to make it free.

82.Know the real Self and what you really are,
And know the body is not really you;
For when this truth is know a man will see
The duty and the things he needs to do.

83.Philosophies and ideas of mere men
Are tiny streams which to a river flow;
The river is the way on which men float
Upon the Dharma to the sea below.

84.The mind of man can only see so far,
And cannot know the long, long distant past;
The distant future also is obscure;
The Dharma tells what is to come at last.

85.Debate and argument obscure the truth;
Logic and reason have no meaning here;
For in this Dharma of the Absolute,
He gains the most who is the most sincere.

86.Worldly people with their sad delusions,
Lured aside by learning and by letters,
Think that books can lead to liberation;
Do not see these things are only fetters.

87.Confusion is the path through endless books;
Pretended learning, ignorance will hide;
The wise men throw away their books and take
Upanishads and Gita as their guide.

88.Three kinds of knowledge come the way of man:
The first is worldly knowledge without goal;
Then there is knowledge from the intellect;
Then higher still, the knowledge of the Soul.

89.The worldly knowledge we are daily taught
Befits a man for trade and business life;
Intelligence can help us understand
The need for something better than this life.

90.Real knowledge is the knowledge of the Soul,
The knowledge of the Atman, Absolute,
The knowledge which will link a man with God
And make one keen, determined, resolute.

91.The will of God is not a changeless rule,
Though God ordains, some other thing is sought;
God cannot make a wise man of a fool,
And thus the will of God is brought to nought.

92.Men spurn the path of God and all it brings;
Men in the web of greed are always caught;
Prefer to waste their time on useless things,
And so the will of God is brought to nought.

93.God gave a path and way of life to live,
Yet though this Ancient Wisdom has been taught,
Since men prefer to take and not to give,
The will of God is always brought to nought.

94.Until a man is ready, he cannot,
Renounce the world to live a holy life;
So better such a man should strive to be,
A perfect husband to a faithful wife.

95.Beyond his karma man can never go;
He must fulfill his nature to the end;
So better that you make a better life,
Than have a broken path you cannot mend.

96.The ochre robe is not for everyone,
Although for forest life you sometimes thirst;
If time is not ripe for this kind of life,
Then stay at home and do your duty first.

97.The greatest need today is simple faith;
Faith in the past and of the future too;
The old tried paths have showed us clear the way,
And will prove so much better than the new.

98.When Hanumanji, did to Lanka speed,
His faith so great, He flew there through the air;
Shri Rama, though the Avatar of God,
A bridge did need to get his army there.

99.In sport and trade and in the marriage quest,
A man puts all his energies and strength,
But in the quest and search for God, a man,
Of all his strength will never give a tenth.

100.I wonder why I love you, grim mankind;
For though I love you each and every one;
I wonder what to love in you I find,
Since most of you will give your love to none?

101.We cannot count the ways men worship God;
Their ways and forms are almost infinite;
Whatever is the form, and is sincere,
Then in the eyes of God it will be right.

102.Of all the people in this world so large,
The Hindu Bhakta is the only one
Who really knows how God should best be served;
Who really knows how worship should be done.

103.With drum, with cymbal, bell, and sacred hymn,
The people of this Holy Land rejoice,
To praise the gifts and glory of the Lord,
And do it with the heart and with the voice.

104.Sing you the name of God and fill the mind
With raised emotions to the higher bliss;
The name of God, when sung with joy and love,
Will lead a man to peace and happiness.

105.The way to God comes easy when we seek,
A life of simple living and devotion;
To live in purity and do no harm,
And think of God with deep, sincere emotion.

106.Go to your parent as a little child;
Let Jagadamba take you to Her breast;
Give Her your love with purity and trust
And live the way which Mother knows is best.

107.Rend thou the veil, then Maya is no more;
End all delusion with finality,
To know that you are the Immortal Soul
And God alone, the true Reality.

108.Before the shrine, the sanctum of the One,
The veil of Maya, hanging, hiding Him;
Stand naked and alone before thy God;
Rend thou the veil and thou can pass within.

109.The shrine, the stone, the sacred place which has,
Received such sincere worship and adored,
Must carry vibrations of great power
And ever be the dwelling of the Lord.

110.This Pagan way of life is still supreme,
It is the path of loss and road of gain;
Eternal Wisdom from the Absolute;
The way of pleasure and the way of pain.

111.People are divided by their labels,
While creeds and dogmas set them far apart,
And yet the saints are all in harmony,
Because, God is the Universal Heart.

112.A man, from time to time, must need review
His discipline to see what progress made:
Unwatered soil will quickly turn to dust;
We are not free if debts are left unpaid.

113.Preaching by words is so very easy,
But God is not a thing of now and then:
Your example is the best of preachers;
Then betterment of man needs better men.

114.Of joys the greatest is the Grace of God;
The greatest of all blessings is good health;
Devotion brings the greatest happiness;
Contentment is the highest form of wealth.

115.Let me be nearer to you O God,
O Lord Divine, Thou Absolute, The Way;
Nearer today than I was yesterday;
Nearer tomorrow than I am today.

116.To think that God is separate from the Soul,
Is a delusion which will make you blind:
If never seeing God and you are one,
You never will the bliss of wisdom find.

117.When concentration does a man evade,
Let meditation be the daily rule;
Then when the ripples of the world are gone
The mind in calm and like a placid pool.

118.Into a dirty bottle, who would pour,
A precious perfume or some costly wine?
The mind which is polluted by the world,
Is not fit to receive the Grace Divine.

119.In the solitude of contemplation,
Is revealed the world and all its trends:
Those who have won freedom's understanding,
Never need to ask advice of friends.

120.Though monkeys chatter and the dogs may bark,
The wise man knows that silence is the best:
He leaves the world of gossip to the fools
And lets the tongue and mind remain at rest.

121.Resort to some secluded spot, apart;
Have no possessions which you do not need;
From lust and anger you must cleanse the mind;
From egoism, power, and pride be freed.

122.At regular place and time, do this each day,
And steadfast powers of concentration seek;
This meditation brings the highest bliss;
Comes quickly to the humble and the meek.

123.Living one's life without this knowledge true,
But never finding time to go apart,
You leave the simple quiet of solitude
And never know that God is in the heart.

124.Let not the time to go apart slip by,
And waste your days and years in worldly things;
To go apart from other men is good,
To let the Soul soar high on freedom's wings.

125.In the tranquil silence of the humble,
Knowledge undergoes constant revision;
Gone the useless maze of creeds and dogmas,
And the whirl of doubt and indecision.

126.Without desire or grief, the mind serene,
Is trained and fit to unite with the One;
The Absolute attained and man will know,
That he has done all he needs to have done.

127.In lonely solitude of hills and caves,
There is a place of peace and happiness;
Where those bewildered by the whirl of life,
Can barter it for everlasting bliss.

128.A traveler must seek knowledge of a road;
'Tis good to walk but easier to ride:
A wise man seeks a Guru, since he knows,
The way unknown is safest with a guide.

129.Arise, awake, and seek the Guru's feet;
The path is like a razor's edge, they say:
For most it is too difficult to tread
And many slip or falter by the way.

130.The Souls which long ago did tread the path,
Have skill and knowledge which will aid mankind:
The wise men seek the feet of these high saints
And in their shadow, happiness will find.

131.The body of the saint goes to the grave,
But by the Grace of God the Souls of few,
Return again to work and guide mankind
And lead men to the path of Dharma true.

132.If man aspires, the goal of God to reach,
The sight of one men call an Avadhoot
Is the Paramahansa, the Great Swan,
To be your vision of the Absolute.

133.For who can live as he the Avadhoot?
A simple life devoid of want and greed,
Of all men nearer to the Absolute:
He lives without desire beyond his need.

134.Purified by inner realization,
He does not ever seek for worldly fame;
He can be naked and be quite content,
Regarding gold and mud as but the same.

135.All ignorance and doubts are washed away;
Philosophies and creeds he casts aside;
He lives contented with the Absolute,
The Science of God, for him, the only guide.

136.Shorn of inhibitions and convention;
Intoxicated with the Absolute;
Renunciation has become a joy,
To him the people call an Avadhoot.

137.Who cares what other people say and think;
Who cares what other people do and say?
If we would walk the Supreme Path of God,
It must be done the right and proper way.

138.The saint has lost the ways of world's desires;
The less he needs, the less the clothes he wears;
A simple shelter will be found enough;
When God is found the saint no longer cares.

139.To those who are from worldly bondage free,
The path is open now for thee and thine;
Then once again the Soul unites with God
And once again the Soul becomes divine.

140.Renunciation is the final stage:
That day will be the greatest you will know,
For you will see and know and understand,
To get to God, all worldly things must go.

141.Renounce the world to live in poverty;
What is not God must need be thrown aside:
Go naked or in rags to meet thy Lord;
A beggar on the path, devoid of pride.

142.If we want God then other things must go;
A piece of cloth, some shelter from the rain,
And free from worldly cares and worldly aims
In silence find the Absolute again.

143.Walking in the Supreme Path, awake,
A song of joy to constantly unfold;
A man into a miracle transformed,
The lead transmuted into precious gold.

144.The weary world of darkness cannot hide,
That sometime, somewhere, there must be an end,
And in a better sphere of peace and bliss,
The wooft and weft of broken weaving mend.

145.The wise man will think well upon these things,
With patience tread the path and without haste,
Enjoy his progress and true knowledge seek
To cross the wilderness and weary waste.

146.No verse of mine can ever be complete;
I can my modest best but try to do:
I do not your approval try to meet,
But point the way and leave the rest to you.

147.The final words, at last, have come to be;
The song of God has been resung again:
Mahendranath must lay aside his pen
And let men seek the path to end all pain.
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

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The Pathless Path to Immortality
The Wisdom of Bhagavan Dattatreya

Shri Gurudev Mahendranath


The Pathless Path to Immortality
The Wisdom of Bhagavan Dattatreya
The name Shri Bhagavan Dattatreya is still practically unknown outside of India. More lamentable still is the fact that, although still worshiped by millions of Hindus, he is thought of more as a benevolent God rather than a teacher of the highest essence of Indian thought. In the basic essence which runs through the three patterns of thought which I have classified as the Diamond Dharmas, we find their earliest expression in the Guru teachings of Dattatreya. These teachings preceded them all, and later became embraced in Brahma-Vidya.

Shri Dattatreya was a dropout of an earlier age than the period when the Veda and Tantra merged to become one simple cult. It was men like Dattatreya who helped to make this possible. Three of his close disciples were kings, one an Asura, and the other two both belonging to the warrior caste. Dattatreya himself was regarded as an avatar of Maheshwara (Shiva), but later was claimed by Vaishnavas as the avatar of Vishnu. Not such a sectarian claim as it appears: Hindus regard Shiva and Vishnu as the same, or as manifestations of the Absolute taking form.

The teachings of Dattatreya during his lifetime were probably adjusted to meet the needs and understanding of the the disciples. We have an example of this in the case of Parasurama, a Brahman who became a disciple of Dattatreya. In accord with the Guru's correct assessment of his stage, he was first initiated into the rituals for the worship of the Mother Goddess (Shakti) in her from as Tripura (Destroyer of the Three Cities or Gunas). In time, Parasurama developed to understand the higher teachings, where his opportunity for understanding might have been lost in confusion if it had not been done gradually. Parasurama is a great story on its own, and will be dealt with later.

The gems which can be described as the higher teachings of Dattatreya (often used in a shorter form as Datta) come to us in many ways. The least obvious and most important was the way in which he lived. If chance had not given him several disciples of an unusually high level of understanding, there may not have been any other medium through which we could know him.

Another is the scripture or wisdom texts which record their teachings. They are found in several ancient Upanishads, one a Tantrik text known as Haritayana Samhita, a work of three sections. The last section, Charya Khanda, or section on conduct, has been lost and some believe destroyed. The other important works are to Gitas - the Jivanmukti Gita and the Avadhuta Gita. The latter is a wonderful, complete compilation of the highest thought given to and recorded by two disciples, Swami and Kartika.

The Upanishads describe Dattatreya with glowing praise, and enumerate his great qualities. Typical of most dropouts of the ancient Pagan world, he lived completely naked. This was a great spiritual era when all world renouncers were mostly naked, or near naked. The Sanskrit idiom used to describe this condition was digambara, having a literal meaning of `clothed in the sky' or `sky as garment', but also an idiomatic meaning that the sadhu was one with his environment. This was the world of Shiva-Shakti where the way of life of Nature was the highest ideal. Civilization and cities had already by this time appeared, but men knew that only artificial men could live and be produced in them.

The manner and way of life of these ancients was something beyond words and explanations, yet sufficient in itself. Brahma-Vidya had no meaning if theory was not put into practice. Academic and theoretic knowledge was helpful toward realization, but alone it could not reach the goal. Physical patterns were considered vital and essential to help overcome the past conditionings of the mind. Before the soul could be free, the mind must be made free; before the mind could be free, the body must be made free. While we are forced to accept that nudity are a regular part of sadhu practices, the true and fuller meanings might not be so obvious. There may have been important factors well known in the past, but lost to us today.

A vast number of religions have had forms of religious nudity. Even the Old Testament records an incident where David, the King of Israel, reverted to an older Pagan custom and danced naked before the shrine of the Lord in the temple. It could not have been a sudden, spontaneous act, but a practice rooted in ancient tradition. Even in India it is only a few years ago that people visiting the famous ice lingam at Amarnath were only permitted to enter the cave completely naked.

Today, most sadhus dress and some overdress, and a few even display themselves in costly silks. But in the ceremony of Sannyasa Diksha, or initiation into Sannyasa life, the candidate is required to walk at least seven paces completely naked to where the Guru sits. He then receives and repeats the Praisha Mantra. Many sects still require a sadhu to be naked if he does puja of his Guru or Sect Guru, or when meditating if he has passed beyond the relative stage of worship.

In some religions, it might have been an expression of going before God impoverished, or as a simple, innocent child, or in one's natural primordial state. Yet there is still some subtle aspect which may be beyond these. Today it is one of the best spiritual ``shock tactics'' to make people wake up and start a chain of thought. This, however, could hardly apply in very ancient times when nudity was common.

Shiva or Maheshwara and his Consort were always considered and described in texts as being naked. This might have served as a pattern of life for those who desired oneness, and were prepared to make it possible.

Dattatreya left home at an early age to wander naked in search of the Absolute. There is no room for doubt that he was an historical figure, and seems to have spent most of his life wandering in the area between and including North Mysore, through Maharashta, and into Gujarat as far as the Narmada River. One scripture refers to a disciple finding Datta meditating on Gandhamadana Mountain. He attained realization at a place not far from the town now known as Gangapur.

Legends about his birth are many and varied, and the place he died is unknown. It is stated that he was born on Wednesday, the fourteenth day of the full moon in the month of Margasirsa, but of year and place there is no reliable information. Scholars speculate it must have been not less than about four thousand years ago, or even earlier.

In spite of legends which made him to be the son of a Brahmin couple, it would not appear that he had much time for them, and further more he avoided any concepts of caste distinction. More often his teachings denied any importance being attached to the caste system in true spiritual life. He did not suggest that in worldly relationships the caste system was needless or defective, but tried to show that there must come a standard of understanding where they had no meaning.

Those who look for analogies with Christian ideals will find none; nor the meaningless precepts and platitudes which entangle most Western thinking. He taught no concepts of the brotherhood of man, non-killing, or love one another. They were for people which loved to live in the crowd, but feared it. Instead, he taught men the essence of wisdom which would disentangle them forever; the way one must think and live if the expression ``dropout'' was not to become only a meaningless gesture.

I am avoiding the use of Sanskrit texts, and even single Sanskrit words, as much as possible. A few are unavoidable and must be explained, but the English medium on all levels is quite capable of conveying any relative concept known to mankind. Those who do not understand Sanskrit only find Sanskrit shlokas like udders hanging on a bull, a useless ornament. Those who do know the Sanskrit language can revert to the source, and need no help from me. This is only an effort to express a difficult teaching in simple words.


Pratibha, Sahaja, Samarasa
The search for the Absolute, the Supreme Reality, is not one where we will ever witness mass realization. Only a few any age have the karma and mind impressions from past lives to make it possible. This does not mean that realization and liberation are reserved for a tiny select minority. It is a supreme attainment from which none can be excluded, but it must be conceived as a process which continues through many lives and rebirths, over countless periods of time.

The safest guide an individual or guru can have of one's stage in the long process is the sincerity and intensity of the individual as it manifests in the present incarnation. What has taken hundreds of thousands of lives to develop might still be very difficult to mature in only the one present span. This means that all spiritual life is a matter of investment in those values and yogas which will one day come to maturity. The punishment for neglect is not the wrath of God, but countless lives of misery, pain and frustration. The reward for the diligent is to escape entirely from these things, and attain the only true bliss of the Supreme Reality.

There are three Sanskrit words which form much of the essential structure upon which realization and liberation depend. They were used much by Dattatreya, and constantly repeated in the Tantrik or non-Vedic Agamas. Oddly enough, they are rarely used in Hindu life today, though they exist as words in most Indian dialects. None of the three can be easily translated into a single English word, but fortunately the language is rich enough to convey the meanings with even greater intensity.

The three words are pratibha, sahaja, and samarasa. Each must be explained separately, perhaps developed in the future. They not only have a unique beauty and charm of their own, but they also represent three great stepping-stones to the Absolute Reality.



PRATIBHA: It means vision, insight, intuition, inner understanding, unconditioned knowledge, inner wisdom, awareness, awakening. In Zen, they use the word satori. It should not be confused with enlightenment or realization. Patanjali in his wonderful theoretical textbook of varied yoga practices known as The Yoga Sutras, sees Pratibha as the spiritual illumination which is attained through yoga discipline to enable the disciple to know all else.

It is then the insight or illumination which is the open gateway to the final goal. It is the inner transformation which enables the aspirant to distinguish Reality from the sham. In some way, it can be visualized as a bridge between the mind and the Real Self. It produces changed people and clarity of thinking, as well as being an infallible guide in all undertakings.

Some few people are born with it, but seldom to more than a small degree. Even this can eventually be obscured by social life and its conditioning. It cannot thrive in a world where we permit others to do our thinking for us. The more it is used, the more it increases in intensity.

Pratibha is not related to careful thought or deliberation. It is instant in operation, and spontaneous in manifestation. For the average Zen student, this was regarded as sufficient attainment. Only those who seek Buddhahood and Enlightenment go further. But this is also a stage, which if once reached, requires no further guidance from a guru or master. Sometimes it is even spoken of the Pratibha-Shakti - the power of illumination. It is most easily developed by meditation or contemplation, and it independent of all religious patterns.

Pratibha is not even exclusively a spiritual concept. Those who have developed this faculty are more likely to succeed in the material world than the other. Modern Japan claims that most of the big names in industry and commerce today were once successful Zen students. Datta uses the word frequently in the Avadhuta Gita to show that the difficult ideas and the puzzles not easy to understand are cleared away instantly for that disciple who has developed the inner faculty of insight illumination known as Pratibha.

Pratibha is the real Divya Cakshus - the Third Eye which has so much captivated the mystical aspirations of the West. It is not really an ``eye'' so much as a miraculous vision or knowledge capable of plucking the gems of mystery and wisdom from the immaculate universe. It is the Philosopher's Stone which has the divine power to transmute the sordid world of base lead into a molten mass of wonder and harmony. But only when you really want it can you get it.



SAHAJA: When we review the vast procession of naked, ragged, and unkempt dropouts who illuminated the dreary passage of history to leave wisdom on which lesser minds could ponder, have we not great cause for wonder? What is it that made these men so different from the men of the mass-produced vulgar rabble who populate the earth? The answer is that the former had Sahaja!

Man is born with an instinct for naturalness. He has never forgotten the days of his primordial perfection, except insomuch as the memory became buried under the artificial superstructure of civilization and its artificial concepts. Sahaja means natural. It not only implies natural on physical and spiritual levels, but on the mystic level of the miraculous. It means that easy or natural of living without planning, designing, contriving, seeking, wanting, striving or intention. What is to come must come of itself.

It is the seed which falls in the ground, becomes seedling, sapling, and then a vast shady tree of wisdom and teachings. The tree grows according to Sahaja, natural and spontaneous in complete conformity with the Natural Law of the Universe. Nobody tells it what to do or how to grow. It has no swadharma or rules, duties and obligations incurred by birth. It has only svabhava - its own inborn self or essence to guide it. Sahaja is that nature which, when established in oneself, bring the state of absolute freedom and peace.

It is when you are in your natural state, in the harmony of the Cosmos. It is the balanced reality between the pairs of opposites. As the Guru of the Bhagavad Gita says, ``The person who has conquered the baser self, and has reached to the level of self-mastery: he is at peace, whether it be hot or cold, pleasure or pain, honoured or dishonoured.'' Thus Sahaja expresses one who has reverted to his natural state, free from conditioning. It typifies that outlook which belongs to the natural, spontaneous and uninhibited man, free from innate or inherited defects.

In all the Golden Dharmas, Sahaja flourishes. In Taoism, it was the highest virtue (teh). In the earlier Zen records, it is the main plank of training along which the disciples had to walk. The masters demanded answers which were Sahaja, and not the product of intellectual thinking or reason. The truth only came spontaneously.

Sahaja in Chinese became tzu-jan, or Self-so-ness. Taoism openly lamented the loss of the peculiar naturalness and unselfconsciousness of the child. Lao Tzu saw that Confucian ethics, which have their counterpart in the modern world, crushed the original natural loveliness of the child into the rigid patterns of convention. Retirement from such a society, as the dropout of modern times, became the outer symbol of freedom from the bonds and bounds of conventional society. Taoism, as did Brahma-Vidya and Zen, saw retirement or renunciation as the only possible way for people to recover Sahaja. Thus the greatest quality of children again became recaptured by saints and sages.


Artificial clowns throng the world;
Only children and saints know Sahaja.

Dattatreya tried to teach mankind that if they had Sahaja, there was no need to do anything to prove it. It manifests only by the way one lives. Sukhadev is the great naked Mahatma who expounded the Bhagavat Purana. When a young man, he stood naked in the presence of his father, the sage Vyasa, to be initiated into the Brahmin caste with mantra and sacred thread. This was a moment such as we have just mentioned when the natural unspoiled boy was to be ushered into a world of concepts, ideas, and obligations, and all naturalness would be lost.
Sukhadev decided to keep his Sahaja. Taking to his heels, he ran from the house and took to the path which wound itself along the side of a river and into the jungle. As he came to the river, some young women were bathing naked in the water. They took no notice of Sukhadev, and he only glanced as he ran on. Vyasa, the father, was hot on his track, and was following the young man to induce him to return. But as Vyasa approached the river, the young women there screamed, rushed for their garments, and covered themselves as the panting Vyasa grew near.

Having observed their complete indifference when his naked son ran past, and this modest but demonstrative display at his own approach, Vyasa could not help wondering at the contrast. He stopped by the now covered women, and asked for some explanation of such widely different behavior toward his naked son and his decorously dressed self. One of the women explained, ``When your son looks at us, he sees only people, and is not conscious of male and female. He is just as unconscious of our nakedness as he is of his own; but with you, Maharaj Vyasa, it is different.''

Sukhadev had Sahaja, and the women knew it. He knew it and never lost it. His father never caught up with him, and he never returned home. He became one of India's many great saints, not living in any fixed place, but only in the fullness of the immediate present.



The three Sanskrit words, Pratibha, Sahaja, and Samarasa are related even in meaning, interlocking with each other and together to form a ``Holy Trinity'' of Liberation. The third, however, is the greater, and by far the most interesting for it is the one single magick word which contains the Absolute, the Universe, and the World.



SAMARASA: This unique word, completely absent from Vedic texts, is found again and again in Tantra, Upanishads, and all the best of non-Vedic literature. In one short chapter of the Avadhuta Gita, it occurs more than forty times. This whole Gita would be impossible to read and understand without the knowledge of this word.

One of the unique but mysterious features of the Sanskrit language is how many words can be used as three separate and distinct levels of thought. Even whole verses have this remarkable feature. It is one of the factors which has made translation into other languages to difficult.

The difference presupposes three groups of people. First, there is the literal meaning intended for the householder or worldly man as a guide to better thought and action. The second is the meaning on a higher level intended for the mumukshu or hungry seeker for God. Here the same words take the reader from the mundane level to the higher level and the implications implied. The third is the meaning intended for the soul who has attained, or is nearly ready to attain, liberation.

This play of words is not unknown in other languages. ``A dog's life'' would have a different meaning to Diogenes of Sinope than it would to a harassed householder, and an even different meaning to a dog itself. There is little wonder that the sages warned against public reading of many scriptures, and confined them only to disciples or near relatives. It is also one of the features which has made the Sadguru indispensable to the sincere disciple.

The Tantrik or non-Vedic teachers used the word Samarasa in its mundane meaning to suggest higher truth. Samarasa can mean the ecstasy attained in sexual intercourse at the moment of orgasm. Using this, as they did of many other worldly things - to draw an analog between the moment of sexual bliss and the spiritual bliss of realization - men and women, it was thought, would understand absolute concepts better from the examples of relative life.

Going higher, it means the essential unity of all things - of all existence, the equipoise of equanimity, the supreme bliss of harmony, that which is aesthetically balanced, undifferentiated unity, absolute assimilation, the most perfect unification, and the highest consummation of Oneness.

To Dattatreya, it meant a stage of realization of the Absolute Truth, where there was no longer any distinction to be felt, seen or experienced between the seeker and the sought. Gorakshanath, who wrote the first texts of the Nathas, explains Samarasa as a state of absolute freedom, peace, and attainment in the realization of the Absolute Truth. He placed it on a higher level than samadhi.

Samarasa implied the joy and happiness with perfect equanimity and tranquility, maintained after samadhi had finished, and continued in the waking or conscious state. In this sense, it is a form of permanent ecstasy and contemplation which the saint maintains at all times.

Zen maintains the same concepts, but nothing comparable with Pratibha, Sahaja, or Samarasa are found in any of the Black Dharmas of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the Tantrik Buddhist school which existed for about three hundred years between the 7th and 10th centuries C.E., Samarasa and Sahaja held a prominent place, and were also adopted by Tibetan Buddhists. The Siddha and Natha sects used Samarasa instead of the work Moksha. In this way, the word became used to express the highest ideal of human life. It is much elucidated in the Agamas of the Shiva-Shakti tradition.

Samarasa is not just a matter of outlook or adjustment of ourselves with the world and its innumerable divisions, or an attempt to adjust the world to ourselves. One ends in greater conditioning, and the other in frustration. Samarasa must be regarded only as the culminating point of real Yoga. The true yogi does as Dattatreya did - sees himself in the world and the world in himself, the most perfect harmony of mankind and nature.



Pagan India was never a world of universal spirituality. Although it was the cradle of the highest spiritual concepts, the spiritual truth seekers were always, as even now, only a minority, and its great saints and sages existed in even smaller numbers. Most people sought the world and worldly things, but did, at the same time, accept the authority of teachers and gurus. How many then could possibly understand the ideas of Samarasa and Moksha, and who could be truly competent to be regarded as authorities on the difficult-to-understand concepts of realization and liberation?

The answer was their acceptance of the wise authority of those liberated souls who had won the goal. It was not mere blind faith, but the faith born of confidence in those who had undertaken the Yoga, and attained the goal. There have always been these great souls, and there will be in the future. Most of them live and die in obscurity. The true seekers will always find them, even if the worldly public has never hears about them.

Side by side with these great yogis, hidden from the world, are the wisdom texts and traditions of great yogis who have gone before. This is the medium by which the real seeker develops the enthusiasm to find the living. Of the ancient past, Dattatreya rises above them all. But even he, the greatest of men - the public has consigned to the inferior position of an object of worship, and the resort of those who seek favours.

Students of Tao and Zen will see deeper into these lines. Speaking of the Absolute Reality, Dattatreya says:


``It is not pervading,
or that which could be less pervading;
there can be no place for it to rest,
nor can there be the absence of such a place.
It is something as well as being nothing.
How can it be explained?''
Then the play of words, but still leaving the problem defying intellectual answering:

``Break that distinction between broken and unbroken:
Do not cling to the distinction of clinging or non-clinging.''
This level of conception is far beyond ordinary conventional thought: like koans used in Zen monasteries. This Dattatreya becomes the boat which carries us ``Beyond, Beyond.''
Dattatreya aimed at the negation of `the thought behind things and ideas' because conflict exists, not so much in the things and ideas (such as words), but in those meanings with which we associate them. The simple naturalness of Sahaja, and the supreme ideal of Samarasa, must never be lost in meaningless and petty wrangles between philosophies, concepts, and mere human ideas.

On to the great platform of the greatest of all controversies, and one which still rages today - the Dvaita and Advaita and Non-Duality concepts; he declares both are true and both are wrong. Since the Absolute is beyond all classification or expressions, neither term can be applied to it. But what proceeds from the Absolute as creation or manifestation cannot be entirely a delusion, but must have a relative reality. Creator and creation imply duality, so in this sense, it is correct. But also if there is a perfect unity, even identity between creator and created, then to speak of non-duality is also correct. It is not actually so important to solve these problems as to be able to stand aside from them completely. When one truly realizes oneness, then duality and non-duality are only meaningless words, and the symbols of delusion.

What more do you need to know?


INTERNATIONAL NATH ORDER
This edition of Shri Gurudev Mahendranath's THE PATHLESS PATH TO IMMORTALITY is one of many projects planned by the not-for-profit International Nath Order. The International Nath Order itself is based upon the fundamental principles and inspiration set forth in Shri Mahendranath's Master Pattern of the Nath Order, TWILIGHT YOGA trilogy, and other writings. The three manuscripts which comprise the TWILIGHT YOGA Trilogy offers the building blocks with which to construct a more fantastic way of life. The International Nath Order strives to realize these aims through practical action and was conceived and constructed to serve the needs of many. Our primary concerns are the dissemination of higher wisdom, the construction and maintenance of places of meeting and worship, plus the activities related to continuing a spiritual transmission or initiation lineage which has its roots in a distant past, but continues to burn brightly even today. The International Nath Order seeks to fan this spiritual flame and make available to many the ideas and basics on which to develop a more expansive spiritual experience and fantastic way of life.

The Ashes of the Book
by
Shri Gurudev Mahendranath


The one supreme purpose of human life
Is man's return to his divinity,
Again reunite with the Absolute,
Breaking the chain of rebirth forever.

By the grace of OM, always there will be
Souls who will know and understand the truth,
Reject the world and gain the Absolute;
Thus a mortal becomes immortal.

He who has already achieved, must light
The way to mortals who seek the same path.
Thus Gurus become the guides of others;
Jivanmuktis have no other duties.

No Guru can give you realization;
This you can only attain for yourself:
The Guru can guide and show the way
But the disciple must do the practice.

Guru guidance can only take two forms -
First to clear the mind of its delusions,
Thus to overcome past conditionings
And second, to teach the practical steps.

It is not so much what you must believe
As those wrong ideas you have to reject,
Empty the mind of all misconceptions,
Free the mind from its past conditioning.

The path is not presented for discussion
And nobody is going to persuade you,
But before this wisdom can have any meaning,
Empty the mind of all preconceptions.

Empirical thinking will never solve
Problems or pathways to the Absolute:
Realization and liberation come
When the relative is burnt at the root.

The philosopher lives in a pattern
Of thoughts, concepts, deductions and ideas,
And soon he begins to doubt everything,
The doubts which grow till they engulf himself.

With or without philosophy, the Real,
Truth, the Absolute, is never approached
Thus, in spite of all ideas and theories,
The world of relativity remains.

Gurus and masters of realization
Did not find the path by speculation:
The truth revealed and everything attained
Only in the calm of contemplation.

The man who sits outside the tavern door
Sees all the brawls and quarrels rage within:
He can never be intoxicated
But views the scene, not disturbed by the din.

The true disciple seeks to join with OM
And does not crave for any sort of power:
He who seeks something to show and display,
Uproots the plant because he wants the flowers.

From the vast universe to the amoeba,
Om, the Absolute, is all prevading:
If OM is everywhere and in all things,
Where can we find a place where OM is not !

Immortality is not of the world:
Neither intensity nor works increase,
Neither new actions nor the social whirl;
Only real equipoise will give you peace.

Gaze into the the blue sky beyond the clouds,
Or gaze into the the depths of starlit space
And see the plenum of eternity,
The all pervading essence, infinite.

In some strange way this universe was born,
A thought of OM or just a cosmic tear,
But what is the use of speculation
When all that we can know is we are here?

Try to give life a purpose or an aim
And you will miss the true art of living:
Change your attitude and relationship
And you can live again as supreme Self.

It is spontaneous and comes of itself
To the natural man with an awakened mind;
By sitting calm and not even thinking
The grace of the Absolute will descend.

Equipoise in honour and dishonour
Unsmiling same to either friend or foe:
True consciousness can never wear a mask;
Betweeen the pure and impure never rest.

Wisdom may come from a thousand sources,
So it is wrong to stress one school of thought:
particles of truth are found everwhere
And no one school has yet possessed the whole.

The practice of the way must always be
Consistent with theory you are taught,
For talk alone can never bring success
And practice, when ignored, must lead to naught.

But when you turn your back upon the world,
And all the sordid confusion of mankind,
Remember, only few can get away;
So no reproach for those who stay behind.

You are the highest Self,
The supreme Reality:
Wake up, O sleeping soul -
Regain immortality.

Dust & Bones



Dwelling in the lowlands and the mountains,
The naked Avadhoots bathe in the fire,
Turning men's delusions into ashes,
And freeing souls from bondage and desire.
Of the beginning to know not;
Of obligations to owe not;
Against the world not to be;
Mankind's evils do not see;
To save the world, try not;
For other people, sigh not;
Only within is perfect peace;
So inward seek and find release.

Thus, Varma Marga-the Path of Return,
Rejects the world, for money not to yearn:
Eternally, the ancient Gurus taught,
The best of treasures can never be bought.

So, said Mahendranath the Avadhoot,
The words of other men do not refute:
You are immortal soul and nothing lack
In Twilight Yoga, return and go back.

Lose not your mind in revels
Or the petty baser levels;
Awakened Awareness can see
The Cosmic Soul is really thee.

The Soul, a heaven born, enchanted swan
Breaks through its worldly chains and passes on,
And in the realm of purest Bliss to shine,
Now an immortal, once again divine.

The world of artificial scenes and then,
A weary life of which you soon must tire,
When will you see, o foolish tribe of men,
All is a phantom of a dream's desire.

When will they learn to mind their own business,
And will they ever leave mankind alone?
Invent, reform, and the preachers who rave,
Progress which still only leads to the grave.

If all the reformers had died at birth,
And preachers had earlier left the earth,
And most inventors had never been,
A happier world you might have seen.

The nature of mankind was more perfect,
In its original simplicity.
Progress has been the greatest corruption;
Civilization has debased mankind.

People have been spoiled by the improvers,
Because reformers won't leave folk alone;
Thus the rhythm of life has been destroyed,
And happiness is now almost unknown.

Converting happy people into slaves
Has ever been the way of those who rule:
Although they preach of progress for mankind,
They treat each other as though he were a fool.

Physical labour was made for donkeys;
Doing nothing is the best employment:
What is the use if your actions prevent
Contemplative life and its enjoyment?

I only spoke because I did not know,
But now I know, I do not dare to speak:
If once I told, it was as bells are rung,
When moving world of action swings the tongue.

Those who think they can preach Reality
Are but as clowns whose voices croaking creak;
Those who do not know it do the talking,
For he who knows it does not dare to speak.

The turn about way is the Pagan Path,
The esoteric natural way supreme,
And in the calm of Twilight Yoga learn,
Which is reality and which a dream.

In the Alchemy of Twilight Yoga,
The bondage burns but Soul survives the fire;
In this path we terminate obstructions
And see the emptiness of world desire.

Without meditation, all is in vain,
For have not the ancient Gurus made plain
That if Man would his Real Self know and find,
He must first sit quiet and empty the mind?

Around the Zodiac, the Wheel of Life,
Days turn to months and months turn to years,
And life span ends to take you to the grave;
You, unprepared and trembling with your fears.

This is the path you made, no turning back;
Remorse and tears, though heavy as the rain,
Can have no meaning now, and you must face
The seeds you planted; rebirth once again.

The sky is gone and only stars in space,
The weariness of day lies down to sleep,
But all too soon the peace of night must end;
Appointment with another day to keep.

Back to your primitive simplicity,
Environment to be as Nature made:
Avoiding action, only sitting quiet,
The world will vanish-even thoughts will fade.

In the bliss and joy of deep Samadhi,
Yet seeking nothing, only stillness be;
Then will come the supreme Realization
That you are Soul and always have been free.

-Shri Dadaji Mahendranath

THE AVADHUT GITA, or Avadhuta Gita, may be called an ancient non-dual text. Several errors in Hari Prasad Shastri's English translation (1st edition, 1934) have been corrected here; some words and phrases are updated; and a few notes have been added. - Tormod Kinnes.


Introduction
The word Avadhuta refers to a mystic who has done away with worldly concerns and standard social etiquette, at least in his or her heart. Such personalities are considered to be free to 'roam the earth like a child'. An avadhuta does not identify with their body or mind. Such a person is said to be pure consciousness in human form. Avadhuts play a significant role in many Yoga, Vedanta and Bhakti traditions.

Some are born free, and may appear in any class of society. Others wear next to nothing, and meditate a lot. And then there are others who may not be recognised for what they are, as they do not show off. They may live like ordinary people.

The Avadhut(a) Gita is a mystical text which tells how the avadhut(a) is.

Dattatreya, the Author
It has been mentioned that Dattatreya was the teacher of the sage Patanjali. Be that as it may: The main work attributed to Dattatreya is the Avhadhuta Upanishad. It describes the wherabouts of a free (liberated) soul, one who is much uninterested in the dogmas of others, or habits, rituals, and surface morality too at times.

According to Dattatreya, the free man need not have any particular appearance, lifestyle, religion or social role. He (or she) may walk about naked or be dressed up as a prince. He may appear pious or blasphemous, ascetic or hedonistic. The important thing is that. Also, a liberated soul will not wilfully harm or destroy others, it is pointed out, even if there occasionally are good sides to breaking rigid taboos before they do us harm.
Dattatreya is often pictured naked, sitting in embrace with a lovely female, eating hog's flesh, drinking wine . . . He is further described as Madman and Child and so on.

The Avadhut Gita
The Avadhut Gita is . . . meant for the use of those advanced students of Indian metaphysics who have learned self-control to an appreciable extent.

It is a well known classic among the high yogis, sannyasins [renunciates] and sincere aspirants.

The lower form of prayer consists of singing hymns and repeating mantrams [words or sounds] in which the ultimate Reality, the secondless, all-transcending Brahman [God] is conceived in terms of duality.


A mantra(m) is a Vedic formula, the repetition of which, according to approved rules, induces spiritual consciousness, and also psychic powers.
'Brahman' comes from the root 'brih', expand - also called Sat, Chit and Ananda, i.e., (Absolute) Existence, Intelligence and Bliss (joy).)

The higher form of prayer consists of feelingly singing of Brahman in terms of non-duality, [for example,]" I am Brahman," and [it may] bring before us the great vision of Truth [it is held] . . .

The Avadhut Gita contains this knowledge . . . The word Avadhut means a high renunciate, a Mahatma ['great soul', perfected in some way or ways], one who has found unity with God . . .

Who was this Mahatma Dattatreya . . .? To some Yogis and devotees he is an immortal, and they still see him . . .

He was a historical person . . . From the fact that most of his devotees live in the Bombay presidency we can infer that he lived in Western India . . .

There is a mention of the Avadhut in the Eleventh Book of the Shrimad Bhagavata [which is attributed to Vyasa, written in a highly poetic style . . . The following is an extract from this book:

His many gurus
"Salutations to you, Sage, Kindly tell us what guru has given you the great knowledge which has made you perfect in wisdom, full of peace, and devoted to the good of all living beings."

The Avadhut anwered:

"One's own Self is one's chief Guru. By knowledge of Self [in] communion one gets the great bliss."

The Avadhut did not learn from one particular source, but from many teachers, or gurus. He then mentioned twenty-four of them, including Water, the earth, the wind, space, the moon, the sun, the sea, and the arrow-maker.

From water he learned purity and the taste of tastelessness. "As water is sweet and pure, so is Atman [the divine Self]. Man should manifest sweetness and purity in his conduct. I have therefore taken water as one of my Gurus," he said.
"Patience, forgiveness, supporting others without expectation of gratitude I have learned from my Guru, the earth."
"The wind blows everywhere, over the flower-beds, deserts, marshes, palaces and prisons, without being attached to any of them, without preference or dislike. So, I, an Avadhut, go everywhere, scattering my blessings of peace, without being attached to anyone. My Guru, the wind, has taught me this lesson."
"In the all-pervading space there exist clouds, stars, planets, dust-storms, and so on, but it is not touched by any of them. So is Atman, which, pervading all bodies of men and animals, of saints, sages, kings, madmen, sinners, and paupers, is untainted by any of them. So do I feel, having learned this lesson from space, my Guru."
"As the moon is perfect, in spite of its waning and waxing, which do not exist in it, so is Atman ever perfect, in spite of its seeming imperfections. This is what the moon, my Guru, has taught me."
"As the sun through its rays absorbs water from the earth, only to give it back in a cool and pure form, so ought a Mahatma to take the things of the world, not for his own sake, but in order to give them back in a richer and better form. This is what my Guru, the sun, has taught me."
"Though thousands of rivers empty themselves into the sea, yet it remains within its limits; so remains undisturbed the mind of the knower of God, though objects of all kinds pour themselves into it. Thus, the sea, my Guru, has instructed me."
"From the arrow-maker I have learned the value of concentration. In a certain town there lived an arrow-maker, who devoted his full attention to his occupation. Once he was beating the point of an arrow, when the king and his procession went by the street. He was so attentive to his work that he knew nothing of the king's passing, and when they asked him how he liked the music of the procession he said, 'What procession? When did it pass?' So ought we to concentrate on the Truth that no external object or event should disturb us."
The teachings of Rishi Dattatreya are similar to those of Vasishtha . . . There are still many paramahansas . . . and yogis who follow the path of spiritual solitude . . .

[Most of the above is taken from Hari Shastri Prasad's preface.]






Chapter 1
1. By the grace of God the Brahmins above all men are inspired with the disposition to non-duality (unity of the Self with God), which relieves them of the great fear.

2. How can I salute the Self, which is indestructible, which is all Bliss, which in Itself and by Itself pervades everything, and which is inseparable from Itself?

3. I alone am, ever free from all taint. The world exists like a mirage within me. To whom shall I bow?

Reader, do you exist?
4. Verily the one Self is all, free from differentiation and non-differentiation. Neither can it be said, "It is" nor "It is not." What a great mystery.

5. This is the whole substance of Vedanta; this is the essence of all knowledge, theoretical and intuitional. I am the Atman, by nature impersonal and all-pervasive.

6. That God who is the Self in all, impersonal and changeless, like unto space, by nature purity itself, verily, verily, that I am.

7. I am pure knowledge, imperishable, infinite. I know neither joy nor pain; whom can they touch?

8. The actions of the mind, good and evil, the actions of the body, good and evil, the actions of the voice, good and evil, exist not in me (Atman). I am the nectar which is knowledge absolute; beyond the range of the senses I am.

9. The mind is as space, embracing all. I am beyond mind. In Reality, mind has no independent existence.

10. How can it be said that the Self is manifest? How can it be said that the self is limited? I alone am existence; all this objective world am I. More subtle than space itself am I.

11. Know the Self to be infinite consciousness, self-evident, beyond destruction, enlightening all bodies equally, ever shining. In It is neither day nor night.

12. Know Atman to be one, ever the same, changeless. How canst though say: "I am the meditator, and this is the object of meditation?" How can perfection be divided?

13. You, Atman, were never born, nor did you ever die. The body was never yours. The Shruti (revealed Scriptures) has often said: "This is all Brahman."

14. You are all Brahman, free from all change, the same within and without, absolute bliss. Run not to and fro like a ghost.

15. Neither unity nor separation exist in you nor in me. All is Atman alone. "I" and "you" and the world have no real being.

16. The subtle faculties of touch, taste, smell, form and sound which constitute the world without are not yourself, nor are they within you. You are the great all-transcending Reality.

17. Birth and death exist not in the mind, not in you, as do also bondage and liberation. Good and evil are in the mind, and not in you. Beloved, why do you cry? Name and form are neither in you nor in me.

18. Oh my mind, why do you range in delusion like a ghost? Know Atman to be above duality and be happy.

19. You are the essence of knowledge, indomitable, eternal, ever free from modifications. Neither is there in you attachment nor indifference. Let not yourself suffer from desires.

20. All the Shrutis speak of Atman as without attributes, ever pure, imperishable, without a body, the eternal Truth. That know to be yourself.

21. Know all forms, physical and subtle, as illusion. The Reality underlying them is eternal. By living this Truth one passes beyond birth and death.

22. The sages call Atman the "ever-same." By giving up attachment the mind sees neither duality nor unity.

23. Concentration is not possible either on perishable objects, on account of their mutability, nor on Atman. "Is" and "is not" do not apply to Atman either. In Atman, freedom absolute, how is Samadhi [state of inner union] possible?

24. Birthless, pure, bodiless, equable, imperishable Atman you knowest yourself to be. How then canst you say: "I know Atman," or "I know not Atman."

25. Thus has the Shruti spoken of Atman; "That You are." Of the illusory world, born of the five physical elements, the Shruti says: "Neti, neti" (not this, not this).

26. All this is ever pervaded by you as Atman. In you is neither the meditator nor the object of meditation. Why, mind, do you shamelessly meditate?"

27. I know not Shiva [it can mean Brahman and high awareness],
How can I speak of Him?
Who Shiva is I do not know,
How can I worship Him?

28. I am Shiva, the only reality,
Like absolute space is my nature.
In me is neither unity nor variety,
The cause of imagination too is absent in me.

29. Free from subject and object am I,
How can I be self-realizable?
Endless is my nature, nothing else exists.
Absolute Truth is my nature, nothing else exists.

30. Atman by nature, the supreme Reality am I,
Neither am I slayer nor the slain

31. On the destruction of a jar, the space in it unites with all space. In myself and Shiva I see no difference when the mind is purified.

32. Brahman alone is, as pure consciousness. In truth there is no jar, and no jar-space, no embodied soul, nor its nature.

33. There are no worlds, no Vedas, no Devas, no sacrifices, no castes, no family tribes, no nationalities, no smoke-path, no shining-path.

34. Some there are that prize non-dualism, others hold to dualism. They know not the Truth, which is above both.

35. How can the supreme Reality be described, since It is neither white nor any other colour, has no qualities such as sound, and is beyond voice and mind?

36. "I eat," "I give," "I act"; such statements do not apply to Atman, which is purity, birthless and imperishable.

37. Where the one Brahman alone is, how can it be said "this is Maya [by which the phenomenal world has been brought into existence]", or "this is not Maya", "this is shadow" or "this is not shadow"?

38. I am without beginning and without end. Never was I bound. By nature pure, taintless is my Self. This I know for sure.

39. From subtle substance (mahat) down to formed creation, there is nothing but Brahman; most clearly do I see this. Where then is the division of caste?

40. The absolute void and its opposite, all am I everlastingly.

41. Atman is not male or female, nor is It neuter; neither is It happiness or suffering. How dare ye pervert It?

42. Atman is not purified by the six methods of Yoga. Absence of the mind makes It no clearer. The teachings of a Guru reveal It not. It is all purity, in Itself, by Itself.

43. I am neither bound nor free. I am not separate from Brahman.

44. Neither the doer nor the enjoyer of the fruits of karma am I. The pervader or the pervaded I am not.

45. As a volume of water poured into water is inseparably united with water, so, I perceive, matter and spirit are one.

46. Why do you call Atman personal and impersonal. Since you are neither bound nor free?

47. Pure, pure you are, without a body, unrelated to the mind, beyond maya; why are you ashamed to declare: "I am Atman, the supreme Reality"?

48. My mind, why do you cry? Realize thy Atman, Beloved; drink the timeless great nectar of non-duality.

49. Knowledge born of the intellect am I not. By nature Truth eternal am I. I am perpetual immutability.

50. Neither formless nor with form, described by the Vedas as "Not this, not this," free from separation and unity, the true Self reigns supreme.

51. There is no father, no mother, no kinsman, no son, no wife, no friend, no prejudice, no doctrine. Why are you disquiet, my mind?

52. Why do the wise imagine the bodiless Brahman to be a body? In It there is neither day nor night, neither rising nor setting.

53. Since the imperfections of attachment and the like are not in me, I am above the suffering of the body. Know me to be infinite, like unto space, one Atman.

54. My mind, my friend, many words are not needed, and the world [hardly] comprehends reason. In a word, I have told you the essence of truth: "you are Truth, you are as space."

55. In whatever place and in whatever state the Yogi dies, his spirit is absorbed into That, as, on the destruction of the jar, the space in the jar is united with absolute space.

56. Whether he dies conscious or in coma, in a holy temple or in the house of an untouchable, he obtains liberation, becoming the all-pervading Brahman.

57. The Yogis regard righteousness, prosperity, desire for Paradise and liberation, and also the moving and fixed objects, as mere will-o'-the-wisps.

58. The Avadhut in unshakable equanimity, living in the holy temple of nothingness, walks naked, knowing all to be Brahman.

59. Where there is no "Third" or "Fourth [note]", where all is known as Atman, where there is neither righteousness nor unrighteousness, how can there be either bondage or liberation?

Note: In addition to waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep, Indians reckon with "the fourth" (state), also called Turiya. Beyond it is the . . . which is beyond words and common experience. - TK.




Chapter 2
The Avadhut said:

1. Do not hold the immature, the credulous, the foolish, the slow, the layman and the fallen to have nothing good in them. They all teach something. Learn from them. Surely we do not give up a game although we have mastered it?

2. Think not lightly of your Guru should he lack letters and learning. Take the Truth he teaches and ignore the rest. Know well that a boat, painted and adorned, will carry you across the river; so also will one that is plain and simple.

3. The higher intelligence which without effort pervades the movable and the immovable, and which by nature is all peace and consciousness, that I am.

4. How can the one supreme consciousness which without effort rules the living and the inert and is all-pervasive, be other than I?

5. I am subtler than primordial substance, beyond elements and compounds, free from birth and death, above duality and unity.

6. The modifications of the inner organ (antahkarana) have no part in me. Like bubbles rising and falling in a river, thoughts and volitions rise and disappear in the inner organ.

7. As softness is not perceived apart from soft objects, as sweetness is not known apart from honey, as bitterness is not known apart from the [very bitter-tasting] Neem tree [leaves], as fluidity and coolness are the nature of water, so the primordial form of matter called mahat ['giant'] is no other than the Self (Atman). As the rays of the sun differ not from the sun, so matter does not differ from God.

8. How can "I" or "you" be said of Brahman which is more subtle than mahat, free from all attributes, greater than all, above the range of mind and emotion, without medium or limitation, lord of the universe? It can neither be called static or dynamic.

9. As space cannot be compared with another space, so Brahman being above duality, cannot be compared with any object. Brahman alone is perfection, taintless, all knowledge.

10. It walks not on the earth, the wind cannot move It, the water cannot cover It, It stands in the middle of [inner, subtle] Light.

11. It pervades space-time. Nothing pervades It. From limitations ever free, eternally the same, with nothing outside It and nothing within, It abides.

12. Atman, of which the high yogis speak, most subtle, beyond perception, without attributes, must be realized step by step, and not by sudden violence.

13. Ever practicing yoga, not depending on any object, the yogi merges his consciousness in Brahman, and becomes Brahman.

14. There is but one antidote to the poison of highly dangerous passions, which beget infatuation, and that is to return to the state of Atman. Atman is unapproachable by the emotions, is ever formless and independent.

15. Hidden in the realm of eternal consciousness lies the world's cause, which is prakriti. Within this cause is Brahman. The husk of a coconut is the world, the pulp is prakriti, and the sweet cool water encased in the pulp is Brahman.

16. Like the full moon is Atman. See It in all. Duality is the product of defective vision. As there is only one moon so there is only one Atman in all.

17. No duality can touch the conception of Brahman, because It is all-pervasive. The wise who teach this acquire boundless patience, and their disciples can never be too thankful to them.

18. The talented as well as the witless attain the state of desirelessness by knowing the mystery of Atman, through the grace of their spiritual teacher.

19. This transcendent ['beyondic'] state of consciousness is reached by those who are free from attachment and aversion, ever engaged in doing good to all living beings, whose knowledge is firmly rooted, and who are patient.

20. The yogi is merged in the divine after leaving the body, as the jar-space is merged in cosmic space on the destruction of the jar.

21. The statement that the future condition is determined by the state of the thoughts at death is made of the uninitiated, not the initiated.

22. The knower of Brahman may leave his body in a holy place, or in the house of an untouchable, he is absorbed into Brahman.

23. When a yogi has realized Atman, which is his true Self, birthless and beyond the range of the mind and emotions, then the karmas [actions and their retributions] no longer touch him. He may perform the rituals or leave them. To him it is all one.

24. Atman realized is the master of creation, eternal, indestructible, formless, without dimensions, absolutely independent, without pleasure or pain, full of all powers.

25. The wise discover that Atman is not seen either by the study of the Vedas, by initiations, by shaving the head, or by being a Guru or chela [dear, intimate follower or disciple]. Nor is it seen through postures.

26. That God, Atman, by whose power the whole universe is born, in which it abides and to which it finally returns like bubbles and waves in the sea, is realized by the wise.

27. Atman, which the wise realize, is not the aim of control of breath (pranayama) or hatha yoga [of physical postures and the like]. In It there is neither knowledge nor ignorance.

28. There is neither unity nor duality in Atman, nor unity-duality, neither smallness nor greatness, neither emptiness nor fullness. All these exist in the mind, and the mind is not Atman.

29. The teacher cannot teach Atman [note]; the disciple cannot learn it.

Note: "If that is so, then why this song at all?" asked a mirthful lad.




Chapter 3
1. How shall I worship that great Atman
Which is neither personal nor impersonal.
Taintless, above love and aversion, uncreated,
All pervasive, of the form of the universe,
Having no attributes, yet not attributeless
That all-bliss Shiva, my Self.

2. How shall I bow down to mine own Self
In my own Self and by my Self?
I have no colours, white or yellow;
Eternal Shiva am I.

3. I am rootless, and without root,
Free from smoke, and smokeless am I,
Without a lamp, and lightless am I,
Equanimity am I, like a sun ever risen.

4. How can I name the passionless, desireless One
As having desires? The Absolute cannot
Be described in terms of conditions;
How can I speak of myself?
I am neither with an essence,
Nor am I without an essence.
Space-like all equanimity am I.

"I am not without an essence," then . . . (For everyday affirmations one is advised to hold on to the positive things, visualize and repeat them, and steer out of negations.)
5. How shall I say that non-duality
Is all this creation, or that, or that?
Even if it be duality, then too I cannot
Attribute creation or dissolution to It.
How can the Eternal, the All
Be expressed in any way?
Space-like, all-bliss am I.

6. Neither gross nor subtle is my Atman;
It comes not, and It goes not;
Without a beginning and without an end;
Neither higher nor lower is It;
That Truth absolute, space-like,
Immortality-giving knowledge am I.

7. Know well that all the senses
Are as space, and so also their objects.
Know that the One is taintless,
The One is neither bound nor free.
That all-pervasive ever-blissful Shiva,
Immortality-giving knowledge am I.

8. The knowledge of the Self, hard to obtain,
Which is experienced, is not Atman;
The object of meditation,
Hard to concentrate upon, is not Atman;
That which is near, and that which is far, far away,
Is not Atman. Space-like, all-bliss
Shiva am I, Shiva am I.

9. Without karma am I, I burn up karmas;
Without pain am I, I burn up sufferings;
Bodiless, homeless am I, and yet I burn up these,
All equanimity, space-like am I.

10. The seed of the plant of the world exists not in me,
Contentment and pleasures exist not in me;
Bondage and ignorance are not in me;
Space-like, absolute Shiva am I.

11. Atman is not the Knower
Nor the known.
It is not accessible to inference.
Words cannot describe
This Consciousness Absolute.
The mind is lost in Its majesty.
How can It be explained to you?
As space-like I AM-realization giving immortality
[Space-like immortality-giving knowledge am I].

12. There is no separation and no unity in It.
Neither is It inner nor outer.
It is Truth transcendental.
It cannot be said "It was all before."
Verily nothing exists but Atman.
And that space-like immortality-giving
Knowledge am I.

13. I am the eternal principle.
Free from attachment and aversion,
Free from imperfections am I,
Fate and providence exist not in me.
Eternally free from the sufferings of the world,
Verily, space-like immortality-giving
Knowledge am I.

14. As the three states of consciousness
Exist not in Atman,
How can It be the Fourth?
Free from past, present and future
How can the cardinal points exist in IT?
Eternal peace, space-like transcendental
Truth am I.

15. Neither father nor mother have I,
Neither wife nor child.
Birth and death I do not know.
The mind is not my own.
Eternal peace, space-like transcendental
Peace am I.

16. Devas and Gods, like Indra and Brahma,
Have no place in Atman.
Neither Paradise nor Heaven exist in Atman.
The one taintless transcendental Truth am I.

17. The saying of the Shruti "not this, not this"
Does not apply to Atman.
How can it be said "When all is subtracted
Atman alone remains"?
It is symbolical but not a symbol;
Yet even this cannot be said of Atman.
Space-like, the water of immortality am I.

18. Maya is not my modification.
Nor is its glamour mine.
Deceit and hypocrisy, truth and untruth
Have no place in me.
Space-like, immortality-giving knowledge am I.






Chapter 4
1. Nothing can be added or taken away from the Universal Consciousness. It cannot be invoked or worshipped with flowers and leaves. Meditations and mantras cannot reach It. How could It be worshipped as Shiva? - for in It there are neither distinctions nor unity.

2. In the One there is neither bondage nor salvation, neither purity nor impurity. From union and separation the One is free. That space-like Truth am I.

3. As in reality I am Nirvana, thoughts as to the reality and unreality of the world trouble me not at all.

4. Eternally free from the taint of ignorance as I am, knowledge or illusion never had birth in me. How can I say whether I am bound or free?

5. Neither sin nor virtue ever existed in me; by nature I am Nirvana. Neither the worshiper nor the worshipped am I. No instructions and no rituals are there for me. Knowledge also am I not. By nature I am Nirvanic [HPS: Nirvana].

6. Taintless Nirvana am I; I am neither the comprehender nor the comprehended. Neither the cause nor the effect exists in me.

7. Neither am I a body, nor am I bodiless. The buddhi [note], the mind and the senses are not mine. How can I talk of attachment and detachment, since I am taintless Nirvana?

NOTE: Buddhi: The higher mind which includes the discriminative faculty and intuitive reason. It may also mean intellect.
8. In me exist not birth, death, purity, impurity, poison or the water of immortality. Verily I am free even from the taint of Nirvana. I cannot speak of the "Third" or the "Fourth".

9. Neither a fool nor a pundit am I, neither silent nor of many words; how can I speak of reasoning or argument since I am free even from the taint of Nirvana?

10. Giving up all meditations, all good and evil karma, drinking the water of immortality, the heros know that I from the taint of Nirvana am free.

11. No ritualist injunction is binding on me; mind, the seat of anxieties does not exist in me. Far, far from me also is egotism. Space-like, immortality-giving knowledge absolute am I.

12. I cannot say whether the world is nothingness or if it is partly real and partly unreal, or, if like a flowing river though ever changing, it is in fact real as a whole. Space-like immortality-giving knowledge absolute am I.

13. There is not the least shadow of name or form in the Infinite, nor is there unity or diversity in me. My shameless mind, why do you create a confusion? Space-like immortality-giving knowledge absolute am I.

14. My friend, there is no cause for disquietude since you are not the body. You are imperishable and eternal, then why do you cry? Rest in peace. Space-like, immortality-giving knowledge absolute am I.

15. Why are you troubled, friend, since avarice, lust, attachment, are not you? [A realization of] space-like, immortality-giving absolute knowledge I am.

16. Why this craving for power, companion, when in truth wealth is not thine. "Mine" and "thine" are not in you.

17. In your heart there is no meditator, there is no Samadhi, nor is there any possibility of meditation in Atman. Time and causation never existed in you.

18. I have told the disciple the essence of Truth. There is no "you" nor "I", no world, no Guru, or disciple. Know that by nature I am freedom absolute. I am transcendental Truth.

19. When Atman, the absolute existence, alone is, and It is I, then where is transcendental Truth, where is bliss, where is knowledge, secular or spiritual?

20. Unknown to fire, water and earth, motionless, all-pervasive as space, knowledge absolute know your Atman to be.

21 Renounce, renounce the world, and also renounce renunciation, and even give up the absence of renunciation. By nature all-pervasive as space, knowledge absolute are you.






Chapter 5
1. The syllable OM spoken is the essence of the lower and the higher knowledge. It is Brahman, space-like. There is neither existence nor non-existence in this world. Brahman is ever free from duality.

2. You are that Atman of which the Shruti says, "Tat Twam Asi [you are That]." Know that you are free from maya. Do not cry, mind, verily you are all.

3. There is neither higher nor lower in you. You pervade all equally, and there is neither inner nor outer. Then why do you mourn, mind? All, all is Brahman.

4. Neither that which is imagined, nor the imagination exist in you; know that cause and effect touch you not. Free from words and all expressions are you, eternally the same. Mind, do not cry.

5. To know that there is neither higher nor lower in Atman is Samadhi [note]; to know that Atman is ever free from time and space is Samadhi. Do not cry, mind, all is Brahman.

NOTE: It is a sort of existential definition.
6. As there is no jar, there is no jar space. As there is no jiva body, no conditioning medium, there is no jiva. The cause and effect that produce conditions do not exist in Atman. Why then do you cry, my mind?

7. It is all one whether we live in a hut in retirement, or in a house with many kinfolk, for Atman is free from the multitude as from solitude. Free also is It from knowledge, theoretical and practical, Atman being All, my mind, do not cry.






Chapter 6
1. The whole universe is a projection of the mind; therefore it is a mode of the mind. The true nature of the mind is bliss, and when the mind is stilled, bliss absolute is revealed.

2. Consciousness absolute, being unknowable by the mind, how can speech explain it?

3. The Self is free from day and night, and therefore the conception of its pilgrimage in time and space is no true one.

4. No sun illumines Atman; the fire and the moon cannot shine therein. It is not equanimity or even desirelessness; how then can action exist in it?

5. Neither can it be said that It is to be known by the absence of action. It is neither within nor without. It is nothing but bliss absolute.

6. How can it be said that It is the first or that It is the last, since It is neither element or compound, nor emptiness nor fullness? Eternal, ever the same, the essence of all is Shiva.

7. The statement that Atman is describable or indescribable cannot stand. Neither is It the knower nor the known. It cannot be imagined or defined. How can we say that It has a mind or any of the senses?

8. Space, time, water, fire, earth, constituting the world, are a mere mirage. In truth the One, imperishable, ever blissful, alone exists. There is neither cloud nor water in It.

9. As there is no possibility of birth and death in It, so no conception of duty nor dereliction of duty can be applied to It. That undifferentiated, eternal, all-pervasive Shiva alone is.

10. The modifications of primordial matter and of individualized consciousness are in the realm of cause and effect. When there is eternal all-pervasive Shiva alone, how can there be matter or spirit therein?

11. There is in It no suffering, and no possibility of suffering, because It is free from all attributes.

12. There is no duality in It. How can there be age, or youth, or childhood in that One eternal principle?

13. Atman is dependent on nothing and is unlimited. The law of cause and effect touches It not. How can the buddhi, which operates only in duality, and which is perishable, discern It?

14. It grasps not, nor is It grasped. It is not born nor does It bring forth. We can only say that in It there is no destruction.

15. In Atman there is neither manhood nor womanhood, because such conceptions cannot exist in eternity.

16. There is no pleasure in It, and no faculty of enjoying pleasure, since It is free from such defects as attachment. Equally free from doubts and suffering, one and eternal is Shiva; thus the conception of "I" and "mine" do not apply to It.

17. Neither is there Brahman in It, nor the absence of Brahman. Since It alone exists and is eternity, it must follow that It is free from pain, and also from freedom from pain.

18. There is no gain and there is no loss. Infatuation and worldly wisdom have no place therein. When the eternal consciousness alone exists, how can discrimination or wisdom, or any such thing be contained in It?

19. In It there is no "you" and no "I", therefore family and caste exist not therein. It is neither true nor untrue. Neither is It of this world nor of the next. How then can one pray to It?

20. Illusory is the connection of the learner and the teacher. Teaching and contemplation, when thus beheld, are not admissible. "Verily, I am Shiva." This alone is the whole Truth. How then can I pray to It, or worship It?

21. The body itself is imagined in Atman, as is the whole universe. Atman is free from all differentiations. Then since I am Shiva, there can be no idea of prayer or worship.

22. Consciousness absolute has no body. It cannot be said that It is without a body or attributes. All that can be said is that It is bliss absolute, and that bliss am I. This is the height of worship, and this is the culmination of all prayer.

23. The Avadhut who has realized this mystery of all mysteries, and has risen to the state of unceasing and perfect bliss, moves about in the crowds unconcerned, radiating bliss and higher knowledge.

24. He is clothed in a habit of old and worn. He walks in a path that is free from religious merit or sin. He lives in the temple of absolute emptiness. His soul is naked, and free from all taints and modifications of [illusions called] maya.

25. The Avadhut has no ideal, neither strives he after the attainment of an ideal. Having lost his identity in Atman, free from the limitations of maya, free also from the perfections of yoga, thus walks the Avadhut. He argues with no one, he is not concerned with any object or person.

26. Free from the snares of expectations and hopes, he has cast off the worn-out garments of purity, righteousness, and all ideals. His path is free from any such consideration. It can only be said about him that he is purity absolute, and is far, far above the clouds of maya and ignorance.

27. He has no such thoughts as "I am not in the body," or "I am not the body." He has no aversion, attachment or infatuation towards any object or person. Pure as space he walks, immersed in the immaculate bliss of his natural state.

28. The Avadhut may be compared to immeasurable space. He is eternity. In him is neither purity nor impurity. There is no variety nor unity in him; no bondage nor absence of bondage.

29. Free from separation and union, free from enjoyment or absence of enjoyment, he moves calm and unhurried through the world. Having given up all activity of the mind, he is in his normal state of indescribable bliss.

30. Atman, with which the Avadhut has found natural unity, is limitless and inconceivable. It is unknowable by the mind. It is neither a part nor is It divided. It cannot be said, "So far is its province and no farther." Verily, it is hard to describe and hard to obtain.

31. The Avadhut is not concerned with the things of the world, because the natural state of Self-realization renders all else insignificant. Death and birth have no meaning; he meditates not, neither does he worship.

32. All this world is a magic show, like a mirage in the desert. Concentrated bliss, alone and secondless, is Shiva and that is the Avadhut.

33. The wise man does not strive for anything, not even for Dharma [good conduct and righteousness, etc.] or liberation. He is free from all actions and movements, and also from desire and renunciation.

34. What do they, the pundits, know of him? Even the Vedas cannot speak of him perfectly. That bliss absolute, ever indestructible, but a source of bliss to all, is the Avadhut.






Chapter 7
1. When as a pilgrim, I began to journey towards You, then my little notions of all-pervasiveness of Atman died.

2. When my mind began to meditate on You, it lost all interest in objects. When my tongue began to praise You it lost the power of praising others. I forgot my three great sins.

3. He whose buddhi is no longer attracted towards desires and pleasures, whose nature has become joyful and compassionate, he who, even in his heart, has no idea of possessions, who is ever peaceful and most temperate in all things and is not moved by any happenings and events - that muni [a Vedic maestro] takes refuge in Atman. Ever watchful, solemn as the ocean and full of patience.

4. He who has conquered the feelings of pleasure, wrath, avarice, attachment, vanity and aversion, this one is peace itself, and free from all pride.

5. Efficient in his undertakings, full of compassion is the sadhu; he gives pity to [many, not] all, has enmity towards no one.

6. He bears patiently heat and cold, seeing the one Self enlightening all bodies. He walks solitary as a rhinoceros [here: a symbol of detachment, solemnity and peace]. He has become an ocean of Truth and is ever engaged in the work of mercy. Such is the Avadhut, free from birth and death.

7. The knowers of God will know the meaning of the word AVADHUT by the four letters which form it, A, V, Dh, T.

8. A stands for freedom from the snares of hopes and expectations, pure in the beginning, in the middle and the end, merged in Self-bliss.

9. V stands for the rooting out of all desires after pleasure, subtle or material, and for life in the present as all-sufficient, the present being eternity.

10. Dh is the physical body, covered with dirt and dust, but with the mind ever pure, and the heart ever still, above contemplation and meditation.

11. T is the unceasing contemplation of the eternal Truth, and indifference to the activities of the mind and senses. It also bespeaks freedom from egoism and pride.

12. Woe to them that give up this knowledge of the wisdom of Atman, which in itself constitutes eternal freedom and joy throughout all worlds, and turn to the realms of limited pleasure and of ignorance.

13. Those who desire to acquire this eternal bliss and of communicating it to others through their teaching, must give up all sensuous pleasures, more especially those which arise from sex union.

14. The body is made up of impure elements, of blood, flesh, bones and the like. Woe to those who are attached to it, and indifferent to the ever blissful Atman.

15. There are three kinds of wine, produced from syrup, grain and honey. But there is a fourth, the darkest of all, the wine of sex, which has intoxicated the whole world.

16. When the mind is uncontrolled, then the body, which is the object of affection to the ignorant, also suffers, and when the mind is controlled, then the body also remains in good estate.

17. So, all you lovers of wisdom, protect your minds from feelings of pleasure, and engage them in spiritual wisdom.

18. This is the song of the great Dattatreya Avadhut. Those who read it and hear it with respectful attention [all in Sanskrit, then?], they are not reborn here on earth.

"Blessed am I; in freedom am I.
I am the infinite in my soul;
I can find no beginning, no end.
All is my Self . . "