96. ajeṣvajam-asaṅkrāntaṁ dharmeṣu jñānam-iṣyate, Yato na kramate jñānam-asaṅgaṁ tena kīrtitam. ~G
अजेषु – in the birthless; अजम् – unborn; असंक्रान्तम् – unrelated; धर्मेषु – separate entities (souls); ज्ञानम् – pure Consciousness; इष्यते – is traditionally held, admitted; यतः – since; न क्रमते – does not relate to any other object, in other words, unconditioned; ज्ञानम् – this knowledge; असङ्गम् – not related; तेन – with that; कीर्तितम् – proclaimed ~trC
96. Pure Consciousness, the essence of the separate entities (jīvas) is admitted to be Itself unborn and unrelated to any of the external objects. This Knowledge is proclaimed to be unconditioned as It is not in anyway related to any other objects. ~trC
Knowledge, which is the very essence of the unborn jivas, is itself called unborn and unrelated. This Knowledge is proclaimed to be unattached, since it is unrelated [to any other object]. ~trN
It was the labour of the Kārikā to prove to us that the external world of objects is a mere delusory projection of the mind. In terms of this projection, the scientific world or the world of ordinary transactions, we understand by the term 'knowledge' only the conditioned awareness. When I am aware of a thing, I declare my knowledge of it. The possibility of the Knowledge Absolute by Itself, is not generally understood or experienced by the average man because of his incapacity to get himself completely detached from his own mental projections of the objectified world. ~C
From the standpoint of Reality the jiva is identical with Knowledge, as the sun is identical with its heat and light. This refutes the theory of the realists, such as the followers of the Nydya doctrine, that knowledge is an attribute of Atman and arises only through the contact of the mind with an external object. The fact that Knowledge, or Consciousness, is not absent in the absence of an outer object is known from the study of deep sleep and the oneness realized in the deepest contemplation. It has already been stated that the appearance of external objects is due to maya. ~N
97. aṇumātre‘pi vaidharmye jāyamāne‘vipaścitaḥ, asaṅgatā sadā nāsti kimutāvaraṇa-cyutiḥ. ~G
अपि अणुमात्रे – even slightest idea; वैधर्म्ये – of plurality (origination of any object, different from Brahman); जायमाने – entertained; अविपश्चितः – by the ignorant; असङ्गता – non-attachment, unconditioned; सदा – forever; न-अस्ति – there can be no; किम्-उत – where then is (means there is no); आवरण – veil; च्युतिः – the end of (destruction) ~trC
97. The slightest idea of plurality in Ᾱtman entertained by the ignorant, walls them off from their approach to the unconditioned; where then is the destruction of the veil covering the real nature of the Ᾱtman? ~trC
97. To those ignorant people who believe that Atman can deviate from Its true nature even in the slightest measure, Its eternally unrelated character is lost. [In that case] the destruction of the veil is out of the. question. ~trN
alabdhāvaraṇāḥ sarve dharmāḥ prakṛti-nirmalāḥ, Ᾱdau buddās-tathā muktā budhyanta iti nāyakāḥ. ~G
(98) अलब्धा – free from; आवरणाः – veil or bondange of ignorance; सर्वे – all; धर्माः – souls, jīvas; प्रकृति – by nature; निर्मलाः – pure; आदौ – from the very beginning; बुद्धाः – ever illumined; तथा – and; मुक्ता – liberated; बुध्यन्त – capable to know; इति – that; नायकाः – wise men, Masters ~trC
98. All jīvas are ever free from bondage and pure by nature. They are ever illumined and liberated from the very beginning. Still the wise speak of the individuals as ‘capable of knowing’ the Selfhood. ~trC
98 All jivas are ever free from bondage and pure by nature. They are illumined and free from the very beginning. Yet the wise speak of the jivas as capable of knowing [Ultimate Reality]. ~trN
The position described in the text is most difficult to grasp, since the average man, firmly believing in causality, accepts the veiling or bondage of Atman as a fact. But from the standpoint of Atman there is no causality and therefore no veil or ignorance. The idea that the veil can be removed by Knowledge is itself the result of avidya. ~N
99. kramate na hi buddhasya jñānaṁ dharmeşu tāyinah, sarve dharmās-tathā jñānam naitad-buddhena bhāṣitam. ~G
न क्रमते does not ever touch; बुद्धस्य of the realised one; ज्ञानम् - the Knowledge; धर्मेषु हि – any object at all; तायिनः who is all-wisdom; सर्वे धर्माः all the entities (jīvas); तथा similarly; एतत् ज्ञानम् -this knowledge; बुद्धेन - by Buddha; न भाषितम् - is not the view of ~trC
99. The knowledge of the realised one who is all-wisdom is ever untouched by objects. Similarly, all the entities as well as knowledge are also ever untouched by any object, 'this is not the view of the Buddha'. ~trC
99 The Knowledge of the wise man, who is all light, is never related to any object. All the jivas, as well as Knowledge, are ever unrelated. to objects. This is not the view of Buddha. ~trN
Buddhist philosophy is nearest to Advaita Vedanta in its dialectics. But the doctrine of Ultimate: Reality as the non-dual Atman, characterized by the absence of distinction of the knower, the known, and knowledge, is taught in Vedanta alone. // The last sentence of the text carries the implication that Gaudapada’s. Karika, even during his lifetime, was suspected by some critics of being. influenced by Buddha’s teachings. The same view is held even now by some of Gaudapada’s critics. But by his emphatic denial Gaudapada puts all such criticism to rest. ~N
Any student of comparative philosophy who has studied with detachment and sincerity both the philosophies must come to the conclusion that Buddha never taught that Absolute was the final Reality though such a teaching verging on the Advaita concept of an absolute Brahman or Ātman, is ascribed to him by different Mahāyāna schools of Buddhism. ~C
100. durdarśam-ati-gambhiram-ajam sāmyam viśāradam, buddhvā padam-anānātvam namas-kurmo yathā-balam. ~G
दुर्दर्शम् - difficult to grasp; अति extremely; गम्भीरम् -profound; अजम् unborn; साम्यम् - uniform, ever the same; विशारदम् - pure, holy; बुद्ध्वा - having realised; पदम् - the state of (the supreme Reality); अनानात्वम् free from plurality; नमः कुर्मः we salute; यथा according to; बलम् our capacity ~trC
100. Having realised that state of supreme Reality which is extremely difficult to be grasped in its profound nature - unborn, ever the same, pure (all-knowledge) and free from plurality we salute it as best as we can. ~trC
Salutation implies duality. It is impossible for a nondualist to salute another entity, because no such separate entity exists. But this salutation is made from the relative standpoint. The commentator, full of human Feeling, is grateful to the Knowledge which has enabled him to attain the Supreme Reality. He drags both himself and Knowledge, as it were, to the relative plane, imagines Knowledge to be the teacher and himself the pupil, and then salutes It. ~N
Legend:
C: Chinmayananda
G: Gaudapada
Gm: Gambhirananda
N: Nikhilananda
P: Paramarthananda
S: Shankara
S/G: Sandeepany / Gurubhaktananda
Sw: Swartz
tr: translated by
