The Sadhana Panchaka (Five Verses on Spiritual Practice) of Sri Aadi Sankaracharya
Sri Sankaracharya, the greatest exponent of the Advaita Philosophy, has in five short verses given the essence of spiritual practice for the benefit of those seekers who are treading the path. There is a story prevalent among a section of the people about the composition of this poem by the Acharya. It is said that some of his close disciples were sitting around him just before his Mahasamadhi. One of them addressed him: “O Bhagavan, you have given to the world voluminous commentaries on the Bhagavadgita, the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras, as also several Prakarana Granthas and Stotras about almost all deities. In the days to come, when men become weak in their understanding and capacity to grasp the real import of the scriptures, aspirants of mediocre intellect treading the spiritual path would find it extremely difficult and almost impossible to read and digest all these works. Kindly therefore condescend to give to the world for the help of such spiritual seekers, in a nutshell, what they should do to attain the summum bonum of life.” In reply, the great Acharya is said to have given these five short verses, known as Sadhana Panchaka, which contain the quintessence of spiritual practice.
This beginning verse contains instructions regarding what the aspirant should do while leading his normal life remaining in his own house. This stage is preparatory to entering the spiritual path,a stage when the aspirant attunes his whole personality-body, organs of sense and action, mind and intellect-with the Spirit within.
ORIGINAL Verse ——
“Vedo-nityam-adhiyatam,
Taduditam karmasvanushthiyatam,
Tenesasya vidhiyatam apachitih,
Kamye matistyajyatam I
Papaughah paridhuyatam,
Bhavasukhe dosho ‘nusandhiyatam,
Atmeccha vyavasiyatam,
Nijagrihat-turnam vinirgamyatam I1I
a) “Vedo-nityam-adhiyatam–Let the scriptures be studied daily.”
The scriptures referred to here are Moksha Shastras, i.e., the scriptures dealing with the subject of Moksha (Liberation) like the Upanishads, the Gita, the Brahma Sutras, the commentaries thereon, the Prakarana Granthas on the subject,treatises dealing exclusively on Liberation,literature on Yoga and Bhakti, etc. The aspirant should make a selection according to his temperament. Mere reading of the texts without diving deep into their meanings and import which always lie hidden in them, may not yield full benefit. Not that reading alone is completely useless, it has its own benefits; but reading combined with reflection on the meaning, will hasten the progress to a very great extent. The study should be a regular, daily routine item of the Sadhana. There should not be any interruption. To have a fixed time every day is very beneficial. This item of Sadhana is called Svadhyaya which also means study of one’s own Atman,the Self.
b) “Taduditam karmasvanushthiyatam-Let those Karmas enjoined in the scriptures be well performed.”
Scriptures classify Karmas into Nitya and Naimittika, Kamya and Pratishiddha,obligatory Karmas performed daily and on special occasions, those performed for fulfilment of desires and prohibited sinful ones. Leaving out completely the last category of prohibited Karmas, the spiritual aspirant is enjoined to perform the other two kinds of Karmas. Karmas also may include the daily activities one does for the continuance of his life’s journey. Whatever one does, whether ritualistic or secular, should be dedicated to God. The performance of Karmas is to be converted into Karma Yoga which purifies the mind and prepares the ground for the descent of the Divine Light.
c) “Tenesasya vidhiyatam apachitih-Through the practice of Karma let God be worshipped.”
Dedication of all actions together with their fruits to God is the best form of His Puja or worship. The ritualistic Puja with flowers, fruits, etc., is not excluded. Even that is to be done in the spirit of Karma Yoga, with the only desire for the final fruit of God-realisation.
d) “Kamye matistyajyatam-Let the mind be taken away from desire-engendered actions.”
The next step is to detach the mind from those actions performed for fulfilment of mundane desires. On no account should the spiritual aspirant start a Karma with desire to get something worldly. Even sacrifices leading to heavenly worlds are not to be performed with the desire for those worlds. Results of Karmas including heavenly worlds are only transient and are incapable of yielding eternal peace. Desire for everything except the attainment of the Supreme Atman, should be eliminated from the mind. Only a desire-free mind will reflect the Atman. Therefore, the aspirant is directed to avoid all desire-engendered actions and to restrict himself to the performance of the obligatory Karmas alone which are generally considered as not productive of any merit and the non-performance of which would result in sin. But the Acharya is of the view that the obligatory Karmas also are productive of results, for they bring about the purification of the mind and prevent sin resulting from their non-performance, and that therefore they should also be performed without attachment either to them or their results.
e) “Papaughah paridhuyatam-Let all sins be destroyed.”
The aspirant is instructed to destroy all sins. This is done either by expiatory rites prescribed in the scriptures or by actual experience of the fruits of the sinful actions. The sins already committed which fructify in the present life can be nullified by these two methods. Further accumulation of sins should be prevented by doing actions without attachment to their fruits and by dedicating them to God.
f) “Bhavasukhe dosho ‘nusandhiyatam-Let the aspirant enquire into the defects and imperfections of the pleasures of this transmigratory life.”
The Acharya exhorts the aspirant after liberation in the beginning stages of his practice, to make a thorough investigation into the ephemeral and deceptive nature of the sense-pleasures. This investigation, if made following the method prescribed in the scriptures, will convince him of their false, tantalising nature. Pleasure, supposed to be obtained from objects, is only a titillation of the nerves. All sense-pleasures are immediately followed by pain alone. When one is convinced of this fact, one’s mind will no longer be attracted by sense-pleasures either of this world or the heavenly worlds and as a result he will be able to pursue his spiritual practice without much hindrance.
g) “Atmeccha vyavasiyatam-Let a firm resolve be made to attain the Atman.”
A burning aspiration to realise the Atman in this very life is an unavoidable desideratum for a spiritual seeker. Spiritual life should not be resorted to as a change from the boredom of the stereotyped routine worldly life. It is not like going to a hill-station to spend the summer vacation. A complete turning away from the sense-world is a prerequisite for the dawn of this yearning for Liberation which is called Mumukshutva.
h) “Nijagrihat-turnam vinirgamyatam-Let him leave his own house immediately.”
A sincere student of the university finds hostel life more conducive than a life in his own home for his studies, because in the former he is able to spend more time for studies in a favourable atmosphere with the colleagues and professors. In his own home the student is beset with so many distractions which act as obstacles in the execution of his college studies. Even so, to the neophyte treading the spiritual path, living away from his own house, will greatly help him to avoid distractions. For a spiritual seeker, obstacles in the form of temptations in the house are a thousand times greater than those of a student. Hence, renunciation of one’s own home and one’s kith and kin is insisted on for a seeker during this period of his Sadhana.
(.. to be continued in next blog)
