34.
THE RIBHU GITA
RIBHU was a great Seer (rishi [?]); his name finds mentionin a few Upanishads like the Tejobindopanishad, the
Narada Parivrajakopanishad, and the Varahopanishad. He
is reputed to have obtained Divine Knowledge direct from
the Supreme Lord Himself, and then to have taught it to
several disciples, such as the Sage Nidagha. His teachings
to him are contained in the `Ribhu-gita,' which forms a
section of the `Siva-rahasya' but to the best of our
knowledge this section has not yet been printed in
Sanskrit; we have a rendering into simple and easily
understood Tamil verse by Sri Lokanatha Swamigal, also
known as Bhikshu Shastri. This Tamil rendering was often
read before Sri Bhagavan, and Tena Patti's recitals were
the most inspiring. As Sri Bhagavan often used to refer to
or quote from it, the Ribhu-gita finds mention in all works
relating to Him.
Long after Ribhu had taught Nidagha, he desired to
learn how his old disciple fared. Disguised as an ignorant
villager, the Master asked Nidagha what the procession
was; and was told that the King was going in procession
seated on the elephant. Ribhu next asked, "And which
is the elephant, which the King?" The disciple replied,
"Why, the one below is the elephant, and the one above
is the king!"
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Feigning not to understand the terms `above' and
`below', the disciple was made to demonstrate so that the
disguised Sage might understand them. Chiding the
supposed villager as a hopeless ignoramus, Nidagha got
on the back of the Master, and said: "Now `I' am above;
and `you' are below."
Next, alas! the poor villager could not understand
either `I' or `you', and questioned the disciple about the
meaning of these terms also. Light then dawned on the
disciple, who discovered that the villager was no other
than his illustrious Master, come to bless him and make
him realize himself. Nidagha prostrated before the Master
Ribhu, who had graciously come to find out his disciples
mode of life and progress.
This is story. An anecdote about the translation by
Bhikshu Shastri is worth relating. Deeply struck by the
pure Advaita of the teachings in this Gita, the translator
held so steadfastly to that glorious doctrine that he denied
the truth or reality of all phenomena, including the Gods
themselves; he said their existence is as true only as that of
the barren woman's son, the hare's horn and the flowers
seen in the sky. Teased too much by his atheism, the
manifest Gods put the translator to the test, and he lost
his eyesight; only when he wrote verses in praise of the
Lord Nataraja was his sight restored to him. To have this
punishment for daring to defy the Form-aspect (saguna)
of the Formless (nirguna) Divine excused, he had to write
a verse in praise of Sri Nataraja at the end of each of the
44 chapters of the Ribhu-gita.
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This is the essence of the teaching of this precious
Gita, so often referred to by Sri Bhagavan:
"The Self is one and whole, Self-awareness. This is
the Divine (Brahman [?]) the Indestructible, the Existent,
Beginningless and Endless Many. There is nothing apart
from the Self (atman), not anything else worthy of
meditation. All that is manifest -- the `I', the `you', the
`he', the Lord, and the all -- all is the Divine. There is not
even an atom apart from the Self that IS, the Single
Unbroken Essence (akhanda eka rasa). Therefore the
surety, `I am the Divine' (aham Brahmasmi) is the endless
True Knowledge. Know: `I am Being-Awareness-Bliss, of
the nature of my own Self. I am without any differentiation
of caste, clan, birth, and the like I am the Divine Absolute
shining eternally in all splendour as the All, the Full,
spotless, intelligent, ever unbound, true and still, beyond
the body, senses, life-current, thought, intellect mind and
ego-sense; unattached to the five sheaths (kosa), unaffected
by the incidents of birth and death, void of a world that
is lifeless and animate, you are That. This is experienced
as `I am the Divine' by negating through stainless enquiry
the whole concept of individual, the world and beyond.
"The maya [?] of the world is not for you; you are the
bliss of spotlessness, without either purpose or uncertainty.
You are the purport of Vedanta. You are the indivisible
form beyond the three clouds. You are yourself the One
Self, without attributes or changes, which cannot be
experienced by mind or speech. Here, there, this, that, I
and he -- all such thoughts convey is only mind; the
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elements and their compounds are only mind. The
concepts of time, space, objects, the triads and their
appearances, celestials and men, Hari and the Creator
Brahma, the Guru and the disciple -- all are mind alone.
"Here is the true form of worship: `I am the ocean of
Bliss that is ever full!' -- this beatitude is the true bath in
holy water (abhisheka) for the divinity of the Supreme Lord.
`I am the unbounded Expanse!' this beatitude is the offering
of cloth to the Supreme Lord Siva. `I am the Self!' -- this
beatitude is the real offering of ornaments to the Supreme
Lord Siva. Discarding the thought-form leading to the
qualities (gunas [?]) -- this is the offering of the boundless to
Siva the Supreme Lord. The annihilation of all sense of
difference between the Self, the Guru, and the Lord -- that
is the offering of bel-leaves to Siva, the Supreme Lord.
Casting away the tendencies of the past (vasana) -- this is
the burning of incense to Paramasiva, the Supreme Lord. `I
am the attributeless Paramasiva. the Supreme Lord!' -- this
beatitude is the waving of Light (arati) before the Supreme
Lord, Siva. Realising that the Divine and the Self are one --
is the burning of fragrant gums before Siva, the Supreme
Lord. That alone is the offering of flowers, in which one
abides as the Self, the Supreme Bliss. That alone is the
singing of the Name in harmony (namasankirtan), wherein
one conceives himself as being without names and forms.
"I am the Supreme Knowledge determined by the
scriptures on spiritual wisdom (vedanta). I am the solid
Bliss abiding as in the universal Great Silence. I am the
single impartible Own Form (swarupa).
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"Abidance in the Void is firmness; that itself is wisdom
(jnana [?]), liberation, Siva and the Alone (kaivalya [?]). The
forms of thought are impurity, creating time-space and
the differentiation of the world and individual, very
harmful. Mind takes the form of intention and
uncertainty. The egoic self does not really exist; the Truth
is `I am the Divine (ahambrahmasmi)'. Meditate on this,
practise the wisdom yoga, destroy all sense of difference,
be freed from the disease of mind, obtain the Stillness of
the tangible experience, and come to realize the release
from bondage. Abiding in the Self as `I am the Divine' is
the real ablution; the determination of the Self as the
ever-realized Divine is the real heaven.
"He is freed while alive (jivanmukta) who,
motionless like the Hill, is still and immaculate, the
Self in Itself, absolute Existence experienced as Bliss.
Rid of individuality, rid of all concepts, he who is still,
as pure Light, immaculate, peaceful solid Bliss, he who
is free without a body (videhamukta [?]). Knowing, feeling,
thinking, praying, determining, mingling, abiding all
these must be in the Self Itself. Meditate incessantly on
`Aham Brahmasmi' until it becomes permanent; later
on, be freed from even this thought and be the Self
Itself alone.
"Seeing anything apart from the Divine is the cause
of the sense of difference and so of fear. The thought-
waves that rise in the mind are the cause of bondage.
When there is no mind, there is neither world nor
individual soul. The conquest of the mind is the greatest
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of all conquests. It is the Divine Himself who appears as
world, individual and the beyond. So abidance as the
Divine at all times and in all places will result in conquering
the mind. Then will you come to realize `All Is the Divine;
I am that Self;' and you will attain the natural state.
"The view `That am I' is the surest way to conquer
the mind. `There is nothing apart from me; the three
states, the five sheaths, the three qualities, the separate
and the crowd (vyashti, samashti) -- all these are not apart
from me. All that is seen is the Seer. the Self; be at peace
by the feeling `That am I'. Cast off the idea `I am the
body'; be firm in the feeling `I am'... the Self.
"The conclusions of the Four Vedas -- Rig, Yajur,
Sama and Atharva... are all the same: the `well-known
Divine,' the `I am the Divine', the `That art thou', and `I
am the Self Creative Brahma [?], you are the Divine
Knowledge'. He who teaches you thus is the real Guru.
After obtaining this teaching (upadesa), throw off all other
books and be firm in meditating on `I am the Divine.'
"Let the Pure Existence of the Divine alone be
realized; if the sun of this Knowledge arises, how can
the darkness of ignorance prevail? The mind of him who
is certain that the Divine is one and whole cannot be
shaken by the Great Illusion (maya [?]) even if the vast
Mount Meru be shaken by tying it to a thread. Practise
`That am I' (soham); the experience `I am Siva' (Sivoham [?])
will make you into Siva. Therefore sing `Sivoham,
Sivoham, Sivoham!'"
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