Swami Satchidanandendra Sarasvati (1880-1975) was a renowned sannyasi and a restorer of the pure Advaita Vedanta tradition. He founded the Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya in Holenarasipura in order to preserve the authentic teaching of Adi Shankaracharya, cleansed of the additions and modifications that had been superimposed over the centuries. He was celebrated for his wisdom under the title of Abhinava Shankara. Before and after sannyasa he wrote more than two hundred works, twenty-five of them in Sanskrit, twenty in English and the rest in Kannada.
"The Self-Shining Reality" (Paramartha Cintamani) is largely based on the Bhasya (commentary) of Shankaracharya on the Mandükya Upanisad and the Gaudapadacharya's Karikas, the fundamental text for the study and application of the method of the three States (avasthatraya prakriya). Additionally, the author has grounded the development of his arguments in the entire commentary of Shankara on the Prasthanatraya and the works of Sureshvar-acharya. The result is a text of great breadth and depth of content presented in a remarkably straightforward form. Structured in great part according to the traditional method of a dialogue between the purvapaksin, who puts forward several objections and the siddhantin who establishes the correct doctrine, this book enquires into the Reality that underlies the three states of wakefulness (jagrat), dream (svapna) and deep sleep (susupti).
Swami Prakashanandendra Saraswati, who translated and reviewed the entire Paramartha Cintamani, is a paramahansa sannyasi. Gurutva successor of Swami Satchidanandendra at the Shankara Vedanta Pitham in Holenarsipura, he is the representative of the Advaita Parampard at the Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya.
What is akarma? "I am akarta" declared Krsna (BhG IV.17-18). As long as the mind is entwined with the external world, one remains an individual. In contrast, the jnanī is like a mirror reflecting things. When the face being reflected departs, the mirror does not retain its form. It is akin to the Witness (Saksin), free from karma, so that even in performing actions, it is merely a mirror, as action is only an appearance upon it. Thus, things appear only from the standpoint of the world. It He seems to have a body and acts like everyone else. Yet, in himself, he is like a mirror and has no connection with karma. Karma is individuality; in other words, it is the person in the state of wakefulness or dream. Akarma does not mean remaining idle without performing any action, as is commonly misconceived. That is still karma. If one observes the enlightened one in action, in reality, there is neither karma nor karma phala. The jiva itself is karma, the state encompassing all relationships.
One who understands that karma does not exist for him, de-spite the state, individuality, actions, and relationships with the world, transcends the entire state. He awakens from a state that no longer exists for him; this is akarma. For the enlightened, akarma means leaving individuality, the entire state, and realizing oneself as the Witness of the state. Understanding in this way, the person who senses his nature as the Witness (Saksibhava) is the true non-doer (akarta). In this way, he is free from will: he understands that this belongs to the mind, while the Witness knows that it is not the mind. The jnanī leaves the mind and exists naturally and spontaneously. Thus, he observes things flowing by, like when one stands on the bank of a river and watches the water flow. He is neu-tral and spontaneous, with no involvement in the movement; the movement only appears to him. He is aware of it but is not a part of it. And so, the things of the world move and happen around him. This non-identification of the Saksin is already within us; nothing needs to be done to become such. One simply needs to pay attention (nididhyasana), observe oneself, be in a state where one neither acts positively nor negatively, as these are merely states of the mind. This is natural existence.
Therefore, there is no effort to be the Witness (Saksin). One does not 'become the Saksin by doing or not doing, because Consciousness lacks the sense of ego (ahamkara), which is mere-ly a thought of the mind. The Saksin does not possess the sense of ego; it is akin to deep sleep, where existence occurs without the thought of ego. In other words, only 'I' (Atman) exists. Will is not required to transcend it. Then, what is akarma, given that the doing or not doing of actions is a characteristic of will? It is a discovery of knowledge, not a karma. For this reason, Šamkara asserts that liberation (moksa) is attained not through karma but only through knowledge (jñana). Using will is a bondage, whereas freedom is a natural state. Turning inward, there is a core that is free from will because will is a change in the mind, and change belongs to the mind, not to the Saksin. The Saksin is spontaneous and is the consciousness of the entire waking state taken as a whole. The word 'consciousness' has two aspects. One is the consciousness of the world and its objects; when aware of things one by one, that is a state of the mind. But the conscious-ness of all objects, including the mind, taken as a whole-that is the consciousness of the entire state.
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