EXPERIENCE OF IMMORTALITY English rendering of Jnaneshwar's ((Amritanubhava" with a commentary in the light of the teaching of Sri NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ BY Ramesh S. Balsekar Edited by Sudhakar S. Dikshit Chetana Pvt. Ltd. 34, K. Dubash Marg, KaIa Ghoda, Mumbai - 400 001. E-mail :
[email protected] web. site :http://www.chetana.com Copyright 01984 by Ramesh S. Balsekar ISBN 81- 85300 - 046 - 1 A N nght~reserved. No part o f thif book may be reproduced in any form or t'p any means, without priDr witten permission of the publisher. Second edition 1997 PRINTED IN INDIA Published by Dr. Kavi Arya for Chetana (P) Ltd., 34 K. Dubash Marg, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai-400 001, Phototypeset by Shruti Arts, A/19, Veer Jeejamata Nagar, Mumbai-400 018. Printed by Sudarshan Art Printing Press, 5/10 Wadala Udyog Bhavan, Naigaum X Road, Mumbai-400 031. Contents 1 . Preface Introduction ix Editor? Note XX The Five Introductory Verses 1. The Identity of Shiva-Shakti 2. Homage to the Guru 3. Debt to the Four Forms of Speech 4. Nothingness and the ~ l & u n 5. The Sat-Chit-Ananda 6. Invalidation of the Word 7. Invalidation of Ignorance 8. Invalidation of Knowledge 9. The Self-realized State 10. Conclusion APPENDICES I vii Jnaneshwar: A Comet Across the Spiritual Sky I1 The Concept of Mukti Preface I am not a writer either by training or by inclination. When Poi~~ter~ Fmm Nisa'gadazYa Maharaj was published, I had made it clear in the preface that "I had no intention of writing a book on the teaching of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj". I had added that the material therein had "emerged spontaneously, dictated ... by a compulsive power that could not be denied". I had no intention, therefore, of writing another book after Pointers. It so happened, however, that soon after Pointers came out, certain incidents forcibly reminded me that Nisargadatta Maharaj had at one time suggested that I should make a thorough study of the Jnaneshwar classic ANUBHAVAMRITA (or AMRITANUBHAVA as it is better known.) I got hold of four of the available books which contained the original Marathi text followed by the translation in modern current Marathi together with a sort of commentary. To my disappointment I found that the commentaries that followed the literal translation of the verses were suffused with the traditional tint - I might even say "conditioning" - and for that reason did not seem to me to reach the original and deeper understanding of the Advaita Philosophy which Jnaneshwar expounded and which Nlsargadatta Maharaj interpreted in an illuminating manner so characteristic of him. On reading these four books I felt rather unsettled in my mind and therefore let the matter remain in abeyance, preferring to wait and see what happened. After a few days, I felt urged to read th