ॐ

Oṁ. Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ sarve santu nirāmayāḥ.

Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu mā kaścid-duḥkha-bhāg-bhavet.
Oṁ. Śāntiḥ śāntiḥ viśva-śāntiḥ.
Om. May all become happy! May all be free from illness! May all see what is pleasant and
beautiful! May no one partake in suffering! Om. Peace. Peace. World Peace.

MANĪṢĀ-PAÑCAKAM
Translation by Siddhartha Krishna
The following verses are known as the Manīṣā-pañcakam, which means “five verses of higher
.
conviction.” They were composed by Śaṅkarācārya (circa 788-820 CE) in the ancient
knowledge capital of India, Kāśī (Benares). Reportedly, after defeating all the scholars of Kāśī
in debate, Śaṅkarācārya, having just taken a bath in Gaṅgā, was on his way to the temple of
Lord Viśvanātha when he saw an untouchable (canḍāla). Śaṅkarācārya beckoned the canḍāla
to keep away. Since canḍālas dispose of corpses and consume dog meat, an animal that
consumes human excrement and corpses, they were considered untouchable. Wanting to
rebuke this behavior, the canḍāla asked Śaṅkarācārya the question found in the first two
verses of the hymn below. As an answer, Śaṅkarācārya composed the subsequent five verses.
These verses take as their starting point the quintessence of the non-dualistic philosophy of
the Upaniṣads (Advaita Vedānta). His answer clearly shows that no difference should be made
between living beings, be it based on caste, creed, religion, ethnicity, and gender, etc.

CAṆḌĀLA UVĀCA: CAṆḌĀLA ASKED:

O, the best one among the ascetics! Do you wish to distance

Annamayād annamayam athavā
caitanyam eva caitanyāt. the physical body made of food from the physical body
Yativara dūrīkartuṁ vāñchasi kiṁ brūhi made of food or [do you wish to distance] consciousness
gaccha gaccheti. from consciousness? Why, else, do you say “go, go”?

Kiṅ gaṅgāmbuni bimbite’mbara-maṇau
caṇḍāla-vāṭīpayaḥ-
pūre vāntaram asti kāñcana-ghaṭī-mṛt-
kumbhayor vāmbare.
Pratyag-vastuni nistaraṅga-
sahajānandāvabodhāmbudhau
vipro’yaṁ śvapaco’yam ity api mahān
ko’yaṁ vibheda-bhramaḥ.
What difference is there between the jewel of the sky [ the
sun] that is reflected in the [sacred] waters of the Gaṅgā or
[the one that is reflected] in the water pan inside the home
of a caṇḍāla? [What difference is there] between the sky
within a golden jar or [the sky within] an earthen pot?
Whence this illusion of duality in the inner reality, which is
like a waveless ocean of innate bliss and consciousness,
when one says, “This is a brāhmaṇa (a person from a
scholarly or priestly class); this is a caṇḍāla (an
untouchable)?”
ŚAṄKARĀCĀRYA UVĀCA:
Jāgrat-svapna-suṣuptiṣu sphuṭatarā yā
saṁvid ujjṛmbhate
yā brahmādi-pipīlikānta-tanuṣu protā
jagat-sākṣiṇī.
Saivāhaṁ na ca dṛśya-vastviti dṛḍha-
prajñāpi yasyāsti cet
caṇḍālo’stu sa tu dvijo’stu gurur ityeṣā
manīṣā mama.
Brahmaivāham idaṁ jagac ca sakalaṁ
cinmātra-vistāritaṁ
sarvaṁ caitad avidyayā triguṇayā seśaṁ
mayā kalpitam.
Itthaṁ yasya dṛḍhā matis sukhatare
nitye pare nirmale
caṇḍālo’stu sa tu dvijo’stu gurur ityeṣā
manīṣā mama.
Śaśvan naśvaram eva viśvam akhilaṁ
niścitya vācā guror
nityaṁ brahma nirantaraṁ vimṛśatā
nirvyāja-śāntātmanā.
Bhūtaṁ bhāvi ca duṣkṛtaṁ pradahatā
saṁvinmaye pāvake
prārabdhāya samarpitaṁ sva-vapur
ityeṣā manīṣā mama.
Yā tiryaṅ-nara-devatābhir aham ity
antaḥ sphutā gṛhyate
yad-bhāsā hṛdayākṣa-deha-viṣayā bhānti
svato’cetanāḥ.
Tāṁ bhāsyaiḥ pihitārka-maṇḍala-
nibhāṁ sphūrtiṁ sadā bhāvayan
yogī nirvṛta-mānaso hi gurur ity eṣā
manīṣā mama.
Yat-saukhyāmbudhi-leśa-leśata ime
śakrādayo nirvṛtāḥ
yac-citte nitarāṁ praśānta-kalane
labdhvā munir nirvṛtaḥ.
Yasmin nitya-sukhāmbudhau galita-dhīr
brahmaiva na brahma-vid
yaḥ kaścit sa surendra-vandita-pado
nūnaṁ manīṣā mama.
ŚAṄKARĀCĀRYA SAID:
He, whether a caṇḍāla (an untouchable) or a dvija
(someone from a higher caste, lit. a twice-born one,
especially from a brahmin caste), who is endowed with the
firm realization, that “I am indeed the all-witnessing
consciousness clearly manifesting itself in the waking state,
the dreaming state, and deep sleep, and pervading the
bodies of all beings from Brahmā (the first created being)
to an ant (a tiny, insignificant creature), and [I am] not the
perceivable reality (body, senses, mind)” is indeed a guru.
This is my conviction.
When he, whether a caṇḍāla or a dvija, who has acquired
such firm realization of the blissful supreme eternal and
pristine one, [says], “I and this entire creation, which is
expanded in consciousness alone, are indeed the [all-
witnessing] consciousness (brahman). And all this
[creation], along with God [its creator], has been imagined
by me through [with the help of] ignorance containing the
three qualities (guṇas),” [he] is a guru. This is my
conviction.
He [a caṇḍāla or a dvija] who has ascertained the eternal
perishability of the entire universe with the help of the
guru’s teachings, always meditates on the inseparable [non-
dual] brahman with a heart that is peaceful and free from
deceit; he who has surrendered his body to prārabdha
[subtle impressions of deeds that have commenced to
produce their results] having burnt [the subtle impressions
of] the past and future bad deeds in the fire of knowledge,
[is a guru.] This is my conviction.
All animals, humans, and gods clearly experience this [all-
witnessing] consciousness within themselves as ‘I.’ It is the
light by which the heart, the senses, the body, and the
sense-objects, which are unconscious on their own, are
enlightened [are made conscious and known]. A joyful
yogin [whether he is a caṇḍāla or a dvija] who always
meditates on this consciousness, which is veiled by the
objects enlightened by it, like the orb of the sun that is
veiled [by the clouds enlightened by it], is indeed a guru.
This is my conviction.
The gods, Indra etc., are satiated merely from extremely
tiny droplets of this ocean of bliss. The muni who finds it in
a peaceful, settled heart becomes blissful. Whoever’s mind
melts [merges] into this ocean of eternal bliss [whether a
caṇḍāla or a dvija], his feet are worshipped even by the
king of gods, because he indeed is brahman and no more a
mere knower of brahman. This is my conviction beyond any