Nirvana Satakam

…contd….

Well. Let’s put my feelings aside for now. Today I wanted ‘her’ to explain ‘Nirvana Shatakam’ to us and so I raised the topic.

“Guruji, please tell us about Nirvana Shatakam”.

“What’s that?” she asked matter-of-factly!

I didn’t know how to respond. I just stared at her. She just said ‘I don’t know and she didn’t even hide it! How do I continue? Did I embarrass her in front of others?” I had such similar thoughts when she said “recite it” so casually!

I was still dizzy as I took out my tab to google for it and started reciting from it.

(Please listen to this recitation by Shri SPB written by none other than Guru Shri Adi Shankaracharya in Sanskrit and then continue with the explanation...)

She had closed her eyes as she was listening. There was a smile on her lips as she was listening. When it ended, she waited for few minutes before opening her eyes and looked at me with a questioning look and said “what’s there to explain in it? I’ve already explained that in your Reiki I degree class in detail. Why do you want me to repeat I degree class again?”

 I was really confused “But Guruji this is ‘Nirvana Shataka’ and it never was talked about or mentioned in any class – leave alone I degee class” I stressed.

She smiled and said “yes, I know this is the reply that the Great Guru Adi Shankaracharya gave his Guru at the tender age of 8 when his Guru asked him the question ‘who are you?’ the first time they met. Later that Guru –Shri Swami Govindapada Acharya accepted him as his disciple and this Nirvana Shatakam became the basis of ‘Advaita Philosophy’ which was propogated by Adi Shankaracharya. This is also called as ‘Atma Satakam’. These lines are enough for contemplation on ‘Atma’ – the soul, and this is the basis for ‘self-realization’. This is what Ramana Maharshi simply put as ‘ask always ‘who am I?’ and you’ll be realized and still I maintain that I’ve already explained it.”

...contd.....