Darsana Mala
Darsana Mala index
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DARSANA MALA
"A Garland of Visions of the Absolute"
by Narayana Guru
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Narayana Guru
The DARSANA MALA is a mala, Sanskrit for a necklace or garland, of the "darsanas". A darsana is more or less translatable as a school of philosophy or a thought-system. Traditionally in India there are six schools, but here Narayana Guru has divided the poem into ten and not six sections, which do not correspond strictly to the traditional darsanas. Perhaps the word "darsana" could be translated here as "philosophical viewpoint".
For example, the first chapter's point of view is that the world is real and has a creator.
The next chapter will suppose the opposite; another will view the world as consciousness; yet another from the point of view of action etc.
Thus, he presents ten possible visions of the universe, of ourselves and of the value or purpose of life - which together comprise philosophy. These different viewpoints are often seen as contradicting or excluding each other, especially in the context of Western Philosophy. The Guru, however, links them together by a common thread of value which runs through them all. Each darsana or "vision" is thus related structurally to the others, as are the verses inside each chapter.
Page 1
Darsana Mala Introduction
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INTRODUCTION TO THE DARSANA MALA
Some preliminary remarks on how the Darsana Mala of Narayana Guru is presented on this website.
The Darsana Mala is not an easy work to understand. This is due, in large part, to the fact that it presents a description of every possible philosophical viewpoint in one hundred short verses, divided into ten chapters, whereas, in the West, a philosopher would more likely fill ten volumes.
The term “Darsana” does not translate precisely into English, but the German “anschauung” is close. “Mala” means a necklace or series.
To get to grips with this difficult work, we suggest a progressive approach.
On the Darsana Mala Index page, we first present Nataraja Guru’s English translation, so that the reader may get a clear overview of the work.
Next, the same translation is accompanied by a word-for-word translation of the original Sanskrit verses, so that the reader can get a clearer idea of how the translation corresponds with the original.
Then we have a short commentary by Nataraja Guru to give some idea of the poems context and scope.
Lastly, we have the “Didhiti” commentary, which was composed by a disciple of the author, under his close supervision, and corrected by him.
If the reader wishes to delve deeper into the complexities of the Darsana Mala, he may go to the Contents page and click on “Science of the Absolute”, which is Nataraja Guru’s monumental commentary on the poem.
The Editor.
Darsana Mala - Verses Only 2
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DARSANA MALA
III. VISION OF NON-EXISTENCE
The mind, however, is not anywhere.
Therefore, like the blue and so on in the sky,
The world is seen in the Self.
All this world is a presentiment of the will.
This nescience by knowledge gets reabsorped,
Then the whole world becomes a mere configuration.
To be like a looming ghost,
The same is seen to be by the wise
Like a dream-world of a waking state.
Where willing is present alone
Is this visible world seen, not anywhere else,
As a snake, too, when alone a rope is found.
There is no difference at all,
That which is mind and called nescience and darkness,
Like the magic of Indra, is a marvel.
The world looms in the Self,
Just as to an infant, by confusion,
A reflected image might real seem too.
Does not attain to another form.
Therefore, the whole universe, as if created
By Indra's magic, exists as an eidetic presentiment.
Of the world, by that which is no other
Than the Maya-maker, the Self, is all this
Created, as various magical effects.
Looms like a sky-forest in the Self -
Even as an unreal puppet-form
To a child would seem contrariwise.
What is unreal, indeed, seems as being real.
The Siva Lingam is stone itself,
Not a second made by the mason.
IV. VISION BY NEGATION
Which by itself, as by science-nescience,
Transcendence-immanence, darkness and prime potency
Of nature, in many forms looms.
In its non-being, so too before the origin of the world, as other than the world,
What had no being as the Absolute itself,
Such is Maya, the negative principle of indeterminate possibility.
Thus what looms is vidya, knowledge,
As the reality of the snake appearance
Superimposed on the rope-reality is understood.
Thus what looms is avidya, nescience indeed,
As the erroneous cognition
As between rope and snake.
Vital tendencies, what creates -
That is the transcendent, indeed, even they being
The subtle limbs of the reasoning self.
By its own negative base of errror,
Imagines itself as if happy or suffering,
In truth, there is nothing at all.
What emanates forth - that indeed,
In the context of the Self, is the immanent,
The basis of all gross presentiments of the will.
Is the basis of the silver-presentiment,
So too what in the Self is the basis of the world,
That is known a darkness.
By containing all this universe like a tree in a seed,
Or by virtue of its importance above others,
This here is known as the prime potent power.
It diversifies the three nature modalities,
This aspect of Maya consisting of the three
Modalities is well known as Nature.
Darsana Mala - Verses Only 1
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DARSANA MALA
A TRANSLATION OF THE VERSES BY NATARAJA GURU
The verses are here presented on their own, without commentary, to allow the reader to appreciate the work as a whole.
DARSANA MALA
BY NARAYANA GURU
I. VISION BY SUPPOSITION
Non-existence indeed!
Dream-wise then again, by mere willing
Everything existent created He, the Lord supreme.
In the beginning, in the form of incipient memory factors,
All this remained. Then the Lord,
By his own power of false presentiment, like a magician,
Created all this world of change.
This world before creation was
Latent within Himself,
Thereafter, like a sprout from seed,
From Himself, by His power, by itself it was created.
The power, however, as of two kinds
Is to be known, as the bright and the dark;
There is no co-existence between these two,
As with light and darkness.
In the beginning, this world,
Which was in the form of mind stuff, like a picture
Achieved with all this picturesque variety,
Like an artist, the Lord.
Potentially, what even as Nature remained
Like the psychic powers of Yoga -
Like a Yogi did He, the Lord of the world, work out
His varied psychic powers thereafter.
When Self-knowledge shrinks,
Then prevails nescience fearful;
Ghost-like,taking name and form,
In most terrible fashion looms here.
Terrible and empty of content
Like a city infernal,
Even as such a marvel
Did the Lord make the whole universe
Presented as if out of slumber,
At one stroke, all came to be.
Came out this world manifested -
He is Brahma, He is Siva and Vishnu,
He is the Ultimate, everything is He indeed.
II. VISION BY NON-SUPPOSITION
And which has come to be from living consciousness,
If existent, then everything is existent;
If non-existent, then it exists as consciousness.
Therefore, all this is non-existent.
Of what is non-existent, how can there be an origin?
And of something unoriginated, how can there be re-absorption?
That is none other than the ultimate Absolute.
That there is origin and re-absorption,
By Maya`s confusion in the Self is supposed.
The effect, how could it have being?
How could there be, for the same reason,
For the cause also, any non-being?
An existent cause there is; the world is thus not indeed.
On the other hand, it is the Absolute alone that is existent,
That dull minds mistake as non-existing.
Another in it how could there be?
If existence is posited in existence, tautology,
And if non-existence is so asserted, contradiction comes.
Everything then is seen there
As mind stuff alone, and as no other,
As thus banishing Maya, relativity, far away.
There is nothing, therefore, beyond pure mind-stuff at all.
What does not shine is not real either,
And what is not real does not shine indeed.
Therefore nothing else at all,
Thus, everything is of the stuff of the High Value,
And besides this High Value, nothing else exists.
Here in there is not even a little plurality.
He who sees this as pluralistic,
From death to death he goes.
Darsana Mala - Verses Only 3
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DARSANA MALA
V. VISION OF CONSCIOUSNESS
In constant bee-agitation,
Consciousness is of two kinds-
The generic and the specific.
Basic consciousness is of four kinds,
So these names even of basic consciousness
Are also applicable to consciousness.
Depending on the concrete,
What looms in consciousness,
That is known as the concrete.
And the pot, that is the specific,
Likewise too what is the consciousness of "I" or "this"
Is known as the generic.
And the five vital tendencies,
By what are made conscious - that is known as the subtle.
Because of dependence on the subtle.
Is said to be the causal.
Here, that aspect which stands for "I" is the generic,
And the specific what stands for "am ignorant"
Is praised as the consciousness of the Absolute.
Here, the element "I" is the generic,
And "Absolute" is its specific attribute.
Object of consciousness exists, where
Consciousness exists not, its object neither.
Thus, both by agreement and difference, certitude comes.
So the Self does not see itself,
Therefore indeed, the Self is not the object of consciousness.
That which the Self sees is the object of consciousness.
What is unconditioned, that is not the object of consciousness.
What is conditioned is non-existent,
But what is unconditioned, itself THE EXISTENT IS THAT.
VI. VISION OF ACTION
And detached, that through negativity
Does action bearing many forms,
Like the dream-agent in sleep.
In forms such as these are actions accomplished
By the supreme Self, which is also
The Self of pure reason and the senses.
There exists a certain undefinable specificatory power
By that power, all actions
Are falsely attributed to the actionless Self.
One performs action as if attached due to ignorance.
The wise man, saying "I do nothing,"
Is not interested in action.
As wind it blows,
As water it rains,
As earth it supports and as a river it flows.
Moves as upward and downward vital tendencies
Within the nervous centres, indeed,
It beats, murmurs and pulsates.
Grows, transforms, decreases and attains its end-
As subject to six forms of becoming-
That is no other than the actionless Self.
Actions become Self-accomplished.
However, the wise man knows,
"I am the unattached, inner well-founded one"
Even the "I" is a conditioning factor,
Superimposed like the mother-of-pearl gleam.
Above everything else, today and tomorrow one alone is.