Verses on a Blank Slate

Sant Jnaneswara

1275-1296

Translated from Marathi by Aliashesh

About myself

I always wanted to write. My friends' encouragement led me to write and

publish. I owe a lot to them. Writing gives me tremendous satisfaction, as

I am able to express myself better in this form. My pen-name is a curious

amalgam of two names: Ali and Ashesh. In 1994, I attended a devotional

quawwali concert, dressed in a long jacket and a fur cap. That prompted

the revered host to remark that I resembled Nawab Ali Ahmed Khan. I

took that as a compliment and a blessing. In the same year, later, I

attended a programme during which my facilitator said that it was

rebirth for me and he would give me the name Ashesh meaning without

keeping anything back. The poems that I wrote in that period were

published under the name Aliashesh. It is with this name that all my

subsequent poetry is published.

These verses were published first on my blog from 2005 to 2008. It is

only now in 2015 that they are coming out in the form of an eBook.

Pune

20 January 2015

About Changdev Pasashti or

65 verses

In reply to Changdeva

Introduction

Jnaneswara, younger brother of Nivruttinath, is regarded as the great

spiritual leader of Varkari sect in Maharashtra that unified the Vedantic

traditions of salvation through knowledge and worshipful works with the

native Indian Natha tradition of salvation through devotion. The Nathas

were spiritual masters who had achieved self-realization and passed it on

to their successors in an unbroken chain. Jnaneswara’s elder brother

Nivruttinath was one such master in the Natha sect. He initiated

Jnaneswara into the mystical practices of that sect. Their two younger

siblings, brother Sopandev and sister Muktabai were also drawn into

mysticism at a young age, following the death (by suicide) of both the

parents. The four siblings wandered from place to place, as they were

excommunicated, until at Paithan, Jnaneswara demonstrated his mastery

of the Vedas before an assembly of pundits in a miraculous manner. His

recital of the sacred hymns influenced a buffalo nearby, who reportedly

joined in the chants. Their travails having thus ended, Jnaneswara on the

directive of his mentor, Nivruttinath, started his exposition on the

Bhagavad-Gita. During their wanderings the four had received support

and help from the downtrodden castes. Jnaneswara carried on his

expositions in a language they could understand. His fame as a realized

soul possessing miraculous powers spread far and wide.

It reached a hathayogi of great repute, known as Changdeva. Changdeva

had extended his life span by the practice of hathayoga, in which physical

postures and practices were supposed to dissolve the body-consciousness

of the mind. Changdeva had tamed a tiger and used it as the beast of

travel. When he heard about Jnaneswara, he scoffed at his miraculous

powers. He sent him a blank paper as a message, signifying among other

things that Jnaneswara was still green behind ears and blank in wits. In

reply Jnaneswara composed sixty-five verses, put them to the blank paper

and sent it back to Changdeva. When he read the verses, he was

overcome with guilt of having insulted a great soul and immediately

started for Alandi riding his tiger. When the news of his arrival in Alandi

reached Jnaneswara, he moved to welcome Changdeva. Little did

Jnaneswara realize that the wall, on which he was perched, had started

moving. Seeing this spectacle, Changdeva got down, prostrated before

the young boy, Jnaneswara and surrendered his ego completely. The

beauty of the verses lies in the tender quality of affection with which

Jnaneswara wins over the arrogance of the hathayogi.

I am thankful to my friend, Shirish Kulkarni, who suggested that I

translate this work of Sant Jnaneswara. This is the third work of

translation, following that of Haripaath (To the Being) and Taatiche

Abhang (Verses to the Brother – Open the Door). It is an occasion of

great joy for me. But for Shirish, I may never have turned to this

important work of Jnaneswara, which reaches the pinnacle of poetry and

philosophy.

Verse 1

May the lord of the eternity

do good to us –

he who stays hidden

to project the sound-lights-motions of the world;

when he comes out in the open

the whole show is finished.

Changdeva, you have created this wonderful scene of sending me a blank

message. If you think, you are playing this prank or trick on me, think

again. It is the Lord that makes us play these games by endowing us with

the ego. Where will our ego be when he touches us? What games will we

play then?

Verse 2

Whenever he appears

He is unseen.

Whenever out of sight

he spins illusions.

He simply is,

Neither appearing nor

hiding.

He is not something that can be

stuffed.

These happenings and worldly matters that you wish to put me in are

simply reminders that the Essence that is our Lord is going out of sight.

Isn’t it befitting us that we lose not connection to his ineffable presence?

Verse 3

When he multiplies forms

He remains formless

and is the entire

Universe when forms

there are none.

You and me are but different forms made of the universal essence. If I

identify with the form and look at you in your form, the essence slips out

of my grasp. Going beyond forms we are but shoots of the same Supreme

Eternity.

Verse 4

Gold does not lose

its goldness

in becoming ornaments.

The Supreme Essence

does not detract

in its worldly manifestation.

You seem to engage in the exercise of fixing superiority and inferiority.

That is fine. Remember we are of the same substance and essence,

though manifest in different personalities.

Verse 5

Do the waves on the surface

shield the water from our view?

In the same way

the Supreme forms

the entirety of the world.

I am different from you in what I have done and what I do in the world.

But am I different from what you are in essence? Can we not be in touch

with that of which we are made?

Verse 6

In this immeasurable World, molecules

do not lose their earthiness

and pulsations of the world

do not overshadow

the one Essence.

We go about our affairs in different ways. You have followed your own

path of Hath yoga and so have I walked the way of Realization under our

respective mentors. That should not rob us of the awareness of the

essential unity of our beings. The world manifests in a hundred ways the

same truth of the essence.

Verse 7

The moon only appears in the garment

of the phases. Vanish it cannot.

The fire is not

separate from

the flame of the lamp.

We undergo transitions and changes; we rise and fall to rise again. Yet

the Eternal principle remains unaffected.

Verse 8

It’s ignorance

that gives rise to

this notion that

I the observer am separate

from the world that I observe.

It is not so and you know it.

Changdeva, you know very well that our perception stems from the

notion that I am separate from that which I perceive. And you know that

we get caught up in the web of illusions. You also know that IT simply IS.

Verse 9-10

Cloth is the name

given to what otherwise

is yarn in warp and weft.

A pot is earthen in the same way.

We perceive each other

as objects

of perception,

but it is possible only

because there is the Supreme

Reality of which we are made

and beyond us.

Let us not get entrenched in the ‘you’ and the ‘me’ in the ordinary way of

perceiving situations. Instead, see the whole reality of which we are parts

and in which the game of perception goes on.

Verses 11-12

Ornament in name,

it is in reality only gold;

Organs there are many,

but the person is one.

Light falls on earth

and shows up different objects.

But that is an impression.

Light remains one.

Do you see it is the same energy and same matter of which we are made?

It is a sheer appearance that we are different beings.

Verse 13

Impressions gather

around the form of the world

in the light that sheds itself,

like pictures

shown on the wall

which alone is there.

Impressions gathered by the senses can fool us into believing that they

constitute the world. But Changya, we can go on projecting, painting or

putting up pictures on a wall. It doesn’t matter to the wall, isn’t it?

Verse 14

The vessel that we use

to make jaggery from

cane juice

cannot take the sweetness.

The impressions that we

form of the world

cannot take its essence.

Look at it this way. You have followed many practices to attain the

ultimate. Now you know their nature and would not equate them with the

ultimate happiness. Would you? Rather know their real nature as another

set of worldly impressions.

Verse 15

Light fills the chandelier

and takes its shape.

The cosmic energy

fills the being

and flows through it.

Mistake it not for

the personal expression.

Both of us are expressing the Universal self, you in your own way

(through the blank paper) and I in mine (through these verses). Let us

not lose sight of That which flows through us.

Verses 16-17-18

Though happiness and sorrow

do not stick to us,

in a moment of excitement

we see ourselves as happy or sad

giving rise to objects of seeing.

These impressions conjure up

the seer, like the reflection

bringing to life the (separate) person.

This three-way split impression of the seen,

the seer and the seeing

we establish by flowing with

impressions.

In treating me and the message to me as separate from you, you are also

treating yourself as somebody separate from this flow of energy. What is

this excitement about?

Verse 19

In the turns and twists

of the yarn

there is nothing but the yarn;

In the same way, the seer, the seen

and the seeing are not threesome

but one and the same trinity.

The three-way split is an appearance, but in essence we are together, one

and the same, but appear made and unmade of the same.

Verses 20-21

When you see your face

in the mirror,

do you attribute seeing

to the mirror?

Futile is such

seeing of impressions.

I am the seer, the seen

and the seeing. Distinctions

lead to impressions,

Sages have said.

When you delve deeper into perceptions, you realize that perceptions are

nothing but confirmations of your impressions, which take off from the

distinction of you as separate from the reality.

Verses 22-25

Scenes conjured up

make for the seer of the world

And seeing is lame

to bridge the gap

between the seer and the seen.

When there is nothing to see

what use of sight?

When there is nothing to see

where is the seer?

Thus the scene brings along

The sight and the seer.

Once dissolved, the other

two disappear as well.

So the one reality

divides itself into three

and once the illusion goes,

it’s the same reality back again.

The underlying process of seeing, scene and the seer escape our

attention. The act is what brings the categories into existence. So dear

Changdeva, attend to this a little, will you?

Verses 26-27

And before the mirror is there,

you have a face

that

standing before the mirror

watches its reflection.

Watching seems like

seeing self,

but it is not.

Changya, we are like mirrors to each other. Don’t get fooled by the

reflections that we are different beings. Different persons, yes

Verse 28-29

So if you fix

on the seen outside,

it is different from you

the seer.

Everything you see

the seeing is within.

It is like the sound

separate from the instruments

the fire, apart from the wood,

Beyond the details, which

we swallow, when we experience.

If you just stay with the experience of hearing a sound, beyond the

myriad forms and tunes, there is the sound and that is within you.

Beyond our specific differences, there is just the experience of touching

another human being. And that is within us.

Verses 30-33

You can’t put it in words

nor know it;

You can be it

while it is there.

It’s like not being

able to see your

own wounded pupil

in the eye.

No use trying to

gather its knowledge.

There is nothing to

not know and what is there

to know?

So let’s converse

in silence

such that all there is

gets spoken

without words.

What do you want to know from me? What do you want to tell me? You

know it very well what there is to know and not know, dear Changdeva.

Verses 34-37

Several realizations later

the real remains one,

like water from

the foam, waves after waves.

You are, so you are able to see

even when to see,

there is nothing.

Just being there,

just seeing and

just experiencing the experience

links you

unbroken

to the antiquity of

this knowledge.

Let us

both listen

to that voice.

Let us just immerse ourselves in the being and hear what there is to

hear. Otherwise, this dialogue of me and mine with you and yours would

go on pointlessly.

Verses 38-40

Says Jnanadeva,

‘you listening to me is

like

clasping

one’s palm by the palm

words listening to words

taste tasting itself

light looking at itself.

or gold dressed in gold

face becoming mirror to face,

So is our dialogue

with each other.’

When we center in our being, where is the need for me to tell you

anything? We just enjoy that state. Even this description is misleading.

It’s like saying that I look at myself in your mirror and you do the same.

Verses 41-43

The mouth cannot

satiate itself

when it tastes

its own sweetness.

That’s the way

each other’s company

we relish.

On the pretext

of meeting you

I would touch the supreme

Being.

Meeting you

its true form

the mind

would See.

And the courtesies

I might just forget.

All said and done, meeting you is still an attraction, for it will give me the

experience of unison. My only worry is I might just forget to extend due

courtesies, if overcome with joy.

Verses 44-47

The thought

in your case

does not arise:

what shall I do,

what shall I say,

what shall I think

or

what shall I not do

not say and not think.

In your name and

thanks to you

I give up my Self

and so the thought

of what to do and what not

to.

Like salt absorbs

not when dissolved

in water,

in my worldly frame

I will remain not

as I meet you in

your being.

I am fortunate that I am in dialogue with a realized soul such as you. I

have no worry, no plan, no message, no measure, since in your Being,

transcended are action and inaction, thought and thoughtlessness,

speech and silence. Everything simply melts into the Being.

Verse 48

Once woken up

how can I sense

the sleep?

In seeing you

there is no

face, mine

and yours -

only seeing.

You have awakened in me that seeing of the seeing which is a pure flow

beyond the self and as such beyond separateness.

Verses 49-50

In the darkness after

the sunset

I am there still

experiencing it.

When you meet me

it is the same.

There is experiencing

beyond

the you and the me.

In the duality of the world, and me, there are phases of presence and

absence of things. In the Oneness of experience, there is only that

continuity of experience. With you, the experience alone jingles, not this

division of you and me (that leads to discord of you against me).

Verses 51-53

The eye rejoices

in witnessing

scenic wonders

and with that sight

in darkness

gropes without stumbling.

Scenes emerge and fade

the sight does not.

Being -

the experience

of oneness.

Our persona – the pictures

that appear and fade.

Let us rejoice in the meeting.

Amid the transience of the world, permanent is the Being that

experiences and not the Person who is but an amalgam of experiences,

emerging and fading. Let us meet to touch the level of Being and not

simply as Persons.

Verses 54-56

It’s the palate that

delights, delicacies a pretext.

It’s me that I admire,

the mirror a means,

the image but an impression.

I stuffed here

theses and postulates

and with

the alphabet of silence

composed this prelude

to our meeting.

It’s only a means,

if you wish to look at yourself,

like a lamp needs light, its own, 

to be able to see.

I have composed all this merely as a means, an image of your self and

mine to see in this mirror.

Verses 57-59

May this dialogue

open our eyes

to meet our Self

in our Selves.

Like in the deluge

it’s the ocean everywhere,

where does one search for source of the river?

Says Jnanadeva

your existence is real

without the particularities

of name and form.

Rejoice in the living self

and be happy.

Verses 60-61

Dear Changya

when the whole wealth

of knowledge is unloaded

in front of your house,

sweep all questions

to the backyard.

Changya

this reply is only an indulgence

of my Guru;

Like a mother to her child,

he feeds me with these

delicacies with so much

fondness.

Verses 62-63

It was like Jnanadeva

sitting face to face with

Lord Krishna,

two mirrors

facing each other

discovering both

can see with eyes.

Where is the separateness?

Same way

make these verses

a mirror unto you.

And rejoice in the joy

of the Being.

Verses 64-65

Is it possible

to be ignorant of

that which does not exist?

Would you be ignorant of

what you see in front?

How then that ignorance

of what exists?

There is sleeping

beyond sleep.

There is an awakening

beyond waking up.

Jnanadeva says, tried I have

to run a thread through them.