[Advaita-l] Amritanubhava

[Anand Hudli]

Dear Sriramji,

Indeed, Amrutanubhav is written more along the lines of shiva-shakti
advaita. Later in his (short) life he was said to be in the company of the
great Hari Bhaktas Sant Namdev, Gora Kumbhar, and others. He is also said to
have written many "abhangs" or devotional songs in praise of ViTThala.

 Information on translation of the Amrutanubhav, with excerpts from the
chapters, may be found at:

http://www.nonduality.com/jnan.htm

"This, the opening chapter of Amritanubhav, is undoubtedly one of the
most strikingly beautiful poetic expressions of duality-in-unity ever
written. In it, Jnaneshvar, the poet, portrays, with symbol and
metaphor, that mystery which remains forever inexpressible in the
language of philosophy and logic."

>From Chapter Four:

Fire, in the process of annihilating camphor,
Annihilates itself as well;
This is exactly what happens to knowledge
In the process of destroying ignorance.

The cresting of a wave is but its fall;
The flash of a bolt of lightning
Is but its fading.

Likewise, knowledge,
Drinking up the water of ignorance,
Grows so large
That it completely annihilates itself.

This absolute Knowledge is like
The intrinsic fullness of the moon,
Which is unaffected
By its apparent waxing and waning.

Likewise, that which is Consciousness Itself
Does not possess the quality of being conscious,
And is, therefore, not conscious of Itself.

>From Chapter 5:

The Vedas,
Which are the very breath of the Lord,
Declare It to be Ananda, or Bliss,
Only in order to negate the possibility
Of pain existing in It.

Thus the word, Satchidananda,
Used to refer to the Self,
Does not really describe Its nature,
But merely signifies
That It is not the opposite of this.

>From Introduction to Chapter 9:

"For Jnaneshvar, liberation is certainly not merely a dry, intellectual,
unity-awareness; it is the enjoyment of the bliss, or love, of God. It
is a Knowledge-Love; not a love based on the duality of lover and
beloved, but rather an inner joyfulness that arises with the sense of
union with the Beloved. ... The lover and Beloved are one, to be sure;
yet the enjoyment of love continues. This is Amritanubhav: the nectar of
the experience of our own divine Self."


Anand