Essential sAmba panchASikA

An attempt to summarize my understanding of recent pravachanam by samanvaya samarat Dr. Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma Garu organized online by Rushipeetham Bangalore.

Introduction:

sAmba is the son of Lord Krishna and jAmbavati. Due to a curse of a sage, he lost his health. To regain health, he performed sUrya upAsana as instructed by his father, Lord kRSna. Even though he started the penance for the restoration of physical health, he is cured of the ultimate illness of spiritual blindness. sAmba became sAmbAcharya and taught his realization in 50 mandAkrAnta vRttAs. Having taught by sAmba and having 50 SlOkAs, the work comes to be known as sAmba panchASikA i.e., the 50 verses of sAmba.

With one opening verse, and 4 closing verses it has a total of 55 verses. There is a scholarly opinion that the first 10 Slokas are the instruction given by lord kRSna and the remaining 40 are the expansion added by sAmba.

The subject matter is not just a eulogy or stotra of externally appearing Sun. It goes deep into the heart of consciousness known as chit-bhAnu or chit-sUrya. So, the name of the work can be considered as chit-bhAnu-stotram. It is not just a stotram, it incorporates most intricate secrets of spirituality so it can be considered as an Upanishad. It also consists of singing of realization of sAmba and hence can be called as sAmba gIta.

Four Aspects of Sun:

Sun as the basis of vEda or trayI consisting of Rk as manDala, yajas as purusha, and sAma as radiance is the first aspect of chit-sUrya. As dEva who is directly visible even to physical vision is the second aspect. As jIva who is the powering energy of individual gross, subtle, and causal bodies is the third aspect. And, finally, as the parabrahma beyond all triads, the supreme reality without any description — All these four aspects are revealed in this scripture that directs seekers to realize the supreme self through upAsana using bhakti, yOga and jnAna mArgas or paths.

The key thing to note is: it is not mere bhAvana i.e., poetic imagery/description from the author; it is darSana i.e., the revelation of direct realization by the author of this work.

Frist 10 SlOkAs:

These 10 slokas can be considered as SrI kRSna’s upadESa as understood by sAmba. (They are recorded as I understood them with all my own defects infused into this translation due to lack of both languages of Samskrutam and English. )

1. Nourishing lords (of indriyas) with own illumination by repeatedly filling the moon’s path with nectar (essential life force) as a play with ever fulfilled heart the ONLY ONE conscious-sun “cidbhAnu”: I bow down to.
2. Apparent as sound and its meaning or names and associated forms the supreme consciousness as the field (Rk) and its radiance indicated by the primordial basis of all sound, carried by seven svaras as horses, the basis of understanding as the vehicle; destroying the darkness of external and internal worlds as rising; THAT prarbrahman, I bow down to.
3. Encompassing everything by the nature of memory and life-force, not uncovered by any of the objective forms that are illuminated while making all the names and forms (or sounds and meanings) appear real (even though reflections! known technically as mithya); that unembodied consciousness, comes to be known as jIvAditya; I (my ego, ahem) bow down to.
4. The inward vibration of Om in all the beings, the core of being, that consciousness continuously balancing mutually opposing forces of prANa and apAna (loosely translated as breath in and out) from beginning to the end of the body, THAT paramAditya, I take refuge in.
5. The twelve-fold-self — outwardly keeping five cognitive organs (skin, eyes, ears, tongue, nose) and five action organs (hands, legs, speech, excretory and regenerative) and inwardly the mind + intellect and the ego-sense (5 + 5 + 2 = 12) making the outward and inward worlds illuminated as the ONE single basis of all these instruments (or the power running them) as mArtAnDa; I take refuge in. (This is known as prakASa svarUpa)
6. That radiance (feminine) making 63 (22 swara + 25 varga + 8 yamavarnas + 4 anusvaras + 4 bindu variants) distinctions of letters, making them evident internally in the house of mitra and varuNa (conscious enclosure) by mixing with the life-force, bringing it into definitive shapes with vibrations of air and finally delivering them as sound with the physical body that can be heard — all these four stages of vAk — speech; I take refuge in. (This is known as vimarSa svarUpa)
7. May THAT central non-embodied, holding the layers of existence (7) above and (7) below, allowing all the channels of flow operate in an order, known as brahma-nADI, that is ever pure, only realized by those who have mastered the art of balancing the act of mutual consumption of prANa and apAna by one another; be glad to us.
8. May THAT who will not obstruct paths of cosmos (who arranges or allows orderly paths/orbits?), who is not cold or hot, who is not limited by day or night, not agitating, not eclipsed, (as if) of the completely un-obstructed form(less?), ever pure supreme-Sun-form paramAdityamUrti; be glad to us.
9. I (the ego-sense) for the sake of liberation, surrender on to: the inwardly subtle and outwardly cosmic, powerfully radiating field of the orb, well known as praNava, the basis of the triad of vEda, that shows the path of liberation to striving yOgIs, that is also known as the cause of three aspects (guNas, rajas — creation, sattva — maintenance, tamas — merger) of worlds, called as bindu (the origin point), also called as the seat of brahman;
10. I take refuge in that consciousness present in the manDalam (orb): infinite nectar of bliss, around which the vEda mantras beam like bees around the hive, the repeatedly feeding nourishment needed in dEva, pitR and manushya (gods, forefathers and human layers of existence) through the aspect of the moon (sap or the plant life that is the basis of food chain derived from plain water) cycle.

cit or chit is roughly translated as consciousness. namaH, namAmi — bowing down, prasannA — be pleased or be glad to us, prapadyE, prapannA — as take refuge in and surrender onto.

The subject matter is very clearly established in this part as upAsana consists of three modes of developing vinaya to the higher power, not different from the basis of such upAsana with bowing down. It also needs an attitude of surrender and emotional connection of that basis as the protector of the very ego-sense. This process is aided by the understanding of the supreme nature of such a fundamental source of everything that is experienced externally and internally to the seeker.

Before we see the methods and secrets of upAsana in 40 SlOkas, let me put the concluding 5 slokas describing the results of listening, reading, studying, practicing the techniques revealed by this work — phalaSruti in the middle.

Last 5 Slokas:

55. This work, purified by bowing down to the fire giver (fire of practice “tap”) i.e., tapana-namana, consisting of a spiritual discussion of brahman as per Agamas, narrated by me protect the devoted listeners like a mother (mother cleans a child filled in filth!) by cleansing the sins and directing towards auspiciousness!

54. Having studied this work, revealed by SrI sAmba, selected as a husband by personified divine wealth — sraddha, bhakti, etc., as prescribed, one sees all the worlds as self and finally attains highest vairagya like Suka maharshi, reaches the orb of conscious Sun.

53. Having attained balance by rising above the duality of attraction and repulsion, SrI sAmba, for the sake of realizing the supreme nature of Sun’s sarvAtmatvam, and transcend the mutually consuming sin and virtue; firmly established this yOga involving instruments of vAk, mana, kAya, and buddhi to drive them to supreme peace.

52. May I (the ego-sense), having drunk away from the apparently remaining mind; attained the bridge of prAna & apAna, having transcended the highest realm of truth i.e., satyalOka, THAT supreme space (of consciousness); merge into.

51. Beyond northward divine path and the southward path of forefathers and beyond the joining vishuvat and abhijit sandhyas between them, beyond the prakRti and purusha, that indescribable middle-state may be attained by me.

The result is described in reverse order above. Now here: Having attained realization, merged into the supreme reality, described the all-encompassing yOga of that realization, to help others who wish uplifting self by faithfully studying the scripture and also those who casually listen also are purified and drawn towards this supreme path by its very power of sound and vibration; this work is made by Sri sAmba.

The middle 40:

If you are still reading this post or wanting to read further about this work — “congratulations!”

If you can understand Telugu and can spend 8 hours listening to the pravachanam, that is the best thing to do on this official playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBB64oZyWpq5gpF-qxlqnFQ8ntewlfyPQ

Otherwise, below is a highly condensed version of what it contains (sAmba says his work is a condensed version of the spiritual discussion contained in the conclusive portions of vEdas!) :

Slokas 11–20: Importance of removal of the darkness of pride (vAmana and bali); rising above body-consciousness and limitation and performing sandhya vandanam; performing worship (even though with the defect of differentiation); rising the consciousness to see that conscious-Sun as subtler than the subtlest and bigger than the biggest; realizing the indescribable nature of supreme and only describing it by negating all that experienced or imagined as nEti-nEti; understanding the imminence as the fire hidden allover the firewood; understanding the need of practice of to bring out the fire one need to churn the lower individual being with the power of mantra that is potent to manifest the latent fire; rising above triads; — realizing the importance of devotion is all the above steps of practice; surrendering to the higher power for the grace that can remove the darkness of heart; finally realizing how devotion protects the seeker in various situations of external and inward journey towards the source. (This part is karma, bhakti yOgas! The preparation needed for sAdhana)

Slokas 21–30: veda tattvam of chit-Aditya as the source of subtle and gross world views for the sake of uplifting seekers; sabda brahma tattvam, yajna tattvam, three forms of sattva, rajas, tamas; morning, afternoon, evening; Rk, yajur, sAma — 12 * 7 manifestations — seven upper and lower realms of existence, seven oceans, seven sages, seven mountains, seven continents, seven mental diseases, seven seeds, seven meters, seven musical notes, seven elements (five gross and two subtle), seven sacrifices (actually seven sacrifices of three types each — havir-yajna,sOma-yajna, and pAka-yajna) are strung into one source of manifestation and leading to unmanifest supreme reality as chit-sUrya beyond guNas, svaras and kaLas (in the 25th Sloka is the mahA Vidya in my opinion); Sun as the cycle of nourishment across multiple realms of existence as the producer and the consumer of food; Sun beyond all dualities of fields and energies in all layers; Sun as the seed eternal that produces all the beings of lower and higher worlds; Sun as a householder performing nitya vaiSvEdEva yAga between amAvASya through pUrNimA and amAvASya; conscious-Sun as the ordainer of multiple scales of time across humans, forefathers, gods, brahma and unnmanifest; — All these different kinds of vidyas leading to realization of that specific aspect of chit-bhAnu are described in this section of ten SlOkas. (This part covers saguNOpAsana — upAsana with attributes)

Slokas 31–40: nirguNOpAsana — the method of upAsana without attributes; raSmi-lIla the power of radiating life; upAsana of Sun as Guru who appear just like one among the disciples; the distinction between the realized guru and seekers; Even at the highest realization the need of abhi-namana as thankfulness; declaration of highest siddhi and desire to uplift other deserving seekers; arka as the universal friend; the soft nature of realization as dawn removing darkness in a soft manner not forcible or battle like situation; Sun’s grace even on darkness explained — a great revelation! as protector of everything; and finally requesting the supreme chit-bhAnu for protection of all the seekers/sAdakas with multiple defects and striving on the path.

SlOkas 41–50: Directives related to upAsana — approaching guru/god as son approaching father for forgiveness of mistakes; not waiting till old age for sAdhana, starting early; seeking refuge like a refugee in unknown territory; complete surrender to the supreme as all words/thoughts also originate by its power/energy only — realizing the fact as supreme as the source of everything; realizing that the protection as one of the duties of supreme!; realization of Sun being the protector throughout the cycle of birth and death; restoration of health of the physical body as a consequence of the restoration of spiritual health at the core of the being — people only see external cure!; advantage of taking Sun as the symbol of worship as Sun can be seen in the external world as well easily with materialistic eyes; thanking one’s own sense organs for cooperation during sAdhana; finally leaving the authorship of this work as well to the supreme chit-bhAnu and not the little ego-sense of sAmba: thus declaring: “this work will remain eternal” guiding the deserving seekers!

I attribute all the knowledge and wisdom to the hierarchy of teachers who introduced this scripture to several seekers like me over multiple timespans:

Brahmasri sAmavEdam shaNmukha Sarma gAru in mysore turban!

Note: All the defects in interpreting the scripture, the pravachanam, and writing this post, belong to my own little ego-sense identified as Prasad Chitta and its wills and fancies.

May the guidance provided by the lineage of gurus guide the seekers to the ultimate realization of the conscious-Sun ever dwelling in everyone’s heart space!

om tat sat