एकान्ते सुखमास्यतां परतरे चेतः समाधीयतां

पूर्णात्मा सुसमीक्ष्यतां जगदिदं तद्बाधितं दृश्यताम्।

प्राक्कर्मं प्रविलाप्यतां चितिबलान्नाप्युत्तरैः श्लिष्यतां

प्रारब्धं त्विह भुज्यतामथ परब्रह्मात्मना रथीयताम्॥ ५

ekānte sukhamāsyatāṁ paratare cetaḥ samādhīyatāṁ

pūrṇātmā susamīkṣyatāṁ jagadidaṁ tadbādhitaṁ dṛśyatām |

prākkarmaṁ pravilāpyatāṁ citibalānnāpyuttaraiḥ śliṣyatāṁ

prārabdhaṁ tviha bhujyatāmatha parabrahmātmanā rathīyatām || (5)

Happily live in solitude. Purify the mind and live by remaining with the Self. Realize and observe that the Self is everywhere. Know that the material world is nothing but manifestation of the Self. Diffuse past karmas by doing right actions now. Use your knowledge and stay away from future karmas. Undergo the effects of past karmas. Then live, perpetually engrossed unto Brahman.

1. Happily live in solitude. Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad Gītā, “Humbleness, sincerity, non-violence, patience, uprightness, service to guru, purity of mind and body, steadfastness, willpower, renunciation of sensory objects, devoid of egotism, understanding the inherent pains and evils of life, detachment from son, wife and home; balanced mind both in favourable and unfavourable circumstances, staunch devotion to Me, living in solitude, avoidance of social enjoyment, fixity of knowledge on the Self by ingesting it to the logical conclusion; all this is known as knowledge.” Though solitude is referred as the state or situation of being alone, away from noise and attraction of the material world, it also means creating isolation in the mind. Mental isolation can be created through samādhi. Taking into account that we should nor shirk our responsibilities to our family, remaining in samādhi for a long time will take us forward towards the path of Liberation. 

2. Purify the mind and live by remaining with the Self. These revelations are made by Śaṃkarācārya in the last verse. In fact, this verse recapitulates the points discussed in the previous verses. Purifying the mind means, staying away from attachments and desires. Attachments and desires cause ego, anger and frustration, thus making a person highly emotional. One has to get rid of emotions in spiritual life. He has to lead a highly balanced life, with no likes and dislikes. When the mind is made to remain pure, meditation automatically happens without any specific practices. When mind is thoughtless, it goes with the Creator, where meditation is automatically triggered. Therefore, by default, when mind is purged of all impurities that cause thought processes, such mind stays with the Self. Let us take a rusted steel drum. When water is poured into that drum, the water leaks everywhere. If the same drum is repaired, the water does not leak and only overflows. Similarly, a purified mind overflows towards the Self.

3. Realize and observe that the Self is everywhere. Self is omnipresent. Mahānārāyaṇa Upanishad says that Brahman is both internal and external. Brahman pervades in the form of every object and every being in this world. Therefore, it is important that Self should be realized not only within and also, one should realize the omnipresence of Brahman. This is absolute realization.

4. Know that the material world is nothing but manifestation of the Self. This is in confirmation of the previous point. The entire world is pervaded by Brahman, which is in the form of manifestation of various shapes and forms. That is why, Upaniṣad says that Brahman is both internal and external. But instead of seeing Brahman everywhere, we perceive the world in the form of different shapes and forms due to the effect of māyā, which again is nothing but the Power of Brahman. Instead of associating ourselves with shapes and forms that we see due to the effect of māyā, we have to look at them as Brahman. Through practice, this will take a firm footing in our mind.

5. Diffuse past karmas by doing right actions now. There is no escape from karma. We do not know what our karmic intensity is. Karmas are to be experienced. However, we can diffuse its intensity by performing good acts such as poor feeding, feeding animals and birds, etc. This has been discussed as panñca yajña-s (pancha yajnas) in previous verses. By performing panñca yajña-s (pancha yajnas), karmic account can be diffused, but can never be exhausted, except by way of personal experience. For example, a person falls and has a fracture. This is due to his karmic account. But this fracture can be diffused by performing good acts as prescribed in panñca yajña-s (pancha yajnas) and this fracture can be modified as bruises, several times.

6. Use your knowledge and stay away from future karmas. What is knowledge here? It is the knowledge about the Self and when we surrender that Self, we do not accrue any karmas. However, we have to experience our karmas accrued till the time of surrender. Kṛṣṇa says, “One who performs duty without attachment, surrendering the result to the Self, is unaffected by sinful action.” There are three types of karmas sañcita, prārabdha and āgāmya. Sañcita is the sum total of all karmas. Prārabdha is that portion of total karma that is being experienced in this birth. Āgāmya is the karma that is being carried over to future births, if any. In order to attain liberation, there should be no āgāmya karma.

7. Undergo the effects of past karmas. As seen earlier, all types of karmas are to be exhausted for Liberation. There are two conditions for Liberation. One is pure mind and the second one is devoid of karmic account, not even a trace. Experiencing of karmas could be too painful sometimes, as when the karmic account getting is exhausted, there will be more pains. We have to patiently bear this pain and sorrows, as they are nothing but the result of our own actions in previous births. Sufferings also make us firmly establish in the Self. We cannot fight against the effects of karma and as discussed earlier, its effect could be marginally reduced and interpenetrated over a period of time.

8. Then live, perpetually engrossed unto Brahman. Now all done. All karmas exhausted. Mind continues to be clean without traces of desires and attachments. We are ready to be Liberated when the time of death comes. A jīvanmukta is now ready to merge into Brahman to attain Liberation. Merger is complete with Brahman and he becomes videhamukta. He is not reborn and all his traces are merged into Brahman.

With this Sādhanā Panchakam is concluded.

Further Readings:
SADHANA PANCHAKAM - 7

SADHANA PANCHAKAM - 8

SADHANA PANCHAKAM - 9