In Sanskrit, the term ‘sādhana’ means an esteemed ‘endeavour’ and ‘pañchakam’ refers to that which is made up of five. So the title ‘sād¬hana pañ¬cakam’ refers to the five verses that provide the noblest endeavour for our spiritual uplift.

The ‘sādhana pañcakam’ has five verses; each verse has eight instructions; these forty instructions when followed diligently must lead to the heightened spiritual awareness. In his impeccable style and the masterly control over the language, Bhagavan Adi Sankara has given each instruction to the point, clear and succinct for us to comprehend and follow; each instruction is valid by itself and also a trigger for other instructions to progress.

Many declare that these verses are meant only for ‘sanyāsi’ who have renounced the worldly roles to wander, seeking only the salvation; perhaps these are. However, as told by great Seers, ‘sanyāsa’ is not just about wandering for salvation by absolving all earthly duties; it is also about leading a life without worldly desires yet remain committed for discharging our rightful duties dispassionately and being in complete harmony on the Earth. So the inspiring instructions such as ‘sād¬hana pañ¬cakam’ must belong to the whole humanity. The depth of understanding and the level of application of such instructions may differ between the ordinary mortals and the learned aspirants but the right to follow these divine instructions for the spiritual progress must belong to all.

For those who have the strength of surrender and unshakeable conviction on the scriptures of Sanātana-dharma, abiding by the instructions may be natural; to follow diligently may be difficult for some but the will to pursue would not be in question for them.

For other sincere seekers, there may be an intellectual need to understand the validity of these instructions; to them, there exist scores of literature giving deeper insights; but the best route is firstly to undertake a personal contemplation on each of these instructions and when there is an irresistible curiosity and undying yearning for the learning, then that would be the time to seek the guidance from the Learned who would readily impart the necessary steps to progress.
Here is an inspired interpretation of sād¬hana pañ¬cakam’ to aid our learning.

I seek the permission of Guru Adi Sankara for my indulgence to bring an inspired translation with the view to broaden the interest for spiritual sādhanā which must not be for a special group of people or scholars only. Such an approach would require some liberty in the translation, on the premise that the core of the subject is always intact.

As an example, the very first instruction is ‘vedo nitya¬mad¬hīy¬atām’. This literally means ‘One should study the Veda, the scripture, everyday’.
In Sanātana-dharma, Vedas are the ultimate declaration. Instantiated in the form of sound and imparted by the word-of-mouth, Vedas are said to be divine revelations from God, although Bhagavan Vyasa is said to be the systematic compiler.

In the olden days of Bharath, social order prevailed that defined clear arrangements of responsibilities or collective progress across the society; for example, it set aside one community to perform the role of ‘spiritual servants’ to the entire society, their onus being the study, compliance and propagation of Vedic wisdom to all; while carrying out similar and distinct social objectives, other groups would revere these ‘spiritual servants’ and although not able to directly learn the Vedas, they would readily take the guidance from the ‘spiritual servants’ to imbibe the values of Veda in their way of living .

Such perfect order of society is no more; treasures of Veda are not easily available for everyone to study; therefore a possible interpretation for this instruction could be ‘One should constantly learn the values and the applications of wisdom imparted from the scriptures for One’s conduct in the world. This would mean, even if one could not study and understand the Vedas in all their glory, their essential imports must be learned and revered as part of one’s daily life.
On that basis, an inspired interpretation in Tamil for the first instruction is:
‘maRai muRaigaL dhinamum payilka’.

In Tamil, the term ‘maRai’ is used for Vedas. By the term ‘maRai’ which means ‘hidden’, Tamil has beautifully captured the whole aspects of Veda, which is endowed with hidden treasures of spiritual wisdom.

The term ‘muRai’ refers to ‘the method’ or ‘the application’; so the term ‘maRai muRai’ indicates the rightful application of the hidden wisdom and the values in the Vedas.

The term ‘dhinamum payilka’ means to learn every day. Instead of the literal translation ‘maRai dhinamum payilka’, are we allowed to interpret it as ‘maRai muRai dhinamum payilka’?

In my humble view, the answer is yes.

The recital of Veda and the esoteric knowledge therein are not readily accessible or understandable by ordinary beings. So won’t there be an impasse even at the very first instruction if we interpret it as ‘maRai dhinamum payilka’?
Let me dare to say that the core essence of Vedas, as indicated by the ‘Upanishads’, the final part of Veda or Vedānta can be summarized in few beautiful words of Tamil:

‘maRaiyaay narrporuL IRai Yaan KadavuL’.
மறையாய் நற்பொருள் இறையான் கடவுள்

‘maRaiyaay naRporuL’ means, the good meaning based on the deeper contemplation of Vedas. The true wisdom of Veda is hidden in the words and sounds and would require deeper contemplation and guidance for the realization.

The hidden wisdom of Vedas as revealed by the great Seers is this: ‘iRai Yaan Kadavul’.

‘iRai’ means that which is spread everywhere, ever expanding. The term ‘IRaivan’ means God who is Omnipresent. Everything, every form and the expanse are nothing but God. The macrocosm is God.

In the term, ‘KadavuL’ the prefix ‘kada’ means ‘ by surpassing’ and ‘uL’ means the innermost. So the term ‘KadvuaL’ refers to That which by surpassing all within us, exist as the most impenetrable microcosm;

The term ‘Yaan’ means ‘Self’, which is generally identified by ‘I’. So, Yaan, the ‘I’, exist between the ‘iRai’, the macrocosm, and the ‘KadavuL’, the microcosm. By such contemplation, the true meaning of ‘I’ is to be understood, as the One that cannot be different from ‘iRai’ or ‘KadavuL’.
All three perspectives ‘Yaan’, ‘iRai’ and ‘KadavuL’ are the same; the same is said in ‘saiva siddandha’ as ‘pasu’, ‘pathi’ and ‘pasam’; in Vedanta as ‘jeevatma’, ‘paramatma’, ‘prakriti’ ‘pramatma’; when this is realized, there is no duality. Such realization requires firstly and finally, the true understanding of the ‘I’. When such understanding is complete, there is only One true existence which is All and Nothing; That is God and I am That.
Therefore the first instruction which is for the ‘daily study of Veda’ should mean sincere endeavour to instil the essence of Vedas as part of life every day, nay, every moment.

Another example is the last line of the first verse.

The instruction “nijagṛhāttūrṇaṁ vinirgamy¬atām” is typically taken to mean that One, upon achieving the Self-realization must ‘at once, depart from the house of dwelling’ – (nija = at once, gṛhāttūrṇaṁ = innate house, vinirgamy¬atām= to depart from). This is how many see the meaning to support the assertion that sād¬hana pañ¬cakam is only meant for ‘sanyasi’ who has renounced the house-holder life.

In order for these instructions to be applicable to all, I took the liberty to interpret the ‘innate house’ of the Self as the temporary abode made up of the physical, subtle and casual body-complex. By asking ‘to leave quickly’, it is indicated that as soon as Self-realization is achieved, for the realized Self, there would be no bindings of the embodiments and therefore at the very moment, the Self is free; in other words, the one is said to be out of the house. Free from embodiment could not be taken as ‘disembodiment’ or ‘death’ because the sād¬hana is for us to attain the state of ‘jivan mukta’ on the earth; therefore, ‘leaving the house’ can be taken to mean ‘leaving the attachment to the embodiment’. Such an interpretation would also allow the house-holders to benefit from the sād¬hana, as long as they instil detachment and desire less actions in their chosen paths on the earth.

Thus follows my interpretation for our perusal.

Mee. Rajagopalan