DENNIS WATERMAN: I’ve placed the following book review (by Mr. Steve Shank) in my Esoterica pages because I feel the book, and the subject matter, are of great importance.

Title: DRG-DRSHYA VIVEKA – An Inquiry into the Nature of the “Seer” and the “Seen”

Author: Translated with short commentary by Swami Nikhilananda. The original is traditionally credited to Shankaracharya

Published: Advaita Asharama, seventh impression 1995

Location: Found in Vedantic centers worldwide and bookstores that carry spiritual books

Audience: Serious students of Vedanta who like a lot of information in a small space. Needs to be read and meditated upon.

Reviewer: Steve Shank

Review: How is one to understand Vedanta? Keeping company with sincere sadhus and the study of scriptures are two very important ways. Vedantic books can be divided into two categories
*Modern books
*Classics

Modern books can normally be read easily and are often enjoyable, however, the classics are classics for a good reason. Thousands of sadhus over hundreds of years serve as testimony to the value of these books. The downside of the classics is that they are often difficult to understand. The Upanishads for example, come from so long ago and were written by such a different culture, that they are very difficult to fully grasp.

There is one type of classic literature which combines the test of time, the praises of generations of grateful Sadhus and is still easy to understand. It is called Prakarana. Prakaranas are short treatises which take some aspect of Vedanta and explain it following a particular line of reasoning. When these are translated well and provided to us with a clear commentary, they become a deep source of inspiration.

Arguably, the best of all the prakaranas is DRG-DRSHYA VIVEKA. This was one of the Swami Asesananda’s favorites. Ramana Maharshi loved it so much he translated it into his native Tamil. I don’t think that any book has provided me with more inspiration. Swami Nikhilananda provides a lucid explanatory commentary and altogether, the entire book is only 61 small pages, much of which includes the original Devanagari text. The original consists of only 46 verses. Though this book is normally ascribed to Shankaracharya, Swami Nikhilananda feels its true author is Bharati Tirtha, guru of Vidyaranya and Jagad-Guru of the Sringeri Math founded by Shankaracharya. He lived around 1350.

DRG-DRSHYA VIVEKA begins with an explanation of the method of discrimination between the seer and the seen. This is one of three basic vedantic methods, the other two being the analysis of the three states of consciousness and the discrimination of the five sheaths. Though a thorough and complete explanation of the discrimination between the seer and seen is given, the author also provides useful insights into the other two methods as well. This concludes with a particularly useful analysis of the three major false indentifications, their effects, and the means to end them. Next, the author explains how to conceive of the empirical self as a reflection of consciousness.

Following that, he explains Maya, with both its veiling and projecting powers. He explains Maya in both the individual aspect as well as the cosmic. Then the practical method is given for distinguishing between those aspects of perception which are Brahman, as opposed to maya and how to remove the later.

This first part of the book consists of 22 verses. Next, DRG-DRSHYA explains how to practice 6 different kinds of samadhi and their result. This takes another 10 verses, so at the end of 31 verses we have learned all that is necessary to learn.

However, understanding our need for even more lucid explanation, the book continues for another 15 verses examining the three conceptions of the individual self (as imagined in a dream, as falsely limited and as reflected in the mind), and showing how each is used on both the individual and cosmic levels to dissolve the false notion of bondage.

From the very first verse: “The form is perceived and the eye is its perceiver. It is perceived and the mind is its perceiver. The mind with its modifications is perceived and the Witness is verily the perceiver. But, IT is not perceived (by any other), until the very last verse when all the false conceptions merge back into an ocean of Sat Chit Ananda which itself merges into the Witness and freedom alone remains, the devotee is transported into a realm of Advaita, of freedom and joy from which he will never fully return.

Swami Nikhilananda has done us all a great service by translating and providing a commentary on this classic means of transportation from the mundane to the profound.