Explanation of Brahman

1. Brahman is formless and without attributes. Brahman is without any association or modification. The sages say that there is no limit or end to Brahman.
2. In the scriptures it is told that Brahman is all-pervading, it is the One in the many. With discrimination Brahman is known to be Eternal.
3. Brahman is unmoving and endless. Brahman is always pure without imagination or doubts.
4. Brahman is different from the visible as well as different from the void, or nothingness. Brahman cannot be known through the medium of the senses.
5. Brahman cannot be seen with the eyes. For the foolish, Brahman is not there. Brahman cannot come to be experienced without a sage.
6. Brahman is greater than everything. There is nothing more essential than Brahman. It is subtle and beyond the senses. It is not known even to the Creator (Brahma) and other gods.
7. In words it is said that Brahman is like this and like that, but it is beyond comparison and different from anything that can be said about it. However, by listening to spiritual discourses and by studying, one can attain Brahman.
8. There are endless names for Brahman, but Brahman is beyond all names. To make any comparison of Brahman to any visible object is not suitable.
9. When seeing what is true, there is nothing other than Brahman. It is not possible at anytime to make a statement of comparison about Brahman.
10. In the Upanishads (Vedanta) and the "final doctrine" (Siddhanta) it is stated that speech returns from Brahman, and that it is not comprehensible by the mind.
11. Everything that the mind sees is in the form of imagination. In Brahman imagination does not exist. The "Great Statements" (Mahavakyas) of the Vedas are not false.
12. Now, the question naturally arises, "How can one acquire that which cannot be acquired by the mind?" If this question arises, the reply must be that "Such rare accomplishment cannot happen without the Sadguru."
13. A storehouse may be packed full, but it is locked. If one does not have the key, nothing inside is available.
14. The listener asks the speaker, "What is the meaning of this, what is that key?"
15. The Sadguru's blessing is the key. Due to his instruction the intellect becomes enlightened, and the doors of duality are thrown wide open in an instant.
16. There, the happiness is overflowing, but there is no entry for the mind. Spiritual effort should be of the type that is not a contrivance of the mind.
17. This satisfaction that is without desire is acquired without the mind. Scholarly knowledge of texts and imagination do not apply.
18. That which is beyond the origin of speech, and beyond the mind and intellect, is immediately attainable after giving up attachment.
19. Give up the attachment to the sense of being an individual and see Him. One who has an experience of what is being said here will rest in happiness.
20. Saying that oneself is "I" or "me," is ego. The sense that one is an individual is what is meant by ego. Ego is ignorance, which means having attachment to the sense of an independent "I."
21. When attachment is given up, there is unity with That which is unattached. This is the authority of the attainment of That which is without imagination.
22. When one does not know one's Self, it is called ignorance. When ignorance is removed by Self-Knowledge, one realizes oneself as Parabrahman.
23. Understand that body-identification is not important in Parabrahman. There the sense of "I" has no place.
24. In Parabrahman the distinctions such as high and low, or of king and beggar do not exist, as all are considered to be One. Whether male or female, all have the status of being only One.
25. It is not the case that the Brahman of a brahmin (priest) is pure, and the Brahman of an untouchable is impure. Such distinctions do not exist in Brahman.
26. It cannot be said that Brahman of the king is superior and Brahman for the servants is inferior. Such differences do not exist in him at all.
27. Brahman is One in all. In Brahman there is no such thing as many. Those who are poor and even the gods such as Brahma the creator and others are all the same there.
28. The knowledgeable know Brahman alone is the place of rest for all the three worlds; Heaven, Earth and the Netherworld42.
29. The guru and the disciple are One, alone in the same place. There is no difference there, but to understand this the connection with the body must be broken.
30. When the identification with the body and intellect ends, this Oneness alone is the ultimate attainment of all. There is one Brahman and nothing other. This is the teaching of the Upanishads (also called Shruti and Vedanta; it is the end part of the Vedas and is comprised mostly of teachings on non-duality).
31. Sages appear to be different, but their Self Form is the same. All of them are only the one "True Thing" that is alone and bodiless.
32. Brahman is neither new nor old, and never becomes more or less. One who has these concepts is like a dog that is a slave to the attachment to the body and intellect.
33. The identification with the body and intellect increases doubts and destroys contentment. The opportunity to be content is missed because of the identification with the body and intellect.
34. When one attributes greatness to the body, that itself is the sign of identification with the body and intellect. The wise ones, recognizing it as false, criticize body-identification.
35. One holds strongly to the pride for the body up until the time of the death of the body, and this leads to rebirth where one comes back again with the experience of body-identification.
36. With the feeling of importance or greatness (pride) of the body, contentment becomes less. Eventually, the body with all of its attributes will disappear. Nobody knows when this will happen.
37. The saints have explained that what is truly beneficial and that which is true virtue is to be bodiless. Non-virtue itself begins with body-identification.
38. Even yogis are affected by body-identification due to various powers they have gained though their yogic practices. Powers (siddhis) only increase the misidentification and attachment to the body and intellect.
39. Only when the identification with the body and intellect disappears is the "Supreme Meaning" (Paramartha) realized. The misidentification with the body and mind veils the oneness of Brahman.
40. The power of discrimination turns one towards Reality, while the identification with the body and intellect pulls one away from it. It is because of identification with the body and intellect that one feels separateness from Brahman.
41. For this reason, the wise one should abandon body-identification. By listening attentively about the "True Nature of Brahman," one becomes united with it.
42. At this point, the listener asks the question, "What is the True Nature of Brahman?" Listen now to the answer that the speaker gives to the listeners.
43. It is said that Brahman is one alone yet it appears in many forms and is experienced as many various bodies. There are many different opinions about this.
44. Whatever one has experienced, that is what is acceptable to him, and that is where his faith is placed in his inner-mind (antahkarana).
45. Brahman is devoid of name and form, and yet it has many names. It is described as being untainted, changeless, without disturbance, and Self-Bliss.
46. Brahman is called formless, inconceivable, beyond the senses, immovable, limitless, without boundaries, invisible, beyond logic, and "the One beyond."
47. Brahman is said to be the form of sound, the form of light, the form of Life-Energy, the form of power, the form of the witness, and the true Self Form.
48. It is called the void, the Eternal, Lord of all, Knower of all, the Self in all, and the Life in all.
49. Brahman is said to natural, existing at all times, pure wisdom, beyond everything, permanent, and beyond words.
50. Brahman is said to be gigantic, expansive, filling the entire universe, stainless, the "True Thing," expansive like the form of sky, the Self (Atman), the Supreme Self (Paramatman), and the Supreme Lord (Parameshwara).
51. Brahman is the Supreme Self, Paramatman, that is dense Knowledge. It is continuous and the most ancient. It is the form of universal consciousness and universal energy. Understand that these are some of the names of the "nameless."
52. There are innumerable names for Brahman, yet that one Supreme God is beyond all names. To try to attribute some definite meaning to him many names are given.
53. Brahman is that God who is the Self (AtmaRam), the restfulness in rest, and the Primordial Being (Purusha). All of this is none other than the Absolute Reality (Parabrahman).
54. To understand this Reality, the signs of the Fourteen Brahmans will be told. By listening to them, one develops firm conviction.
55. By removing everything that is false one by one, what remains should be understood to be true. Now, I will tell about the Fourteen Brahmans that are described in the scriptures.