මනීෂා පඤ්චකම්
मनीषा पञ्चकम् in Sinhala · සිංහල
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Origin & Story
Prakarana (instructional) hymn composed by Adi Shankaracharya · Adi Shankaracharya · 8th century CE (circa 788-820)
According to the traditional account, Adi Shankaracharya was walking through the holy city of Kashi when a Chandala (an outcaste) carrying meat, accompanied by four dogs, crossed his path. Shankara asked him to step aside. The Chandala — understood in the tradition to be Lord Shiva himself testing him — responded with searching questions: 'Do you wish the body to move away from the body, or the Self from the Self? In the sunlight reflected in the Ganga and in a cup of wine, is the reflecting sun ever defiled?' Struck by this revelation of pure non-dual wisdom from one deemed lowest by society, Shankaracharya prostrated and composed the Manisha Panchakam, five verses declaring that anyone established in this knowledge — outcaste or brahmin alike — is truly his Guru.
✦ As told in scripture
The tradition holds that the outcaste who taught Shankaracharya was none other than Lord Vishvanatha (Shiva) himself, who had come to remove the last trace of body-and-caste identification from the young sage; the moment Shankara bowed to wisdom regardless of its outer form, the Chandala revealed his true divine nature.
Complete Text with Meaning
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ජාග්රත්ස්වප්නසුෂුප්තිෂු ස්ඵුටතරා යා සංවිදුජ්ජෘම්භතේ යා බ්රහ්මාදිපිපීලිකාන්තතනුෂු ප්රෝතා ජගත්සාක්ෂිණී . සෛවාහං න ච දෘශ්යවස්ත්විති දෘඪප්රජ්ඤාපි යස්යාස්ති චේත් චණ්ඩාලෝ(අ)ස්තු ස තු ද්විජෝ(අ)ස්තු ගුරුරිත්යේෂා මනීෂා මම .. 1..
jāgratsvapnasuṣuptiṣu sphuṭatarā yā saṃvidujjṛmbhate yā brahmādipipīlikāntatanuṣu protā jagatsākṣiṇī | saivāhaṃ na ca dṛśyavastviti dṛḍhaprajñāpi yasyāsti cet caṇḍālo'stu sa tu dvijo'stu gururityeṣā manīṣā mama || 1||
Meaning:जिसमें यह दृढ़ निश्चय है — 'जाग्रत, स्वप्न और सुषुप्ति में जो संवित् (चेतना) अधिकाधिक स्पष्ट रूप से प्रकट होती है, जो ब्रह्मा से लेकर चींटी तक समस्त शरीरों में एक साक्षी रूप से ओतप्रोत है, वही मैं हूँ, न कि कोई दृश्य वस्तु' — वह चाहे चण्डाल हो या द्विज (ब्राह्मण), वही मेरा गुरु है; यही मेरी मनीषा (दृढ़ धारणा) है।
බ්රහ්මෛවාහමිදං ජගච්ච සකලං චින්මාත්රවිස්තාරිතං සර්වං චෛතදවිද්යයා ත්රිගුණයා(අ)ශේෂං මයා කල්පිතම් . ඉත්ථං යස්ය දෘඪා මතිඃ සුඛතරේ නිත්යේ පරේ නිර්මලේ චණ්ඩාලෝ(අ)ස්තු ස තු ද්විජෝ(අ)ස්තු ගුරුරිත්යේෂා මනීෂා මම .. 2..
brahmaivāhamidaṃ jagacca sakalaṃ cinmātravistāritaṃ sarvaṃ caitadavidyayā triguṇayā'śeṣaṃ mayā kalpitam | itthaṃ yasya dṛḍhā matiḥ sukhatare nitye pare nirmale caṇḍālo'stu sa tu dvijo'stu gururityeṣā manīṣā mama || 2||
Meaning:जिसकी बुद्धि उस परम सुखमय, नित्य, परम, निर्मल तत्त्व में दृढ़ है, यह मानते हुए कि 'मैं ही ब्रह्म हूँ, और यह समस्त जगत् चिन्मात्र का विस्तार है, यह सब मैंने त्रिगुणात्मक अविद्या से कल्पित किया है' — वह चाहे चण्डाल हो या द्विज, वही मेरा गुरु है; यही मेरी मनीषा है।
ශශ්වන්නශ්වරමේව විශ්වමඛිලං නිශ්චිත්ය වාචා ගුරෝඃ නිත්යං බ්රහ්ම නිරන්තරං විමෘශතා නිර්ව්යාජශාන්තාත්මනා . භූතං භාවි ච දුෂ්කෘතං ප්රදහතා සංවින්මයේ පාවකේ ප්රාරබ්ධාය සමර්පිතං ස්වවපුරිත්යේෂා මනීෂා මම .. 3..
śaśvannaśvarameva viśvamakhilaṃ niścitya vācā guroḥ nityaṃ brahma nirantaraṃ vimṛśatā nirvyājaśāntātmanā | bhūtaṃ bhāvi ca duṣkṛtaṃ pradahatā saṃvinmaye pāvake prārabdhāya samarpitaṃ svavapurityeṣā manīṣā mama || 3||
Meaning:जिसने गुरु के वचनों से यह निश्चय कर लिया कि समस्त विश्व सदा नश्वर है, जो निष्कपट एवं शान्त मन से निरन्तर नित्य ब्रह्म का मनन करता है, जो संवित्स्वरूप अग्नि में भूत और भावी पापों को भस्म कर देता है, और अपने शरीर को प्रारब्ध के लिए समर्पित कर चुका है — कि उसका शरीर इस प्रकार समर्पित है, यही मेरी मनीषा है।
යා තිර්යඞ්නරදේවතාභිරහමිත්යන්තඃ ස්ඵුටා ගෘහ්යතේ යද්භාසා හෘදයාක්ෂදේහවිෂයා භාන්ති ස්වතෝ(අ)චේතනාඃ . තාං භාස්යෛඃ පිහිතාර්කමණ්ඩලනිභාං ස්ඵූර්තිං සදා භාවයන් යෝගී නිර්වෘතමානසෝ හි ගුරුරිත්යේෂා මනීෂා මම .. 4..
yā tiryaṅnaradevatābhirahamityantaḥ sphuṭā gṛhyate yadbhāsā hṛdayākṣadehaviṣayā bhānti svato'cetanāḥ | tāṃ bhāsyaiḥ pihitārkamaṇḍalanibhāṃ sphūrtiṃ sadā bhāvayan yogī nirvṛtamānaso hi gururityeṣā manīṣā mama || 4||
Meaning:जो चेतना पशु, मनुष्य और देवताओं द्वारा भीतर 'मैं' रूप में स्पष्ट रूप से ग्रहण की जाती है, जिसके प्रकाश से स्वतः जड़ हृदय, इन्द्रियाँ, देह और विषय प्रकाशित प्रतीत होते हैं — मेघ से ढके सूर्यमण्डल के समान उस स्फुरण का सदा ध्यान करता हुआ, जिसका मन परम शान्ति को प्राप्त है, वह योगी ही गुरु है; यही मेरी मनीषा है।
යත්සෞඛ්යාම්බුධිලේශලේශත ඉමේ ශක්රාදයෝ නිර්වෘතාඃ යච්චිත්තේ නිතරාං ප්රශාන්තකලනේ ලබ්ධ්වා මුනිර්නිර්වෘතඃ . යස්මින්නිත්යසුඛාම්බුධෞ ගලිතධීර්බ්රහ්මෛව න බ්රහ්මවිද් යඃ කශ්චිත්ස සුරේන්ද්රවන්දිතපදෝ නූනං මනීෂා මම .. 5..
yatsaukhyāmbudhileśaleśata ime śakrādayo nirvṛtāḥ yaccitte nitarāṃ praśāntakalane labdhvā munirnirvṛtaḥ | yasminnityasukhāmbudhau galitadhīrbrahmaiva na brahmavid yaḥ kaścitsa surendravanditapado nūnaṃ manīṣā mama || 5||
Meaning:जिसके आनन्द-सागर के लेश के भी लेश से इन्द्र आदि देवता तृप्त रहते हैं; जिसे अत्यन्त प्रशान्त चित्त में पाकर मुनि कृतार्थ हो जाता है; जिस नित्य आनन्द-सागर में बुद्धि गल जाने पर मनुष्य ब्रह्म ही हो जाता है, न कि केवल ब्रह्म का ज्ञाता — वह जो कोई भी हो, उसके चरण देवराज इन्द्र से वन्दित हैं; यही मेरी मनीषा है।
Word-by-Word Meaning
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Benefits of Chanting मनीषा पञ्चकम्
Distils the core of Advaita Vedanta — the one Self in all beings — in five verses
Composed by Adi Shankaracharya himself, the foremost teacher of non-duality
Teaches that true greatness lies in Self-knowledge, not in birth or caste
A powerful aid for contemplation (manana) on the nature of the witnessing Consciousness
Cultivates equal vision (sama-drishti) and humility before the wise wherever they are found
Burns away the sense of doership and reinforces surrender of the body to prarabdha
Inspires the seeker toward jivanmukti — liberation while still living
How to Chant मनीषा पञ्चकम्
This is primarily a hymn for contemplation rather than rapid repetition. Sit quietly, recite the five verses slowly, and pause after each to reflect on its meaning — especially the witnessing Consciousness present in all beings and the refrain 'he is my Guru, this is my conviction.' It is well suited to study under or alongside a teacher, and may be read daily as part of Vedanta sadhana to deepen Self-enquiry.
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