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Talk and meditation on Shivananda Lahiri Verse 01

kalā bhyā ṁ  cūḍālaṅkṛta-śaśi-kalā bhyāṁ nija-tapaḥ -
phalābhyāṁbhakteṣu prakaṭita-phalābhyāṁ
bhavatu me ।
śivābhyām astoka-tribhuvana-śivā bhyāṁ hṛdi punar-
bhavābhyām ānanda-sphurad-anubhavābhyāṁ natiriyam ॥

Simple Meaning
“My salutations are always to that divine couple —
Śiva and Śivā —
• who are adorned with the crescent moon,
• who are themselves the fruit of their own
austerities,
• who openly bestow the fruits of devotion upon
their devotees,
• who are the very source of auspiciousness for the
three worlds,
• who are born again and again in the devotee’s
heart,
• and whose experience shines forth as pure bliss.”

Talk and meditation on Shivananda Lahiri Verse 43

mā gaccha tvam itas-tato giriśa bho! mayyeva vāsaṃ kuru
svāminn ādikirāta māmaka-manaḥ-kāntāra-sīmāntare ।
vartante bahuśo mṛgā mada-juṣo mātsarya-mohādayaḥ
tān hatvā mṛgayā-vinoda-rucita-lābhaṃ ca samprāpsyasi ॥

Simple Meaning
“O Lord Girīśa (Śiva)! Do not wander here and there — dwell within me alone. O Primordial Hunter (Ādi-Kirāta), in the dense forest of my heart dwell many wild beasts — pride, envy, delusion, and the like. If You, as the hunter, slay them, You will
obtain the true joy and reward of the hunt."

Talk and meditation on Shivananda Lahiri Verse 29

tvat-pādāmbujam arcayāmi paramam tvāṁ cintayāmi anvahaṁ
tvāṁ īśaṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajāmi vacasā tvām eva yāce vibho
vikṣāṁ me diśa cākṣuṣīṁ sakaruṇāṃ divyaiściraṁ prārthitāṁ
saṃbho lōka-guro madīya-mānasaḥ saukhyōpādēśaṁ kuru

“O Lord Sambhu (Śiva), I worship Your divine lotus feet. I meditate on You constantly, I surrender to You alone. By my words I plead to You, O  Lord, to bestow upon me, that merciful glance of Thy looks, so eagerly awaited by the Divinities and impart to my mind the instruction that confers Bliss.”

Talk and meditation on Shivananda Lahiri Verse 13

asāre saṁsāre nija-bhajana-dūre jaḍa-dhiyā
bhramantaṁ mām andhaṁ parama-kṛpayā pātum ucitam ।
madan-yaḥ ko dīna-stava kṛpaṇa-rakṣāti-nipuṇaḥ
tvad-anyaḥ ko vā me trijagati śaraṇyaḥ paśupate ॥ 13 ॥

“O Paśupati (Lord Śiva)! In this insubstantial, rootless world, with my dull intellect I have wandered, blind and far away from devotion to You. It is fitting that, out of Your supreme compassion, You protect me. Where is the person more miserable than I?  Who other than You is skilled in protecting the poor, the distressed and helpless? In all the three worlds, who else but You can be my refuge?”

Talk and meditation on Kashika Stotram Verse 5

kāśī-kṣetraṃ śarīraṃ tri-bhuvana-jananī vyāpinī jñāna-gaṅgā
bhaktiḥ śraddhā gaye’yaṃ nija-guru-caraṇa-dhyāna-yogaḥ prayāgaḥ |
viśveśo’yaṃ turīyaḥ sakala-jana-manaḥ-sākṣibhūto’ntarātmā
dehe sarvaṃ madīye yadi vasati punas tīrtham anyat kim asti || 5 ||

This body is the sacred field of Kāśī; the all-pervading stream of knowledge is the Gaṅgā, the Mother of the three worlds. Devotion and faith are the holy place of Gaya; the yoga of meditation on the feet of one’s Guru is the Prayāga. The Lord of
the Universe is the Fourth (Turīya) state — the Inner Self, the Witness of the minds of all beings. If all these dwell within my own body, what other place of pilgrimage can there be?

Talk and meditation on Kashika Stotram Verse 4

kā śyā ṃ hi kā śyate kā śı̄
kā śı̄ sarva-prakā śikā |
sā kā śı̄ viditā yena
tena prā ptā hi kā śikā || 4 ||

In Kāśī, indeed, shines the Effulgent Kāśī (the Self) who is the one that brings everything in the universe to light! He who has known that Kāśī has indeed attained Kāśī — that is, attained salvation.

Talk and meditation on Kashika Stotram Verse 3

koṣeṣu pañcasv adhirājamānā
buddhir bhavānī prati deha-geham |
sākṣī śivaḥ sarvagato’ntarātmā
sā kāśikāhaṃ nija-bodha-rūpā || 3 ||

Whose sovereignty extends over the five sheaths (kośas), where the intellect (buddhi) is Bhavānī, residing in every bodily abode, and where the all-pervading Inner Self — the Witness — is Śiva. I am that Kāśikā, of the form of Pure Consciousness, the Self.

Talk and meditation on Kashika Stotram Verse 2

yasyām idaṃ kalpitam indra-jālaṃ
carācaraṃ bhāti mano-vilāsam |
sat-cit-sukhaikā paramātma-rūpā
sā kāśikāhaṃ nija-bodha-rūpā || 2 ||

That Paramātma — the one Reality of Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss — upon which is superimposed this magic illusion (of creation), and in which the universe of moving and unmoving objects appears as the playful creation of the mind — I
am that Kāśikā, of the form of Pure Consciousness, the Self.

Talk and meditation on Kashika Stotram Verse 1 

manojña-vṛttiḥ paramopaśāntiḥ
sā tīrthavaryā maṇikarṇikā ca |
jñāna-pravāhā vimalādi-gaṅgā
sā kāśikāhaṃ nija-bodha-rūpā || 1 ||


This opening verse distills the essence of inner pilgrimage to Kashi, from an Advaitic viewpoint:
• मनोज्ञवृत्तिः परमोपशान्तिः — When the mind’s activities (vṛtti) become serene, attractive (manojña), and ultimately stilled in supreme peace (parama-upaśānti), one experiences the true sanctity.
• सा तीर्थवर्या मणिकर्णिका च — That inner stillness is the greatest of holy places (tīrtha-varyā), the Manikarnika within. In Vārāṇasī, Manikarnika is the cremation ghat where liberation is promised. In the yogic sense, it is the place within where the ego and ignorance are cremated.
• ज्ञानप्रवाहा विमलादिगङ्गा — The ever-flowing current of pure knowledge (jñāna-pravāha) is the spotless, Primeval Gaṅgā (vimalādi-gaṅgā). This is not the physical river, but the unbroken awareness of the Self.
• सा काशिकाहं निजबोधरूपा — That Kāśikā, the city of inner light, is none other than I myself, whose true nature is Consciousness (nija-bodha-rūpā).

Adi Śaṅkara thus identifies the real Kāśī as a state of Consciousness — the luminous awareness untouched by body, mind, or world.