Sun Rises, Darkness Vanishes

Sri Ramana Maharshi

31-3-1945 Afternoon

When I entered the hall the story of how Ashtavakra Gita came to be taught was being recounted in English. After the story was read out, Bhagavan said, "Because brahma jAnam is not something external, which is somewhere far away where you can go and get it, you cannot say that it will take so long or short a time to attain it. It is always with you. You are That! The story of Ashtavakra Gita is intended to teach that for getting brahma jnAnam all that is necessary is to surrender yourself completely to the guru, to surrender your notion of 'I' and 'mine'. If these are surrendered, what remains is the Reality. Then, it becomes impossible to state what further time it would take to attain brahma jnAnam. It would be wrong to state that it takes as much time as a man would require to put his other foot into the second stirrup after having placed one foot in the first stirrup. The moment when ego is completely surrendered, the Self shines."

Proceeding, Bhagavan quoted the last two lines of the following stanza from Yoga Vasishtha:

Unless the cloud of the "I" or "ego-sense" which covers the moon of the Divine consciousness (chidakasa) is removed, the lily of the heart which knows nothing of the sense of "I" (ahamkar) will not open out in full bloom.

Bhagavan also added, "We have to contend against age-long samskArAs. They will all go. Only they go comparatively soon in the case of those who have already made sAdhanA in the past, and late in the case of the others." In this connection I asked, "Do these samskArAs go gradually or will they suddenly disappear  one day? I ask this because though I have remained fairly long here I do not perceive any gradual change in me." Bhagavan asked, "When the sun rises, does the darkness go gradually or all at once?"