Sri Maharshi's Way Upadesha Saram A Translation and Commentary

One of the foremost devotees of Sri Bhagavan and a great Tamil poet, Sri Muruganar, while writing his epic Tiruvundiyar, came to the point where Lord Siva, after vanquishing the rishis of the Daruka forest and accepting their surrender taught the rishis the central core of Vedanta. He did not proceed further. He besought Sri Bhagavan who was Siva incarnate, to compose in verse form the teaching Lord Siva gave the rishis.

Sri Bhagavan then composed twenty-nine verses the Upadesa Undiyar in Tamil. The last verse was composed by Sri Muruganar. Sri Bhagavan later translated this poem into Sanskrit as Upadesa Saram and also into Telugu and Malayalam.

This poem details the various methods of spiritual practices that are available to the seeker and explains their relative merits. The Maharshi emphasizes that Self-enquiry encompasses action, devotion, and knowledge and leads the seeker surely and directly to Self-realisation. This is the Maharshi’s way.

The Sanskrit poem in the lilting Suprathishta meter is chanted before dusk at the Samadhi shrine of Sri Bhagavan along with the Vedas.