Paramaamrita - Pointers to Self Realization

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Some eight centuries ago Sage Mukundraj wrote a spiritual classic titled Paramaamrita in Marathi. It was a rare gem. Its 323 pithy verses, written in the traditional Ovi format, were direct pointers to Reality.

In fact, towards the end of his work, the confident sage avers that "the one who has accepted and practiced what has been said herein will return to his true Being."

However, for reasons best known to Existence, Paramaamrita remained almost unknown except to a few ardent seekers familiar with Marathi. We owe an immense debt of gratitude to Ramesh Balsekar for making the lucid English translation available to a wider audience.

Not much is known about Sage Mukundraj (around 1128-1200 CE). What is known is this: he was an Advaitin master belonging to the Nath sampradaya (sect). He is also widely acknowledged as the first Marathi poet and hailed as Aadya Kavi Mukundraj (In Marathi, aadya means 'first', and kavi means 'poet').

Scholars do not have unanimity about the place where Mukundraj mostly lived. They believe he was probably born at Pauni in Bhandara district of Maharashtra state. His Samadhi (roughly translated, the eternal resting place of a sage) is to be found at Ambajogai in the Beed district in the Marathawada region of Maharashtra.

Sage Mukundraj wrote two acclaimed spiritual works in Marathi, in the traditional Ovi verse form: Vivek Sindhu (around 1188 CE) and Paramaamrita.

Ramesh Balsekar's daughter Jaya remembers seeing about 30 years ago, the medium-sized diary with a brown plastic cover. Her father had copied the Marathi Paramaamrita on the right. When Jaya read this she liked it so much that her father had it photocopied and gave it to her as a bound volume.

He told her that Shri Mukundral had patronage in the court of a Maratha chieftain. When he asked him how he had come across this gem, he said it had been recommended by Shri Vithalrao Jashi – his first guru.

In Rameshji's translation of Paramaamrita, one can discern sign of his deep understanding and his lucid style.

The handwritten manuscript lay with Jaya for all these years. It was only when the publication of a slim, unpublished manuscript of Rameshji titled The Essence of Vivekchudamani was held back, because some words in the manuscript were illegible, that Jaya suddenly remembered the treasured manuscript lying with her. It was then decided to publish Paramaamrita instead, to commemorate Ramesh Balsekar's birth centenary on May 25, 2017.