Nirvana Shatakam - Verse 5



न मे मृत्युर्शंका न मे जातिभेद: पिता नैव माता नैव न जन्म:
न बन्धुर् न मित्रं गुरुर्नैव शिष्य: चिदानन्द रूप: शिवोऽहम् शिवॊऽहम्

Literal Translation

I am not bound by Death, nor by restrictions of caste and it's ensuing distinctions,
I do not have a Father neither do I have a Mother,
I do not have relations or friends, neither a teacher nor a student,
I am pure bliss and consciousness. 

This verse continues to explain the state of an Atman. The Atman, has gone beyond death and attained salvation ~  freedom from the cycle of samsara. There is no reason, in such a state, to fear Death - either the approach of it or what lies beyond. similarly, the distinctions that Caste raises do not adhere to the state of the Atman - these are all societal obligations and restrictions that are of no use anymore, these are boundaries, the one does not have to be enclosed or respect once enlightened.

In this state of being, the Atman is alone, it does not have the need to attach his/her emotions or existence to any other human or worldly relation - that of a Father, Mother, relations, friends, teacher or student. He/She has not be birthed by a mother or raised by parents and is free from the threads of karma that binds people together in this world. 

Continuing the essence of the last post where the Atman is not identified as an object or subject and raises above those dualities, similarly here too he/she does not need to be identified as related to anyone. In fact, even the duality of being a teacher or a student does not apply to him/her. I quite like this teacher-student part because i put my own twist on this particular part of the verse to mean that to live with humility to to live with the attitude of neither a teacher nor a student. In this particular scenario, I take the teacher to mean a very learned spiritual Guru, who can guide a student/ disciple. By not acting like a teacher you're not acting as though you are an expert in the subject, but you're continuing to learn and be a student. And by not acting always like a student, you are acknowledging that part of you that has something to teach others - which is true for every human being. So at any given point, you are at once, both a teacher and a student but also neither one. 

And of course, the last line speaks about the quality of this being that is like Shiva, symbolizing Consciousness ~ pure and blissful.

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