Namaste,

I am delighted to present a new edition of this marvellous song in a web app format. Most of it was rewritten and is now available in Hindi also.

I take from many sources, many teachers, and this interpretation of this great text is only a humble attempt to convey my own understanding of it. I apologize in advance of any mistakes I made.

Format is like this - the original Sanskrit verse is followed by an interpretation and any additional comments follow afterwards.

Since, it is a song, there are some repetitions. Often the same line repeats in every verse. Often the same ideas and descriptions are repeated all over. I think it was necessary to do that in order to make its memorization easy. A format of song and repetitive poetry makes it easy to commit to the memory, however, it does not make any difference regarding its understanding, which comes from direct experiences to which the verses point to. I have kept some repeating sentences as it is, not because they aid in understanding but just to mimic the style of the original text.

The original text is very humble in style of writing. It seems that it was written for a common man. Taking the inspiration from it, I have used simple words and contemporary language, instead of making it flowery and cryptic.

I urge the readers to not to merely recite it or listen to it, but also to sit back peacefully and contemplate on every verse. Find out why Dattatreya is saying what he is saying. A careful reading and introspection on it will bring about the needed experiences and knowledge.

I am grateful to all the teachers because of whom this knowledge has been revealed to all.

And finally I am thankful to Sonam for rendering it beautifully and accurately in her own voice.

Tarun Pradhaan
November 2021, Pune, India

Below are some of the Sanskrit words that appear very frequently in this text, with their interpreted meanings.

आत्मन्	Atman	The Self, the emptiness which is the ground of all experiences, the experiencer, the essence of I, the subject, receiver of all experiences. As mentioned in Advaita Vedanta.
शिवम्	Shivam	Same as Atman. As mentioned in Shaivism.
पुरुष	Purusha	Same as Atman. As mentioned in Samkhya.
ब्रह्मन्	Brahman	The totality, All-that-is, everything taken together as oneness, the experiencer and the experienced merged together, Presence. All that which exists, known, unknown and unknowable.
ईश्वर	Ishvara	Universal mind/memory, a collection of all the worlds and all minds, the creator plus the creation. The manifested existence. All that which can be experienced. As mentioned in Vedanta. Devi in Tantra and Shakti in Shaivism.
शक्ति	Shakti	Same as Ishvara, the energy that creates and manifests. As mentioned in Shaivism.
प्रकृति	Prakriti	Same as Ishvara, Mother Nature, the creation. As mentioned in Samkhya.
चित्त	Chitta	A layered memory structure, Mind, a bundle of memories and processes, that where the knowledge as well as ignorance resides as a memory or an impression.
जीव	Jeev	Part of the mind that is attached to a physical body and believes itself as being born and dying repeatedly.
मन	Mana or Manas	The part of the mind that thinks. Ability to contemplate.
बुद्धि	Buddhi	The part of the mind that reasons, intelligence, intellect. Ability to conclude logically, gain knowledge, has ethical, aesthetical sense and enables arts and sciences.
इन्द्रिय	Indriya	Senses, parts of the mind that interface with worlds and are a medium for its knowledge.
तत्त्व	Tattva	The essence, truth, substance, reality. That which never changes.
निरंतर	Nirantar	Continuous, eternal, that which goes on and on without end or any beginning.
निराकारः	Niraakar	Formless.
निरञ्जनः	Niranjan	Spotlessly clean, having no impurity.
निर्मलः	Nirmal	Free from impurities.
शुद्धः	Shudhha	Pure, same as Nirmal or Niranjan. These qualities can be assigned to the Atman, however, Atman has no qualities, these words simply point to the absence of content, emptiness that it is.

Avadhut Geeta in PDF Format