Vivekachudamani
by Shankara | 1921 | 49,785 words | ISBN-13: 9788175051065
The Vivekachudamani is a collection of poetical couplets authored by Shankara around the eighth century. The philosophical school this compilation attempts to expose is called ‘Advaita Vedanta’, or non-dualism, one of the classical orthodox philosophies of Hinduism. The book teaches Viveka: discrimination between the real and the unreal. Shankara d...
Verse 160
देहोऽहमित्येव जडस्य बुद्धिः
देहे च जीवे विदुषस्त्वहंधीः ।
विवेकविज्ञानवतो महात्मनो
ब्रह्माहमित्येव मतिः सदात्मनि ॥ १६0 ॥deho'hamityeva jaḍasya buddhiḥ
dehe ca jīve viduṣastvahaṃdhīḥ |
vivekavijñānavato mahātmano
brahmāhamityeva matiḥ sadātmani || 160 ||160. The stupid man thinks he is the body, the book-learned man identifies himself with the mixture of body and soul, while the sage possessed of realisation due to discrimination looks upon the eternal Ātman as his Self, and thinks, "I am Brahman".
Notes:
[Three classes of people are distinguished in this Sloka, of whom the Advaitist is of course given the highest place.
Mixture of body and soul—The average man thinks he is both body and soul acting in unison.]