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...

एतावुपाधी परजीवयोस्तयोः
सम्यङ्निरासे न परो न जीवः ।
राज्यं नरेन्द्रस्य भटस्य खेटक्
तयोरपोहे न भटो न राजा ॥ २४४ ॥

etāvupādhī parajīvayostayoḥ
samyaṅnirāse na paro na jīvaḥ |
rājyaṃ narendrasya bhaṭasya kheṭak
tayorapohe na bhaṭo na rājā || 244 ||

244. These two are the superimpositions of Ishwara and the Jiva respectively, and when these are perfectly eliminated, there is neither Ishwara nor Jiva. A kingdom is the symbol of a king, and a shield of the soldier, and when these are taken away, there is neither king nor soldier.

 

Notes:

[Neither king nor soldier—he is only a man then. Similarly, if we lake away the omniscience omnipotence etc. from Isvara, and deficiencies of knowledge and power etc. from the Jiva, only Brahman remains as the substance of both. ]

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