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...

मोक्षस्य हेतुः प्रथमो निगद्यते
वैराग्यमत्यन्तमनित्यवस्तुषु ।
ततः शमश्चापि दमस्तितिक्षा
न्यासः प्रसक्ताखिलकर्मणां भृशम् ॥ ६९ ॥

mokṣasya hetuḥ prathamo nigadyate
vairāgyamatyantamanityavastuṣu |
tataḥ śamaścāpi damastitikṣā
nyāsaḥ prasaktākhilakarmaṇāṃ bhṛśam || 69 ||

69. The first step to Liberation is the extreme aversion to all perishable things, then follow calmness, self-control, forbearance, and the utter relinquishment of all work enjoined in the Scriptures.

 

Notes:

[Aversion, calmness etc.—These four have been defined in Slokas 20—24. Cf. Sruti—“śānto dānta uparatastitikṣuḥ ।”

All work: all work done with motive, including the good ones prescribed in the Shastras and those that are evil—which men do prompted by their own nature.]

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