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...

अत्रैव सत्त्वात्मनि धीगुहायां
अव्याकृताकाश उशत्प्रकाशः ।
आकाश उच्चै रविवत्प्रकाशते
स्वतेजसा विश्वमिदं प्रकाशयन् ॥ १३२ ॥

atraiva sattvātmani dhīguhāyāṃ
avyākṛtākāśa uśatprakāśaḥ |
ākāśa uccai ravivatprakāśate
svatejasā viśvamidaṃ prakāśayan || 132 ||

132. In this very body, in the mind full of Sattva, in the secret chamber of the intellect, in the Akasha known as the Unmanifested, the Ātman, of charming splendour, shines like the sun aloft, manifesting this universe through Its own effulgence.

 

Notes:

[This Sloka gives the hint where to look in for the Atman. First of all there is the gross body; within this there is the mind or “inner organ,” of which Buddhi or intelligence, characterised by determination, is the most developed form; within Buddhi again, pervading it, is the causal body known as the Unmanifested. We must seek the Atman inside this. The idea is that

Atman transcends all the three bodies—in fact the whole sphere of duality and materiality. The word ‘Akasa’ often occurs in the Sruti in the sense of Atman or Brahman. The Vedanta Sutras (I. i. 22) discuss this question and decide in favour of this meaning.]

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