- Viveka Chudamani
The Viveka Chudamani, literally "The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom" is a famous work by
Adi Shankara that expoundsadvaita vedanta philosophy. Having written commentaries to theUpanishads ,Bhagavad Gita andBrahma Sutras Adi Shankara composed many sub-texts in simpleSanskrit , called Prakarana Granthas, with the objective of reaching the message of theVedas andUpanishads to laypersons. The Viveka Chudamani, as the name implies, is the crown jewel of such texts.tructure
Viveka Chudamani consists of 580 verses in
Sanskrit , but unlike other scriptures, it is not divided into chapters and sections. It has the form of dialogue between the master and the disciple, where the master explains to the disciple the nature of the Atman and the ways to research and know the Atman.The book takes the disciple on a step by step instructions to reachBrahman .Contents
The text begins with Adi Shankara's prayer to his guru Sri
Govinda Bhagavatpada . It then expounds the significance of Self Realisation, ways to reach it, and the characteristics of aGuru . It criticizes attachment to the body and goes to explain the variousSareeras ,Kosas ,Gunas ,Senses andPranas . It teaches the disciple the ways to attain Self realisation, methods ofmeditation (dhyana) and introspection of the Atman.It concludes with the denial of
Pluralism and the description of state of Self Realisation.Commentaries
The former
Shankaracharya ofSringeri Sri Chandrasekhara Bharathi has written aBhashya or commentary on this work. There is also a translation of this work by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, Shankara's Crest-jewel of Discrimination, with A Garland of Questions and Answers, Vedanta Press, California. Also there is a good translation by Swami Madhavananda (published by Advaita Ashram, Kolkata) in plain English.Swami Chinmayananda wrote an excellent commentary in English. He also gave exhaustive lectures on the text, which are available on DVD through the Chinmaya Mission.External links
* [http://www.bharatadesam.com/spiritual/vivekachudamani1.php Vivekachudami - Swami Madhavananda's Translation]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
