The ''Vivekachudamani'' (;
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...
: ) is an introductory treatise within the
Advaita Vedanta
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hinduism, Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the Āstika and nāstika, orthodox Hindu school Ved ...
tradition of
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
, traditionally attributed to
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shanka ...
of the eighth century,
though this attribution has been questioned and mostly rejected by scholarship.
It is in the form of a poem in the ''Shardula Vikridita'' metre, and for many centuries has been celebrated as a (teaching manual) of Advaita.
''Vivekachudamani'' literally means the 'crest-jewel of discrimination'. The text discusses key concepts and the ''viveka
''Viveka'' ( sa, विवेक, viveka) is a Sanskrit and Pali term translated into English as discernment or discrimination. Viveka is considered as first requirement for the spiritual journey. The next requirement in the joureny in Vedanta, ...
'' or discrimination or discernment between real (unchanging, eternal) and unreal (changing, temporal), Prakriti and Atman Atman or Ātman may refer to:
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, the oneness of Atman and Brahman
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...
, and self-knowledge as the central task of the spiritual life and for Moksha
''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriology, ...
.[Sri Sankara’s Vivekachudamani](_blank)
Achyarya Pranipata Chaitanya (Translator) and Satinder Dhiman, Tiruchengode Chinmaya Mission, Tamil Nadu (2011) It expounds the Advaita Vedanta
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hinduism, Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the Āstika and nāstika, orthodox Hindu school Ved ...
philosophy in the form of a self-teaching manual, with many verses in the form of a dialogue between a student and a spiritual teacher.
Through the centuries, the ''Vivekachudamani'' has been translated into several languages and has been the topic of many commentaries and expositions.
Author
The authorship of the ''Vivekachudamani'' has been questioned. According to Reza Shah-Kazemi the authorship of Shankara is doubtful, though it is "so closely interwoven into the spiritual heritage of Shankara that any analysis of his perspective which fails to consider his work
His or HIS may refer to:
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* Hangzhou International School, in ...
would be incomplete". According to Michael Comans, a scholar of Advaita Vedanta, though the Hindu tradition popularly believes that Adi Shankara authored the ''Vivekachudamani'', this is "most probably erroneous". Comans gives the following reasons for his doubts: the highly poetic style of the ''Vivekachudamani'' is not found in other genuine works of Adi Shankara; there is a lack of extensive commentaries (''bhasya Bhashya () is a "commentary" or "exposition" of any primary or secondary text in ancient or medieval Indian literature. Common in Sanskrit literature, ''Bhashya'' is also found in other Indian languages. Bhashya are found in various fields, ranging ...
'') on the ''Vivekachudamani'' which is unusual given the extensive commentaries on his other works; and unlike Shankara's other genuine works which give minimal importance to ''samadhi
''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...
'' practices, the ''Vivekachudamani'' gives special importance to it. Though the ''Vivekachudamani'' is a popular manual on Vedanta, it is probably the work of a later Shankara, and not Adi Shankara, states Comans. Yet another theory, states Berger, is that "rather than simply having been written or not written by diSankara, the Crown Jewel of Discrimination may be a corporately authored work f Advaita monasteriesthat went through revisions".
According to Natalia Isayeva, a scholar of Advaita Vedanta, it is "far less probable" that Adi Shankara authored the ''Vivekachudamani''. Sengaku Mayeda, another scholar of Indian Philosophy and Advaita Vedanta, states that though widely accepted as Shankara's work, the ''Vivekachudamani'' is likely not his work.
Paul Hacker, an Indologist and scholar of Advaita, set out a methodology for ascertaining authorship of Advaita texts and he concluded that though the ''Vivekachudmani'' is unusual in parts, it was likely authored by Adi Shankara. Hacker stated that the definitions of the key concepts, premises and ideas found in the ''Vivekachudmani'' match with those in Shankara's established authentic works. Daniel H. H. Ingalls Sr., another influential Indologist, rejected Hacker's conclusion by accepting Hacker's methodology and presenting evidence from its manuscripts that some of the ideas in the text do not fully agree with those of Adi Shankara.
According to John Grimes, a professor of Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
and Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
known for his translation of the ''Vivekachudamani'', "modern scholars tend to reject that Adi Shankara composed Vivekachudamani, while traditionalists tend to accept it", and there is an unending "arguments and counter-arguments" about its authorship. Grimes states that his work strengthens the case that "there is still a likelihood that Śaṅkara is the author of the ," noting that "a strong case can be made that the is a genuine work of Sankara's and that it differs in certain respects from his other works in that it addresses itself to a different audience and has a different emphasis and purpose."
Irrespective of the attribution, the ''Vivekachudmani'' is a significant work of Advaita''.'' According to Swami Dayananda Saraswati, a Vedanta
''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...
teacher, "I do not think we lose anything even if the authorship is attributed to any other Sankaracharya
Shankaracharya ( sa, शङ्कराचार्य, , " Shankara-''acharya''") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi Shankara; te ...
of one of the various Sankara-mathas."
Manuscripts
Many historic manuscripts of the ''Vivekachudamani'' have been found in different monasteries of Advaita Vedanta. These have minor variations, and a critical edition of these has not been published yet. The earliest original Sanskrit manuscript of the ''Vivekachudamani'' was published from Srirangam (Tamil Nadu) by T.K. Balasubramania Iyer in 1910. This edition has attracted much of 20th- and 21st-century scholarship, and has been republished in 1983 after some revision and re-arrangement to reflect studies on it since 1910. Other editions have been the basis of a few Indian translations. The five most referred to manuscripts in Advaita scholarship have been published by Samata (Chennai), Advaita Ashrama (Kolkata), Sri Ramakrishna Math (Chennai), Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Mumbai), Chinmayananda Ashrama (Mumbai).
Contents
The ''Vivekachudamani'' consists of 580 verses in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
. These cover a range of spiritual topics and their answers according to the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism.
The text begins with salutations to Govinda
Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...
, which can be interpreted either as referring to God or to his guru Sri Govinda Bhagavatpada
Govinda Bhagavatpada (IAST ) was the Guru of the Adi Shankara. Little is known of his life and works, except that he is mentioned in all the traditional accounts ( Shankara Vijayams) as the teacher of Adi Shankara. He was the disciple of Gaudapad ...
. It then expounds the significance of Self Realisation, ways to reach it, and the characteristics of a Guru
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...
. It criticizes attachment to the body and goes to explain the various Sareeras, Kosas
A ''kosha'' (also ''kosa''; Sanskrit कोश, IAST: ), usually rendered "sheath", is a covering of the '' Atman'', or Self according to Vedantic philosophy. There are five ''koshas'' (Panchakoshas; ; the five sheaths), and they are often v ...
, Gunas, Senses
A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the world through the detection of stimuli. (For example, in the human body, the brain which is part of the central nervous system rec ...
and Pranas
In yoga, ayurveda, Indian medicine and Indian martial arts, prana ( sa2, wikt:प्राण, प्राण, ; the Sanskrit word for breath, "Energy (esotericism), life force", or "vital principle") permeates reality on all levels including in ...
which constitute the Anatman. It teaches the disciple the ways to attain Self-realisation, methods of meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
(dhyana) and introspection of the Atman. The'' Vivekachudamani'' describes the characteristics of an enlightened human being (''Jivanmukta'') and a person of steady wisdom (''Sthitaprajna'') on the lines of Bhagavad Gita.
Significance
The ''Vivekachudmani'' has been celebrated for centuries as a lucid introductory treatise to Advaita Vedanta
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hinduism, Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the Āstika and nāstika, orthodox Hindu school Ved ...
. It is, states Berger, not a "philosophical or polemical" text. It is primarily a pedagogical treatise, as an aid to an Advaitin's spiritual journey to liberation rather than "philosophy for the sake of philosophy". It is one of the texts of "spiritual sustenance" in the Advaita tradition.
The ''Vivekachudmani'' is one of several historic teaching manuals in the Advaita tradition, one of its most popular. Other texts that illustrate Advaita ideas in a manner broadly similar to the ''Vivekachudmani'' but are neither as comprehensive nor same, include ''Ekasloki'', ''Svatmaprakasika'', ''Manisapancaka'', ''Nirvanamanjari'', ''Tattvopadesa'', ''Prasnottararatnamalika'', ''Svatmanirupana'', ''Prabodhasudhakara'' and ''Jivanmuktanandalahari''. These texts are not attributed to Adi Shankara. ''Upadesasahasri
''Upadesasahasri'' (''Upadeśasāhasri''), which literally means "a thousand teachings", is an 8th-century CE Sanskrit text of Adi Shankara. Considered a Prakaraṇa grantha, the ''Upadesasahasri'' is considered among Shankara's most important ...
'', another Advaita teaching manual, is attributed to Adi Shankara.
Commentaries and translations
There are two Sanskrit commentaries on this work. Sri Sacchidananda Shivabhinava Nrusimha Bharati
Dakṣināmnāya Śrī Śāradā Pītham or Śri Śringeri Maṭha (, ; sa, मठ, ) is one amongst the four cardinal pīthams following the Daśanāmi Sampradaya - the ''peetham'' or ''matha'' is said to have been established by acharya ...
, the pontiff of Sringeri
Sringeri (IAST: Śṛngēri) also called Shringeri is a hill town and Taluk headquarters located in Chikkamagaluru district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the site of the first maṭha ( Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sharada Peetham) establi ...
, wrote a commentary titled ''Vivekodaya'' (Dawn of Discrimination) on the first seven verses of this work. His disciple, Sri Chandrasekhara Bharathi, has written a Vyakhya or commentary
Commentary or commentaries may refer to:
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on the first 515 verses of this work.
This work has been repeatedly translated into various languages, often accompanied by a commentary in the same language. English translations and commentaries include those by Swami Prabhavananda
Swami Prabhavananda (December 26, 1893 – July 4, 1976) was an Indian philosopher, monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and religious teacher. He moved to America in 1923 to take up the role of assistant minister in the San Francisco Vedanta Society. ...
and Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...
, Swami Madhavananda, Swami Turiyananda and Swami Chinmayananda. Tamil
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**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
translations and commentaries include those by Ramana Maharshi
Ramana Maharshi (; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
He was born in Tiruchuli, Ta ...
. Swami Jyotihswarupananda has translated the ''Vivekachudamani'' into Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
.
A recent scholarly translation of the text was published in 2004 by John Grimes – a professor of Hinduism and Buddhism. His translation has been reviewed by Douglas Berger, who states, "the 'Vivekachudmani''translation itself is a testament to Grimes’ surpassing Sanskrit skills and thorough knowledge of Vedantic textual exegesis. The unusually lucid presentation of the Sanskrit slokas is rendered with exactness and eloquent clarity in the English. The accompanying Upanisadic cross-referencing and Sanskrit-English lexicon of key terms will prove themselves enormously helpful to lay readers, students, and scholars."
Hundreds of commentaries in several languages are available on internet in the form of blog articles, videos etc.
Famous verses
*
Translation: "Brahman is the only truth, the world is illusory, and there is ultimately no difference between Brahman and individual self." While this verse is frequently attributed to the ''Vivekachudamani'', in fact it comes from Verse 20 of the ''Brahma Jnana Vali Mala''.
* ()
Translation: "By reflection, reasoning and instructions of teachers, the truth is known,
Not by ablutions, not by making donations, nor by performing hundreds of breath control exercises."[See:
*D. Datta (1888), Moksha, or the Vedántic Release, ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland'', New Series, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Oct., 1888), pp. 513-539;
*Madhavananda’]
translation of ''Vivekachudamani''
published in 1921, Himalayan Series 43
See also
* Viprata
Notes
References
Sources
*
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Further reading
*
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External links
''Vivekachudamani'' – Multiple Translations (Johnston, Chatterji, Madhavananda)
Complete audio with eng meaning – Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Translated by Swami Madhavananda, online ebook
Translated by Charles Johnston
{{Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit texts
Advaita Vedanta
Sanskrit poetry
8th-century works
Adi Shankara
Hindu texts
Advaita Vedanta texts