Atma Bodha By Adi Sankaracharya,

Atma Bodha
By Adi Sankaracharya,  Translated by Swami Chinmayananda
Published by Chinmaya Mission, Mumbai 

from http://www.sankaracharya.org

1. I am composing the ATMA-BODHA, this treatise of the Knowledge of the Self, for those who have purified themselves by austerities and are peaceful in heart and calm, who are free from cravings and are desirous of liberation.
2. Just as the fire is the direct cause for cooking, so without Knowledge no emancipation can be had. Compared with all other forms of discipline Knowledge of the Self is the one direct means for liberation.
3. Action cannot destroy ignorance, for it is not in conflict with or opposed to ignorance. Knowledge does verily destroy ignorance as light destroys deep darkness.
4. The Soul appears to be finite because of ignorance. When ignorance is destroyed the Self which does not admit of any multiplicity truly reveals itself by itself: like the Sun when the clouds pass away.
5. Constant practice of knowledge purifies the Self (‘Jivatman’), stained by ignorance and then disappears itself – as the powder of the ‘Kataka-nut’ settles down after it has cleansed the muddy water.
6. The world which is full of attachments, aversions, etc., is like a dream. It appears to be real, as long as it continues but appears to be unreal when one is awake (i.e., when true wisdom dawns).
7. The Jagat appears to be true (Satyam) so long as Brahman, the substratum, the basis of all this creation, is not realised. It is like the illusion of silver in the mother-of pearl.
8. Like bubbles in the water, the worlds rise, exist and dissolve in the Supreme Self, which is the material cause and the prop of everything.
9. All the manifested world of things and beings are projected by imagination upon the substratum which is the Eternal All-pervading Vishnu, whose nature is Existence-Intelligence; just as the different ornaments are all made out of the same gold.
10. The All-pervading Akasa appears to be diverse on account of its association with various conditionings (Upadhis) which are different from each other. Space becomes one on the destruction of these limiting adjuncts: So also the Omnipresent Truth appears to be diverse on account of Its association with the various Upadhis and becomes one on the destruction of these Upadhis.
11. Because of Its association with different conditionings (Upadhis) such ideas as caste, colour and position are super-imposed upon the Atman, as flavour, colour, etc., are super-imposed on water.
12. Determined for each individual by his own past actions and made up of the Five elements – that have gone through the process of “five-fold self-division and mutual combination” (Pancheekarana) – are born the gross-body, the medium through which pleasure and pain are experienced, the tent-of-experiences.
13. The five Pranas, the ten organs and the Manas and the Buddhi, formed from the rudimentary elements (Tanmatras) before their “five-fold division and mutual combination with one another” (Pancheekarana) and this is the subtle body, the instruments-of-experience (of the individual).
14. Avidya which is indescribable and beginningless is the Causal Body. Know for certain that the Atman is other than these three conditioning bodies (Upadhis).
15. In its identification with the five-sheaths the Immaculate Atman appears to have borrowed their qualities upon Itself; as in the case of a crystal which appears to gather unto itself colour of its vicinity (blue cloth, etc.,).
16. Through discriminative self-analysis and logical thinking one should separate the Pure self within from the sheaths as one separates the rice from the husk, bran, etc., that are covering it.
17. The Atman does not shine in everything although He is All-pervading. He is manifest only in the inner equipment, the intellect (Buddhi): just as the reflection in a clean mirror.
18. One should understand that the Atman is always like the King, distinct from the body, senses, mind and intellect, all of which constitute the matter (Prakriti); and is the witness of their functions.
19. The moon appears to be running when the clouds move in the sky. Likewise to the non-discriminating person the Atman appears to be active when It is observed through the functions of the sense-organs.
20. Depending upon the energy of vitality of Consciousness (Atma Chaitanya) the body, senses, mind and intellect engage themselves in their respective activities, just as men work depending upon the light of the Sun.
21. Fools, because they lack in their powers of discrimination superimpose on the Atman, the Absolute-Existence-Knowledge (Sat-Chit), all the varied functions of the body and the senses, just as they attribute blue colour and the like to the sky.
22. The tremblings that belong to the waters are attributed through ignorance to the reflected moon dancing on it: likewise agency of action, of enjoyment and of other limitations (which really belong to the mind) are delusively understood as the nature of the Self (Atman).
23. Attachment, desire, pleasure, pain, etc., are perceived to exist so long as Buddhi or mind functions. They are not perceived in deep sleep when the mind ceases to exist. Therefore they belong to the mind alone and not to the Atman.
24. Just as luminosity is the nature of the Sun, coolness of water and heat of fire, so too the nature of the Atman is Eternity, Purity, Reality, Consciousness and Bliss.
25. By the indiscriminate blending of the two – the Existence-Knowledge-aspect of the Self and the thought-wave of the intellect – there arises the notion of “I know”.
26. Atman never does anything and the intellect of its own accord has no capacity to experience ‘I know’. But the individuality in us delusorily thinks he is himself the seer and the knower.
27. Just as the person who regards a rope as a snake is overcome by fear, so also one considering oneself as the ego (Jiva) is overcome by fear. The ego-centric individuality in us regains fearlessness by realising that It is not a Jiva but is Itself the Supreme Soul.
28. Just as a lamp illumines a jar or a pot, so also the Atman illumines the mind and the sense organs, etc. These material-objects by themselves cannot illumine themselves because they are inert.
29. A lighted-lamp does not need another lamp to illumine its light. So too, Atman which is Knowledge itself needs no other knowledge to know it.
30. By a process of negation of the conditionings (Upadhis) through the help of the scriptural statement ‘It is not this, It is not this’, the oneness of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, as indicated by the great Mahavakyas, has to be realised.
31. The body, etc., up to the “Causal Body” – Ignorance – which are objects perceived, are as perishable as bubbles. Realise through discrimination that I am the ‘Pure Brahman’ ever completely separate from all these.
32. I am other than the body and so I am free from changes such as birth, wrinkling, senility, death, etc. I have nothing to do with the sense objects such as sound and taste, for I am without the sense-organs.
33. I am other than the mind and hence, I am free from sorrow, attachment, malice and fear, for “HE is without breath and without mind, Pure, etc.”, is the Commandment of the great scripture, the Upanishads.
34. I am without attributes and actions; Eternal (Nitya) without any desire and thought (Nirvikalpa), without any dirt (Niranjana), without any change (Nirvikara), without form (Nirakara), ever-liberated (Nitya Mukta) ever-pure (Nirmala).
35. Like the space I fill all things within and without. Changeless and the same in all, at all times I am pure, unattached, stainless and motionless.
36. I am verily that Supreme Brahman alone which is Eternal, Pure and Free, One, indivisible and non-dual and of the nature of Changeless-Knowledge-Infinite.
37. The impression “I am Brahman” thus created by constant practice destroys ignorance and the agitation caused by it, just as medicine or Rasayana destroys disease.
38. Sitting in a solitary place, freeing the mind from desires and controlling the senses, meditate with unswerving attention on the Atman which is One without-a-second.
39. The wise one should intelligently merge the entire world-of-objects in the Atman alone and constantly think of the Self ever as contaminated by anything as the sky.
40. He who has realised the Supreme, discards all his identification with the objects of names and forms. (Thereafter) he dwells as an embodiment of the Infinite Consciousness and Bliss. He becomes the Self.
41. There are no distinctions such as “Knower”, the “Knowledge” and the “Object of Knowledge” in the Supreme Self. On account of Its being of the nature of endless Bliss, It does not admit of such distinctions within Itself. It alone shines by Itself.
42. When this the lower and the higher aspects of the Self are well churned together, the fire of knowledge is born from it, which in its mighty conflagration shall burn down all the fuel of ignorance in us.
43. The Lord of the early dawn (Aruna) himself has already looted away the thick darkness, when soon the sun rises. The Divine Consciousness of the Self rises when the right knowledge has already killed the darkness in the bosom.
44. Atman is an ever-present Reality. Yet, because of ignorance it is not realised. On the destruction of ignorance Atman is realised. It is like the missing ornament of one’s neck.
45. Brahman appears to be a ‘Jiva’ because of ignorance, just as a post appears to be a ghost. The ego-centric-individuality is destroyed when the real nature of the ‘Jiva’ is realised as the Self.
46. The ignorance characterised by the notions ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ is destroyed by the knowledge produced by the realisation of the true nature of the Self, just as right information removes the wrong notion about the directions.
47. The Yogi of perfect realisation and enlightenment sees through his “eye of wisdom” (Gyana Chakshush) the entire universe in his own Self and regards everything else as his own Self and nothing else.
48. Nothing whatever exists other than the Atman: the tangible universe is verily Atman. As pots and jars are verily made of clay and cannot be said to be anything but clay, so too, to the enlightened soul and that is perceived is the Self.
49. A liberated one, endowed with Self-knowledge, gives up the traits of his previously explained equipments (Upadhis) and because of his nature of Sat-chit-ananda, he verily becomes Brahman like (the worm that grows to be) a wasp.
50. After crossing the ocean of delusion and killing the monsters of likes and dislikes, the Yogi who is united with peace dwells in the glory of his own realised Self – as an Atmaram.
51. The self-abiding Jivan Mukta, relinquishing all his attachments to the illusory external happiness and satisfied with the bliss derived from the Atman, shines inwardly like a lamp placed inside a jar.
52. Though he lives in the conditionings (Upadhis), he, the contemplative one, remains ever unconcerned with anything or he may move about like the wind, perfectly unattached.
53. On the destruction of the Upadhis, the contemplative one is totally absorbed in ‘Vishnu’, the All-pervading Spirit, like water into water, space into space and light into light.
54. Realise That to be Brahman, the attainment of which leaves nothing more to be attained, the blessedness of which leaves no other blessing to be desired and the knowledge of which leaves nothing more to be known.
55. Realise that to be Brahman which, when seen, leaves nothing more to be seen, which having become one is not born again in this world and which, when knowing leaves nothing else to be known.
56. Realise that to be Brahman which is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute, which is Non-dual, Infinite, Eternal and One and which fills all the quarters – above and below and all that exists between.
57. Realise that to be Brahman which is Non-dual, Indivisible, One and Blissful and which is indicated in Vedanta as the Immutable Substratum, realised after the negation of all tangible objects.
58. Deities like Brahma and others taste only a particle, of the unlimited Bliss of Brahman and enjoy in proportion their share of that particle.
59. All objects are pervaded by Brahman. All actions are possible because of Brahman: therefore Brahman permeates everything as butter permeates milk.
60. Realise that to be Brahman which is neither subtle nor gross: neither short nor long: without birth or change: without form, qualities, colour and name.
61. That by the light of which the luminous, orbs like the Sun and the Moon are illuminated, but which is not illumined by their light, realise that to be Brahman.
62. Pervading the entire universe outwardly and inwardly the Supreme Brahman shines of Itself like the fire that permeates a red-hot iron-ball and glows by itself.
63. Brahman is other than this, the universe. There exists nothing that is not Brahman. If any object other than Brahman appears to exist, it is unreal like the mirage.
64. All that is perceived, or heard, is Brahman and nothing else. Attaining the knowledge of the Reality, one sees the Universe as the non-dual Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute.
65. Though Atman is Pure Consciousness and ever present everywhere, yet It is perceived by the eye-of-wisdom alone: but one whose vision is obscured by ignorance he does not see It; as the blind do not see the resplendent Sun.
66. The ‘Jiva’ free from impurities, being heated in the fire of knowledge kindled by hearing and so on, shines of itself like gold.
67. The Atman, the Sun of Knowledge that rises in the sky of the heart, destroys the darkness of the ignorance, pervades and sustains all and shines and makes everything to shine.
68. He who renouncing all activities, who is free of all the limitations of time, space and direction, worships his own Atman which is present everywhere, which is the destroyer of heat and cold, which is Bliss-Eternal and stainless, becomes All-knowing and All-pervading and attains thereafter Immortality.

Thus concludes Atma-Bodha. 

Nirman Manjari- By Adi Shankaracharya

By Adi Shankara Bhagawat Pada

Aham na amaro naiva marthyo na daithyo,
Na Gandharva Yaksha, pisacha prabhedha,
Pumanniva na sthree naiva shanda,
Prakrushta prakasa swaroopa Shivoham., 1

I am neither god nor man nor Asura,
I am neither Gandarwa nor Yaksha nor ghost nor omens,
I am neither man, nor woman nor eunuch,
I am by nature, Shiva the effulgent entity.

Aham naiva balo, yuva naïva vrudho,
Na varni, na brahmachari na Grahastha,
Vansdhobhi naham sanyasa dharma,
Jaga jjanma nasaika hethu Shivoham., 2

I am neither a child nor youth nor old man,
I do not belong to a class nor I am bachelor or family man,
I do not sit in the forest nor do I follow the rules of Sanyasa,
For I am that Shiva who causes destruction of the world.

Aham naïvameyasthiro bhoota maya,
Thadaivekshithum maam pradhangaasthupaya,
Samaslishta kayo thryo apyaadhwitheeya,
Sada athindriya sarva roopa shivoham., 3

I am not measurable and am past the concept of illusion,
Even though seen by all as different, I am that which brings things together,
Even though attached to the trinity, I am that which has no second,
For I am that Shiva which is all pervading and beyond senses.

Aham naiva mantha na gantha na vaktha,
Na kartha, na bhoktha, na muktha asramastha,
Yadaaham mano vruthi bheda swaroopa,
Sthadha sarva vuthi pradheepa, shivoham., 4

I am neither the thinker nor the one who goes nor the one who speaks,
I am neither the doer, nor the one who consumes nor the one free from abodes,
I am one with different roles according to the thought of the mind,
For I am that Shiva, who is the cause of everything.

Na mey loka yathra pravaha pravruthy,
Rna mey bandhabhuddha dureeha nivurthy,
Pravuthy nivurthasya chithasya vruthy,
Ryathasthanvaham thathswaroopa shivoham., 5

Neither I am that action which flows between worlds,
Nor I am the wrong selfish thoughts which are attached,
I am that thought of the mind which is at the end of action,
For I am that Shiva, which is thought personified after the end of the body.

Nidhanam yada jnana karyasya karya,
Vina yasya sathvam swatho naiva bhathi,
Yadhyantha madhya antharalantharala,
Prakasathmakam syatha devaham asmi., 6

Those who need to be cleaned of ignorant deeds and ignorance,
Those who are without truth, those who do not shine,
And those who are trapped between end, middle and middle of middle,
Are given lustrous mind by some god, and I am that Shiva.

Yathoham na budhir na mey karya sidhi,
Yatho nahamangam na mey linga bhangam,
Hrudhakasa varthi, gathanga thrayarthi,
Sada Sachidananda murthy Shivoham., 7

I am not wisdom nor completion of tasks,
I am not organs nor the procreative seed,
I live in the sky of heart and am beyond the pain of senses,
I am that Shiva who is the personification of ever blissful true joy.

Yadaaseedvilasad vikaram jagadha,
Dwikarasrayam naa dwithyathwath syath,
Mano budhi chithahamakara murthy,
Pravruthiryatha syatha devaham asmi., 8

I am that Shiva, who creates the differences in the world,
Who is the abode of these different forms ‘
Who is perhaps the one who cannot be seen as two,
Who is personification of mind, wisdom, senses and intelligence,
And is the one from whom every thing came.

Yadantharbahirvyapakam nithya shudham,
Yadekam sada sachidananda kandam,
Yatha sthoola sukshma prapanchasya bhanam,
Yathasthat prasoothistha devahamasmi., 9

I am that Shiva, who is crystal clear and pervades inside and outside,
Who is for ever the cloud of the joy of eternal bliss,
Who is the creator of the big and minute parts of the universe,
And who is the mother source of all these parts.

Yadarkendu vidhwat prabha jala maala,
Vilasapadam yathswa bhedhadhi soonyam,
Samastham jagdyasya padathmakam sya,
Dhyatha shakthi bhanam thadevahamasmi., 10

I am that Shiva, who gives power to those who remember him,
Who is like the waves of lightning and shine of Sun and Moon,
Who playfully creates the difference between self and others,
And who has the whole world at his lotus feet.

Yatha kala moorthir bhibhethi prakamam,
Yathaschitha budhindriyanam vilasa,
Hari brahma rudrendra chandradheenaam,
Prakaso yatha syatha devahamasmi., 11

I am that Shiva, who is the source of existence to the God of death,
Who is the reason for the glory of mind, knowledge and senses,
And who is the reason for the shine of Gods like,
Brahma, Shiva, Indra, Chandra and others.

Yad akasavad sarvagam, Shantha roopam,
Parama jyothiraakara soonyam varenyam,
Yadad antha soonyam param, Shankarakhyam,
Yadanthar vibhavyam, tadhevaha masmi., 12

I am that Shiva, who cannot be classified within himself,
Who is infinite like the expanse of the sky,
Who has form which is peaceful,
Who is extremely effulgent,
Who chooses to be nothing,
Who does not have end nor beginning,
And who is called Shankara.

Translated by P. R. Ramachander

SOURCE

Charpata Panjarika Stotra Bhaj Govindam

Charpata Panjarika Stotra Bhaj Govindam in 18 verses

Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam,
Govindam Bhaja Mooda Mathe,
Samprapthe sannihithe kale,
Nahi nahi rakshathi dookrunj karane.

Pray Govinda, Pray Govinda,
Pray Govinda, You fool,
For all the ken with you,
Will not be there,
When your end is near.

Dhinamapi rajani, sayam pratha,
Sisira vasanthou punarayatha,
Kala kreedathi gachat yayu,
Sthadapi na munjathyasa vayu

Daily comes the night, eve and morn.
The autumn and spring,
Comes again and again every year.
Time forever plays with life,
But desire does not desert this body forever.

Agre Vahni , prashte bhanu,
Rathrou chibuka samirpitha janu,
Karathala biksha taru thala vasa
Sthadhapi na munjathyasapasa.

The sun in the back,
And the fire behind,
Prevents biting cold during the day,
Knees meet the chin during the night,
To keep one warm.
And food comes by the daily begging,
Life is spent below a tree,
But desire does not desert this body forever.

Yavadvitho parjana saktha,
Sthavannija parivaro raktha
Paschat jeevathi jarajjara dehe,
Varthaam prucchathi ko apina gehe.
Till you are able to earn,
The wealth that everybody yearns,
All the family you love,
Will love and care.
But when the cage of your body gets old,
They would not even ask you,
“How are you?”

Jatilo mundee lunchitha kesa,
Kaashayambara bahu krutha vesha,
Pasyannapi cha na pasyathi lokaa
Hyudhara nimittam bahu krutha soka.
Men with hairs overgrown,
Men with a shaved head,
Men with a well-cut hair,
Men with ochre robes,
See the world,
But pretend they don’t,
And suffer all the way,
To fill their belly forever.

Bagavat geetha kinchid adheetha,
Gangaajalalava kanikaa peetha,
Sukrudhapi yasya murari samarcha,
Tasya yama kim kuruthe charchaam.

Read and imbibe Bhagavat Gita,
Drink a drop of the holy Ganga,
At least once salute the Lord,
Then the God of death,
Will not bother you forever.

Angam galitham palitham mundam,
Dasanaviheenam jatham thundam,
Vruddho yathi gruheetha dhandam,
Tadapi na munjathyaasa pindam.

The limbs have become weak,
The head has become fully bald,
There are no teeth in the mouth,
And the old man totters with an aid of a stick,
But desire does not desert this body ever.

Balasthavat kreedasaktha,
Stharunasthavath tharunee saktha,
Vrudha staavath chintha magna,
Parame brahmani kopi na lagna.

The child’s mind is engaged in play,
The youths mind is engaged in his lasses charms,
The old man’s mind is full of worries,
But no one thinks of the Ultimate Truth.

Punarapi jananam punarapi maranam,
Punarapi janani jatare sayanam,
Iha samsaare khalu dusthare,
Krupayaa pare pahi murare.

Again and again one is born,
And again and again one dies,
And again and again one sleeps in the mother’s womb,
Help me to cross,
This limitless sea of Life,
Which is uncrossable, my Lord

Punarapi Rajani, punarai divasa,
Punaraip paksha, punarapi maasa,
Punarapyayanam, punarapi varsham,
Tadapi na munjityasaamarsham.

Again and again this dark nights,
Again and again this luster full days,
Again and again these months and years,
But pride and desire never leaves you forever

Vayasi gathe ka kama vikara,
Shushke neere ka kaasaara,
Nashte dravye ka parivaara,
Gnathe tathwe ka samasaara.

Why this passion, when one totters with age,
Why the search for water in the dried up lake,
Why search for relations, when wealth dries,
There is no desire for life,
When you get real knowledge. Of truth

Naree sthana bhara nabhi nivesam,
Mithyaa mayaa mohaavesam,
Ethan mamsavasaadhi vikaram,
Manasi vichinthaya vaaram vaaram.

Seeing the seductive female form, do not fall prey to maddening delusion. That (female form) is (but) a modification of flesh and fat. Think well thus in your mind again and again.

Kasthwam Ko aham kutha ayatha?
Kaa me janani ko me thatha.
Ithi paribhavaaya sarvamasaaram,
Viswam tyakthwa swapna vichaaram.

Who am I?
Where from did I come?
Who is my mother ?
Who is my father?
Think of these,
Realize that this world,
Is but a meaningless mirage,
And Leave this dream like world

Geyam Githa , Nama sahasram,
Dhyeyam sri pathi roopamajasram,
Neyam sajjana sange chittam,
Dheyam deenajanaaya cha vitham.
Sing the Geetha,
And His thousand names,
Meditate on the Lord of Lakshmi,
Spend time with good souls,
Give all the wealth to the poor.

Yavajjevo nivasathi dehe,
Kusalam thaavath prucchathi gehe,
Gathavathi vaayou dehaapaaye,
Baryaa bhibyasthi tasmin kaye.
Till the breath is in the body,
All friends ask your welfare,
When it leaves your frame,
Even your darling wife,
Is full of fear of you , Hey fool

Sukhadha kriyathe ramaa bhoga,
Paschatdandha sarere roga,
Yadyapi loke maranam saranam,
Tadapi na munchathi papacharanam.
It is but for pleasure,
That a lady is sought,
Slowly the body gets sick,
The only path leads you,
To your death for sure,
Still no one leaves the sinful ways.

Radhyaa charpata virachita kkandha,
Punyaapunya vivarjitha padha.
Naaham nathwa naayam loka,
Stadhapi kimartham kriyathe soka.
Like collecting strewn rags all the way,
In life one collects sin and good deeds.
Realize that me or you,
Is not the truth.
In your newly chartered path
Still why are you sad?

Kuruthe Gangaa sagara gamanam,
Vrutha paripaalana madhava dhaanam,
Gnana viheena sarvamathena,
Mukthin na bhavathi janma sathena.

Take bath in Ganga,
Take a dip in the ocean,
Observe penance,
Give money to charity.
All faiths tell you without fail,
And if you do not realize this truth,
Even in hundred lives,
You will not attain the Lord.

Yoga ratho vaa bhogaratho vaa,
Sanga ratho vaa sanga viheena,
Yasya brahmani ramathe chittam,
Nandathi nandathi nandathyeva.

You get joy,
Of meditation or passion,
Or you get joy,
In solitude or in company,
But All these are but impermanent.
Try to make your mind one,
With Para Brahmam,
That is the only permanent joy.

Dwadasha Panjarika Stotra
(The twelve pearls of wisdom)

Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam,
Govindam Bhaja Mooda Mathe,
Samprapthe sannihithe kale,
Nahi nahi rakshathi dookrunj karane.

Pray Govinda, Pray Govinda,
Pray Govinda, You fool,
For all the ken with you,
Will not be there,
When your end is near.

Arthamanartham Bhavaya nithyam,
Naasthi thatha sukalesa sathyam,
Puthraadhapi dhana bhaajam bheethi,
Sarvathraisha vihithaareethi.
Wealth that you earn,
Has no meaning in life,
The real truth in it, is,
That it gives no pleasure,
The wealthy are but scared,
Even of him whom they beget,

Kaa thee kanthaa kasthe puthra,
Samsoroya matheeva vichitram,
Kasya twam ka kutha aayatha,
Sthathwam chinthya yadhidham braatha.
Who is your darling wife?
And who is the son whom you love,
This world is but strange,
Who are you, where from you came?
Think of these, Think of these

Maa kuru dhana jana yowana garwam,
Harathi nimishoth kaala sarvam,
Maamaya midhamakilam hithwa,
Brahmapadam twam pravisa vidhitwa.

Proud as peacock are you,
Of all the millions that you have,
And of all those who are with you,
Day in and day out,
And of the strength of youth in you.
Time, the thief is doing its job,
Of stealing them by and by,
All these are yes today and no tomorrow.

Kaamam krodham lobham moham,
Tyakthwaathmanam bhavaya koham,
Atma jnana viheenaa mooda,
Sthepachyanthe naraka nigooda.

Leave out your passion,
Leave out your anger,
Leave out your love for money,
Leave out your yearning in life,
Think and think, who you are?
Those who find it not, are but fools,
And are always happy in hell.

Sura mandhira tharu moola nivaasa,
Sayya bhoothala majinam vaasa,
Sarvapariguha bhoga thyaaga,
Kasya sukham na karothi viraaga.

He lives in the deep dark forest,
Or below a big banyan,
Sleep he does on the bare floor,
He has given up his all,
Who in this entire world, so big,
Is as happy as he is.

Shatrou mithre puthre bandhou,
Maa kuru yathnam vigraha sandhou,
Bhava sama chitta sarvathra twam,
Vaanchasya chiraadhyadhi Vishnu twam.

You would be one with Him
If but you can see them as one,
Your enemy whom you hate,
Your friends whom you love,
Your sons whom you adore,
And all other friends who are so close.
And if this entire world.
Is to you all and the same.

Twayi mayo chaanya traiko vishnur
Vyartham kupyasi sarva sahishnu,
Sarwasaminnapi pasyaathmaanam,
Sarvathrothsyuja bhedaajnananm.

In you and in me is Govinda,
So on whom will you show your ire?
See all as one and one as all,
Leave this difference between one and one.

Praanayamam prathyaaharam,
Nithyaa nithya viveka vichaaram,
Jaapyasametha samadhi vidhaanam,
Kurvavadhaanam mahadhava dhaanam.
Control your senses, you fool,
Withdraw from all your wants,
Try to find the difference.
Between that which is perennial,
And that which is not ,
Live and think in that He,
This is what will make you,
Decision maker supreme.

Nalinee dhalagatha jalamathi thralam,
Tadwadjjevtha mathisaya chapalam,
Viddhi vyaadhibhimaana grastham,
Lokam sokahatham cha samastham.

Like the tiny drop of water,
Floating on a lotus leaf,
The life today is here,
And tomorrow there,
This world full of aches ,
And bloated ego,
(Which is like an air filled up ball)
Is a place of sorrow.

Kaa the ashtaadasa dese chinthaa,
Vaathula thava kim naasthi niyanthaa.
Yasthaam hasthe sudhrude nibaddham,
Bhodayathi prabhavadhi viruddham.

Why this thought ,
Of eighteen countries, Hey Lunatic,
Fold your hands tight,
Think of Him,
Who controls ,
All that in you.

Satsangathwe nissamgathwam,
Nissamgathwe nirmohathwam,
Nirmohathwe nischala thatwam,
Nischala tathwe jeevan mukthi.

With good pals in this world,
You loose desire for things,
With loss of this terrible desire,
You loose passion for life,
With loss for this passion,
You realize the truth,

Gurucharanaambuja nirbhara bhaktha,
Samsarada chirabhava mukthaa,
Sendriya maanasa niyamaadevam,
Drakshyasi nija hrudayastham devam.

With your mind trained,
By your spiritual guide,
You can cross the sea of life,
And once you cross the sea,
You can see the Govinda in your heart.

Dwadasa pancharikaamaya esha.
Sishyaanaam kadhithohyuapadesha,
Yeshaam chithe naiva viveka.
Sthe pachyanthe narakamanekam.

Twelve pearls of wisdom these,
Are taught to those,
Hungry souls,
Suffering all the life

source-source

Consciousness by Advait Vedanta

Consciousness by Advait Vedanta

By Pravrajika Brahmaprana

Wandering mendicants greet each other: ‘Om. Is your vision clear?’ ‘Om’ is a salutation to the indwelling divinity, or Atman, within all beings. ‘Is your vision clear?’ is a sober reminder: Are we seeing the world as it truly is or, rather, as it appears to be? The vision that comes from spiritual insight completely transforms the perception of who we are, what this world is, and what our relationship to it is. A person who has such insight is known in Sanskrit as a rishi, or ‘seer’.
The Upanishads say that Brahman, the ultimate reality, is pure consciousness (prajñānam brahma).[1] But, so long as this empirical world of multiplicity exists for us, consciousness remains a mere philosophical concept with different categories.

Categories of Consciousness

According to Advaita Vedanta, these different categories of consciousness are classified as absolute consciousness (brahma-caitanya), cosmic consciousness (īśvara-caitanya), individual consciousness (jīva-caitanya), and indwelling consciousness (sāksi-caitanya). However, all these distinctions are due to limiting adjuncts (upādhis) and are not intrinsic to the true nature of consciousness, which is by itself one and non-dual. Advaita Vedanta says that there is a substratum of this universe, even finer than energy (prāna), called brahma-caitanya. The very nature of this substratum is sat-cit-ānanda: absolute existence (sat), pure consciousness (cit), and bliss (ānanda). In other words, pure being is Self-aware and is of the nature of pure conscious-ness and bliss, or ‘loving consciousnesses.
The natural question that arises is: How did absolute consciousness—undivided, unmoved, and unchanging—become this world of multiplicity and change? The great seer and philosopher Shankaracharya resolved this paradox with his theory of superimposition, vivartavāda. From the ultimate standpoint, absolute consciousness did not become this world; it only appears to have done so. Shankara gave the classic example of the snake and the rope:
We see a snake on the road at night, but as we approach the snake and flash a torch on it, we realize that it is actually a rope.
This snake-universe is a superimposition upon the rope-Brahman. There is no more causal relationship between this world-appearance and Brahman than there is between the snake and the rope. However, the universe has no existence apart from Brahman, just as the snake has no existence apart from the rope.
Since it is possible for a rope to be mistaken for a snake, it is also possible for something to apparently exist without being real. Advaita Vedanta states that this world is and is not. By is not, it is not suggested that the world is an illusion without a basis, a shadow without substance, or a void. It means that the world as it appears to us is unreal because this world-appearance has no absolute existence. But for a rsi whose vision is clear, the world is ever real because it is, essentially, nothing less than Brahman mistaken as a world of matter. This cosmic superimposition of the unreal on the real is due to maya, which literally means ‘that which measures the immeasurable’. To show its twin faculty of concealing the reality and projecting the apparent, maya is often compared to a veil, a cloud, or a screen, as well as a magician’s trick.
Advaita Vedanta is not mere philosophical speculation or theory; it has direct experience as its basis as well as ultimate proof. To lift the veil of maya, Advaita Vedanta exhorts the spiritual seeker to take the testimony of the scriptures (Vedas) and illumined souls, use reason, reflection, and meditation, and attain direct experience. These are the compasses, maps, and sails needed to steer successfully to the highest union with Brahman. One must transcend the effects of maya in order to know the nature of its cause.
How does a knower of Brahman perceive this world-appearance which is and is not? Swami Shivananda, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, one day disclosed the answer to his attendant, who noticed how the swami reverently saluted all who entered his room, regardless of their social position or spiritual stature. ‘When somebody approaches me,’ the swami conceded, ‘first of all I see that particular effulgent form of God through which He reveals Himself in that particular personality. The persons themselves appear indistinctly like shadowy beings, while the divine aspect itself appears vivid and living. That’s why I make my obeisance. The divine forms disappear after my salutation, and then only can I see the human figures distinctly and recognize them as well.’[2] One day, Swami Shivananda even saluted a cat, explaining afterwards to his attendant that he first saw Brahman as pure consciousness at play in all forms, including the cat’s, and then recognized the difference as only in name [3].
This level of realization stems from a great Upanishadic truth: ‘From pure consciousness, which is of the nature of absolute bliss, all beings arise, by it are they sustained, and it they reenter at death.’[4] For those of us who possess ordinary human consciousness, however, only the world-appearance of name and form is manifest to the mind and senses. In our ignorance, we see the cat, not Brahman.
The second type of consciousness in Advaita Vedanta is called īśvara-caitanya, or Brahman united with maya as the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer of this universe. With the purpose of explaining what īśvara-caitanya is, Brahman may be called the ultimate cause of the universe because, due to maya, the world-appearance is superimposed upon it. But Brahman can neither transform itself into the world nor create it, since that which is absolute reality, by definition, must transcend action and change. Therefore, Vedanta introduces the creative principle of Ishvara—Brahman united with maya—to explain the process of this universe’s creation, preservation, and dissolution, which is without beginning and without end. Ishvara is God with attributes. The personal God, according to Swami Vivekananda, is the highest reading of the Absolute by the human mind.
‘Are there two Gods then,’ we may ask, ‘one absolute and one personal?’ ‘No,’ Vedanta says, ‘Brahman appears as Ishvara when viewed through maya.’ ‘But,’ we persist, ‘what then is the difference between Ishvara and an ordinary human being?’ According to Vedanta, Ishvara is the wielder of maya—all-free, all-powerful, and all-knowing—whereas human beings are subject to maya because their freedom, power, and knowledge are limited. Human beings can become one with Ishvara, but they can never be individually the same as Ishvara.
This brings us to the third type of consciousness in Vedanta: human consciousness, or jīva-caitanya. The superimposition of the ego-idea upon pure consciousness is the individual’s first plunge into the whirlpool of maya. Vedanta says that the lie of separateness—the claim that ‘I am I (the lower I)’—is the initial act that produces the chain reaction of further superimposition and entanglement. Considering ourselves ‘individuals’ implies considering everything as ‘individual’. This attitude inexorably superimposes a world of multiplicity upon the one, undivided reality.
Initially, the ego-idea identifies itself with the body and mind, and with their attributes and actions. Instinctively we say: ‘I am young’, ‘I am short’, or ‘I am talking’. As the ego-idea reaches further out to claim external objects and conditions as its own, we find ourselves thinking and saying such things as: ‘I am an American’, or This property is mine’. As our superimpositions multiply, so do our extraordinary personal claims, such as ‘We are sending troops to the Balkans’, or ‘I carry health insurance’. Thus, the human ego continues to enlarge itself until it becomes identified with every known object in its universe, while the higher Self remains the detached witness to all these foolish shenanigans. At the same time, the Self makes them all possible by providing the mind with the light of consciousness, without which maya could not exist. In short, it is due to maya that we become identified with a psychophysical being—the shadow of our real Self.
‘Who am I?’ we may then ask. ‘What is my real nature? Like the world around me, am I a mixture of Brahman and maya—the real and the apparent, divine and human consciousness, Atman and jīva-caitanya?’ A passage in the Mundaka Upanishad describes the relationship of our true Self with the empirical self (jīva-caitanya):
Like two birds of golden plumage, inseparable companions, the individual self and the immortal Self are perched on the branches of the self-same tree. The former tastes of the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree; the latter, tasting of neither, calmly observes.
The individual self, deluded by forgetfulness of his identity with the divine Self, bewildered by his ego, grieves and is sad. But when he recognizes the worshipful Lord as his own true Self, and beholds His glory, he grieves no more.[5] The state of one’s spiritual development does not matter; Vedanta upholds the real nature of every human being as the luminous Self, which is associated with the mind as the onlooker, or witness (sāksi-caitanya).
This brings us to the fourth type of consciousness in Advaita Vedanta, sāksi-caitanya. The witness-self transcends the changing states of the mind, neither suffering nor enjoying the mental and physical conditions of human existence. After realizing the witness-self, an aspirant returns to normal consciousness with a transformed mind. Such a soul perceives itself and the universe through a mind composed of finer matter. Like a sheet of glass, through which sunlight can pass unobstructed, the mind in this state allows the light of consciousness to reach the body and its organs unimpeded. As the witness, one perceives one’s Self to be distinct from the body and mind, which are clearly recognized as objects of perception. One knows, beyond doubt, that it is the self-luminous Atman that governs one’s entire psycho-physical being. In the mystical language of the Kena Upanishad, the Self is realized as ‘the Ear of the ear, Mind of the mind, Speech of the speech … [as] also Breath of the breath, and Eye of the eye.’[6] This witness-self is known as the ‘inner controller’ (antaryāmin), and is beautifully described in the Katha Upanishad as the rider within a chariot-body. The charioteer is the intellect (buddhi), and the reins are the mind—endowed with volition and emotion. The senses, say the wise, are the horses; the roads they travel are the mazes of desire. The wise call the Self the enjoyer, when he is united with the body, the senses, and the mind[7].
Once the jiva identifies its real nature, the next step is to locate it. How and where does pure consciousness dwell within the body? The ancient Upanishads show us the precise location. ‘Within the city of Brahman, which is the body,’ the Chhandogya Upanishad discloses,
There is the heart, and within the heart, there is a little house. This house has the shape of a lotus, and within it dwells that which is to be sought after, inquired about, and realized. … Though old age comes to the body, the lotus of the heart does not grow old. At the death of the body, it does not die. The lotus of the heart, where Brahman exists in all his glory—that, and not the body, is the true city of Brahman.

Consciousness and the Psycho-physical System

Also in the Upanishads, we find the classic Vedantic model of the threefold body, or fivefold sheath, which elucidates the nature of the gross and subtle layers of consciousness that exist within our psycho-physical being. Vedanta explains that every human being is comprised of three bodies: the gross, the subtle, and the causal, which are the respective mediums of experience for our waking, dream, and dreamless sleep states. The gross body (annamaya kośa or ‘sheath of food’ is born; it grows, transforms, decays, and dies. The subtle and causal bodies are what reincarnate from birth to birth.
The subtle body is composed of the vital sheath (prānamaya kośa), mental sheath (manomaya kośa), and sheath of the intellect (vijñānamaya kośa). The vital sheath is the life force that operates the autonomic nervous system, thus controlling respiration (prāna), excretion (apāna), and digestion (samāna), and also various functions of the cerebro-spinal system such as exertion (vyāna) and growth. The vital sheath, moreover, mediates the soul’s departure from the body at the time of death (udāna). The manomaya kośa comprises the volitional, or deliberative mind, as well as the five organs of perception; whereas the vijñānamaya kośa (buddhi) is the cognitive or determinative mind, along with the five organs of perception.
Through the buddhi, or cognitive mind, all other faculties of the mind, whether volitional or emotional, receive their light. However, as already mentioned, the buddhi simply permits the passage of the light of the witness-self (sāksin) and thus appears to be self-luminous. Vedanta claims that though the buddhi is located in the heart within a tiny space (ākāśa) ‘about the size of a thumb’, the witness-self dwells even deeper within our being, within the buddhi itself. Therefore, the buddhi—only one step away from the witness-self—is still identified with the non-Self and asserts itself as the knower and the doer within the mental and vital sheaths, and functions as the empirical self that reincarnates.[10]
Human cognition exemplifies how the various mental faculties function together within the mental and intelligence sheaths. According to Vedanta, cognition is a fourfold operation. First, the deliberative faculty of the mind (manas) asks: ‘What is this object?’ The memory (citta) attempts to recall similar objects. Then, the determinative faculty (buddhi) is able to ascertain: ‘It is a desk.’ Finally, the sense of egoism (ahamkāra) makes the association: ‘I am sitting at the desk.’ Throughout the cognitive process, however—whether we know it or not—the light of the Self, shining through the buddhi to the organs of perception, reveals everything that we experience. William M Indich, in his book Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta, explains: ‘In visual perception, then, Brahman intelligence reflected in mind is extended out along the medium of the organ of vision, which Advaitins claim is the nature of light (tejas) … contacts an object, assumes its form, and reveals it as known.’[11]
This Upanishadic model of the fivefold sheath maintains that consciousness does not originate in the brain—nor even in the mind, for that matter, because the mind merely passes on the light of consciousness. The brain, the mind, and the body are merely physical mediums for the expression of consciousness. Moreover, the Yoga-Vedanta system of psychology asserts that thought, which is a specific type of consciousness, is a function of the mind, not the brain.[12] ‘In the Vedantic view the mind is not a process;’ Swami Satprakashananda summarizes, ‘nor is it a function, or a state, or an attribute of something else. It is a positive substance, though not ultimately real. It has definite functions and states. It is one of the products of primordial nature, the potential cause of the universe, called prakrti or māyā, which has no consciousness inherent in it’ .
Yoga-Vedanta uphold the premise that one’s own consciousness—disciplined and refined through the path of yoga—is the clearest and most reliable lens for perceiving and grasping the nature of human and transcendental consciousness. For thousands of years mind and consciousness have been primary subjects of introspective investigation. Consequently, the rsis were able to develop sophisticated techniques for tracing the origin and nature of consciousness, which have been handed down from guru to disciple to the present day.

Approaches to Consciousness
How, then, can we attain pure consciousness, the light of the Atman, by which we obtain the clearest perception of reality? Shankara, the Advaita Vedantin, prescribes the four traditional methods (sādhana catustaya) that, when perfected, mark the qualifications of a rsi:
discrimination between the eternal and non-eternal;
renunciation of the tendency towards sensual enjoyment;
cultivation of the six treasures (tranquility, self-control, mental poise, forbearance, faith, and self-surrender); and
desire for liberation. Though all four qualifications work together as methods for refining, stabilizing, and elevating one’s mind, for the sake of brevity, we will focus only on the first two.
Vedanta scriptures exhort aspirants to first hear the truth, then contemplate it, and finally meditate upon it (śravana, manana, and nididhyāsana). To incorporate this technique into spiritual practice, Swami Turiyananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, once taught a young monastic how to study the Bhagavad-Gita: ‘Take one verse at a time, meditate on its meaning, and live the verse for a week before going on to the next verse.’[13] By studying an entire scripture in this way, an aspirant refines and deepens the faculty of introspection, imbibes the spiritual truth of the passage, and thus activates and sustains a spiritual current of thought throughout the day. By developing subtlety of mind, one unleashes the powers of the mind.
To strengthen and unsheathe the buddhi from its weakening and covering delusions forged through many lives, the aspirant, under the guidance of a qualified teacher, also practices the method of negating all impermanent, unreal phenomena superimposed on the supreme reality (neti neti ātmā). Beginning with gross phenomena and gradually proceeding to more subtle elements, the aspirant, through logic and willpower, peels back the several layers of superimposition (adhyāropa) veiling the underlying reality of Atman-Brahman, and gradually renounces them all, both physically and mentally. This is a process that involves two steps: by negating the attributes of the non-Self, one unfolds the essential nature of the Self, or Atman; and by negating the conditions and qualities of the relative world, one discovers the nature of Brahman. Sri Ramakrishna demonstrated in his life the unconscious effects of this practice when steadfastly performed in a conscious and uncompromising way. ‘When I meditated under the bel-tree,’ Sri Ramakrishna confided to his disciple M, ‘I used to see various visions clearly. One day I saw in front of me money, a shawl, a tray of sandesh, and two women. I asked my mind, “Mind, do you want any of these?” I saw the sandesh to be mere filth. One of the women had a big ring in her nose. I could see their inside and outside—entrails, filth, bone, fresh, and blood. The mind did not want any of these—money, shawl, sweets or women. It remained fixed … [on] God.’[14]
Self-inquiry (ātma vicāra) is the technique of probing into the nature of the seer and the seen to end the identification between the subject and the object (drg-drśya-viveka); of rigorously analyzing the three states of consciousness (waking, dream, and dreamless sleep) in order to gain insight into that which is common to them, the witness-self; and of methodically examining the threefold body and fivefold sheath in order to renounce one’s outer coverings and trace one’s ‘I-consciousness’ back to its source, the Self. These spiritual disciplines demand the utmost clarity of intellect and willpower—the sword of discrimination being ever unsheathed to pierce the subtle delusions of the conscious, subconscious, and even unconscious mind. ‘The discipline of negation must be practiced without intermission’, stipulates Swami Nikhilananda in his comprehensive ‘Introduction’ to Shankara’s Self-Knowledge (Ātmabodha), ‘as long as even a dreamlike perception of the universe and the finite soul remains, and as long as identification with the body is not totally wiped out. Neither sleep nor concern about secular matters nor attachment to sense-objects should be given the slightest opportunity to let one forget the nature of the real Self.’[15]
Ramprasad, the Bengali poet-saint, wrote a song which Sri Ramakrishna used to sing, demonstrating how discrimination, when properly performed, enables the aspirant to retain the witness consciousness throughout the three states of consciousness:
Once for all, this time, I have thoroughly understood;
From One who knows it well, I have learnt the secret of bhāva.
A man has come to me from a country where there is no night,
And now I cannot distinguish day from night any longer;
Rituals and devotions have all grown profitless for me.
My sleep is broken; how can I slumber any more?
For now I am wide awake in the sleeplessness of yoga.
O Divine Mother, made one with thee in yoga-sleep[16] at last,
My slumber I have lulled to sleep for evermore[17].
The discrimination and renunciation of a spiritual aspirant is tested through the practice of karma yoga. In the field of selfless action one attempts to drive home the non-dual Vedanta perception of reality through dedicated action and, in doing so, learns how much the Advaita Vedanta ideal is actually instilled and reflected in one’s unconscious habits and reactions. Seclusion can be a safe haven for a practitioner of Vedanta—in it one feels comfortable with one’s own spiritual prowess—but in the field of action, shortcomings and weaknesses quickly manifest and are, therefore, easier to detect and eradicate. For this reason, including the practice of karma yoga in one’s daily life is more beneficial than limiting one’s spiritual disciplines to only study and meditation. At the same time, the practice of karma yoga unaccompanied by regular meditation quickly deteriorates into mere meritorious acts of karma.
Advaitic meditations vary according to the temperament and capacity of the aspirant. With repeated practice, Self-inquiry (ātma-vicāra) advances to a meditative state. The practice of constant self-awareness—witnessing each state of consciousness—is the pratibodha technique of mindfulness, known also as vipaśyana.[1] Its roots can be found in the Kena Upanishad: ‘Brahman is known when It is realized in every state of the mind; for by such Knowledge one attains Immortality’ (pratibodha viditam matam).[2] Behind all thought and action is the witness-self, which also becomes manifest to the aspirant who, when sufficiently advanced, can at will sustain the interval between two thoughts.
In the Upanishads, there are symbolic Advaitic meditations known as vidyās, which train the mind of the aspirant to search beneath the coverings of various external objects—such as honey (madhu), the sun (āditya), and fire (pañcāgni)—their common spiritual core. In these meditation techniques, which focus on the relationship between the macrocosm and the microcosm, the practitioners attempt to identify their own centre of consciousness with Saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes). For example, the madhu vidyā—meditation on honey, or sweetness, or bliss—begins: This earth is honey for all beings, and all beings are honey for this earth. The intelligent, immortal being, the soul of this earth, and the intelligent, immortal being, the soul of the individual being—each is honey to the other. Brahman is the soul in each; he indeed is the Self in all. He is all.’[3]
Each successive step of the madhu vidyā meditation on water, fire, air, sun, space, moon, lightning, thunder, ether, law, truth, the human race, and the Self as madhu—focuses on the correlation between these respective elements, expanded to their universal aspects, and the Self within every being and the whole of creation. The intrinsic thread running through all is Atman-Brahman, the culmination of the vidyā or meditation. Sri Ramakrishna disclosed some of the meditations he had learned from his teacher of Vedanta, Tota Puri:
Nangtā [Tota Puri] used to tell me how a jnāni meditates: Everywhere there is water; all the regions above and below are filled with water; man, like a fish, is swimming joyously in that water. In real meditation you will actually see all this. Take the case of the infinite ocean. There is no limit to its water. Suppose a pot is immersed in it: there is water both inside and outside the pot. The jnāni sees that both inside and outside there is nothing but Paramātman. Then what is this pot? It is ‘I-consciousness. Because of the pot the water appears to be divided into two parts; because of the pot you seem to perceive an inside and an outside. One feels that way as long as this pot of ‘I’ exists. When the ‘I’ disappears, what is remains. That cannot be described in words. Do you know another way a jnāni meditates? Think of infinite ākāśa and a bird flying there, joyfully spreading its wings. Tree is the Cidākāśa and Ātman is the bird. The bird is not imprisoned in a cage; it flies in the Cidākāśa. Its joy is limitless.[4]
Self-inquiry culminates in the intuitive knowledge revealed by the four Vedic aphorisms (mahāvākyas) stated in the Upanishads: ‘That thou art’ (tat-tvam-asi); ‘I am Brahman’ (aham brahmāsmi); ‘Pure Consciousness is Brahman’ (prajñānam brahma); and This Self is Brahman’ (ayam-ātmā brahma). Each of the ten Vedantic monastic orders founded by Shankaracharya is associated with one of these Vedic dictums, which is transmitted from guru to disciple at the time of sannyasa. Before that, the novice undergoes years of rigorous spiritual training to purify the mind, in order that it may be receptive to these higher truths. At the time of sannyasa, when the guru utters one of the mahāvākyas, the disciple is then better able to receive the realization of truth that the mantra imparts. ‘The Self … is to be known,’ Yajnavalkya exhorts his wife Maitreyi in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, ‘Hear about it, reflect upon it, meditate upon it. By knowing the Self, my beloved, through hearing, refection, and meditation, one comes to know all things.’[5]By uninterrupted meditation on these great Vedic dictums, desires are obliterated, and we receive the highest realization of pure consciousness, known as nirvikalpa samādhi. The mind’s refection of pure consciousness reverts back to its source of light, the Self-luminous Brahman, just as our face, when reflected in a broken mirror, reverts back to our face itself. Subject and object—pure consciousness and perceived consciousness—become one. At last we discover that the ocean of pure consciousness that we had thought was outside ourselves is, in reality, within. We are by nature Brahman—eternal, free, ever-blissful—the One-without-a-second.

Comparison between Mind and Consciousness in Western Psychology and Advaita Vedanta
The fundamental difference between Western and Eastern psychology is that the former does not, and the latter does differentiate Mind from Consciousness. On the contrary Western psychology interprets Mind in terms of Consciousness, that is Consciousness is the distinctive character of Mind. Where Mind and Consciousness are used as equivalents the one of the other, ordinary experience is of course meant and not pure Cit or supreme unconditioned Consciousness. The Western ‘Mind’ is something for which there is no adequate Sanskrit equivalent since the notions are different. When I speak of Mind in Vedanta I refer to what is explained later as the ‘Inner Instrument’ (Antahkarana) as distinguished from the ‘outer instruments’ (Bāhyakarana) or senses on the one hand, and on the other hand from Consciousness of which both mind and senses are instruments.
The term Mind bears a narrower as well as a wider meaning in the sāstras. Thus in the saying ‘from where speech together with mind (Manas) withdraws failing to reach’ (referring to Brahman) the word Manas (mind) is evidently used for the whole ‘Inner Instrument’. In strictly philosophical literature however, the term Manas is almost always used in a defined sense so that it cannot be translated into ‘Mind’ as understood by Western psychologists. It is only then one function of the inner instrument. Indian ‘Mind’ is distinguished from Western Mind in this that the former as such is not Consciousness but a material force enveloping Consciousness, the two in association producing the Consciousness-unconsciousness of Western Mind. Pure Consciousness (Cit) is not an attribute of Mind. It is beyond Mind being independent of it. It is immanent in Mind and is the source of its illumination and apparent Consciousness. …
According to the Vedanta … Cit is pure consciousness Itself. Mind is a real or apparent negation or limitation or determination of that. Mind in fact, in itself, that is considered as apart from Cit (from which in fact it is never separate) is an unconscious force which in varying degree obscures and limits consciousness, such limitation being the condition of all finite experience. Cit is thus Consciousness. Mind is Consciousness plus Unconsciousness, the intermingled Consciousness- unconsciousness which we see in all finite being.

Bhagawat Pada- by Adi Shankaracharya

By Adi Shankara Bhagawat Pada

Nirupam anithya niramaskhepya khande
Mayi chithi sarva vikalpanadhi soonye,
Ghatayathi Jagadheesa jeeva bhedham
Thwagathitha ghatanaa patiyasi maya., 1

The illusion which can weave events that were not intended by you,
Can make them appear in the emptiness of the consciousness,
Which does not have an equal, which is perennial
And which cannot be divided in to parts,
The differences between the soul and the master of universe

Sruthi satha nigamatha sodhakan
Apyahaha dhanadini darsanena sadhya,
Kalushayathi chathush padadhyabhinna,
Na ghatitha gatana patiyasi maya., 2

Does not illusion which can weave events that were not intended,
Make even those who have researched Vedas and hundreds of treatises,
Not very different from the four legged beings, by spoiling their mind,
By offering them riches and other tempting possessions, alas.

Sukha chidha kanda vibodhamadwitheeyam,
Viya danaladhi vinirmathe niyojya,
Bhramayathi bhava sagare nithantham,
Thwagathitha ghatanaa patiyasi maya., 3

The illusion which can weave events that was not intended by you,
Makes the pleasant, indivisible and second to none consciousness,
Appear as if it is associated with the body of the five elements,
And makes it confused and drown forever in the ocean of births.

Apagatha guna varna jathibhedhe,
Sukhachithi vipra vidadhyaham akruthim cha,
Sphutayathi sutha dara geha moham,
Thwagathitha ghatanaa patiyasi maya., 4

The illusion which can weave events that was not intended by you,
Makes the consciousness which is devoid of differences in quality, colour and caste,
Feel within itself differences in form of people such as Brahmin and Vaisya,
And create attachments such as wife, son and house.

Vidhi hari hara vibhedha mapya khande,
Batha virachayya budhaana api prakamam,
Bramayathi hari hara bhedha bhava,
Nagathitha ghatanaa patiyasi maya.,5

Does not illusion which can weave events that was not intended,
Makes even the well read wise men of the world,
Who know that laws do not tell of the differences between Vishnu and Shiva,
Delude themselves and make them see differences in Shiva and Vishnu.

Translated by P. R. Ramachander

Atma Panchakam-by Adi Sankaracharya’s

[The pentet on Soul]

Adi Sankaracharya’s
Atma Panchakam

Naham deho, nendriya nyantharangam,
Nahamkara prana vargaa na budhi,
Darapathya kshethra vithadhi dhoora,
Sakshi nithya prathyagathma shivoham. 1

I am neither the body, nor the senses nor the mind,
Neither am I pride, soul nor intellect,
But I am Shiva, who is eternal,
Who is completely unattached.
Who is far, far and far away
From wife, son, lands and assets,
And is the witness for everything.

Rajjwagnanath bhathi rajjuryadhai,
Swathma jnanad athmano jeeva bhava,
Aapthokthya hi branthinase sa rajjur,
Jjevo naham desikokthya shivoham. 2

Due to ignorance I think that a rope is a snake,
For due to absence of Jnana.
I ascribe life in to lifeless thing.
And when the realized one points it out,
I wake up from this illusion,
And understand that it is a rope and not a snake.
Similarly I am not the soul but Shiva,
Which I only understand by the teaching of the great teacher.

Aabhadhedham vishwamathmanya sathyam,
Sathya jnanananda roope vimohat,
Nidhramohat swapnavath thanna sathyam,
Shuddha poorno nithya eka Shivoham. 3

Due to the veil of ignorance,
I see this world in the eternal life,
Which has the form of truth and joy,
Similar to the dream which I see due to veil of sleep,
For I am the pure complete, perennial and single Shiva.

Mathi nanyath kinchid athrasthi viswam,
Sathyam bahyam vasthu mayopakjnaptham,
Adarsandhar bhasamanasya thulyam,
Mayyadwaithe bhathi thasmad shivoham. 4

This world is in no way different from me,
Similar to everything getting reflected in a mirror,
All the world is within me,
So I am that Shiva which is without two.

Naham jatho na pravrudho na nashto,
Dehasyoktha prakrutha sarva dharma,
Karthruthwadhi schinmaya syasthi naham,
Karasyaiva hyathmano may Shivoham. 5

Nor was I born nor grew nor die,
For birth, growth and death are for the body,
The nature of taking up a work is,
The reflections of pride and not,
For my soul which is eternal,
And so I am the unattached Shiva.

Naham jatho janma mruthyu kutho may,
Naham prana kshuth pipase kutho may,
Naham chitham sokamohou kutho may,
Naham kartha bandha mokshou kutho may. 6

I was not born, whence birth and death came to me,
I am not the soul, whence came hunger and thirst to me,
I am not the mind, whence came passion and sorrow to me,
I am not the doer, whence came attachment and detachment to me?

Translated by P. R. Ramachander
from http://www.celextel.org

Adi Shankaracharya- Incarnation of Shiva

Sri Adi Shankaracharya an ‘Avatar’ incarnation of Lord Shiva.

Jagat Guru Sri Bhagavatpada Adi Shankaracharya, was not only a great thinker and the noblest of Advaitic philosophers but he was essentially an inspired champion of Hinduism and one of the most rigorous missionary leaders in our country.
One of the greatest philosophers and savants of Bharat. Though he lived for only thirty-two years, his achievement was unparalleled. He propounded the vedantic tenet that Brahman the Supreme and man are of one essence and that all people should strive to cultivate this vision of oneness. He established four spiritual centres in the four corners of the country, thus’ upholding the underlying unity of the holy land of Bharat
Shri Adi Shankara (Malayalam:ആദി ശങ്കരന്‍ , Devanāgarī: आदि शङ्कर, Ādi Śankara, pronounced [aadi shankara]); (788 CE – 820 CE), also known as Śaṅkara Bhagavatpādācārya and Ādi Śaṅkarācārya, was an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, a sub-school of Vedanta. His teachings are based on the unity of the soul and Brahman, in which Brahman is viewed as without attributes. He hailed from a beautiful village Kalady of present day Kerala.
Shankara travelled across India and other parts of South Asia to propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with other thinkers. He founded four mathas (“monasteries”), which helped in the historical development, revival and spread of Advaita Vedanta. Adi Shankara is believed to be the organizer of the Dashanami monastic order and the founder of the Shanmata tradition of worship.
His works in Sanskrit, all of which are extant today, concern themselves with establishing the doctrine of Advaita (Nondualism). He also established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the Mimamsa school established strict ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. Shankara relied entirely on the Upanishads for reference concerning Brahman and wrote copious commentaries on the Vedic Canon (Brahma Sutra, Principal Upanishads and Bhagavadgita) in support of his thesis. The main opponent in his work is the Mimamsa school of thought, though he also offers some arguments against the views of some other schools like Samkhya and certain schools of Buddhism that he was familiar with.
Birth and childhood
Adi Shankara was born to Kaippilly Sivaguru Namboodiri and Aryamba Antharjanam in the region of , Kalady in central Kerala. According to lore, it was after his parents, who had been childless for many years, prayed at the Vadakkunnathan Shiva temple,Thrissur that followed by vision of Lord Shiva to the blessed Siva guru & Aryaamba to become the parents of his incarnation . Sankara was born on Vaishakh Shukla Panchami under the star Thiruvathira ,the same star of Lord Shiva.
His father died while Shankara was very young. Shankara was a divine child,an incrnation of Knowledge Shiva himself . Baby Shankara mastered the Malayalam Language at the little age of 3 years.
Shankara’s upanayanaṃ, the initiation into student-life, was performed at the age of five. As a child, Shankara showed remarkable scholarship, mastering the four Vedas by the age of eight.[6]
[edit]Sannyasa
From a young age, Shankara was inclined towardssannyasa, but it was only after much persuasion that his mother finally gave her consent.[7] Shankara then left Kerala and travelled towards North India in search of a guru.
On the banks of the Narmada River, he metGovinda Bhagavatpada, the disciple of Gaudapada. When Govinda Bhagavatpada asked Shankara’s identity, he replied with an extempore verse that brought out the Advaita Vedantaphilosophy. Govinda Bhagavatapada was impressed and took Shankara as his disciple.[8]
The guru instructed Shankara to write a commentary on the Brahma Sutras and propagate the Advaita philosophy.
Acharya’s boundless mercy
Though gifted with miraculous yogic powers, the Acharyas of old, never found leisure in their life time to write their autobiography. Self effacement was the very spirit that governed their life and activities. And yet Sri Adi Shankara was not averse to using his yogic powers for temporal uplift of the unfortunate, as for instance, in his permanently enriching a poor woman by instant composition of the Kanakadhara Stotram, a hymn in praise of Goddess Mahalakshmi, which made Goddess shower her bounty in the form of golden amalakas into the house. Such instances of Shankara’s innate, boundless mercy abound in his short but effective life spans. The mysterious phenomenon of lotuses blossoming forth underneath Sri Sanandana’s feet, as he strode across the swollen Ganga on hearing his Master’s call out, even on others in the group scrambled towards the boatman, is well known. The leadership here, really would be demonstrative, yet remarkably silent and effective use of his yogic powers to emphasize the qualities of Sri Sanandana, who certainly deserved his Guru’s grace
Shankara travelled to Kashi, where a young man named Sanandana, hailing from Chola territory in South India, became his first disciple. According to legend, while on his way to the Vishwanath Temple, Sankara came upon an untouchable accompanied by four dogs. When asked to move aside by Shankara’s disciples, the untouchable replied: “Do you wish that I move my ever lasting Ātman(“the Self”), or this body made of flesh?” Realizing that the untouchable was none other than god Shiva himself, and his dogs the four Vedas, Shankara prostrated himself before him, composing five shlokas known as Manisha Panchakam.[9][10]
At Badari he wrote his famous Bhashyas (“commentaries”) and Prakarana granthas(“philosophical treatises”). [11][12]
[edit]Meeting with Mandana Mishra
One of the most famous debates of Adi Shankara was with the ritualist Maṇḍana Miśra. Maṇḍana Miśra’s guru was the famous Mimamsa philosopher, Kumarīla Bhaṭṭa. Shankara sought a debate with Kumarīla Bhaṭṭa and met him in Prayag where he had buried himself in a slow burning pyre to repent for sins committed against his guru: Kumarīla Bhaṭṭa had learned Buddhist philosophy from his Buddhist guru under false pretenses, in order to be able to refute it. Learning anything without the knowledge of one’s guru while still under his authority constitutes a sin according to the Vedas.[13] Kumarīla Bhaṭṭa thus asked Adi Shankara to proceed to Mahiṣmati(known today as Mahishi Bangaon, Saharsa in Bihar)[14] to meet Maṇḍana Miśra and debate with him instead.
After debating for over fifteen days, with Maṇḍana Miśra’s wife Ubhaya Bhāratīacting as referee, Maṇḍana Miśra accepted defeat.[15] Ubhaya Bhāratī then challenged Adi Shankara to have a debate with her in order to ‘complete’ the victory. Later,Ubhaya Bhāratī conceded defeat in the debate and allowed Maṇḍana Miśra to acceptsannyasa with the monastic name Sureśvarācārya, as per the agreed rules of the debate.[16]
Shankara DigaVijayam
Sharada temple at Sringeri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri
Adi Shankara then travelled with his disciples toMaharashtra and Srisailam. In Srisailam, he composed Shivanandalahari, a devotional hymn in praise of Shiva. The Madhaviya Shankaravijayamsays that when Shankara was about to be sacrificed by a Kapalika, the god Narasimha appeared to save Shankara in response to Padmapada’s prayer to him. As a result, Adi Shankara composed the Laksmi-Narasimha stotra.[17]
He then travelled to Gokarṇa, the temple of Hari-Shankara and the Mūkambika temple at Kollur. At Kollur, he accepted as his disciple a boy believed to be dumb by his parents. He gave him the name, Hastāmalakācārya (“one with the amalaka fruit on his palm”, i.e., one who has clearly realised the Self). Next, he visited Śṛngeri to establish the Śārada Pīṭham and made Toṭakācārya his disciple.[18]
After this, Adi Shankara began a Dig-vijaya (tour of conquest) for the propagation of the Advaita philosophy by controverting all philosophies opposed to it. He travelled throughout India, from South India to Kashmir and Nepal, preaching to the local populace and debating philosophy with Hindu, Buddhist and other scholars and monks along the way.
With the Malayali King Sudhanva as companion, Shankara passed through Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Vidarbha. He then started towards Karnataka where he encountered a band of armed Kapalikas. King Sudhanva, with his army, resisted and defeated the Kapalikas. They safely reached Gokarna where Shankara defeated in debate the Shaiva scholar, Neelakanta.
Proceeding to Saurashtra (the ancient Kambhoja)[19] and having visited the shrines of Girnar, Somnath and Prabhasa and explaining the superiority of Vedanta in all these places, he arrived at Dwarka. Bhaṭṭa Bhāskara of Ujjayini, the proponent of Bhedābeda philosophy, was humbled. All the scholars of Ujjayini (also known as Avanti) accepted Adi Shankara’s philosophy.
He then defeated the Jainas in philosophical debates at a place called Bahlika. Thereafter, the Acharya established his victory over several philosophers and ascetics inKamboja (region of North Kashmir)India, Darada and many regions situated in the desert and crossing mighty peaks, entered KashmirIndia. Later, he had an encounter with a tantrik, Navagupta at Kamarupa.[20]

]Accession to Sarvajnapitha
Adi Shankara visited Sarvajñapīṭha (Sharada Peeth) in KashmirIndia .TheMadhaviya Shankaravijayam states this temple had four doors for scholars from the four cardinal directions. The southern door (representing South India) had never been opened, indicating that no scholar from South India had entered the Sarvajna Pitha. Adi Shankara opened the southern door by defeating in debate all the scholars there in all the various scholastic disciplines such as Mimamsa, Vedanta and other branches ofHindu philosophy; he ascended the throne of Transcendent wisdom of that temple.[22]
Towards the end of his life, Adi Shankara travelled to the Himalayan area of Kedarnath-Badrinath and attained videha mukti (“freedom from embodiment”). There is a samadhi mandir dedicated to Bhagvan Jagat Guru ShriAdi Shankara behind the Kedarnath temple. However, there are variant traditions on the location of his last days. One tradition, expounded by Keraliya Shankaravijaya, places his place of Samadhi as Vadakkunnathan temple in Thrissur, Kerala.[23]
Adi Shankara founded four Maṭhas(Sanskrit: मठ) to guide the Hindu religion. These are at Sringeri in Karnataka in the south, Dwaraka in Gujarat in the west, Puriin Orissa in the east, and Jyotirmath(Joshimath) in Uttarakhand in the north. Hindu tradition states that he put in charge of these mathas his four main disciples:Sureshwaracharya, Hastamalakacharya,Padmapadacharya, and Totakacharyarespectively. The heads of the mathas trace their authority back to these figures. Each of the heads of these four mathas takes the title of Shankaracharya (“the learned Shankara”) after the first Shankaracharya. The table below gives an overview of the four Amnaya Mathas founded by Adi Shankara and their details.[29]
Shishya
Maṭha
Mahavakya
Veda
Sampradaya
Hastāmalakācārya
Govardhana Pīṭhaṃ
Prajñānam brahma (Brahman is Knowledge)
Rig Veda
Bhogavala
Sureśvarācārya
Śārada Pīṭhaṃ
Aham brahmāsmi (I am Brahman)
Yajur Veda
Bhūrivala
Padmapādācārya
Dvāraka Pīṭhaṃ
Tattvamasi (That thou art)
Sama Veda
Kitavala
Toṭakācārya
Jyotirmaṭha Pīṭhaṃ
Ayamātmā brahma (This Atman is Brahman)
Atharva Veda
Nandavala
Advaita (“non-dualism”) is often called a monisticsystem of thought. The word “Advaita” essentially refers to the identity of the Self (Atman) and the Whole (Brahman[30]). Advaita Vedanta says the one unchanging entity(Brahman) alone is existing- Changing entities do not have absolute existence like the waves have no existence other than the ocean.The key source texts for all schools of Vedānta are thePrasthanatrayi– the canonical texts consisting of theUpanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras.

Adi Shankara was the first in its tradition to consolidate the siddhānta (“doctrine”) of Advaita Vedanta. He wrote commentaries on the Prasthana Trayi. A famous quote from Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, one of his prakarana granthas that succinctly summarises his philosophy is:

Brahma satyaṃ jagat mithyā, jīvo brahmaiva nāparah
Brahman is the only truth, the spatio-temporal world is an illusion, and there is ultimately no difference between Brahman and individual self.

Advaita Vedanta is based on śāstra (“scriptures”), yukti (“reason”) and anubhava(“experience”), and aided by karmas (“spiritual practices”).[31] This philosophy provides a clear-cut way of life to be followed. Starting from childhood, when learning has to start, the philosophy has to be realised in practice throughout one’s life even up to death. This is the reason why this philosophy is called an experiential philosophy, the underlying tenet being “That thou art”, meaning that ultimately there is no difference between the experiencer and the experienced (the world) as well as the universal spirit (Brahman). Among the followers of Advaita, as well those of other doctrines, there are believed to have appeared Jivanmuktas, ones liberated while alive. These individuals (commonly called Mahatmas, great souls, among Hindus) are those who realised the oneness of their self and the universal spirit called Brahman.
Adi Shankara’s Bhashyas (commentaries) on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and theBrahma Sutras are his principal works. Although he mostly adhered to traditional means of commenting on the Brahma Sutra, there are a number of original ideas and arguments to establish that the essence of Upanishads is Advaita. He taught that it was only[citation needed] through direct knowledge that one could realize the Brahman.
Adi Shankara’s opponents accused him of teaching Buddhism in the garb of Hinduism, because his non-dualistic ideals seemed rather radical to contemporary Hindu philosophy. However, although Advaita proposes the theory of Maya, explaining the universe as a “trick of a magician”, Adi Shankara and his followers see this as a consequence of their basic premise that Brahman alone is real. Their idea of Maya emerges from their belief in the reality of Brahman, as opposed to Buddhist doctrines ofemptiness, which emerge from the empirical Buddhist approach of observing the nature of reality.
At the time of Adi Shankara’s life, Hinduism was increasing in influence in India at the expense of Buddhism and Jainism. Hinduism was divided into innumerable sects, each quarreling with the others. The followers of Mimamsa and Sankhya philosophy were atheists, insomuch that they did not believe in God as a unified being. Besides these atheists, there were numerous theistic sects. There were also those who rejected the Vedas, like the Charvakas.
Adi Shankara held discourses and debates with the leading scholars of all these sects and schools of philosophy to controvert their doctrines. He unified the theistic sects into a common framework of Shanmata system. In his works, Adi Shankara stressed the importance of the Vedas, and his efforts helped Hinduism regain strength and popularity. Many trace the present worldwide domination of Vedanta to his works. He travelled on foot to various parts of India to restore the study of the Vedas.
Even though he lived for only thirty-two years, his impact on Bharata or Ancient India and on Hinduism was striking. He reintroduced a purer form of Vedic thought. His teachings and tradition form the basis of Smartism and have influenced Sant Mat lineages.[32] He is the main figure in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta. He was the founder of the Daśanāmi Sampradāya of Hindu monasticism and Ṣaṇmata of Smarta tradition. He introduced the Pañcāyatana form of worship.

Adi Shankara, a Hindu philosopher of the Advaita Vedanta school, wrote many works[1] in his life-time of thirty two years; however, many works thought to be of his authorship are debated and questioned as to their authorship today. His works deal with logically establishing the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta as he saw it in the Upanishads. He formulates the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta by validating his arguments on the basis of quotations from the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. He gives a high priority to svānubhava (personal experience) of the student. Also, a large portion of his works is polemical in nature. He directs his polemics mostly against the Sankhya, Bauddha, Jaina, Vaisheshika and other non-vedantic Hindu philosophies.
Traditionally, his works are classified under Bhāṣya (commentary), Prakaraṇa grantha (philosophical treatise) and Stotra (devotional hymn). The commentaries serve to provide a consistent interpretation of the scriptural texts from the perspective of Advaita Vedanta. The philosophical treatises provide various methodologies to the student to understand the doctrine. The devotional hymns are rich in poetry and piety, serving to highlight the helplessness of the devotee and the glory of the deity. A partial list of his works is given below.
Contents
1 Bhāṣya
2 Prakaraṇa grantha
3 Stotra
4 Editions
4.1 Collections of Works
4.2 Brahmasutra Bhashya
4.3 Bhagavadgita Bhashya
4.4 Upadeshasahasri
4.5 Vivekachudamani
4.6 Panchikarana

]Bhāṣya
Adi Shankara wrote Bhāṣya (commentaries) on
Brahmasūtra
Aitareya Upaniṣad (Rigveda)
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (Śukla Yajurveda)
Īśa Upaniṣad (Śukla Yajurveda)
Taittirīya Upaniṣad (Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda)
Kaṭha Upaniṣad (Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda)
Chāndogya Upaniṣad (samaveda)
Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (Atharvaveda) and Gauḍapāda Kārika
Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (Atharvaveda)
Praśna Upaniṣad (Atharvaveda)
Bhagavadgīta (Mahabhārata)
Vishnu Sahasranama (Mahabhārata)
Gāyatri Maṃtra
[edit]Prakaraṇa grantha
Adi Shankara wrote the following treatises
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi (Crest-Jewel of Wisdom)
Upadeśasāhasri (A thousand teachings)
Śataśloki
Daśaśloki
Ekaśloki
Pañcīkaraṇa
Ātma bodha
Aparokṣānubhūti
Sādhana Pañcakaṃ
Nirvāṇa Śatakaṃ
Manīśa Pañcakaṃ
Yati Pañcakaṃ
Vākyasudha
Tattva bodha
Vākya vṛtti
Siddhānta Tattva Vindu
Nirguṇa Mānasa Pūja
[edit]Stotra
Adi Shankara composed many hymns on Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Ganesha and Subrahmanya[2]
Bhaja Govindaṃ,
Adi Sankara’s Stotras
Ananda Lahari
Anathma Vigarhana Prakaranam
Aparoksanubhuti
Aparoksanubhuti [2]
Atma Bodha
Atma Panchakam
Bhagawan Manasa Pooja
Bhaja Govindam
Bhavani Ashtakam
Bhavani Bhujangam
Brahma Jnanavali Mala
Dakshinamuthy Ashtakam
Dhanyashtakam
Ganesha Pancha Ratnam
Gangashtakam [Sankara]
Gauri Dasakam
Govindashtakam
Guru Ashtakam
Guru Paduka Panchakam
Hanumath Pancha Ratnam
Jyotir Linga Stotram
Kala Bhairava Ashtakam
Kalpa Shaki Stavam
Kanaka Dhara Stotra
Kasi Panchakam
Kaupeena Panchakam
Krishnashtakam
Lakshmi Nrsimha Karavalamba Stotra
Lalita Pancha Ratnam
Manisha Panchakam
Mantra Matruka Pushpa Mala Stavam
Maya Panchakam
Nirguna Manasa Puja
Nirvana Dasakam
Nirvana Manjari
Nirvana Shatkam
Nirvanashatkam
Panchikaranam
Pandurangashtakam
Prashnottara Ratna Malika
Prata Smarana Stotram
Rama Bhujangam
Ranganathashtakam
Sadhana Panchakam
Sata Sloki
Shakti Peetha Stotram
Shanmuga Stotram
Sharada Bhujanga Prayathashtaka
Shat Padi
Shiva Ashtakam
Shiva Bhujanga
Shiva Manasa Pooja
Shivananda Lahari
Siddhanta Tattva Vindu
Siva Manasa Puja
Soundarya Lahari
Subrahmanya Bhujangam
Svarupanusandhanashtakam
Tattva Bodha
Tripurasundari Ashtakam
Uma Maheswara Stotra
Upadesa Sahasri
Vakya Sudha
Vakya Vritti
Vijnana Nauka
Vishnu Bhujanga Stotram
Viswanathashtakam
Vivekachudamani
Vedasaara Shiva Stuti
& Many More…
They have been the most important figures in the recent history of Hindu philosophy. In their writings and debates, they provided polemics against the non-Vedantic schools of Sankhya, Vaisheshika etc. Thus they paved the way for Vedanta to be the dominant and most widely followed tradition among the schools of Hindu philosophy. The Vedanta school stresses most on the Upanishads (which are themselves called Vedanta, End or culmination of the Vedas), unlike the other schools that gave importance to the ritualistic Brahmanas, or to texts authored by their founders. The Vedanta schools hold that the Vedas, which include the Upanishads, are unauthored, forming a continuous tradition of wisdom transmitted orally. Thus the concept of apaurusheyatva (“being unauthored”) came to be the guiding force behind the Vedanta schools. However, along with stressing the importance of Vedic tradition, Adi Shankara gave equal importance to the personal experience of the student. Logic, grammar, Mimamsa and allied subjects form main areas of study in all the Vedanta schools. Regarding meditation, Shankara refuted the system of Yoga and its disciplines as a direct means to attain moksha, rebutting the argument that it can be obtained through concentration of the mind. His position is that the mental states discovered through the practices of Yoga can be indirect aids to the gain of knowledge, but cannot themselves give rise to it. According to his philosophy, knowledge of brahman springs from inquiry into the words of the Upanishads, and the knowledge of brahman that shruti provides cannot be obtained in any other way.[33]
It has to be noted that it is generally considered that for Shankara the Absolute Reality is attributeless and impersonal since Shankara himself is attributed to composing the popular 8th century Hindu devotional composition Bhaja Govindam (literal meaning, “Worship Govinda”). This work of Adi Shankara is considered as a good summary of Advaita Vedanta and underscores the view that devotion to God, Govinda, is not only an important part of general spirituality, but the concluding verse drives through the message of Shankara: “Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh fool! Other than chanting the Lord’s names, there is no other way to cross the life’s ocean”. Bhaja Govindam invokes the almighty in the aspect of Vishnu; it is therefore very popular not only with Sri Adi Shankaracharya’s immediate followers, the Smarthas, but also with Vaishnavas and others.

A well known verse, recited in the Smarta tradition, in praise of Adi Shankara is:
श्रुति स्मृति पुराणानामालयं करुणालयं|
नमामि भगवत्पादशंकरं लॊकशंकरं ||
Śruti smṛti purāṇānāṃālayaṃ karuṇālayaṃ|
Namāmi Bhagavatpādaśaṅkaraṃ lokaśaṅkaraṃ||
I salute the compassionate abode of the Vedas, Smritis and Puranas known as Shankara Bhagavatpada, who makes the world auspicious.

From Ashram.org