Vivekachudamani

The Vivekachudamani (Sanskrit: विवेकचूडामणि; IAST Vivekacūḍāmaṇi) is an introductory treatise within the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism, traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara of the eighth century.[5] It is in the form of a poem in the Shardula Vikridita metre,[6] and for many centuries has been celebrated as a prakaraṇa grantha (teaching manual) of Advaita.[5]

Vivekachudamani

Author	Attributed to Adi Shankara,[1] though generally rejected by modern scholarship[2][3]
Country	India
Language	Sanskrit
Subject	Hindu philosophy
Genre	Advaita Vedanta
Publisher	Original: 8th century or later; Modern: T.K. Balasubramania Iyer (1910)[4]
Published in English	Many (Madhavananda (1921), Charles Johnston (1946), John Grimes (2004))
OCLC	51477985

Vivekachudamani literally means the "Crest-jewel of discrimination".[7] The text discusses key concepts and the viveka or discrimination or discernment between real (unchanging, eternal) and unreal (changing, temporal), Prakriti and Atman, the oneness of Atman and Brahman, and self-knowledge as the central task of the spiritual life and for Moksha.[8][1][9] It expounds the Advaita Vedanta 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

In India, Vivekachudamani is widely believed to be authored by Adi Shankara (or Adi Shankaracharya).

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.[5][10] 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.[5] 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.[5][10]

According to John Grimes, a professor of Hinduism and Buddhism known for his translation of 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.[2] Grimes states that his work strengthens the case that "there is still a likelihood that Śaṅkara is the author of the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi," [2] noting that "a strong case can be made that the Vivekacudamani 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."[11][5]

The authorship of Vivekachudamani has been questioned by few.[1][note 1] According to Michael Comans, a scholar of Advaita Vedanta, though the Hindu tradition popularly believes that Adi Shankara authored Vivekachudamani, this is "most probably erroneous".[12] Comans gives the following reasons for his doubts: the highly poetic style of Vivekachudamani is not found in other genuine works of Adi Shankara; there is a lack of extensive commentaries (bhasya) on Vivekachudamani which is unusual given the extensive commentaries on his other works; and unlike Shankara's other genuine works which give minimal importance to "nirvikalpa samadhi" practices, the Vivekachudamani gives special importance to it.[12] Though Vivekachudamani is a popular manual on Vedanta, it is probably the work of a later Shankara, and not Adi Shankara, states Comans.[12] Yet another theory, states Berger, is that "rather than simply having been written or not written by [Adi] Sankara, the Crown Jewel of Discrimination may be a corporately authored work [of Advaita monasteries] that went through revisions".[5]

According to Natalia Isayeva, a scholar of Advaita Vedanta, it is "far less probable" that Adi Shankara authored Vivekachudamani.[13] Sengaku Mayeda, another scholar of Indian Philosophy and Advaita Vedanta, states that though widely accepted as Shankara's work, Vivekachudamani is likely not his work.[14]

Irrespective of the attribution, Vivekachudmani is a significant work of Advaita. According to Swami Dayananda Saraswati, a Vedanta teacher, "I do not think we lose anything even if the authorship is attributed to any other Sankaracharya of one of the various Sankara-mathas." [15]

Manuscripts

Many historic manuscripts of Vivekacudamani have been found in different monasteries of Advaita Vedanta. These have minor variations, and a critical edition of these has not been published yet.[4] The earliest original Sanskrit manuscript of Vivekacudamani was published from Srirangam (Tamil Nadu) by T.K. Balasubramania Iyer in 1910.[4] 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).[4]

Contents

Vivekachudamani consists of 580 verses in Sanskrit. These cover a range of spiritual topics and their answers according to the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism.

Vivekachudamani

Section	Verses	Topics[16]
1	1-31	Man's life and quest, spirituality, liberation: basic aspects
2	32-71	The need for a teacher, characteristics of a good teacher, characteristics of a good student
3	72-110	The physical, the body: discriminating the three essences
4	111-135	Nature and effects: five sheaths, three gunas
5	136-146	The goal of spirituality, the nature of bondage, the nature of confusion, the nature of sorrow
6	147-153	Atma and Anatma: discrimination, self-knowledge and bliss
7	154-225	The path to self-knowledge
	154-164	Annamaya kosha and its negation
	165-166	Pranamaya kosha and its negation
	167-183	Manomaya kosha and its negation
	184-188	Vijnanamaya kosha and its negation
	189-206	The free soul, what is freedom and liberation, why self-knowledge is necessary
	207-210	Annamaya kosha and its negation
	211-225	Atman, what it is not? what is it?
8	226-240	The absolute brahman, the atman, the oneness, and the Vedic precepts
9	240-249	That thou art: you are it!
10	250-266	Meditation, its purpose, the method, questions to ponder and reflect on
11	267-338	The method
	267-276	Understand and end vasanas (impressions, inertia, memorized beliefs and behavior)
	277-292	Understand and end svadhyasa (superimposed sense of self)
	293-309	Understand and end ahankara (false ego)
	310-319	Renounce egocentric work, craving and sense objects
	320-329	Be true to supreme self, be vigilant against delusion
	330-338	Cherish oneness, there is no duality, no plurality; dwell in the real, not the unreal
12	339-383	Spiritual growth and nirvikalpa samadhi, the entire universe is you, you are the self of all
13	384-406	Continuous attention to one's true nature
14	407-425	Atam-vichar: self-inquiry
15	426-445	Signs of a realized seer: jivanmukta
16	446-471	The saint without plurality
17	472-520	The disciple of knowledge and the experience of self-hood
18	521-575	Final words of advice from the teacher
	576-580	Epilogue: the liberated disciple and the innermost essence of Vedanta

The text begins with salutations to Govinda, which can be interpreted either as referring to God or to his guru Sri Govinda Bhagavatpada.[7] It then expounds the significance of Self Realisation, ways to reach it, and the characteristics of a Guru. It criticizes attachment to the body and goes to explain the various Sareeras, Kosas, Gunas, Senses and Pranas which constitute the Anatman.[17] It teaches the disciple the ways to attain Self-realisation, methods of meditation (dhyana) and introspection of the Atman. The Vivekachudamani describes the characteristics of an enlightened human being (Jivanmukta)[18] and a person of steady wisdom (Sthitaprajna) on the lines of Bhagavad Gita.[19]

Significance

The Vivekachudmani has been celebrated for centuries as a lucid introductory treatise to Advaita Vedanta.[5] 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.[20]

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 Vivekachudmani but are neither as comprehensive nor same, include Ekasloki, Svatmaprakasika, Manisapancaka, Nirvanamanjari, Tattvopadesa, Prasnottararatnamalika, Svatmanirupana, Prabodhasudhakara and Jivanmuktanandalahari.[21] These texts are not attributed to Adi Shankara. Upadesasahasri, another Advaita teaching manual, is attributed to Adi Shankara.[22][23]

Commentaries and translations

There are two Sanskrit commentaries on this work. Sri Sacchidananda Shivabhinava Nrusimha Bharati, the pontiff of Sringeri, wrote a commentary titled Vivekodaya (Dawn of Discrimination) on the first 7 verses of this work. His disciple, Sri Chandrasekhara Bharathi, has written a Vyakhya or commentary 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 and Christopher Isherwood, Swami Madhavananda, Swami Turiyananda and Swami Chinmayananda. Tamil translations and commentaries include those by Ramana Maharshi. Swami Jyotihswarupananda has translated the Vivekachudamani into Marathi.[24]

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 [Vivekacudmani] 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."[25]

Hundreds of commentaries in several languages are available on internet in the form of blog articles, videos etc.

Some translated works of Vivekachudamani

Language	Author	Publication/Year
Hindi	Munilal Gupta	Gita Press, 2017
Telugu	A. Venkata Sesha Kavi	1990
Kannada	Central Chinmaya Mission Trust	2018
Tamil	Sri Ramana Maharshi	1905, Audio Book
English	Sri Jnanananda Bharati	2015

Famous verses

• Brahma satya jagat mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah

Translation: Brahman is the only truth, the world is illusory, and there is ultimately no difference between Brahman and individual self[26] While this verse is frequently attributed to the Vivekacudamani, in fact it comes from Verse 20 of the Brahma Jnana Vali Mala.

• अर्थस्य निश्चयो दृष्टो विचारेण हितोक्तितः | न स्नानेन न दानेन प्राणायमशतेन वा ||१३|| (arthasya niścayo dṛṣṭo vicāreṇa hitoktitaḥ | na snānena na dānena prāṇāyamaśatena vā ||13||)

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.[27]

Notes

1. According to Reza Shah-Kazemi the authorship of Shankara is doubtful,[3] though it is "so closely interwoven into the spiritual heritage of Shankara that any analysis of his perspective which fails to consider [this work] would be incomplete".[3] See also arshabodha.org, Sri Sankara’s Vivekachudamani, p.3-4, The Question of Authorship of Vivekachudamani

References

1. Grimes 2004.
2. Grimes 2004, p. 23.
3. Shah-Kazemi 2006, p. 4.
4. Grimes 2004, pp. 274-278.
5. Berger, Douglas L. (2005). "The Vivekacudamani of Sankaracarya Bhagavatpada: An Introduction and Translation (review)". Philosophy East and West. 55 (4): 616–619. doi:10.1353/pew.2005.0032.
6. Usha 1990
7. Madhavananda 1921, p. 1
8. Sri Sankara’s Vivekachudamani, Achyarya Pranipata Chaitanya (Translator) and Satinder Dhiman, Tiruchengode Chinmaya Mission, Tamil Nadu (2011)
9. Espín & James B. Nickoloff 2007, p. 1471
10. Govind Chandra Pande (1994). Life and Thought of Śaṅkarācārya. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 117–119. ISBN 978-81-208-1104-1.
11. Grimes 2004, p. 13.
12. Toṭakācārya; Michael Comans (translator) (1996). Extracting the Essence of the Sruti. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. xv–xvi. ISBN 978-81-208-1410-3.
13. Natalia Isayeva (1993). Shankara and Indian Philosophy. State University of New York Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-4384-0762-3.
14. Sengaku Mayeda (2006). A Thousand Teachings: The Upadesasahasri of Sankara. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 10 footnote 33. ISBN 978-81-208-2771-4.
15. Sri Sankara’s Vivekachudamani, Achyarya Pranipata Chaitanya (Translator) and Satinder Dhiman, p. 4
16. Grimes 2004, pp. 56-273 (see pages 274-278 for variant readings).
17. Sri Chandrashe hara Bharati of Sringeri. Sri Samkara’s Vivekacudamani. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. xxi.
18. "Man of wisdom". The Hindu. 29 June 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
19. "State of liberation". The Hindu. 18 February 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
20. Berger, Douglas L. (2005). "The Vivekacudamani of Sankaracarya Bhagavatpada: An Introduction and Translation (review)". Philosophy East and West. 55 (4): 618–619. doi:10.1353/pew.2005.0032.
21. Govind Chandra Pande (1994). Life and Thought of Śaṅkarācārya. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 117–121. ISBN 978-81-208-1104-1.
22. Śaṅkarācārya; Sengaku Mayeda (Translator) (1979). A Thousand Teachings: The Upadeśasāhasrī of Śaṅkara. State University of New York Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-0-7914-0944-2.
23. N. V. Isaeva (1993). Shankara and Indian Philosophy. State University of New York Press. pp. 220–221. ISBN 978-0-7914-1281-7.
24. Nagpur, India: Ramakrishna Math; 2009
25. Berger, Douglas L. (2005). "The Vivekacudamani of Sankaracarya Bhagavatpada: An Introduction and Translation (review)". Philosophy East and West. 55 (4): 619. doi:10.1353/pew.2005.0032.
26. Rosen, Steven (2007). Krishna's Song. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-313-34553-1.
27. 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’s translation of Vivekachudamani published in 1921, Himalayan Series 43

Sources

• Grimes, John (2004), "Introduction", The Vivekacudamani of Sankaracarya Bhagavatpada: An Introduction and Translation, ISBN 978-0754633952
• Usha, Brahmacharini (1990). A Brief Dictionary of Hinduism. Vedanta Press. ISBN 978-0-87481-048-6.
• Espín, Orlando O.; James B. Nickoloff (2007). An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies. Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0-8146-5856-7.
• Madhavananda, Swami (1921). Vivekachudamani of Sri Sankaracharya. Advaita Ashrama.
• Prabhavananda, Swami; Christopher Isherwood (1970). Shankara's Crest Jewel of Discrimination. Vedanta Press. ISBN 978-0-87481-038-7.
• Ranganathananda, Swami (2008). The Message of Vivekachudamani. Advaita Ashrama. p. 624. ISBN 81-7505-308-9.
• Shah-Kazemi, Reza (2006), Paths to Transcendence: According to Shankara, Ibn Arabi & Meister Eckhart, World Wisdom
• Sri Chandrashekara Bharati; P.Sankaranarayanan (1999). Vivekachudamani (4 ed.). Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Further reading

• Prabhavananda; Christopher Isherwood (1978). Shankara's crest-jewel of discrimination (3 ed.). Vedanta Press. ISBN 978-0-87481-038-7.
• Chatterji, Mohini M. (2004). Viveka Chudamani Or Crest Jewel of Wisdom of Sri Sankaracharya. Kessinger Publishing. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-4179-8207-3.
• Mishra, Dr. Suryamani (2016). Viveka Chudamani Hindi Translated. Chintan Prakashan. p. 126. ISBN 978-93-85804-10-6.

External links

• Vivekachudamani – Multiple Translations (Johnston, Chatterji, Madhavananda)
• Complete audio with eng meaning - Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Vivekachudamani with additional notes Translated by Swami Madhavananda, online ebook
• The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom: VIVEKACHUDAMANI, By Sankaracharya, Translated by Charles Johnston