Our quality of life is always threatened by conflict. In these courses, Swamiji shows that the root of all conflict is not outside, but within, and that we encounter this inner conflict whenever we must negotiate personal desires versus universal values. Swamiji addresses how to manage-and resolve-this pervasive conflict during this series of classes. A […]
In this course, the dialogue with Maitreyi and Yajnvalkya takes place. In Chapter 2.4 of the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, Swamiji follows Shankarabhasya sentence by sentence. Here Yajnavalkya wants to leave his wealth with his wife, Maitreyi and take up a life of Sannyasa, a pursuit of self-knowledge alone. In this dialogue the qualifications of an aspirant
Aitareya Upanishad is the only one of the ten Upanishads commented on by Shankara that hails from the Rig-Veda. It forms the fourth, fifth and sixth chapters of the second Aranyaka of Aitrareya Brahmana. The first reveals Atma as the creator that creates the world and enters into it as the experience. The second chapter
The longest, oldest, and one of the most often quoted Upanishad, Brhadaranyaka unfolds the knowledge of the self through a wide variety of dialogues. It contains the doctrine netineti (neither this, nor that). It also offers methods of worship and upasanas (meditations) that prepare the mind to receive the knowledge. Its three sections address the
Bhaja Govindam (To Seek Govinda) was originally known as Moha-Mudgara, which means “mallet of delusion.” In these thirty-one verses, Shankara delivers some strokes of the mallet in order to rouse us from delusion and restore objectivity. The current title, Bhaja Govindam, means “To seek or know Govinda (Lord Krishna) as the purpose of life”. A distinguishing
Tattva Bodha is the Knowledge of the Truth. In this brief treatise is everything we need for a complete understanding of Vedanta. With clear allusions to the Shastra and its commentaries. Tattva Bodha is a succinct but thorough exposition that can serve as both an introduction and a work to deepen understanding. In this clear
The Five verses on the Essence of Mankind or Wisdom of Unity. The legendary story connected with these five verses by Shankara is as follows. One day in Varanasi in the early morning Sri Shankara was returning from a bath in Ganga and, as is the tradition even now among all monks, proceeded to have the
This celebrated Stotram in praise of the greatness of the Lord begins with the question “who can praise the one whom even the Sruti (Veda) tentatively explains by the removal of not that? It then uses this very method to reveal the nature of reality, Brahman. This Stotram touches on dialectics and draws on illustrations
The great sayings of Upanisads as characterized by the Avaita school of Vedanta with Maha meaning great and Vakya a sentence. Aham Brahmasmi – I am Brahman (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad) Ayam Atma Brahma – This Self (Atma) is Brahman (Mandukya Upanishad) Prajnanam Brahma – Consciousness is Brahman (Aitareya Upanishad) Tattvamasi – You are That ( Chandogya
The Dakshinamurti Stotram, in praise of the glory of Ishvara, holds a significant place in the literature of Shankara. “ I am the whole, with time, place and everything therein”. This essence unfolded by the Upanishads, is captured beautifully in thee verses by Shankara. They depict the self as self-revealing consciousness and the objects that
