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
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
Tripuri, a text attributed to Shankaracharya, which unfolds the nature of the self through an analysis of three levels of experience or three cities (Tri-Puri), the gross or physical body, through which we experience the waking world, the subtle body which is associated with the dream world and the causal body associated with the experience
An outreach program classes, where Swami Pratyagbodanandaji summarized the Bhagavad Gita. A Video Course on Vedanta Texts- Bhagavad Gita: Essence of Bhagavad Gita by Swami Pratyagbodhananda Saraswati.
These six verses on the silent, unchanging self by Shankara are a declaration of his own direct and intimately clear knowledge of the limitless self (Brahman). The verses discuss the nature of absolute peace, tranquility, freedom, and joy, which are not different from the nature of the self. Meditating on the verses can stimulate the
