Vivekachudamani


The Vivekachudamani is an introductory treatise within the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism, traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara of the eighth century. It is in the form of a poem in the Shardula Vikridita metre, and for many centuries has been celebrated as a prakaraṇa grantha of Advaita.
Vivekachudamani literally means the "Crest-jewel of discrimination". The text discusses key concepts and the viveka or discrimination or discernment between real and unreal, Prakriti and Atman, the oneness of Atman and Brahman, and self-knowledge as the central task of the spiritual life and for Moksha. 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.
:de:Paul Hacker|Paul Hacker, an Indologist and scholar of Advaita, set out a methodology for ascertaining authorship of Advaita texts and he concluded that though the Vivekachudmani is unusual in parts, it was likely authored by Adi Shankara. Hacker stated that the definitions of the key concepts, premises and ideas found in the Vivekachudmani match with those in Shankara's established authentic works. Daniel H. H. Ingalls Sr., another influential Indologist, rejected Hacker's conclusion by accepting Hacker's methodology and presenting evidence from its manuscripts that some of the ideas in the text do not fully agree with those of Adi Shankara.
According to John Grimes, a professor of Hinduism 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. Grimes states that his work strengthens the case that "there is still a likelihood that Śaṅkara is the author of the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi," 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."
The authorship of Vivekachudamani has been questioned by few. 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". 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 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. Though Vivekachudamani is a popular manual on Vedanta, it is probably the work of a later Shankara, and not Adi Shankara, states Comans. Yet another theory, states Berger, is that "rather than simply having been written or not written by Sankara, the Crown Jewel of Discrimination may be a corporately authored work that went through revisions".
According to Natalia Isayeva, a scholar of Advaita Vedanta, it is "far less probable" that Adi Shankara authored Vivekachudamani. 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.
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."

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. The earliest original Sanskrit manuscript of Vivekacudamani was published from Srirangam by T.K. Balasubramania Iyer in 1910. This edition has attracted much of 20th- and 21st-century scholarship, and has been republished in 1983 after some revision and re-arrangement to reflect studies on it since 1910. Other editions have been the basis of a few Indian translations. The five most referred to manuscripts in Advaita scholarship have been published by Samata, Advaita Ashrama, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chinmayananda Ashrama.

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.
SectionVersesTopicsText, transliteration and translation
11-31Man's life and quest, spirituality, liberation: basic aspectspp. 41-64
232-71The need for a teacher, characteristics of a good teacher, characteristics of a good studentpp. 64-97
372-110The physical, the body: discriminating the three essencespp. 97-132
4111-135Nature and effects: five sheaths, three gunaspp. 132-153
5136-146The goal of spirituality, the nature of bondage, the nature of confusion, the nature of sorrowpp. 153-165
6147-153Atma and Anatma: discrimination, self-knowledge and blisspp. 165-171
7154-225The path to self-knowledgepp. 171-232
7154-164Annamaya kosha and its negationpp. 171-180
7165-166Pranamaya kosha and its negationpp. 180-182
7167-183Manomaya kosha and its negationpp. 182-197
7184-188Vijnanamaya kosha and its negationpp. 197-201
7189-206The free soul, what is freedom and liberation, why self-knowledge is necessarypp. 201-216
7207-210Annamaya kosha and its negationpp. 216-219
7211-225Atman, what it is not? what is it?pp. 219-232
8226-240The absolute brahman, the atman, the oneness, and the Vedic preceptspp. 233-246
9240-249That thou art: you are it!pp. 246-255
10250-266Meditation, its purpose, the method, questions to ponder and reflect onpp. 256-274
11267-338The methodpp. 274-336
11267-276Understand and end vasanas pp. 274-283
11277-292Understand and end svadhyasa pp. 283-294
11293-309Understand and end ahankara pp. 294-311
11310-319Renounce egocentric work, craving and sense objectspp. 311-319
11320-329Be true to supreme self, be vigilant against delusionpp. 319-327
11330-338Cherish oneness, there is no duality, no plurality; dwell in the real, not the unrealpp. 327-336
12339-383Spiritual growth and nirvikalpa samadhi, the entire universe is you, you are the self of allpp. 336-380
13384-406Continuous attention to one's true naturepp. 380-401
14407-425Atam-vichar: self-inquirypp. 401-418
15426-445Signs of a realized seer: jivanmuktapp. 418-433
16446-471The saint without pluralitypp. 433-454
17472-520The disciple of knowledge and the experience of self-hoodpp. 454-493
18521-575Final words of advice from the teacherpp. 493-533
576-580Epilogue: the liberated disciple and the innermost essence of Vedantapp. 533-538

The text begins with salutations to Govinda, which can be interpreted either as referring to God or to his guru Sri Govinda Bhagavatpada. 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. It teaches the disciple the ways to attain Self-realisation, methods of meditation and introspection of the Atman. The Vivekachudamani describes the characteristics of an enlightened human being and a person of steady wisdom on the lines of Bhagavad Gita.

Significance

The Vivekachudmani has been celebrated for centuries as a lucid introductory treatise to Advaita Vedanta. It is, states Berger, not a "philosophical or polemical" text. It is primarily a pedagogical treatise, as an aid to an Advaitin's spiritual journey to liberation rather than "philosophy for the sake of philosophy". It is one of the texts of "spiritual sustenance" in the Advaita tradition.
The Vivekachudmani is one of several historic teaching manuals in the Advaita tradition, one of its most popular. Other texts that illustrate Advaita ideas in a manner broadly similar to Vivekachudmani but are neither as comprehensive nor same, include Ekasloki, Svatmaprakasika, Manisapancaka, Nirvanamanjari, Tattvopadesa, Prasnottararatnamalika, Svatmanirupana, Prabodhasudhakara and Jivanmuktanandalahari. These texts are not attributed to Adi Shankara. Upadesasahasri, another Advaita teaching manual, is attributed to Adi Shankara.

Commentaries and translations

There are two Sanskrit commentaries on this work. Sri Sacchidananda Shivabhinava Nrusimha Bharati, the pontiff of Sringeri, wrote a commentary titled Vivekodaya 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.
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 translation itself is a testament to Grimes’ surpassing Sanskrit skills and thorough knowledge of Vedantic textual exegesis. The unusually lucid presentation of the Sanskrit slokas is rendered with exactness and eloquent clarity in the English. The accompanying Upanisadic cross-referencing and Sanskrit-English lexicon of key terms will prove themselves enormously helpful to lay readers, students, and scholars."
Hundreds of commentaries in several languages are available on internet in the form of blog articles, videos etc.
LanguageAuthorPublication/Year
HindiMunilal GuptaGita Press, 2017
TeluguA. Venkata Sesha Kavi
KannadaCentral Chinmaya Mission Trust2018
TamilSri Ramana Maharshi1905,
EnglishSri Jnanananda Bharati2015

Famous verses

Translation: Brahman is the only truth, the world is illusory, and there is ultimately no difference between Brahman and individual self While this verse is frequently attributed to the Vivekacudamani, in fact it comes from Verse 20 of the Brahma Jnana Vali Mala.
Translation: By reflection, reasoning and instructions of teachers, the truth is known,
Not by ablutions, not by making donations, nor by performing hundreds of breath control exercises.