Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

by Pavan K. Varma

what is ubiquitous but not constrained by the brittleness of form, is by definition imperishable.

‘I am neither the earth, nor water, nor fire, nor air, nor sky, nor any other properties. I am not the senses and not even the mind. I am Shiva, the undivided essence of consciousness.’

The newer city is a cacophony of traffic, noise, pollution and filth, in short, a municipal nightmare with no easy solutions. The amazing thing, though, is that the people of Varanasi take all this in their stride, either because they are born stoics, or congenitally oblivious to the travails of the material world, beyond too much worry about what is wrong today, because, after all, the measure of time is eternal, and much like the millennia-old Ganga, only a speck against the infinite canvas of time.

Srutam Me Gopaya: Let my Learning be Safe.

He tells me that the word Kashi means ‘where the cosmic light concentrates in a circle’.

I am Brahma alone. And, this entire world has been spread out by pure consciousness. All this, without residue, has been superimposed by me through nescience which consists of the three gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas). Thus, he in whom there is firm knowledge in respect of the eternal, blemishless supreme (Brahma) which is unexcellable bliss, is the preceptor, be he a chandala or a brahamana. This is my conclusive view.

The sheer scenic beauty of Badrinath, far above the din of the world, nestled among the towering snow-clad peaks of the Himalayas, with the roar of the youthful Alakananda bursting forth straight from the nearby glaciers, providing the only sound to break the perennial silence, must be why Shankara was so fond of this spot, and visited it often and for long periods to think, write and meditate.

Satyam jnanam, anantam Brahma: Knowledge is truth and Brahman is eternal, was what he proclaimed, and the Upanishads were the source of his jnana.

Above the senses is the mind, Above the mind is the intellect, Above that is the ego, and above the ego Is the unmanifested Cause And beyond is Brahma, omnipresent, Attributeless. Realizing him one is released From the cycle of birth and death.

The effulgent Self, who is beyond thought, Shines in the greatest, shines in the smallest, Shines in the farthest, shines in the nearest, Shines in the secret chamber of the heart. The flowing river is lost in the sea; The illumined sage is lost in the Self The flowing river has become the sea; The illumined sage has become the Self

As by knowing one lump of clay, dear one, We come to know all things made out of clay: That they differ only in name and form, While the stuff of which all are made is clay; As by knowing one gold nugget, dear one, We come to know all things made out of gold: That they differ only in name and form, While the stuff of which all are made is gold; As by knowing one tool of iron, dear one, We come to know all things made out of iron: That they differ only in name and form, While the stuff of which all are made is iron— So through that spiritual wisdom, dear one, We come to know that all life is one.

When all desires that surge in the heart Are renounced, the mortal becomes immortal. When all the knots that strangle at the heart Are loosened, the mortal becomes immortal. This sums up the teaching of the scriptures.

Along with the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita (to which we shall refer later), the Brahma Sutra makes up the triad of the three foundational texts of Hinduism.

Brahman is non-dual pure consciousness, unconditioned and unblemished.

The most important concept that the Gita enunciated was that of nishkama karma, of action, without attachment or thought of reward, done without selfish desire in a spirit of surrender. Krishna says: Hear my truth about the surrender of works, Arjuna. Surrender, O best of men, is of three kinds. Works of sacrifice, gift, and self-harmony should not be abandoned, but should indeed be performed; for these are works of purification. But even these works, Arjuna, should be done in the freedom of a pure offering, and without expectation of a reward. This is my final word. It’s not right to leave undone the holy work which ought to be done. Such a surrender of action would be a delusion of darkness. And he who abandons his duty because he has fear of pain his surrender is of Rajas, impure, and in truth he has no reward. But he who does holy work, Arjuna, because it ought to be done, and surrenders selfishness and thought of reward, his work is pure, and is peace. This man sees and has no doubts: he surrenders, he is pure and has peace. Work, pleasant or painful, is for him joy. For there is no man on earth who can fully renounce living work, but he who renounces the reward of his work, is in truth a man of renunciation. When work is done for a reward, the work brings pleasure, or pain, or both, in its time; but when a man does work in Eternity, then Eternity is his reward.

The man who sees Brahma abides in Brahma; his reason is steady, gone is his delusion. When pleasure comes he is not shaken, and when pain comes he trembles not. He is not bound by things without, and within he finds inner gladness. His soul is one in Brahma and he attains everlasting joy. For the pleasures that come from the world bear in them sorrows to come. They come and they go, they are transient: not in them do the wise find joy. But he on this earth, before his departure, can endure the storms of desire and wrath, this man is a Yogi, this man has joy. This man has inner joy, he has inner gladness, and he has found inner Light. This Yogi attains the Nirvana of Brahma: he is one with God and goes unto God. Holy men reach the Nirvana of Brahma: their sins are no more, their doubts are gone, their soul is in harmony, their joy is in the good of all.

He is never born, and he never dies. He is in Eternity: he is for evermore. Never born and eternal, beyond times gone or to come, he does not die when the body dies.

I see in thee all the gods, O my God; and the infinity of the beings of thy creation. I see God Brahmana on his throne of lotus, and all the seers and serpents of light.

In counselling Arjuna, Krishna synthesised several paths to moksha, all sanctioned by Hindu tradition: jnana marga, the path of knowledge, karma marga, the path of selfless activity, and bhakti marga, the path of devotion to a personal god.

In the sutra, discipline is outlined as an eightfold path, starting from yama (self-restraint), niyama (virtuous observances), asana (posture), pranayama (consciously controlling breath), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentrating the mind), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (a trance-like state in which there is complete union with the subject of meditation).

For Shankara, Brahman is urja or infinite energy, pure consciousness, and unsullied awareness. It is intelligence personified—as can be inferred by the verifiable order in the universe, both at the micro and macro level.

That which is real in the absolute sense, immutable, eternal, all-penetrating like akasha, exempt from change, all satisfying, undivided, whose nature is its own light, in which neither good nor evil, nor effect, nor past nor present nor future has any place, this incorporeal is called liberation.21

‘Lord and Primeval Cause! From thee alone the world has sprung. Compassionate One! Thou who art Lord of all, in Thee Shiva, who dost reveal thyself through all things living and all without life! To Thee alone does the world at last return.’

Prasāde sarvaduḥkhānāaṃ hānirasyopajāyate | Prasannacetaso hyasu buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhte || (In peace there is an end of all miseries; for, the reason of the tranquil-minded soon becomes steady.)