The Journey In Library · Sacred Texts · No. 17
The Vivekachudamani
The Crest-Jewel of Discernment, in Sanskrit and plain English with notes
Sanskrit · attributed to Shankara, c. 8th century CE · Advaita Vedanta
ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्येत्येवंरूपो विनिश्चयः ।
सोऽयं नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः समुदाहृतः ॥
brahma satyaṃ jagan mithyety evaṃ-rūpo viniścayaḥ |
so 'yaṃ nityānitya-vastu-vivekaḥ samudāhṛtaḥ ||
The firm conviction that Brahman alone is real and the world is appearance: this is called discernment between the eternal and the passing.
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From the book
The title word viveka, discernment, is the key to the whole work. The method is to tell the real from the unreal, again and again, until only the self remains.
Written as a dialogue between a teacher and a seeker, it moves from the qualities a student needs, through the body, the mind and the five sheaths that seem to cover the self, to the great saying “You are that.”
What's inside
- About this edition and key terms
- The seeker and the teacher
- The three bodies and maya
- The self and the five sheaths
- You are that
- Practice and absorption
- The one reality and the free person
- The student's awakening and the teacher's last words
About this edition
The original Sanskrit in Devanagari script, with a new translation into plain, modern English written for The Journey In, and short notes where a verse needs context.