ajAti vAda

It is SankarAcArya's interpretation of the source texts of vedAnta that lays the
foundation for classical advaita. It is also largely because of Sankara's composition of
bhAshyas on the brahmasUtras, upanishads and the bhagavad-gItA, that these three have
become important in all vedAnta literature as the prasthAna-trayI.
The following bhAshyas (commentaries) are his principal compositions: [1]
1. upanishad (Sruti prasthAna) bhAshyas on
o aitareya upanishad
o bRhadAraNyaka upanishad
o ISa upanishad
o taittirIya upanishad
o kaTha upanishad
o chAndogya upanishad
o kena upanishad
o muNDaka upanishad
o praSna upanishad
o mANDUkya upanishad and kArikAs
2. bhagavadgItA (smRti prasthAna) bhAshya,
3. brahmasUtra (nyAya prasthAna) bhAshya.
In addition to the upanishads in the list above, SankarAcArya also quotes the kaushItakI,
SvetASvatara, mahAnArAyaNa, jAbAla, paingala and a few other upanishads in his
brahmasUtra bhAshya. There are bhAshyas on SvetASvatara, kaushItakI and
nRsimhatApanI upanishads, the attribution of which is doubtful.
Sankara is also said to have written texts in other Indian philosophical traditions. There
are texts on yoga, like the yogasUtra bhAshya vivaraNa and a commentary on the
adhyAtma paTala of the Apastamba dharmasUtras, [2] and commentaries on the vishNu
sahasranAma and lalitA triSati. A sAm.khya work called jayamangalA and a nyAya
work called sthirasiddhi are also attributed to him.
A large number of advaita treatises, called prakaraNa granthas, [3]are also usually
attributed to Sankara. There is doubt within modern critical scholarship, regarding the
authorship of these works. It is possible that works of later advaitins have been assumed
to be those of Sankara himself, as his successors in the various maThas have also come
to be called SankarAcAryas. However, the living advaita tradition itself views the
prakaraNa granthas as Sankara's own compositions. These works are often used to
teach beginners. The important ones are:
1. upadeSasAhasrI
2. Atmabodha
3. aparokshAnubhUti
4. daSaSlokI
5. SataSlokI
6. vivekacUDAmaNi