ajAti vAda

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9. The spelling Sankara is used, instead of Sam.kara. Acknowledgement: Prof. Ashok Aklujkar of the University of British Columbia provided the devanAgari font used in the above scheme, and in the gif files at the Slokas page. The above verses salute the Gods and the Guru. The last verse is taken from the mAdhavIya Sankaravijayam, and praises SankarAcArya, as an incarnation of SivadakshiNAmUrti, who abandoned his silent meditation at the foot of the banyan tree, and incarnated on earth in order to teach advaita. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Transliteration Key 1. What is advaita vedAnta? 2. Who is the founder of advaita? 3. What are the basic tenets of advaita? 4. What is the relationship between advaita and buddhism? Is advaita a mere copy of buddhism? 5. Why is advaita sometimes referred to as mAyA<strong>vAda</strong>? 6. Isn't advaita falsified by everyday experience? 7. What is the concept of scripture, according to advaita? 8. How does worship by advaitins differ from worship in other schools of vedAnta? 9. What is the advaita concept of liberation? 10. What is the significance of jIvanmukti? 11. Who are some of the leading scholars of advaita?
12. What are the advaita institutions of the present day? 13. Online resouces relating to advaita vedAnta and its teachers 1. What is advaita vedAnta? Literally, "non-dualism," advaita is the name of the oldest extant school of vedAnta. advaita bases itself upon the upanishads, the brahma-sUtras and the bhagavad-gItA. advaita asserts that the real, essential identity of the jIva, the individual self, is nothing other than brahman Itself. The teaching follows from upanishadic statements (mahAvAkyas) like tat tvam asi and aham brahmAsmi. It is in this cardinal doctrine that advaita differs from all other schools of vedAnta. The main tenets of advaita are detailed in commentaries written by SankarAcArya, the famous philosopher who lived in the 7th - 8th centuries A.D. Read http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp for a website dedicated to advaita vedAnta. 2. Who is the founder of advaita? There is no single founder of advaita. Since the philosophy of advaita is rooted in the upanishads, which are part of the eternal vedas, the advaita tradition does not trace itself to a historical personality. However, SankarAcArya is venerated as the most important teacher of advaita vedAnta, as he wrote commentaries to the basic scriptural texts, and placed the living advaita tradition on a firm footing. Before SankarAcArya's time, the tradition was passed down mainly through oral instruction. Even today, the traditional way to learn advaita is to sit at the feet of an accomplished guru. Mere reading of the texts is insufficient. More details about the guru paramparA of advaita are at http://www.advaitavedanta.org/avhp/advaita-parampara.html. There is a description of pre-Sankaran vedAnta at http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/pre-sankara.html. 3. What are the basic tenets of advaita? The essential identity of the Atman and brahman is the most important tenet of advaita. brahman is the substratum on which all phenomena are experienced, and also the antaryAmin, the One Lord who dwells in all beings. The innermost Atman, the real Self, is the same as this antaryAmin, and identical to brahman. Liberation (moksha) consists in realizing this identity, not just as a matter of literal or intellectual understanding, but as something that is to be grasped by the individual in his/her own personal experience. Yogic practices help in the road towards such realization, because they help the seeker in practising control of the senses, and in directing the antahkaraNa (the 'internal organ' - consisting of the mind, intellect, awareness and I-ness) inwards. The practice of ashTAnga-yoga is recommended to seekers by teachers of advaita. The seeker has to be equipped with requisite qualifications - qualities such as patience, forbearance, ability to
Page 1 and 2: Before you start, please take a loo
Page 3: NOTES: 1. The pronunciation of vowe
Page 7 and 8: do other schools of Indian philosop
Page 9 and 10: kRshNa, the jagadguru, and as rAma,
Page 11 and 12: Rameswaram, Sivaganga, Kolhapur, Ka
Page 13 and 14: y Swami Sivananda, now headed by Sw
Page 15 and 16: today. It is typical of advaita tha
Page 17 and 18: thus mentally decided to renounce t
Page 19 and 20: of maThas. His had been a short, bu
Page 21 and 22: 14. Prem Lata, Shankaracharya, Sumi
Page 23 and 24: Rhat Sankaravijaya of citsukha seem
Page 25 and 26: o Vani Vilas Press, Srirangam, 1972
Page 27 and 28: names, araNya, ASrama, parvata, van
Page 29 and 30: • Sringeri: SrI "ugra" narasimha
Page 31 and 32: karapAtrI swAmi (hariharAnanda sara
Page 33 and 34: Literature: 1. Read an article at t
Page 35 and 36: The vishNu purANa is in the form of
Page 37 and 38: svabhAva - "own-nature". gauDapAda
Page 39 and 40: It is SankarAcArya's interpretation
Page 41 and 42: The traditional identification of m
Page 43 and 44: gangA, when he heard Sankara call o
Page 45 and 46: A list of post-Sankaran authors in
Page 47 and 48: sArasvata grammatical tradition, an
Page 49 and 50: SrIkaNTha's brahmasUtrabhAshya. In
Page 51 and 52: teaching their disciples in the tra
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The upanishads are expositions of d
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nirvANa nAdabindu 17 sAm.nyAsa upan
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as a Saiva upanishad, while skanda
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ordinary ones who desire the transi
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Introduction - The advaita philosop
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described as in the upanishads, as
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in infallible Sruti, if there is a
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a measure of reality with respect t
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premises of any question or definit
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All change was then described as th
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universe is normally perceived to b
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Both the bhAmatI and vivaraNa lines
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specific upanishad bhAshyas or prak
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London, 1995. LC Call No.: B133.S49
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Trevor Leggett, Sankara on the Yoga
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padmapAda - (8th-9th cent.) pancapA
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o Edited with pratyaksvarUpa's naya
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o Translated into English by S. S.
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o Translated into Marathi by Kevala
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o Edited with English translation,
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ajAti vAda

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