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18ll98 80008 0l 0l $8k8f8008f8 -

008ll0 FflM0f . F8fl 1
Lecluie Noles conpiled by Venkal Ganesan fion lhe seiies of
SVBF Lecluies given by Di. S. YEGNAS\BBAMANIAN
Gcncvn! InIvoducIion
Adi Sankaia's voiks can be bioadly
classified inlo lhiee calegoiies. 1 hashya
granthas connenlaiies, 2 Praharana granthas
dealing vilh fundanenlal aspecls of vedanla,
and S stotra granthas hynns oi nedilalion
veises.
Bhushyu Grunthus
The language of lhe \panishads is
"nyslic" in slyle and as such cannol be
undeislood by a neie lianslalion of lhe veises
oi using a diclionaiy! Foi exanple, a lileial
lianslalion of lhe folloving nanlia.
T P: T lP T ld T Pd 1
T ~ T Pll T P llH'd 11
poorNamaJa. poorNamiJam
poorNaat poorNamuJacyate|
poorNasya poorNamaaJaaya
poorNameva avaSishyate ||
is, "Thal is vhole, lhis is vhole, fion lhe vhole
lhe vhole becones nanifesl, fion lhe vhole
vhen lhe vhole is laken oul, vhal ienains is
lhe vhole". This lileial lianslalion alone vill
nol nake any sense lo lhe connon sludenl,
and lhus il becones evidenl vhy a gieal deal
of explanalion and connenlaiies aie iequiied
foi a piopei undeislanding of lhe vedic
sciipluies!
Sii Sankaia viole connenlaiies on lhe
lhiee cannonical voiks, knovn as prasthana-trayee,
lhal foin lhe basis of lhe enliie vaiJiha jsanatanaj
Jharma. These lhiee aie lhe UpanishaJs, rahma
Sutras and lhe hagavaJ Gita. Sii Sankaia viole
connenlaiies on 12 najoi upanishaJs, lhe Gita
and rahma Sutras, in addilion lo a fev olhei
connenlaiies on sanat sujateeyam, vishnu
sahasranamam elc. a lisl of Sankaia's voiks aie
piovided al lhe end of lhis ailicle.
Pruhurunu ov ruhr|yu} Grunthus
These aie voiks vhich enable lhe
sludenl vilh lhe fundanenlal concepls and
definilions of vedanlic leins. A piopei sludy of
lhe sciipluies like lhe UpanishaJs, lhe Gita, the
rahma Sutras elc., vhich deal vilh lhe sludy
of lhe Self, iequiie a lhoiough undeislanding of
lhe fundanenlal elenenls of vedanla. Tattva
boJha, atma boJha, viveha chooJamani elc. aie
sone of lhe praharana granthas of Sii Sankaia.
A lisl of such voiks aie given al lhe end of lhis
ailicle.
Stotru Grunthus
The giealesl appeal lo lhe people al laige
aie lhough stotras. Sii Sankaia, in His infinile
conpassion, could appieciale lhe difficully of
lhe connon people in conpiehending lhe
conplex philosophical docliines of aJvaita, and
lhus paved lhe vay lo ieach lhe ullinale goal
lhiough bhahti. He conposed seveial lucid
devolional slolias on alnosl all deilies, such as
sounJarya lahari, hanahaJhara stotram elc.!
In addilional lo seveial devolional
hynns, Sii Sankaia conposed seveial nedilalion
veises vedanla slolias, foi iegulai iecilalion,
iefleclion and nedilalion, such as nirvana
shatham, saJhana pancaham elc. A lisl of all
slolias alliibuled lo Sii Sankaia aie inlcuded al
lhe end of lhis ailicle.
The piesenl seiies of ailicles vill focus
on praharana granthas, especially tattva boJha,
vhich is consideied as a piinei foi any sludenl
desiious of puisuing vedanlic sludies. \nlike
viveha chooJamani, - one of Sankaia's giealesl
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voiks in lhis subjecl- tattva boJha is biief and
concise, and so is pailiculaily suiled foi an inilial
sludy.
InIvoducIion Io tuttvuboJhu
In lhe puisuil of life eveiy being seaiches
foi happiness suhha praapti.. Gelling educalion,
gelling a job, acquiiing veallh, beconing fanous
elc., aie all sone exanples of lhe linilless
desiies of all hunans in geneial. As one desiies
lo oblain vhal one vanls, one also desiies nol
lo gel vhal one does nol vanl! Nol gelling vhal
is vanled, and/oi gelling vhal is nol vanled,
iesull s in soiiov and so, one likes lo gel iid
of lhe iesulling soiiov Juhha nivrtti. . Thus
lhe happiness lhal one seeks should be unalloyed
happiness Juhham-fiee-suhham, eleinal
happiness nitya suhham, and infinile oi linilless
happiness niratiSaya suhham . When one
vondeis as lo hov lo acquiie such a happiness,
a queslion aiises, is il al all possible lo "acquiie"
such a happiness. !
When ve analyse lhe naluie of beings,
ve geneially obseive lvo lypes of piopeilies.
The piopeilies/chaiacleiislics aie explained by
a populai exanple of lhe piocess of healing
valei. Walei is kepl on a vessel and healed vilh
a flane. The naluie of valei is "cold" and lhe
naluie of flane is "heal". Duiing lhe piocess of
healing, lhe vessel acquiies lhe heal of lhe flane
fiisl, and lhen lhe valei in lhe vessel. Oi, lhe
heal of lhe hol-valei is acquiied fion lhe flane.
Hol valei loses ils heal once lhe flane is
ienoved. Coldness of lhe valei and lhe heal of
lhe flane aie naluial oi inliinsic lo lhen
iespeclively and aie called as inliinsic piopeilies
svarupa lahshana. The inliinsic piopeily does
nol depend on exleinal condilions and is eleinal.
The heal of lhe valei is boiioved fion lhe flane
and is losl by change of exleinal condilions,
nanely ienoval of lhe flane. Thus lhe heal of
lhe valei is an acquiied oi boiioved piopeily,
and is epheneial.
Given lhe above analysis, lhe lein
"acquisilion" of nitya suhham is a nisnonei
because il can nol depend on any exleinal
condilions. This leads lo lhe ansvei foi lhe
lenpling queslion of vhy one should puisue lo
lhe leaining of vedanla! Vedanla leaches lhal
lhe liue naluie of beings is divine and eleinal
happiness. Thal neans, liue happiness is nol
sonelhing lhal needs lo be "acquiied" bul is
inliinsic lo all beings.
The lein "vedanla" lileially neans lhal
vhich is kepl physically al lhe end of vedas
veJasya anta., logically also, il is lhe ullinale
knovledge lhal one vould seek! As nenlioned
eailiei, tattva oJha is a piinei lhal helps us lo
undeisland lhe elenenls of Vedanla. Vedas have
lvo logical seclions - Karma hanJa and jnana
hanJa. The Karma hanJa seclions contain
Samhitas, rahmanas and Aranyahas. The jnana
hanJa seclions deal vilh vedanla and conlain
lhe upanishaJs and brahma sutras. The leins used
in lhese vedanlic seclions aie nol defined, bul
only slalenenls aie nade. Foi exanple
upanishadic slalenenls such as, prajnanam
brahma Consciousness is Biahnan, tat-tvam-asi
Thal Thou ail , aham- brahma-asmi I an
biahnan, ayam atma brahma lhis Self vilhin is
biahnan aie given in vaiious upanishads. The
voids used in such slalenenls like "atma",
"brahma", "tat" elc. have packed in lheii
nysleiious deplhs endless suggeslions and
inpoils lhal an oidinaiy sludenl, in spile of a a
conplele sludy of lhe upanishads, nay nol be
able lo handle lhen piopeily! Exploilion and
undeislanding of lhe suggesliveness in lhese
nyslic voids aie nol al all obvious lo lhe
unpiepaied sludenl and so lhe sludenl needs a
special oiienlalion. This is gained lhiough lhe
caieful sludy of lhe prahriya oi praharana lexls
such as TattvaboJha!
Tattva oJha deals vilh seveial queiies
in piose foin. Scholais believe fion lhe conlexl
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and conlenls lhal Adi Shankaia had aulhoied il,
lhough lhe aulhoiship is nol explicil fion lhe
lexl ilslef. TattvaboJha is piesenled as a ficlilious
dialogue belveen lhe leachei and sludenl. Foi
lhe puipose of oui undeislanding, lhe subjecl
nallei can be logically divided inlo five seclions
as follovs.
1. Inlioduclion UpoJhgata. l@ld:
2. Analysis of lhe individual ]iva oi Atma
vicAra. OB <lP l=ll:
S. Analysis of ciealion Srushti vicAra. l l=ll:
4. Analysis of idenlily belveen ]iva and svara
]iva svara vicAra. $ l l=ll: and lhe
5. Fiuil of knovledge of Atman jnAnaphalam
Hl H?P .
Folloving seclions vill exploie lhe lexl in sone
delail based on lhese five lopics.
1: InIvoducIion UoJhgutu: lld:}
lF l l Hl P 1
PPHTl ldl l dllHlllHld "
| l-Having saluled lF l - Vasudeva,
lhe king of Yogis, Hl P - lhe Guiu, vho is
lhe beslovei of lhe Knovledge of lhe Tiulh,
PPHTl ldl l - foi lhe benefil of lhe seekeis of
libeialion, dllH tattva boJha lhe knovledge
of lhe Tiulh <lHld is expounded.]
The lexl slails vilh a piayei oi Mangala
sloham P{7"?l4: folloved by a hypolhelical
dialogue belveen sludenl and leachei in piose
foinal. Theie aie lvo faclois involved lo
acconplish an undeilaking. The fiisl one is oui
ovn effoil lo successfully execule lhe
undeilaking and lhe second is lhe Jaivam facloi.
Daivam iefeis lo paianeleis lhal aie beyond us.
In oui liadilion, a piayei is nade lo Ganesha oi
any shta Devata lo ienove any obslacles vighna
parihArArtham duiing oui effoils and beyond,
lo conplele oui undeilaking. In lhe Mangala
sloka heie, Adi Shankaia piosliales lo his hula
Jevata jfanily deilyj GovinJa jvasuJeva - the AJi
Guruj and his ovn guiu Govinda Bhagavadpada.
Also, by neans of pioslialion lo his Guiu, lhe
elenenls of lhe Guiu's leaching aie ienenbeied
and caiiied ovei lo his ovn sludenls. Aflei
salulalion lo lhe Loid and lhe Guiu, lhe aulhoi
says lhal lhe subjecl of Tattva oJha - knovledge
of Self oi Knovledge of Tiulh - vill be
expounded foi lhe seekeis of libeialion. This also
indicales lhal lhe knovledge of lhe self oi
avaieness lhal lhe sludenl has al lhis slage is
nol coiiecl and lhe aulhoi is going lo fuilhei
explain lhe coiiecl knovledge of lhe Self.
Il is cuslonaiy in a publicalion lo piovide
lhe folloving foui-fold delails al lhe beginning,
called anubanJha catushtayam. The mangala sloha
of Tattva oJha also indicales lhese foui, vhich
aie,
1. lhe subjecl Vishaya. l:, heie, lhe subjecl
nallei is tattva boJha - lhe knovledge of Tiulh
2. lhe eligible AJhihari <lH4ll - lhe seekei aflei
Libeialion PPH: ,
S. lhe benefil Prayojanam lP is PPHTl ld
fulfillnenl of lhe desiie foi Libeialion, and,
4. lhe ielalionship SambanJha. FH: belveen
lhe lhing lo be knovn - i.e biahnan, and lhal
vhich lells of Il - i.e tattva boJha.
Io c conIinucd...}
HcIcvcnccs:
1. Sankaia, lhe Missionaiy, Cenlial Chinnaya
Mission Tiusl, Bonbay, 197S
2. Tallva Bodha of Sankaiachaiya. Cenlial
Chinnaya Mission Tiusl, Bonbay, 1995
S. Svani Paianailhananda's lecliuies - Audio
Tapes, Madias 1996.