Adi Shankara

Name: The Crest Jewel of Wisdom — Preface
Author: Adi Shankara

Biographical details

Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), a seminal Hindu philosopher and theologian, is revered as the architect of Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic school emphasizing the unity of the individual self (ātman) with the ultimate reality (Brahman). A unifying figure, he harmonized Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism through the Pañcāyatana worship of five deities as expressions of Brahman.

His authentic works—commentaries on the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Brahma Sutras, alongside the Upadeśasāhasrī—propose a liberating understanding of self through scriptural study and inner reflection. As founder of the Dashanami monastic order, Shankara's legacy persists in Smartism, embodying a synthesis of Hindu thought that transcends sectarian divisions.

Quotes by Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara, The Crest Jewel of Wisdom — Self… (1946)

“ Of the plant of birth and death, the seed is Darkness, the sprout is the thought that body is Self, the shoot is rage, the sap is deeds, the body is the stem, the life-breaths are the branches, the tops are the bodily powers, sensuous things are the flowers, sorrow is the fruit, born of varied deeds and manifold; and the Life is the bird that eats the fruit.
This bondage to what is not Self, rooted in unwisdom, innate, made manifest without beginning or end, gives life to the falling torrent of sorrow, of birth and death, of sickness and old age. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Adi Shankara, The Crest Jewel of Wisdom — For Ever Free (1946)

“ The body of the sage who has become the Eternal is consumed away, even before it has fallen to the ground--like a fresh leaf withered--by the fire of consciousness.
The sage who stands in the Eternal, the Self of being, ever full, of the secondless bliss of the Self, has none of the hopes fitted to time and space that make for the formation of a body of skin, and flesh, subject to dissolution.
Putting off the body is not Freedom, any more than putting away one's staff and waterpot; but getting free from the knots of unwisdom in the heart--that is Freedom, in very deed. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Adi Shankara, The Crest Jewel of Wisdom — First Steps on the Path (1946)

“ Therefore let the wise one strive after Freedom, giving up all longing for sensual self-indulgence; approaching the good, great Teacher (the Higher Self) , with soul intent on the object of the teaching. Let him by the Self raise the Self, sunk in the ocean of the world, following the path of union through complete recognition of oneness. Setting all rites aside, let the wise, learned ones who approach the study of the Self strive for Freedom from the bondage of the world. Rites are to purify the thoughts, but not to gain the reality. The real is gained by Wisdom, not by a myriad of rites. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Adi Shankara, The Crest Jewel of Wisdom — Self… (1946)

“ When the five vestures have been stripped off, the Self shines forth pure, the one essence of eternal bliss, beheld within, supreme, self-luminous.
Discernment is to be made between the Self and what is not Self by the wise man seeking freedom from bondage; through this he enters into joy, knowing the Self which is being, consciousness, bliss.
As the reed from the tiger grass, so separating from the congeries of things visible the hidden Self within, which is detached, not involved in actions, and dissolving all in the Self, he who stands thus, has attained liberation. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Adi Shankara, The Crest Jewel of Wisdom — The Power of Mind-Images (1946)

“ By looking on all as the Eternal, everywhere, in every way, and by strengthening the mind-image of real being, this triad comes to melt away.
In the destruction of actions will arise the destruction of imaginings, and from this the dispersal of mind-images. The thorough dispersal of mind-images is freedom; this is called freedom even in life.
When the mind-image of the real grows up, in the dispersal of the mind's alarms, and the mind-image of the selfish personality melts away, as even thick darkness is quickly melted away before the light of the sun. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Adi Shankara, The Crest Jewel of Wisdom — Free Even in Life (1946)

“ All disguises beginning with the Evolver and ending with a log are mirage only; therefore let him behold his own perfect Self, standing in the Self's oneness.
Whatever by error is built up as different from that, is in reality that only, not different from that. When the error is destroyed, the reality of the snake that was seen shines forth as the rope; thus the own-nature of all is the Self.
The Evolver is the Self, the Pervader is the Self, the Sky-lord is the Self, the Destroyer is the Self; all this universe is the Self; there is nothing but the Self. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Adi Shankara, The Crest Jewel of Wisdom — Master and Pupil (1946)

“ From the unmanifest, down to grossest things, all this world encountered is a mere reflection only. Like the ether, subtle, without beginning or end, is the secondless Eternal; and what that is, I am.
All-embracing, illumining all things; under all forms all-present, yet outside all; everlasting, pure, unmoved, unchanging, is the secondless Eternal; and what that is, I am.
Where the differences made by glamor have sunk to final setting, of hidden nature, perceived in secret, the Real, Wisdom, Bliss, and formed of bliss, is the secondless Eternal ”

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Source: Wikisource

Adi Shankara, The Crest Jewel of Wisdom — The Perfect Sage (1946)

“ This world is the offspring of the Eternal's thought; thus, verily, the Eternal is the Real in all things. Behold it thus by the vision of the higher Self, with mind full of peace, in every mode of being. A certain Being, apart from form, is seen everywhere, of those who have eyes to see. Therefore knowers of the Eternal understand that whatever is other than this, is but the sport and workmanship of intellect.
Who, being wise, and tasting that essence of supreme bliss, would delight any more in things of emptiness? ”

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Source: Wikisource

Adi Shankara, The Crest Jewel of Wisdom — Preface (1946)

“ In Śankarâchârya (the blessed teacher) we have an example of the statement that "Masters are living facts." Mankind needs such assurance these days, and needs not only the inspiration of the story of a man who has lived divinely, but also his kindly and strengthening words of wisdom. What greater gift could the Hindu sage have left us than that of a collection of soul-stirring thoughts?
For those who, with hearts fervent with compassion, seek the holy path that brings to birth a 'sage of boundless vision,' Śankarâchârya's Crest-Jewel of Wisdom will be a practical and inspiring guide to life. ”

Adi Shankara

Biographical details

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