This is volume two of the six-volume Shankara Source Book, which contains writings by Shri Shankara, arranged systematically by subject. Shri Shankara was a great philosopher-sage who expressed the non-dual teachings in such a complete and satisfactory way that his formulation has been followed by authentic teachers of the non-dual tradition ever since. Most of his writings are in the form of commentaries on revealed texts such as the principle Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras, so what he said was placed around those texts, which are far from systematic. His aim was to demonstrate that underlying the apparent contradictions and differences on the surface, all the great revealed scriptures in fact point ultimately to one Supreme Truth. He wished to do this in order to overcome the confusion that was causing hardship to the people at large, and creating difficulties for dedicated seekers. Shankara probably lived in the 8th century, and died in his early 30s.Shankara considered other views in great detail, sometimes provisionally accepting elements of their arguments, and then pointing out where those views lead to difficulties. One of the great qualities of the non-dual teachings as formulated by Shankara is that they are able to recognise and incorporate what is valid and useful in other views. All this can make it difficult to find what Shankara said on particular subjects. To meet this difficulty, in the Source Book, the writings have been freshly translated, and brought together under subject headings. These in turn have been arranged in six volumes each covering one broad topic. These are: Volume 1 Shankara on the Absolute, Volume 2 Shankara on the Creation, Volume 3 Shankara on the Soul, Volume 4 Shankara on Rival Views, Volume 5 Shankara on Discipleship, Volume 6 Shankara on Enlightenment.

This book clarifies the relationship between God and the creation for Gaudapada, Bhartrhari, and Shankara, and by doing so, demonstrates a major continuity of thought from Gaudapada through Bhartrhari to Abhinavagupta and Kashmir Shaivism.

This book presents the teachings of Adi Shankara in a highly approachable form through modern translations of his original writings, set in the lively context of his life and mission.

A classic text on the path to God through knowledge. The basic teaching is that God alone is the all-pervading reality; the individual soul is none other than the universal soul. Shankara was under no illusions about this world. For this reason, he is able to describe so powerfully the complete transformation of the universe that takes place before the eyes of the illumined seer, when the world indeed becomes a paradise.

2007 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title In this book, Anantanand Rambachan offers a fresh and detailed perspective on Advaita Vedanta, Hinduism's most influential and revered religious tradition. Rambachan, who is both a scholar and an Advaitin, attends closely to the Upanisads and authentic commentaries of Sankara to challenge the tradition and to reconsider central aspects of its current teachings. His reconstruction and reinterpretation of Advaita focuses in particular on the nature of brahman, the status of the world in relation to brahman, and the meaning and relevance of liberation. Rambachan queries contemporary representations of an impersonal brahman and the need for popular, hierarchical distinctions such as those between a higher (para) and lower (apara) brahman. Such distinctions, Rambachan argues, are inconsistent with the non-dual nature of brahman and are unnecessary when brahman's relationship with the world is correctly understood. Questioning Advaita's traditional emphasis on renunciation and world-denial, Rambachan expands the understanding of suffering (duhkha) and liberation (moksa) and addresses socioeconomic as well as gender and caste inequalities. Positing that the world is a celebrative expression of God's fullness, this book advances Advaita as a universal and uninhibited path to a liberated life committed to compassion, equality, and justice.

About the Book A COMPREHENSIVELY RESEARCHED BOOK ON THE LIFE AND PHILOSOPHY OF ADI SHANKARACHARYA What is Brahman? What is its relationship to Atman? What is an individual’s place in the cosmos? Is a personalised god and ritualistic worship the only path to attain moksha? Does caste matter when a human is engaging with the metaphysical world? The answers to these perennial questions sparkle with clarity in this seminal account of a man and a saint, who revived Hinduism and gave to Upanishadic insights a rigorously structured and sublimely appealing philosophy. Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya (788–820 CE) was born in Kerala and died in Kedarnath, traversing the length of India in his search for the ultimate truth. In a short life of thirty-two years, Shankaracharya not only revived Hinduism, but also created the organisational structure for its perpetuation through the mathas he established in Sringeri, Dwaraka, Puri and Joshimatha. Adi Shankaracharaya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker is a meticulously researched and comprehensive account of his life and philosophy. Highly readable, and including a select anthology of Shankaracharya’s seminal writing, the book also examines the startling endorsement that contemporary science is giving to his ideas today. A must-read for people across the ideological spectrum, this book reminds readers about the remarkable philosophical underpinning of Hinduism, making it one of the most vibrant religions in the world.