Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara

Adi Shankaracharya

c. 700-750 • Indian

Vedanta

8th-century Indian philosopher and theologian who consolidated Advaita Vedanta — the doctrine of non-duality. His commentaries on the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Brahma Sutras remain the canonical exposition of 'Brahman alone is real.'

Key Works

  • Vivekachudamani
  • Atma Bodha
  • Tattva Bodha
  • Aparokshanubhuti
106

quotes in library

Quotes by Adi Shankara

106 quotes
He who seeks must himself walk the path.
effortVivekachudamani
The same Self that is in you is in me, and in all beings.
unityAtma Bodha 30
To recognize this is the highest knowledge.
recognitionAtma Bodha 30
Like the moon reflected in a thousand pots of water — the Self appears as many.
reflectionAtma Bodha 16
Yet the moon is one. So too the Self.
unityAtma Bodha 16
Maya is neither real nor unreal — it is indescribable.
illusionVivekachudamani
Yet Maya yields before knowledge as darkness yields before light.
knowledgeVivekachudamani
As long as you say 'I' and 'mine,' you are in bondage.
identificationVivekachudamani
When 'I' and 'mine' fall away, you stand free.
freedomVivekachudamani
Death and birth, like waves on the ocean, rise and fall — but the ocean is unchanged.
impermanenceVivekachudamani
You are the ocean, not the waves.
identityVivekachudamani
There is no greater wealth than self-knowledge.
wealthVivekachudamani
There is no greater pleasure than the bliss of the Self.
blissVivekachudamani
He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman.
realizationVivekachudamani
This is the secret revealed by all the Upanishads.
essenceVivekachudamani
Truth is not far from you. It is your own innermost being.
intimacyVivekachudamani
Search not outside, for what you seek is the Self of you.
interiorityVivekachudamani
To turn the senses outward is the way of bondage.
sensesVivekachudamani
To turn them inward is the way of liberation.
sensesVivekachudamani
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