『Vivekachudamani - Crest Jewel of Wisdom』のカバーアート

Vivekachudamani - Crest Jewel of Wisdom

Vivekachudamani - Crest Jewel of Wisdom

著者： Vedanta Society San Francisco
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 Swami Tattwamayananda will begin a new scripture, Vivekachudamani of Shankaracharya, on Friday November 15 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Temple.

Vivekachudamani, which means "The Crest Jewel of Discrimination," is a poem by Shankaracharya that summarizes Advaita Vedanta philosophy and is one of the its important introductory texts.

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  • Vivekachudamani 23 Characteristics of a Sattvic Person - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 23 Characteristics of a Sattvic Person - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/10/10
    The 120th verse describes someone whom we consider a cultured human being in the world. Sattva is the dominant guna within him. He has some rajo-guna and very little tamo-guna.

    The person endowed with highest level of sattva guna is contemplative in nature. A normal cultured human being endowed with sattva guna will have a mix of rajo-guna that helps him be active.

    The 7th-11th verses of 13th chapter of Gita describe the characteristics of such a person. These characteristics are: (1) Humility – not being too proud of oneself (2) Not pretentious – respects others but does not demand respect from them (3) Non-violence in thoughts, words and deeds, as he instinctively feels spiritual affinity with entire creation (4) Forbearance (5) Uprightness (6) Service mindedness (7) Mental purity (8) Steadiness (9) Self-control – the spiritual energy from his noble actions gives him steadiness and self-control (10) Sense of renunciation towards sense pleasures (11) Absence of egoism (12) Ability to look upon birth, death, sickness and old age as imperfections of this empirical life. (13) Non-attachment (14) Not being obsessively attached to near and dear ones (15) Equanimity of mind in happiness and unhappiness (16) Constant, unwavering devotion to the spiritual ideal (17) Inclination for solitary places (18) Aversion to mundane society (19) Constant reflection of spiritual knowledge (20) Realizing the ultimate purpose of knowledge.

    The 10th verse of the 13th chapter of Gita expounds the idea that the highest devotion, unwavering dedication to one spiritual ideal, is the same as highest knowledge.

    Shankaracharya says that in spiritual literature, whenever a list of characteristics of a spiritually enlightened person is provided, there is only one purpose. These characteristics constitute the road by which we should travel to reach the goal that the enlightened person has reached.

    The 120th verse says that such a person is established in yamas, niyamas, shraddha, bhakti and Sadhana Chatushtaya Sampatti.

    The 121st verse states that such a person enjoys chitta-prasada, inner serenity. He has successfully turned his mind into a friend.

    Sattva guna refines our energy, activities, emotions and desires. It gives a higher purpose in life.
    If we don’t have sattva guna, mind develops non-spiritual qualities. Sattva guna can be developed by practicing yamas and niyamas (yoga philosophy) or navadha bhakti (bhakti tradition). Noble, unselfish deeds also produce spiritual energy.

    Shankaracharya emphasizes the importance of tenacity and steadiness in spiritual life in the 326th verse. “Imagine a child playing with a ball at the top of a staircase. If the ball falls, it does not stop until it reaches the bottom. Similarly, in spiritual life, we should be very vigilant not to make mistakes.”

    In the 126th and 127th verses, the teacher begins to answer the sixth question “What is the supreme Atman?” The absolute reality remains as the supreme witness in all three states of awareness – waking state, dream state and deep sleep state.

    There is a difference between non-mind (amani-bhava) and deep sleep. In amani-bhava, we transcend the mind and all three states of awareness. In deep sleep, the mind is there but benumbed. One does not come out of deep sleep transformed into a saint.
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  • Vivekachudamani 22 Sattva Guna - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 22 Sattva Guna - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/10/02
    Rajo guna and tamo guna are considered to be levels where we are not aware of our true nature. Tamo guna conceals the truth, Rajo guna projects a false idea.

    Under the control of rajo guna, we are driven by activity, desire and ambition, which can lead to restlessness. We swing between experiences of success and failure.

    The 117th verse explains Sattva guna. It implies spiritual level headedness. A person endowed with sattva guna does his actions but is not affected by success or failure.

    The verse says that sattva guna is pure like water. It frees us from the cycle of samsara. Rajo-guna and tamo-guna keep us caught in the cycle of samsara. Every action leaves a residual effect (vritti) in our mental system. Many identical vrittis – from similar, repeated actions – solidify a distinct memory block called Samskara. Samskaras express through our determination to act in a certain manner which leads to further actions. This wheel continues across life cycles.

    Our true nature is beyond the three gunas but it is nearest to sattva-guna. We have to evolve from tamo-guna to rajo-guna to sattva-guna. Sattva-guna can be developed through karma-yoga. Noble, unselfish actions generate spiritual assets. Bhakti, towards a God of all humanity, also develops sattva-guna.

    Gunas can be detected through people’s interaction with others. Bhartrhari, a philosopher from India, classifies humans into four types:
    1. Those who are endowed with sattva guna. They give up their own interests and try to help others.
    2. Those who are somewhat sattvic. They take care of their own interests first and then help others.
    3. Those who are like demons in human shape. Every action of theirs is to exploit others.
    4. Those who are of the lowest type and always want to harm others.

    Bhartrhari gives another example from nature. When the sun rises in the east, lotus flowers begin to blossom. Some other flowers blossom when the moon rises. It is the innate nature of clous to bless the world with rain. Similarly, a person endowed with sattva guna, by his innate nature, is engaged in doing good for others.

    Shankaracharya offers a strong warning in the 116th verse. A theoretical understanding of sattva-guna is not enough. We have to stay alert and vigilant. He says: “Even one who is intellectually advanced, who knows scriptures, who understands the subtle truths and who is convinced of his learning – even such a person is caught by the crocodile of tamo-guna and looks upon the unreal as the real and the real and unreal.”

    Shankaracharya emphasizes the importance of tenacity and steadiness in spiritual life in the 326th verse. “Imagine a child playing with a ball at the top of a staircase. If the ball falls, it does not stop until it reaches the bottom. Similarly, in spiritual life, we should be very vigilant not to make mistakes.”

    The mind is constantly dragged by the senses towards sense objects – some good and some toxic. Sattva-guna works as an internal filtering mechanism and filters out toxic materials.

    In the 78th verse, Shankaracharya uses examples from the animal kingdom to explain how one reaches destruction when guided by the senses - Deer (sense of hearing), Elephant (sense of touch). Moth (sense of seeing), Fish (sense of taste), Bee (sense of smell). Each of these creatures reaches death as they are guided by one of their senses. What to speak of humans who have five senses active all the time. If these senses are left unrestrained, they lead to spiritual death.

    Only way to live free from the dangers of the world, to live with contentment within and with harmony outside, is to develop sattva-guna.

    Nirguna, also known as Triguna-atita, is a state where one transcends the three gunas. Sattva-guna is the door to this highest level. Enlightened beings reach this highest level but operate in the world at the level of sattva guna. They can never descend below sattva guna.
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  • Vivekachudamani 21 Recap of Previous Classes and Verses - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 21 Recap of Previous Classes and Verses - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/09/19
    Title: Recap of Previous Classes and Verses

    Vivekachudamani is one of the introductory texts on Vedanta – it focuses on the natural urge of any human being in search of the truth. It has 584 verses. Its author is Shankaracharya.

    The entire text is built around answering seven questions from the student in the 51st verse. The seven questions are: (1) What is this bondage? (2) How does it come about? (3) How does it exist and what sustains it? (4) How do we come out of it? (5) What is anatman? (6) What is the supreme Atman? (7) How do we differentiate between atman and anatman?

    The teacher starts by answering the 5th question first: “What is anatman?” The Absolute Reality cannot be defined. If we can understand and remove all that is not the Absolute Reality, what remains is the Absolute Reality. This is why the 5th question is addressed first.

    The teacher addresses this question by discussing different sarira (body). There are three sariras: Sthula sarira (gross body), sukhshma sarira (subtle body, the personality behind the gross body) and karana sarira (lack of understanding of our true nature). All of these are non-eternal – they come and go.

    Karana-sarira is the actual cause of bondage. We forget our true nature (ignorant) and mistakenly identify ourselves with the physical body. It is called Avidya or Maya.

    110th verse describes Maya. We feel it to be real when we are within it. We understand that it is not the Absolute Reality, when we go beyond it.

    In the statement “Brahma Satyam, Jagad Mitha”, the first part (Brahma Satyam ) describes the highest idea of God. The second part describes the world. It is neither absolutely real, nor is it absolutely unreal. It is only relatively real. This world of name and form is the creation of Maya.

    111th verse: Maya is not “sat” not “asat” nor a combination of sat and asat. Maya is neither different from Brahman, nor non-different from Brahman, nor a combination of difference and non-difference.

    Maya is neither endowed with parts nor devoid of parts, nor a combination of the two. All of us experience Maya in our everyday life. It is beyond logical comprehension, cannot be explained in words or cognized with the mind, and is a great wonder.

    113th verse: Maya functions at the level of three gunas: Sattva guna, Rajo guna and Tamo guna. Tamo guna functions as Avarana or concealment. Rajo guna functions as Vikshepa or false projection. Sattva guna functions in the form of our natural interest to explore higher truth.

    Sri Ramakrishna describes the three gunas with the story of three thieves. Three thieves ambush a traveler in a forest. The thief representing Tamo guna says: “Let’s kill him and take all his belongings.” The second thief representing Rajo guna says: “Let’s give him some blows and bind him to a tree.” The thief representing Sattva guna takes the traveler to the road and shows him the way to the village.

    The sattvic aspect of Maya is called Jnana-shakti. It helps us take us beyond Maya.

    114th and 115th verses: Maya operates with two powers: Avarana-shakti, which conceals the reality and Vikshepa-shakti, which projects something false. Avarana-shakti is the cause of Vikshepa-shakti . These two together keep us bound to the world. The 115th verse describes concealment and the 114th verse describes false projection.

    116th verse: “Even one who is intellectually advanced, who knows scriptures, who understands the subtle truths and who is convinced of his learning – even such a person is caught by the crocodile of Maya and looks upon the unreal as the real and the real and unreal.”
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