『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 17 The Subtle Body is an Instrument for the Atman - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 17 The Subtle Body is an Instrument for the Atman - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/06/06
    Behind our external appearance (gross body) is our subtle body. It defines our personality. The gross body is just an outer shell of this personality.

    In the 98th verse, Shankaracharya defines the subtle body (Sukshma-Sarira). It has eight units (Puri-ashtakam): (1) Five organs of perception (2) Five organs of action (3) Five pranas (4) Five subtle elements (5) Antahkarana – mana, buddhi, chittam, ahamkara (6) Avidya (7) Kama and (8) Karma.

    Sukshma-Sarira is transmitted to next life – however, it is also non-eternal. Atman is eternal and it is the light that enables both the subtle and gross body to function. Atman reveals itself and other things.

    The 98th verse should be understood in the context of the law of karma and the law of incarnation. At death, even though our senses of perception and action are gone, the tendencies that they created are stored in the Antahkarana (mind, intellect, memory and ego). These stored tendencies in the Antahkarana are never lost. It accompanies the soul when it takes a new body.

    The law of karma should not be interpreted as fatalism. We can shape our future by purifying the antahkarana. We can purify the antahkarana by doing unselfish, noble activities, reading of scriptures and through holy associations. Through such actions, the existing storehouse of negative samskaras is nullified with a new storehouse of positive samskaras.

    Verses 101 and 102 discuss the three states of awareness.

    In the waking state, we identify with the physical (gross) body.

    In dream sleep state, our experiences are at the subtle/mental level. There are three differences from waking state: (1) kala bheda, difference with respect to time. (2) desa bheda, difference with respect to space (3) sukshma stula bheda, difference with respect to grossness of waking experiences and subtlety of dream experiences.

    When the mind alone is involved in the experience, it is subtle. When mind and body are involved in the experience, it is gross.

    Dreams cannot be totally separate or totally identical with waking state experience.

    The third state is deep sleep state, where we enjoy complete restfulness. It is different from samadhi. In samadhi, we consciously reject duality. In deep sleep state, the tools to reject duality are benumbed.

    Verse 102: The subtle body is an instrument for the Atman. The Atman itself is a witness and remains unaffected. The Atman manifests in its full glory in Buddha, because the subtle body is fully refined and pure.

    The gross body is the instrument for the subtle body. The subtle body is the instrument for Atman.

    In Vedanta, for anything to be a witness, it has to satisfy two criteria: (1) It has to be aware (2) It cannot be involved. Light reveals everything but remains unaffected. Same is the case with the Sun and the air.

    When a light bulb is dirty, only dim light comes through it. However, if it is clean, it emits light in its full effulgence. Spiritual practices act as the cleaning process for the subtle body.

    By Shunya, Nagarjuna does not mean nothingness or emptiness. It refers to the inexplicable nature of the highest experience. It cannot be explained. It can only be experienced. At the highest experience, the demarcation between subject and object disappears. You experience yourself as the awareness.
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  • Vivekachudamani 16 The Subtle Body - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 16 The Subtle Body - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/05/30
    Behind our external appearance (gross body) is our subtle body. A movie actor or a diplomat may be impressive externally, which is their external appearance. Someone else may not be impressive externally but we may be impressed by their higher ideals and values. That is their subtle personality.

    A plant or a tree is the gross aspect. The seed is the subtle aspect.

    In the 98th verse, Shankaracharya defines the subtle body (Sukshma-Sarira). It has eight units (Puri-ashtakam): (1) Five organs of perception (2) Five organs of action (3) Five pranas (4) Five subtle elements (5) Antahkarana – mana, buddhi, chittam, ahamkara (6) Avidya (7) Kama and (8) Karma.

    Sukshma-Sarira is transmitted to next life – however, it is also non-eternal. Atman is eternal and it is the light that enables both the subtle and gross body to function. Atman reveals itself and other things.

    The 98th verse and the few verses preceding it should be understood in the context of the law of karma and the law of incarnation. According to the law of karma, our actions produce two types of results – one that is visible and immediate, another that is invisible. For example, if we help a person, the other person benefits (visible result). But we ourselves feel “I did something sensible” – this is the invisible result, which is stored in our Antahkarana as samskara. We collect these tendencies in our Antahkarana through actions involving the senses and the mind.

    At death, even though our senses of perception and action are gone, the tendencies that they created are stored in the Antahkarana (mind, intellect, memory and ego). These stored tendencies in the Antahkarana are never lost. It accompanies the soul when it takes a new body.

    The law of karma should not be interpreted as fatalism. We can shape our future by purifying the antahkarana. We can purify the antahkarana by doing unselfish, noble activities, reading of scriptures and through holy associations. Through such actions, the existing storehouse of negative samskaras is nullified with a new storehouse of positive samskaras.

    Shankaracharya includes avidya, kama and karma in his definition of subtle body. Avidya means ignorance of our true nature. Kama means desire. Karma means action. When we are ignorant of our own real nature (avidya), we have kama, or desire for enjoyments, which compels us to be engaged in all kinds of activities (karma) to satisfy the desire.

    The 94th to 97th verses describe the components of subtle body discussed in the 98th verse.

    94th verse: “The five instruments of perception are sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. The five instruments of action are tongue, legs, hands, and organs of secretion and generation.” The verse refers to the subtle dimension of these instruments that leave impressions in the chittam.

    95th and 96th verse: “The Antahkarana is made up of four compartments: mana, buddhi, chittam, ahamkara.”

    Suppose you see an object from a distance when there is not enough light. It looks like a pillar but you mistake it for a human form. At that time, your mind is speculating - is it a pillar or a human form or something else? When you come close to it, you come to a decision that it is a pillar. Here the intellect, as the deciding faculty, is functioning. You remember that you had seen such a pillar the previous week. This memory comes from chittam. Finally, you identify yourself with the act of seeing a pillar the previous week. That self-identification comes from Aham.

    97th verse: “There are five pranas (vital force).”

    Breath is only the gross dimension of the vital force. One prana is given different names just like gold is given different names though ornaments.”

    99th verse: “When we are ignorant of our own real nature (avidya), we have kama, or desire for enjoyments, which compels us to be engaged in all kinds of activities (karma) to satisfy the desire.”
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  • Vivekachudamani 15 Going Beyond the Body Consciousness - By Swami Tattwamayananda

    Vivekachudamani 15 Going Beyond the Body Consciousness - By Swami Tattwamayananda
    2025/06/13
    The message of the 85th, 86th and 87th verses is: “The human body is a wonderful instrument for attaining a higher purpose in life. However, if we look upon it as the supreme goal, then we are headed towards spiritual degradation.”

    One outlook on the body is the following: The body changes every moment. There is nothing remarkable about it. What is inside the skin bag, if it comes out, even crows won’t eat it. We use a sanitizer if we happen to touch anything that comes out of the skin bag.

    Another outlook on the body is the following: We can use the body to go beyond itself. To achieve any form of excellence, we have to lift our consciousness beyond the bodily level.

    86th verse: “Anyone who worships the body, is like the man who tries to cross a river on the back of a crocodile, not knowing that he will be killed mid-stream.”

    87th verse: “Associating our identity with the body is a great delusion. One who gets out of this delusion attains liberation.”

    Nachiketa’s story and his three boons from Kathopanishad are a good illustration of the evolution towards spiritual enlightenment. The three boons asked by Nachiketa represent three levels of evolution: (1) Good life in this world (2) Living the same good life for a long time in Paradise (3) A sense of everlasting contentment by understanding the reality beyond death, our true identity beyond the body.

    The 87th verse used the word “Moha”. It means self-delusion, obsession with the body. When we are within Moha, we are not aware of it. When we are out of it, we realize that we were in a trap. Moha is maha-mrityu, the great death.

    Who are the people that struggle for liberation? Those who realize the imperfection of the world and have an inner feeling and conviction of a higher possibility. Buddha is one of the best examples.

    88th verse: “We should get out of this Moha towards body, wife, children and others. By getting out of this trap, we get rid of this death in the form of delusion. Only then we can attain spiritual liberation.”

    When King Chitraketu’s young son died and he was lamenting, Sages Aṅgirā and Nārada helped him understand the temporary nature of the relationship between father and son, that the physical body come and goes, and that the Atman manifests in the body. This put a spark of spiritual wisdom in Chitraketu’s heart.

    89th verse: “The gross body is despicable. It is a skin bag that contains waste matter and filth.”
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