Vedanta Philosophy

Śaṅkara (788-820 A.D.)

• He wrote commentaries on the principal Upaniṣads, the

Brahmasūtra and Bhagavad Gītā.

• Brahman alone is real, the universe is unreal, and the individual soul
is no other than the Universal Soul.

• The Ātman is the supreme, universal Self. The jīva is the Ātman
limited or individuated by the adjuncts of the body, the sense-organs,
manas, buddhi, and ahaṁkara.

Philosophy and Critical Thinking

 Śaṅkara (788-820 A.D.)

• The gross body is produced by one’s past actions out of the gross
elements formed by the union of the subtle elements with each
other, and is the medium of experience for the soul. That is its
waking state in which it perceives gross objects.

• Pañchīkaraṇa: Each of the five elements is divided into two parts.

One of the two halves is further divided into four parts. Then each
gross element is formed by the union of one-half of itself with one
eight of each of the other four.

Philosophy and Critical Thinking

 Śaṅkara (788-820 A.D.)

• Five elements: ether, air, fire, water and earth.

• The body is regarded as the abode of the delusion of “I” and plays
role in the waking state.

• The inner organ (antaḥkaraṇa) is called manas, buddhis, ego or citta

according to their respective functions: manas, from its considering the
pros and cons of a things; buddhi, from its property of determining the
truth of objects; ahamkāra, from its identification with this body as
ones’s own self; and citta, from its function of remembering things it is
interested in.

Philosophy and Critical Thinking

Śaṅkara

Annamaya kośa
Prāṇamaya kośa

Manomaya kośa
Ātman Vijñānamaya kośa

Ānandamaya kośa

Philosophy and Critical Thinking