Adi Shankara Quotes
Adi Shankara was an Indian philosopher and theologian who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, the school of non-dualism. Working in a brief but extraordinarily productive life, he composed commentaries on the principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Sutras, and he founded monastic centers in the four corners of the Indian subcontinent. The quotes below are attributed to Adi Shankara, organized by topic.
Browse Adi Shankara by topic
Adi Shankara on Freedom
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Attributed to Adi Shankara:
“There is no liberation for one who is attached to the body, the senses, or the objects of the senses.”
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“One should become aware of oneself, indivisible, and perfect; free from identification with all things transient, such as one’s body, functions, mind, and the sense of being the doer, for all these are the product of ignorance.”
p4
Adi Shankara on God
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“The Soul appears to be finite because of ignorance. When ignorance is destroyed the Self which does not admit of any multiplicity truly reveals itself by itself: like the Sun when the clouds pass away.”
p. 7: Quote nr. 4.
Adi Shankara on Happiness
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Attributed to Adi Shankara:
“Pleasure and pain are mere ideas, transient and unreal; renounce them.”
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“Deities like Brahma and others taste only a particle, of the unlimited Bliss of Brahman and enjoy in proportion their share of that particle.”
Atma Bodha(1987) | p. 107: Quote nr. 58.
Adi Shankara on Justice
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“When the force of desire for the Truth blossoms, selfish desires wither away, just like darkness vanishes before the radiance of the light of dawn.”
P4
Adi Shankara on Knowledge
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“Knowledge of the Self is the only means to liberation.”
p. 4: Quote nr. 2. -
“Brahma satyam jagat mithyam, jivo brahmaiva naparah”
Brahman (the existential substratum) is the only truth, the world is illusion, and there is ultimately no difference between Brahman and individual self. -
“Action cannot destroy ignorance , for it is not in conflict with or opposed to ignorance. Knowledge does verily destroy ignorance as light destroys deep darkness .”
p. 6: Quote nr. 3. -
“Like bubbles in the water, the worlds rise, exist and dissolve in the Supreme Self, which is the material cause and the prop of everything.”
p. 14: Quote nr. 8. -
“Atman is an ever - present Reality . Yet, because of ignorance it is not realised. On the destruction of ignorance Atman is realised.”
p. 82: Quote nr. 44. -
“p. 82: Quote nr. 44.”
Atman is an ever - present Reality . Yet, because of ignorance it is not realised. On the destruction of ignorance Atman is realised. -
“The Atman, the Sun of Knowledge that rises in the sky of the heart, destroys the darkness of the ignorance, pervades and sustains all and shines and makes everything to shine.”
Atma Bodha(1987) | p. 121: Quote nr. 67. -
“Just as the fire is the direct cause for cooking, so without Knowledge no emancipation can be had. Compared with all other forms of discipline Knowledge of the Self is the one direct means for liberation .”
Atma Bodha(1987) | p. 4: Quote nr. 2.
Adi Shankara on Mind
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Attributed to Adi Shankara:
“The mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation for human beings.”
Adi Shankara on Nature
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“Brahman (the existential substratum) is the only truth, the world is illusion, and there is ultimately no difference between Brahman and individual self.”
Brahma satyam jagat mithyam, jivo brahmaiva naparah -
“All the manifested world of things and beings are projected by imagination upon the substratum which is the Eternal All -pervading Vishnu , whose nature is Existence-Intelligence; just as the different ornaments are all made out of the same gold .”
p. 16: Quote nr. 9.
Adi Shankara on Truth
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Attributed to Adi Shankara:
“Brahman alone is real; the world is illusory; the individual self is non-different from Brahman.”
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Attributed to Adi Shankara:
“He who sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings has no fear.”