Adi Shankaracharya Quotes

“what is ubiquitous but not constrained by the brittleness of form, is by definition imperishable.”
― Pavan K. Varma, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

“I am neither the earth, nor water, nor fire, nor air, nor sky, nor any other properties. I am not the senses and not even the mind. I am Shiva, the undivided essence of consciousness.”
― Pavan K. Varma, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

“assert the primacy of thought over ritual,”
― Pavan K. Varma, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

“Satyam jnanam, anantam Brahma: Knowledge is truth and Brahman is eternal, was what he proclaimed, and the Upanishads were the source of his jnana.”
― Pavan K. Varma, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

“The etymological meaning of Veda is sacred knowledge or wisdom. There are four Vedas: Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva. Together they constitute the samhitas that are the textual basis of the Hindu religious system. To these samhitas were attached three other kinds of texts. These are, firstly, the Brahmanas, which is essentially a detailed description of rituals, a kind of manual for the priestly class, the Brahmins. The second are the Aranyakas; aranya means forest, and these ‘forest manuals’ move away from rituals, incantations and magic spells to the larger speculations of spirituality, a kind of compendium of contemplations of those who have renounced the world. The third, leading from the Aranyakas, are the Upanishads, which, for their sheer loftiness of thought are the foundational texts of Hindu philosophy and metaphysics.”
― Pavan K. Varma, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

“She could either give birth to a fool who would live long or be blessed with a genius who would die young.”
― Pavan K. Varma, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

“A crocodile has caught me and I cannot be saved until you give me permission to become a sanyasin.”
― Pavan K. Varma, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

“Shankara assured her he would return whenever his mother, conscious, unconscious or burdened by sorrow, needed him.”
― Pavan K. Varma, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

“it is the same Atman that is present in all bodies, irrespective of their castes?”
― Pavan K. Varma, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

“In the sutra, discipline is outlined as an eightfold path, starting from yama (self-restraint), niyama (virtuous observances), asana (posture), pranayama (consciously controlling breath), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentrating the mind), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (a trance-like state in which there is complete union with the subject of meditation).”
― Pavan K. Varma, Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker