shankar is say about philosophy

1. Philosophy of Shankar

2. Contd.
• Vedanta: Means Ends of Vedas.
• Vedas Are four in number.
• Vedas idea of God was Brahman. (The supreme
creator)
• Who could be pleased by various yagnas.
• Yagnas were offering to the Gods ( Like Indra,
Varun etc.
• Gods when pleased would reward us with various
earthly goods.

3. Upnishad’s
• Upnishad’s stand for ( being near to God)
• They were written at various times but after
the Vedas were composed.
• They were philosophical in nature.
• They focused on realization of God.

4. Atman
• The individual self is the highest thing we
know nearest to absolute.
• Its real nature is pure consciousness, self
shining, self proved and always the same.
• It is called the ultimate witness sakshi.
• It is one with the supreme.
• The senses, the mind, the intellect, the feeling
and will are all products of Avidya (False
Knowledge)

5. Contd.
• They invariably surround the Atman.
• It remains immortal and always the same.
• The eye, the body, the mental state, the
stream of consciousness are all mere
instruments and objects of self.
• The self is universal.
• The whole universe lives and moves and
breathes in it.

6. Contd.
• The self can not be identified by body, nor can
it be regarded as product of matter.
• The ego limited by space and time, by birth
and death, is a miserable creature.
• The self as subject must oppose itself to an
object.
• In Deep sleep there is no objects, either real
or imaginary , hence the object ceases to
exist.

7. Contd.
• The self in the waking state enjoys gross
objects.
• It has consciousness of external world and is
called “Vishwa”.
• In deep sleep there is no subject. The subject-
object duality is transcended and is called
pragjna.
• In sleep we have absence of pain.
• We have neither dreams nor desires.

8. Contd.
• We have the shadow of supreme bliss.
• It is called shadow because we do not enjoy
positive bliss.
• There is a higher state the Fourth state called
“Turiya” where in there is a state of pure
Consciousness and there is enjoyment of
positive bliss.
• All ignorance vanishes, the self shines in its
own light.

9. Advaita Vedanta
• Advaita (Monism)means one and only one reality.
• Shankar says Brahman is one and only one reality.
• All things seen are mere appearance of him (
Maya)
• Ex. Just as all things made up of gold are the
same , with different names ( Ring, Chain)
similarly every thing in this world is the same
(Nama Rupa) but with a different name.
• The objects of the world are denied separate
existence.

10. Contd.
• Brahman is also described as a reality not a
creator.
• It is not describable, being not only
unspeakable but not even unthinkable.
• Differences in the world is only due to Maya.
Maya is also known as avidya.

11. Maya
• Brahman is only reality. The world is
ultimately false.
• Individual soul is no different from Brahman.
• Brahman and Atman are synonymous terms.
• The individual self on account of its inherent
Avidya considers himself different from
Brahman.
• Maya is not pure illusion it is positive wrong
knowledge.

12. Jiva
• It is called sakshin or seer.
• It s subject element is pure consciousness.
• It s object element is internal organ called
Antaahkarana( your inner self)
• It is composed of five elements.
• With the predominance of Tejas which makes it
active always.
• The source of the individual organ is avidya
which causes individuality.