Aparokshanubhuti

Aparokshanubhuti is a popular work attributed to Adi Shankara, explaining the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta and the direct realization of the Self.

Verses

• Verse 1: I bow down to Him – to Sri Hari (the destroyer of ignorance), the Supreme Bliss, the First Teacher, Ishwara, the All-per…
• Verse 4: The indifference with which one treats the excreta of a crow – such an indifference to all objects of enjoyment from the…
• Verse 5: Atman (the seer) in itself is alone permanent, the seen is opposed to it (ie., transient) – such a settled conviction is…
• Verse 6: Abandonment of desires at all times is called Shama and restraint of the external functions of the organs is called Dama…
• Verse 7: Turning away completely from all sense-objects is the height of Uparati, and patient endurance of all sorrow or pain is …
• Verse 8: Implicit faith in the words of the Vedas and the teachers (who interpret them) is known as Shraddha, and concentration o…
• Verse 9: When and how shall I, O Lord, be free from the bonds of this world (i.e., births and deaths) – such a burning desire is …
• Verse 12: Who am I ? How is this (world) created ? Who is its creator ? Of what material is this (world) made ? This is the way of…
• Verse 23: How strange is it that a person ignorantly rests contented with the idea that he is the body, while he knows it as somet…
• Verse 24: I am verily Brahman, being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. I am not the b…
• Verse 39: Even the subtle body consists of many parts and is unstable. It is also an object of perception, is changeable, limited …
• Verse 40: The immutable Atman, the substratum of the ego, is thus different from these two bodies, and is the Purusha, the Ishwara…
• Verse 44: As through the ignorance of the real nature of the rope the very rope appears in an instant as a snake, so also does pur…
• Verse 45: There exists no other material cause of this phenomenal universe except Brahman. Hence this whole universe is but Brahma…
• Verse 46: From such declaration (of the Shruti) as “All this is Atman”, it follows that the idea of the pervaded and the pervading…
• Verse 50: The Shruti has clearly declared that Brahman alone is the substratum of all varieties of names, forms and actions.
• Verse 51: Just as a thing made of gold ever has the nature of gold, so also a being born of Brahman has always the nature of Brahm…
• Verse 52: Fear is attributed to the ignorant one who rests after making even the slightest distinction between the Jivatman and th…
• Verse 63: Just as it is water that appears as ripples and waves, or again it is copper, that appears in the form of vessel so it i…
• Verse 66: Just as there ever exist the relation of cause and effect between earth and a jar, so does the same relation exist betwe…
• Verse 68: Atman, though ever pure (to a wise man), always appears to be impure (to an ignorant one), just as a rope always appears…
• Verse 69: Just as a jar is all earth, so also is the body all consciousness. The division, therefore, into the Self and non-Self i…
• Verse 71: Just as earth is thought of as a jar (made of it) and threads as a cloth, so is Atman, etc.,
• Verse 72: Just as gold is thought of as an ear-ring and water as waves, so is the Atman, etc.,
• Verse 74: Just as a mass of wood work is thought of as a house and iron as a sword, so is the Atman, etc.,
• Verse 77: Just as to a person suffering from a defect (jaundice) white things appear as yellow, so does one, etc.,
• Verse 78: Just as to a person with defective eyes everything appears to be defective, so does one, etc.,
• Verse 79: Just as a firebrand, through mere rotation, appears circular like the sun, so does one, etc.,
• Verse 80: Just as all things that are really large appear to be very small owing to great distance, so does one, etc.,
• Verse 81: Just as all objects that are very small appear to be large when viewed through lenses, so does one, etc.,
• Verse 86: Just as the moon (when reflected) in water appears to one as unsteady, so does one, etc.,
• Verse 88: When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is negat…
• Verse 89: O enlightened one, pass your time always contemplating on Atman while you are experiencing all the results of Prarabdha;…
• Verse 94: The Vedanta texts declare ignorance to be verily the material (cause) of the phenomenal world just as earth is of a jar…
• Verse 96: The real nature of the rope being known, the appearance of the snake no longer persists; so the substratum being known, …
• Verse 100: Now, for the attainment of the aforesaid (knowledge), I shall expound the fifteen steps by the help of which one should …
• Verse 101: The Atman that is absolute existence and knowledge cannot be realized without constant practice. So one seeking after kn…
• Verse 104: The restraint of all the senses by means of such knowledge as “All this is Brahman” is rightly called Yama, which should…
• Verse 105: The continuous flow of only one kind of thought to the exclusion of all other thoughts, is called Niyama, which is veril…
• Verse 106: The abandonment of the illusory universe by realizing it as the all-conscious Atman is the real renunciation honored by …
• Verse 107: The wise should always be one with that silence wherefrom words together with the mind turn back without reaching it, bu…
• Verse 110: That solitude is known as space, wherein the universe does not exist in the beginning, end or middle, but whereby it is …
• Verse 111: The non-dual (Brahman) that is bliss indivisible is denoted by the word’time’, since it brings into existence, in the tw…
• Verse 112: One should known that as real posture in which the meditation on Brahman flows spontaneously and unceasingly, and not an…
• Verse 113: That which is well known as the origin of all beings and the support of the whole universe, which is immutable and in wh…
• Verse 114: That (Brahman) which is the root of all existence and on which the restraint of the mind is based is called the restrain…
• Verse 115: Absorption in the uniform Brahman should be known as the equipoise of the limbs (Dehasamya). Otherwise mere straightenin…
• Verse 116: Converting the ordinary vision into one of knowledge one should view the world as Brahman itself. That is the noblest vi…
• Verse 117: Or, one should direct one’s vision to That alone where all distinction of the seer, sight, and the seen ceases and not t…
• Verse 118: The restraint of all modifications of the mind by regarding all mental states like the Chitta as Brahman alone, is calle…
• Verse 121: The absorption of the mind in the Supreme Consciousness by realizing Atman in all objects is known as Pratyahara (withdr…
• Verse 122: The steadiness of the mind through realization of Brahman wherever the mind goes, is known as the supreme Dharana (conce…
• Verse 123: Remaining independent of everything as a result of the unassailable thought, “I am verily Brahman”, is well known by the…
• Verse 124: The complete forgetfulness of all thought by first making it changeless and then identifying it with Brahman is called S…
• Verse 125: The aspirant should carefully practice this (meditation) that reveals his natural bliss until, being under his full cont…
• Verse 129: While thinking of an object the mind verily identifies itself with that, and while thinking of a void it really becomes …
• Verse 133: Also those persons who are only clever in discussing about Brahman but have no realization, and are very much attached t…
• Verse 134: The aspirants after Brahman should not remain a single moment without the thought of Brahman, just like Brahma, Sanaka, …
• Verse 139: One should verily see the cause in the effect, and then dismiss the effect altogether. What then remains, the sage himse…
• Verse 140: A person who meditates upon a thing with great assiduity and firm conviction, becomes that very thing. This may be under…
• Verse 142: Having reduced the visible to the invisible, the wise should think of the universe as one with Brahman. Thus alone will …
• Verse 143: Thus has been described Raja-Yoga consisting of these steps (mentioned above). With this is to be combined Hatha-Yoga fo…
• Verse 144: For those whose mind is completely purified this (Raja-Yoga) alone is productive of perfection. Purity of the mind, agai…