ATMA BODHAM : (68 verses, 9 Chapters) - “KNOWLEDGE of the SELF” -2.

11/08/2018

2. Introduction :-

ATMA BODHAM IS A Prakarna Grantha, dealing with Knowledge of the Self. It describes the state of realization from different standpoints, using various comparisons from day-to-day experiences. It explicitly conveys Brahman as the only Reality and all other Tattvas in the world have only an apparent Reality. That is the sole subject of this text.

It is written in poetry, so it is also a Padya Grantha, not a Gadya Grantha (prose). There are 68 couplets in the entire text, without any group classification or title for each verse. The poetical meter is similar to the verses of the Bhagavad Gita.

From the Introduction by Swami Chinmayanandaji, we quote : -

“Sri Shankaracharya, in the days of his perfect maturity, took up his pen to write ‘Introductory Books’, introducing the theme of Vedanta for the infants in the spiritual world.

Atma Bodha is one of them. This is not an original book inasmuch as there is not a single idea in it which is an entirely original contribution of Sri Shankara. Every one of them is

culled from the garden of the Upanishads, and strung together on the chord of his poetry. “Scientific detachment, honest observation, logical conclusions, and heroic decisions

alone can help an individual to come away from his own life’s fallacies. Atma Bodha supplies all these requisites and Acharya Shankara has made this scientific treatise a chiselled beauty with a distinct cadence and rhythm of its own.”

2.1. The Beautiful Similes & Metaphors :-

Commenting on the exquisite examples given in the book, Swamiji says: “The poet in Shankara revels in these 68 verses. There is no verse here which does not have a simile.

Each is a picture, a sure and striking example. These examples are real hammer strokes that nail the elusive ideals of Vedanta onto the immature comprehension of all early students.

They are all striking examples, so pregnant with suggestions that to ruminate upon them is in itself a profitable meditation for the new initiates.”

With those comments from Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayanandaji, we begin the talks on Atma Bodham delivered by Acharyaji Swami Advayananda to the students of the 15th Sandeepany Vedanta Course.

To be continued ..