works of śaṁkarānanda

Here is a list of saṁkarānanda sarasvati’s works, as per the introduction to the gītā tātparya bodhinī published by kṛṣṇa panta śāstrī –

1. gītā tātparya bodhinī on the bhagavad gītā
2. dīpikās on 9 primary upaniṣads – īśāvāsya, kena, kāṭhaka, praśna, muṇḍaka, māṇḍūkya, taittirīya, aitareya, chāndogya
3. dīpikās on 18 minor upaniṣads – atharvaśira, atharvasihkha, atharvaśīrṣa, amṛtanāda, amṛtabindu, āruṇi, kaivalya, kauṣītakī, garbha, jābāla, nārāyaṇa, nṛsiṁhatāpanīya, paramahaṁsa, brahma, brahmavallī, mahā, śvetāśvatara, haṁsa
4. brahmasūtra dīpikā
5. ātmapurāṇam (also known as the upanīṣadratnam)

Some of his dīpikās are difficult to find. Of the major upaniṣads, the following seem to be unavailable – īśāvāsya, kāṭhaka, muṇḍaka and chāndogya dīpikās. Many of the dīpikās on the minor upaniṣads were published in a volume titled “upaniṣadāṁ samuccaya”. The following were omitted – atharvasihkha, atharvaśīrṣa, nārāyaṇa, nṛsiṁhatāpanīya, brahmavallī, mahā, śvetāśvatara.

in śankara’s own words

For us, ādi śaṁkarācārya’s words are priceless. None the less, as we strive to learn the saṁskṛt language; as we slowly gain the ability to read his words in their original language – translations are invaluable. So, I previously spent some time looking for translations of his gītā-bhāṣya and upaniṣad-bhāṣyas.

As a student of saṁskṛt, it is painfully obvious that a translation in English can never capture the nuance of the original. It just isn’t possible. So, my requirement was an edition that had both the original bhāṣyam (in devanāgarī script) and the translation side-by-side. Who knew that there would be a dearth of such editions !

There are several great translations, but very few of them include the bhāṣyam. On the gītā, I know of the following editions.

• bhagavad gītā bhāṣya of śrī śaṅkarācārya, by A.G. Krishna Warrier
• gītā in śankara’s own words, by V. Panoli

On the upaniṣads, I know of one single edition – upanishad’s in śankara’s own words by V. Panoli, in 5 volumes:

• Volume 1 – īśa, kena, katha, māṇḍūkya
• Volume 2 – praśna, muṇḍaka, taittirīya, aitareya
• Volume 3 – chāndogya
• Volume 4 – bṛhadāraṇyaka

All of these editions are currently in-print, and available online through various book resellers. I prefer Warrier’s translation of the gītā to Panoli’s. On the upaniṣad’s though, there isn’t any choice. Panoli’s translations are reasonable, but I prefer the translations of authors like svāmī gambhīrānanda. It is a real shame that more English editions don’t include the bhāṣyam.

upaniṣad-bhāṣyam

We’ve previously looked at two major compilations of upaniṣadic commentaries – the anubhūti-prakāśa by vidyāraṇya and ātma-purāṇam by śaṅkarānanda. Today we’ll look at the 3 volume upaniṣad bhāṣyam set published by the Mahesh Research Institute. This is probably the most important reference book set available on the upaniṣads.

This set includes all 10 primary upaniṣads (īśa, kena, kaṭha, praśna, muṇḍaka, māṇḍūkya, taittirīya, aitareya, chāndogya, bṛhadāraṇyaka). All of them include the bhāṣyam by śaṅkarācārya and ṭīkā by ānandagiri. In addition, it includes a few additional important commentaries:

• kaṭha – ṭīkā by gopāla yati
• māṇḍūkya – kārikā by gauḍapāda, ṭīkā by anubhūti-svarūpa
• taittirīya – vārtikā by sureśvarācārya, vanamālā by acyuta-kṛṣṇānanda-tīrtha
• chāndogya – ṭippaṇī by narendra-purī yati, ṭīkā by abhinava-nārāyanendra-sarasvatī
• bṛhadāraṇyaka – dīpikā by vidyāraṇya muni

Note: sureśvarācārya has also written a bṛhadāraṇyaka vārtikā which is published separately.

śruti sāra samuddharaṇam

When looking at lists of traditional advaitic texts, I came across a reference to toṭakācārya’s śruti-sāra-samuddharaṇam and looked at a copy. There are only two texts ascribed to toṭakācārya – the famous spontaneous toṭakāṣṭakam, and the present text. I’m surprised that this text isn’t more popular. It is written in simple language in the delightful toṭaka meter.

sakalaṁ manasā kriyayā janitaṁ samavekṣya vināśitayā tu jagat |
niravidyata kaścid ato nikhilād avināśi kṛtena na labhyam iti || 2

visṛjānnamayādiṣu pañcasu tām aham asmi mameti matiṁ satatam |
dṛśirūpam anantam ṛtam viguṇam hṛdayastham avehi sadāham iti || 6 

This text consists of 179 verses and has been published along with saccidānanda-yogī’s short ṭīkā by the ānandāśrama-saṁskrita-granthāvalī (#103). It is also available from the Digital Library of India. 

Eleven Atharvana Upanishads with dipikas

Recently, when looking for some of svāmi śaṅkarānanda’s works, I came across a reference to the book titled “Eleven Atharvana Upanishads with dipikas” by G.A.Jacob. Unfortunately, I was unable to find much information about it’s contents, but ordered a reprint anyway. Here are the contents for others who might be interested.

1. kṛṣṇa – with the dīpikā of nārāyaṇa
2. kālāgni-rudra – with the dīpikā of nārāyaṇa
3. vāsudeva – with the dīpikā of nārāyaṇa
4. gopicandana – with the dīpikā of nārāyaṇa
5. nārāyaṇa – with the dīpikās of nārāyaṇa and śaṅkarānanda
6. ātmabodha – with the dīpikā of nārāyaṇa
7. garuḍa – with the dīpikā of nārāyaṇa
8. mahā – with the dīpikās of nārāyaṇa and śaṅkarānanda
9. varadatāpnīya – with the dīpikā of nārāyaṇa (on the pūrvatāpinī only)
10. āśrama – without dīpikā
11. skanda – without dīpikā

The book that I received was a photocopy of the original edition published by nirṇaya sāgar press. The reprint is by Kessinger Publishing, and is surprisingly readable.

ātma-purāṇam

Previously, we looked at the contents of svāmi-vidyāraṇya’s anubhūti-prakāśa. His guru, svāmi śaṅkarānanda has also commented on many upaniṣads. His works include the ātma-purānam (also known as the upaniśad-ratnam). This has been recently published in 4 volumes by the dakṣiṇāmūrti maṭha in kāśi (along with the satprasava vyākhyā and hindi translation), and is currently in-print. The first few verses (1-30) of the last (18th) chapter provide a summary of it’s contents. This covers all of the major upaniṣads except for the māṇḍūkya upaniṣad.

1. aitareya
2. kauṣītakī (indra & pratardana)
3. kauṣītakī (gārgya & ajātaśatru)
4. bṛhadāraṇyaka (aśvinīkumāra)
5. bṛhadāraṇyaka (ṛṣi & yājñavalkya)
6. bṛhadāraṇyaka (yājñavalkya & janaka)
7. bṛhadāraṇyaka (yājñavalkya & maitreyī)
8. śvetāśvatara
9. kaṭha (yama & naciketa)
10. taittirīya
11. āruṇika, garbha, amṛtanāda, haṁsa, kṣurikā, jābāla, brahma, paramahaṁsa, amritabindu, nārāyaṇa, mahā, ātmaprabodha, kaivalya
12. chāndogya (āruni & śvetaketu)
13. chāndogya (sanatkumāra &  nārada)
14. chāndogya (prajāpati & indra-virocana
15. kena
16. muṇḍaka (aṅgiras & śaunaka)
17. praśna (pippalāda & sukeśa)
18. atharvaśira, nṛsiṁha-pūrva-tāpanīya, nṛsimha-uttara-tāpanīya, īśāvāsya

anubhūti-prakāśa

svāmi vidāraṇya, the author of the popular pancadaśī, is one of the most famous names in vedāntic circles. Another one of his works, the anubhūti-prakāśa is a verse treatise on the upaniṣads. It consists of 20 chapters, and comments on the primary upaniṣads (excluding the īśa and māṇḍūkya).

1. aitareya, ṛg – 108 verses
2. taittirīya, kṛ yajus – 150 verses
3. chāndogya, sāma (6th chapter) – 140 verses
4. chāndogya, sāma (7th chapter) – 90 verses
5. chāndogya, sāma (8th chapter) – 100 verses
6. muṇḍaka, atharva – 100 verses
7. praśna, atharva – 100 verses
8. kauṣītaki-brāhmaṇa, ṛg – 100 verses
9. kauṣītaki-brāhmaṇa, ṛg – 72 verses
10. maitrāyaṇi, sāma – 150 verses
11. kaṭha, kṛ yajus – 120 verses
12. śvetāśvatara, kṛ yajus – 120 verses
13. bṛhadāraṇyaka, śu yajus (1st chapter) – 289 verses
14. bṛhadāraṇyaka, śu yajus (2nd chapter, ajātaśatru) – 120 verses
15. bṛhadāraṇyaka, śu yajusv (2nd chapter, maitreyī) – 103 verses
16. bṛhadāraṇyaka, śu yajus (2nd chapter, madhu) – 50 verses
17. bṛhadāraṇyaka, śu yajus (3rd chapter) – 310 verses
18. bṛhadāraṇyaka, śu yajus (4th chapter) – 324 verses
19. kena, atharva – 100 verses
20. nṛsiṁhottaratāpinī, atharva – 100 verses

There are many (108+) upaniṣads, and we often wonder about their relative importance. It is interesting to note that the anubhūti-prakāśa also has something to say about this.

aitareye taittirīye chāndogye ’tharvane ca yat |
tattvaṁ catur-veda-vidyā-prakāśe tat samīritam ||
anubhūti-prakāśo ‘tha kauṣitakyādi-nāmasu |
catur-vedāṅga-śākhāsu yat tattvaṁ tad udīryate || 8-1,2

The 20 chapters of the anuhbūti-prakāśa are published with its name in the colophon that follows each chapter. However, according to the verses above (and the śruti-saṁyojinī ṭīkā thereupon), this is actually a collection of two different works.

1. “vidyā-prakāśa” on the pradhāna-śākhās consists of chapters 1-7
2. “anubhūti-prakāśa” on the aṅga-śākhās consists of chapters 8-20

Thus, according to svāmī vidyāraṇya, we have a primary collection of the following five upaniṣads – (1) aitareya (2) taittirīya (3) chāndogya (4) muṇḍaka and (5) praśna.

Note: not everyone agrees with this two-fold division. Some see vidyā-prakāśa as an adjective to anubhūti-prakāśa. Though possible, this reading does seem a little forced.