Adi Shankara bibliography

Adi Shankara, a Hindu philosopher of the Advaita Vedanta school, wrote many works[1] in his life-time of thirty two years; however, many works thought to be of his authorship are debated and questioned as to their authorship today. His works deal with logically establishing the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta as he saw it in the Upanishads. He formulates the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta by validating his arguments on the basis of quotations from the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. He gives a high priority to svānubhava (personal experience) of the student. Also, a large portion of his works is polemical in nature. He directs his polemics mostly against the Sankhya, Bauddha, Jaina, Vaisheshika and other non-vedantic Hindu philosophies.

Traditionally, his works are classified under Bhāṣya (commentary), Prakaraṇa grantha (philosophical treatise) and Stotra (devotional hymn). The commentaries serve to provide a consistent interpretation of the scriptural texts from the perspective of Advaita Vedanta. The philosophical treatises provide various methodologies to the student to understand the doctrine. The devotional hymns are rich in poetry and piety, serving to highlight the helplessness of the devotee and the glory of the deity. A partial list of his works is given below.

Contents

Bhāṣya

Adi Shankara wrote Bhāṣya (commentaries) on

Prakaraṇa grantha

Adi Shankara wrote the following treatises

Stotra

Adi Shankara composed many hymns on Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Ganesha and Subrahmanya[2]

Subramanya Bhujangam

Editions

A lot of editions of the works of Adi Shankara are available. A few of them are given below:[3]

Collections of Works

Brahmasutra Bhashya

Bhagavadgita Bhashya

Upadeshasahasri

Vivekachudamani

Panchikarana

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Works of Adi Shankara". http://sankaracharya.org/. Retrieved June 26, 2006. 
  2. ^ "Slokas". http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/Slokas.html. Retrieved June 26, 2006. 
  3. ^ Vidyasankar, S. "A Select Bibliography". http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/biblio.html. Retrieved June 26, 2006. 

External links