The Students' Handbook of Spiritual Solutions: The Adi Shankaracharya Way

Pic Credits: Isha Foundation

Often throughout our student life, especially when living alone and away from the protective care of our beloved parents, there are many instances when we feel a constant disconnect between what the brain has to do and what the mind makes us do. It's surprisingly common that such dilemmas hinder us from reaching and performing to our true potential. Also, it's a sad reality that such behaviour is being normalised and being accepted/glorified in the name of enjoying college life while putting your future at stake. Peer pressure can lead young students to conform to group norms, even if these norms conflict with their personal values or hinder their self-discipline. A student willing to work on himself is often caught in a group of people unwilling to change and thus rarely finds anyone to turn to for guidance in such scenarios. 

The natural question that arises is who such a person should turn to for guidance and strength. The answer might surprise you. India has always been the land of Guru Shishya parampara. Our intellectual gurus have been generous enough to document their teachings in beautiful poetic works that act as nectar to ears and are a gold mine of knowledge. In this article, we shall be speaking of the works of a guru who gained mastery over all the 4 Vedas, which consist of more than 1,00,000 shlokas by the age of 8, all the shastras by the age of 12 and finished writing his commentaries on the  Prasthanatrayi (the three principal shastras: Upanishads, Brahmasutras and the Bhagavad Gita) by the age of 16. He wrote around 300 literary texts (120 verified) in a short life span of 32 years. This guru is none other than the first Jagadguru, Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankaracharya.

Interestingly, Adi Shankaracharya single-handedly unified Hinduism throughout the country, reigniting the flames of a sleeping civilisation by walking the length and breadth of the nation twice and setting up four mathas in 4 cardinal directions to keep disseminating his knowledge for all of humanity till eternity. It's worth noting that these mathas set up about 1200 years ago are still active and thriving.

Sri Adi Shankaracharya’s works are many, ranging from simple works like Tatvabodha and Nirvana Shatakam to very complex works like the commentary on the Brahmasutras, small works like Ekashloki and Dashashloki to long works like Shatashloki and Upadeshasahasri. A single article or, for that matter, a 1000-page dossier can not be enough to give justice to this intellectual and poetic genius. In this article, we will be focusing on certain small parts of the “VivekaChudamani” (The crest jewel of discretion) that we feel are relevant to the students in general. Please note that these are our interpretations, and we are in no way the best qualified to preach the works of Sri Adi Shankaracharya. Thus, this article may be considered a starting point for those who would like to dive deep into Adi Shankaracharya's works. 

The book “Viveka Chudamani” (The Crest Jewel of Discretion) begins with a topic called “Sadhana Chatushtay”, i.e. four-fold qualifications for enlightenment. But we believe it is possible to generalise these terms for the benefit of the students too. Adi Shankaracharya boldly asserts that one may accomplish the highest possible if he has these qualities. 

यद् अभावे  न सिध्यति।

Sadhana Chatushtay

1.नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः Nitya-Anitya-Vastu-Viveka :

The term may be understood as “The discretion between the utile and the futile.” It says that sparking awareness about what is productive and what is not must be continuously glowing. This awareness should consistently serve as a perpetual litmus test, influencing our decisions and actions, even at a psychological depth.

Along the same lines, Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita - 
प्रवृत्तिंच निवृत्तिं च कार्याकार्ये भयाभये |
बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्तिबुद्धि: सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी || 30||

The signs of good intelligence are understanding what is proper action and improper action, duty and non-duty, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared and finally what is binding and what is liberating.

Many times, we as students find ourselves in a dilemma about what should and shouldn’t be done. For example, binge-watching reels vs. finishing up an assignment early. A discretion between the utile and worthless would not let you get entangled in this dilemma, and you would do the right thing effortlessly. A natural question arises, how do we implement this in real life where the monkey mind takes over the brain, The very brain that can innately understand this discretion? The answer lies in the next point.

2.इहामुत्रफलभोगविराग:  Iha-Amutra-Phala-Bhog-Virag:

It can be translated as “A strong sense of disinterest towards the pleasures underlying the unfruitful activities and ideas.”

It is a strong self-resolution stated as: “I am firmly not at all interested in falling prey to any of the misleading pleasures in the universe”. We believe this means that one should classify one’s sources of pleasure/happiness in accordance with one’s long-term goals. If a certain fanatic source does not comply with goals, it can be considered to be misleading. It is followed by a principle in the Bhagavad Gita which says that an intelligent person utilises the materials in the world for his benefit but doesn’t get lost in them 

न तेषु रमते बुधः।।5.22।।

To elaborate on the term, Acharya quotes in the book - “It’s the intellectual irritation towards hearing and seeing something that is not green-flagged by your rationale.” 

तद्वैराग्यं जिहासा या दर्शनश्रवणादिभिः॥ २१ ॥

Scientifically, this can be seen as the Dopamine feedback loop. Dopamine is the hormone released when there is a sense of accomplishment and gratification. Technically it is supposed to be a reward after a task well done. But in the current day and age, our surroundings are filled with cheap sources of instant gratification, which have made us dependent on cheap dopamine releases. Thus, many of us are gradually losing our ability to do/understand hard tasks that are actually supposed to be useful for our well-being. To counter this, such activities (ones giving us cheap/free dopamine rewards) can be classified as untruthful, and thus, in order to get one’s life back on track, one must practice फलभोगविराग: towards such activities.

A lotus flower has its roots in the mud. It cannot grow without the mud, and yet its petals are pristine. This is detachment. Detachment is being close to what you most want to be free of and using it to make you grow, not separating yourself from anything. The lotus flower doesn't turn mud into anything. Mud is mud. Yet, mud also has nutrients needed to aid the flower's growth. It is the same for us. We are in a situation that we don't like; we are 'in the mud'. And yet, it is probably the most secure position there if we could only recognise it, not distort it, and let it 'grow us'.

3.शमादिषट्कसम्पत्ति: Shama-aadi-Shatsampatti

It is the six-fold treasure - six qualities packed together, forming the third qualification. It is a basic list of disciplines for the mind.

3.1.शम -Shama  - Tranquility:

विरज्य विषयव्राताद्दोषदृष्ट्या मुहुर्मुहुः ।
स्वलक्ष्ये नियतावस्था मनसः शम उच्यते ॥ २२ ॥

“Persistently dis-entertaining your mind by explaining how unworthy a particular desire is, and refocusing it again towards your long-term goal by holding its control.”

The literal meaning of शम is a calm and stable mind. A calm and stable mind is capable of focusing deeply and invariantly on the task it ought to do. Acharya describes the path to achieving this term, which is disaligning the mind from triggers. 

There’s an interesting analogy in a book where the mind is compared to a wild elephant and the brain to its human rider. In any scenario, the rider can never fully control the wild elephant as it is powerful enough to throw him off. So, for anything to be done, there must be complete cooperation between the rider and the elephant. Thus, the rider, being smart, should keep reinforcing the path on which he wants the elephant to walk on and try his best to keep it away from the path where there is a chance for the elephant to lose control. If the elephant does lose control, god save the rider.

Only a calm and controlled elephant can stably walk the path. An angry elephant will cause harm to its surroundings, to the rider and most of all to itself.

3.2.दमः Damaḥ - Controlling the sensory organs

विषयेभ्यः परावर्त्य स्थापनं स्वस्वगोलके ।
उभयेषामिन्द्रियाणां स दमः परिकीर्तितः 

“Diverting your sensory and motor organs away from their triggers and re-establishing each of them in some task  that aligns with your goal.”

Shama talks about controlling the mind, while Damaḥ is concerned with the input given to the sensory organs and the actions performed by the motor organs.

Now that we know how to align the elephant and the rider, another major problem is the elephant’s senses. The elephant behaves according to the input it receives from the sense organs. For example, an elephant on the right path might want to divert when it sees a sugarcane farm. Similarly, the human mind is also a slave to the sensory inputs, and thus, the rider (i.e. the brain) should make sure that the sensory inputs are conducive to the goal.

**3.3.उपरति: Uparatiḥ **

It is “A withdrawal inwards”, not seeking satisfaction from the outside. You are still allowed to mingle with your buddies, but the awareness that things outside are not the source of my satisfaction must be alive. Thus, it is a mental step back from falling into an ocean of illusion.

**3.4.तितिक्षा: Titikshā - Forbearance/Fortitude **

It is the attitude to believe, “No matter what, I will pursue this path.” 

This quality basically highlights the importance of perseverance. Quite literally, it means tolerance, in the sense that “One should tolerate whatever circumstances one faces in his/her path to achieve his goals and should not stop for anything”.
In his works,

सहनं सर्वदुःखानामप्रतीकारपूर्वकम् । चिन्ताविलापरहितं सा तितिक्षा निगद्यते ॥ २४॥
‘Titiksha’ is to bear all the pain without excessive grudging and complaining.

3.5.श्रद्धा: Shraddha - Faith

A working faith in the system and the process. One must be faithful that he will definitely get what he wants if he pays a sufficient amount of time and energy in a systematic manner.

3.6.समाधान:  Samādhān - Fixed Concentration

It is a settled focus and concentration on the path by not getting scattered into many things.

4.मुमुक्षुत्व: Mumukshutva - “The intense desire of attaining freedom”

When heading towards the goal of enlightenment, one must have only one strong desire, which is to be free from the limitations and bondages of the free world. In the same manner, any person on the path of chasing his goals must have an intense desire to attain them, to overcome all the shortcomings that he faces.

This is just a small peek into the genius of Acharya Shankar. Some of his more popular works include ‘Prasnottar Ratna Malika’ (Posed in the format of Yaksha - Yudhistir conversation from the Mahabharata), ‘Mohamudgaram’ (Destroyer of Illusions) and Nirvanashatakam (Where he has answered the question- Who am I?). He says that the goal of man is knowledge not pleasure. The cause of all the miseries we have is the wrong thought of pleasure to be the ideal to strive for. True knowledge is the one that pulls away one's ignorance, reveals one's true self, and completely frees one from the pitiful handcuffs of sorrow.

In conclusion, the scriptures of Sri Adi Shankaracharya can be a great source of guidance for people from all walks of life. Their relevance has not been lost through the 1200 years or so since their inception, and their words remain relevant and relatable to date if they are understood properly. Studying Adi Shankaracharya's philosophical treatises, commentaries, and hymns not only provides a deep understanding of Advaita Vedanta but also fosters critical thinking and introspection. By delving into the timeless wisdom imparted by Adi Shankaracharya, students can gain a holistic perspective on life, cultivate a sense of inner peace, and navigate the complexities of existence with greater clarity and wisdom. His teachings continue to inspire seekers on the path of knowledge, making studying Adi Shankara's works an enduring and enriching endeavour for students and scholars alike.