Adi Sankaracharya's Dakshinamurti Stotra and Dakshinamurti Upanishad with Sri Sureswaracharya's Manasollasa and Pranava Vartika

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A great poem in world literature, Dak- shinamurti Stotra reveals the poet and the Mystic in Sri Sankaracharya in unison at the highest attitude of his being.

The four sons of Brahma born of his mind-MANASA PUTRAS declined to continue the line of creation. Intent on returning to the source they found themselves in the Presence of Siva as Jnana - Dak- shinamurti in a blissful inner state of " Knowledge by identity". The thin veil over their eyes dropped as they, along with other sages, gazed at luminous Silence.

The perfect teaching was given and received in Silence. Sri Sankaracharya realized it in his own person and gave utterance to that Silence of Compassionate Knowledge in these ten stanzas of winged words for the benefit of humanity.

Sri Suresvaracharya wrote a commentary Manasollasa- Brilliant play of thought on this hymn of his Master to enlighten those who needed further help.

Added to these texts are the ancient Dakshinamurti Upanishad and Suresvaracharya's Pranava Vartika in Nagari Script. The translation of these four texts into English by Sri Alladi Ma- hadeva Sastri the well-known scholar whose masterly indroductory essay: The Vedanta Doctrine of Sankaracharya will help the reader immensely.

Adi Sankara's is the earlier extant commentary on The Bhagawad Gita. The text of the Gita as cited by him has come down the centuries as the au- thentic text and this commentary of his has proved to be of seminal value ever since. Later commen- tators may differ from him on textual and even metaphysical interpretation but the spiritual well- being flowing into us on reading the Gita-Bhashya of Adi Sankaracharya is universally acknowl- edged. One has to read it to feel it.

This book contains the original Sanskrit text of the Gita in the Devanagari followed by its translation and also the translation of Adi Sankara's Gita Bhashya in English by Alladi Mahadeva Sastri.

The translation has stood the test of time since its first publication in 1897, being the best available English translation of Adi Sankaracharya's commentary.

The learned translator has added in the form of foot notes (marked A) explanations mostly extracted from Anandagiri's Tika, which is always the clearest and most to the point and is almost in- dispensable for a proper understanding of some important portions of the Bhashya.

THIS volume comprises the following works literally translated into English with explanatory comments:

i. Sri Sankaracharya's Dakshinamurti-Stotra, an ode to the Divine Self, with Sri Suresvaracharya's exposition named Manasollasa "Brilliant play of thought."

ii. Sri Suresvaracharya's Pranava-Vartika treating of the contemplation of the Supreme Atman by means of the Pranava.

iii. Dakshinamurii-Upanishad.

Sankaracharya's immortal Hymn and the two works of Suresvaracharya herein comprised epitomise the whole Vedanta Doctrine as expounded by the two authors in their commentaries on the Upanishads, and form a good introduction to a study of the subject. As a terse expression of the fundamental truths of the Vedanta, the well-known Hymn of Sankaracharya forms a suitable text upon which the student may meditate and thereby construct the whole doctrine for himself. The reader will also be struck with the catholicity of the teaching, which is not addressed to any particular class of people nor contains any reference to distinctions of caste and religious order, while concisely stating the process by which the oneness of Self and the unreality of all else is established. Manasollasa is more original and telling than any of the later manuals which state the doctrine as derived from the expositions of the two eminent leaders of the Advaita-Vedanta school of thought.