What is Adi Shankaracharya’s Advaita Vedanta?

Advaita means non-dualism and Vedanta means the conclusion of the Vedas. Adi Shankaracharya postulated four central doctrines:

1. Brahman, the Absolute is Reality. In the Absolute Brahman the distinction between the knower, knowledge and the objects to be known, the subject, object and means, by which they are cognized, is dissolved.

2. The world though not unreal so long as we are in it and of it, becomes irrelevant and illusory when higher perception of Brahman (the Absolute) is attained.

3. The Absolute (Brahman) can be realized by following a four-fold path:

Viveka- right discrimination between the permanent and the impermanent, the real and the unreal; Vairagya-detachment from the sensory attractions; Sama, Dama and Shraddha-calmness, self-control and faith; and Mumukshutva-the constant yearning to attain the liberation from the finiteness of individuality(Moksha).

4. Bhakti or Devotion is only a step to secure the grace of God, which would obliterate the distinction between the aspirant and God.

The above doctrines can be summed up in three short statements of Adi Shankaracharya:


"Brahma Satyam
Jagan Mithya
Jivo Brahmaiva Na Parah"

This translates roughly as follows:

"God alone is real,
the world is unreal,
the individual is none other than God"

This means that there is only one supreme reality, Brahman, the Supreme Being. Brahman is infinite and omnipresent, therefore nothing can be added to it and furthermore, there cannot be a place where he is not. There is no place for the world or man or any creature outside Brahman. It transcends all pairs of opposites and descriptions.

The reality of the world is then relative as opposed to the absolute nature of Brahman. In that sense, and in comparison with Brahman, the world is unreal. By unreal, it is meant illusory, very much like a dream, which has its own subjective reality, but which is illusory compared with the waking state.

The last of the three statements above asserts that the true nature of each individual is Brahman. Because of "avidya", i.e., our original and inherent spiritual ignorance, we have forgotten our true identity and mistakenly believe that we are little, limited individuals