Upadesha sahasri

[nanda chandran]

>It is interesting to note that while there is some controversy over
>whether most of the prakirna granths of Shankaracharya are genuine,
>scholars are unanimous that upadeshasahasri is really by the Acharya.

Actually I've some questions in this regard which I'd been meaning to raise
on this list for quite a while now.

Upadesha Saahasri is divided into two portions : a prose part and a verse
part. Each is independant and complete on its own.

While in the prose part the arguments regarding the understanding of the
true self and false self stop at a certain point, in contrast in the verse
part we find much subtler understanding of the issues involved. For eg in
the prose part the "knower" is taught as the Self as it remains unchanged
irrespective of the variety in experience. But in the verse part the
understanding of the Self is taken to a much higher level, with the "knower"
itself negated as the ego.

Also there're very clear distinctions regarding the Advaita taught by
Upadesha Saahasri with other works like Vivekachoodaamani. The path in the
former seems to be more cerebrally inclined. Or is one a work on "Yoga
jnaana" while the other "buddhi jnaana" as distinguished by Madhusudhana
Saraswathi?

Any comments?

BTW, I've a translation by the Ramakrishna Matha - which as usual is clear
and lucid.




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