[Advaita-l] Tattvabodha of Adi Sankaracharya - 3

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Continued from previous post)
 
 
Following sections will explore the text in some
detail based on these five topics.
 
1: Introduction (Upodhgata)
 
  vAsudevendrayogIndra.n natvA j~nAnaprada.n gurum .
  mumukShUNA.n hitArthAya tattvabodho.abhidhIyate ..
 
[Having saluted vAsudevendrayogIndra.n - Vasudeva,
the king of Yogis, j~nAnaprada.n gurum, The Guru who is
the bestower of the Knowledge of the Truth);
mumukShUNA.n hitArthAya - for the benefit of the seekers of
liberation;  tattva bodha (the knowledge
of the Truth) abhidhIyate is expounded.]
 
The text starts with a prayer (or Mangala
slokam) followed by a (hypothetical)
dialogue between student and teacher in prose
format. There are two factors involved to
accomplish an undertaking. The first one is our
own effort to successfully execute the
undertaking and the second is the daivam factor.
Daivam refers to parameters that are beyond us.
In our tradition, a prayer is made to Ganesha or
any Ishta Devata to remove any obstacles (vighna
parihArArtham) during our efforts and beyond,
to complete our undertaking. In the Mangala
sloka here, Adi Shankara prostrates to his hula
devata (family deity) Govinda (Vasudeva - the Adi
Guru) and his own guru Govinda Bhagavadpada.
Also, by means of prostration to his Guru, the
elements of the Guru's teaching are remembered
and carried over to his own students. After
salutation to the Lord and the Guru the author
says that the subject of Tattva Bodha - knowledge
of Self or Knowledge of Truth will be
expounded for the seekers of liberation. This also
indicates that the knowledge of the self or
awareness that the student has at this stage is
not correct and the author is going to further
explain the correct knowledge of the Self.
It is customary in a publication to provide
the following four-fold details at the beginning,
called anubandha catushtayam. The mangala sloka
of Tattva Bodha also indicates these four, which
are,
1. the subject (Vishaya); here, the subject
matter is tattva bodha - the knowledge of Truth
2. the eligible (Adhikari  - the seeker after
Liberation (mumukShuH);
3. the benefit (Prayojanam is - mumukShUNAm hitaH)
fulfillment of the desire for Liberation, and,
4. the relationship (Sambandha) between
the thing to be known - i.e brahman, and that
which tells of It - i.e tattva bodha.
 
References:
1.	Sankara, the Missionary, Central Chinmaya
Mission Trust, Bombay, 1978
2.	Tattva Bodha of Sankaracharya. Central
Chinmaya Mission Trust, Bombay, 1995
3.	Swami Paramarthanandas lectrures - Audio
Tapes, Madras 1996.
 
 
(Continued in next post)