[Advaita-l] Chakilam Venkatesh - Controversy???

[Vikram Jagannathan]

Namaskaram Sangeerth ji & Swagata ji,

The critic (Youtube id: Vishvas Vasuki) seems to belong to Visishtadvaita
Sri-Vaishnava sampradayam (non-Advaitin). I would take his criticisms of
Advaita (and Advaitin) with a bucket-load of salt and instead reach out to
an Advaita acharya to clarify the Advaita position.

Unless you have already done so; prior to getting the clarification (or
confirmation) from an Advaita acharya, it is strongly recommended to
refrain from denigrating (such as "bringing the pedestal of Sringeri to
streets") an Advaita scholar.

Below is my personal opinion:

I just listened to 1 video (https://youtu.be/LIX8SNz-Pl8?si=OWDGfv3ddKeC2TRD)
and to me this is the critic's clear misunderstanding, mischaracterization
and misrepresentation of Advaita.

Atman in paramarthika sense is indeed absolutely changeless and unmoving.
In vyavaharika, due to adhyasa with sukshma and karana shariras, the
perceived jivatma transmigrates. This is a clear Advaita stance and the
critic has failed to understand the siddhanta prior to criticizing Advaita.
The two shlokas from SBG refer to these distinct perspectives. 2.24 is
clearly paramarthika whereas 8.24 is vyavaharika. The critic is confusing
the two perspectives.

At the 8:54 minute mark the critic says that "some Shankarans (implying
Advitins) make Bhagavan Shri Krishna to be an insane person"! Kindly point
to an Advaita acharya or Advaita granta where Bhagavan is said to be so!

At the 12:18 minute mark the critic says that "Sankaracharya twisted Veda
Vyasa's views very clearly".

At the 15:30 minute mark, there is an attempt by the critic to state
Advaita siddhanta as taught by Swami Sankaracharya. The attempt is an
inaccurate, misrepresentation of Advaita siddhanta.

One's own misunderstanding of Advaita should not be mischaracterized as a
flaw in the siddhanta. Neither does restating one's own sampradhayam
perspective imply inaccuracy of Advaita bhashya.
*To me, the criticism is baseless, biased and flawed; It doesn't warrant
listening to any other of the critic's videos.*

If there are questions on quotations / references, that can (and should) be
taken up individually & specifically with the teacher directly.

*Note: I have not listened to Shri Venkatesh Chakkilam's discourses and
hence, notwithstanding accuracy of his Advaita teaching, my opinion is
limited to the criticism in the aforementioned video.*

prostrations,
Vikram


On Thu, Nov 6, 2025 at 9:49 AM Swagata Chowdhury via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> I do not believe he is actually associated with *Aham Brahmāsmi*. However,
> that organization tends to invite people rather freely—much like Indica.
> Indica has, on multiple occasions, invited certain fraudulent individuals
> to their programs. Later, some scholars sent them an email, they confirmed
> that they would no longer invite him.
>
> In my opinion, it is preferable to invite only those with a genuine
> Sanskrit background—whether academic or traditional. And if someone is from
> a different field, they should at least have strong recommendations from
> respected Sanskrit scholars.
>
> swagata
>
> On Thu, 6 Nov 2025, 1:16 pm Sangeerth P via Advaita-l, <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > Namaskaram
> >
> > What is this happening with this Chakillam Venkatesh? Is he really from
> > ahambrahmasmi team? He is bringing the pedestal of Sringeri to streets I
> > feel by citing sutras which are no where found and slokas from Vishnu
> > puranam no where found.
> >
> > Gita-2-17
> > https://youtu.be/LIX8SNz-Pl8?si=cRqz1Ofo8yaxZ0G1
> >
> > Gita-2-24
> > https://youtu.be/tXpUd-mYzNs?si=GWR-UwiQ1ehwIgCa
> >
> > His arrogance
> > https://youtu.be/hjdiTt9ikaI?si=hVOEGldf4bwG8WiD
> >
> >
> > Regards
> > Sangeerth P
> > 8608658009
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