Vivekachudamani (Selected Verses)
About this stotra
Vivekachudamani (विवेकचूडामणि) - the Crest Jewel of Discrimination - is a text associated with Adi Shankaracharya and Advaita Vedanta. This page presents the opening three verses from a published Sanskrit witness as a selected study extract, not as a complete edition.
|| विवेकचूडामणि (चयनित श्लोकाः) ||
Verse 1
सर्ववेदान्तसिद्धान्तगोचरं तमगोचरम् । गोविन्दं परमानन्दं सद्गुरुं प्रणतोऽस्म्यहम् ॥ १ ॥
sarvavedāntasiddhāntagocaraṃ tamagocaram | govindaṃ paramānandaṃ sadguruṃ praṇato’smyaham || 1 ||
I bow to Govinda, whose nature is supreme bliss, who is the true teacher, knowable through the import of Vedanta and beyond the reach of speech and mind.1
Verse 2
जन्तूनां नरजन्म दुर्लभमतः पुंस्त्वं ततो विप्रता तस्माद्वैदिकधर्ममार्गपरता विद्वत्त्वमस्मात्परम् । आत्मानात्मविवेचनं स्वनुभवो ब्रह्मात्मना संस्थितिः मुक्तिर्नो शतजन्मकोटिसुकृतैः पुण्यैर्विना लभ्यते ॥ २ ॥
jantūnāṃ narajanma durlabhamataḥ puṃstvaṃ tato vipratā tasmādvaidikadharmamārgaparatā vidvattvamasmātparam | ātmānātmavivecanaṃ svanubhavo brahmātmanā saṃsthitiḥ muktirno śatajanmakoṭisukṛtaiḥ puṇyairvinā labhyate || 2 ||
Human birth is difficult to obtain. Beyond it are scriptural learning, discrimination between the Self and not-Self, direct realization, and abiding as Brahman. Liberation is not attained without merit accumulated through countless births.1
Verse 3
दुर्लभं त्रयमेवैतद्देवानुग्रहहेतुकम् । मनुष्यत्वं मुमुक्षुत्वं महापुरुषसंश्रयः ॥ ३ ॥
durlabhaṃ trayamevaitaddevānugrahahetukam | manuṣyatvaṃ mumukṣutvaṃ mahāpuruṣasaṃśrayaḥ || 3 ||
Three things are rare and arise through divine grace: human birth, the longing for liberation, and the shelter of a great soul or perfected teacher.1
Selected opening verses. This page contains only three verses from the Vivekachudamani.
Source
The Sanskrit and transliteration follow the opening sequence published by Shlokam.1 The English renderings above are concise study paraphrases, not a claim to reproduce a complete translation.