DAKSHINAMURTI STOTRA

OF

SRI SANKARACHARYA

AND

DAKSHINAMURTI UPANISHAD

WITH

SRI SURESWARACHARYA'S MANASOLLASA

AND

PRANAVA VARTIKA

TEXTS AND TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH

BY

Alladi Mahadeva Sastry

WITH THE INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE OF SANKARACHARYA

Madras: Samata Books

[1920]

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

THIS volume comprises the following works literally translated into English with explanatory comments:

i. S'ri S'ankaracharya's Dakshinamurti-Stotra, an ode to the Divine Self, with Sri Suresvaracharya's exposition named Manasollasa' "Brilliant play of thought."

ii. S'ri Suresvaracharya's Pranava-Vartika treating of the contemplation of the Supreme Atman by means of the Pranava.

iii. Dakshinamurti-Upanishad.

S'ankaracharya's immortal Hymn and the two works of Suresvaracharya herein comprised epitomise the whole Vedanta Doctrine as expounded by the two authors in their commentaries on the Upanishads, and form a good introduction to a study of the subject. As a terse expression of the fundamental truths of the Vedanta, the well-known Hymn of S'ankaracharya forms a suitable text upon which the student may meditate and thereby construct the whole doctrine for himself. The reader will also be struck with the catholicity of the teaching, which is not addressed to any particular class of people nor contains any reference to distinctions of caste and religious order. While concisely stating the process by which the oneness of Self and the unreality of all else is established. Manasollasa is more original and telling than any of the later manuals which state the doctrine as derived from the expositions of the two eminent leaders of the Advaita-Vedanta school of thought.

Very little need be said regarding the high position which S'ankaracharya holds among the teachers of