Atmabodha is a short philosophical treatise on Advaita Vedanta, believed to have been composed by Adi Shankaracharya. Atmabodha is a metrical work consisting of 68 verses. In this work, he analyzes the nature of the self, and explains how self-knowledge is the means to moksha (liberation from here and now). In Atmabodha, Adi Shankaracharya first lays down the qualifications that an aspirant to moksha must possess. He then states that jnana (knowledge) is the sole means to moksha.
According to tradition, repeated transmigration is bondage
and moksha means release from the cycle of births and deaths. Adi
Shankaracharya says that the root cause of transmigration is avidya (ignorance).
According to non-dualism, avidya is responsible for the perception of multiplicity
and karmas (actions) require awareness of multiplicity. Hence karmas presuppose
avidya. So, in Atmabodha there is a verse that states – while karmas are not opposed
to avidya, jnana, which is awareness of unity, precludes any empirical
activity.
The author says that owing to avidya, there is adhyasa
(wrong identification) of the self with the body, mind and sense. The
understanding that one’s atman (self) is pure, omniscient, and free from bodily
and mental limitations, destroys this avidya.
Knowledge of the self is chitta-vritti (a mental
modification). Yet it annihilates avidya and then destroys itself. Shankara
gives the illustration of the kataka nut, which purifies the water and then eliminates
itself by settling down along with the impurities.
Adi Shankaracharya dismisses the world as mithya (illusion).
Like a dream, the world is real only as long as it is perceived, and vanishes when
one awakens to the true nature of one’s being (atman). In fact, the world is
superimposed on one’s real self.
Adi Shankaracharya says that the three states of experience –
waking, dream, and dreamless sleep – are experienced by the gross, subtle and causal
bodies respectively. The self, also called Turiya (the fourth), is beyond
these. Another categorization is that there are five sheaths – physical body,
the vital airs, the mind, the intellect, and the blissful state. The self is enclosed
by these sheaths, and is a witness of the experiences that these sheaths
undergo. Like a lamp, the self reveals itself and also other objects. Being
self-luminous, the atman does not need any other agency to illuminate it.
According to Adi Shankaracharya, moksha can be attained by
an embodies person. One who has realized the self is a jivan-mukta (liberated
while living). Just as butter can be separated by churning, so also, through discrimination
one can isolate Brahman, the non-dual truth underlying all names and forms. Brahman
will be found to be identical with the pure self. A jivan-mukta has no
limitation and sense of possession. For him truth is always manifesting itself,
in and through all men and objects.
In almost all the verses of Atmabodha, Adi Shankaracharya has
given appropriate and illuminating similes to illustrate his Advaitic concepts.
On account of its brevity and clarity, it is a popular work, and has been
translated into many languages, including English.