Alata Shanti is a simile used in the Advaita philosophy to illustrate the illusoriness of the world. Alta means ‘fire-brand’ and shanty means ‘quenching’. The whole expression means the ‘quenching of the fire-brand’. The ‘fire-brand’ has been used in philosophy of Advaita as a simile to illustrate the illusoriness of the world. When the fire-brand is whirled rapidly, it creates an impression of a circle drawn with fire. But this impression is only an optical illusion caused by the rapid whirling. Similarly, says the Advaita philosophy, the world is but an illusion caused by ignorance. Its being seen is therefore not the proof for its reality. The earliest references to the alata are traced back to Maitrayani Upanishad and the Mahabharata.
Mandukya Karika of Gaudapada, the pre-Shankara Advaita thinker has named the fourth chapter as ‘alata-shanti-prakarana’ (chapter on quenching the firebrand). The immutable Brahman (consciousness), says he, appears, to the ignorant mind, as the world of objects and subjects. Just as the fire-circle comes from nowhere except the firebrand; yet does not emerge from it; nor does it on quenching re-enter the firebrand. Similarly, the world does not really emerge from Brahman, nor does it re-enter it. Hence it is maya (construct), indeterminable as either real or unreal. This illusion must be ‘quenched’ by the true knowledge.