Adi Shankara’s Radical Clarity on Brahman
- Sukhdev Virdee
- Jul 19
- 2 min read
Some teachings confuse.
Others inspire.
And then… there are the words of Adi Shankaracharya —
so clear, so absolute, they leave no room for debate, improvement, or escape.
“Brahma satyam jagan mithya
jīvo brahmaiva nāparaḥ.”
Brahman is the only Truth, the world is an illusion,
and the individual self is not other than Brahman.
Not poetry.
Not metaphor.
Just radical clarity.
The Young Sage Who Changed Everything
Shankara lived only 32 years.
But in that short time,
he walked across India,
debated the sharpest minds of the time,
and restored the path of Advaita Vedanta
as the heart of spiritual realization.
He didn’t introduce a new teaching.
He cleared away everything that wasn’t Truth.
No frills. No fantasies.
Just direct knowledge:
You are That.
Not a Drop of Sentimentality
Shankara wasn’t concerned with making you feel better.
He wanted you to wake up.
“You are not the body,
you are not the mind.
You are the ever-free, ever-pure Self.”
He saw the human tendency to cling —
to ideas, forms, stories, experiences —
and he cut through it like a sword through mist.
He didn’t say “the world is bad.”
He said it isn’t ultimately real.
It appears. It plays. It dances.
But Brahman alone is unchanging,
self-luminous,
independent of appearances.
Everything else is maya —
a display that seems real, until it's not.
Brahman Is Not an Object to Know
This is the part seekers often miss:
You cannot know Brahman the way you know a fact.
Because Brahman is not an object.
It is what makes knowing possible.
It is what remains when the knower and the known dissolve.
So the inquiry isn’t “What is Brahman?”
but rather:
“Who is the one asking the question?”
And when that question is traced all the way back…
nothing remains.
Not void. Not absence.
But pure being —
free of time, thought, or separation.
Why I Return to Shankara’s Pointers
There are days when the mind gets loud again.
The world feels sticky. Personal.
It’s in those moments I return to Adi Shankara.
Not for comfort,
but for remembrance.
“You are unborn.
You are changeless.
You were never in bondage.”
His teachings don’t leave space for spiritual entertainment.
They invite you into clarity so total
that the idea of “you”
melts.
Not into bliss.
Not into light.
Just into Truth.
Jivanmukti: Freedom While Alive
Shankara’s goal wasn’t escapism.
He didn’t teach withdrawal from life.
He spoke of Jivanmukti —
freedom while still in the body.
A sage who has realized Brahman
doesn’t float above the world.
He walks through it —
utterly free.
No attachment to action,
no fear of consequence,
no identity clinging to outcomes.
Just stillness,
in motion.
📿 Return to What Is Always True
The 5 Illusions That Keep You from Awakening – And The One Truth That Sets You Free
Adi Shankara removed illusion with precision. This free guide begins that same process for you.
If you're ready to go beyond practices and see what’s always been here — let’s begin.
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