TEACHINGS OF AADIGURU SHANKARACHARYa

"Loud speech, profusion of words, and possessing skillfulness in expounding scriptures are merely for the enjoyment of the learned. They do not lead to Real -knowledge or Realization of Self ,
What is inquiry into the Truth? It is the firm conviction that the Self is real, and all, other than That, is unreal.
Knowing that I am different from the body, I need not neglect the body. It is a vehicle that I use to transact with the world. It is the temple which houses the Pure Self within.
The jiva (living being) is endowed with ego and his knowledge is limited, whereas Ishwar is without ego and is omniscient.
The witness of the three states of consciousness [waking, dream and deep sleep] and of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss is the Self
Thus one should know oneself to be of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss[Sat-Chit-A

nanda].
There is sorrow in finitude. The Self is beyond time, space and objects. It is infinite and hence of the nature of absolute happiness.
Each thing tends to move towards its own nature. I always desire happiness which is my true nature. My nature is never a burden to me. Happiness is never a burden to me, whilst sorrow is.

1. Seek Govinda(god)! Seek Govinda! Seek Govinda! Oh ignoramus, at the time of death the rules of grammer, which you are trying to cram and master, will not be able to rescue you at all.
    
2. The world which is full of attachments, aversions, etc., is like a dream. It appears to be real, as long as it continues but appears to be unreal when one is awake (i.e., when true wisdom dawns).
    
3. Day and night, dawn and dusk, winter and spring, all these are flitting across the stage of the world. While time thus is frolicking and befooling us, our life span is also running out; yet we do not , even a little, give up the clinging to our desires, nor do we let the desires loosen their grip on us.
    
4. Free yourself from lust, anger, greed and delusion. Contemplate on 'who you are'. Enquire within yourself, who am I ? The fools who fail to apprehend the Self are caught in hell-fire even here and now itself and suffer torture.
    
5. Among the contributory factors of liberation, devotion stands supreme, and it is the search for one's own true nature that is meant by devotion.
    
6. Reality can be experienced only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar. What the moon is like must be seen with one's own eyes. How can others do it for you?
    
7. Only those who have achieved samadhi and who have withdrawn the external senses, the mind and their sense of doership into their true nature as consciousness are free from being trapped in the snare of samsara, not those who just repeat the statements of others.
    
8. Direct the mind resolutely towards God, restraining the senses in their various seats, and looking on the state of the body as a matter of indifference. Realise your oneness with God, remaining continually intent on identifying with its nature, and joyfully drink the bliss of God within, for what use is there in other, empty things? From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures.