about this site
Simple prose saṁskr̥ta vedānta texts which focus on vicāra and manana have been used traditionally, but are not well-known in lay circles. We want to make them accessible to all.
vicāra is contemplation to understand the subject matter through pramāṇa and yuktis. manana is to remove doubts through contemplation and yuktis.
- vicāra – tātparya-nirṇaya-anukūla-yukti-anusandhānam
- manana – śrutyartha-niścaya-anukūla-prameya-sandeha-nivartaka-yukti-anusandhānam
lakṣaṇa-pramāṇābhyām vastu-siddhiḥ
Traditional study to know a vastu requires understanding the lakṣaṇas, pramāṇas and parīkṣās for it. For vedānta, this requires a study of texts including the vedānta paribhāṣā and siddhānta leśa saṅgraha. All of these are prose texts.
Gr̥hasthas can understand the same siddhānta, studying a small number of prose texts written in simpler saṁskr̥t.
- tattva bodha – a first primer, introducing terminology
- vicāra candrodaya (hindi) – an intermediate primer, with precise lakṣaṇas
- laghu vāsudeva mananam – an intermediate primer focused on mananam.
- vicāra sāgara – an advanced primer, covering all major prakriyās
If these texts are studied well, the student can pick up and understand the discussions in pretty much any vedānta text.
prasthāna traya –
Just as there are simple prakaraṇas that focus on vicāra and mananam, there are simple commentaries on the prasthāna traya, which retain the words of bhāṣyakāra where possible. They are a gentle introduction to the bhāṣyas.
- upaniṣads – with the maṇiprabhā commentary
- brahma sūtra – with the vidyānanda vr̥tti
- bhagavad gītā – with the śrīdharī vyākhyā
about the translations
While translations are provided here and there, they are meant as a temporary aid to help read the original samskr̥t. Some of them are assisted by AI tools. Our focus is on the samṣkr̥t text, and not on correctness of translations.