Manishā Panchakam

This Prakarana text is pivotal to assess Shankara’s approach and attitude to social issues, and their interface with his Advaitic philosophy.  In essence, what the Manishapanchakam establishes is that Shankara, in asserting that Brahman alone exists, and all else is subordinate or illusionary, devalued man-made social distinctions such as those of caste. For a person who has understood the reality of Brahman, human labels of ‘lower’ or ‘upper caste have no relevance.

This work, it is believed, was composed when Shankara was residing in Kashi. According to legend, one day Shankara, while on his way to the temple, came across a person of the lowest caste (chandala). Since ‘lower castes’ were supposed to socially ‘defile’ those of higher castes, the chandala was asked to move out of the way. But, the chandala instead asked Shankara how can there be any social discrimination when all human beings, and, indeed, the entire universe, is nothing but the reflection of Brahman, the one
and only real.

When confronted with this question, Shankara is believed to have recited the Manishapanchakam. The significant point is that each verse ends by reiterating Shankara’s ‘firm conviction’ that, for a person who has attained self-knowledge, there is no relevance of social hierarchies. Sociologists will quibble whether the Manishapanchakam is enough to establish Shankara’s disdain of the caste system and other upper caste orthodoxies, but this text is certainly emphatic in demonstrating his philosophical egalitarianism. In any case, it is noteworthy that, in a period of deeply entrenched social orthodoxies and discrimination, Shankara, in conformity with the logical inference of the Advaita doctrine, had the courage to publicly articulate his views to the contrary. – Pavan K Varma (Author of Adi Shankaracharya)