Vivekachudamani

Adi Shankaracharya expounds the Advaita Vedanta philosophy in this monumental work, discussing key concepts including Viveka or discrimination between real (unchanging, eternal) and unreal (changing, temporal), Prakriti and Atman, the oneness of Atman and Brahman, and self-knowledge as the central purpose of spiritual life, resulting in Moksha.

Having written monumental commentaries on the Prasthanatraya (the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahma Sutras) Sankara also composed several sub-texts called Prakaranagranthas (philosophical treatises), with the objective of reaching the message of Vedanta to common people. The Vivekachudamani is the crown jewel of such Prarkarana texts.