JIVANMUKTI VIVEKA: Part 1: Post-1. Swami Guru Bhaktananda

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Saturday 20, September 2025. 
JIVANMUKTI VIVEKA: Part 1: Pramana Prakarana: “The Evidence of Liberation” : IN 5 PARTS: THE ENQUIRY INTO LIBERATION 
Swami Guru Bhaktananda'
INTRODUCTORY OVERVIEW OF THE WHOLE BOOK 
Post-1.

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SWAMI VIDYARANYA IS sometimes referred to as another Shankaracharya. That is the status he is held in amongst spiritual seekers all over the world.  

His Poorvashram name was Madhvacharya. Just to get some idea of the family he was born into, he had a brother named Sayanacharya, well-known for his commentaries on all the four Vedas. Madhvacharya lived at a time when the Muslim invasion in India was at its height. He was the Prime Minister of the southern kingdom of Vijayanagara. This gives us an idea of his service to the nation and the culture of the land. Later in life, he became the Pontiff, titled “Shankaracharya”, of the Sringeri Mutt in Karnataka, South India. 

As Madhvacharya, he wrote an important text called Sarva Darshana Sangraha. In this text he explains all the various schools of philosophical thought in India, from the Charvakas upwards. Thereafter, he has written five very important spiritual texts. These are: 

1. “Anubhooti Prakasha”: 

Here he picks up the essence of each of Shankaracharyaji’s Bhashyas on the Upanishads. The purpose of this text was to bring clarity of the ideas expressed therein. 

2. “Adhikarana Mala”: 

This is also called as “Vaiyasikya Nyaya Mala”. 

It is a brilliant work. The 191 Adhikaranas of the Brahma Sutras are explained in a systematic form divided into five sub-topics: 

i) Vishaya Vakya: This covers the general topic of the Adhikarana. 

ii) Vishaya Samshaya: This clarifies any doubts that relate to the topics.

iii) Poorvapaksha: This explains the prima facie view, the initial view obtained at first glance on a topic; as this view is usually inaccurate, it may be termed the opposing view. 

iv) Siddhantapaksha: This is the view that emerges after careful scrutiny of all aspects of a topic; it is also known as the Vedantin’s view.

v) Sangati: This links the present topic with the previous and the subsequent topics. In this manner, Sri Vidyaranya literally spoonfeeds us with such an enormously detailed analysis of Shankaracharya’s Bhashya on the Brahma Sutras. He has done this analysis for every single Adhikarana. 

3. “Vivarna Prameya Sangraha”: 

Another writer, Prakash Atman, has written a Vivarana on Sureshwaracharya’s Vartikas on various Upanishads. These are also very difficult to grasp. Sri Vidyaranya has done a great service to students by writing his Sangraha in a student-friendly way. 

The three texts listed so far are independent works of Sri Vidyaranya in the field of the study of Vedanta.  

4. “Panchadasi”: 

This is a book that he has authored with his Guru, Sri Bharati Teertha (also known as Sri Vidya Teertha). He began writing this work for the benefit of those who found the first three texts too difficult. He wrote all the first five Vivekas of Panchadasi and the first Deepa. He then took these six Prakaranas to his Guru for comment.

The Guru read them and was very happy. He added another nine Prakaranas to them, which completed the fifteen texts that go by the collective name Panchadasi. Sri Vidyaranya is most well-known for the brilliant thought-flow that we see in the Panchadasi. 

5. “Jivanmukti Viveka”: 

After doing all the above writing, he still remained dissatisfied. The Jivanmukti Viveka is the text he wrote to fulfill his deepest desire. This text is essentially written to give clarity on the thoughts in the Bhagavad Geeta. Thus, he completed writing on all the three texts which comprise the Prasthanatraya of Vedantic literature, namely the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Geeta. 

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The State of the Jivanmukta: 

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