The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom (book)

Kshetra Books edition of Charles Johnston translation

The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom by Śankarâchârya is a work of Advaita Vedanta dealing with the concept of discrimination.

Translations and editions

Many translations and editions of this work have been produced over the years, such as Crest Jewel of Wisdom Viveka-Chudamani, translated by A. J. Alston with a commentary by H.P.Shastri.

Two prominent Theosophists have translated this work from the original Sanskrit. Mohini Mohun Chatterji first wrote about this subject in The Theosophist in November, 1882. From October 1885 to December 1887 the magazine ran nine articles comprising 583 slokas. In 1932 the book form of his translation was published as Viveka Chudamani or Crest Jewel of Wisdom of Sri Sankaracharya . Charles Johnston's version was first printed in the Oriental Department Papers of March 1894, and was published as a book in 1946. Both are still widely available and highly respected.

Several versions are available online:

• 1946 translation by Charles Johnston, First edition, Theosophical University Press Online [1]
• 1946 translation by Charles Johnston, First edition, Sacred Texts [2]
• 1946 translation by Charles Johnston, First edition, Wikisource [3]
• Translated by John Richards, Realization.org [4]
• Translation by Swami Madhavananda, Vivekachudamani - An Advaitic Prakarana Grantha of Shankaracharya, Advaita Philosophy Blogspot [5]

Additional resources

Articles

• "Vivekachudamani" at Wikipedia.
• "Viveka Chudamani—Crest-Jewel of Wisdom: A Practical Guide to the Higher Life" at Teosofia.com.
• "The Crest Jewel" at Theosophy Trust Memorial Library.

Video

• The Essence of the Advaita Vedanta Tradition at Theosophical Society YouTube channel. This five-part video course was presented by Janani Cleary.