Help me to find out the verse : "Brahma satyam jagat mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah"

Question

According to wikipedia, The Famous verse from Vivek Chudamani (विवेकचूडामणि) is:

Brahma satyam jagat mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah

Translation: Brahman is the only truth, the world is unreal, and there is ultimately no difference between Brahman and individual self

But I can't find that verse from vivek chudamani. I have a vivek chudamani of Gitapress Gorakhpur (book code:133). You can also find it from sanskritdocuments : sanskrit pdf.

So, Where can I find the verse : Brahma satyam jagat mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah?

Note: Verse no. 20 of vivek chudamani is not exactly this (though it contains first part of the quoted verse)

Also visit the related question.

Answer 1

Good question. Always quoted as Sankara, but no one gives the source text. It is from Sankara's Brahmajnanavalimala verse 20. It is available here

20. brahma satyam jaganmithyA jIvo brahmaiva nAparah
anena vedyam sacchAstram iti vedAntaDiNDimah

Yo can also check from sanskritdocuments:

The 20^th verse of Brahmajnanavalimala:

ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः ।
अनेन वेद्यं सच्छास्त्रमिति वेदान्तडिण्डिमः ॥ २०॥

Answer 2

As stated in this answer, Adi Shankara's Brahmajnanavalimala has the complete verse.

Half verse "ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या" is also present in Niralamba Upanishad.

तप इति च ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्ये त्यपरोक्ष ज्ञानाग्निना ब्रह्माद्यैश्वर्याशासिद्धसङ्कल्प बीजसन्तापं तपः ।

tapa iti ca brahma satyaṃ jaganmithyetyaparokṣa- jñānāgninā brahmādyaiśvaryāśāsiddhasaṅkalpa- bījasantāpaṃ tapaḥ ।

Translation from Nitaaiveda:

Spiritual austerity is austerity where the fire of transcendental knowledge, which teaches "This material world is an illusion", burns away the desire to have powers and opulences like Brahma and others.

Answer 3

It is the 20th Shloka of the Vivekachoodamani. Kindly refer to the Vivekachoodamani commentary by Swami Chinmayananda published by the Chinmaya Mission. Also listen to lectures by Swamijis of the Chinmaya Mission - "Fundamentals of Vedanta through Vivekachoodaamani - Day 03 / 16" Talk by Swami Aparajitananda" on Youtube talks about this shloka in detail. Hari Om!

Answer 4

Maharishi used this expression. "Jivo brahmaiva naparah." It was among those highlighted by MIU president Bevan Morris in the "Vedic Expressions used by Maharishi" continuing ed course 2 or 3 years ago. No source was cited. The translation is "the individual (ie jiva) is brahm." Brahm meaning totality. Compare to the expression: "Brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati" from the Mundaka Upanishad (3.2.9) which translates to "the knower of brahm is brahm". It all shakes out as: you are the universe. I am the universe. We are each the totality of all there is. And that's all we are! Note: the moderator, remarked that this answer was unclear. !!!??? Hmmmm. Maharishi was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, world famous founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement. Disciple of Swami Brahmanada Saraswati, who held the position of Shankaracharya of Jyotir math in the 1950s, maybe into the 60s. Maharishi was easily the greatest sage of Vedic science since Shankara. Came out of the Himalayas in 1958. Established a university in the USA in 1971: Maharishi International University, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. If you want to understand Vedic expressions, the most authoritative source is MIU. But in truth, this inquiry is much more than an intellectual thing. The experience of transcendence, which Maharishi identified as the foundational kernel of the Veda, and which he brilliantly standardized, simplified and made available for all with his Transcendental Meditation technique and related programs -- without this foundation, without the foundation of refinement of consciousness all discussion of the Veda and Vedic literature is meaningless, useless. Whether we can identify the source of "jivo brahmaiva naparah" is secondary to cognizing this principle directly ourselves. Its source is thus not from some scripture; rather, its source and meaning lie within ourselves. Yourself. No one in my admittedly limited experience as a Christian-raised Westerner, is in the same ballpark as Maharishi as a spiritual master. Thus, to figure out what and where this expression comes from, and why it matters, the questioner should look into the TM program. There are certified TM teachers around the world.