The Secret Philosophy Behind Adi Shankaracharya’s Most Powerful Chants

Adi Shankaracharya’s Advaita philosophy is the most influential system of non-dual metaphysics in Indian history, declaring that Brahman alone is real, the world is an appearance, and the individual self is none other than Brahman. Adi Shankara, an eighth-century philosopher from Kaladi, Kerala, composed commentaries on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Sutras that would shape Hindu thought for over a millennium. In a short life of about thirty-two years, he established four monastic centers across India to preserve and propagate the teaching. But Shankara was not only a philosopher of the intellect. He was also a poet of the soul, and his chants—his stotras—carry the same non-dual truth in the language of sound, rhythm, and devotion. In one line: Shankaracharya’s chants teach that the Self you seek is what you already are—and the sound of the chant is the doorway through which that recognition dawns.

Part 1: The Historical Context

A Time of Transition

Shankara lived during a period of significant political and cultural change. The Gupta dynasty had fallen, and the brief peace established by King Harsha in the seventh century had passed. It was a time that witnessed the decline of Buddhism and Jainism and a powerful resurgence of Hinduism—a resurgence to which Shankara made significant contributions.

The Two Faces of Shankara

One of the remarkable aspects of Shankaracharya is the balance between intellectual inquiry and devotional expression. His bhashyas (commentaries) are austere, logical, and scriptural, intended for serious seekers and scholars. On the other hand, his stotras (hymns)—like Saundaryalahari, Shivanandalahari, and Dakshinamurti Stotram—are poetic, filled with aesthetic beauty and deep devotion. This synthesis reveals that for Shankara, Advaita Vedanta was not a cold intellectual abstraction but a living, vibrant experience of oneness with the Divine. The chants are not a departure from his philosophy. They are its heartbeat.

Part 2: The Core Philosophy of Advaita

Brahman Alone Is Real

The foundational declaration of Shankara’s Advaita is that Brahman alone is real. Brahman is the one underlying reality of the universe—infinite, eternal, unchanging, and beyond all attributes. It is described as Sat-Chit-Ananda—existence, consciousness, and bliss. In Shankara’s system, Brahman is described in two ways: Nirguna Brahman (without attributes) is the ultimate reality, beyond all qualities and forms; Saguna Brahman (with attributes) is the personal God, Ishvara, the object of devotion and meditation.

Shankara’s distinction between levels of reality allows him to retain a theism that involves serious religious intent. Ishvara is Brahman associated not with a limited mind and body like the jiva, but with maya, the universal creative matrix, the divine energy that projects the entire cosmos. Unlike the jiva, the Lord is not taken in by the delusive, concealing power of maya. The jiva is controlled by maya; Ishvara is the controller of maya.

The World Is an Appearance

The world of multiplicity that we perceive is not ultimately real. It is an appearance, a projection of Maya, the power of Brahman that causes the One to appear as many. Shankara distinguishes three levels of being or reality:

Pratibhashika-satta (illusory reality): Objects produced by hallucinations and mirages

Vyavaharika-satta (empirical reality): The everyday world of practical experience

Paramarthika-satta (ultimate reality): Brahman alone

The world has empirical reality as long as one has not realized the ultimate truth. Within this empirical reality, external objects are quite as real as the cognitions we have of them. The world is not exactly illusory, for it is constantly present to the experience of all jivas. This ontologically indeterminate mode of being is characterized as sad-asad-anirvachaniya—”inexpressible as either real or unreal.”

Atman Is Brahman

The individual soul (Jiva) is not different from Brahman. Its apparent individuality is due to Avidya—ignorance of its true nature. The Mahavakyas (great sayings) declare this identity: Tat Tvam Asi (“That Thou Art”), Aham Brahmasmi (“I Am Brahman”), Ayam Atma Brahma (“This Self is Brahman”), Prajnanam Brahma (“Consciousness is Brahman”).

Part 3: The Chants and Their Secret Philosophy

Shankara’s chants are not merely devotional poetry. Each one encodes the entire Advaita teaching in a form that can be recited, heard, and absorbed. The philosophy is not explained. It is transmitted through sound. The four chants examined here are among the most widely recited and philosophically dense of Shankara’s compositions—each one distilling a different facet of the non-dual vision into a form that any seeker can carry.

Nirvana Shatakam: The Chant of Negation

The Nirvana Shatakam is perhaps the most direct expression of Shankara’s non-dual vision in chant form. The title means “Six Verses on Formlessness,” and the chant is also known as Atmashatakam—the six verses on the Self. Tradition holds that Shankara recited it when asked simply, “Who are you?”

The chant proceeds by negation. “I am not the mind, intellect, ego, or memory. I am not the sense organs. I am not the five elements. I am not the prana, nor the five vital airs, nor the seven essential ingredients, nor the five sheaths of the body.” Each verse strips away another layer of false identification. And then, at the end of each verse, the same refrain: Chidananda rupah shivoham shivoham—”I am the form of consciousness and bliss. I am Shiva. I am Shiva.”

The secret philosophy here is not in the negation itself but in what remains after the negation. Nirvana means “formless,” and the chant is about not being defined by either “this” or “that.” The entire spiritual process, in this view, is about taking away the definition of what you are because definition is a prison. The chant does not give you a new identity. It removes every identity until what remains is the recognition that you were never any of the things you thought you were. You are the awareness in which all these things appeared.

Kalabhairava Ashtakam: The Chant of Time’s Destroyer

The Kalabhairava Ashtakam is one of Shankaracharya’s most profound compositions, extolling the virtues of Kalabhairava—a fearsome and terrible form of Shiva. Kalabhairava is understood to mean “the one who is so terrifying that even time is fearful of him.” In this form, Shiva is the destroyer of time, a symbolism of enormous relevance to the spiritual path.

The chant consists of eight stanzas, a common format for Sanskrit shlokas, and in each stanza Kalabhairava is praised as the lord of Kashi, the supreme one whose might and grace can help a person transcend the limitations of both life and death. The secret philosophy here is the confrontation with time itself. Death is the ultimate boundary that defines human existence, and Kalabhairava is the force that dissolves that boundary. To chant this hymn is to invoke the destruction of the very thing that makes bondage seem real—the fear of death, which is the root of all other fears.

Bhaja Govindam: The Chant of Urgency

Tradition tells the story: Shankara, walking through Benares with fourteen disciples, overhears an old pundit repeating grammar rules to himself. The sight of a man wasting his final years on intellectual accomplishment without spiritual realization moves Shankara to burst into verse. The result is the Bhaja Govindam—thirty-one stanzas that are at once a devotional song and a surgical dissection of human foolishness.

The opening stanza gives the refrain: “Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Govindam bhaja mudha mate—Worship Govindam, worship Govindam, O foolish mind, worship Govindam. When the appointed time comes, grammar rules surely will not save you.” The chant is classified as a Stotram, but its content is pure Vedanta. It reminds the seeker that wealth is calamitous, that even one’s own son becomes a source of fear for the man of riches, and that the only thing worth pursuing is the deathless state.

The secret philosophy here is the marriage of devotion and discrimination. Shankara does not merely argue. He admonishes, pleads, and warns. The Bhaja Govindam is a text for those who are already pilgrims, walking slowly under the weight of their own fatigue. It makes death—the fact we spend our lives avoiding—the lens through which life is finally seen clearly. And in doing so, it turns every moment into an opportunity for awakening.

Dakshinamurti Stotram: The Chant of the Silent Guru

The Dakshinamurti Stotram is one of Shankara’s shortest compositions and one of his most profound. It consists of ten verses in praise of Dakshinamurti—Lord Shiva in his aspect as the primordial guru, the silent teacher who instructs through stillness rather than speech.

What the stotram does is dissolve the boundaries between the seeker, the guru, and the divine. Employing vivid metaphors, Shankara brings the reader to the recognition that one’s Self, the Guru, and God are one and the same in absolute reality. Dakshinamurti is praised not only as a realized master but as Ishvara, as Brahman, and even as the deluded individual bound by his own Maya—all manifestations of the one reality in different modes.

The secret philosophy here is the nature of teaching itself. The true guru does not speak. The true teaching is silence. As the opening verse of the Dakshinamurti Stotram is traditionally understood to say, the youthful teacher expounds the ultimate Reality through silence alone, with one hand displaying the sign of pure Awareness, his joyous countenance radiating inner peace. To chant this hymn is to recognize that the guru is not other than the Self. The silence of Dakshinamurti is the teaching itself.

Part 4: The Path to Liberation

Knowledge Alone Liberates

For Shankara, Jnana (knowledge) is the direct and immediate means of liberation. Action and knowledge are contradictory and poles apart. Actions are prescribed for those who are still in ignorance and not for the enlightened. Shankara emphatically asserts that liberation can be attained by the Supreme knowledge accompanied with the renunciation of action.

The Role of Chanting in the Path

Yet Shankara does not dismiss practice. The chants themselves are practice. They are sound as sadhana. A chant in this tradition is not merely a cultural expression but an existential discipline. It is about the sounds, not only the meanings. The precise arrangement of syllables and vowels distances the chanter from body and mind, opening a space between the one who chants and the chant itself.

The chants prepare the ground. They purify the mind, gather the scattered energies, and create the stillness in which Self-knowledge can dawn. But they do not replace knowledge. They lead to it. The final recognition—that the Self you seek is what you already are—cannot be chanted into existence. It can only be recognized.

The Necessity of a Guru

Since the realization of the Self cannot be had from books or scriptures, Shankara insists on the necessity of instruction by a Self-realized Guru. The intense desire to liberate and the effort required by the sadhaka (aspirant) is emphasized. If there is no effort, there cannot be a result.

Part 5: The Legacy and Influence

The Endorsement of Science

The more one studies the teachings of Sankara and his source books—the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra, and the Gita—the more one is struck by the intuitive anticipation by past seers of what are now coming to be regarded as scientific truths. The atomic theory and the existence of a reservoir of incalculable energy in the atoms, the doctrine of conservation of energy, and many of the developments of physics, chemistry, and biology regarding the potentialities of the infinitesimally small and the infinitely great are envisaged in the doctrines of Anu (atom), Anna, and Sabda Brahman—the Brahman as manifested severally as vibrations, sound, and energy and Sakti.

Some of the conclusions reached by astronomers and physicists that have culminated in the works of Einstein, Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, and the Curies seem like excerpts from Sankara’s exposition of the “Relativity of Knowledge” and the illusoriness of sensation.

The Influence on Indian Philosophy

His influence on Indian philosophy is so enormous that most of the later philosophies that evolved in India had either to agree with him or disagree with him, quoting him nevertheless.

As Sri Radhakrishnan wrote: “The Advaitism of Shankara is a system of great speculative daring and logical subtlety. Its austere intellectualism, its remorseless logic, which marches on indifferent to the hopes and beliefs of man, its relative freedom from theological obsessions, make it a great example of a purely philosophical scheme. It is impossible to read Shankara’s writings, packed as they are with serious and subtle thinking, without being conscious that one is in contact with a mind of a very fine penetration and profound spirituality. With his acute feeling of the immeasurable world, his stirring gaze into the abysmal mysteries of the spirit, his unswerving resolve to say neither more nor less than what could be proved, Shankara stands out as a heroic figure of the first rank in the somewhat motley crowd of the religious thinkers of medieval India. Shankara taught us to love Truth, respect reason and realize the purpose of life. Twelve centuries have passed, and yet his influence is visible.”

The Death of Shankara

The traditional accounts of Shankara’s death place it at Kedarnath in the Himalayas. However, competing traditions exist. The Keraliya Shankaravijaya places his death at Vadakkunnathan temple in Thrissur, Kerala. The Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham claims he attained videha mukti in Kanchipuram. The exact location remains a matter of tradition rather than established historical fact.

Common Questions

Q1: Who was Shankaracharya?

Adi Shankaracharya was an eighth-century Indian philosopher and theologian who systematized the Advaita Vedanta school of non-dualistic philosophy. He was born in Kaladi, Kerala, and in a short life of about thirty-two years, he not only revived Hinduism but also established the organizational structure for its perpetuation through the mathas he inspired. He was also a composer of powerful devotional chants that carry the same non-dual teaching in the language of sound and devotion.

Q2: What is Advaita Vedanta?

Advaita Vedanta is the non-dualistic school of Indian philosophy that teaches there is only one reality—Brahman—and that the individual self (Atman) is none other than Brahman. The apparent multiplicity of the world is an appearance superimposed upon that one reality by ignorance.

Q3: What is the secret philosophy behind Shankaracharya’s chants?

The chants encode the Advaita teaching in the form of sound. The Nirvana Shatakam teaches through negation—stripping away every false identification until only pure consciousness remains. The Kalabhairava Ashtakam invokes the destruction of time and the fear of death. The Bhaja Govindam awakens urgency and discrimination. The Dakshinamurti Stotram dissolves the boundary between guru, self, and divine. Each chant is a doorway into the recognition that the Self you seek is what you already are.

Q4: What is the role of a guru in Shankara’s philosophy?

Shankara insists on the necessity of instruction by a Self-realized Guru, since the realization of the Self cannot be had from books or scriptures. The intense desire to liberate and the effort required by the aspirant is emphasized.

Q5: What is the legacy of Shankaracharya?

Shankara’s influence on Indian philosophy is so enormous that most of the later philosophies that evolved in India had either to agree with him or disagree with him, quoting him nevertheless. His commentaries, treatises, and chants continue to be studied and recited by seekers of truth across the world.

Summary

The chants of Shankaracharya are not separate from his philosophy. They are its most intimate expression. The Nirvana Shatakam negates every false identity until only pure consciousness remains. The Kalabhairava Ashtakam destroys the fear of time and death. The Bhaja Govindam awakens urgency and discrimination. The Dakshinamurti Stotram dissolves the boundaries between seeker, guru, and divine. Shankara systematized Advaita through his commentaries on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Sutras, and he distilled it through these chants for seekers of every temperament. His philosophy emphasizes the prime necessity of Jnana (knowledge) for liberation, while allowing a place for sound, devotion, and practice as preparatory disciplines. His influence on Indian philosophy is so enormous that most later philosophies had either to agree with him or disagree with him, quoting him nevertheless. That realization—that the Self you seek is what you already are—is the gift of Shankaracharya’s Advaita philosophy, and these chants are among the most direct paths into it.