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Channel: @vedantacenterofphoenix2980
Manisha Panchakam is a set of five verses in which Adi Shankaracharya succinctly presents the essence of Advaita Vendanta, philosophy of non-duality.
The occasion for this composition was an encounter between Shankaracharya and a sweeper. When Shankaracharya was walking, along with his disciples, towards the temple of Lord Viswanath in Varanasi, it so happened that a sweeper was walking towards him on the same street. Shankaracharya asked the sweeper to move away from his path. The sweeper then asked him some questions that form the substatnce of two verses which are a prelude to the main composition.
On hearing the sweeper's questions, Shankaracharya realized that the person before him was no ordinary sweeper. Shankaracharya's response to these questions, given in five verses, are called Manisha Panchakam; the word 'manisha' meaning 'firm conviction' appears in the last line in all five ("pancha" means five) verses.
During this weekend retreat, Swami Sarvapriyananda unfolded the essence of Advaita Vedanta philosophy packed within these five verses.
LINKS: PDF booklet containing Swami Sarvapriyananda's white-board notes. https://vedantaphoenix.org/Manisha_Panchakam_Carefree_AZ_2019_notes.pdf
Vedanta Society of New York http://www.vedantany.org/
Vedanta Society of Phoenix https://vedantaphoenix.org/
ABOUT: Swami Sarvapriyananda is the Spiritual Leader and Minister of the Vedanta Society of New York. The Vedanta Society of New York was the first Center founded by Swami Vivekananda, in 1894, and is affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order of India.
The 2019 Summer Vedanta Retreat was organized by the Vedanta Center of Phoenix, and took place at the Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center in Carefree, Arizona from July 5th through July 7th, 2019.