Citsukha, Citsukhi

By Swami Harshananda

Origin of Citsukha

Post-Śaṅkara literature on Advaita Vedānta has grown enormously. It has improved in quantity, quality and subtlety. Citsukha is one of the well-known writers on Advaita Vedānta of this period. He lived in the early part of the thirteenth century. He was a pupil of Gauḍeśvarācārya also known as Jñānottama. His works are:

1. Bhāsya-bhāva-prakāśikā - a commentary on the Brahmasutrabhāsya of Śaṅkara
2. Abhiprāya-prakāśikā - commentary on the Brahmasiddhi of Maṇḍana
3. Commentaries on the Naiskarmyasiddhi of Sureśvara
4. Nyāyamakaranda of Ānandabodha
5. Khandana-khanda-khādya of Śriharṣa

Significance of Tattvapradīpikā

However his most important work is Tattvapradīpikā commonly known as Citsukhi. It is a unique work for two reasons:

1. It effectively refutes the categories of the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika schools
2. It establishes some of the fundamental points of Sankara’s advaita by carrying out a subtle analysis and interpretation of them.

Significance of Citsukhi

Citsukhi comprises of four chapters.

• The first chapter deals with:
  1. The Vedāntic concepts like the ātman being self-luminous and pure consciousness
  2. Nature of avidyā (nescience or ignorance)
  3. Mithyātva (nature of falsity of the world)
  4. Nature of illusions
  5. Etc.
• The second chapter deals with:
  1. Analysis of the various concepts and categories of the Nyāya and the Vaiśeṣika systems
  2. Refuting guṇa (quality), karma (action), sāmānya (generality), samavāya (inherence) and so on
• The third chapter deals with:
  1. The possibility of realization of Brahman
  2. The nature of mukti (liberation) through jñāna (knowledge)
• The fourth chapter deals with the nature of the ultimate state of liberation.

References

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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