The simple message of Vedanta invites us to realize the divine inner essence, of all beings: the Atman, the purāṇa, the immortal, immutable, incorruptible, unchanging, undecaying, eternal Self. Vedanta has therefore been called ātmavidyā, knowledge of the Atman. It is adhyātma-vidyā, spiritual knowledge, which alone is capable of liberating humans from sorrow: Tarati śokam-ātmavit.1 Bhagavan avers thus in the Bhagavadgita: ‘Among all vidyās, I am adhyātmavidyā.’ It is the unambiguous teaching of the Gita, the magnum opus of Vedanta, that śoka and moha, sorrow and delusion—which are the seeds of samsara, transmigratory existence—cannot be obliterated except through the realization of the Atman: Ātmajñānāt na anyato nivṛttiḥ. 

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This article was first published in the August 2017 issue of the Prabuddha Bharata, monthly journal of The Ramakrishna Order started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896. This article is courtesy and copyright Prabuddha Bharata I have been reading the Prabuddha Bharata for years and found it enlightening. Cost is Rs 180/ for one year, Rs 475/ for three years, Rs 2100/ for twenty years. To subscribe online http://advaitaashrama.org/pbSubscription

About Author: Swamiji is Vice-Chancellor of the RKM-Vivekananda University Kolkata.