Nirvana Shatkam

Nirvana Shatkam is a śloka in six stanzas written by the great Ādi Śaṅkara (first Śaṅkarācārya) summarizing the basic teachings of Advaita Vedānta, or the Hindu teachings of non-dualism. When a young boy of eight (Ādi Śaṅkara), while wandering in the Himalayas, seeking to find his Guru, he encountered a sage who asked him, "Who are you?". The boy answered with these stanzas, which are known as "Nirvāṇa Śaṭkam" or Ātma Ṣaṭkam". The sage the boy was talking to was Svāmi Govindpada Ācārya, who was, indeed, the teacher he was looking for. These few verses can be of tremendous value to progress in contemplation practices that lead to Self-Realization.

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