Vivekachudamani
<p>The <i ><b>Vivekachudamani</b></i> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit" title="Sanskrit" >Sanskrit</a>: विवेकचूडामणि) is a famous Sanskrit poem ascribed to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Shankara" title="Adi Shankara" >Adi Shankara</a> in the eighth century. It expounds the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_Vedanta" title="Advaita Vedanta" >Advaita Vedanta</a> philosophy<sup id="cite_ref-Br.Usha_2-0" class="reference" ><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivekachudamani#cite_note-Br.Usha-2" >[2]</a></sup> and is in the form of 580 verses in the Shardula Vikridita metre. The <i >Vivekachudamani</i> describes developing Viveka, the human faculty of discrimination or discernment between real (unchanging, eternal) and unreal (changing, temporal), as the central task in the spiritual life, and calls it the crown jewel among the essentials for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moksha" title="Moksha" >Moksha</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" ><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivekachudamani#cite_note-3" >[3]</a></sup> The title <i >Vivekachudamani</i> translates to <i >Crest Jewel of Discrimination</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-Madh_1_4-0" class="reference" ><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivekachudamani#cite_note-Madh_1-4" >[4]</a></sup> Through the centuries, the <i >Vivekachudamani</i> has been translated into several languages and has been the topic of many commentaries and expositions.</p>