Advaita Vedanta Books and Resources for LearningThis is a collection of quality Advaita Vedanta resources (PDF's, books, FAQ's, explanations, etc) — which can help you further in clarifying how to live intelligently, maintain emotional composure amidst the modern world, and bring out nuances to the vision of Oneness.

Before diving into the resources — a discerning seeker recognizes that wisdom only becomes fully alive and relevant when taught by a living teacher (guru/acharya).

Self-study is specifically intended while you're simultaneously under tutelage of someone who lives and breathes the teachings everyday. Without a guru, knowledge remains “in the head”. Teacher completes the circuit by bringing it to heart also. 

Below are recommended prescriptions to maintain your well-being and lucidity…

BEGINNER: Simplicity and step-by-step structure.

  • ExploreVedanta.com: Free practical step-by-step Vedanta course. How to live it! Start and finish it – before moving onto next recommended resource #2 below.
  • VedantaHub.org: Hundreds of videos arranged in categories of various Upanishad texts and scriptures by various Advaita teachers.

TECHNIQUES: Methods & Meditations.

ADVANCED: Resources for pundits, scholars and Intellectuals.

  • ArshaAvinash: Hundreds of books on non-dual Vedanta, technical manuals, Sanskrit grammar, etc. Devoted to Swami Dayananda Saraswati's lineage. And his most prominent disciple Swami Paramarthananda. In my experience, both teachers are closest to Adi Shankaracharya's method of teaching.
  • Arsha Drishti (Sanskrit Tools | Vedic texts) : Specifically for Sanskrit scholars.
  • Arsha Vidya UK: Swamini Atmaprakashananda is a Dayananda disciple. Hundreds of talks on various Upanishads, and articles teaching Traditional Vedanta.
  • Adi Shankara's Bhashyam: Commentaries by Adi Shankara on Upanishad texts.
  • VedantaStudents: Every major Vedanta text/Upanishad categorized, summarized and visually diagramed. The teacher bases his knowledge from Swami Paramarthananda. 
  • Vendata literature / PDF book downloads : Brahma Sūtras, Purāṇa, Upaniṣads, Ātmā Bodha, etc)

VEDANTA TEACHERS: Methodology & structure.

  • Chinfo.org: Their teachers are residential in Kerala, India. However, I favor them specifically for the brilliant online self-paced courses, esp, “Foundations of Vedanta Course”.
  • Dayananda.org: Look under “Teachers”.  Independent sites of teachers teaching under Dayananda:
    • Arsha Bodha Center: Swami Tadatmananda, a disciple of Swami Dayananda, brilliantly explains Vedantic knowledge with visuals.
    • Arsha Vidya Pitham: Vedanta courses and weekend classes for USA residents.
    • WisdomOfRishis.com: Neema's webinar classes are interactive. She is an exceptional teacher who attended Swami Dayananda's 3 year course.

OTHER TEACHERS:

VEDANTA FOR CHILDREN / TEENS:

  • Purna Vidya: Swamini Pramananda (Ammaji) has put together a Vedic program for the young-lings which incorporates the Indian culture, dharma, Sanskrit, fun stories and brahmavidyā.

WISDOM & FUN COMBINED:

  • Game of Snakes and Ladders: Ancient game (also called moksha patam), incorporates wisdom of the Vedas onto a single game board.
  • Bhagavad Gita Way (iOS / Android) — Chat via GPT4o with 15,000 pages of Swami Paramarthananda's transcripts. 

advaita vedanta sciencesSciences are a testimony of Lord's intelligence all throughout the universe.

To appease minds which enjoy exploring our vast universe, here are some resources:

  • Histography: A visual timeline since the big bang, 13 billion years ago, until present.

self-growth

General wisdom on life management from various authors.

  • PhilosophersNotes: 20+-min MP3 audio summaries of 500+ brilliant personal development books. Preferred as #1 go-to resource for staying up to date with effective thinking, communication, management and problem-solving.

This is a collection of quality Sanskrit resources for getting work done. It's not another page listing websites for learning the language. Rather it's for those who are ALREADY engaged in a Sanskrit course or savvy scholars. Who wish to make their experience more enjoyable. To translate faster. Memorize easier. Save time mastering declensions. Etc.

Tools:

  • Keyswap: IAST Transliteration software for Windows. Easily type: ṛṣiḥ jñānam paṭhati
  • Liberation Philology Sanskrit App: Best app we know of for memorizing declensions/paradigms for 10 Verb classes and noun cases.
  • Sanskrit Transliteration: Real time script conversion between: Devanagari, IAST, ITRANS, Harvard-Kyoto, Velthuis.

Sanskrit <-> English Dictionaries:

  • SanKosha App: All in one dictionary + declension lookup for every word. Sanskrit scholars dream come true. Supports IAST/Devanāgarī. If searching via IAST, don't need to add diacritics.
  • Andhra Bharati: Must type in exact spelling. If searching via IAST, choose Display > Roman Diacritics.
  • LearnSanskrit.cc: Use as last resort as technically it's not a dictionary, but community edited database.

References:

Improve Sanskrit Reading & Articulation:

8 Comments

  1. I have attended Swami Dhyanananda Saraswathy’s classes on Vedanta in Pittsburg, decades ago. Very Good Teacher. My respects and namskarams to him.
    Vaidy Bala

  2. Under Vedanta Teachers, I recommend including Arsha Vidya Pitham in Saylorsburg, PA and associated website, arshavidya.org since it was started by Swami Dayananda for the benefit of people in the US. This gurukulam supplements the ashram in Rishikeash, India for the benefit of people in India, which was also started by Swami Dayananda.

  3. Great!

    No where in the Entire World!

    Limitless Knowledge!

    God is Great!

    Thanks a Lot!

    1. Hi Lorenzo.

      A guru doesn’t have to be physical. Nowadays, live online webinars have taken eminent status in terms of value they provide (helping you get the right perspective, right knowledge, emotions management, nature of reality). They offer live Q & A, and interaction with the teacher.

      =========================
      Physical Attendance Choices:
      =========================

      Option 1: https://dayananda.org/regular-6-month-courses/ – You just missed the 6 month residential course. Have to wait until Dec 2024 to register for June-Dec 2025. Location: Rishikesh.

      Option 2: https://arshavidya.in/camps-retreats/ – Multiple retreats – shorter. Location, near Coimbatore.

      Option 3: Chinfo.org – Location: Ernakulam, Kerala

      Option 4: See bottom of this site for upcoming retreats. Can signup to yesvedanta.com/join (we do yearly retreats in Germany).

      Option 5: Live retreat in Germany and India, see my teacher’s site at: DiscoverVedanta.com

      =========================
      Live Webinar Attendance:
      =========================

      Option 1: See YesVedanta.com/events
      Option 2: See DiscoverVedanta.com

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