“Like stepping stones across a river, each method of Advaita guides us from confusion to clarity, from appearance to truth, from bondage to freedom.”

Advaita Vedanta, the crown jewel of India’s spiritual philosophy, doesn’t teach by dogma. It teaches by methods — carefully crafted, time-tested methods called prakriyās. These are not just dry academic tools, but living pathways that guide the seeker to self-knowledge.

Each prakriyā serves a specific purpose: to undo a particular confusion, to clear a certain veil, to shift the center of identity from the body-mind to the timeless awareness that is the Self (Ātman). Though the truth is one, it can be revealed from many directions. What follows is a tour through the most important of these prakriyās — with Sanskrit verses, Upaniṣadic sources, and insights from Adi Shankaracharya’s bhāṣyas.

Let’s begin.

1. Dṛk–Dṛśya Prakriyā: Discriminating the Seer and the Seen

We see forms. We see the body. We even observe our thoughts. If we are seeing them, how can we be them?

This method — found in the text Dṛg-Dṛśya Viveka — is perhaps the most direct pointer to our real nature.

Sanskrit Verse:

“Rūpaṁ dṛśyaṁ lochanaṁ dṛk, tat dṛśyaṁ dṛk tu mānasaḥ।

Dṛśyādīnāṁ dṛk eva tu, dṛk-svarūpam avasthitam॥”

Translation:

Forms are seen, the eye is the seer. The eye is seen, the mind is the seer. Of all these, the ultimate seer alone remains — established in its own nature.

Insight:

You are not the seen. You are not even the thinking mind. You are the unchanging awareness that sees all changes.

Shankara’s View: In his Bṛhadāraṇyaka Bhāṣya, Shankara asserts that the Self is the ultimate seer (dṛṣṭā) that is never seen — and that alone is real.

2. Avasthā-traya Prakriyā: Understanding Through the Three States

Waking, dreaming, deep sleep. We shift through these three every day — but who is the one to whom these come and go?

The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad answers: Turiya, the fourth — not a fourth state, but the eternal background.

Sanskrit Verse (Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, Mantra 7):

“Nāntaḥ-prajñam na bahiḥ-prajñam… advaitaṁ catuṣpāt sa ātmā sa vijñeyaḥ॥”

Translation:

Not inward-knowing, not outward-knowing… That is the Self. That is to be known.

Insight:

You are not limited to any one state. Waking and dream are just appearances. Even deep sleep is not your absence, but presence without content. You are that Turiya, the unchanging knower of all states.

3. Pañca-kośa Prakriyā: Peeling Back the Layers of the Self

From food to bliss — the Taittirīya Upaniṣad describes five sheaths (kośas) that cover the Self, like onion layers. You are asked to examine each layer and ask: Is this really me?

Sanskrit Verse (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.1.1):

“Annamayaṁ ātmānam upasaṅkrāmati…”

Translation:

One moves beyond identifying the Self with the food sheath, then the breath, then mind, and so on.

Insight:

The gross body, the energy systems, the mind, and even the intellect — all can be observed, and hence cannot be the Self. Even the bliss sheath (the causal body) is not the Self. You are the witness of all these.

Shankara’s View: In his commentary, he clarifies that these sheaths are not components of the Self — they are only superimposed by ignorance.

4. Adhyāropa–Apavāda Prakriyā: The Art of Superimposing and Withdrawing

This is perhaps the most elegant strategy of Advaita. First, the teacher meets the student’s current understanding — and then dismantles it.

It’s like pointing at the moon by first pointing at the branch.

Sanskrit Verse (Māṇḍūkya Kārikā 3.24):

“Adhyāropa-apavādābhyāṁ niṣprapañcaṁ prapañcyate॥”

Translation:

The non-dual truth is taught through superimposition and subsequent negation.

Insight:

First, the teacher may say, “Brahman is the cause of the world.” Later, even this idea is negated: “Brahman is beyond cause and effect.” This is not contradiction, but method. The false is used to point to the real — and then dropped.

5. Kāraṇa–Kārya Prakriyā: Only the Cause is Real

When a pot breaks, the clay remains. When the ornament melts, gold remains. The form changes, but the substratum remains untouched.

Sanskrit Verse (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.1.4–6):

“Vāchārambhaṇaṁ vikāro nāmadheyaṁ, mṛttiketyeva satyam॥”

Translation:

All forms are just speech — mere names. Only the substance (clay) is real.

Insight:

The world is just form and name — the underlying reality is Brahman alone. Once you see this, attachment to appearances begins to loosen.

Shankara’s View: The cause alone has real existence (sat). The effect is apparent — it depends on the cause and vanishes in knowledge.

6. Nāma–Rūpa Prakriyā: Seeing Through Name and Form

We relate to the world through language — names and forms. But do names really define reality?

Sanskrit Verse (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.7):

“Tad etat dṛśyam vyākṛtam nāmarūpam annaṁ ca…”

Translation:

This creation is differentiated into name, form, and matter.

Insight:

What you see as a “tree” or “person” is just a label on a form. Beneath all names and forms is pure being — Brahman. This method helps loosen the grip of conceptual reality.

7. Neti Neti Prakriyā: The Path of Direct Negation

Sometimes, the best way to define something is by what it is not. That’s what neti neti means: “not this, not this.”

Sanskrit Verse (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.3.6):

“Neti neti. Ātma hy eṣaḥ niruktaḥ…”

Translation:

Not this, not this — the Self is beyond all categories.

Insight:

You cannot grasp the Self through any object, word, or image. By negating all that you can observe, you arrive at what remains — the pure, silent, shining presence that is your Self.

8. Rajju–Sarpa Nyāya: The Rope–Snake Analogy

In dim light, you mistake a rope for a snake. You scream, you sweat — but there is no real snake.

Similarly, due to ignorance (avidyā), we mistake Brahman for the world, and Self for the jīva.

Sanskrit Verse (Māṇḍūkya Kārikā 2.19):

“Prāṇādibhiranantaiśca bhāvairetairvikalpitaḥ।

Māyaiṣā tasya devasya yayā sanmohitaḥ svayam॥”

Translation:

The Self is imagined as prāṇa and countless objects. This is the māyā of the luminous Self, by which It appears deluded.

Insight:

There is no real bondage. Just as you don’t fight the snake — you just turn on the light — you don’t fight the world; you just wake up to your true Self.

Final Thought: Many Methods, One Reality

Each prakriyā is a mirror. Each removes one layer of misunderstanding. But none of them define the Self. They only point — gently, precisely, powerfully — toward what you already are.

As Adi Shankara says in his commentary:

“Ātma tu sākṣāt aparokṣāt brahma eva.”

“The Self is none other than Brahman — directly known, immediate.”

When the methods have done their job, they fall away. What remains is you — whole, timeless, free.