Dakshinamnaaya Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetam
Aham Brahmaasmi Foundation
Vedanta Shravanam Program
Held In Brisbane, Queensland, Australia On 4th Of May 2026
Venue: Vedanta Centre, Springfield Lakes, Brisbane
Aham Brahmaasmi Foundation, functioning under the guidance of the Ubhaya Jagadgurus of Dakshinamnaaya Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetam, was established in 2022 with a vision to propagate and disseminate the teachings enjoined in the Vedas to mankind across the globe.
The Australian programs, with the blessings of the Ubhaya Jagadgurus, were launched in November 2024. The planning for the programs is done with the guidance from Chityala family and supported by Sri Neelakantan Ji and Bala Balachandran Ji of Melbourne and Babu Mahadevan Ji of Sydney. Chityala family have been touring with the vidwans and supporting the efforts of various cities in this journey of Advaita Vedanta Shravana.
Thus far, 17 programs have been completed across Australia, at various centres, in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and West Melbourne. The topics covered include Advaita Vedanta Saramsa from Prakarna Granthas, Puranas and Ithihasa. Three notable, highly educated and well-trained Vidwans -Dr Vishwanath Ji, Dr Arjun Bharadwaj Ji and Dr Pushkar Pujari Ji have been delivering these sessions. The Vedanta Shravana sessions are intended to be held biannually in Australia, typically in May and November.
Programs have been well received by the Australian community and the summary of the Vedanta Shravana session held on 4 May 2026 in Brisbane is provided below.
The Astikas of Brisbane having experienced the blissful session of Vedanta Shravanam in November 2025 eagerly awaited the arrival of Vidwan Vishwanath Ji to listen to the exposition on Guru Mahima and Sadhana Panchakam and turned up in large numbers. Vidwan Vishwanath Ji spoke eloquently on the topic for 4 hours, spanned over two sessions. His knowledge of the subject and his ability to articulate it with anecdotes from our daily life made sure that the Astikas were able to appreciate and understand the import of the subject matter.
The program commenced with Guru Vandanam and an invocatory song on Goddess Sharadambal.
Providing a background for the discourse, Vidwan Viswananth Ji explained that ‘Veda’ literally meant knowledge and ‘Anta’ meant the end or conclusion and accordingly ‘Vedanta’ is the concluding portion of the Vedas, which is the Upanishads. Shravana meant listening and not merely hearing. Hearing and imbibing what is heard is listening. The Vedanta, Upanishads, lays down the path for mankind to follow that enables the seeker to reach the goal of human life, which is Selfrealisation. This path has stood the test of time and has been followed by our ancestors with proven results.
Given one’s limited life span, it would be efficient use of our time ifwe focussed on the proven path as laid out in the Upanishads. To drive home this point, Vidwan Viswanath Ji narrated the experience of Maharishi Bharadwaj who initially sought a life span of 100 years to study the Vedas and thereafter sought repeated extensions to complete the study. However, despite the multiple extensions to his life span, the Maharishi had only barely scratched the surface of the Vedas.
To listen to the Upanishads and follow the path to achieve the goal of selfrealisation, one needs to prepare oneself for this endeavour. These pre-requisites are essentially what the talks were about -Guru Mahima and Sadhana Panchakam.
While to ask who a Guru is would be a subjective question, it would be more appropriate to understand the true attributes of a Guru. In the Bhagavatam, to a question on the Guru, the answer provided is that the Atma is the Guru for the Atma. Although it may sound illogical, it would make sense if one were to break down the word Guru into Gu and Ru. ‘Gu’ means ignorance of the Self and ‘Ru’ means that which stops the ignorance from re-emerging. One who guides us to realise our own Self is indeed the Guru.
Once a true aspirant seeks the refuge of a Guru, the pathway to Self-realisation is ensured, as a result of the Guru’s Kripa. All the knots of ignorance are removed by the grace of the Guru.
The Vivekachudamani, written by Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada, states that the Guru should be a Shrotriyah ( one who is firmly established in t]:ie Vedas and Veda Dharma), Avrjinah (free from sins), Akamahatah (not driven by desires and attachment), Brahmavittamah (Knower of Brahman), Brahmani uparatah (always in state of Brahma Jnana), Shantah (calm), Nirindhana iva analah (self-illuminating), Ahetuka daya sindhuh (ocean of compassion without any reason), Anapeksah (having no demands), Banduh aanamatam sataam (a helpful friend to a true seeker).
To such a Guru, a true aspirant must approach with humility and seek of Him Moksha (liberation) from Samsara Sagara ( ocean of transmigration). To a Mumukshu (true seeker ofMoksha), the Guru and the Paramatma are the same -the essence of Advaita. A Guru guides a true aspirant through the maze of accumulated Karma to Moksha. Vidwan Vishwanth Ji gave the analogy of how the Maarjaala kishora (kittens) are taken care of by the mother cat and how Markata kishora (baby monkeys) hold on tightly to their mother to explain the true nature of the relationship that exists between a Guru and a true aspirant.
As Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada states in Bhaja Govindam lyrics, Guru chamambhuja nirhbharabhaktah samsarad achirad bhava mukthah, a true devoted aspirant who holds on to the feet of the Guru and follows His instructions is sure to be blessed with Moksha.
Concluding the discourse on Guru Mahima, Vidwan Vishwanath Ji said that Atma Vichara is only possible through the grace and guidance of a Guru.
The second session, which was on Sadhana Panchakam, commenced with Vidwan Vishwanath Ji quoting from Sri Shankara Bhadgavatpada’s Vivekachudamani to emphasise the privilege and rarity of human life and how only humans are endowed with the ability to realise their true self. That being the case, it would be unwise of one to not utilise this life-time opportunity to follow the path of self-realisation and pursue the goal of attaining Moksha, which literally means release. Keeping this in mind, the logical follow-up question would be as to how go about this quest -the ‘what’· and ‘how’ of this release and what are the ‘dos and don’ts’ involved in this. The answer to this lies in the understanding that one is bound by the shackles of Samsara and, in the process, gets trapped in the continuous cycle of birth and death. We get caught in the trappings of the mundane existence and transient pleasures to the detriment of engaging in Atma Vichara and following the path to Moksha. It is attachment to the transient pleasures that causes bondage in Samsara. Having understood this, the question arises as to what is the way out?
The pathway is provided in Upadesha Panchakam also known as Sadhana Panchakam, compiled by Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada, which lists 40 tenets of principled living that, when followed, will lead one to Moksha. This is a proven and tested manual for living and serves as a tool to enable one to establish themselves in the path of self-realisation, which will eventually lead to Moksha.
The tenets that are prescribed include studying the Vedas regularly and imbibing them in the daily life,_ performing Nitya Karma sincerely to get the proper mind set, performing all activities as a service to God to get rid of the sense of doership, not indulging in Kamya Karma and detaching oneself from the objects of pleasure. Attachment can be conquered if one is able to identify defects in the objects of pleasure, which are transient in nature.
This can enable one to progress in the path of Atma Vichara. A striking analogy would be to liking it to a farmer who is constantly on the lookout for weeds in his farm and removing them as, although the weeds may apparently look pleasing to the eye, they are detrimental to the crops. Keeping the company of the good, having an unshakeable faith in God like Prahlada, approaching a Guru who is established in Truth and following the teachings and guidance of the Guru, listening to the Upanishads and contemplating on them and taking recourse to them when confronted with conflicting thoughts further enable a spiritual aspirant to make progress in the path of Moksha.
Abandoning the ego and controlling the sense of taste, one should take necessary care of one’s body, without pampering it, and treating all food as Bhiksha. One should keep one’s tongue in check, both in matters relating to food and speech. Being content with oneself, being indifferent to the pairs of opposites (heat and cold, pain and pleasure etc) and dwelling in solitude further establishes one on the correct path. It is by following all the tenets, which are Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada’ s Upadesha as the Sadhana to be undertaken by a spiritual aspirant, that enables a true aspirant to achieve the ultimate goal of life, which is self-realization or Moksha.
The conclusion of the second session was followed by a Q&A session in which the members of the audience posed their questions and doubts to Vidwan Vishwanath Ji, who provided valuable responses.
The Vedanta Shravana program was very well received and appreciated by the audience of Brisbane.
The program concluded with a vote of thanks by the organising team thanking Vedanta Centre, Brisbane, and Swamiji Atmeshanandaji for co-hosting the Vedanta Shravana program and providing the venue for the program and accommodation for the visiting Vidwan Sri Vishwanath Ji, Aham Brahmaasmi Foundation and Dakshninamnaya Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham for taking the lead in disseminating the teachings of Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada and making this knowledge of Vedanta available to us here in Brisbane through eminent Vidwan Vishwanath Ji, the volunteers, led by lead co-ordinator Sri Suresh Radhakrishnan Ji, who assisted with all the logistics and arrap.ged lunch for all the participants and, last but not the least, the audience who turned up in good numbers and participated in the program.
Submitted at the Holy Lotus Feet ofUbhaya Jagadgurus.
Anantharaman Shishya
