svarūpānusandhānāṣṭakam

In treatises such as Nirvana Manjari and Nirvana Shatkam, Sri Shankara Bhagavatpadacharya has contented Himself with enunciating the nature of the Self as the Innermost essence of the individual soul and in doing so, He has drawn attention to its transcendental all-pervasive aspect. He has equated it with Shiva, the Highest auspicious Entity. But He has not used the familiar word Brahman for that Entity nor specifically stated that the inmost Self is really even that Brahman. Nor has He detailed there the processes by which that identity can be realised in actual experience. These factors are supplied in these eight stanzas and the latter form, therefore, a practical supplement to what has been stated before.