We place before you INSIHTS INTO VEDANTA, an English translation of Tattvabodha with a running commentary, based on Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda's teachings. Sri Sankaracharya is the putative author of this work. This book has not been translated for a long time into English. Now our publication fulfils that need.

Tattvabodha is apparently a simple text, and the purpose of the author is to acquaint the lay reader with Advaita. But the text is profound. Though the book appears to merely mention the different aspects of Advaita Vedanta, it anticipates discussion and deep thought.

A thoroughgoing study of Advaita Vedanta in the light of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda's teachings has been a long-left need. The translator has made a humble attempt towards this end. He has divided the topics into chapters and has commented on each idea in detail, chiefly using the words of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda.

Swami Sunirmalananda, the Translator, is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order. He was the editor of Prabuddha Bharata, an English Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order, between January 1999 and December 2001. Also, he was an Acharya of the Monastic Probationers' Training Centre at Belur Math. Presently, he is the Assistant Minister at the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, Brazil. He has got a simple style and has done this translation well.

One reader-friendly feature he has adopted is giving not only the text in Devanagari and transliteration in English but also word for word meanings. So even those with only a nodding acquaintance with Sanskrit can understand the text currently. What is more, on each verse he gives a running commentary wherein he explains the thrust of the verse as illustrated by the observation of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda in relevant contexts. Several drawings and charts have been included to aid comprehension.

We hope the reader will be acquainted with the numerous aspects of Advaita through this book.