The Upadeśa Sāhasrī or A Thousand Teachings is a work ascribed to
Śaṅkara, an Indian philosopher who led the Advaita Vedānta School in the 8th
century C. E. Among the three chapters that make up the prose
part(gadya-bandha) of the Upadeśa Sāhasrī, the first chapter has as its subject
the pedagogy of the knowledge of brahman. Although the subject itself is
clearly suggested, it is not easy to find out how the subject is represented
within the discourse on the knowledge of brahman(1.6b-1.44). Using structural
analysis, this paper claims that the ideal Advaitin teacher, according to Śaṅkara,
teaches the knowledge of brahman in a systematic way, in that the teacher uses
a three-step process, that the steps are connected by the repetition of the
scriptural phrases, and that the teaching content is gradually deepened. The
three-step process is as follows; first, the teacher instructs the disciple regarding
the characteristics of the Supreme Ātman(1.6b-1.8); then, the teacher informs the
disciple that ‘You are never related to castes and stages of life since they are
related only to your body’, and that ‘The Supreme Ātman entered your
body’(1.9-1.24); and finally, the teacher instructs the disciple regarding the
essential teaching, which is that ‘You are the Supreme Ātman’(1.25-1.44).
Within the discourse, it can be said that Śaṅkara is an organized teacher, and
that he is devoted to the basic and structured method rather than the technical
and devised method.