Book excerpt: A small boy, who was already a realized soul, narrated his experience of Sell-knowledge to Bhagavan Adi Shankaracharya. To the boy this knowledge was as clear as 'a gooseberry (amalaka) kept on the palm (hasta)', and so the boy was named Hastamalaka, He became famous as one of the four renowned disciples of the Acharya and the conversation compiled by the Acharya is 'Hastamalaka stotram'. The famous saint of Maharashtra, Sant Ekanatha Maharaja has written a beautiful commentary on this stotra in Marathi. Swami Purushottamananda brings out the quintessence of that commentary, which will be most valuable to English knowing seekers for contemplation and Self-realization.