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Index Page
by Jayaram V
Advaiata Vedanta refers to the non-dualistic school of Hindu
philosophy derived
mostly from the Upanishads and elaborated in detail
by eminent scholars like Gaudapada and Sri Adishankaracharya.
According to this school of philosophy, Brahman is the one and only
reality and everything else is a mere appearance or illusion. Atman,
the individual self is but Brahman only. A jiva is a deluded soul
under the mistaken notion of duality and separation. He is chained to
the cycle of births and deaths and the laws of karma as long as he is
not free from the objective reality to which he is subject. The world that we see is
unreal, an appearance or illusion or a mirage that we
experience because of the activties of the senses and the mind. Man can attain salvation by
knowing his true nature and overcoming this duality, withdrawing his
senses and developing detachment, dispassion and discretion. Advaita Vedanta believes that
an
enlightened guru, having the knowledge of both the scriptures and
Brahman, is indispensable for any one seeking salvation. Mandukya Karika of Gaudapada is considered
to be the first available treatise on Advanta Vedanta, while the
monumental works of Sankaracharya constitute its core literature.
Successive generations of scholars enriched the philosophy through
their valuable contributions. Some
important concepts of Advaita Vedanta are discussed below.
Sadhana Chatushtaaya: Any one who seeks salvation should
have the following four sets of qualifications
- Nityanitya vastu viveka: The ability to discriminate between
what is eternal (nitya) and what is temporary (anitya)
- Ihamutrartha phala bhoga viraga: Disinterestedness in enjoying
the fruit of one's actions and sense objects here and here after.
- Sama adi satka sampatti: qualities such as sama (control of
internal sense organs), dama (control of external sense organs),
uparati (abstinence), titiksha (quietness), sraddha (sincerity and
faith) and samadhana.
- Mumukhutva: Intense aspiration for salvation.
Pramanas: These are the means of knowledge by which one
arrives at truth. According to Adavaita Vedanta, there are six primary
means of knowledge, of which three were proposed by Sankaracharya and
three by his followers. They are
- Pratyaksha: knowledge that comes directly through
perception.
This is sensory oo objective knowledge
- Anumana: knowledge that comes by means of inference. This is
speculative knowledge.
- Upamana: Knowledge that comes by means of analogy, comparison
and contrasting. This is relative knowledge.
- Arthapatti: knowledge obtained by meaningful assumptions
based on common sense and previous experience. This is
hypothetical knowledge.
- Anupalabdhi: Knowledge gained through negation.
- Agama: Knowledge that comes through study of scriptures. This is
pure theoretical knowledge.
Theory of Causation: Advaita Vedanta recognizes two forms of
causation, the material cause and the instrumental cause and considers
Brahman as both the material and instrumental cause of creation. In
other words, Brahman is both the creator and also the material used in
creation. This is in contrast to some schools of Hindu philosophy,
which argue that Brahman is the instrumental cause while Prakriti or
nature is the material cause.
Cause and Effect: Sankara argued that cause is hidden in
every effect, where as the opposite is not true. While a cause is not
different from the effect it produces, the same cannot be argued in
case of effect in relation to its cause. A cause is always part of the
effect, hidden within it and so not different from it. Brahman is the
cause of all creation. So the world is real only because Brahman, its
cause, is hidden it and is inseparable from it. But if we look at
creation purely objectively it becomes unreal and illusory or a mere
effect that is going to vanish once the cause is withdrawn.
Sankarcharya propounded vivartavada theory of causation according to
which an effect is an outward projection of cause and hence not real.
This is in contrast to the parinamavada concept according to which an
effect is an evolution or transformation of cause and hence as real as
the cause itself.
Maya: According to Advaita Vedanta the world is an illusion
or maya, caused by the veiling power of Brahman. It is unreal or
illusory from an absolute sense. It is a projection of God's
consciousness and disappears when it is withdrawn. The veiling is
called avarna and the projection, viksepa. Followers of this school
argue that technically maya is neither unreal nor real. But since it
cannot be both at the same time, it is indeterminate or indescribable
(anirvachaniyam).
Brahman and Atman: Brahman is the supreme, absolute and eternal
reality. The only truth. The cause of all. The only stable and
permanent reality. Atman is Brahman perceived as individual self, the
hidden reality in all aspects of creation. There is no difference
between the two. When the self overcomes its veiling, it experiences
the non-duality (advaita anubhava) of existence and realizes its
non-difference from the Absolute. Brahman in his absolute state is
without qualities and attributes. But in our relative state we perceive
him to be of certain nature and refer Him as Iswara or the lord of the
universe.
The World: According to Samkara, the world is unreal,
not because it does not exist, but because it is ever changing,
unstable, impermanent and subject to destruction and decay. It is a
mere appearance, a projection of God, a mirage, a mistaken reality,
which our senses take for granted and which we mistakenly consider as
real and permanent. It exists because of our perception of duality and
will disappear when we experience non-duality or oneness with Brahman.
When we overcome illusion and develop detachment from the sense
objects we realize the oneness of existence and become aware of the
illusory nature of the world.
Conclusion: It is erroneous to believe that Sankaracharya
derived the concepts of Advaita Vedanta from Buddhism. If there is any
truth it is the other way around. What he taught was not new. It was
the core of Upanishadic philosophy, to which he added more explanatory
knowledge through his commentaries and compositions and gave it a
definite character of his own. For the next thousand years since his
time, Hindu philosophy grew measuring itself against the standards he
created and espoused. The Vishishtadvaita and dvaita schools
formulated many concepts of their own based on their opposition to the
doctrine of monism and the inconsistencies they believed to have
perceived in it.
Adi Shankara's treatises on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and
the Brahma Sutras are his principal and almost undeniably his own
works. Although he mostly adhered to traditional means of commenting
on the Brahma Sutra, there are a number of original ideas and
arguments. He taught that it was only through direct knowledge of
nonduality that one could be enlightened.
Adi Shankara's opponents accused him of teaching Buddhism in the
garb of Hinduism. However, while the Later Buddhists arrived at a
changeless, deathless, absolute truth after their insightful
understanding of the unreality of samsara, historically Vedantins
never liked this idea. Although Advaita also proposes the theory of
Maya, explaining the universe as a "trick of a magician",
Adi Shankara and his followers see this as a consequence of their
basic premise that Brahman is real. Their idea of Maya emerges from
their belief in the reality of Brahman, rather than the other way
around. It is equally erroneous to believe that Sankaracharya
contributed to the decline of Buddhism through his exposition of
advaita vedanta. Buddhism was already on the decline by the time he
was born. Many Buddhist monasteries were already occupied by the
followers of Saivism and Vaishnavism and converted into Hindu shrines.
It is true that through his debates and discussions Sankaracharya
consolidated the base of modern Hinduism, which served it well when
organized religions such as Islam and Christianity came to India as
the religions of imperial powers such as Persia and England. Sankara's
monism provided a level playing field for the Hindus during the
Islamic rule and contributed to the synthesis of new movements such as
Sufism.
Suggested Further Reading
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