Our Fundamental Error - Part 1 of 11

[Guest guest]

Some time ago, I suggested that I would like to edit and rework the material

provided by Sadananda on Shankara's Adyhaasa Bhasyaa. (This constituted the

first 7 posts of the material on the Brahmasuutra.) There were two main

reasons for this. Firstly I recognised that this commentary is extremely

important in Advaita, talking as it does about the basic mistake we make

when we mix up the Self with the non-Self (at the level of vyavahaara) and

identify with the body or mind etc. Secondly, I felt that many people might

be put off studying the material because it contained so much Sanskrit that

significant effort and dedication was necessary for those who knew little or

none. It has taken some time but I have finally completed the material and

Sadananda has kindly checked through and provided comments and corrections

as necessary. I will now post it in 11 short sections at the rate of 2 per

week so that reading should not prove too onerous!

 

Please note that all I have done is take out most of the Sanskrit and reword

some sentences here and there. The understanding and examples are due to

Sadananda, his teacher and those who went before. I have found the exercise

very worthwhile and hope that a few more may acknowledge that Sadaji is

giving us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here to study one of the key

works in Advaita philosophy. (Also hopefully, if there are any questions on

the version of the material I am providing here, he will be able to answer

them!)

 

Namaste,

 

Dennis

 

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ADHYAASA - Notes on Shankara's exmination of the nature of 'Error' in the

introduction to the Brahmasuutra.

 

These notes are essentially a rewording, omitting most of the Sanskrit, of

the notes provided by Kuntimaddi Sadananda on the Advaitin List and I

gratefully acknowledge his permission for this. In turn, he wishes that I

acknowledge his own indebtedness to H.H. Swami Paramaarthaananda of Madras,

himself a student of Swami Chinmayananda and Swami Dayananda. His lectures

form the basis of these notes.

 

The Brahmasuutra is the third of the so called 'Three pillars of Vedanta',

the first two being the upanishhad-s (shruti - the scriptures 'revealed' and

not 'authored' by anyone) and the Bhagavad Giitaa (smR^iti - the 'heard'

scriptures passed down by memory). The Brahmasuutra is a very terse and

logical examination of the essential teaching of the upanishhad-s, seeking

to show the nature of Brahman and the superiority of the philosophy of

Vedanta. It is usually studied with the help of a commentary or bhaashhya,

the best known being the one by Shankara.

 

It is in the nature of man, with his intellect, that he seeks to enquire

into the causes of observed phenomena. The six topics of enquiry for a

'student of life' relate to the individual, the world, the cause for these

two, suffering, liberation from this suffering and the means for attaining

such liberation. Any consistent explanation for all of these is deemed a

philosophy or darshana. There are 12 specific philosophies identified in

India. Six of these are called aastika and the other six naastika. Aastika

refers to those systems which accept the Vedas as a valid means for

acquiring knowledge. Conversely, the naastika philosophies do not recognise

the Vedas as valid or reliable sources of knowledge. These latter

philosophies prefer to rely upon direct perception and inference or

reasoning as the means for knowledge.

 

The first of the six naastika philosophies is materialism, said to originate

with the teacher of the Gods, BR^ihaspati. It is said that this was devised

in order to mislead the demons so that they could be destroyed. It

emphasises the sense pleasures as being the purpose of life and does not

accept such things as heaven and hell, the soul or Vedas. Modern science,

with its belief that consciousness is an epiphenomenon of matter, may come

close to this philosophy. Materialism only recognises direct perception as a

valid means of knowledge. This philosophy is not discussed in the

Brahmasuutra since it is not considered worthwhile.

 

The second naastika philosophy is Jainism. Some aspects of this are

discussed and refuted later. The remaining four cover the various aspects of

Buddhism. Buddha himself did not teach any real system of philosophy; he

only had various dialogues with his disciples. Hence Buddhism was not

initially well-developed. Later however it developed into four branches,

each of which is analysed and criticised in the Brahmasuutra.

 

Although all of the six aastika philosophies accept the Vedas as a valid

means of knowledge, three of them do not accept Brahman and four of them

given more importance to reasoning than to the Vedas. Only two give primary

importance to the Vedas. One of these however, considers that the first part

of the Vedas - the one concerned with ritualistic action - is more important

than the upanishhad-s. The second gives primary importance to the last

portion of the Vedas, and it is this that is the principal subject of the

Brahmasuutra-s.

 

A suutra literally means 'a thread'. It is a very concise statement

expressing the essential meaning of a given idea in a logical manner, free

from any defects. A simple translation is therefore not adequate on its own

and requires additional explanation in the form of a commentary or

bhaashhya. Because there exist possibilities for ambiguity, the various

commentaries have led to 10 different teachings each claiming that theirs

represents the intended meaning. The three most popular (in historical

sequence) are known as Advaita, VishishhTaadvaita and Dvaita,. The

commentary by Shankara is concerned with Advaita. ……………………end of Part 1