On Shankara's arguments against the Buddhists

[Guest guest]

Namaste

 

In view of the ongoing interest in Buddhistic arguments, I

want to draw the attention of the readers to the following:

 

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/ew27155.htm

 

entitled Shankara's arguments against the Buddhists.

 

This website is itself an extract from a book on the same

title, by Daniel H. H. Ingalls. What interested me in

reading the extract was the following:

 

"In this conflict of pinions, no one, to the best of my

knowledge, has availed himself of two methods of research

which I think may minimize prejudice and lead to a more

rational and more widely acceptable solution. These two

methods are the comparison of the commentaries of

`Sa^mkaraacaarya and Bhaaskara on the Brahma-suutra and the

comparison of the arguments `Sa^mkara uses against the

Buddhists in his Brahma-suutra-bhaa.sya with those he uses

in commenting on the B.rhadaara.nyaka Upani.sad. I do not

say that these methods will solve all problems, but they

will help, and for the following reason.

 

It becomes very clear from a comparison of `Sa^mkara

and Bhaaskara that the major part of `Sa^mkara's commentary

on the Brahma-suutra is not original with `Sa^mkara but is

repeated from what commentators had written in the past.

What we have in the Brahma-suutra-bhaa.sya is the

accumulated philosophy of a millennium. It is true there

are original elements, some of them very important, and, as

I hope to show, these elements can sometimes be recognized

as original, but it is tradition that forms the mainstay.

Now, to determine `Sa^mkara's exact attitude toward

Buddhism, it is essential that we attempt to disentangle

what is original with `Sa^mkara from what is not. Let me

point out briefly the means at our disposal".

 

I read through the pages of the website but because of the

fact that Sutra Bhashya is not my cup of tea, I could not

assimilate the arguments. However I recommend a reading of

this paper by members of this list at this point of time.

 

PraNAms to all advaitins.

profvk

 

 

 

 

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

 

Ongoing new series of pages on my website: 'Bhagavatam and Advaita Bhakti'

starting with

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/VK2/Bhagavatam_Introduction.html