[t'venkatam] Dating the brahma Sutras and badarayana

[Guest guest]

Om,

 

what immediately strikes this writer is that when it comes to such eternal

'Greats' as Vyasa etc.age, dates, timing etc. do not matter..They are

always 'there' Omnipresent so to say. In fact there are numerous references

to Sage Vyasa being an avaatrara of our beloved Shri Mahavishnu Himself.

Now given this position, it is not surprising that they make their presence

manifest at various points of time for various reasons. From whatever

little one has read of the Vedic works,one is sure that even before 3100

BCE Sage Vyasa may have existed as some other entity. In most of Adi

Sankara's historical background one will note an event when during the

course of His travels He did meet a wise sage and after some

arguments/dicussions, the Sage revealed His real self as the Venrable Vyasa

and imparted instructions to Adi Sankara. Now if we consider this period

which is just after Buddhism when the first seeds of Advaita originated

then the period/timing may not tally with historical dating.

 

Om tat Sat

Tat tvam asi __/\__

 

 

 

Malolan Cadambi

<mcadambi (AT) (DOT) c "Oppiliappan ." <oppiliappan>, Tiru Venkatam

om> <tiruvenkatam>

Sent by: cc:

tiruvenkatam@yaho [t'venkatam] Dating the brahma Sutras and badarayana

ogroups.com

09/07/06 12:25 AM

Please respond to

tiruvenkatam

 

 

 

Dear Scholars,

 

I have some basic questions about the date of the Brahma Sutras of

Badarayana.

 

Sampradaya identifies the identity of badarayana with Veda Vyasa, the

redactor of the Vedas, Itihaasa-s and Purana-s. The latter's age is

said to be around the end of the Treta Yuga, i.e around 3100 BCE.

 

If Badarayana is identified with Veda Vyasa, some problems arise.

 

This is because the brahma Sutras of badarayana refer to

Buddhist/Jaina/Naasthika doctrines which are known to have

historically been existent only after 400 BCE.

 

If such be the case above, how is badarayana the same as Veda Vyasa?

 

Regards,

 

Malolan

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Malolan,

 

Very pertinent question, indeed, and one which must be

sincerely and seriously addressed by scholars in this

group. There is no point in bringing in tangential or

extraneous issues to bear on this question.

 

Let me begin by asking you, Sri Malolan, what are the

specific passages in the Brahma Sutras which you have

said "refer to Buddhist/Jaina/Naasthika doctrines"?

For our benefit can you please quote them verbatim

from the original text?

 

The Brahma Sutra is a very, very terse and aphoristic

work. It is my take that from a plain reading of the

text one would never come across any explicit

references to Buddhism or Jainism at all.

 

There might of course be passages in the Sutra which

are probably suggestive of Buddhist/Jainistic thought

and philosophy (especially Nihilistic world-views

which always existed in India even before the days of

Buddhism). But it is highly unlikely that one will

come across anywhere in the Sutra passages (or the

'sUtrAs') themselves which specifically name Buddha or

Mahaveera, or which otherwise specifically deal with

typically Buddhistic or Jainistic thoughts/doctrines.

 

If one however does find in the Sutra a passage here

and there that seems to deal with ideas or thoughts

having strong Buddhistic flavor, one should only

regard it either as (a) the Sutra having anticipated

Buddhistic slant of thought long before Buddhism was

even born as a system of philosophy in India or (b) as

a case of mere historical coincidence.

 

I am not a "expert" on the Brahma Sutra. I am open to

correction by scholars in this and other lists.

 

Thanks and regards,

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

--- Malolan Cadambi <mcadambi > wrote:

 

> Dear Scholars,

>

> I have some basic questions about the date of the

> Brahma Sutras of

> Badarayana.

>

> Sampradaya identifies the identity of badarayana

> with Veda Vyasa, the

> redactor of the Vedas, Itihaasa-s and Purana-s. The

> latter's age is

> said to be around the end of the Treta Yuga, i.e

> around 3100 BCE.

>

> If Badarayana is identified with Veda Vyasa, some

> problems arise.

>

> This is because the brahma Sutras of badarayana

> refer to

> Buddhist/Jaina/Naasthika doctrines which are known

> to have

> historically been existent only after 400 BCE.

>

> If such be the case above, how is badarayana the

> same as Veda Vyasa?

>

> Regards,

>

> Malolan

 

 

 

 

 

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