WHAT DID SANKARA REALLY TEACH?: _ Excerpts

[Guest guest]

A SELECTIVE SUMMARY OF

SWAMI PARAMANANDA BHARATI'S

VEDANTA PRABODHA

 

 

If there is one Indian philosopher whose teachings have been so

subtle that their unity and import have successively eluded clear

understanding even by his ardent followers for Centuries, it is

undoubtedly SrI Sankara Bhagavatpada. In the long history of Advaita.

Several attempts have been made by commentators and writers

to " reconcile " what appeared to them clearly contradictory statements

in Sankara's writings. But the truth is that such contradictions are

perceived because of failure on the part of those writers to

properly understand the teachings and not because Ankara's writings

are unclear or ambiguous.

 

Sankara simultaneously executes at least three different tasks in his

writings: formulating the doctrine of Advaita in a very systematic

way. Teaching that doctrine in a Systematic way to those who

wanted to understand it and also adopting many techniques and

arguments to resolve confusions and doubts. These three different

tasks require different ways of speech and expressions and sometimes,

require even the same expression to be used with an entirely

different meaning. Added to this, we pass through the process of

understanding the doctrine and as our knowledge become clearer and

clearer.

Newer levels are reached and we begin to see in an entirely new way,

These newer ways of seeing are also communicated by using the same

expressions as before. But they are now laden with entirely new

meanings. While someone who is able to se in a new way encounters no

difficulty, someone else who does not, encounters a sudden change of

meaning that is puzzling. This someone struggles to resolve the

puzzlement by advancing his own ideas and theories to make Sankara's

teaching clear.

..

The history of Advaita is thus largely the history of continual

attempts at making Sankara's teachings " clear " to the readers. Such

attempts have led to the arising of new problems and questions that

originally did no exist in Sankara, and also to equally new answers

and theories that are not logically required by the original

teaching. Thus there has been a profusion of commentaries and

supplementary works over the centuries. adding more heat than light

in the process.

 

It is at this juncture that SwamI Paramananda Bharati enters the

scene with his Vedanta Prabhoda. This work is written in Kannada

which is a major language of South India and was published in June

2001 and had seen a third edition by 2004 The translation to Hindi

has seen two editions and now we have a translation to Telugu.It is

such a beautiful and path-breaking work that it deserves to be

brought to the notice of Scholars all over the world. This 286 page

work is written almost entirely on the basis or Sankara's

commentaries on the Brahmasutra, the Bhagavadgita the Upanishads.

There is almost no reference to any other work of Sankara or of any

other writer. He has constantly kept in view the " three different

tasks " undertaken by Sankara . . The important consequence of this

practice is that it helps showing that there is " unity " ( " ekavyata "

as he put in a private conversation) in Sankara' s teachings. When

such " unity " is seen and accepted. no additional concepts and

theories become necessary to demonstrate the clarity of the

teaching. The teaching is already clear as it stands. What the

SwamijI is doing in this work is to just show us that Sankkara's:,

teaching is clear and, consistent. He does this by drawing our

attention to what Sankara himself has .said -and many times by

what :he has repeatedly said - in his central writings.

 

Vedanta Prabhoda (hereafter abbreviated as VP) is in nineteen

sections that are sub- divided into 183 sub-sections in all. each of

which addresses a specific issue or topic and offers clear and

original information on it from Sankara's works. The structuring of

the work seem's to be focused primarily on the needs of liberation

seekers (mumuksu) but even plain knowledge seekers can benefit

greatly from it. Nearly two dozen major questions (which are listed,

at the beginning of the work) are discussed in detail. It is not

possible to give even a very brief summary of all of them and

therefore only a kind of a sample is offered here. Swamiji's own

sentences wilI he offered in English translation or a summary of them

will be given followed by relevant page number:--. Indicated within

square bracket:--. Sankara's passages in support of what is being

said will also be similarly translated, but these will be indicated

in round brackets.

 

Issue : Is " Anupalabdhi " a " Pramana " According to Sankara?

 

 

To be continued

The Book:

Vedanta Prabhodhamu

(Telugu)

By Swami Paramanda Bharati

 

The book uses premium quality paper, A4 size, is Hard Bound, in

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Rs. 45.00 for first copy and Rs. 20.00 for every additional copy for

orders within India.

[Guest guest]

There is almost no reference to any other work of Sankara or of any

other writer. He has constantly kept in view the " three different

tasks " undertaken by Sankara . . The important consequence of this

practice is that it helps showing that there is " unity " ( " ekavyata "

as he put in a private conversation) in Sankara' s teachings.

 

 

praNAms Hare Krishna

 

 

I heard from my guruji-s Sri Ashwatha Narayana Avadhani & Sri Chandramouli

Avadhani that Sri paramananda bhArati swamiji has refuted both traditional

& non-tradtional view points with regard to mUlAvidyA or bhAva rUpa avidya.

Sri paramananda bhArati swamiji has personally given his objections to my

guruji & guruji has this paper (in manuscript) with him. But as of now, I

donot know the details of it...My guruji said he will be sending this paper

to me through courier next week....I shall let the list know if anything is

there to the interest of prabhuji-s of this list.

 

 

This is just for information...

 

 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

 

 

bhaskar