On The Path To God Through Knowledge Essay, Research Paper
on the path to God through knowledge. The basic teaching is that God alone is the all-pervading reality; the individual soul is none other than the universal soul. Shankara was under
no illusions about this world. For this reason, he is able to describe so powerfully the complete transformation of the universe that takes place before the eyes of the illumined seer, when the world
indeed becomes a paradise.
Models of Multiplicity
(From Potter, Advaita Vedanta up to Sankara and His Pupils, pp.
81ff.)
Kinds of diversity:
1.undifferentiated nirguna Brahman vs. God = saguna Brahman
2.one supreme Self (paramatman) vs. many individual selves (jivas)
3.world vs. God and world vs. jivas
Models of diversity:
Rope-snake (Gaudapada, Sankara, Padmapada, et al.)
Pot-space (Gaudapada, Sankara, Suresvara,
Bhamati school, etc.)
Wheel of fire (Gaudapada)
Water and foam (Sankara, et al.)
Sun’s rays, spider’s web, sparks from a fire (Sankara)
Reflection analogies (Sankara, Padmapada, Vivarana school, etc.)
[sun in rippling water, red flower in crystal, facein mirror]
Works by Sankara
Comms. on “Three Starting Points”(prasthana-traya) of Vedanta:
1.(sruti): Commentaries on many Upanisads (Brhadaranyaka, etc.)
2.(smrti): Commentary on the Bhagavadgita
3.(sutra): Commentary on the Brahmasutras (Vedantasutras)
Independent treatise on Vedanta:
Upadesasahasri (”Thousand Teachings”)
[prob. not Vivekacudamani («Crest Jewel of Discrimination»), etc.]
Other works:
Subcommentary on the Yogasutra (?)
Commentary on a philosophical section in a law
book (?)
[and perhaps others, including hymns?]
SankarAcArya is the most important teacher of
the advaita school of vedAnta, and his
commentaries to the upanishads, the
bhagavad-gItA and the brahmasUtras define the
parameters of advaita thought. However, it must
be remembered that all vedAnta philosophy
really goes back to the upanishads, and
SankarAcArya is regarded as a pre-eminent
teacher who continued the upanishadic tradition.
The name SankarAcArya has become a title for
the heads of the numerous advaita institutions in
India today, because of the great respect and
fame associated with it.
The philosophy of advaita, literally non-dualism,
is the premier and oldest extant among the
vedAnta schools of Indian philosophy. The
upanishadic quest is to understand brahman, the
source of everything, the Atman, the Self, and
the relationship between brahman and Atman.
The upanishads explore these issues from
different angles. The advaita school teaches a
complete essential identity between brahman and
Atman. In other vedAntic traditions, the essential
relationship between Atman and brahman is
understood in different ways.
This website has been organized into four
sections, as given in the index on the left. The
Introduction section has three pages – one
explains the transliteration scheme employed at
this site and another has links to sam.skRta
Slokas, many of them attributed to Sankara. The
advaita vedAnta FAQ page describes various
aspects of advaita in brief, and has links to pages
at this site and to related sites.
The main material on advaita vedAnta has been
organized into three sections, named History,
Philosophers and Philosophy. The “History”
section deals with SankarAcArya, the issues
involved in reckoning his date, the living advaita
tradition and related topics. Pre-Sankaran
vedAnta, gauDapAda, SankarAcArya, his
disciples, maNDana miSra and post-Sankaran
advaitins are discussed in appropriate pages
under the “Philosophers” section. The
“Philosophy” section starts with a brief
introduction to various schools of Indian
philosophy and a page on the source texts of
vedAnta, the upanishads. Philosophical issues in
advaita vedAnta are examined in various other
pages in this section. More pages on different
aspects of advaita vedAnta and its relation to
other systems are under construction.
The Supreme Swan: In the background is an artistic rendering of a
swan, with the Sanskrit sentence Brahmaiva satyam – Brahman is the
only Truth. The swan motif is seen in the seals of many advaita
organizations. The figure seen here has been adapted from the official
seal of the Sringeri maTha, an ancient and one of the most important
centers of advaita vedAnta in India. The swan is a very popular motif in
traditional Hindu symbolism. It can be found in oil-lamps used in
temples and at shrines in people’s homes.
The swan has a special association with advaita vedAnta. The swan is
called hamsa in the sam.skRta language. The greatest masters in the
advaita tradition are called paramahamsas – the great swans. The word
hamsa is a variation of so’ham: I am He, which constitutes the highest
realization. There are other equivalences between the swan and the
advaitin, that make the swan a particularly apt symbol for advaita
vedAnta. The swan stays in water, but its feathers remain dry. Similarly,
the advaitin lives in the world, yet strives to remain unaffected by life’s
ups and downs. In India, the swan is also mythically credited with the
ability to separate milk from water. Similarly, the advaitin discriminates
the eternal Atman from the non-eternal world. The Atman that is
brahman is immanent in the world, just like milk is seemingly
inseparably mixed with water, but It can never be truly realized without
the nitya-anitya-vastu viveka – right discrimination between the eternal
and ephemeral – that is essential for the advaitin. The swan is thus a
symbol for the jIvanmukta, who is liberated while still alive in this world,
by virtue of having realized Brahman.