Abstract
The final chapter, titled “The Philosophical Underpinnings of the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi”, forms the conclusion of this work and highlights the important findings of this study. The main findings of this scholarship are twofold. Firstly, this study points out the inter-reliant aspects of śruti, tarka, and anubhava and argues that “viveka” along with these three catalysts is the only pramāṇa of non-dual realisation. Secondly, the chapter claims that there is a conceptual enrichment of Advaitic metaphysics, which wards off the negativity and pessimism attached to Vedāntic thought. It argues that the non-dual Brahman is a Reality transcending the empirical characterisations of attributes and non-attributes. Brahman is not just (conventional) nirguṇa, but a Reality with its essential qualities, namely Sat, Cit, and Ānanda, which, being trans-empirical, transcend any sort of characterisation. These are the unique contributions of the this work.
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Notes
- 1.
Vedānta-siddhānta-niruktiṛ eṣā brahm’aiva jīvaḥ sakalaṁ jagat ca; akhaṇḍa-rūpa-sthitir eva mokṣo brahm’ādvitīye śrutayaḥ pramāṇam.—VC: 478.
- 2.
śāstraṁ yuktir deśikoktiḥ pramāṇaṁ cāntaḥsiddhā svānubhūtiḥ pramāṇam.—VC: 474.
- 3.
Śrutyā yuktyā sv’ānubhūtyā jñātvā sārvātmyam ātmanaḥ; kvacid ābhāsataḥ prāpta svādhyās’aṁ kuru,—VC: 281.
- 4.
Jāti-nīti-kula-gotra-dūragaṁ nāma-rūpa-guṇa-doṣa-varjitam; deśa-kāla-viṣay’ātivarti yad brahma tat tvam asi bhāvy’ātmani.—VC: 254.
- 5.
avikalpam param etya,—VC: 70.
- 6.
sākṣitvam nopayujyate,—VC: 215b.
- 7.
ananubhūt’ārthe, VC: 215b.
- 8.
Avijñate pare tattve śāstr’ādhītis tu niṣphalā; vijñāte’api pare tattve śāstr’ādhītis tu niṣphalā.—VC: 59.
- 9.
Ajñāna-sarpa-daṣṭasya brahma jñān’auṣadhaṁ vinā; kimu vedaiś ca śāstraiś ca kimu mantraiḥ kim auṣadhaḥ.—VC: 61.
- 10.
vastu-svarūpaṁ sphuṭa-bodha-cakṣuṣā sven’aiva vedyaṁ na tu paṇḍitena,—VC: 54a.
- 11.
Kośair annamay’ādyaiḥ pañcabhir ātmā na saṁvṛto bhāti; nija-śakti-samutpannaiḥ śaivāla paṭalair ivāmbu vāpīstham.—VC: 149.
- 12.
Satyaṁ jñānam anantaṁ brahma viśuddhaṁ paraṁ svatas-siddham; nity’ānandaika rasaṁ pratyag abhinnaṁ nirantaraṁ jayati.—VC: 225.
- 13.
Svapne’artha-śūnye sṛjati svaśaktyā bhoktr’ādi viśvaṁ mana eva sarvam; that’aiva jāgraty’api no viśeṣaḥ tat sarvam etan manaso vijṛmbhaṇam.—VC: 170; At this juncture, a point can be noted is that while Śaṅkara puts both waking and dreaming state as in the equal footing as unreal, in BSB II. 2. 29 he clearly maintains a difference between the waking state and the dream state. However, one should understand that in BSB Śaṅkara has dealt elaborately about his philosophy, and according to him for the practical consideration waking state seems to be more real than dream state (e.g. from the terms of practicality, in waking state a person really walks when he walks, whereas in when one dreams of walking, he is still on the bed, and not really walking). This variation in VC can be considered as due to its purpose, which is discrimination, and not explication of his main philosophical concepts that are already dealt in the earlier works.
- 14.
Yāvad bhrāntis tāvad ev’āsya sattā mithyā jñāno jjṛmbhitasya pramādāt; rajjvāṁ sarpo bhrānti-kālīna eva bhrānter nāśe n’aiva sarpo’api tadvat.—VC: 197; Yatra bhrāntyā kalpitaṁ tad viveka tat tan mātraṁ n’aiva tasmād vibhinnam; bhrānter nāśe bhāti-dṛṣṭ’āhi tattvaṁ rajjus tadvad viśvam ātma-svarūpam.—VC: 387.
- 15.
San n’āpy’asan nāpy ubhayātmikā no bhinnāpy’ abhinnāpy’ubhayātmikā no; sāṅg’āpy’anaṅg’āpy’ubhay’ātmikā no mah’ādbhutā’anir-vacanīya-rūpā.—VC: 109.
- 16.
Śuddhādvaya-brahma-vibhodhanāśyā sarpa-brahmo rajju-vivekato yathā; rajas-tamas-sattvam-iti prasiddhā guṇāstadīyāḥ prathitaiḥ sva-kāryaiḥ.—VC: 110.
- 17.
Na hy asty avidyā manaso’atiriktā mano hy avidyā bhava-bandha-hetuḥ; tasmin vinaṣṭe sakalaṁ vinaṣṭaṁ vijrmbhite’amin sakalaṁ vijṛmbhate.—VC: 169.
- 18.
Yatraiṣa jagad-ābhāso darpaṇ’āntaḥ puraṁ yathā; tad brahmāham iti jñātvā kṛtakṛtyo bhaviṣyasi.—VC: 291.
- 19.
Asat-kalpo vikalpo’ayaṁ viśvam ity’eka-vastuni; nirvikāre nirākāre nirviśeṣe bhidā kutaḥ.—VC: 399.
- 20.
Na-hyasti viśvaṁ para-tattva-bodhāt sadātmani brahmaṇi nirvikalpa; kāla-traye na-apyahir-īkṣito guṇe na hy’ambu-bindur mṛga-ṭṛṣṇikāyām.—VC: 404.
- 21.
Na sākṣinaṁ sākṣya-dharmāḥ samspṛśanti vilakṣaṇam; avikāram udāsīnam gṛha-dharmāḥ pradīpavat.—VC: 505; Jale vāpi sthale vāpi luṭhatveṣa jaḍātmakaḥ; n’āhaṁ vilipye tad dharmaiḥ ghaṭa-dharmair nabhoyathā.—VC: 509.
- 22.
vedānta-siddhānta-niruktiṛ eṣā brahm’aiva jīvaḥ sakalaṁ jagat ca,—VC: 478a.
- 23.
Brahmaivedaṁ viśvam ityeva vāṇī śrautī brūteatharva-niṣṭhā variṣṭthā; tasmād etad brahma-mātraṁ hi viśvaṁ n’ādhiṣṭhānād bhinnatā’āropitasya.—VC: 231.
- 24.
Asau sva-sākṣiko bhāvo yataḥ sven’ānubhūyate; ataḥ paraṁ svayaṁ sākṣāt pratyagātmā na c’etaraḥ.—VC: 216.
- 25.
For details, see footnote 48 in chapter one.
- 26.
Durlabhaṁ trayam evait daivānugraha-hetukam; manuṣyatvaṁ mumukṣutvaṁ mahā-puruṣa-saṁśrayah.—VC: 3.
- 27.
Paṭhantu śāstrāṇi yajantu devān kurvantu karmāṇi bhajantu devatāḥ; ātmaikyabodhena vināpi muktiḥ-ṛna siddhyati brahmaśatāntareapi.—VC: 6.
- 28.
Sva-svarūpānusandhānaṁ bhaktir ity abhidhīyate,—VC: 31; svātma-tattvānusandhānaṁ bhaktir ity apare jaguḥ,—VC: 32.
- 29.
Ananyatvam adhiṣṭhānād āropyasya nirikṣitam; paņḍitai rajju-sarpādau vikalpo bhrānti-jīvanaḥ.—VC: 406.
- 30.
For the notion of experience in Advaita Vedānta, kindly refer the head ‘The Unique Import of Advaitic Realisation’ in chap. 4.
- 31.
I am indebted to Arvind Sharma who has acknowledged same idea in his article on Anubhava and quoted Karel Werner. But I do not completely agree with this manner of using the term. For in Advaita, experience comes only at the later stage, when the doctrines are not recognised. Therefore, according to me, this term should be applied between doctrine and practice. The term practice here entails undertaking the observance of required disciplines that are indispensable for the realisation.
- 32.
śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyaḥ (investigate carefully, decide correctly, and follow faithfully), BṛU II. 4. 5.
- 33.
Dehasya mokṣo no mokṣo na daṇḍasya kamaṇḍaloḥ; avidyā-hṛdaya-granthi-mokṣo mokṣo yatastataḥ.—VC: 558.
References
A. Abbreviations of Original Sources
i. Primary Sources
VC: Vivekacūḍāmaṇi of Śaṅkarācārya. 2005. Swāmī Mādhavānanda (tr.). Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama.
VC: Vivekacūḍāmaṇi of Śrī Śaṅkarācārya. 1991. Swāmī Turīyānanda (tr.). Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math.
ii. Other Original Sources
BṛUB: The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: With the Commentary of Śaṅkarācārya. 2009. Swami Madhavananda (tr.). Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama.
BSB: Brahma Sūtra Bhāṣya of Śaṅkarācārya. 2009. Swāmi Gambīrānanda (tr.). Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama.
VC: The Vivekacūḍāmaṇi of Śaṅkarācārya Bhagavatpāda; An Introduction and Translation by John Grimes. 2004. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
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Menezes, W. (2017). The Philosophical Underpinnings of the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi. In: Exploring Ātman from the Perspective of the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62761-8_7
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