SALIENT FEATURES OF - Adhyatmaprakasha
SALIENTFEATURESOFSANKARA'S VEDANTABYSWAMI SATCHIDANANDENDRA SARASWATI
SALIENT FEATURESOFSANKARA'S VEDANTABYSWAMI SATCHIDANANDENDRA SARASWATIINTRODUCTION BYPROF. S.K. RAMACHANDRA RAOADHYATMA PRAKASHA KARYALAYATHYAGARAJANAGAR, BANGALORE 560 028
"SALIENT FEATURES OF SANKARA'S VEDANTR'by Swami Satchidanandendra SaraswatiPublished by Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya68, 2nd Block, Thyagarajanagar, Bangalore 560 028'Pages: xxvi 110 pp.Registered under the Copy Right Act of 1957 The Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya, HolenarasipurFirst Edition,1967 - 1000 CopiesSecond Edition, 1990 - 2000 CopiesPrice: Rs.25/-Printed at:Sri Nithyananda Printers, Ashoknagar, Bangalore 560 050, IndiaPhone: 626027
PUBLISHERS' NOTEFirst EditionThis is a free rendering of Sri Swamiji's 'SaftkaraVedanta Prakriye' (Kannada) which was first writtenduring his Caturmasya Samkalpa at Davangere in theyear Manmatha. The Second Edition was published byus in 1959. It has been translated into Telugu and Tamilsince, but English-knowing readers who could not understand any of the three Dravidian Languages havecontinued to press for an English rendering of thispopular book. His Holiness has himself undertaken thetask at our request.We hope that the valuable contents of this production will now appeal to a wider circle of readers.Holenarasipur22-1-1967Y. NarasappaChairman of the Executive Committee
CONTENTSPagePublishers' Note (First Edition)iiiPreface (First Edition)vPermission LetterviiPublishers' Note (Second Edition)viiiAbbreviationsxIntroductionxi11.Brahman as the Universal Witnessing Self2.No Real Distinction of The Knower, Means ofKnowledge and Object of Knowledge in Brahman3.Sastra the One Means of Self-knowledge124.Reason Subservient to Self-realization205.Spiritual Concentration296.The Purport of the Vedantic Texts is toTeach the Nature of Atman377.Atman as Above all the States of Consciousness488.Atman as Unborn and Non-dual609.Practice and Final Goal67Review of Other Systems of Thought77Appendix-i7910.Cardinal Tenets of SaIikara'sVedantaAppendix-ii List of Sanskrit QuotationsAdduced in tkis Book***689
PREFACEFirst EditionThere have been a number of books on SaIikaraVedanta produced and published in this country andelsewhere. While they are very popular probably because their authorship has been ascribed to the greatSaIikara, they contain tenets in conflict with oneanother. Relying upon these as well as the systemscontained in the subcommentaries on SaIikara's classical. works, even learned men professing to followSaIikara have been broadcasting ideas opposed to oneanother in the name of that great thinker. And adversecritics belonging to other schools of Vedanta have beenmis-representing SaIikara's system are greatly puzzledand perplexed as to what exactly is the matter or methodadopted in the school belonging to his tradition.It is not easy for beginners to consolidate anddiscriminate for themselves the various doctrines contained in the three g ou s of works c llectively alledthe Prasthana Trayz mdisputably ascnbed to Sankara.I have therefore tried to do this to the best of my ability.Two Appendices - one containing the cardinalTenets of SaIikara's Vedanta, and the second a list of theSanskrit quotations adduced in the body of the work have been given at the end of the work. The first is afree rendering and adaptation of an article by my student, Pandit H.S. Lakshminarasimha Murthy. I hopethat these will be helpful to begInners to remember theprincipal points of the system. I have every hope thatone who has mastered the leading ideas of SaIikara's
viVedanta contained in this little book, may very well taketo the study of more advanced books such as my 'Howto Recognize the Method of Vedanta', with assurance.I have - as usual- made over the copyright of thisbook to the Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya. MayBhagavan Narayana shower His blessings on theirlaudable enterprise.Holenarasipur22-1-1967Satchidanandendra Saraswati
ADHYATMA PRAKASHA KARYALAYA(PRIVATE TRUST)An Institution to help the interpretation of Indian Culture bystimulating the study and practice of the Adhyatma Vidyain its universal aspect.HOLENARSIPUR - 573 211; Hassan Dist.Date 1-7-1990ToThe SecretaryAdhyatma Prakasha KaryalayaBangalore BranchNo 68, 2nd BlockThyagarajanagar angalore - 560028Subject: PERMISSION LETTERPermission is hereby granted to Adhyatma PrakashaKaryalaya, Bangalore branch to reprint and publish allEnglish and Sanskrit works of Parama Pujya Sri SriSatchidanandendra Saraswathi Swamiji, published earlierby Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya, (H. 0.), Holenarsipur,unconditionally.We pray that God bestow His choicest blessings onthe branch Karyalaya and give them enough strength toprint and publish all the works of Sri Sri Swamiji.We heartily wish success in their project.Holenarsipur1-7-1990H.S. Lakshminarasimha MurthySecretary ,Adhya Prakasha Karyalaya
PUBLISHERS' NOTESecond EditionHis Holiness Sri Sri Satchidanandendra SaraswathiSwamiji (1880-1975) has written a number of books onVedanta in Kannada, Sanskrit and English. While thebooks in Sanskrit are useful primarily for pundits allover the country, the Swamiji was hopeful that books inEnglish would prove useful to a large number of personsnot only in this country but all over the world, who areinterested in the study of Vedanta in general andSailkara Siddhanta in particular.Pujya Swamiji established a branch of theAdhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya at Bangalore mainly because, this being an international city would serve as acentre for spreading Sailkara Siddhanta all oyer theworld.As most of these books in Sanskrit and English arenow out of print and the demand for such booksremained unfulfilled, it was felt that a reprint of thesebooks would fill in the breach in this respect.Therefore a reprint project of Pujya Swamiji'sEnglish and Sanskrit works has been launched byAdhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya, Bangalore Branch.This project is now inaugurated by the publication ofthis reprint of the English book - "Salient Features ofSailkara's Vedanta".We are thankful to Smt. and Sri C.S. SeetharamaRao, Tax-consultant, Jayanagar, Bangalore, who havemade it possible for us to reprint and publish this
ixvaluable work of Parama Pujya Swamiji, by theirgenerous financial assistance. This donation has beenmade in the sweet memory of Late C. V. SuryanarayanaRao and Narasamma, the revered parents of Sri C. S.Seetharama Rao.We profusely thank Prof. S.K. Ramachandra Raowho has on our request kindly written the scholarlyintroduction. It has enriched the value of this book. Itnot only throws light upon the contents of the book, butalso gives an idea about Pujya Swamiji's life andmission.We are grateful to the authorities of the AdhyatmaPrakash a Karyalaya, Holenarsipur for having permittedus to reprint and publish this book.Our heartfelt thanks are also due to all those whohave carefully read through the proofs and to manyothers, but for whose efforts this work could not haveseen the light of day.We are also highly thankful to Sri NithyanandaPrinters, for their elegant execution of the printing andbinding work.We pray that the revered Swamiji bless us withthe required strength in executing this project ofreprinting all his English and Sanskrit works.Our pranams at the holy lotus feet of Swamiji.Bangalore20-7-90K.G. Subraya SharmaSecretaryAdhyatma Prakasha KaryalayaBangalore 560 028
ABBREVIATIONSABh.SBh.Adhyasa Bhashya of Siitra BhashyaAi.Aitareya UpanishadB!'.B!,hadar yakaUpanishadB!,.Bh.B!,hadar yakaBhashyaBr.Ma.B!,hadar yaka,Ch.Chand6gya UpanishadG.BhagavadgItaMadhyandina RecensionGBh.Bhagavadgita BhashyaGK.Gau ;fapada's Karikas .GK. Bh.Gau ;fapada Karika BhashyaJai. S.Jaimini's Siitras on DharmaKa.Kathaka UpanishadMa., Man.MaQ ;fiikya UpanishadMa.Bh.MaQ ;fiikya BhashyaMu.,Mun.MUQ ;faka UpanishadPr.Bh.Prasna BhashyaS.Bh.Sabaraswamin's Bhashya on Jaimini'sSiitrasSBh.Siitra BhashyaSve.Svetaswatara UpanishadTai.Taittiriya upanishadTai. Bh.Taittiriya BhashyaTai. Br.Taittiriya Brahm aTai.N.Taittiriya NarayaQapannaV.S.Vedanta Siitras of BadarayaQa
INTRODUCTIONThe author of .this work, the revered Svami, SriSacchidanandendra Sarasvati (1880-1975), is justlyacclaimed to be the second appearance of the greatSaIikara. The task before SaIikara when he appeared athousand and odd years ago was to recover the trueVedantic tradition from among the mass of wronginterpretations of the Upanishadic texts. When theauthor of this work appeared over a hundred years ago,the mission before him was to recover the truetechniques of SaIikara from among the maze ofperverted viewpoints of the vari us sub-commentaries.The task to which the revered Svami addressed hisentire life, dedicating every waking moment to it, wasto set the house of SaIikara in order. He realized quiteearly in his life that the views of the great master werebeing unfortunately and grossly misrepresented by hisfollowers as well as opponents, that considerablepernicious accretions had occurred in the generalstandpoint of Advaita, thanks to the later subcommentators, and that the philosophy now claimedwidely to be SaIikara's is not really his. The Svamiundertook to vindicate the traditional method andmatter as envisaged by SaIikara not only by translatingthe original and genuine works of SaIikara in Kanna ;ia,but by writing independent works in English, Kanna ;iaand Sanskrit on the subject. His literary output was trulyphenomenal, and his writings, prolific as they are, arecharacterized by precision, lucidity and erudition. Butit was not before years of scrupulous and intensive studynot only of the works of SaIikara, but of all the
xiisub-commentaries and glosses available, and also of thedefinitive texts belonging to the schools of Ramanujaand Madhva, that he applied himself to the publicationof his discovery that SaIikara has been misrepresented.He was branded as a rebel by the conventionalistsbecause he dared to question the prevailing approachto SaIikara, which is moulded principally by thesub-commentaries (Bhamatl and .Pafichapadika). Butthe Svami has convincingly demonstrated, by elaborateand painstaking scrutiny, that the sub:-commentarieshave subscribed to, and introduced, many a concept thatis altogether alien to SaIikara's 'commentarial corpus,and that not infrequently these concepts militateagainst the tradition that SaIikara attempts to uphold.This has been the achievement of the Svami's longlife and single-minded devotion. And reasons are notfar to seek why this discovery of the unadulteratedphilosophical position of SaIikara (SuddhaSaIikara-Prakriya) has not received the recognition,celebrity and acceptance that it merits; the strength ofconvention has set up. strong barrier in the minds ofpeople, and there is resistance both unconscious anddeliberate, to welcome any attacks on the conventionalviews, however we l-founded and cogently presented.It is a curious irony of our religious attitudes thatthe dogmatists are prepared to sacrifice SaIikara'scommentaries for the sake of the sub-commentaries onthem, namely, Bhamatl and Pafichapadika. It appearsall too important for the dogmatist to defendVachaspati- misra and Padmapada even when theymisrepresent SaIikara. It, therefore, required of theSvami, courage of conviction and steadfastdetermination to speak the truth at all costs. Instancesare numerous as to how attempts were made to discredit
xiiithe Svami and prevent his viewpoints from beingrecognized.Undaunted, however, the Svamipersevered and went on publishing his books inKanna ;la for popular,. edification in Karna!aka, inSanskrit for carrying conviction to the conventionalscholars, everywhere in India, and in English for theenlightenment of the interested students and scholarsof modern persuasion all over the country and abroad.He also moved about from place to place, givinglectures and discourses on the same theme.A simple, and unostentatious man with aretiring disposition and an ascetic temperament, he wasalso extraordinarily peaceable and quiet. He did notappear either in his talk or in his approach in the leastlike a rebel. He altogether avoided heat in his arguments, and did not delight in debates orcontroversies. He was entirely academic andintellectually honest in his attempt to eradicate themisconceptions concerning Sailkara. While hisdevotion to Sailkara was unflinching and complete, heboldly debupked the myths and legends which theconventional Sailkara-vijayas are replete with. Hisapproach to the problem of Sailkara and h accomplishments was historical and rational.He therefore rejected most, if not all, of thestotras and prakara1).as, popularly ascribed to Sailkara,as spurious, and placed his entire reliance on the commentaries on the three prasthanas (Upanishads, Gitaand Vedanta-Sutra) and a few other works likeUpadesa-sahasri andAparokshanubhuti. Amongthese commentaries (Bhashyas) he regarded the one onVedanta-Sutra as the most authentic and comprehensive statement of Sailkara's own ideas. He acceptedSuresvara as faithful to Sailkara, and attached great
xivimportance to his Naishkarmya-Siddhi and Vartikas.The need to discover the real SaIikara was felt byhim when he was only thirty-five (in the year 1915). Hehad already studied the basic works of SaIikara underthe guidance of K.A. Krishnaswamy Iyer (the author ofVedanta or t1!e Science of Reality). and had undergonethe traditional discipline of Vedantalearning under therenowned scholar Mahamahopadhyaya, VidyanidhiHanagal ViIiip'aksha Sastri. He had also by then gotinitiated by the then pontiff of SrIigeri, SriSivabhinava-Nrsimha-Bharati Svami, at Kalac;li (1910),and he had come under the influence of saintly scholarslike Brahma-chaitanya Maharaj of Gondava!i andKurtukoti Mahabhagavata. With this rich philosophicaland spiritual background, the desire that he felt todiscover the real SaIikara for himself expressed itself inthe monograph, Miilavidya-nirasa in Sanskrit, in 1929,also called Sri-SaIikara-hrdayam. He applied himselfdiligently to repeated study of SaIikara's works(Bhashyas on the three Prasthanas) for several years toconvince himself that the sub-commentaries (ofVachaspati misra and Padmapada) had not done justiceto the great master.It was in the year 1920, a year after his wife passedaway, that he felt called upon to take this as a missionin his life. He resolved to dedicate the rest of his life tocorrect the popular but fallacious understanding ofSaIikara's philosophy, and to present SaIikara to theinterested folk, altogether independent of thesub-commentaries.He was working as a school-master at that time inBangalore, and he established a centre for the study ofSaIikara's original works, and also for the publications
xvhe would periodically bring out to present SaIikara'sthought in its pure form. This centre was calledAdhyatma Prakasa Karyalaya. This centre was shiftedto Ho!enarasipur in the year 1938, two years after heretired from Government service as a school-master inBangalore.He continued his study and he went on publishingbooks and monographs, all purporting to presentSaIikara's philosophyunadulterated bythesub-commentaries, through the Karyalaya atHo!enarasipur. Ten years later, he felt the urge torenounce his worldly life and enter the monastic order.He was 68 years of age in 1947 when he became asanyasm under the monastic name of SriSacchidanandendra Sarasvati (his pre ious namebeing Yellarilba!ase Subbaraya). He lived fortwenty-seven years after taking Sanyasa, continuing thework he had been doing for the past twenty seven years.He brought out two books in Sanskrit calling upon theconventional scholars to reconsider and recognize as) and sub-commentaries (Vyakhyanas). TheVijiiapti (1961) and Vidvadgoshti (1962) are polemicalin character and list the inconsistencies and textualproblems. He prepared guides in Sanskrit forunderstanding aright the Sfitra-bhashya of vechani, 1964) and aseries of seven handbooks in Sanskrit to kara-Prakriya- Bhaskara, 1964).During the latter years of his monastic life, he wasprevailed upon to establish a branch of Adhyatma
xviPrakasa Karyalaya in Bangalore in the year 1970. InBangalore it was that the institution first took its birthabout fifty years earlier and had continued here till itwas shifted to Ho!enarasipur eighteen years later. Hishealth had now begun to fail, mainly because of extremeold age, but he continued with will and zeal to writebo-oks and address interested folk almost till he attainedMaha-Samadhi on AugustS, 1975 when he was 96. Hislong and dedicated life was an excellent translation intoaction of the ageoid counsei that one must spend aUone's time till sleep overtakes waking hours and deathovertakes life, in quiet contemplation of theUpanishadic truth:an : CfilFi 4!1AGH1fil4'i41An early influence in his life was his associationwith another saintly soul, Hosakere Chidarilba- rayya,who was a fellow-teacher in the schools where heworked, and who was like himself devoted to a deepstudy of Vedanta, not as an intellectual exercise but withan eye for practical application. Both of them had settheir eyes on the monastic order quite early in theirlives, especially after their wives died young.Chidarilbarayya wrote some works in Kanna ;la, but didlittle more; he was given to a contemplative mode oflife.Another early influence on the Svami wasSubrahmal).ya Iyer, who was his teacher in the HighSchool at Hassan, and who also taught him the firstlessons in Vedanta, besides providing free lodge andboarding to him (the poor boy that he was) at his ownhome. If the Svami developed an excellent commandover the English language although he never enteredthe portals of a college, it was because of this teacherwho taught him English in the school and at home.
IIxviiIt was this teacher again who introduced him toK.A Krishr;taswami Iyer in Bangalore, who was not onlyan erudite scholar in Vedanta but an author ofphilosophical works of considerable renown. Dr. S.Radhakrishr;tan was an admirer of this Iyer, and hadprofited by talking, with him on Vedantic issues. Hewrote a foreword to Iyer's Vedanta or the Science ofReality. Continued and intimate association withKrishl).aswami Iyer provided the future Svami withvaluable insight into the method of Vedanta. especiallythe one dealing with the three states of being:wakefulness. dream and deep sleep. Iyer was alsoknown for his independent thinking, his sole relianceon the three commentaries of Sailkara (thePrasthana-traya-Bhashyas) and his disregard for thesub- commentaries. The Svami derived great moralsupport from lyer for his own urge to discover the realSailkara.After the death of Krshl).aswami Iyer, thefuture Svami had to plough a lonely furrow. He had noone to sympathize with his search for the real Saflkara,or to support him in this cause. His adversaries werenaturally numerous, for he thr w stones at theshibboleth of convention. The hold of the conventionalPUl).9its on the masses was so strong that very fewpatrons came forward to help his Adhyatma PrakasaKaryalaya grow. Even his own erstwhile teacher,Hanagal Vinipaksha-Sastri, who had taught himSfitra-Bhashya, had now turned against him, andtreated him like a heretic and outcast. He prevented thethen Maharaja of Mysore from helping the cause ofAdhyatma Prakasa Karyalaya.But the future Svami was made of sterner stuff, and
xviiihe faced the challenges all alone and unyielding. Hecontinued his search for the real SaIikara as if in a fury,in the teeth of severe opposition, and published bookafter book defending his call to ignore thesub-commentaries and go back to SaIikara. At last hefound an ally in Vitthala- Sastri, who was a greatvedantin and scholar attached to the court of theMaharaja of Mysore. Vitthala-Sastri was so convincedthat he not only supporte
Our heartfelt thanks are also due to all those who have carefully read through the proofs and to many others, but for whose efforts this work could not have . courage of conviction and steadfast determination to speak the truth at all costs. Instances
Q.10 Write two salient features of mammalian group. Q.11 What is the basis of nomenclature of organisms, give the scientific name of Ostrich. Q.12 Give three salient features of Amphibia. Q.13 Mention three features of Chordates. Q.14. Draw and label Balanoglossus. Q.15 Give two salient features of Aves and mention one example of a flightless bird.
and the salient pole rotor are compared and discussed. The salient pole rotor experiment included various air gaps and different field-winding tests. The rotor design is not exactly as required, but a thorough understanding of different aspects of the machine was achieved.
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Salient features and outline classification (up to order) of various Lower chordate groups as covered under respective taxonomic groups. Protochordata: Salient features of body organisation and systematic position of Balanoglossus and Amphioxus as a type and its affinities. Agnatha: External features of Petromyzon. Pisces: Scales and fins in .
Cockroach b. Balanoglossus c.Leech 4. The germ layers and body cavity are correlated. Keeping this in view, define the following- a. Acoelom b.Pseudocoelom c. Eucoelom 5. Write any three salient features of class Cyclostomata. 6. Enlist three important features of phylum Ctenophora. 7. Enumerate the salient features of Aschelminthes. 8.
A textbook of Botany Singh Pandey Jain 15. Salient features of Bacillariophyceae, The structure and reproduction of the algae volume I By F. E. Fritsch Phycology II edition By R. D Lee A textbook of Botany By S. N. Pandey 16. Salient features Chlorophyceae The structure and reproduction of the algae volume I By F. E. Fritsch Chapter number-
1.2.1 Salient features of Cephalochordata 1.2.2 Structure of Branchiostoma 1.2.3 Affinities of Cephalochordata 1.2.4 Salient features of Urochordata 1.2.5 Structure and life history of Herdmania 1.2.6 Significance of Retrogressive metamorphosis Unit - II 2.1 Cyclostomata 2.1.1 General characters of Cyclostomata
literary techniques, such as the writer’s handling of plot, setting, and character. Today the concept of literary interpretation frequently includes questions about social issues as well.Both kinds of questions are included in the chart that begins at the bottom of the page. Often you will find yourself writing about both technique and social issues. For example, Margaret Peel, a student who .
