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Sankara, one of the most famous of India’s Vedantists, was born in Kerala during the mid 8th Century CE (although the date for Sankara is still under dispute). He formally renounced the world at an early age and was tutored in the philosophy of Advaita by his teacher Govindapada.
Sankara travelled throughout the subcontinent, engaging in debates with rival philosophical schools wherever he went. His most memorable debate was with the ritualist Mandana Misra and his learned wife Ubhaya Bharati.
Although Sankara is sometimes credited with the formation of Advaita Vedanta, it would be more correct to say that he consolidated it, since the philosophical tradition of Advaita was already prevelent long before Sankara.
Sankara’s commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (known as the Saririka-bhasya) is his magnum-opus.
According to Sankara’s Advaita Vedanta, anyone that desires to study Vedanta must have the following four prerequisites (known collectively as the sadhana-catusthaya) –
1) Nityanitya vastu viveka — The ability (viveka) to correctly discriminate between the real (nitya) substance (Brahman) and the substance that is unreal (anitya).
2) Ihamutrartha phala bhoga viraga — The renunciation (viraga) of enjoyments of objects (artha phala bhoga) in this world (iha) and the other worlds (amutra) like heaven etc.
3) Samadi-satka-sampatti – the six-fold qualities of sama of the antahkarana (mind, intelligence, memory and ego), dama (control of the external sense organs), uparati (the refraining from actions; instead concentrating on meditation), titiksa (toleration of miseries inflicted on the mind and on the body), sraddha (faith in one’s teacher), samadhana (concentration of the mind).
4) Mumuksutva – The firm conviction that the nature of the temporary world is misery and the intense longing for emancipation (moksa).
Sankara categorically states that moksa is available only to those possessing the above mentioned fourfold qualifications.
Pramanas
Prama, in Sanskrit, refers to the correct knowledge, arrived at by thorough reasoning, of any object. Pramana (sources of knowledge, Sanskrit) forms one part of a triputi (trio), namely,
1. Pramatr, the subject; the knower of the knowledge
2. Pramana, the cause or the means of the knowledge
3. Prameya, the object of knowledge
In Advaita Vedanta, the following pramanas are accepted:
* Pratyaksa — the knowledge gained by means of the senses
* Anumana — the knowledge gained by means of inference
* Upamana — the knowledge gained by means of analogy
* Arthapatti — the knowledge gained by superimposing the known knowledge on an appearing knowledge that does not concur with the known knowledge
* Agama — the knowledge gained by means of texts such as Vedas (also known as Aptavakya, Sabda pramana)
Karya and karana
The karya (effect) and karana (cause) form an important area for investigation in all the systems of Vedanta. Two karanatvas (ways of being the cause) are recognised:
1. Nimitta karanatva — Being the effective cause. For example, a potter is assigned Nimitta karanatva as he acts as the maker of the pot and thus becomes the pot's effective cause.
2. Upadana karanatva — Being the material cause. For example, the mud is assigned Upadana karanatva as it acts as the material of the effect (the pot) and thus becomes the pot's material cause.
Advaita assigns Nimitta karanatva to Brahman vide the statements from the Vedas (only two are given below):
Sarvani rupani vicitya dhiraḥ. Namani krtvabhivadan yadaste
That Lord has created all the forms and is calling them by their names
(Taitiriya Aranyaka 3.12.7)
Sa iksata lokannu srja iti
He thought, “Let Me create the worlds”
(Aitareya Upanisad [6] 1.1.1)
Advaita also assigns Upadana karanatva to Brahman vide the statements from the Vedas (only two are given below):
Yatha somyaikena mrtpinḍena sarvam mrnmayam vijñatam syadvacarambhanam vikaro namadheyam mrttiketyeva satyam
Dear boy, just as through a single clod of clay all that is made of clay would become known, for all modifications is but name based upon words and the clay alone is real.
(Chandogya Upanisad [7] 6.1.4)
Sokamayata bahu syam prajayeti
(He thought) Let me be many, let me be born
(Taittiriya Upanisad [8] 2.6.4)
The Chandogya Upanisad [7] 6.2.1 states
Ekamevadvitiyam
It is One without a second
Thus based on these and other statements found in the Vedas, Advaita concludes that Brahman is both the Efficient cause as well as the Material cause.
Karya-karana ananyatva
Advaita states that karya (effect) is non-different from karana (cause). However karana is different from karya. This principle is called Karya-karana ananyatva (the non-difference of the effect from the cause). To elaborate,
* If the cause is destroyed, the effect will no longer exist. For example, if from the effect, cotton cloth, the cause, threads, are removed, there will be no cloth, i.e., the cloth is destroyed. Similarly if in the effect, thread, the cause, cotton, is removed, there will be no thread, i.e., the thread is destroyed. This is brought out by Adi Sankara in the Vedanta-sutra Bhasya, commentary on the Vedanta-sutra, [9] 2.1.9, as:
ananyatve'pi karyakaranayoḥ karyasya karanatmatvam na tu karanasya karyatmatvam —
“Despite the non-difference of cause and effect, the effect has its self in the cause but not the cause in the effect. The effect is of the nature of the cause and not the cause the nature of the effect. Therefore the qualities of the effect cannot touch the cause.”
* During the time of its existence, one can easily grasp that the effect is not different from the cause. However that the cause is different from the effect is not readily understood. As to this, it is not really possible to separate cause from effect. But this is possible by imagining so. For example, the reflection of the gold ornament seen in the mirror is only the form of the ornament but is not the ornament itself as it (the reflection) has no gold in it at all. Adi Sankara says in the Chandogya Upanisad Bhasya, commentary on the Chandogya Upanisad, 6.3.2:
sarvam ca namarupadi sadatmanaiva satyam vikarajatam svatastu anrtameva — All names and forms are real when seen with the Sat (Brahman) but are false when seen independent of Brahman.
This way Advaita establishes the non-difference of effect from cause. To put it in a nutshell,
Karya is not different from karana; however karana is different from karya.In the context of Advaita Vedanta, Jagat (the world) is not different from Brahman; however Brahman is different from Jagat.
Salient features of Advaita Vedanta
Three levels of truth -
* The transcendental or the Paramarthika level in which Brahman is the only reality and nothing else;
* The pragmatic or the Vyavaharika level in which both Jiva (living creatures or individual souls) and Isvara are true; here, the material world is completely true, and –
* The apparent or the Prathibhasika level in which even material world reality is actually false, like illusion of a snake over a rope or a dream.
Brahman
According to Adi Sankara, God, the Supreme Cosmic Spirit or Brahman is the One, the whole and the only reality. Other than Brahman, everything else, including the universe, material objects and individuals are false. Brahman is at best described as that infinite, omnipresent, omnipotent, incorporeal, impersonal, transcendent reality that is the divine ground of all Being. It (grammatically neutral, but exceptionally treated as masculine), though not a substance, is the basis of the material world, which in turn is its illusionary transformation. Brahman is not the effect of the world. Brahman is said to be the purest knowledge itself, and is illuminant like a source of infinite light.
Due to ignorance (avidya), the Brahman is visible as the material world and its objects. The actual Brahman is attributeless and formless (see Nirguna Brahman). It is the Self-existent, the Absolute and the Imperishable (not generally the object of worship but rather of meditation). Brahman is actually indescribable. It is at best, "Sacchidananda" (merging sat + cit + ananda, ie, Infinite Truth, Infinite Consciousness and Infinite Bliss). Also, Brahman is free from any kind of differences. It does not have any sajatiya (homogeneous) differences because there is no second Brahman. It does not have any vijatiya (heterogeneous) differences because there is nobody in reality existing other than Brahman. It has neither svagata (internal) differences, because Brahman is itself homogeneous.
Though Brahman is self-proved, Adi Sankara also proposed some logical proofs:
* Sruti — the Upanisads, the Bhagavad-gita and the Brahma Sutras describe Brahman in almost exact manner as Adi Sankara. This is the testimonial proof of Brahman.
* Psychological — every person experiences his soul, or atman. According to Adi Sankara, Atman = Brahman. This argument also proves the omniscience of the Brahman.
* Teleological — the world appears very well ordered; the reason for this cannot be an unconscious principle. The reason must be due to the Brahman.
* Essential — Brahman is the basis of this created world.
* Perceptible feeling — many people, when they achieve the turiya state, claim that their soul has become one with everything else.
Maya
Maya is the most important contribution of Adi Sankara. Maya is that complex illusionary power of Brahman which causes the Brahman to be seen as the distinct material world. It has two main functions — one is to "cover up" Brahman from the human minds, and the other is to present the material world in its stead. Maya is also indescribable. It is neither completely real nor completely unreal—hence indescribable. Its shelter is Brahman, but Brahman itself is untouched by the profanity of Maya, just like a magician is not tricked by his own magic. Maya is temporary and is destroyed with "true knowledge". This Mayavada of Adi Sankara was highly criticized and misunderstood. Bhaskaracarya described Adi Sankara to be indebted to the Buddhists for his concept of Maya. The term Maya however appears in the Bhagavad-gita 7.14 and many Upanisads.
The concept of Maya seems to be a hypothesis. Since according to the Upanisads only Brahman is real, but we see the material world to be real, Adi Sankara explained the anomaly by the concept of this illusionary power Maya.
Status of the world
Advaita teachings that the universe is false often confuse people. Adi Sankara says that the world is not true, it is an illusion, but this is because of some logical reasons. Let us first analyse Adi Sankara's definition of Truth, and hence why the world is not considered true.
* Adi Sankara says that whatever thing remains eternal is true, and whatever is non-eternal is untrue. Since the world is created and destroyed, it is not true.
* Truth is the thing which is unchanging. Since the world is changing, it is not true.
* Whatever is independent of space and time is true, and whatever has space and time in itself is untrue.
* Just as one sees dreams in sleep, he sees a kind of super-dream when he is waking. The world is compared to this conscious dream.
* The world is believed to be a superimposition of the Brahman. Superimposition cannot be true.
On the other hand, Adi Sankara claims that the world is not absolutely false. It appears false only when compared to Brahman. In the pragmatic state, the world is completely true—which occurs as long as we are under the influence of Maya. The world cannot be both true and false at the same time; hence Adi Sankara has classified the world as indescribable. The following points suggest that according to Adi Sankara, the world is not false:
* If the world were false, then with the liberation of the first human being, the world would have been annihilated. However, the world continues to exist even if a human attains liberation.
* Adi Sankara believes in Karma, or good actions. This is a feature of this world. So the world cannot be false.
* The Supreme Reality Brahman is the basis of this world. The world is like its reflection. Hence the world cannot be totally false.
* False is something which is ascribed to nonexistent things, like Sky-lotus. The world is a logical thing which is perceived by our senses.
Consider a scientific logic. A pen is placed in front of a mirror. One can see its reflection. To our eyes, the image of the pen is perceived. Now, what should the image be called? It cannot be true, because it is an image. The truth is the pen. It cannot be false, because it is seen by our eyes.
Isvara
Isvara — when man tries to know the attributeless Brahman with his mind, under the influence of Maya, Brahman becomes the Lord. Isvara is Brahman with Maya — the manifested form of Brahman. Adi Sankara uses a metaphor that when the "reflection" of the Cosmic Spirit falls upon the mirror of Maya, it appears as the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is true only in the pragmatic level — his actual form in the transcendental level is the Cosmic Spirit.
Isvara is Saguna Brahman or Brahman with innumerable auspicious qualities. He is all-perfect, omniscient, omnipresent, incorporeal, independent, Creator of the world, its ruler and also destroyer. He is causeless, eternal and unchangeable — and is yet the material and the efficient cause of the world. He is both immanent (like whiteness in milk) and transcendent (like a watch-maker independent of a watch). He may be even regarded to have a personality. He is the subject of worship. He is the basis of morality and giver of the fruits of one's Karma. However, He himself is beyond sin and merit. He rules the world with his Maya — His divine power. This association with a "false" knowledge does not affect the perfection of Isvara, in the same way as a magician is himself not tricked by his magic. However, while Isvara is the Lord of Maya and she (ie, Maya) is always under his control, the living beings (jiva, in the sense of humans) are the servants of Maya (in the form of ignorance). This ignorance is the cause of the unhappiness and sin in the mortal world. While Isvara is Infinite Bliss, humans are miserable. Isvara always knows the unity of the Brahman substance, and the Mayic nature of the world. There is no place for a Satan or devil in Hinduism, unlike Abrahamic religions. Advaitins explain the misery because of ignorance. Isvara can also be visualized and worshipped in anthropomorphic form as deities such as Visnu, Krsna or Siva.
Now the question arises as to why the Supreme Lord created the world. If one assumes that Isvara creates the world for any incentive, this slanders the wholeness and perfection of Isvara. For example, if one assumes that Isvara creates the world for gaining something, it would be against His perfection. If we assume that He creates for compassion, it would be illogical, because the emotion of compassion cannot arise in a blank and void world in the beginning (when only Isvara existed). So Adi Sankara assumes that Creation is a sport of Isvara. It is His nature, just as it is man's nature to breathe.
The sole proof for Isvara that Adi Sankara gives is Sruti's mentions of Isvara, as Isvara is beyond logic and thinking. This is similar to Kant 's philosophy about Isvara in which he says that "faith" is the basis of theism. However, Adi Sankara has also given few other logical proofs for Isvara, but warning us not to completely rely on them:
* The world is a work, an effect, and so must have real cause. This cause must be Isvara.
* The world has a wonderful unity, coordination and order, so its creator must have been an intelligent being.
* People do good and sinful work and get its fruits, either in this life or after. People themselves cannot be the giver of their fruits, as no one would give himself the fruit of his sin. Also, this giver cannot be an unconscious object. So the giver of the fruits of Karma is Isvara.
Status of God
Some people claim that in Adi Sankara's philosophy, there is no place for a personal God (Isvara), because Isvara is also described as "false". He appears as Isvara because of the curtain of Maya. However, as described earlier, just as the world is true in the pragmatic level, similarly, Isvara is also pragmatically true. Just as the world is not absolutely false, Isvara is also not absolutely false. He is the distributor of the fruits of one's Karma. In order to make the pragmatic life successful, it is very important to believe in God and worship him. In the pragmatic level, whenever we talk about Brahman, we are in fact talking about God. God is the highest knowledge theoretically possible in that level. Devotion (Bhakti) will cancel the effects of bad Karma and will make a person closer to the true knowledge by purifying his mind. Slowly, the difference between the worshipper and the worshipped decreases and upon true knowledge, liberation occurs.
Atman
The soul or the self (atman) is exactly equal to Brahman. It is not a part of Brahman that ultimately dissolves into Brahman, but the whole Brahman itself. Now the arguers ask how the individual soul, which is limited and one in each body, can be the same as Brahman? Adi Sankara explains that the soul is not an individual concept. Atman is only one and unique. It is a false concept that there are several atmans. Adi Sankara says that just as the same moon appears as several moons on its reflections on the surface of water covered with bubbles, the one atman appears as multiple atmans in our bodies because of Maya. Atman is self-proven, however, some proofs are discussed—eg., a person says "I am blind", "I am happy", "I am fat" etc. So what is this ego here? Only that thing is the ego which is there in all the states of that person — this proves the existence of atman, and that consciousness is its characteristic. Reality and Bliss are also its characteristics. By nature, Atman is free and beyond sin and merit. It does not experience happiness or pain. It does not do any Karma. It is incorporeal.
When the reflection of atman falls on avidya (ignorance), atman becomes jiva — a living being with a body and senses. Each jiva feels as if he has his own, unique and distinct atman, called jivatman. The concept of jiva is true only in the pragmatic level. In the transcendental level, only the one atman, equal to Brahman, is true.
Adi Sankara exposed the relative nature of the world and established the truth of the Advaita by analysing the three states of experience of the atman — waking (vaisvanara), dreaming (svapna), and deep sleep (susupti). This idea of a fourth state of consciousness (turiya) apart from these three states is presented in the Mandukya Upanisad.
Salvation
Liberation or Moksa (akin to Nirvana of the Buddhists) — Advaitins also believe in the theory of reincarnation of souls (atman) into plants, animals and humans according to their karma. They believe that suffering is due to Maya, and only knowledge (called jnana) of Brahman can destroy Maya. When Maya is removed, there exists ultimately no difference between the jiva-atman and the Brahman. Such a state of bliss when achieved while living is called Jivan mukti. While one is in the pragmatic level, one can worship God in any way and in any form, like Krsna as he wishes, Adi Sankara himself was a proponent of devotional worship or Bhakti. But Adi Sankara believes that while Vedic sacrifices, puja and devotional worship can lead one in the direction of jnana, true knowledge, they cannot lead one directly to Moksa.
Theory of creation
In the level, Adi Sankara believes in the creation of the world through Sat-karyavada. It is like the philosophy of Sankhya, which says that the cause is always hidden into its effect—and the effect is just a transformation of the cause. However, Sankhya believes in a sub-form of Sat-karyavada called Parinamvada (evolution)—whereby the cause results in an action. Instead, Adi Sankara believes in a sub-form called Vivartavada. According to this, the effect is merely a superimposition of its cause—like its illusion. eg., In darkness, a man often confuses a rope to be a snake. But this does not mean that the rope has actually transformed into a snake.
At the pragmatic level, the universe is believed to be the creation of the Supreme Lord Isvara. Maya is the divine magic of Isvara, with the help of which Isvara creates the world. The serial of Creation is taken from the Upanishads. First of all, the five subtle elements (ether, air, fire, water and earth) are created from Isvara. Ether is created by Maya. From ether, air is born. From air, fire is born. From fire, water is born. From water, earth is born. From a proportional combination of all five subtle elements, the five gross elements are created, like the gross sky, the gross fire, etc. From these gross elements, the universe and life are created. This series is exactly the opposite during destruction.
Some people have criticized that these principles are against Sat-karyavada. According to Sat-karyavada, the cause is hidden inside the effect. How can Isvara, whose form is spiritual, be the effect of this material world? Adi Sankara says that just as from a conscious living human, inanimate objects like hair and nails are formed, similarly, the inanimate world is formed from the spiritual Isvara.
Status of ethics
Some claim that there is no place for ethics in Advaita, because everything is ultimately illusionary. But on analysis, ethics also has a firm place in this philosophy—the same place as the world and God. Ethics, which implies doing good Karma, indirectly helps in attaining true knowledge. The basis of merit and sin is the Sruti (the Vedas and the Upanisads). Truth, non-violence, service of others, pity, etc are dharma, and lies, violence, cheating, selfishness, greed, etc are adharma (sin).
Apart from his commentaries on the Vedanta-sutra, Bhagavad-gita and ten principle Upanisads, Sankara wrote many works; some of his important philosophical compositions are as follows:
* Viveka-cudamani – One of Sankara’s most famous works. It consists of 580 verses that are in the form of questions and answers between a pupil and a teacher of Adavita Vedanta.
* Upadesa-sahasri - Sankara's 'thousand teachings' on the distinction between the senses, mind, body, intellect, and the true Self.
* Atma-bodha – A treatise of sixty-eight verses wherein Sankara gives us a lucid analysis of the nature of the Self and explains step by step how it can be realized.
* Vakya-vrtti – A short work meant to introduce one to the rudimentary teachings of Advaita.
SOURCES:
http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_vedanta
