The Ved?nta has been rightly called the Finest Fruit of Indian Thought and the Upani?ads as the Finer Flowers. Ved?nta grows out of the teachings of the Upani?ads and passes into the various systems in the writings of ?a?kara, Bh?skara, R?m?nuja, Madhva and Vallabha, the great founders of Advaita, Bhed?bheda, Vi?i???dvaita, Dvait?dvaita and ?uddh?dvaita, respectively. However, there is a perception among Orientalists that while the Upani?ads favour the Monistic doctrine, B?dar?ya?a’s Brahmas?tra fundamentally opposes it on some of the most crucial points. The book thus delves deep into the philosophies of both B?dar?ya?a and ?a?kara in enunciating the essential features of Brahman and Its association with the world. It thus discusses topics such as what sort of cause Brahman is?, and what sort of material causality is to be ascribed to It? It also addresses the conflicting views on the nature of Brahman like that of Vivarttav?da and of R?m?nuja’s Sagu?a-Brahman. This book proposes to take up the question of Universal Causation to examine thoroughly as how far it is right to regard Brahman as the Universal Cause and how far s?trak?ra himself lent his support to each of the inter-conflicting schools of Ved?nta. This book should, therefore, benefit all who are devoted to the philosophic teachings of Advaita Ved?nta and its preceptors. CONTENTS Publisher’s Preface v 1. Introduction 1 A Passing Note on the Identity of the V¦ttikÀra 7 2. The Concept of a Universal Cause 10 Kapila and RÀmÀnuja about the Doctrine of 10 Causation: A Comparison Pataðjali and RÀmÀnuja 11 The Theory of the Identity of Efficient and 12 Substantive Cause: Supported in the Brahma-SÂtras The Monistic View: Causation Is an Inexplicable 14 Appearance not Amenable to a Logical Definition Brahman: The Illusory or Apparent Cause 15 A Critical Estimate of BhÀskara’s Position 18 The MÀdhyamika View 22 The View of the Grammarians: SphoÇa and Brahman 30 Consistency of the Doctrine of Illusory Causation 32 from the Monistic Standpoint 3. The Different Schools of VedÀntic Monism on 35 the Doctrine of Causation The View of the PadÀrthatattvanirõaya: Twofold 35 Substantive Cause — Brahman and MÀyÀ Why Twofold UpÀdÀna Is Admitted? The Psychology 36 of Perception The Phenomenality of the Objective World Implied 41 in the Subject–Object Relation in Perception The Nature of AvidyÀ and Its Relation to Consciousness 45 The Vivaraõa View: ±œvara (and not Brahman) 48 — the UpÀdÀna Dr Das Gupta’s Interpretation of the Vivaraõa View 48 SaÚkÈepaœÀrÁraka View: Pure Brahman — the UpÀdÀna 50 The Insentience of the World: How Does It Come In? 50 VÀcaspati’s View 51 VÀcaspati Explains the Insentience of the World 51 A Critical Examination of VÀcaspati’s Position 52 Other Charges against VÀcaspati 54 Kalpataru’s Support to VÀcaspati’s Position 60 The View of the SiddhÀntamuktÀvalÁ: Brahman — 62 No UpÀdÀna at All: MÀyÀ — the Only Material Cause 4. The Doctrines of Emancipation Attendant on 64 the Doctrine of Causation The Question of Individual Release: The Attainment 64 of the State of ±œvara — Appaya DÁkÈita’s View BÀdarÀyaõa’s Views about the Nature of Final Release 67 Difference between Appaya DÁkÈita and RÀmÀnuja 69 Regarding the Question of Individual Release Which of These Two Views Retains the Spirit 70 of Jaimini? Different Types and Stages of Emancipation in 71 Œaôkara’s School of VedÀnta The Doctrine of Causation in the Œruti 75 5. The Conception of the Causality of Brahman in 81 the Sister Schools of VedÀnta Advaitins and VijðÀnabhikÈu 81 Advaita and ViœiÈÇÀdvaita 81 The Position of BhÀskara 82 BhÀskara and Œaôkara 84 The Position of NimbÀrka 85 BhÀskara and NimbÀrka 87 NimbÀrka and RÀmÀnuja 89 VijðÀnabhikÈu’s Position 89 Brahman: The Locative Cause of the Universe 90 Œaôkara, BhÀskara and BhikÈu 92 An Original Line of Interpretation of the BrahmasÂtras: 93 An Attempt at Compromise between VedÀnta and SÀÚkhya-Yoga BhikÈu’s Interpretation of the Adhikaraõas Which 97 Serve as the Support of the Theory of Abhinnanimit- topÀdÀna Madhva’s Position 98 The Position of the GauçÁya School 100 Brahman: The Formative Cause — GauçÁya View 101 The Position of Vallabha 102 Two Main Divisions of the Commentators of the 103 Brahma-SÂtras Accepting Brahman as the Identity of the Efficient and the Substantive Cause The Particular Sections of the Brahma-SÂtras Dealing 105 with the Doctrine of Causation Bibliography 106 Index 108