Types of Advaita?

[Parameshwar Puttanmane]

Dear scholars,

Please inform me verity of advaita darshana?

How many types of advaitas are there?

--

Yours faithfully,

ಪರಮೇಶ್ವರ-ಪುಟ್ಟನ್ಮನೆ

[Ajit Gargeshwari]

Types of Advaita I don't know do you mean schools within Shankara Advaitas? There are two major ones Bhamati and Vivaraṇa  Schools.

Regards
Ajit Gargeshwari
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे।।2.20।।

--
निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।। (भ.गी.)
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[Shankarji Jha]

Types of Vedanta are :Upanisad, Brahma-sutra and Srimadbhagavadgita. So far as I know, there is wider doctrinal difference  among these types. Now, we may consider, among which type falls the tenet of Shankaracharya? Comments solicited.

Shankarji Jha,
Professor& Chairperson/Head,
Deptt of Sanskrit,
Panjab University,
Chandigarh-160014, INDIA

---

From: ajit.gar...@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2015 20:20:25 +0530
Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Types of Advaita?
To: bvpar...@googlegroups.com

[Nagaraj Paturi]

Upanisad, Brahma-sutra and Srimadbhagavadgita are not types of Vedanta. They are sources of Vedanta.

 

Hence

 

 "among which type falls the tenet of Shankaracharya?"

 

is not a valid question.

Nagaraj Paturi

 

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

 

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies

 

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,

 

(Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )

 

 

 

[Ajit Gargeshwari]

I don't understand what does Prof Jha or Parmeshwar ji mean by " Types of Vedanta" these are the dictionary meaning of for the word " type"

Type a ​particular ​group of ​people or things that ​share ​similar ​characteristics and ​form a ​smaller ​division of a ​larger set:

specialized literature a ​person who ​seems to ​represent a ​particular ​group of ​people, having all the ​qualities that you usually ​connect with that ​group:

to write using a ​machine, either a ​computer ​keyboard or a ​typewriter:

The question should be:  What are the Schools of thought within Shankar Vedanta/ Vedanta? and I have answered that.

Regards
Ajit Gargeshwari
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे।।2.20।।

On Tue, Sep 15, 2015 at 9:40 PM, Shankarji Jha <shanka...@hotmail.com> wrote:

[Anilkumar Veppatangudi]

Brahma Sutra, Upanishads and Bhagavadgita are called the Prasthana Traya. Each Veda has four sections- Mantra Samhita, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads- a transition from prayers to rituals to contemplation to philosophy. Since Upanishads are at the end, they are called Vedanta- the end of Vedas. Advaita and other philosophies have emerged out of Upanishads.

[sunil bhattacharjya]

Yes. The Upanishads constitute the Vedanta. Lord Krishna used the word Vedanta more than 5,100 years ago.  Brahmasutra / Vedantasutra has the upanishadic message  in sutra form and that is why that is also a Vedantic text. Lord Krishna gave the essence of the Veadnata in the Bhagavad Gita.

Lord Buddha , who came some 1,300 years after Lord Krishna, exhorted the brahmins of his time to concentrate on the essence of the Vedas, as that alone can help one to cross the cycle of birth-death-rebirth.  The performance of the Vedic rituals alone would not help.  I do not recall the exact reference for this. By this Lord Buddha was actually asking the brahmins to try to understand what the Vedanta teaches. May be till the time of Adi Shankaracharya's bhashya, the Bhagavad Gita was considered too unintelligible.

However at no time in the ancient past there was any mention of different types of Vedanta. It is only in the last one thousand years or so that several different interpretations of the Brahmasutra and Bhagavad Gita sparng up. It could be possible that several of the later Acharyas could not comprehend Adi Shankara's bhashyas well and that is why  they came out with their bhashya showing where  they differed from Shankara.

Regards,

Sunil KB

[V Subrahmanian]

On Tue, Sep 15, 2015 at 10:04 PM, Anilkumar Veppatangudi <veppat...@gmail.com> wrote:

Brahma Sutra, Upanishads and Bhagavadgita are called the Prasthana Traya. Each Veda has four sections- Mantra Samhita, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads- a transition from prayers to rituals to contemplation to philosophy. Since Upanishads are at the end, they are called Vedanta- the end of Vedas.

Just to add a pramāṇa to the above: In the Taittiriya Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad we have the famous mantra 'न कर्मणा न प्रजया धनेन..’ which ends thus: यो वेदादौ स्वरः प्रोक्तो वेदान्ते च प्रतिष्ठितः तस्य प्रकृतिलीनस्य यः परः स महेश्वरः where both the beginning and end of the Veda is specified.  Sāyana's commentary holds that the 'Om' pranava is the beginning of the Rg.Veda (agnimīḷe...' 'iṣe tvorje tvā..(yajurveda) and the 'Om' is the end syllable of the Atharva Veda  Mandukya upanishad: Omityetadakṣaram idam sarvam...The Om pranava is present at the beginning and end.  

This was stated to show the word 'Vedanta' is present in the mantra in the sense of 'end portion of the Veda.' which is the Upanishad. 

regards

subrahmanian.v   

[Parameshwar Puttanmane]

1) Shankara vedanta

2) Vishishtadvaita

3) ...4).... Are there any advaita darshanas  before shankaracharya????

[Nagaraj Paturi]

This is in response to Professor Shankarji Jha's

 

>>So far as I know, there is wider doctrinal difference  among these types.

 

His post doesn't seem to be stemming from the lack of knowledge that the three are sources of Vedanta.

 

He seems to be questioning the very grouping of the three into one as prasthAnatraya,; he seems also to be questioning the assumption of an EkavAkyatA between them; he seems to disagree with calling them all together as one single entity called Vedanta.

 

He seems to be saying that there is no EkavAkyatA between the three .

 

The grouping of the three into three as prasthAnatraya was not questioned by post-Sankara Vedantins such as Ramanuja, Madhva etc. too. All these AchAryas believed that there was EkavAkyatA between the three. This EkavAkyatA was sought to be shown by them through their citing from the other two, while explaining one of them.

 

Professor Jha would do well to point out the points of difference between the three to be able to inspire the comments he solicited in his post.

 

Regards,

 

Nagaraj

[Ashok Aklujkar]

> On Sep 15, 2015, at 12:23 PM, Parameshwar Puttanmane <poorn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 1) Shankara vedanta
> 2) Vishishtadvaita
> 3) ...4).... Are there any advaita darshanas before shankaracharya????

There are at least śabdādvata and sattādvaita. One simply has to see the not insignificant body of scholarly research on pre-Śaṅkara advaita.

a.a.

[rniyengar]

What about the 

S'uddhaadvaita of Vallabhaachaarya (15th Cent.). Is it not a type of Advaita?

RNI

[Ashok Aklujkar]

Dear Prof. Iyengar,

Since the original question was about advaita darśanas before Śaṅkarācārya, I did not mention what you rightly include under advaita.

Best wishes.

a.a.

[rniyengar]

Prof.Aklujkar,

I responded to the first of the original question.

>Please inform me verity of advaita darshana? >How many types of advaitas are there?

But you are right about the second of the original. Sorry for the slip! I stand corrected.

Yours,

RNI

[sadasivamurty rani]

Several scholars have already given their valuable replies to this question. In this context I too would like to add some of the thoughts  regarding the present question. As the question is missing some required clarity I would like to present some possible variations of thoughts in response to this question. 

Instead of calling them Types of Advaita if we have freedom to rename them there can be three variations: 

Variation 1. Pre Sankara Sources of Advaita or Monism 

Variation 2. Pre Sankara Doctrines of Philosophy not merely confining to Advaita

Variation 3. Post Sankara Advaita  followers 

Variation 1: Pre Sankara Sources of Advaita or Monism 

As it has already been answered by Scholars Prasthana Traya is the main source of Advaita. 

Besides those three some Vedic instances like: Nasadiya Sukta, Skambha Sukta, Ucchista Brahma Sukta, Aditi Sukta, Kala Sukta  and  citations like "ekam sat. Vipraah bahudha vandanti" etc., too support the Monism to a considerable extent. 

 

One major text to mention in the pre-Sankara times on Advaita is Mandukya Karikas of Gaudapada. It is also an elucidation of Mandukyopanishad only. 

According to some Scholars the influence of Sunyavada and Vijnanavada of Buddhistic tradition is dominant on Sankara in the process of evolving his Doctrine though he thoroughly refuted these two schools in his writings. 

Variation 2  Pre Sankara Doctrines of Philosophy not merely confining to Advaita

There were many pursuits by many known and unknown philosophers belonging to orthodox and heterodox systems of philosophy prevalent in the Pre Sankara Times.

They can be classified into the following three streams:

1. Six Systems Orthodox Stream : Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and Vedanta Schools

2. Three Major Systems Heterodox Stream: Charvaka school, Jainism and Buddhism 

3. Some minor systems refuted by all the above major schools: 

a) Akriyavadins of Pre Bauddha times laid down by Purna Kashyapa b) Jadavada or Ucchheda Vada of Ajita Kesha Kambala c) Sashvata Vada of Prakritha Katyayana

d) Anischiti Vada Sanjaya Vellanthi Putra e) Aajiivaka Vada of Mankhali Gopala which was also called Niyati Vada. The other name of Mankhali Gopala was Maskari Gopala. 

Variation 3:  Post Sankara Advaita  followers 

During the times of post Sankara Advaita followers there it seems the revival of accepting the thoughts from the two schools :i. Sunyavada and ii. Vijnanavada of Buddhism which were refuted by Sankara and as a result two schoos: Sunya Vivarta Vada and Vijnana Vivarta Vada came into existence. 

I hope that this information may be of some use in the present context.

Warm regards, 

Dr. Rani Sadasiva Murty

---

From: Parameshwar Puttanmane <poorn...@gmail.com>
To: "Bvpar...@googlegroups.Com" <bvpar...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 15 September 2015 7:57 PM
Subject: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Types of Advaita?

[Hnbhat B.R.]

It seems that the simple question on the types of advaita was over complicated. His intention was made clear in his second posting. He knows well Shankaracharya was the अद्वैतवेदान्त as it is known popularly in contrast with द्वैतसिद्धान्त of Madhvacharya. He knows विशिष्टाद्वैत of Ramanuja and wanted to know any more schools known by the advaita, like विशिष्टाद्वैत. One more I can add द्वैताद्वैत or bhedadabheda of Nimbarkacharya. The list may be added if any variety of Advaita schools of the same type by the Scholars than elaborating the history if usage of the word and etymology which only help to baffle the member and the point asked proved to be wrong by the Scholars.

I had heard long ago the differentiation between Dvaita and Advaita from my uncle only and I could not provide any source.

Profession Aklujkar has rightly grasped and listed some more names and Iyengar had added one more शुद्धाद्वैत of Vallabhacharya. Better suggestion would be to go through the History of Indian Philosophy of SD Gupta which accounts for these chronologically. Any more addition to the schools listed above is welcome.

I am not sure any History of Advaita lists these titles as variety of Advaita Vedanta, in spite of their similarly in the name. But they may be considered as independent theories like विशिष्टाद्वैत than modified Advaita being common to them s their names suggest.

The question in the second post confirms that Shankara's Advaita we modified latter on creating offshoots of Advaita and he wanted to know whether Advaita theory was present before Shankaracharya or himself the founder of the school. Pre Shankara Advaita is a topic for research wanting sufficent proof and now available complete works set by Shankaracharya in addition to Mandukya Karika by him teacher.

[Ajit Gargeshwari]

On Wed, Sep 16, 2015 at 8:39 AM, Hnbhat B.R. <hnbh...@gmail.com> wrote:

The question in the second post confirms that Shankara's Advaita we modified latter on creating offshoots of Advaita and he wanted to know whether Advaita theory was present before Shankaracharya or himself the founder of the school. Pre Shankara Advaita is a topic for research wanting sufficent proof and now available complete works set by Shankaracharya in addition to Mandukya Karika by him teacher.

​All researches have confirmed that there were several schools of advaita Vedanta before Shankara. Shankara himself says there were many in Bhashya. Shankara or his school never says shankara was the founder of Advaita but was an acharya of great eminence in that school of thought​

Yes if one wants to know a list of schools within vedanta any standard text on the subject can be read that is a different question.

Dr Bhat Says "a simple question  It seems that the simple question on the types of advaita was over complicated.'

No the question wasn't clear from the first post. If one uses words such as "Types of adavita" naturally different scholars might interpret the question differently There is no meaning to the phrase "Types of Vedamta" are there Types of Philosophy or Types of Geography?

"I am not sure any History of Advaita lists these titles as variety of Advaita Vedanta"

There are two major prasthanas within advaita school is well known and all texts on history on vedanta take up this topic.

 "  independent theories like विशिष्टाद्वैत than modified Advaita being common to them s their names suggest."

I don't think so. The siddhantas of Vishista Advaita Dvaita and Advaita don't have much in common. The source texts of all schools of Vedanta are Prasthana Trayi an for some schools agamas as well.

[Dr. T. Ganesan]

There is also the Sivadvaita darshana, another Advaita tradition very
much prevalent in Kashmir and well elaborated by Abhinavagupta.


Ganesan

[Parameshwar Puttanmane]

I got these types of Advaitas yet...

1) Advaita of Shankaracharya.

2) Dvaita of Madhvacharya.

3) Vishishtadvaita of Ramanujacharya.

4) Shuddhadvaita of Vallabhacharya.

5) Dvaitadvaita or Bhedadabheda of Nimbarkacharya.

6) Sivadvaita of Abhinavagupta.

--
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[Dr. T. Ganesan]

2) Dvaita of Madhvacharya.


How is this one of the types of Advaita  ?  The very raison d'être of Madhva's Dvaita is refuting the Advaita of Samkara; how can it be an Advaita, then ??



Ganesan

On 16-09-2015 10:51, Parameshwar Puttanmane wrote:

[V Subrahmanian]

On Wed, Sep 16, 2015 at 11:03 AM, Dr. T. Ganesan <gan...@ifpindia.org> wrote:

2) Dvaita of Madhvacharya.


How is this one of the types of Advaita  ?  The very raison d'être of Madhva's Dvaita is refuting the Advaita of Samkara; how can it be an Advaita, then ??

This is true.  In fact one grouse of Dvaitins against Vishishtadvaitins is that the latter is only a 'vishishta' advaita. It can also be noted that Dvaita has been described as 'brahmādvitīyavāda' where no second Brahman is admitted. That way they too can be a type of 'advaita.'

One can also add: śaktiviśiṣṭādvaita, where Devi is held to be the Supreme, too to the list, if one wants.

While talking about 'schools of Vedanta' prior to Shankara, we get one sentence in the Shānkara bhāṣya:

In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.1.20 bhashyam Shankaracharya makes a very far reaching statement:

 सर्वोपनिषत्सु हि विज्ञानात्मनः परमात्मना एकत्वप्रत्ययो विधीयत इत्यविप्रतिपत्तिः सर्वेषामुपनिषद्वादिनाम् ;

// sarvopaniShatsu hi vijnAnAtmanaH paramAtmaikatva-pratyayo vidhIyata ityavipratipattiH sarveShAmupaniShadvAdinAm. //

[That `All the Upanishads teach the idea of unity/identity of the Supreme Atman and the individual Atman' is an undisputed understanding of all the adherents of the Upanishads.]

From this it is known that during Shankara's time there were no Vedantic philosophy that was not Advaitic in nature. In the bhashyas Shankara has refuted a 'bhedābhedavādin' who is also an advaitin but who admits bheda in the vyavahāra to be as real as abheda in the pāramārthika. (BSB 2.1.14).  In the Ānandamayādhikaraṇam, the bhāṣya is predominantly based on the views of a 'vṛttikāra', also an advaitin, who existed prior to Shankara.  

In the Bh.Gita Bhāṣya introduction Shankara says:

तदिदं गीताशास्त्रं समस्तवेदार्थसारसङ्ग्रहभूतं दुर्विज्ञेयार्थम्, तदर्थाविष्करणायानेकैर्विवृतपदपदार्थवाक्यार्थन्यायमपि अत्यन्तविरुद्धानेकार्थवत्वेन लौकिकैर्गृह्यमाणमुपलभ्य अहं विवेकतोऽर्थनिर्धारणार्थं सङ्क्षेपतो विवरणं करिष्यामि ॥

 From the above it is known that many commentaries on the BG have existed prior to Shankara but not sure whether they were all 'advaitic'.  From the Br.up. bhāṣya vākya cited above, it might be concluded that these were also advaitic in nature. 

warm regards 

subrahmanian.v

 

. 

Ganesan

On 16-09-2015 10:51, Parameshwar Puttanmane wrote:

I got these types of Advaitas yet...

1) Advaita of Shankaracharya.

2) Dvaita of Madhvacharya.

3) Vishishtadvaita of Ramanujacharya.

4) Shuddhadvaita of Vallabhacharya.

5) Dvaitadvaita or Bhedadabheda of Nimbarkacharya.

6) Sivadvaita of Abhinavagupta.

On 16 September 2015 at 10:02, Dr. T. Ganesan <gan...@ifpindia.org> wrote:

There is also the Sivadvaita darshana, another Advaita tradition very much prevalent in Kashmir and well elaborated by Abhinavagupta.


Ganesan

On 16-09-2015 03:59, Ashok Aklujkar wrote:

On Sep 15, 2015, at 12:23 PM, Parameshwar Puttanmane <poorn...@gmail.com> wrote:

1) Shankara vedanta
2) Vishishtadvaita
3) ...4).... Are there any advaita darshanas  before shankaracharya????

There are at least śabdādvata and sattādvaita. One simply has to see the not insignificant body of scholarly research on pre-Śaṅkara advaita.

a.a.

--

--

[Dr. T. Ganesan]

On 16-09-2015 11:39, V Subrahmanian wrote:

On Wed, Sep 16, 2015 at 11:03 AM, Dr. T. Ganesan <gan...@ifpindia.org> wrote:

2) Dvaita of Madhvacharya.


How is this one of the types of Advaita  ?  The very raison d'être of Madhva's Dvaita is refuting the Advaita of Samkara; how can it be an Advaita, then ??

This is true.  In fact one grouse of Dvaitins against Vishishtadvaitins is that the latter is only a 'vishishta' advaita.

It can also be noted that Dvaita has been described as 'brahmādvitīyavāda' where no second Brahman is admitted. That way they too can be a type of 'advaita.'

In fact all the Vedanta systems, irrespective of Dvaita or Advaita or any other forms, do hold that there is no second Brahman; no system holds that there are more than one Brahman.

All of them can rightly be called ''brahmādvitīyavāda' and as such it is not a special feature of Dvaita system alone.

 

Ganesan

. 

[sunil bhattacharjya]

There is another :

"Achintya Bheda-Abheda" of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who was initiated by Keshava Kashmiri Bhattacharya

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

Just a helpful question. Did you mean to inquire about types of Vedanta, not types of Advaita? I was going to talk of what are described as bhAvAdvaita, kriyAdvaita, etc, but desisted, seeing the progress of this discussion's trajectory. 

A must read is the two-volume book by Hajime Nakamura (English translation from Japanese) on the history of Pre-Sankaran Vedanta. It is encyclopedic in scope and a refreshing change from the Paul Hacker kind of analysis of the history of a key darshana. 

Best regards,

Vidyasankar