Articles and Thoughts on Vedanta

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About the Book

The present book is a collection of articles and thoughts of Sri Satchidanadendra Saraswathi Swamiji, on a variety of topics on Vedanta. The reader will find articles explaining avidya, its removal and avidyalesa, meditation, sastra as the only pramana for brahmavidya, vedantic intuition, highest aim of human life, ashariratva of the enlightened person, sarvatmabhava and so on, all in simple language and with quotations from the bhashyas.

The part of the book commencing with the title 'Aids to Reflection on Vedanta', is a series of continued thoughts of Sri Swamiji on adhyatmavidya, wherein he has dealt with different Vedanta prakriyas and also Buddhistic concepts. Sri Swamiji has rejected all these views and brought out the salient features of the traditional atmaikatvavada.

Sri Swamiji's wisdom, authority on the topics, simplicity and clear diction etc. are present in all these articles. It is very much hoped that the beginners of Vedanta will get a proper introduction to the various topics of Vedanta and also motivation to read further, while those who already have some familiarity with the topics will be able to firm up their own understanding, by reading the book.

About the Author

Sri Sri Satchidanandendra Saraswathi Swamiji (1880-1975), the Founder of Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya, Holenarsipur, was the celebrated authority on Shankara Vedanta during the twentieth century. He researched and worked with profound dedication and a missionary zeal throughout his life for bringing out and presenting to the seeker the pristine pure Advaita Vedanta according to the tradition of Gaudapada, Shankara and Sureswara, He is reverentially hailed as Abhinava Shankara of the twentieth century.

Shankara who appeared more than a thousand years ago recovered the true spirit of the Upanishadic Texts and the Vedantic Tradition from the multitude of wrong interpretations prevailing at that time. Sri Sri Swamiji who appeared on the scene during the last century devoted his life time to recover the pristine pure Vedanta of Shankara and the tradition of Adhyaropa Apavada Prakriya of the past Masters by cleansing the distortions and misrepresentations of Shankara in the post Shankara sub-commentaries, collectively known as Vyakhyana Prasthanas.

Sri Sri Swarniji was an erudite scholar, a prolific writer and a great organizer. He wrote over 200 books in Kannada, English and Sanskrit, including Kannada translations of all the original and genuine works of Shankara. All his writings are characterized by precision, lucidity and erudition. Many of his independent books like Vedanta Prakriya Pratyabhijna, Mandukyarahasya Vivritih, Kleshapaharini (commentary on Naishakarmya Siddhi), Mulaavidyanirasa, all in Sanskrit, Essays on Vedanta and Salient Features of Shankara Vedanta in English, Paramartha Chintamani and Shankara Vedanta Sara in Kannada are real master pieces.

Sri Sri Swamiji's life is an inspiration and a model and his writings are a real boon for all the earnest seekers.

Publisher's Note

The present book is a collection of articles and thoughts of Sri Satcidanandendra Saraswathi Swamiji, on a variety of topics on Vedanta. These were written for the monthly magazine 'Adhyatma Prakasha', published by the Karyalaya, during the years 1970-74. Sri Swamiji has stated that he consented to include one or two pages in English in each of the monthly issues of the magazine because of the repeated requests of some non-Kannada patrons of the magazine. However writing in English is quite in line with his firm resolve to spread advaita Vedanta of Sankara in its purest form to all, whether they knew Kannada or not. He considered English as the only link language since Sanskrit had not been accorded its proper place as a link language among the different vernaculars.

The reader may note that Sri Swamiji was over 90 years of age when he wrote these articles and thoughts. By that time almost all of his over 200 highly acclaimed books in Kannada, -Sanskrit and English, were already written. His wisdom, authority on the topics, simplicity and clear diction etc. are present in these articles and the reader will immensely benefit by them.

The author gives the meaning of the terms' Adhyatma Prakasha' as the 'light on the inner portion of the universe, meaning that aspect of the universe within man'. That explains the significance of the name given to the monthly magazine, which he started publishing in the year 1923 and which continues to be published even now! Elsewhere he defines the terms atman, brahman, sakshi, akasha, prana etc that are used for suggesting the nature of Reality. The reader will find articles explaining avidya, its removal and avidya lesa, meditation, sastra as the only Pramana for brahmavidya, vedantic intuition, ashariratva of the enlightened person, sarvatmabhava and so on, all in simple language and, of course, with quotations from the bhashyas.

The part of the book commencing with the title' Aids to Reflection on Vedanta', is a series of continued thoughts of Sri Swamiji on Adhyatma vidya. These are printed as paragraphs with numbers from 1 to 78, without any demarcations, since the author had given the same title to his thoughts printed in each of the issues of the magazine. These may be read from beginning to end for deriving full benefit.

The thoughts contained in these paragraphs are mainly concerned with bringing a contrast between the Vedanta in the tradition of Badarayana, Gaudapada and Sankara on the one hand, and a number of different schools like Upasanavada, dhyananiyogavada, Mimamsaka view, prapanca pravilaya, niyoga vada, Sankhya, Vaiseshika, sarvastitvavada, vijnanavada and sarvasunyatva vada, the last three being different views of Buddhist thought, on the other. Sri Swamiji has rejected all these views and brought out the salient features of the traditional atmaikatva vada, Sastra as the only Pramana for the knowledge of Brahman, and the role of sravana, manana and nididhyasana.

It is very much hoped that the beginners of Vedanta will get a proper introduction to the various topics ofVedanta and also motivation to read further, while those who already have some familiarity with the topics will be able to firm up their own understanding, by reading the book.

The Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya gratefully acknowledges the services of Dr. K.S. Ramanatha Sharma who took the entire responsibility of editing and proof reading tasks and ensured the release of the book on time. The Karyalaya also thanks all those devotees of Sri Swamiji for their help in bringing out this volume, the donors (listbelow) for their financial assistance and the printers for their efforts in giving a novel look to the book. May the blessings of Sri Swamiji shower on all of them.

Donors: 1. Dr H. V. Nagendra Prasad; 2. Sri Mahesh Babu; 3. Sri R.B. Gopinath; 4. Sri H.N. Prabhakara Hebbale; 5. Smt. Anasuya Murthy; 6. Smt. H.Lakshrnidevamma; 7. Sri G.S.Nagaraj; 8. Sri Virupaksha, all from Bengaluru.

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