Ultimate Reality and Meaning (An Old and Rare Book)

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I am extremely happy to place before the readers and scholars the proceedings of the International Seminar on Ultimate Reality and Meaning organized by Centre of Advanced Study in Sanskrit, University of Pune during July 2006. This Volume makes an attempt to arrive at some answers to the questions that come to our mind when we ponder on this concept of Ultimate reality knowing fully well that no final answer can be arrived at. What do we mean by the two terms Ultimate and Reality? What is the nature of the experience of this Ultimate reality? Is it subjective or objective? What is meaning? How meaning is related to reality? These are a few questions discussed in four days by distinguished scholars from different parts of the world and the present volume is the outcome of the deliberations.

By the term Ultimate reality we mean that which undergoes no change whatever be the extraneous or even internal conditions, which is independent of other elements not limited by the boundary of time and space or factors and is unaffected by anything else. If such a thing exists. either as an object, or an idea or a logical abstract or an experience then we may call it the Ultimate reality. We begin with the presumption that such a reality or realities exist, and we would like to know its nature and meaning. The aim of this interdisciplinary international seminar was to expound, clarify, explain and evaluate various theories on the nature of reality vis a vis its meanings/ signification, both in Indian and Western traditions. As one can notice there are a large number of speculations coming from different schools of thought, say the Buddhists, the Jains, the Vedantins, the Logicians and the Grammarians etc. from Indian side and the same is true in case of our western counterpart as well. Let us take the views of a few as representatives: Before doing so I would like to clarify the following: If we peep into the text traditions of Indian philosophy it will come to our notice that Indian philosophers have maintained a distinction between ultimate reality and ultimate goal of human existence. One is the objective and the other is the means to attain it. The main objective or goal is stated to be moksa (liberation) and to attain that true knowledge of the postulated realities are essential. The number of ultimate reality or realities are one, two or many depending on the framework or the presuppositions of the respective system and the knowledge of these leads to the attainment of ultimate reality which is one. There is no controversy whatsoever amongst the systems of the philosophy on this point and if at all there is any difference of opinion/s it is with regards to its number or the nature of ultimate realities, which are in the form of the means to achieve the goal and not the goal in itself.

The Advaita Vedantin names it as the Brahman, affirms that it only is real and remarks that this world is but an illusion. The Visistadvaitin, on the other hand, maintains that this illusion is an attribute of the Lord. While the Samkayu system postulating a dual principle of reality asserts that Purussa is the only real one and the very manifestation of prakyti is for the enjoyment of it which is plural, the Parvaminbhsaks declares that heaven is the ultimate end. In our western counterpart they speak of the soul, the Absolute, the Spirit etc. as ultimate. Every school has got his own theory and explanations about the Ultimate reality governed by their presuppositions. The Upanisads are very clear about it. They assert that there is an Ultimate reality, which is not definable. They called it Brahman and said that it is beyond expression, thought, perception, hence indefinable. However, the Brahman can be experienced. The Upanisads taught that Brahman is the ultimate reality, although they are not definitely committed to the vivartavada. Both the Vedic and the Upanisadic seers did not see any incompatibility between conceiving Brahman with and without form, the whole and its parts and both unity and diversity. The difference between Brahman and the world was considered to be internal or homogeneous rather than external heterogeneous. As a matter of fact it was conceived to be the nature of Brahman alternately to become the manifest world, to transform itself into the world, and to re-absorb the world into itself.

While Vedic-Upanisadic monism admitted of duality or difference and, therefore, characterized it in relative position. Sankara Adventism, employing a negativistic method, perhaps under the influence of the Madhyamika dialectic, attempted firmly to reject it. Consequently the former conceived Brahman as the basic reality whereas the latter came to conceive it as the sole reality although both hold it to be permanent, homogeneous and universal. The Yoga system expounds the various types of samadhis, which are the states of experience of the Brahman. Now coming to meaning and relating it to such a wonderful concept of reality, which is again stated to be beyond verbalization we involve our selves more into some still more complex problems.

Since early period of theorization and conceptual developments both in oriental and occidental frameworks, there have been several attempts to understand meaning in relation to reality along with it and independent of it. It may be recorded at the very outset that meaning is not a self- evident entity. In western tradition, some times, the term meaning is adopted as the general term, covering the dimensions of both sense (or content) and reference. The history of the sense-reference dichotomy before and after Frege, has witnessed a complex series of debates. In the opinion of Winfred Noth (1995), "the meaning of meaning is a semiotic labyrinth both on theoretical and on terminological grounds". No fewer than twenty-three meaning of meaning have been proposed by Ogden & Richards in 1923. Linguists, Semioticians and Philosophers of language have struggled hard to develop models, which will explain where, and how meaning is to be sought. On the basis of the analysis it may be observed that in one sense 'meaning is an idea, a concept, an object, or a thing; in another it is a function, a relation between the signifier and the signified, the signifier and its user, or the signifier and other signs. The typological characteristics of theories of meaning can be classified by taking into consideration several criteria. Diverse conceptual tools drawn from a vast array of arts and sciences mark the theoretical pronouncements on meaning/signification, at the dawn of a new millennium. And when this is linked with a concept like ultimate reality, which again is to be explained in terms of meaning the problem becomes more perplexing.

The present endeavour is an attempt to reflect upon these complex problems in a limited sense in that direction.

There are some thirty one topics covered in this volume from different knowledge domain. All topics are reflection of the Nature and Experience of the Ultimate Reality. Few important topics discussed in this volume are: Ultimate Reality in the Bhagavad Gita, Ultimate Reality and meaning in Non-Paninian Perspectives, Ultimate Meaning and Reality in Chandogya Upanisad, Canadian Tamil Catholics and Their search for Ultimate Reality, Language and Reality: Paninian and Non-Paninian perspectives, Kant on the Meaning of human life- in view of Ultimate Reality. Ultimate Reality and Meaning in Virasaivism, The Ultimate Nature of Self: the Indian and African Views, 'Ultimate'. According to the Vedic Rituals, Ultimate Reality in the Pravargya Rituals, A Vedic Perspective of Ultimate Reality, Ultimate Reality and Ultianing in the Prabhakara System, Ultimate Reality and Meaning in the Indian War Science, Advaita Concept of Reality with Special Reference to Bhamari, Ultimate Reality in Yoga Upanisads, Ultimate Reality and Meaning in the Context of Dharmasastra, Ultimate Reality and Meaning According to Zen Buddhism, Ultimate Reality in the Light of Jain Philosophy, Bharthari on Ultimate Reality and Meaning, Ultimate Reality and Meaning in the Philosophy of Sri Ramakrsna, The Concept of Beauty in the Medieval Hindi Premakhyana, Ultimate Reality in Modem Physics, Ultimate Reality in the Light of Sans16- it Poetics etc.