• Recommended: Read chapters 3 and 4 of Suresvara's Naiskarmyasiddhi, from any one of the following English translations (please note that this text is in a mixture of prose and verse):
  • A. J. Alston, The Realization of the Absolute: The "Naiskarmya Siddhi" of Sri Suresvara (London: 1959, 1971).

    (This is the clearest translation; photocopies will be made available on Department reserve.)

  • R. Balasubramanian, The Naiskarmyasiddhi of Suresvara (Madras, 1988). Chapter 3: pp. 218-345. Chapter 4: pp. 346-395. (Note: This edition contains extensive notes, printed in slightly smaller type. You need not read these.)

  • S. S. Raghavachar, Naiskarmyasiddhi of Sri Suresvaracarya (Mysore, 1965). Chapter 3: pp. 93-149. Chapter 4: pp. 150-176.

• Optional: Sample the online offerings from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and Sri Ramana Maharshi included in Jerry M. Katz's "Nonduality: The Varieties of Expression" webpage. When last examined these links appeared about halfway down the page. For printed books on these two sages see "Related Material" below.

Related Material

• "The Thousand Teachings" is the only certainly genuine work by Sankara that is not a commentary on some other work. Of his large commentarial output the most famous passage is the opening of his commentary on the Brahmasutras (also called the Vedanta Sutras). George Thibaut's translation of this is excerpted in the following books, on reserve in Butler Library:
  • Eliot Deutsch and J.A.B. van Buitenen, A Source Book of Advaita Vedanta, pp. 150ff.

  • Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore, A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, pp. 509ff. In this book you can also find the opening sections of commentaries on the same sutras by two leading theistic Vedantins, Ramanuja and Madhva.

• Natalia Isayeva, Shankara and Indian Philosophy, covers Sankara's life and works in Chapter 3, and in subsequent chapters deals with his treatment of specific philosophical problems in comparison with the views propounded by other Indian traditions of philosophy.

• Karl Potter, Presuppositions of India's Philosophies, pp. 157-183 ("Vivarta or Manifestation") gives an overview of the various branches of Advaita Vedanta and how they differ from each other.

• Eliot Deutsch, in Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction, takes the opposite approach, attempting "a re-creative presentation" of the philosophy extracted from its historical and traditional context.

• Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That, translated by Maurice Frydman (Bombay, 1973).

• T.M.P. Mahadevan, Ramana Maharshi, The Sage of Arunacala (London, 1977).

Western Relevance

• Depew and Weber, Darwinism Evolving: a review by two philosophers of biology of revolutions in evolutionary theory stressing the role of dynamic self-organization in evolution; breaks down the dichotomy between consciousness/human agency and nature/life.
  --- or ---
  Antonio Demasio, Descartes' Error, a new classic by an eloquent and reflective neurologist who explores the non-duality of mind and brain, intellect and emotion, in compelling case histories.

Links of interest

(For information only; no endorsement implied)
• You will find an unusually complete collection of links and material related to Advaita Vedanta and to Shankara at the Advaita Vedanta Home Page, maintained by S. Vidyasankara.

• Although it is Shankara's "Absolute Nondualist" version of Vedanta that will receive the greatest emphasis in this course, many other forms of Vedanta have been important in India, and some of them represent strikingly different interpretations of the nondualist stance. Most important of these in numbers of followers is probably Ramanuja's theistic "Qualified Nondualist" Vedanta. For many interesting links connected with the religious tradition associated with Ramanuja, visit the Sri Vaishnava Home Page, maintained by Mani Varadarajan.

• Some other systems of theistic Vedanta are frankly dualist, most famously so in Madhva's "Dualist" Vedanta. For a well-organized source on Madhva and his followers, see the Dvaita Home Page, "The Web Resource for Sri Madhvacharya's Doctrine."

• Many of the theistic systems of Vedanta are associated with richly emotional traditions of devotion. A potent example is the "Path of Grace" movement connected with the "Pure Nondualist" Vedanta founded by the Vaishnava leader Vallabha. For an interesting webpage on Vallabha and his followers, see Shri Nathji's Haveli.

• Among the Vaishnava traditions of devotional Vedanta the one best known outside India is the "Unimaginable Difference-and-Nondifference" Vedanta of the Gaudiya Vaishnava ("Hare Krishna")movement founded by Chaitanya. For links to a great many Vaishnava sites, including a wealth of sites associated with Gaudiya Vaishnava religion, see the "Interesting Links" site maintained by Randy Leighton.

• See also "Optional Reading" above.

Go to Class notes.

Last updated: Fri Aug 30 21:02:06 EDT 2002
by Gary Tubb, email gat4@columbia.edu