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A. CHAKRAVARTI : ing before his mind's eye his own fundamental concept of ahimsā.
The 9th chapter is devoted to the examination of Vedic ritualism, hence called Vēda-vāda-carukkam. In this section there is not only a criticism of Vēdic ritualism involving animal sacrifice but also a critical examination of the varņāsrama-dharma based upon Vēdic ritualism. The author tries to argue that the social differences, based upon birth, have no significance in the spiritual field, and hence are altogether without any importance to religion. From the point of view of religion the only difference to be noted among the human beings is the difference based upon character, culture and spiritual discipline.
The last or the 10th chapter is devoted to the examination of the materialistic school usually called Bhüta-vāda. Hence the chapter is called Bhūta-vādacarukkam. Here the discussion is mainly devoted to establishing the reality of a spiritual principle beyond the materialistic conglomeration of the world. The author tries to emphasise that consciousness or cētanā is an independent spiritual principle and not a mere secondary by-product of the combination of material things, an independent spiritual principle which is recognised as an entity surviving the disintegration of the material element with which it is associated in the life of the individual. Thus the main theme of this chapter is the survival of the human personality after death. This Nīlakēśi demonstrates to the leader of materialism who readily accepts his mistake and acknowledges
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