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JAINISM: A THEISTIC PHILOSOPHY "GOD IN JAINISM"
The fundamental principle of Vedānta philosophy is that in reality there exists and their can exist nothing than Brahma, who is material as well as the efficient cause of the universe, of course contradictory in ordinary experience. In India as anywhere else, man imagines at first that he in his individual bodily and spiritual character is something that exists and that all objects of the outer world also exist as objects. Idealistic philosophy swept away this distinction with the Vedantist.
Whatever we may seem to be or imagine ourselves to be for a time, we are, according to Vedantist, in truth the eternal Brahma, the eternal self. With this conviction in the background, the Vedantist retains his belief in what he calls the Lord, God, the creator and ruler of the world, but only as phenomenal or as adapted to the human understanding. Samkara says, “Just as a man believes in his personal self so he is sure to believe in a personal God, and such personal God may even be worshipped. But we must remember that what is worshipped is only a person, or as Brahmins (priest class) call it a Pratīka, an aspect of the true eternal essence as conceived by us in our inevitably human and limited knowledge. His (Saṁkara's) belief in the Veda would suffice to prevent the Vedantist from a denial of the gods or from what we call atheism.'
The spirit of Śamkara's philosophy as per Swami Prabhavananda", is Brahma- the absolute existence, knowledge, and bliss (saccidānanda), the universe is not real. Brahma and ātman are real. Vedānta philosophy occupies a central position between realism and idealism. Western realism and idealism are both based on a distinction between mind and matter, Indian philosophy puts mind and matter in the same category-both are objects of knowledge.
The world according to Šamkara, '4 "is and is not”. Its fundamental unreality can be understood only in relation to the
12 VRG, “The systems of Indian philosophy", P-87-88
Swami Prabhavananda, "Spiritual Heritage of India", 2000, P-283 14 Ibid, P-283
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