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INTRODUCTION
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tratum of the concrete world, it also stands for the transcendental goal of life. It stands for the other world to which every Indian thinker looks forward. It is that higher reality which the Indian aspires to as a haven from the ocean of Samsara, a place of rest from the toils of transmigration It corresponds to Buddhistic Nirvana, the Samadhi of the Yogin, the Liberated Purusha of the Sankhyas and the God Iswara of Nyaya Viaseshikas. If it is to be the negation of the ennui of Samsara to be the end of the misery of concrete life, to be the place from where there is no return, it must embody in itself something unique and that is absent in the world of Samsara, an unalloyed and unchanging Bliss which knows not its opposite The Brahman therefore besides Sat and Chit is Ananda as well. It represents that transcendental bliss which no man has tasted here and which everyone is entitled to have if he walketh the path of liberation. Such a transcendental bliss is entirely different from the ephemeral pleasure of the world. Else it would not be sought after by the wise. Hence the Biahmna must also be Ananda Bliss or Joy This absolute reality Sat Chit Ananda is the ultimate concept of Vedantism It not only serves as the metaphysical cause of things existing, but also stands for the light shining in individual souls. It also represents the goal to which the whole creation moves. It is not only the beginning but also the end of things. Climbing the pinnacle of Metaphysical monism Sankara finds it hard to recognise the claims of ordinary mortals in his system, He cuts the Gordian Knot by invoking the aid once again of the doctrine of the distinction between the relative and the absolute points of view. There is no justification for the demands of either religion or morality in an absolute monism. In the rarified atmosphere of monism neither morality nor religion can breath and live. The inevitable conclusion of his logic may not be realised by the ordinary man nor accepted by the orthodox scholar. The Vedic scholars have faith in the injunctions of the Vedas and may still believe in the beneficial effect of sacrifice. The unsophistical man of the religion associates with absolute reality, the object of his religious adoration and worship and maintains that to be the fountain head of all good and valuable.
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