Book Title: World of Philosophy
Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan
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II
I think that those who are more or less averse to the logico-linguistic study of the doctrines and arguments of Advaita Vedanta, perhaps feel that the sap of the philosophy is destroyed. It bears important messages for philosophy of life and that is lost by this conceptual-critical study. I am fully convinced that this is not so. The metaphysical-epistemological or the ontological-epistemological or the ontic-epistemic view (such are the varied forms of description the differences among which are not easy to grasp) of the Advaitin does not imply any philosophy of life. In a paper entitled, "Brahman as Sat-Chit-Ananda" that I published long back, I said that the philosophy of Vedanta can be employed in ways that might be opposed to one another. For example, some commentators interpret the Vedantin as propounding an illusonistic philosophy that denounces the world as illusion. Consequently people might become indifferent to worldly affairs and averse to all social. actions, because the world is unreal without trying to appreciate that the world is said to be an illusion from a different standpoint altogether. One could, on the other hand, employ the same philosophy in the opposite direction. One might argue that the philosophy of Vedanta is not antagonistic to the present day materialistic society. It is rather congenial to it. The modern man in the process of making money has lost the higher values of life and has moved away from his human nature. He looks upon his fellow men as so many contenders in the race for making money rather than so many souls very much like him whose dreams and desires, attempts and achievements, are, in no way, different from his own. All are at bottom one. There should not, therefore, be any strife between region and region and man and man. All must live in mutual peace and harmony instead of living in perpetual tension and terror, insecurity and uncertainty. There must be universal brotherhood of man. R. Balasubramanian in the Centre for Study of Civilization volume on Advaita Vedanta, Volume II asserts,
The message which Samkara wants to convey in his adhyasa-bhasya is simple, but profound. A life unreflected is not worth living. We are engaged in the loka-vyavahara without a deeper reflection on the meaning and purpose of life. Samkara expectes human beings, who have the special competence for the pursuit of knowledge and the practice of religious duty (karmajnana-adhikara), to reflect on their nature, deeds, and destiny. One who fails to understand the problem of adhyasa cannot understand the philosophy of Advaita.
He further writes,
Samkara offers a solution to the problem of role-identification. We are called upon to play different roles in our day-to-day life. The roles are both relative and temporary. According to Samkara, the problem of roleidentification is a case of adhyas, A person who is sensitive to the fact of role
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