THE present work in its original form was submitted to the Special Centre of Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (now School of Sanskrit & Indic Studies, JNU) as a dissertation for the degree of MPhil. The same is being published here with some modifications.
Vedanta is the very heart of Indian philosophy. The various schools of Vedanta have been explored under diverse categories including ontological and epistemological. These Vedantic schools have vast and unique philosophical possibilities. This book aims to critically analyse the two schools of Vedanta, viz. Advaita and Visistadvaita, linguistically or on the basis of their hermeneutics, to be specific. The book initially might look like a comparative account of both the schools of thought, but the comparison is strictly based on hermeneutics. It basically tries to analyse and expound the differences portrayed by both the philosophical branches in dealing with the Vedic exegeses. The mahavakyas like tat tvam asi and other Upaniṣadic statements such as neti neti are audited within this book.
Beginning with the Vedarthasamgraha of Ramanujacarya the scope extends to various other works of Sankaracarya and Ramanujacarya including their commentaries on various Upanisads, Brahmasutra and other texts, wherever appropriate references were available.
This book aims to answer a few questions like how do both the schools deal with the same mahavakyas (Vedic exegeses). For instance, a statement like tat tvam asi is very easily and verifiably interpreted by the Advaitins; whereas, the same statement is given an altogether different meaning when looked at by the Visistadvaitins.
It is, however, difficult to choose or decide which one is better. Since the Visistadvaita school of philosophy flourished a long time after Sankaracarya, it has a well-developed philosophy of language which has well faced the tides of time. The rigorous debates have enriched the later schools of Vedanta philosophy in all respects.
We have always tried to establish that the words used in our discourses are cognitive, factual and verifiable. So, what is the nature of word in these particular systems?
How do the various saktis of the word work in accordance with each other in order to give a particular meaning to suit the philosophical structure of a school?
What is the nature of Ultimate Reality? Is there an Ultimate Reality which can be expressed through words?
How successful are words in describing the concepts of sat, cit and ananda?
What is the cause of everything? Is there an eternal cause?
Hermeneutics is generally defined as the science of interpretations of the scriptures. J.G. Arapura in his Hermeneutical Essays on Vedantic Topics has borrowed the definition given by Hans-Georg Gadamer, "the theory and practice of understanding and bringing to language, the alien, the strange and whatever has become alien".
Vedas (1204)
Upanishads (501)
Puranas (635)
Ramayana (748)
Mahabharata (365)
Dharmasastras (167)
Goddess (508)
Bhakti (247)
Saints (1522)
Gods (1297)
Shiva (383)
Journal (184)
Fiction (61)
Vedanta (370)
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