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Vedic Wisdom

Advaita-IV

Vedanta is a principal branch of Hindu philosophy. The word Vedanta is a tatpurusha compound of veda "knowledge" and anta "end, conclusion", translating to "the culmination of the Vedas". In this article we shall continue to look at the Advaita school of vedanta.

We have looked at the advaita school of vedanta in detail in the previous articles. In this concluding article let us look at the the leading writers of vedanta and the current organizations.

The earliest advaitins whose writings are available today are gauDapAda (6th or 7th cent. CE - mANDUKya kArikas) and SankarAcArya (8th cent. CE - brahmasUtra bhAshyas, bhagavadgItA bhAshya and various upanishad bhAshyas ). Four disciples of SankarAcArya are known in the tradition - sureSvara, padmapAda, toTaka and hastAmalaka. An elder contemporary of SankarAcArya was maNDana miSra, who is traditionally identified with sureSvara.

In the post-Sankara period, some of the leading authors are vAcaspati miSra (9th cent. CE), sarvajnAtman (9th - 10th cent. CE), prakASAtman (10th cent. CE), SrIharsha (12th cent. CE), citsukha (13th cent. CE), Anandagiri, bhAratI tIrtha, vidyAraNya (13th - 14th cent. CE), madhusUdana sarasvatI, nRsimhASrama, appayya dIkshita (16th cent. CE), sadASiva brahmendra and upanishad brahmendra (17th - 18th cent. CE), are notable figures in the tradition. In the 20th century, candraSekhara bhAratI and saccidAnandendra sarasvatI have written scholarly treatises on advaita vedAnta. Other than these, there have been many other equally illustrious scholars who have not written texts, but who have taught their disciples through oral instruction. These post-Sankaran authors are discussed at http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/advaita.html#philosophers.

All present day advaitins trace their guru-parampara through the four disciples of SrI SankarAcArya. These disciples were the first leaders of the four AmnAya maThas (monasteries) at Puri (Govardhan Math, Puri 752 001, Orissa) Sringeri (Sri Sarada Peetham, Sringeri 577 139, Karnataka), Dvaraka (Dvaraka Peeth, Dvaraka 361 335, Gujarat ) and Badrinath (Sri Sankaracharya Math, Joshimath, Badri 246 443, Uttar Pradesh). All four maThas are functioning today. Other well-known maThas are based in Kaladi, Bangalore, Kudali, Ujjain, Rameswaram, Sivaganga, Kolhapur, Kancipuram (Srimatham Samsthanam No. 1, Salai Street, Kanchipuram 631 502, Tamil Nadu), Varanasi, Bodhgaya and other holy places in India. And there are a number of other institutions in India that are also active in disseminating advaita philosophy and religion, like the various daSanAmI akhADas all over north India, Kankhal Asrama in Hardwar and its branches, the Advaita Asrama in Pune, etc. In addition to these traditional advaita lineages, various other Indian religious traditions, especially those relating to kuNDalinI yoga, siddha yoga, various tAntric lineages and numerous Saiva and SAkta traditions trace some connection to the guru-paramparA of SankarAcArya and his successors. The ramaNASramam (Tiruvannamalai 606 603, Tamil Nadu) is another important center, asscociated with the memory of SrI ramaNa mahaRshi, a celebrated sage of the 20th century.

In recent times, a large number of institutions have been set up all over the world by teachers like Swami Vivekananda, Paramahamsa Yogananda, Swami Sivananda and others. These institutions also draw inspiration from advaita. See http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/ad-today.html

Reference: Wikipedia.com, www.vedanta.org, www.advaita-vedanta.org

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