Mahayana Buddhism and Early Advaita Vedanta (Study)
by Asokan N. | 2018 | 48,955 words
This thesis is called: Mahayana Buddhism And Early Advaita Vedanta A Critical Study. It shows how Buddhism (especially Mahayana) was assimilated into Vedantic theorisation in due course of time. Philosophical distance between Mahayana Buddhism and Advaita-Vedanta became minimal with the advent of Gaudapada and Shankaracharya, who were both harbinge...
Chapter 5.8 - Advaitic Interpretation of Dependent Origination
As an Upanishadic teacher, Gaudapada’s main purpose was to reestablish the Vedanta doctrine. A common current and dialectical approach was dominant at that time, when Gaudapada was preaching or working on the Mandukya-karika It is sure that Alatha Shanthi Prakarana was much influenced by Nagarjuna and other Mahayana teachers.
Hajime Nakamura suggests that:
“the fourth chapter of the Mandukya-karika accepts the non-self-theory and abandons the traditional Atman theory or the orthodox Vedanta school. Here, the non-self, emptiness and the non-differentiated consciousness only constitute the basic doctrines.”[1]
The Advaitins would never agree that the description of the self really stands for the conglomeration of five elements, as they are afraid that in that case the cherished soul will be reduced to evanescent reality. Hence, in reality, their soul is nothing but a name “nama matraka”. Therefore, in this sense for the Advaitins, the soul would be a purely imaginary entity having no existence. For Gaudapada, ‘Consciousness (Vijnana) is calm and nondual. It is unborn motionless and is not an object. It has the appearance (abhasa) of birth, the appearance of moving and the appearance of being an object.’[2] Hence the word ‘motionless’ as a description of Vijnana is not in keeping with the Buddhist understanding of consciousness, but it is in keeping with Vedantic understanding of consciousness.
In the fourth chapter, Alatha Shanthi Prakarana, Gaudapada presents that Advaita Vedanta and its terms are meant only to the imbibing of the understanding of consciousness.
Gaudapada tried to fuse the Vedantic ideas with that of Mahayana, that:
“he adapted Buddhist terms and ideologies to suit his own perspective.”[3]
But the Vedanta Philosophers never accepted, the Buddhist metaphysics and denial of the self. And again Murti observes that “It only makes for confusion to ignore the different conceptions of the Absolute in the Vedanta by the Madhyamika and Vijnanavada systems; at least the approaches are different. There is no doubt that it was the Madhyamika dialectic that paved the way for the other Absolutism.[4]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
[2]:
Ibid.