Śaṅkara’s Methodology

Śaṅkara’s interpretation generally follow a certain method. He holds śṛuti as the highest authority in transcendental matters. Śṛuti must be universal, realisable and benificient to all. He supports his statements and arguments first from the śṛuti with regard to supra-sensual relations. Then comes Smṛti or works of great intellectual sages and works of Nyāya or reason (śṛuti-smṛti-nyāyaśca), and refers to universal experience as well or sarva-loka prasidda. Śaṅkara some times quote the Purāṇas in his principal works.

According to him the śṛuti is the highest pramana or means of valid knowledge for us with regards to things that are not within the range of the senses:

‘atīndriya vastu viṣaya śṛutireva naḥ pramāṇam’.

This point he often stresses in his commenteries on the Upaniṣads and Brahma sūtra:

śṛutisca naḥ atīndriya viṣaya vijñānotpattinimittam.^[1]

‘tasmāt śabdamūla eva atindriya artha tādatmya adhigamaḥ, śabdamūlam brahma, sarvada-pramāṇakam na indriya–pramāṇam’^[2]

Śaṅkara gave equal importance to empirical pramāṇa as Pratyakṣa or Direct perception and Anumāna or inference. Each instrument is valid to its own field, like the ears in the realm of sound, like the eyes in the realm of sight. In this manner we know that fire is bright and hot and we do not need śṛuti to tell this. That is the matter of ordinary sense experience and it is valid on that plane of experience.

Śaṅkara accept the theory of the three degrees of truth or reality. They are paramārthika satta (the Highest Truth as it is in itself, taught by the Śṛutis), Vyāvahārika satta (Truth as it has manifested in the phenominal universe, and is the basis of all our relations thoughts and activities) and pratibhāsika satta (illusory experiences which have the Vyāvahārika or empirical entities as their sustractum. In each of these the conceptual notion of the latter one is sublated when the true knowledge of the earlier one arises. The three fold scheme of the view of reality, Śaṅkara is able to harmonise in all our experiences sacred or Vaidika and secular or loukika that gives to his writings ‘a modernness which is unique, comparable with our empirical knowledge in modern science. Science holds that all entities are nothing but energy in the final analysis, that enery forms in to atoms and chemical elememts and by a permutation and combination of the chemical entities and beings involve lifes activities take place. These three grades of Reality which are true at that same time in their own sphere without contradicting each other. Śaṅkara’s language is brief precise and lucid. His prose has few rivals in classical gradeur. His thought was deep and majestic and his vision is comprehensive and his attitude was generous. Śaṅkara was never a dogmatic. The primary object of Śaṅkara in writing the commenteries seems to be the establishment of all comprehensive Vaidika Dharma, with the all comprehensive Advaita and its philosophical background the Vedic scheme of life visualize the welfare of the individual both on the material and spiritual planes. That provides for the four values called-Dharma, Artha, Kāma and Mokṣa. That is graduated scheme of varṇāśramadharma, it tries on the one hand, that is the basis of the varṇa scheme, to find a place for every person in the socio economic life of society and the other brings the blessings of moksa or spiritual liberation to the door of each, in whatever position in one be in the social scale, on the basis of the āśrama scheme. That regulates the life of individuals, conserves and channelizes his enegies, for the realisation of the highest end in life or parama-puruṣārtha. It provides ladder as it were to scale the highest state.

Śaṅkara upholds the need of jñāna for the realisation of the identity of the trans personal ultimate reality or Brahman with our inner self. He acknowledge the necessity of Bhakti to personal aspect of Brahman or Īśvara by whose Grace one attains jñāna.

He recognise that the same impersonal brahman appears as the personal Īśvara, he is the creater and Lord of the universe. The same reality is manifesting as Īśvara, Jīva and Jagath. In this sense as one of these lasts, the other two also exist as its correlates. In this manner within the phenomenal relation, there is ample scope for the grace of Īśvara or Īśvara Anugraha, and an honoured place for Bhakti and karma, for various Gods and Goddesses, for different states of existence and lokas and (world planes) and for all achievements and their means, both worldly and heavenly.

In interpreting the texts, Śaṅkara accepts the explanatory method of the Mīmāṃsakās, the logical method of the naiyaikas and the evolutionary hypothesis, that is called Satkaryavada and the theory of Guṇa Trasformation or Guṇa pariṇāma and Guṇa Utkarṣa of the saṅkyas with slight modifications.

Lakṣmaṇa Sūrin shows that Śaṅkara was an eminent scholar, or even a great Advaita philosopher, and an illumined seer who had in his compassionate heart the sole purpose of bringing of the blesings of the highest truth to the society as a whole. That is of the oneness of all Existince, to inform and elevate people’s lives. So that every one may realize, that truth is ones own heart, peace and bliss may reign supreme in the world or “lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bavantu”. In this way Lakṣmaṇa Sūrin portrays that Śaṅkara is indeed loka Śaṅkara. His call for unity attracted the poet and inspired him to write his biography. As a Sanskrit poet lived during the period of Indian renaissance, he wanted every Indian to be proud of our great religious and cultural heritage. Śaṅkara was for him an icon of Indian identity.

The sages conducted scientific enquiry in to the nature of ultimate reality and they called such an enquiry tattvavicara. In this process they also felt compelled to carry this enquiry into the reality of the self. For, they found that man is suffering unendingly from all times of limitations and innumerable miseries. They realised that these miseries are bound to grow by leaps and sounds. Moreover they understood that ignorance about one’s own self and his wrong identification of the self with the known self. And ignorance cannot be destroyed by anything other than the correct knowledge of self. In Bhagavatpādābhyudaya, Lakṣmaṇa Sūrin points out the principles of Advaita Vedanta, Brahman or the supreme Reality, Jīva, The Jagat, Īśvara, Māya, Mokṣa, Liberation, Bhakti etc. That is very useful to understand Sankara’s philosophy very well. The most important among them are the controversy of Mīmāṃsakās. In Bhagavatpādābhudaya Philosophical aspect is very high or most valuable along with the narrative aspects. Lakṣmaṇa Sūrin gave importance to Veda and Upaniṣad. For this purpose he focussed on jñānakānda. It is more important than karma kānda. In Bhagavatpādābhudaya we can see the detailed description of jñānakānda. This points are clearly referred to in Bhagavatpādābhyudya.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Vide Upanishadbrahmayogini, Daśopaniṣads (Vol.2 part I), Madras: Adayar Library and Research centre, 1996, Taitiriyopaniṣad, 2.6

[2]:

Śrī Śaṅkarācārya, Brahmasūtrabhāṣya, Ed., Swami Hanumandas Shatsastri, Varanasi: Chaukambha Vidyabhavan, 2010, 2.1. 27