Acknowledgement

It gives me immense pleasure to acknowledge and thank the many people who have helped me in different ways seeing this work through.

I express my heartfelt gratitude and indebtedness to my supervisor Dr. Kanchana Natarajan. She encouraged me to look for all varied possibilities that could be incorporated in this kind of work and gave me space to express myself fully. I gained immensely from her versatility, knowledge and erudition. She kindled my interest in Advaita Vedanta with her unmatched knowledge and relentless ideas in the course of this work.

Special thanks are due to Prof. H. S. Prasad, Head Dept. Of Philosophy for his help and providing valuable suggestions, which helped improve this work. I would like to thank my teachers and faculty members of Philosophy Dept for their help and guidance.

My sincere thanks and gratitude to Prof. R. Balasubramanian whose extensive knowledge on Advaita Vedanta and research work provided the inspiration for undertaking this work.

I am especially thankful to the staff at Central Reference Library, ICPR Lucknow, Sahitya Kala Academy, J.N.U Library and IIAS Shimla who have always been extremely helpful. It has always been a pleasure working at these libraries.

I always fumble for words to express my feelings to my friend Swasti, who made me realize the principle, “Don’t quit” which is a great guide to human life. I extend my affectionate acknowledgement to her, for her belief in my abilities and for having been always there and also cherish those happy moments during this research period, apart from academically productive

Some friends and well-wishers always supported me in this endeavour, especially Dr. Krishna Verma and Ms Durga Pant. I would like to express my sincere feelings to Prof. Verma who instigated a train of thoughts that led to the beginning of this work.

Though he is physically not present to bless me but his presence and blessings will always remain with me.

Thanks also to my friends Suranjita, Monica, Vidhu, Biju, Dhruv, Sumeet, Julia and Sambuddho who shared this journey towards this research work with their positive attitude and encouragement.

I am more than grateful to my family members, who not only endured the ups and downs of thesis writing but were actively involved in this work. I thank my parents for their constant support, and instilling values in my life, this work would not have been possible without them.

I am especially grateful to my brother Mr. V. Srinivas Raju, who lived and breathed this work along with me from its inception to completion. Several ideas emerged in course of our conversation. His indepth understanding of Vedanta helped me in substantiating the thesis.

I owe special thanks to my youngest brother Mr. V. Surya Prakash Raju for his genuine concern and willingness in typecasting and wading through the waves of correction coming one after another. Shobha, Sangeeta and Sailaja my sisters provided invaluable support at every stage with their positive attitude and willingness in sharing my work.

In the end, I must extend my affection and love to my nephews Nischal, Varenya and Vivan, who provided welcome diversions with their unlimited reserves of joy, laughter and innocence.