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A New Book Release by MahA VidvAn Dr.S.M.S Chari Swamy : The Philosophy of the Upanishads ( English text)

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • October 12, 2002 


SrI:

Dear VedAbhimAnis and students of Upanishadic Philosophy :

It is my delight and privelege to review the most recent book 
in English released by the great Scholar , Dr.S.M.Srinivasa Chari 
of Bangalore: " The Philosophy of the Upanishads".

The publishers , Munshiram Manoharlal Ltd., sent me
an advance copy and requested me to review this
monograph .

Dr.S.M.S Chari is a distinguished VedAnta Scholar , 
who has performed traditional KaalkshEpam for many years 
under great AchAryAs like SrI Goshtipuram SoumyanArAyaNAcchAr
Swamy and the most revered 42nd pontiff of Ahobila Matam ,
HH InjimEttu Azhagiya Singar. Dr. Chari has taught 
for many decades Philosophy at different universities.

Dr.S.M.S. Chari has many scholarly works in English
to his  credit that deal with complex philosophical topics .
He handles them with ease , comfort and dispassion . 
His other published works for the benefit of those , 
who may not be familiar with them are:

1)AdvaithA and VisishtAdhvaithA - A critical study
based on Vedanta DesikA's SatadhUshaNi, a Vaadha
grantham ; this monograph serves as a valuable 
introduction to AchArya RaamAnujA's SrI BhAshyam.

2)Fundamentals of VisishtAdvaitha VedAntha-- a scholarly
treatise based on VedAnta DesikA's Tattva Muktha KalApa ,
the magnum opus on philosophy by Vedanta Desika .

3)VaishNavism--Its philosophy , theology and religious
discipline: A comprehensive summary of the relevance , sweep
and ethical values embedded in this system of philosophy
expounded by AchArya RaamAnujA .

4)The Philosophy of the VedAnta SutrAs of BadarAyaNa:
a comprehensive and systematic study of selected SutrAs
of BadarAyaNA as expounded by Sankara , RaamAnujA and
MadhvA.An objective evaluation is given of the philosophies
developed by the three AchAryAs is given based on 
the Brahma SutrAs .

5) Philosophy and the Theistic Mysticism of the AlvArs:
The dhivya prabhandhams ( the four thousand devotional
hymns of the twelve God-intoxicated VaishNava Saints ) house
the philosophical and theological teachings of VaishNavam .
Their sacred Tamil hymns echo the ancient Vedic/Upanishadic
doctrines and emphasize the philosophy of SaraNAgathi 
(total surrender to SrIman NaarAyaNa for Moksham).
In this monograph, Dr.S.M.S. Chari discusses the VedAntic 
underpinings of the Dhivya prabhandham.

6) The Philosophy of the Upanishads ( a Study based on 
the evaluation of the comments of Samkara, RaamAnujA and Madhva):
This latest monograph has a foreword by the distinguished 
Madhva Scholar , Professor K.T. Pandurangi .This monograph is 
an objective study of the key passages from Fourteen major 
Upanishads used extensively by the three VedAntha AchAryAs 
to develop their own versions of VedAntic philosophies. 

7) A Comparative study of commentaries on SrImad Bhagavath GitA
by Samkara , RaamAnujA and Madhva has been completed by 
Dr.S.M.S. Chari and has just gone to print. We look forward to
the release of yet another scholarly monograph from this great 
VedAnta VidvAn trained under eminent traditional teachers 
over many  years. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS:Dr.S.M.SRINIVASA CHARI
********************************************************
Sage BadarAyaNa codified the Upanishadic teachings 
in His VedAnta SutrAs. All the three AchAryAs developed
in the post-upanishadic period their own Vedanta systems 
based mostly on the key passages from ten major upanishads.
Samkra and Madhva have also written their own commentaries 
on these major upanishads, whereas Ramanuja elected not to ; 
however Ramanuja used copiously the passages from major 
upanishads to develop his own system of philosophy .

Vedantins have debated for a long time about which of
the three Acharya's intrepretations fit closely with
the Upanishadic philosophy in general and the purport of 
Sage BadarAyaNA's VedAnta SutrAs in particular. The debate 
continues even today about which of the three systems of 
philosophy --Advaita VedAntA of Samkara ( Idealistic Monism) , 
VisihtAdvaita VedAnta of Ramanuja ( Theistic Monism ) , 
Dvaita VedAnta of Madhva ( Theistic dualism)-- is consistent 
with the Upanishadic philosohpy . Each of the three systems 
of philosophy has been developed by an eminent AchArya 
"giftd with spiritual insight on the basis of the authority of 
selected scriptural texts, tradition and logical arguments "
and hence has its own intrinsic value. 

Dr. Chari has refrained from a detailed evaluation of
the relative merits of the three different Schools of
Vedanta and instead has set the goals of his study " to determine
the nature of the philosophy adumbrated in the Upanishads 
and also to the extent to which the major doctrines developed
in the post-upanishadic period by the exponents of the three
principal schools of Vedanta are reflected in the Upanishads".
 
Dr. Chari has taken a  fresh and dispassionate look 
at the three schools of Vedanta as they  attempt to 
fit the five major doctrines of Vedanta in to their 
systems of philosophy . These five fundamental 
doctrines tackled by the Upanishads are:
(1) The doctrine of Brahman (2) The doctrine of JeevAthman 
(3) The  doctrine of Jagath (4) The doctrine of Saadhana
and (5) The doctrine of Parama PurushArtha.

After a rigorous and unbiased examination , Dr. Chari
has  arirved at the conclusion that neither the Idealistic 
Monism (advaita Vedanta or nirvisEsha BrahmAdvaita) of Samkara 
nor the Theistic dualism ( Dvaita Vedanta) of Madhva fit 
with the philosophy of the Upanishads . He concludes convincingly
that the SavisEsha BrahmAdvaita (Theistic Monism) of Acharya
Ramanuja fits ideally with the five major  doctrines of 
Vedanta and the teachings of the principal upanishads.

Dr. Chari, who is the author of many scholarly monographs
on Vedanta has studied in depth the fourteen principal 
upanishads by analysing the comments of the three AchAryAs 
in their BhAshyams on Vedanta Sutras as well as the views of 
Sage BadarAyaNa himself as " enshrined " in his Vedanta Sutras . 

This outstanding and clearly written monograph with copious
references and original Upanishadic passages is divided into
two sections: 

(1)An analytical and thorough study of all of the key
philosophical passages of the principal Upanishads as 
intrepreted by the three different Acharyas .

(2) An integration of the variety of thoughts spread all over 
the Upanishads and a coherent presentation of these thoughts 
under the five major headings :

a) Brahman and its nature and characterestrics

(b)JivAthman (the individual self ),its nature and 
essential charactrestrics  and its metaphysical
status in relation to Brahman 

(c) The Universe (jagat),its origin and evolution , its
metaphysical status in relation to Brahman 

(d) Sadhana ,the ways and means of attaining Brahman 

(e) Parama PurushArTa , the nature of the Supreme Goal:
the status of Jiva in Mukti.

In the first section , a brilliant comparative analysis
of the intrepretations of key passages of the 14 Upanishads
by the three AchAryAs is covered .The 14 Upanishads included
in such an analysis are: BrhadAraNyaka , ChAndOgya , TaittirIya ,
Mundaka , kaThOpanishad, SvetAsvatara , IsAvAsyOpanishad,
KenOpanishad,PrasnOpanishad, AitarEya Upanishad, MaaNDUkya,
kaushitAki , SubAla and MahA NaarAyaNa Upanishad. 

The first section alone is a brilliant , pioneering
and self-contained analysis that is most valuable.
For the benefit of the readers, who may not have
adequate Sanskrit background , Dr.Chari provides free 
translations of the referred passages from the Upanishads.
I can not praise the content of this first section 
since the  assembly of such material in one place 
has not been attempted sofar.

The second section on the five fundametnal doctrines
covered by Upanishads is another outstanding assembly of 
material from the different Upanishads on each of these 
five doctrines . The value of Dr.Chari's contributions  
here are inestimable in so far as they cover the widely
scattered  philosophical teachings of fourteen Upanishads 
dealing with a  wide range of subjects. Dr. Chari takes 
into consideration  the correct import of Upanishadic texts
as determined on the basis of the authoritative  views of 
Sage BadarAyaNa . While doing this , Dr.Chari has stayed away 
as far as possible form imposing the views of the three 
commentators on Vedanta SutrAs. This is not some thing 
easy to do and Dr.Chari has be applauded for his objective
approach. 

In the final section of this monograph , Dr.Chari evaluates 
the three principal schools of Vedanta advocating Advaita
VedAnta (with its core principle of NirvisEsha Brahman , mayA/
illusory Cosmic principle , Jeevan  Mukthi et al ), VisishtAdvaitha
VedAnta ( with its core principle of SavisEsha Brahman,
the real existence of the JivAs and the Universe , which are
organically or inseperably related to Brahman as Para Tatthvam),
Dvaita VedAnta ( with its core principles of absolute difference
between Brahman and the Jeevan and also between Brahman and Jagat ,
VishNu as the Ultimate and sole independent reality/Svatantra 
Tatthva in contrast to JivAs and the Jagat as dependent realities/
asvatantra TattvAs and Aananda Taaratamyam in the state of Mukthi
for the Jeevans et al). 

Dr. Chari concludes at the end of his scholarly study 
that " the teachings of the principal upanishads on
the five major doctrines of VedAnta , the philosophy 
of the Upanishads can not be regarded as Idealistic
Monism or NirvisEsha BrahmAdvaitam(advaitam);It is 
SavisEsha BrahmAdvaitham or Theistic Monism (VisishtAdvaitam).
The VedAnta SutrAs developed from the Upanishads also conform
to the same type of philosophical System--This conclusion ,
which is based on an objective study of the Upanishads is
not a decisive reflection on either Advaita VedAnta or
Dvaita VedAnta as a system of philosophy... The main objective
of this study is to determine the nature of the philosophy
adumbrated in the Upanishads and also the extent to which 
the major doctrines developed in the post-upanishadic period 
by the exponents of the three principal schools of VedAnta
are reflected in the Upanishads. It is hoped that this book 
would throw new light on the philosophy of the Upanishads".

To this reviewer, this thought provoking and original
study on the principal Upanishads is a Treasure House
of information evaluated in a very objective manner.
Our profound thanks are to Dr.Chari for his continued services
to the community of aasthikAs interested in our ancient
philosophy based on Upanishads.

NamO NaarAyaNAya,
V.SadagOpan 
New York , USA







 
 



 






   
 




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