Towards Naiskarmya - Suresvaracarya on The Method of Vedanta

About the Book

The book explores the polemics between two rival schools of philosophy Advaita Vedanta Mimamsa regarding the met attaining liberation. It focuses contribution made to this protracted debate by Suresvara, one of the disciples of Sankara. The polemics with Mimamsa especially question of the possibility necessity of attaining liberation means to be employed in the occupies an important place in Suresvara's oeuvre. He returns debate time and again in the process his long exegetical career discusses it at considerable lenght both his commentaries on the works his master as well as his independent treatise.

A prolific writer and a Advaitin who spent his life spent cause of his master and proppagating and developing his vision of Vedanta Suresvara is an extraordinary but often overlooked figure in the his Indian thought.

Drawing on all authentic work Suresvara, the author puts together whatever this able student of sankara has to say on the epistemology Advaita and the methodology attaining the final realization attempting to reconstruct the me Advaita as conceived and propounded by suresvara

About the Author

Alexander Pereverzev was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1975 and after obtaining his first post-Graduate degree (M. A. In Indo-Aryan Philosophy from the St. Petersburg State University, 1998) went on to study Sanskrit in India. After completing M.A. in Sanskrit with specialization in Darsana from the Delhi University in 2003, he obtained his doctorate from the same University in 2010.

His Academic interests lie in the field of the classical orthodox Indian philosophy, particularly the metaphysics and epistemology of Advaita Vedanta of the post-Sankara period. He is especially interested in the interface between the mature Advaita and the other, mostly Vedic system of Indian thought.

Foreword Alexander Pereverzev's treatise on the works of Suresvaracarya which the Asiatic Society is going to publish very shortly, contains an exegetical discussion on his master Sankaracarya's views. on Vedanta. Throughout his academic career Suresvara composed a good number of commentaries on his master's intellectual works with fresh interpretation, for the purpose of making the students of philosophy to understand Sankara's Vedantic views in a smooth and easy way. Our author has given an elaborate exposition of Sankara's philosophical judgements as has been highlighted by Suresvara. Pereverzev has pointed out as well as detailed the method of Suresvara's explaining Sankara's Vedantic ideas and has given therein foremost emphasis on the development of the concept of naiskarmya forwarded by Sankara in his commentary on Gita and elucidated by Suresvara in his work under consideration. Suresvara, a direct follower of Sankara. has extensively discussed in his Naiskarmyasiddhi the doctrine of jivanmukti and concludes that "the body should not necessarily fall immediately after realisation of the unity of Atman and Brahman and annihilation of ignorance." Our learned author, in the Preface of his present work, has aptly dwelt on the broad field of Sankara's philosophy and particularly on Suresvara's attempt in projecting himself as an efficient interpreter of the naiskarmya. To be well-acquainted with Suresvara's date and locality, his academic inheritance to Sankaracarya, and his refined scholarship, Alexander Pereverzev's well-documented book will certainly be helpful to all concerned. Truly, it may be said that the present book would be a valuable addition to the list of already published books of the Asiatic Society.

Contents

	Foreword	iii
	List of Abbreviations	vii
Chapter One	Introduction	1
Chapter Two	Bondage and Liberation	65
Chapter Three	Metaphysics of the Advaita View of Bondage The Concepts of Brahman, Atman and Maya	99
Chapter Four	The Mimamsa View of Karma and The summum Bonum of Human Existence	177
Chapter Five	The Advaita view of Jnana with special Reference to suressvara	227
Chapter Six	The Relation of Jnana, and Karma to Moksa (Suresvara’s View)	285
Chapter Seven	Conclusion	373
	Bibliography	392

Sample Pages