2023-03-01 15:21:37 by ambuda-bot
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xiv
of the Advaita system of Sankaracharya. Dr.
Thibaut writes as follows:-"They do not set
forth the distinction of a higher and lower
knowledge of Brahman; they do not acknowledge
the distinction of Brahman and Isvara in
Sankara's sense; they do not hold the doctrine
of the unreality of the world; and they do not,
with Sankara, proclaim the absolute identity of
the individual and the highest Self." These large
statements are made with a cocksureness and
emphasis which are astounding when, on the
other side, the great German Sanskritist and
thinker, Dr. Deussen, and the British Orientalist
Mr. A. E. Gough, have held that these doctrines
-all forming the vital parts or corner-stones of
the Advaita-Vada -
-are taught in both the
Upanishads and the Sutras. It is necessary,
first, to expose the utter shallowness of the argu-
ments on which Dr. Thibaut bases his strange
and startling statements, and then to adduce un-
questionable evidence to show how strong and
solid are the foundations on which Sankara's
system stands. Dr. Thibaut's discussion first
turns upon the import of the Sutras, and then of
the Upanishads. We follow the same order.
of the Advaita system of Sankaracharya. Dr.
Thibaut writes as follows:-"They do not set
forth the distinction of a higher and lower
knowledge of Brahman; they do not acknowledge
the distinction of Brahman and Isvara in
Sankara's sense; they do not hold the doctrine
of the unreality of the world; and they do not,
with Sankara, proclaim the absolute identity of
the individual and the highest Self." These large
statements are made with a cocksureness and
emphasis which are astounding when, on the
other side, the great German Sanskritist and
thinker, Dr. Deussen, and the British Orientalist
Mr. A. E. Gough, have held that these doctrines
-all forming the vital parts or corner-stones of
the Advaita-Vada -
-are taught in both the
Upanishads and the Sutras. It is necessary,
first, to expose the utter shallowness of the argu-
ments on which Dr. Thibaut bases his strange
and startling statements, and then to adduce un-
questionable evidence to show how strong and
solid are the foundations on which Sankara's
system stands. Dr. Thibaut's discussion first
turns upon the import of the Sutras, and then of
the Upanishads. We follow the same order.