THE RATIONAL FOUNDATION OF ADVAITA DHARMA

A Departure from Mimamsa

Abstract

The following versicle is traditionally believed to contain the quintessence of Sankara-Vedanta: Brahma satyam jaganmithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah. : Brahman alone is true, i.e., Brahman is the sole Reality; the world is mithya or false, and man is not different from Brahman. Often the word maya is substituted for mithya; and then the popular translation would be : 'Ged alone exists, the whole world is a grand illusion, and man is non-different from Gcd '. The moment the Advaita-Vedanta of Sri Sankara is exposed this way, it becomes the target of fierce attacks from the opponents; and it is the religio-ethical aspect of Sankara-Advaita that becomes the focus of the fiercest attacks from its adversaries. They argue: 'If only Brahman exists, and the whole world of men and beings is a mental fiction or a mirage, where is the rational foundation for any religion or ethics or morality?  Therefore, Sankara-Advaita digs the grave of all ethics and morality. ' Even great thinkers like Albert Schweitzer and John McKenzie have argued on these lines.