[Advaita-l] Adhyasa Bhashya - Reflections On Scope And Relevance

[Vikram Jagannathan]

Namaskaram,

A vidwan of another sampradhayam once questioned the scope and relevance of
Adhyasa Bhashya. Some of the questions are:

   - What is the need for Adhyasa Bhashya as a prelude to the Brahma-Sutras?
   - Why doesn’t Adhyasa Bhashya include even a single scriptural reference
   if it is meant to preface the highest Brahma-Sutras, which systematize the
   Upanishads?
   - The logical explanation offered is that Swami Sankaracharya’s Advaita
   Vedanta as a whole - and Adhyasa Bhashya in particular - arose primarily as
   a pro-Vedic response to Buddhist and Jaina critiques, thereby helping
   displace much of those philosophies from India; and that, it is claimed, is
   the full scope of Advaita Siddhanta.
   - The implication then drawn is that Advaita Vedanta was not intended to
   faithfully elucidate the deepest, highest aspects of Vedanta; rather, that
   task was later taken up by other great acharyas of the Vedanta
   sampradhayam, who built upon a “cleaned-up” foundation set by Swami
   Sankaracharya.


Here is an attempt to clarify the scope and relevance of Adhyasa Bhashya,
and to show that its intent and purpose are significantly more expansive
than the narrow focus and scope suggested by the above questions and
implications.

https://archive.org/details/adhyasa-bhashya-reflections-on-scope-and-relevance

The article is merely a systematic reflection of my current understanding.
I humbly request respected members to critically review it and kindly share
feedback on its efficacy and shortcomings.

Dhanyosmi!

prostrations,
Vikram