Talk:Gauḍapāda
From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia
By Swami Harshananda
Origin[edit]
Whether the name ‘Gauḍapāda’ was his real name or only a cognomen indicating that he came originally from the Gauḍadeśa (Bengal?) is rather difficult to say. He might have lived around A. D. 800.
Achievements of Gauḍapāda[edit]
- Advaita Vedānta tradition has honored Gauḍapāda as the teacher of Govindayogīndra.
- He was the teacher of Śaṅkara (A. D. 788-820).
- It is believed that he lived in the Badarikāśrama in the Himalayas.
- He had acquired the knowledge of the Upaniṣads from Lord Nārāyaṇa.
Scriptures by Gauḍapāda[edit]
There are seven works attributed to Gauḍapāda. Except for the first, all the other works might be the compositions of different Gauḍapāda. They are:
- The Kārikās on the Māndukya Upanisad
- A bhāṣya (commentary) on the Sāñkhyakārikā of īśvarakṛṣṇa
- A vṛtti (concise commentary) on the Uttaragītā
- Śrividyāratnasutra
- Subhagodaya
- A bhāṣya on the Nrsimha Purvatāpini Upanisad
- A commentary on the Durgāśaptaśatī[1]
Māndukya Kārikā[edit]
The philosophy of Gauḍapāda, as reflected in the Māndukya Kārikā, is an extreme form of advaita. The main points of this philosophy are:
- The avasthātraya-vivecana or an analysis of the three states of consciousness reveals that all these states[2] are like night for the jīva or the individual soul, since there is no direct and clear experience of oneself as the pure consciousness in these states.
- One can experience the nature of ātman in the turiya (or the fourth) state only.
- Even the so-called ‘jāgrat or waking’ state is a state of sleep, illusion or ignorance.
- He exemplifies a fire brand which moves around fast and creates optical illusions.
- He tries to prove the illusory nature of this world.
- ‘Ajātivāda’ or the doctrine that this world is never created[3] or born.
- Brahman alone is ever existent, is another theory that he puts forward with supporting logic.
- He vigorously refutes other theories like asatkāryavāda[4] of the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika school, the satkāryavāda[5] of the Sāṅkhya philosophy and the vijñānavāda[6] of the Buddhists.
- He rejects his own ajātivāda since even the ajatva (non-birth) of the ātman is kalpita or imagined.
- He accepts praṇavo-pāsanā[7] as the means for destroying dvaita-jñāna or knowledge of duality.
- He recommends asparśayoga or the yoga of non-contact of the mind with any object as an important mode of sādhanā. It is the same as jñānayoga. This state is termed as ‘amanībhāva’ since the objects of the world presented to the mind do not exist in reality. These disciplines are:
- Viveka - discrimination
- Vairāgya - spirit of renunciation
- Abhyāsa - repeated efforts
- As the fire dies out when there is no fuel, the mind too stops working in the form of vṛttis or mental waves.
- It very well establishes the fact that the ātman alone is real.
Epilogue[edit]
Gauḍapāda concludes his Kārikās with a description of mokṣa[8] and the mukta.[9] This description resembles to the one given in the Bhagavadgitā.
References[edit]
- ↑ Durgāśaptaśatī is same as the Devī- māhātmya or the Candī.
- ↑ States are referred as jāgrat or waking, svapna or dreaming and suṣupti or deep sleep.
- ↑ Ajāti means no birth.
- ↑ Asatkāryavāda is the doctrine that effect never pre-existed in the cause.
- ↑ Satkāryavāda is the doctrine that the effect did exist in its cause.
- ↑ Vijñānavāda is that vijñāna or continuous waves of intellect alone exist.
- ↑ Praṇavo-pāsanā is meditation on the ātman through praṇava or Ohm.
- ↑ Mokṣa means liberation.
- ↑ Mukta means liberated soul.
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore