Date of Udhayana

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

nanda chandran <vpcnk at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

>You first asserted that Advaita was HEAVILY influenced by NyAya.

I still maintain that. I have pointed out the areas in which
this influence is particularly seen. Philosophy is not limited
to ontology. You have to read Sankara to see how much attention
he pays to the standard 5-member nyAya structure of argument.

>When I
>questioned that you said that the Advaita view of "elements" is the same as
>NyAya

Similar, not same. At least similar enough to be significantly
different from the sAMkhyan view of the five tanmAtras. And by
"elements", I clarified that I meant the five bhUtas, AkASa
onwards. Here are the references; you can check them yourself
- Sankara's bhAshyas on TU 2. 1 and CU 6. 2. 1 to 6. 4. 4, and
upadeSasAhasrI (prose chapter) 1. 19-20; nyAyasUtras 1. 1. 12-14
and 3. 1. 62-6, along with later discussions taking off from
these. Important caveat - factor in the nyAya view of AkASa and
Sabda - sUtras 2. 2. 13ff.

>and also pointed out the similarity of VAtsyAyana's view of liberation

The comparison was limited to bliss with respect to liberation.
See nyAyabhAshya 1. 1. 22, especially vAtsyAyana's comments on
experiences of bliss with respect to liberated and unliberated
selves, and compare with Sankara's numerous works. Sankara's
comments have attracted much discussion, while vAtsyAyana's
stand on bliss has been called self-contradictory. If you read
closely, both make remarkably similar arguments in this regard.

I don't have the time to write a bigger essay comparing advaita
and nyAya, but I have given you the necessary pointers. If you
are not prepared to specifically address the above points, or
other specific issues, to question my statement about the "heavy" influence
of nyAya on advaita, this discussion is at an end. And
I don't have the inclination to take up the madhyamaka thread.
If you bring up specific points, one can discuss them. I am not
alone in requesting that you make primary references.

Best wishes,
Vidyasankar
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