Sage Sankara endeavored to establish the Vedic religion and overthrow Buddhism. But even he was not able to avoid the influence of Buddhism.
The influence of the revolutionary atmosphere of Buddhism reappeared in the Advaita of Sage Sankara. His inability to revive the Vedic religion that flourished before the Buddhist revolution in its pure form is discernible.
Santana Dharma means that it has no beginning or an end, righteousness is forever.
Swami Vivekananda says:~ The word Hindu is a misnomer; the correct word should be a Vedantin, a person who follows the Vedas.
In Encyclopaedia Britannica it says:~ The word Hinduism was first used by the British writers in the year 1830 to describe the multiplicity of the faiths of the people of India excluding the converted Christians. (Volume -20, Reference -581)
Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru:~ The word Hindu can be earliest traced to a source a tantric in the 8th century and it was used initially to describe the people, it was never used to describe religion. (The discovery of India” on pages -74 and -75)
According to Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, its connection with religion is of late occurrence. The word Hinduism is derived from the word Hindu.
The word Hinduism was first used by English writers in the 19th century to describe the multiplicity of faiths of the people of India.
In the year 1794 A.D. Sir William Jones, the European chief justice of the then-Supreme Court of India at Calcutta, coined the new term Hinduism for the caste-discriminating principle of Varnashrama Dharma originated on the basis of Manu Dharma Śāstra.
It is a well-known fact that the Vedic people not only did not identify themselves as Hindus but also did not possess the essential characteristics of Hinduism. However, in order to legitimize the antiquity of Hinduism, Maharishi Dayananda (1824-1883) founders of Arya Samaj insisted on ‘going back to the Vedas’.
Maharishi Dayananda founder of Arya Samaj was the first thinker and reformer to emphasize the importance of ‘going back to the Vedas’ in order to bring about social reforms in society and purify Hinduism of its many aberrations.
Hinduism is ‘Puranic based’. Vedic God s like Indra, Varuna, Agni, Soma, and the like, whom the Vedic people worshipped, hardly have any significance in Hinduism.
Remember:~
The path of religion, the path of yoga, and the path of wisdom were intended for different classes of people. Advaitic wisdom is for the advanced seekers of truth. It deals with the nature of the ultimate Truth and Reality. It is meant for superior aspirants who have the inner urge to know the truth and it is not for those who are immersed in earthly desires.
In Brahma Sutra Sage Sankara takes the position that there is another entity outside us, i.e. the wall really exists separately from the mind. This was because, Sage Sankara explains in Manduka that those who study the Sutras are religious minds, and intellectual children, hence his popular viewpoint to assist them. These people are afraid to go deeper because it means being heroic enough to refuse to accept Sruti, and God's authority, in case they mean punishment by God.
The orthodox dualist and nondualist sects have nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman.
The orthodox Advaita considers, birth, life, death, rebirth, heaven, hell, sin, karma, and the world as a reality, whereas Sage Sankara declares the world in which we exist is merely an illusion. If the world is an illusion, then the birth, life, death, rebirth, heaven, hell, sin, karma, and the world, are bound to be an illusion.
Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (non-duality). Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy there is a lot of confusion.
Sage Sankara’s quotes (selected verified) are quoted in my blogs and postings to show what Sage Sankara meant and ‘what is blocking the seekers from realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.
There are so many non-dualistic masters of the East and also from the West who expound on Advaitic or non-dualistic knowledge, but none of them are helpful in reaching the ultimate end.
According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the most advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman.
Thus, the Purva mimam. sa, with its emphasis on the Karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the Jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to unfold the mystery of the universe.
In Brahma Sutras Sage Sankara takes for granted, and assumes that a world was created: He there mixes dogmatic theology with philosophy.
That God created the world is an absolute lie; nevertheless, you will find Sage Sankara (in his commentary on Vedanta Sutras) clearly says this! He has to adapt his teachings to his audience, reserving the highest for philosophical minds.
The text of Brahma Sutras is based on religion, and dogmatism, but in the commentary, Sankara cleverly introduced some philosophy.
If it is objected that a number of Upanishads are equally dogmatic because they also begin by assuming Brahman, but a few Upanishads do not, but prove Brahman at the end of a train of proof.
The causality and creation, but are for religious people only. Religion is only for those who are unable to understand truth beyond form, time, and space. Religion is not final. It only gives satisfaction to the populace.
Self-knowledge is for the whole of humanity to free them from experiencing birth, life, death, and the world as reality.
People of small intelligence follow religion and believe that the world was created by God. But how do they know that God did so? When a pot is created, one can see both the pot and its maker, but not in the case of the world.
Sage Sankara says:~ V-63-"Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know the Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.
The seeker has to begin his analysis with the world first, not with the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. In the world in which you exist, consciousness is the finality.
A Gnani sees the world in which he exists as consciousness." But to know this they must be examined and studied.
The yogi does not care to know about the world" and for a Gnani nothing remains to be known for him because he is fully aware of the fact that the universe in which he exists is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.
The Pundits do not know the true nature of the world in which we exist. Scriptures deal only with the Objects, not with the Witness of the objects.
If one starts with the idea that Samsara (universe) exists, he can never see the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, because Samsara (world) is an illusion and only ignorant people read it as a reality. :~Santthosh Kumaar
