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    Strictly Aviator Amritansh Verma
    The document discusses a book review of a translation of a Sanskrit text called the Paramarthasara. The review provides context about the text and praise for the translation and its notes. It discusses aspects of the philosophies contained in the Paramarthasara like Advaita Vedanta and compares it to other Indian philosophical works.

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    University of Hawai'i Press

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    Strictly Aviator Amritansh Verma
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    The document discusses a book review of a translation of a Sanskrit text called the Paramarthasara. The review provides context about the text and praise for the translation and its notes. It discusses aspects of the philosophies contained in the Paramarthasara like Advaita Vedanta and compares it to other Indian philosophical works.

    Original Title

    [Philosophy East and West 1983-jan vol. 33 iss. 1] Review by_ Victor A. van Bijlert - Ādiśesa_ The Essence of Supreme Truth (Paramārthasāra)by Henry Danielson (1983) [10.2307_1398671] - libgen.li

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    The document discusses a book review of a translation of a Sanskrit text called the Paramarthasara. The review provides context about the text and praise for the translation and its notes. It discusses aspects of the philosophies contained in the Paramarthasara like Advaita Vedanta and compares it to other Indian philosophical works.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    25 views3 pages

    University of Hawai'i Press

    Uploaded by

    Strictly Aviator Amritansh Verma
    The document discusses a book review of a translation of a Sanskrit text called the Paramarthasara. The review provides context about the text and praise for the translation and its notes. It discusses aspects of the philosophies contained in the Paramarthasara like Advaita Vedanta and compares it to other Indian philosophical works.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    University of Hawai'i Press

    Review
    Author(s): Victor A. van Bijlert
    Review by: Victor A. van Bijlert
    Source: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan., 1983), pp. 99-100
    Published by: University of Hawai'i Press
    Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1398671
    Accessed: 28-10-2015 12:11 UTC

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    99

    translation(page83) in theformofa paraphhrase: "according to whattheyoginhas


    meditated upon".Butabhidhydna denotesnotso muchan objectas an intensity.
    Couldone perhapstranslate ivedayati(page28) as "announcesitself"ratherthan
    "invites(theself)"?Themindpresents itself
    to theapperceivingpurusa.
    Ifitistrue,
    as theGerman maxim goes,thatAllerAnfangistschwer,thenextchapters
    of
    theVivarana shouldprovea lessharrowing experienceforthetranslator,
    so thatwemay,
    hopefully,lookforward to an earlycompletion ofthisproject.MrLeggett deserves
    our
    gratitudeforhaving embarked onsucha difficulttextandforhavinggivenusa generally
    finetranslationofat leasta sectionofit.

    G. FEUERSTEIN
    Yoga ResearchCentre,DurhamUniversity,
    England

    Adisesa:The EssenceofSupremeTruth(Paramarthasara).Sanskrittextwithtranslation
    andnotesbyHenry Danielson. TextsTranslation
    Religious SeriesNisaba,vol.10.Leiden:
    E. J.Brill,1980.Pp. x + 87.Gld.28,-.

    Soundscholarly translations and editionsof philosophical textsfromIndiaare rare,


    notwithstanding thegreatinterest Indianphilosophy arousesbothintheEasternas well
    as intheWestern world.ForthisreasonDanielson's annotated
    liberally translationofthe
    PS (Paramirthasara) of Adisesais a welcomeadditionto our knowledge of Indian
    thinking.Theworkisa poeminSanskrit consisting of87 strophes; thetwointroductory
    strophes areintristubh-metre (4 x 11syllables), a metre often foundintheVedas,butthe
    otherversesareinthehighly literaryiryd-metre. Danielson'stranslation,although quite
    literal,
    conveys enoughofthepoetical beautyoftheoriginal tomakeforpleasant reading.
    Verycopiousnotesclarify almosteveryknotty problem in thetextand moreover give
    muchusefulinformation on Indianreligion andphilosophy ingeneral.
    Theimportance ofPS liesinthefactthatitsetsforth a system ofVedantathatexisted
    before Sankara(8thcentury) butthatwas greatly influenced bytheGK (Gaudapada's
    Kiriki),written roughly in the6thcentury, as Danielsonshowson page 1. PS 31,for
    example, presupposes GK I, 1 ff.;PS 30isan adaptation ofGK II, 19;whilePS 24,35-36
    andPS 51refer tothefamous passageinGKIII, 3-8,inwhichtheSupreme Self(Atman) is
    compared touniversal spaceandtheindividual selvestothesmallbitsofspaceinpotsand
    jars.Danielsonfurther demonstrates, on pages1 and 2, thatPS was probably written
    somewhat before 550,an important factthatplacesGK quiteearly!
    In theintroduction, page4, Danielsondiscusses theingredients ofthedoctrine ofPS.
    Although AdvaitaVedantais veryprominent in thepoem,notionsfromtheSamkhya
    schoolsuchas thedualism ofmatter (prakrti)andsoul(purusa)areyetfoundinPS 7,35,
    44, 52,70,and 75, as wellas theBhedabhedatheory thattheindividual soul is both
    identicalandnon-identical withtheSupreme Soul.A clearexampleofBhedabheda, for
    instance, is PS 26-27whichstatesthatall living entitiesaremodifications (vikrtayah) of
    theSupremeSelf;thisthought, illustrated
    bytheUpanisadicsimileof thefireand its
    sparks,recursin PS 47. FromthisDanielsondrawstheconclusion thatPS as a whole

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    100 Book Reviews

    belongs toa traditionofVedanta, andonewemaycallBhedibhedidvaita (page10);that


    is,Bhedabheda andAdvaita occur sidebysidein thisparticularform ofVedanta.
    ApartfromthisblendedVedanta,PS contains unmistakably theistictraits, strongly
    reminiscent oftheBhagavad Glta.TheSupreme DeityinPS iscalledVisnu (PS 1,33,56,
    74,86)andVasudeva (PS 29-30),which isalsooneofthenamesgiventoKrsnaintheGiti
    7:
    (BG 19;10:37;11:50;18:74). In PS 29 thishighestGod Visudeva isidentified withthe
    Selfofall:"Deludedbyerror, people do not recognizeVasudeva as the Selfofeverything"
    (Danielson's translation).
    Notwithstanding itstheistic
    character, PS nowhere emphasizes
    bhakti, theardent personaldevotion forGod,as theGtitdoes.In fact,terms likebhakti,
    bhakta, or verbal formsof theroot to are
    bhaj, adore, wholly absent in PS. Therefore
    Danielson'sremark on page7 about"theemphasis we findin PS on bhakti," thatis,
    "participating devotiontoward, and identificationwith God" is rather surprising.
    Identification withGod is certainly Adisesa'schiefconcern, but,to mymind,he never
    speaksaboutintense feelingsforGod, whichis so typicalof bhakti.On thecontrary,
    Adisesastresses knowledge (jnana)oftheSupreme Selfas themeansofgaining liberation
    his
    throughout poem, and towards the end he says:"He whoknows the Self ofevery-
    thing,... becomes onewith it"(PS 80, Danielson's Still,
    translation). Adisesa's references
    toSamkhya andBhedabheda, andespecially hishighregard forVisnu/Vasudeva suggest
    thathewasinfluenced bya bookliketheBhagavad Gta. Whether theGitacouldhavebeen
    oneofhissources andwhyhecombined suchtenets inhisPS withtheAdvaitaVedantaof
    are
    Gaudapada questions Danielson does not answer.

    VICTOR A. VANBIJLERT
    Instituut,
    Indologisch Straat29,Leiden,Holland
    Rembrandt

    GlobalHistory
    ofPhilosophy. JamesMichaelDolin.Vol.III: The
    ByJohnC. Plott,with
    Period.Delhi:MotilalBanarsidass, Pp. 604 + xiv.Rs. 90.
    Patristic-Suitra 1980.

    In "OneBright Pearl,"published inSocialScience(Winter 1981)I introduced thetotal


    project,of which Volume III of Global History is an
    ofPhilosophy integral part.For a
    subsequent issueofSocial Science I reviewedVolume III from the ofsocial
    perspectives
    scienceandeducation. Now, forreaders of PhilosophyEast and West,I should liketo
    examine thevolumewithattention tohistoryofphilosophy andhumanvalues.
    VolumeIII can be profitably studiedoutofsequenceprovided one understands the
    generalgoals of theGlobal History to
    ofPhilosophy: appreciate humankind's rich and
    variedphilosophizingsand,wherepossible, to makethemavailableforbuilding a more
    humaneandpeaceful worldtoday.A uniquefeature ofthisvolume, whichsetsitapart,
    evenwithin theseriesofwhichitis a part,is theauthors'refusal tolumpthinkers either
    or for
    geographically comparative purposes:"Strict
    chronological arrangement without
    regard forgeographicallocation hasbeenchosentodramatize thefactthatthisisa global
    historyofphilosophy andnotjustanother incomparative
    exercise philosophyorevena
    seriesofsuchexercises" (ix).
    The strength of theseries,as of its author-director, is a remarkable humanand
    philosophicalopennessofmindandmethodology. Openness hasreapeditsdialecticaland

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