The history of the Vedanta school is well known since the time of Sankara but its prehistory before Sankara is quite obscure. However, there is a period of a thousand years between the compilation of the major Upanisads to Sankara without loss of the tradition of the Upanisads; there appeared many philosophers and dogmaticians, although their thoughts are not clearly known.

In A History of Early Vedanta Philosophy, the author made clear the details of the pre-Sankara Vedanta philosophy, utilizing not only Sanskrit materials, but also Pali, Prakrit as well as Tibetan and Chinese sources. In this respect, this epoch-making work was awarded the Imperial Prize by the Japan Academy.

Nearly 60 years have already passed since its publication in Japanese. Meanwhile, new research has been reported in such fields as Bhartrhari and the like. Nevertheless, none can take the place of the author's achievement in the field of pre-Sankara Vedanta.

This Part Two is a complete English translation of Vols. III and IV of the Japanese version, with many additions and revisions done by the author himself.

Part One and Two will be important literature indispensable not only to those, who are specialists in the study of Vedanta but also to those engaged in the study of Indian thought in general.

About the Author:

Professor Hajime Nakamura, D.Litt. (University of Tokyo), Honorary D.Litt. (Government of India and Nehru University), was a distinguished scholar of international repute. He was a member of the Japan Academy and was decorated with the highest Japanese awards such as the medal of Culture and the First Order of the Sacred Treasure. Conferred further honorary degrees of Vidyavacaspati by the President of the Republic of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the honorary doctorate by the University of Delhi, Kuppu-Swami Research Institute, Chennai, he was also Visiting Professor at Harvard and Stanford universities. Founder-Director of the Eastern Institute and President of the Eastern Academy, Prof. Nakamura was a versatile and striking genius. He undertook research that was novel, original, and pioneering, and the number of his publications is astonishingly large. It is, however, regrettable that his works are mostly in Japanese.

Among his many scholastic achievements, the first to be mentioned is A History of Early Vedanta Philosophy, here translated into English. Other important works are: The Selected Works of Hajime Nakamura in 40 volumes; The Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples; A Grand Dictionary of Buddhist Terms, in 3 volumes; The Illustrated Dictionary of Buddhist Terms, Parallel Developments, A Comparative History of Ideas; The Structure of Logic, in two volumes, and many others.

Preface					i
Abbreviations and Selected References					v
Part V Thinkers Subsequent to the Brahma-sutra
Chapter I	General Remarks				3
Chapter II	Tibetan Citations of Bhartrhari's Verses and the Problem of His Dates				9
Chapter III	Upavarsa				29
	Section I	Introduction			29
	Section II	The Man, His Works and His Dates			31
		Sub-Section I	Upavarsa's Status as an Authority		31
		Sub-Section II	His Works		32
		Sub-Section III	His Life and His Dates		36
	Section III	His Thought			37
	Appendix	Upavarsa's Doctrine of the Foundation of Letter-Sounds as Seen in the Yogasutravivarana Attributed to Sankara			46
		I	Introduction		46
		II	Upavarsa as Cited in the Yogasutravivarana		47
		III	Significance in the History of Thought		56
Chapter IV	Bodhayana				61
	Section I	Fragments			61
	Section II	The Man, His Works and His Dates			76
	Section III	His Thought			82
Chapter V	Tanka (Brahmanandin)				87
	Section I	Fragments			87
	Section II	The Man, His Works and His Dates			99
	Section III	His Thought			100
Chapter VI	Dravida				104
	Section I	Fragments			104
	Section II	The Man, His Works and His Dates			115
	Section III	His Thought			120
Chapter VII	Bhartrprapanca				128
	Section I	Fragments			128
	Section II	The Man, His Works and His Dates			130
	Section III	His Thought			133
		Sub-Section 1	His Theory of Knowledge		135
		Sub-Section 2	Brahman and Its Evolution		136
		Sub-Section 3	Religious Practice		149
Chapter VIII	Sabarasvamin				153
	Section I	The Man, His Works and His Dates			153
	Section II	Thought: Sabarasvamin's Atman Theory			155
		Sub-Section 1	Introduction		155
		Sub-Section 2	Characteristics of Sabarasvamin's Atman Theory		156
Chapter IX	Bhartrmitra				170
Chapter X	Srivatsankamisra				174
Chapter XI	Sundarapandya				176
Chapter XII	Brahmandatta				181
Chapter XIII	Govinda				185
Chapter XIV	Mandanamisra				188
Chapter XV	Fragmentary Transmissions of Various Differing Theories				191
	Section I	Different Theories Concerning Atman			191
	Section II	Heretical Theories Concerning Emancipation			193
	Section III	Heretical Exegeses of the Brahma-sutra			194
	Section IV	Commentators on the Chandogya-Upanisad and the Brhadaranyaka-Upanisad			195
	Section V	Pre-Sankara Commentators on the Bhagavad-Gita - Pisaca, Rantideva, Gupta, et al.			198
	Section VI	Jnananidhi			204
	Section VII	Forerunners of the Advaita Theories			205
Part VI The Mandukya-Karika
Introduction					211
Chapter I	Interpretations of Some Words and Phrases of the Mandukya-Upanisad and Karika				214
	Section I	Some Notes on the Verse VII of the Mandukya-Upanisad			215
	Section II	Some Notes on the Mandukya-Karika			219
		Sub-Section 1	Agama		219
		Sub-Section 2	Vaitathya (Illusoriness)		221
		Sub-Section 3	Advaita		230
		Sub-Section 4	Alatasanti		236
	Appendix	Interpretations of Some Technical Terms that Occur Often in the Mandukya-Karika			253
		I	Buddha, sambuddha		253
		II	dharma		254
		III	paramartha		255
		IV	The Simile of Alatacakra		256
Chapter II	Textual Analysis				257
	Section I	Various Names of the Mandukya-karika			257
	Section II	Commentaries on the Mandukya-Upanisad and the Karika			259
	Section III	Changes in the Authoritativeness of the Mandukya-Upanisad and the Karika			267
		Sub-Section 1	The Mandukya-Upanisad and the Karika as Viewed in Early Advaita		268
		Sub-Section 2	The Later Status of the Mandukya-Upanisad in India		272
		Sub-Section 3	Changes in the Evaluation of the Mandukya-Karika		274
			1	Schools other than the Advaita come to take the first chapter of the Mandukya-Karika as a sruti	274
			2	The later Advaita school also concurs that the first chapter of the Mandukya-Karika is a sruti	276
			3	All four chapters of the Mandukya-Karika come to be regarded as Upanisads	278
			4	Conclusion	280
	Section IV	The Compilation of the Mandukhya-Upanisad and the Mandukya-Karika			283
		Sub-Section 1	The Compilation of the Mandukya-Upanisad		283
		Sub-Section 2	Examination of the Characteristics of the Chapters of the Mandukya-Karika		287
			1	Examination of the First Chapter	287
			2	Examination of the Second Chapter	292
			3	Examination of the Third Chapter	296
			4	Examination of the Fourth Chapter	297
			5	Conclusions	302
		Sub-Section 3	Gaudapada and the Compilation of the Mandukya-Karika		307
Chapter III	Thought				314
	Section I	The Standpoint to the Karika			314
	Section II	The Absolute and the Phenomenal World			317
		Sub-Section 1	The Four State (padas) of Brahman		317
			A	The Theory Presented in the Mandukya-Upanisad	317
			B	The Theory in the First Chapter of the Karikas	323
		Sub-Section 2	The Doctrine of Maya		328
			A	The Theory Presented in the Second Chapter of the Karikas	328
			B	The Theory Presented in the Third Chapter of the Karikas	332
		Sub-Section 3	The Vijnanavada Theory as Presented in the Fourth Chapter of the Mandukya-Karika		340
	Section III	Practice			359
		Sub-Section 1	Meditation on OM (The Theory Presented in the Mandukya-Upanisad and the First Chapter of the Karikas)		359
		Sub-Section 2	The Life of Ascetic Wandering Dedicated to Meditation on Atman (The Theory Presented in the Second Chapter of the Karikas)		362
		Sub-Section 3	Asparsayoga (The Theory Presented in the Third Chapter of the Karikas)		365
		Sub-Section 4	The Practice of Consciousness-Only (The Theory Presented in the Fourth Chapter of the Karikas)		369
	Section IV	Opposition and Reconciliation of World-Views			373
		Sub-Section 1	The Unified Standpoint		373
		Sub-Section 2	The Raison d'Etre of Heretical Theories		374
		Sub-Section 3	The Avivada (Non-Disputation) Theory		377
		Sub-Section 4	Synthesis and Reconciliation of Differing Theories in the Scriptures		382
Part VII The Vedanta Philosophy of the Grammarian Bhartrhari
Introduction					393
Chapter I	The Grammarian Bhartrhari: The Man and His Works				412
	Section I	His Works			412
	Section II	The Man			426
Chapter II	The Position of Bhartrhari in the History of Thought				430
	Section I	The Tradition of Grammar and Its Revival by Bhartrhari			430
		Sub-Section 1	Introduction		430
		Sub-Section 2	Bhartrhari's Account of the Tradition of Grammar		432
		Sub-Section 3	The Conditions of the Study of Grammar up until Bhartrhari		436
			I	The Completion of the Samgraha of Vyadi (c.300 BC)	436
			II	From Vyadi to Patanjali (c.300-150 BC)	438
			III	The Composition of the Mahabhasya by Patanjali	438
			IV	The Rise of Heterodox Grammar and the Decline of Orthodox Grammar (150BC. - 200AD.)	440
			V	The Revival of the Orthodox Grammar by the Master Candra (Latter Half of the Third Century)	442
			VI	The Restoration of the Study of Grammar by Vasurata (c.400-450)	444
				Appendix The Date of Candragomin	448
		Sub-Section 4	The Position of Bhartrhari in the History of the Study of Grammar		455
	Section II	Bhartrhari as Vedantin			457
	Section III	Bhartrhari and Buddhism			460
		Sub-Section 1	The Legend that Bhartrhari was a Follower of Buddhism		460
		Sub-Section 2	Bhartrhari as Seen by the Buddhists		462
		Sub-Section 3	"Examination of Brahman as Words" (Sabda-brahma-pariksa) in the Tattvasamgraha		464
		Sub-Section 4	Bhartrhari's Criticism of the Buddhist Theory		481
		Sub-Section 5	Buddhist Influence upon the Vakyapadiya		489
		Sub-Section 6	Conclusion		500
Chapter III	Bhartrhari the Scholar				503
	Section I	Bhartrhari's Theory Concerning the Sacred Books			503
	Section II	The Significance of Bhartrhari's Scholarship as a Grammarian			507
	Section III	Bhartrhari's Theory on Knowledge			513
	Appendix	Western Parallels			529
Chapter IV	Metaphysics				531
	Section I	Absolute Brahman			531
		Sub-Section 1	Brahman in the True Sense		531
		Sub-Section 2	The Argumentation to Prove the Unlimitedness of Brahman		534
			I	The Negation of Indentity-Difference, Being-Non-Being	535
			II	The Negation of Change	539
			III	Comparison with the Traditional Definitions of Brahman	542
		Sub-Section 3	Brahman as the Basis of Differentiated Aspects		545
	Section II	Words			548
		Sub-Section 1	The Pre-History of the Metaphysics of Language		549
			I	Words as the Highest Principle in the Vedas	549
			II	The Concept of sabdabrahman in Later Upanisads and Epics	552
			III	The Theory of World Evolution from Word in Orthodox Brahmin Tradition	554
		Sub-Section 2	Bhartrhari's Theory of Words		556
			I	The Relationship between Words and Meaning	556
			II	Thee Essence of Generality	567
	Section III	Sphota			577
		Sub-Section 1	The Origin of the Concept of Sphota		577
			I	Formation of the Concept of Sphota	578
			II	Views on the Exxence of the Word before Bhartrhari	585
		Sub-Section 2	The Meaning of Sphota		589
		Sub-Section 3	Sentence and Sphota		602
	Section IV	Evolution of the World			611
		Sub-Section 1	The Potential of World Evolution		611
		Sub-Section 2	Material Cause of World Evolution		614
		Sub-Section 3	Change in the Phenomenal World		618
		Sub-Section 4	The Cause of the World and Its Relation to the Phenomenal World		625
		Sub-Section 5	The Problem of Contradiction		630
	Section V	The Individual Self			632
		Sub-Section 1	Atman		632
		Sub-Section 2	Human Activities		637
	Section VI	Practice			648
		Sub-Section 1	Esteem of the Regulations in the Sacred Texts		648
		Sub-Section 2	The Correct Use of Language		649
		Sub-Section 3	Liberation		656
	Section VII	Confrontation and Reconciliation in Views of the World			660
Part VIII Conclusion
Chapter I	The Position of Sankara in the History of Vedanta Philosophy				671
Chapter II	A Summary of the History of Early Vedanta Philosophy				685
Appendices
	A	Supplement to A Hisoty of Early Vedanta Philosophy, Part One			697
		I	The Part of "The Vedanta Chapter of Bhavya's Madhyamakahr-daya"		697
		II	The Part of "The Vedanta as Presented by Bhavya in Madhyamakahrdaya and Tarkajvala"		712
		III	"upasana"		715
		IV	Other		717
	B	Some New Light on Sankara			722
		I	Conflict between Traditionalism and Rationalism: A Problem with Sankara		722
			1	The Significance of the Vedic Scriptures	722
			2	Traditionalism and Rationalism	724
			3	The Standard of Knowledge	728
		II	Meditation in Sankara		734
			1	Meditation and Yoga	734
			2	Special Charcter of Meditation	736
			3	Teaching	737
			4	The Varieties of Meditation	738
			5	Meditation is Action	742
			6	The Reward of Teachings	744
			7	Practice of Meditation	749
			8	Identity and Differences in Teaching	750
			9	Conclusion	754
			10	Some Remarks in Comparison with Zen Meditation	754
		III	The Practice of Yoga as is Represented in Sankara's Yogasutra-bhasyavivarana		756
		IV	The View of Yoga in Sankara's Brahma-sutra Commentary and Its Mediaeval Character		765
		V	Sankara's Vivarana on the Yogasutra-bhasya		768
		VI	A Review of V.M. Apte (trnsl.): Brahma-sutra Shankara-bhashya		776
		VII	An Interview with Sankaracarya of Kancipuram		781
Index					785
Postscript					839

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