The Siddhãntalekzsaingraha is a work of great import in the study of the various schools of Indian Philosophy. It is essentially a collection of views of the philosophers belonging to the schools of Advaita Vedanta. Its uniqueness lies in that the author does not attempt to harmonize the views, but presents them in an unbiased manner for all to draw their own conclusions.
The author of this work, Appaya Diksita (1554A.D.), was a scholar of great renown, who is attributed with the authorship of 400 works, including works on philosophy and rhetoric. The Sid4hantale.sasamgraha was highly esteemed by scholars as is apparent from the number of commentaries on it. However, the compilation has not so far been the target for study by modern scholars so far. Prof. Lalita Sengupta has attempted to rectify’ this failing by undertaking detailed dissertation, based on the various available commentaries. We are grateful to her for her scholarly exposition of this work in such a manner that it will be an asset to researchers and students alike. We are also grateful to UGC or granting the Status of Centre for Advanced Study to the Department of Sanskrit, Jadavpur University, which facilitated such works of high research.
According to Kãlahastiaraiia ivãnanda Yagindra, the commentator of Atmarpana Stava, Appaya Dikita was born in 1554 A.D. and this is noted by Mahamahopadhyay Kuppuswami Sastri in his Sanskrit introduction to the iva-1ilarziava. Bhaoji Dikita was his junior contemporary as is indicated by Bhaoji’s own statement in Tantrasiddhantadipika. This is supported by his other statement in his Tattva-kaustubha which was written by him at the behest of King Keladi Veñkatendra (1604-1625). From the Oriental Historical Manuscripts catalogued by Taylor, Vol II, we come to know that in 1 626A.D. Appaya Dikita came to the Pandya country at the request of King Tirumalai Nayaka to settle some disputes between the aivas and the Vaiavas. Appaya Dikita himself has referred to Nrsimharama Muni, who lived early in this century. According to some scholars —Appaya was his pet name, his real name —was Sri Sri Vinayaka Subrahmaiiyam.
Four hundred works are attributed to Appaya Dikita. We may mention a very few of them — Advaita-nirzaya, Catur-matasãra-sarngraha, Tattva-muktavali (a work on Vedãnta), Püivottaramimãi ud-vãda-naksatra-ma1ã (containing various topics of MimãITlsä and Vedanta), Nyãya-raka-rnai (a commentary on Brahma sUtra), Vedanta-kalpataru-parimala (a commentary on Amalananda’s work), Rdrnãnuja-mata-khandana, Rãmayaalatparja-nirnaya, Vidhi-rasayaza, Kuvalayananda (a work on rhetoric), Citrarnirnãmsã (a work on rhetoric) and many others. Among them Siddhanta1easanha is a collection of views of different philosophers of Advaita school of ankaracarya on some of the most important points of Vedanta. In this work Appaya Dikita only compiled those views, without any attempt of harmonizing them. Moreover he did not show his own preference by the help of well-knit arguments. Nevertheless Siddhãnta1esa- ,samgraha is a very famous work no doubt which is reflected in a number of commentaries, e.g. Kiã1ankdra by Acyuta-kriãnanta Tirtha, Siddhãnta-bindu -.ikara by Gangadharen dra Saraswati, Gucthdnha-praka.a by Ramacandra Yajvan. Among other commentators we may mention Vivanätha TIrtha, Dharmya Diksita,Jivananda Vidyasagara. Appaya Diksita was a great scholar and well-versed in different branches of Sanskrit learning. He was one of the great Advaitins and also was a great devotee of Siva. Siddhãntakkz-sarngraha, though a compilation is a very serious work and has not been attempted by many scholars for its detailed study. So this project is based mainly on different commentaries as were available to me.
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