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side, or from outside the Text, and inscribeand marginalize-their competitors in the Text, in a narration which verifies the implausibility of those other positions. In this section (III) I consider the former of these ventures, and in the next section (IV), the latter. |
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Here I focus on four key texts in order to trace Advaita's construction of the right meaning of the upanisads: 1. UMS III.3.11-13, which initiates the project of coordination (upasamhara), is a first step toward bridging the gap between Brahman as described in various texts, and Brahman as knowable simply and immediately, after texts; 2. UMS I.1.5-11, which initiates the project of harmonization (samanvaya), shows that the upanisads are unanimous in their identification of the object of salvific knowledge, i.e., Brahman as identified in one key upanisadic text;
21 3. UMS I.1.2, where the word "Brahman," which names the object of the Advaita inquiry, is designated to mean "the cause of the world," but where there is also the additional claim that this cause can be inferred only from the upanisads and not from the evidence of the world, the supposed effect; 4. UMS IV.3.7-14, where Sankara moves closest to a systematic statement of his understanding of Brahman. |
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1. UMS III.3.11-13: Can We Assume that Brahman is Always Bliss? |
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We saw in Chapter 2 that the primary task in UMS III.3 is coordination, a practical understanding of parallel upanisadic texts that enables one to use them together in meditation without reducing them to one text. In order to facilitate more manageable meditation practices, and secondarily (perhaps) to articulate a doctrine of Brahman, the Advaitins argue that the upanisadic texts have an "extratextual" reference: texts from different Vedic schools can be used together, since Brahman is the single referent of all of them. |
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The issue is posed most clearly in UMS III.3.11-13, where the Advaitins seek to distinguish terms about Brahman which apply in every meditation from those which are usable only in one particular meditation. Certain descriptive termsBrahman is true, existent, blissful, etc.are said to pertain to the essence |
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