ADVAITA SECT IN KARNATAKA

ADVAITA SECT IN KARNATAKA

Karnataka has harboured all the three important philosophical schools and the corresponding sects of the Brahminical religion namely Advaita, Vishishtadwaitha and Dvaita. The last named sect originated in Karnataka where as the other two came here from other states. Advaita is a monistic school of philosophy propounded by Sri Shankaracharya (788-820 A.D.) from Kerala. The followers of this schools are called ‘smArta’s. It does not make any distinction between the God and the soul. (Jeevatma and Paramatma) It perceives the sensory universe as illusory and believes that God alone is real. (Brahma Satyam Jagan Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparah) Anything distinct from the Absolute, including the phenomenal universe, and the gods themselves as well as the inhabitants of the world was an illusion (mAyAvAda)

The presence of the Advaita sect in Karnataka is two fold, in a historical sense. Firstly, the philosophical tenets propounded by Shankaracharya were developed by great scholars from Karnataka such as Vidyaranya, Sureshvaracharya, Sayanacharya and others. Secondly, the establishment of the celebrated ‘Sharadaa Peetha’ and the Sringeri maTha at Sringeri in Chikkamagalur district resulted in a furtherance of the sect in various parts of Karnataka.

Sri Sureshvaracharya was one of the brilliant disciples of Shankaracharya and he was made the chief of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham by his master. Sri Sureshvaracharya elucidated the commentaries written by Sri Shankaracharya by his own expositions called ‘vaartikaa’s. The vartikaas are composed on the ‘Taittiriya Upanishadic Bhashya’, ‘Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Bhashya’ and ‘Panchikarana’. His ‘vaartikaa’ on the Dakshinamurthy Stotra is known as ‘maanasOllaasa vaartikaa’. ‘Naishkarmya Siddhi’ is a well known monograph delineating the fundamental principles of advaita philosophy.

Vidyaranya continued this tradition by composing about sixteen important texts. ‘ParAshara mAdhavIyam’, ‘jaiminIya nyAyamata’, vaishESika nyAyamAlA’ ‘kAla nirNaya’, ‘sarvadarshanasangraha’, vEdAnta pancadashi’, ‘Drig drishya VivEka’, ‘anuBUti prakAsha’, ‘vivaraNa pramEya sangraha’ and ‘jIvanmukti vivEka’ are the more important ones among his works. Many of them either explicate or further the teachings of Sri Shankaracharya.

Sayanacharya (1315-1387A.D.) and Madhavacharya have written most authoritative commentaries on most of the texts in the huge body of Vedantic literature. Some of them are on ‘Taittiriya Samhita’, ‘Rigveda Samhita’, ‘Aitareya Samhita’, Ishavasya Upanishad, Chhandogya Upanishad, Taittiriya Upanishad and Katha Upanishad. ‘Sudhaanidhi’s are compendiums on various branches of Knowledge includingAdvaita philosphy. ‘Prayashitta sudhanidhi’, ‘Purushartha sudhanidhi and ‘Yajnatantra sudhanidhi’ rank among the important members of this genre.

Appayya Dikshita of the 16^th century is another important Advaita scholar from Karnataka. ‘Siddhanta-lesa-sangraha’ is his most important work.

‘Viveka Chintamani’ by Nijaguna Shivayogi and ‘Anubhavamrita’ by Mahalingaranga are two among the important works on Advaita written in Kannada.

Advaita sect is spread far and wide in Karnataka and it has a sizable number of adherents among the Brahmins of Karnataka. It received royal patronage from many dynasties including the Vijayanagara Empire and Tipu Sultan. MaThas at Sringeri, Shivagnaga, Holenarasipura, Kudali and Sirsi have their own disciples. There are branches of the Sringeri Matha in Bangalore and other places in Karnataka.