The Hidden Lives of Brahman: Sankara's Vedanta Through His Upanisad Commentaries, in Light of Contemporary Practice

447 Pages·2013·21.89 MB·English

by  Śaṅkarācārya., Dubois, Joël André-Michel, Śaṅkarācārya

The Hidden Lives
of Brahman
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SUNY series in Religious Studies
Harold Coward, editor
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The Hidden Lives
of Brahman
Śaṅkara’s Vedānta through His Upaniṣad Commentaries,
in Light of Contemporary Practice
Joël André-Michel Dubois
Foreword by Christopher Key Chapple
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Cover Illustration: A brāhmaṇa boy venerates the sun at midday across the river
from Śṛṅgeri’s temples (photograph by Prashant Sringeri).
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2013 State University of New York
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For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production by Diane Ganeles
Marketing by Michael Campochiaro
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dubois, Joël André-Michel.
The hidden lives of Brahman : Śaṅkara’s Vedānta through his Upaniṣad commen-
taries, in light of contemporary practice/Joël André-Michel Dubois; Foreword by
Christopher Key Chapple.
pages cm.—(SUNY series in religious studies)
Includes bibliographical references.
Summary: “Using both textual and ethnographic sources, demonstrates that in
Sankara’s vedanta brahman is an active force as well as a transcendent ultimate”—
Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-4384-4805-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Brahman. 2. Upānishads—
Criticism, interpretation, etc. 3. Sankaracarya. 4. Vedanta. I. Title.
BL1124.57.D83 2013
294.5’2113—dc23
20 1 2 0 4 6 1 8 7
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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yair ime gurubhiḥ pūrvaṁ pada-vākya-pramāṇataḥ /
vyākhyātāḥ sarva-vedāntā tān nityaṁ pranato ’smy aham //
The elders who, by [paying attention to] word, utterance, and [accurate]
measures [of reality], fully explained all vedāntas—before
those [elders] I am perpetually prostrate.
—Śaṅkara’s invocation to the
Taittirīya Upaniṣad Bhāṣya
In Memory of

My Father, André Dubois
(1939–2012)

and

Father William Cenkner, O.P.
(1930–2003)
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Illustrations ix
Pronunciation of Sanskrit Words xi
Foreword xiii
Preface xv
Abbreviations xxi
Chapter 1 Introducing Brahman:
The Hidden Lives of Śaṅkara’s Vedānta Teaching 1
Part 1: Envisioning Brahman 27
Chapter 2 Attending to Brahman:
Upāsana Practice Past and Present 29
Chapter 3 Learning Brahman: The Daily Life of the Brahmacārin 51
Chapter 4 Envisioning Veda: First-Person Declarations
in Śaṅkara’s Upaniṣad Commentaries 75
Part 2: Imagining Brahman 105
Chapter 5 Conditioning the Mind for Brahman:
Saṁskṛta Training Past and Present 107
Chapter 6 Perfecting the Life of Brahman:
The Training of the Saṁskṛta Paṇḍita 149
Chapter 7 Perfecting the Vedic Imagination: Imagery and
Rhetoric in Śaṅkara’s Upaniṣad Commentaries 179
Part 3: Perceiving Brahman 239
Chapter 8 Thinking Deeply About Brahman:
The Two Mīmāṁsās, the Lost Art of Yajña, and the
Hidden Structure of Brahman 241
Chapter 9 Giving Up the Inconstant Brahman:
Contemporary Saṁnyāsins and Aspiring Renouncers 285
Chapter 10 Discerning the Paradox of Veda: Ritual Activity
and Insight in Śaṅkara’s Upaniṣad Commentaries 305
Conclusion: Brahman as Center and Periphery 347
Appendix: Diagrams of Key Concepts 349
Notes 353
Bibliography 395
Index 405
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1.1 Bronze icon of Śaṅkara worshipped in the small temple at
the back side of the Śṛṅgeri audience hall during Śaṅkara’s
“Victory Day” celebration. 4
1.2 Bhāratī Tīrtha presides over recitation of Śaṅkara’s Conquest
of the Directions at Śaṅkara’s Victory Day celebration in the
Śṛṅgeri audience hall, April 1999. 7
3.1 Brāhmaṇas at Mattūr gather to venerate and contemplate
suent.itnhge 57
3.2 A teacher leads brāhmaṇa boys in recitation of their lineage’s
veda. 65
6.1 Bhāratī Tīrtha presides over chanting of the yajur veda to
initiate the evening session of the “Council of the Insightful”
in the fall of 1999. 172
6.2 Saṁskṛta scholars share a specialized joke at the morning
session of the “Council of the Insightful” in the fall of 1999. 176
9.1 Three saṁnyāsins stand behind the burial shrine of a
Śṛṅgeri guru as they wait for the evening session of
“Council of the Insightful” to begin in the fall of 1999. 290
9.2 Subrāya Śarma explains one of Śaṅkara’s upaniṣad
commentaries to lay students at a community gathering
hall in Bengalūr, spring 1999. 296
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