Early Advaita Vedanta Philosophy, Volume 1

Plain English Translations of the Gaudapada-karikas With a Summary of Shankara’s Commentary

The Gaudapada-karikas is the earliest extant Advaita Vedanta text. It is only explicitly Advaita text deemed worth saving from before Shankara’s time. Its philosophical doctrines makes it worthy of study in its own right and sets the stage for Shankara’s slightly different Advaita. The text is presented here in a plain English translation with notes, along with a translation of the Mandukya Upanishad, and an extensive summary of Shankara’s own commentary upon it. Also included are an essay on early Vedanta, who the author(s) of this text may be, and the influence of Buddhism on the text (especially that of Nagarjuna’s Madhyamaka system); an account of the basic doctrines; an essay on Shankara’s understanding of this text; and a philosophical critique of the doctrines. This books makes the claim intelligible that “All is consciousness, one, and unchanging” and thereby removes much of the shock of Gaudapada’s Advaita Vedanta. But it also raises problems with the plausibility of the claim.