Lecture 8 part 2

Question 1

Who was badharayana and what was the problem with what he did?

Answer 1

Badharayana was a scholar who wrote the vedanta sutra which were commentaries on the upanashids clarifying and explaining what they meant. The problem was that these sutras were very short and confusing to which part of the upanashids they were referring to.

Question 2

What did scholars do in response to the confusing sutras and what did they disagree upon?

Answer 2

Scholars wrote commentaries on the vedanta sutra and the upanashids clarifying what they were and explaining their content so it was easy to understand. They disagreed on whether brahman was seperate from the atman or whether the world was real or not.

Question 3

Sankara acharya

Answer 3

was a scholar who claimed that the world was either an illusionary projection, or a fake cover of actual reality either way the world we percieve of is not real. He proposed that there are two realities conventional and the absolute reality and if one realizes the absolute reality he can emerge with brahman. Founder of the advaita school of philosophy

Question 4

Ramanujaacharya

Answer 4

Was a scholar who claimed the world was not an illusion but real and that when individuals realize the ultimate reality they do not merge with brahman but restore their blissful relationship with it. He claimed brahman was personal and contains qualities like is blissfulness, intelligence, compassion and friendliness. The worlds and souls however exist within brahman and cannot be seperated from him.

Question 5

Responses to contradictions made in the upanshids:

Answer 5

Sankara: personal claims refer to conventional reality and impersonal claims refer to the absolute
Ramanuja: Personal claims refer to actual reality and god, while impersonal claims refer to the fact that the worlds and souls cannot be seperated from god.