First Five Brahmasūtras (विज्ञानभिक्षोः ब्रह्मसूत्रपञ्चचसूत्रीभाष्यम्)

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This is an annotated English translation of Vijñānabhikṣu’s commentaries on the first five Brahmasūtra (BS) of Bādarāyaṇa called the Vijñānāmṛtabhāṣya (VijBh). This is a pioneering work as no translation of the VijBh has been done so far. Bhikṣu is perhaps the only known Vedānta scholar who has argued for Brahman along with his prakṛti-śakti being the cause of the world. He calls his Advaita philosophy as Avibhāga-Advaita and sets himself against Śaṅkara’s Advaita which argues for Brahman alone being the material and efficient cause of the world. Bhikṣu is also an unique Advaita scholar as he interprets Vedānta using Sāṁkhya/Yoga principles. One of the reasons for choosing to comment on only the first five sūtras was because the VijBh is a huge work and also because Bhikṣu’s Avibhāga-Advaita can easily be understood from his commentaries on these first five sūtras of the BS. Even though the real reason for Bhikṣu’s commentary on the fifth sūtra (BS I.1.5) should be clear to anyone familiar with Vedānta’s objection to prakṛti being the cause of the world, it needed to be seen as to how Bhikṣu, as a committed Sāṁkhya-Yoga-Vedāntācārya, defends prakṛti’s role in being the cause. Just as writing commentaries on the first four sūtras of Śaṅkara’s BSBh done by some eminent scholars present the main features of Śaṅkara’s Advaita, the commentaries on the first five sūtras of the BS by Bhikṣu could adequately present Bhikṣu’s Avibhāga-Advaita Vedānta.

Dr. T.S. Rukmani is currently Professor and Chair in Hindu Studies at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. Before joining the present assignment she had the distinction of being the first Chair in Hindu Studies and Indian Philosophy at the University of Durban-Westville, South Africa. She had a distinguished academic career at the University of Delhi and is the only one so far to be awarded the D.Litt. degree from the department of Sanskrit. Her last assignment at University of Delhi was as Principal of Miranda House. She is the author of ten books which include a four volume annotated translation of Vijnanabhikshu?s Yogavarttika (New Delhi: 1981-1989) and a two volume annotated translation of Shankara?s Yogasutra-bhashyavivarana (New Delhi: 2001). She has innumerable papers to her credit and publishes regularly in academic journals both in India and abroad.

T.S. Rukmani

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