Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s10.t10: Brahma Sutra
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s10.t10
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Brahma Sutra
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Created by Baadarayana around the 1st century CE, Brahma-sūtra is the foundational text of the Vedānta school of philosophy. The current version of Brahma-sutra contains portions added still later on and wasn’t fully completed until the 5ᵗʰ century CE. The sutra inherited and improved some of the key philosophical ideas of Brahmanism contained in the Upanishads, and its emergence marked the debut of the Vedānta school as an independent school of philosophy on the Indian philosophical scene.
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The Brahma-sūtra consists of 555 succinct sutras or aphorisms, whose meanings sometimes can only be determined by referring to relevant ancient commentaries. The sutra spawned a large number of commentaries, which tended to construe the text of the Sūtra in different ways. Among the assortment of commentaries, the most famous ones include the commentaries by three prominent philosophers in ancient India, ie Shankara (788-820 CE), Ramanuja (around 11-12 century CE) and Madhava (around 13 centry CE).
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[Figure: ‘Prakaranasyavaca-sastra (Xianyang sheng jiao lun)’, Fangshan Stone Classics, Beijing]
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The Brahma-sūtra is arranged in four chapters (adhyāya), each chapter is divided into four quarters (pāda). Chapter one presents the overarching theme of the whole sutra, explaining that Brahmanis is the ultimate reality and the fundamental essence of everything in the world; chapter two discusses and refutes the possible objections to Vedānta philosophy, and lays out relevant arguments on such topics as the essence of the material world and the world's creation. Chapter three deals with the
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Brahma Sutras, English edition
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relation between Brahman and Atman (self) and the concept of reincarnation. And Chapter four discusses issues such as meditation, karma and release.
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Many of the key issues the Brahma-sutra tackled had already been elaborated on in the Upanishads, with the sutra's focus of inquiry primarily placed on the Brahman-Atman relationship. The Upanishadic thinkers dwelled largely on the fundamental cause for all worldly phenomena, both natural and human, and proposed two basic concepts: "Brahman" and "Atman". "Brahman" is generally considered as the fundamental cause or essence of everything in the world, and is sometimes referred to as the "Self", while "Atman" is regarded as the main actors in life phenomena, and is sometimes referred to as the "self". It is the countless "selves" and related things that are believed to constitute the sphere of phenomena. Quite many Upanishadic thinkers maintained that the "self" and "self" of worldly phenomena are essentially the same thing, hence the theory of "Brahman-Atman unity and oneness"; while some other Upanishadic thinkers chose to draw a clear distinction between Brahman and Atman while describing them, leading to the fact that different Upanishads, or even different parts of the same Upanishad, contain inconsistent, even contradictory, interpretations on the Brahman-Atman relationship. The problem turned out to have exerted a huge influence on the ensuing generations of Vedānta thinkers, causing the Brahma-sutra to suffer the same ambivalence: on the one hand, the sutra describes Brahman and Atman as being one and the same; on the other hand, it makes a distinction between the two, a fact that also helps explain the branching out of the Vedānta school later on.
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The key components of the Brahma-sutra include: interpretations on Brahman-Atman relationship; the theory of bhedābheda ("identity and difference"; repudiations of other schools of philosophy; and the concept of reincarnation and release.
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In describing the Brahman-Atman relationship, the Brahma-sutra also mentions the different viewpoints on the issue from various previous thinkers. According to Bhaskara's commentaries on Brahma-sutra 1.4.19-22, the sutra discusses the views of three thinkers: A-s'marathya upheld the bhedābheda theory; Audulomi advocated the satya-bheda theory; and Kqaktsna endorsed the philosophy of Advaita Vedānta (non-dualism). These views were further improved and developed by several later Vedānta philosophers, with clearly-defined theoretical frameworks being established.
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Baadarayana, the original author of the Brahma-sutra, tended to espouse the bhedābheda theory, holding that as the creator or the fundamental cause of the world, Brahman is distinct from Atman(sphere of phenomena); Brahman and Atman are also a unity in the sense that Atman or all phenomena bear the quality of Brahman and nothing can exist without Brahman, with the relationship between the two likened to that between the sun and its reflection on the water.
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The Brahma-sutra repudiates the key theories of certain schools of thought in ancient India. Despite the conciseness of the sutras, with the aid of the commentaries thereon by such thinkers as Shankara, we can nonetheless get a glimpse of the various schools of thought and theories thereof the sutra argues against.
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He Brahma-sutra repudiates such Samkhya concepts as Prakriti, Purusha and Gunas, rejecting as false the theory that Prakriti is the fundamental cause of everything in the world, as unfounded the theory that the combination of Prakriti and Purusha promotes the transformation of things in the world, and as implausible the Sattva-Rajas-Tamas relationship proposed by the Samkhya school.
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In addition, the Brahma-sutra also rejected the theories of the Vaisesika School as improbable, proclaiming as false such Vaisesika theories as the atomism, the "samavaya" theory and "invisible force" (adrsta). It argues against the proposition that things are composed of atomic elements and asserts that the atomism theory is inherently self-contradictory. It also rejects the idea that adrsta is related to movement of things and there is a "samavaya" relationship between things, arguing that the Vaisesika “samavaya” is actually in endless need of other “samavaya” and therefore is not plausible.
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The Brahma-sutra launched the fiercest “attacks” on Buddhism, renouncing the latter’s theories on the composition of man and things and rejecting as implausible the religion’s theory of five skandhas and atomism. It also repudiates the Buddhist Karma theory, arguing that it is impossible for the 12 laws of karma to mutually cause each other, as
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Brahma Sutras
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each karma law is only the cause for the next one. The Buddhist “Chana Shengmie” theory was also rejected by the sutra as contradicting the Buddhist Karma theory, and the Buddhist “Ze Mie” theory was refuted as impossible too. The sutra also blasted the Buddhist “Emptiness” theory, arguing that conventional wisdom indicates that things cannot stem from empties or nothing. In addition, the Buddhist “dreaming-wakefulness oneness” theory and the “Chitta-matra” theory were also disproved. Finally, the sutra concludes that the various Buddhist theories are all implausible.
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The Brahma-sutra also attacked the Jain theories, repudiating the Jain “seven-limbed seven Vādavidhāna” as improbable, since wholly contradictory judgments cannot exist in the same thing. The sutra also renounced as false the Jain theory that the Jiva expands and contracts depending on the size of the body it inhabits, arguing that as a permanent substance, Jiva shall be of the same size at all times.
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In addition, the Brahman-sutra also refuted the Paśupati and Bhagvad Gita theories.
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The Sutra’s reincarnation and release theory is closely related to its Brahman-Atman theory. Although relevant viewpoints are scattered here and there throughout the text of the sutra, the main argument is clear: those who don’t have a correct understanding of Brahman-Atman relationship and fall prey to ignorance will be condemned to an endless cycle of reincarnation. And only by gaining a truthful understanding of Brahman-Atman relationship and the essence of Brahman can one exit the reincarnation cycle and get released. Since its emergence, the Brahma-sutra has exerted considerable influence on the Indian intellectual history. Major Vedanta thinkers all wrote commentaries on the sutra, wherein they expressed their brilliant viewpoints on relevant issues. For instance, Shankara proposed the “Advaita Vedānta (non-dualism) theory, Rāmānuj proposed his “limited non-dualism” theory, and Madhva proposed the “dualism” theory. These theories constitute the core components of Brahmanist and Hindu philosophy and had played a positive role on the Indian philosophical scene well into contemporary times.
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The theories contained in the Brahma-sutra, as lumped in with the early-day Vedanta theories, were introduced to China along with the Upanishads via Buddhism. Most Chinese Buddhist works don’t distinguish between the Brahman-sutra’s theories and the Vedanta theories and generally classify them all under the category of “Wei Tuo”, “Zhi Lun” or “Ming Lun”. Chapter 1 of “Chengweishilun” by Xuanzang mentions such concepts as “Maheśvara”,
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Essentials of Brahmasutra Bhasya, English edition (front cover)
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“maha-brahman” and “Atman”, all of which are core or basic concepts in the Upanishads, the Brahma-sutra and commentaries thereon. The Chinese Buddhist texts normally never specify the Indian scriptural source for such concepts.
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In modern China, the Brahma-sutra has also received a fair amount of scholarly attention, with the Chinese translation of the sutra already published in the country. Many Chinese scholars focus their research on the Vedanta school, and as a foundational Vedanta text, the Brahma-sutra has gained increasing importance among the Chinese scholars researching Vedanta, who all dedicate a chunk of their research time to examining and studying the Brahma-sutra. Quite some research papers on the Brahma-sutra and the Vedanta school have also been published in relevant Chinese scholarly journals. There are also chapters mentioning the Brahma-sutra in books published in China about Indian philosophy. In Indian philosophy courses offered in Chinese universities, the sutra’s theories are also extensively mentioned.
Cites (1)
- Brahmasūtra — Bādarāyaṇa, Sanskrit