Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c11.s16: Paramārthadarśanam
Vāda in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c11.s16
- Language
- English
Paramārthadarśanam
c11.s16.1
*Paramārthadarśanam* of Mahāmahopādhyāya Ramavatar Sharma (1887–1928), one of the most remarkable texts in the history of Indian philosophy and *vāda* tradition, came out in the first decade of the twentieth century. Surprisingly Wilhelm Halbfass who made a very exhaustive survey of recent philosophical works from India in his *India and Europe* nowhere mentions *Paramārthadarśanam* nor does he take any notice of great *paṇḍits* like Ramavatar Sharma. G.C. Pande calls Ramavatar Sharma “an original critical and modern philosopher” who “certainly produced a new and original system of philosophy which in part developed through the criticism and interpretation of traditional Indian schools. In this sense perhaps the system can be called a new Indian system.”¹¹⁰ (Wilhelm Halbfass is also not referring to G.C. Pande also, who raised fresh questions in Indian philosophy and aesthetics through his works like *Bhakridarśanavimarśaḥ* and *Saundaryadarśanavimarśaḥ*.)
c11.s16.2
Aspiring to establish the seventh philosophical system, Ramavatar Sharma wrote the whole text including the aphorisms, *kārikās*, *bhāṣya* and *vārttikas* — all by himself. He accepts a reality that is Supreme Consciousness, but it is not Absolute, it is *sākṣī* (observer) and the world is observed by it. The observer and the object make one indivisible unity. He refutes the theory of *vivarta* (unreal effect), because the world to him is neither negated nor dissolved. Refuting the world-view of the rest of the philosophies, the author of *Paramārthadarśanam* presents his own system and conceptual framework with new definitions of *jīva*, *ātman* and *viśva* (world). He propounds the theory of Dehāntaravāda — accepting an inherent relationship between body and soul — but his propositions are neither akin to the Cārvāka philosophy nor Marxism, because he proposes distinct theories of a *viśvātmakacaitanya* (Universal Consciousness) and Viśvavaicitryavāda (queerness of the world). A *jīva* is like a bubble on the vast sea of the Universal Consciousness. The Universal Consciousness is both knowable and unknowable. It partially reflects itself in the limited psyche of the individual soul.
c11.s16.3
Debating with traditional systems and orthodox philosophies, Sharma introduces some new concepts here. His idea of life involves dynamic concepts. Life to him has three levels — individual, social and universal.