Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c6.s6.t4.4

c6.s6.t4.4

Dara sees certain obvious equations between Vedānta and Islam. The five elements *ākāśa*, *vāyu*, *tejas*, *jala* and *pṛthvī* are named as *unsūre ālam*, *vāda*, *ātaśa*, *āba* and *ṣoka* in Islamic philosophy and in the same way they are supposed to be the material causes of the universe. By creating hermeneutics, Dara further develops the concept of *ākāśa*, which is of three types — *bhūtākāśa*, *cidākāśa* and *cittākāśa*. The former envelops all material, the second envelops the cosmos and the third one is the Ultimate Reality. In the same way Dara locates affinities to finding out the similarities in terms for sense-organs and the subjects of the sense-organs (*tanmātras*). He based his critique on *Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad*, *Yogavāsiṣṭha* and *Vedāntaratna-mañjūṣā*. The presiding deities of the three *guṇas* (*sattva*, *rajas* and *tamas*) are Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva and they are equated with Jibariāla, Mikaila and Isarāphīla in Islamic concepts. The concepts of *jīvātman* and *paramātman* have their counterparts in Islamic traditions as *rūhajūjaī* and *rūhakulī*. *Rūha-e-Azam* is the Supreme God. He produces Sanskrit translation of Koran IV.35 to support the contention that Almighty God can be seen. In the same way the idea of *mukti* (salvation) also gets new dimensions through hermeneutics.¹⁹⁷