[Advaita-l] Discussion on "knowledge and the means of knowledge"

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> However,in the book Drg drsya viveka by Swami Nikhilananda published by
> SriRamakrishna Ashrama,Mysore-2,Swami Nikhilananda in his introduction to
> the book writes"The other name by which this treatise is known is
> Vakya-sudha" which is also the commentary on it.....
> Brahmananda Bharati probably wrote,as some authorities hold,a commentary
> called "Vakya -sudha".

So, this indicates, vAkyasudhA = dRg-dRSya-viveka. The same introduction by Swami Nikhilananda explicitly says that Brahmananda Bharati's commentary ascribes the text to Bharati Tirtha.

>However,in the book"Vedanta Paribhasha"by Dharmaraja
> Adhvarindra,traslated and annotated by Swami Madhavananda(published by
> Adwaita Ashrama)in the foot note of the page 157 this verse is quoted as
> from Shankaracharya's Vakya-Sudha-20.Hence the book Vakya-sudha is a
> commentary on Drg drsya viveka.

If there is a vAkyasudhA by SankarAcArya and there is a vAkyasudhA that is a commentary on dRg-dRSya-viveka, then there must be at least two vAkyasudhA-s in your estimation.

However, one should base one's statements on the evidence of the texts, their commentaries and tradition. To reiterate, there is no text called vAkyasudhA written by Sankara bhagavatpAda. It is the text written by Sri Bharati Tirtha in the 14th century that is popularly but *mistakenly* attributed to Sankara by many. Inasmuch as Sri Bharati Tirtha was a titular Sankaracharya, the text can be ascribed to Sankaracharya, but that is about it.

Please note, the Srirangam Vani Vilas Press edition (1910, republished by Samata Books in the 80's) of all the texts traditionally attributed to Sankara Bhagavatpada does not include this text.

Regards,
Vidyasankar

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