[Advaita-l] Advaita Siddhi series - an Introduction

[V Subrahmanian]

Dear Sri Venkat ji,

It is heartening to note that you have set your mind on this great endeavor
of bringing out the content of the Advaitasiddhi into the English language.
Even though this work demands a high level of mastery of navya nyāya
concepts, yet with the help of the painstaking and sincere exposition of
the text by the three Advaita Acharyas of Chennai, as you have said, the
work of rendering it into English becomes possible, if not an easy one.

The best wishes of all of us, the seeking Advaitins, to you.  You may think
of giving a number to each article to help those who follow them.

शुभं भूयात् । विघ्नराजः पातु ।

Thanks and regards
subbu

On Fri, Aug 25, 2017 at 4:50 PM, Venkatraghavan S via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> चिद्घनगणेशाय नम: |
>
> श्री गुरुभ्यो नम: |
> सदाशिव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचार्य मध्यमाम् |
> अस्मदाचार्य पर्यन्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ||
>
> On this auspicious gaNesh chaturthi day, with the encouragement of list
> seniors like Sri Subrahmanian ji, I am attempting a series that
> sequentially presents the content of the Advaita Siddhi in English.  As you
> know, Advaita Siddhi is a text by *SrI madhusUdana sarasvati* svAminah, one
> of the greatest AchAryas within the advaita tradition. The text was written
> in response to a brilliant work titled nyAyAmrita, by *SrI vyAsa tIrtha*,
> an equally renowned and influential AchArya within the dvaita tradition.
>
> At the outset, I would like to state for the record that I do not feel
> particularly qualified to write about a text like the advaita siddhi. That
> I have even attempted such a foolhardy exercise as trying to present this
> complex text in English, is motivated by two reasons. As far as I am aware,
> there is no complete English translation of the text available today.
> Secondly, this is a text which demands deep engagement from the student.
> This becomes especially difficult for students of advaita (and indeed other
> philosophies within the sanAtana dharma umbrella) not particularly
> comfortable in sanskrit. Therefore, this series has been created with the
> aim of making the text more accessible.
>
> Philosophy in general, and moksha siddhAnta in particular, ought to live
> not in unopened books in libraries, but in the hearts and minds of its
> adherents. I hope this series will help bridge this gap.
>
> I will try to translate most of the sanskrit words of the text, but in some
> places where the meaning is more comprehensible in sanskrit, I may decide
> to use the original sanksrit terms - I have often found the fully
> translated versions of texts more inscrutable than the sanskrit ones.
>
> The posts in this series are based on lectures in Tamil conducted on the
> advaita siddhi in Chennai by Sri R Krishnamurthy Sastrigal, Sri Mani Dravid
> Sastrigal and Sri Goda Venkateshwara Sastrigal. Clearly, any errors in
> presentation or understanding are my own and should not be attributed to
> the three stalwarts.
>
> For people interested in such matters, the Sanskrit text follows the 2nd
> edition of the Advaita Siddhi as edited by mahAmahopAdhyAya vedAntaviSArada
> Anantakrishna sAstrigal, published by Pandurang Jawaji of the Nirnaya Sagar
> Press, Bombay (1937).
>
> My deep-felt thanks to my gurus and many others who have helped in this
> regard.
>
> The posts in this series will also be made available at
> www.advaitasiddhi.com, so that people not on this list can access them. I
> will try to make one post a week, but in case that does not happen, I seek
> your forgiveness in advance. The first chapter, the mangaLAcharaNam, will
> be posted shortly. If the list moderators would prefer that I send a link
> instead (to save storage space on the server), I would be happy to do so.
>
> If you have any comments/corrections/suggestions, please email me off the
> list and I would be happy to discuss.
>
> Regards,
> Venkatraghavan
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