[Advaita-l] Advaita Siddhi series - an Introduction

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Venkatraghavanji - PraNAms
That is great. Look forward to studying the posts. I request you post these in the advaitin list also.
Hari Om!Sadananda


From: Venkatraghavan S via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>Cc: Venkatraghavan S <agnimile at gmail.com>Sent: Friday, August 25, 2017, 7:21:29 AM EDTSubject: [Advaita-l] Advaita Siddhi series - an Introduction
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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