Vṛṣabhadeva on the Status of Ordinary Phenomena B

Authors: Marco Ferrante

Publish Date: 2014/08/20

Volume: 43, Issue: 1, Pages: 61-83

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Abstract

Vṛṣabhadeva’s Sphuṭākṣarā a commentary on the first chapter of Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya and its Vṛtti offers a peculiar interpretation of the monistic ideas exposed at the beginning of the mūla text The reflection on the status of ordinary reality and its relation with the unitary metaphysical principle is particularly interesting Although according to Bhartṛhari’s perspective the entities of the world are real the Sphuṭākṣarā offers a more intricate picture in which different degrees of reality seem involved Furthermore the author adopts hermeneutical tools that are unusual in Bhartṛhari’s texts and comparable to those of Advaita Vedānta In particular the article will deal with Vṛṣabhadeva’s use of the notion of ‘inexpressibility’ anirvacanīyatva as well as with other concepts which are typical of the scholastic phase of Advaita In discussing these affinities the paper will also touch upon the problem of Vṛṣabhadeva’s historical collocation

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