How Do I Know?: Critical Analysis of Vedanta Paribhasha

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When we see something, instantaneously a thought forms in the mind Objective Scientists have no tools to evaluate how the sensory input about the perceived object is transformed into thought in the mind. This aspect has been analyzed by our Vedic scholars Dharmaraja Advarindra of the 17th century presented in his book Vedanta Paribhasha, how they analyzed this problem. This book provides a critical analysis of Vedanta Paribhasha dealing with how knowledge takes place in the mind from the perspective of a scientist and a Vedantin.

Dr. K. Sadananda is a Material Scientist by profession. worked at the US Naval Research Laboratory as the Head of Deformation and Fracture, has published extensively in Science, and has received many awards including the Fellow of the American Society of Materials. International, and the Best Paper Award from the Society.

He retired in 2005 and now works as a private consultant in the United States for six months a year and spends six months in India. He was a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Technology,Madras.

He is a disciple of Swami Chinmayanandaji, a founding trustee of Chinmaya He is a Mission. Washingron Regional Center, and Shree Siva Vishna Temple in Maryland. USA He reaches Vedanta on behalf of the Chinmaya Mission. He authored several books on Advaita, three volumes of Journey Beyond: A Non-Dual Approach. Transcending Science. The Self and the Supreme, and The Divine Garland, all published by the Indic Academy. He also authored a book 'Introduction to Vedanta. The Indic Academy also sponsored many of his talks on Vedanta and made them available on you-tube under Acharya Sadajt. He is married ro Smt. Mrinalini Sadananda, a well-known Kuchipudi dancer and choreographer.

Many years ago, coming from a science background, I was curious to know how the mind thinks, how knowledge takes place, and how the sense input data is converted into thoughts. In essence, how the information fed to the brain is processed into thoughts. From objective sciences, I could learn that sense inputs are transmitted to the brain via neurons in terms of electrical signals. The brain 'somehow' converts these electrical signals into thoughts that mimic the sense data. Sciences cannot explain how it is done.

After I got exposed to Vedanta, I was even more curious about the mind, how knowledge takes place, how it is recollected, and how it can be controlled. I got exposed to many theories about the brain and the mind, but most of them I found are just speculations by psychologists on one side and philosophers on the other. Objective sciences could not provide the needed information, although there are many theories under Epistemology (the science of how knowledge takes place) and the degree of reality (Ontology). In essence, objective sciences have no idea how the sense data transmitted via neurons as electrical signals are converted into thoughts in the brain/mind.

It was about twenty-seven years ago that I seriously read Acharya Sadananda's articles on the Vedanta Paribhasha of Dharmaraja Adhvari. The articles appeared on the website advaita.org.uk run by Sri Dennis Waite and they were very useful for my Ph. D studies in Vedanta at that time. Since then. Sri Sadananda published several exhaustive works on the theoretical and practical aspects of Vedanta, but somehow, this text was pending. It is heartening to see that it has now come in the form of a handy book for a student. The heart of the text is the chapter dealing with perception (pratyaksha). Once this is resolved, all related topics fall in place. Hence, Sri Sadananda has limited this book to this primary topic.

VP is said to be a prakarana text, an introductory text, but it is more than that. Usually, in a prakarana text, the subject is presented in simple terms without debate. Polemical texts, called vaada texts, discuss questions relating to possible objections (purva-paksha) and answers resolving such objections (siddhanta). In the VP, we find such debates. which need an exhaustive explanation regarding the stand of the logicians, the Mimamsaka-s, the Buddhists, and others. Hence, it is more than a prakarana text. It is a primary-level vaada text.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages