The Naiskarmya Siddhi of Suresvara: A Monograph

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From the Jacket

As a compendium of Advaita Philosophy. The Naisakarmyasiddhi touches on all the salient features of that system. Consisting partly of verse and partly of prose, it presents a clear, brief, and simple account of the Advaita doctrine. Its style is charming and Suresvara handles the philosophical arguments with ease. The central question that the book deals with is 'liberation from transmigratory existence and the means thereto'. Ignorance of the Self (Atman) is the cause of bondage and it can be removed only by right knowledge of the Self which is obtainable from sruti texts.

The Naiskarmyasiddhi consists of four chapters, the fourth being a summary of the first three. The first chapter deals primarily with 'action versus knowledge' as the means to liberation. The second chapter focuses on the distinction between the Self and the not Self. The third chapter discusses the locus and content of ignorance as well as subjecting the sruti Mahavakyas to a rigours analysis. Finally the concluding chapter summarises the first three chapters and quoted illustrative passages from the Upadesasahsri and Mandukyakarika in support of hat he has previously stated.

Grimes' book is an attempt to present a lucid account of the Naiskarmyadiddhi by grouping the dialectics from various parts of the work into topical sections. These topics consist mainly of : action (karma) versus knowledge (atman) and not-self (maya) and various interpretations concerning the Great Saying (mahavakya): aham Brahmasmi and tat tvamasi.

John Grimes earned his B. A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his Master's and Ph. D. degrees from the Radhakrishnan Institute for Advanced Study in Philosophy, University of Madras. His major area of specialization is Advaita Vedanta. His publications include: A concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy (State University o New York ; Oxford, and University of Madras), Sapta Vidha Anupapatti. The Seven Great Untenables (Motilal Banarasidass), Quest for Certainity. A Comparative Study of Heidegger and Sankara (Peter Lang) and An Advaita Vedanta Perspective of Loanguage. Implications for Religious Discourse (Indian Books Centre). At present Grimes is an Assistant Professor at the University of Lethbridge, Lethbridgei, Alberta, Canada.

The Advaita Vedanta sourcebook sampradya a (lineage) includes a class of independent expository works known as the siddhi-literature. These works differ from Advaita's primary source-books prasthana-traya) in that they set forth not only the essentials of Advaita but also present new facets by way of dialectics with other schools. Four works in this group have attracted more reknown than the others by virtue of their authoritative character as well as their polemics. These four are: Mandana's Brahmasiddhi, Suresvara's Naiskarmyasiddhi, Vimuk- tatman's lstasiddhi, and Madhusudana Sarasvati's Advaitasiddhi.

Advaita Vedanta tradition also acknowledges the Naiskarmyasiddhi for a second reason. As a com- pendium of Advaita philosophy, it touches on all the salient features of that system." Consisting partly of verse and partly of prose, it presents a clear, brief, and simple account of the Advaita doctrine. Its style is charming and Suresv ara handles the philosophical arguments with ease. The work is divided into 423 stanzas connected by a prose commentary and is divided into tour chapters (of roughly 100 stanzas each). As well, it is important to the Advaita tradition for two additional reasons First, it was written by Suresvara (who was allegedly a Mimamsaka before his conversion to Advaita). As a defence of Advaita doctrine against Mimamsaka doctrine, it is a classic. Second, Suresvara is known, respected, and honored in the Advaita tradition as part of the authoritative triumvirate: Vyasa, Sankara, and Suresvara. This gives him and his works an importance as an authority which cannot be overlooked or overvalued.

The central question that the book deals with is 'liberation from transmigratory existence and the means thereto'. Ignorance of the Self (Atman) is the cause f bondage and it can be removed only by right knowledge of the Self which is obtainable from sruti texts. The first chaper deals primarily with 'action versus knowledge' as the means to liberation. The second chaper focuses on the distinction between the Self and the not-Self. The third chapter discusses the locus and content of ignorance as well as subjecting the sruti mahavakyas to a rigorous analysis. Finally, the concluding chapter summarises the first three chapters and quotes illustrative passages from the Upadesasahasri and Mandukyakarika in support of what he has previously stated.

There are a number of translations of the Naiskarmyasiddhi: M. Hiriyanna's Naiskarmyasiddhi of Suresvara with the Candrika of Jnanottama, A.J. Alston's The Realization of the Absolute, R. Balasubramanian's The Naiskarmyasiddhi of Suresvara. This monograph differs from those in that it is an attempt to present a lucid account of Suresvara's work by grouping the dialectics from various parts of the work into topical sections.