dentical
with the highest Self, the individual soul, the internal organ (manas),
and the principle of egoity (aha@nkara). Whether those Sutras embody an
approval of the tenet referred to, as Ramanuja maintains, or are meant
to impugn it, as /S/a@nkara thinks; so much is certain that in the
opinion of the best commentators the Bhagavatas, the direct forerunners
of the Ramanujas, are mentioned in the Sutras themselves, and hence must
not only have existed, but even reached a considerable degree of
importance at the time when the Sutras were composed. And considering
the general agreement of the systems of the earlier Bhagavatas and the
later Ramanujas, we have a full right to suppose that the two sects were
at one also in their mode of interpreting the Vedanta-sutras.

The preceding considerations suffice, I am inclined to think, to show
that it will by no means be wasted labour to enquire how Ramanuja
interprets the Sutras, and wherein he differs from /S/a@nkara. This in
fact seems clearly to be the first step we have to take, if we wish to
make an attempt at least of advancing beyond the interpretations of
scholiasts to the meaning of the Sutras themselves. A full and
exhaustive comparison of the views of the two commentators would indeed
far exceed the limits of the space which can here he devoted to that
task, and will, moreover, be made with greater ease and advantage when
the complete Sanskrit text of the /S/ri-bhashya has been printed, and
thus made available for general reference. But meanwhile it is possible,
and--as said before--even urged upon a translator of the Sutras to
compare the interpretations, given by the two bhashyakaras, of those
Sutras, which, more than others, touch on the essential points of the
Vedanta system. This will best be done in connexion with a succinct but
full review of the topics discussed in the adhikara/n/as of the
Vedanta-sutras, according to /S/a@nkara; a review which--apart from the
side-glances at Ramanuja's comments--will be useful as a guide through
the Sutras and the /S/a@nkara-bhashya. Before, however, entering on that
task, I think it advisable to insert short sketches of the philosophical
systems of /S/a@nkara as well as of Ramanuja, which may be referred to
when, later on discrepancies between the two commentators will be noted.
In these sketches I shall confine myself to the leading features, and
not enter into any details. Of /S/a@nkara's system we possess as it is
more