y destruction (_uccheda_). Appearances
(_dharma_) are produced only apparently, not in reality; their
coming into being is like maya, and that maya again does not
exist. All appearances are like shoots of magic coming out of
seeds of magic and are not therefore neither eternal nor destructible.
As in dreams, or in magic, men are born and die, so are all
appearances. That which appears as existing from an
imaginary relative point of view (_kalpita sa@mv@rti_) is not
so in reality (_para-martha_), for the existence depending on
others, as shown in all relative appearance, is after all not
a real existence. That things exist, do not exist, do exist
and not exist, and neither exist nor not exist; that they are moving or
steady, or none of those, are but thoughts with which fools are deluded.

429

It is so obvious that these doctrines are borrowed from the
Madhyamika doctrines, as found in the Nagarjuna's karikas and
the Vijnanavada doctrines, as found in _La@nkavatara_, that it is
needless to attempt to prove it, Gau@dapada assimilated all the
Buddhist S'unyavada and Vijnanavada teachings, and thought that
these held good of the ultimate truth preached by the Upani@sads.
It is immaterial whether he was a Hindu or a Buddhist, so long
as we are sure that he had the highest respect for the Buddha and
for the teachings which he believed to be his. Gau@dapada took
the smallest Upani@sads to comment upon, probably because he
wished to give his opinions unrestricted by the textual limitations
of the bigger ones. His main emphasis is on the truth
that he realized to be perfect. He only incidentally suggested
that the great Buddhist truth of indefinable and unspeakable
vijnana or vacuity would hold good of the highest atman of the
Upani@sads, and thus laid the foundation of a revival of the
Upani@sad studies on Buddhist lines. How far the Upani@sads
guaranteed in detail the truth of Gau@dapada's views it was left
for his disciple, the great S'a@nkara, to examine and explain.

Vedanta and S'a@nkara (788-820 A.D.).

Vedanta philosophy is the philosophy which claims to be
the exposition of the philosophy taught in the Upani@sads and
summarized in the _Brahma-sutras_ of Badaraya@na. The Upani@sads
form the last part of the Veda literature, and its philosophy is
therefore also called sometimes the Uttara-Mima@msa or the
Mimamsa (decision) of the later part of the Vedas as distinguished
from the Mima@msa of the previous part o