Gaudapada's "Treatise on Quelling the Firebrand " A Comparative Study of Early Advaita Venanta and Mahayana Buddhism

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Newman, John

Keywords

Buddhism, Mahayana, Hinduism, Advaita Venanta, Religion, Philosophy

Area of Concentration

Religion

Abstract

This thesis investigates the highly Buddhistic fourth and final chapter ("Treatise on Quelling the Firebrand") of the Gaudapadiya-karika-s ("Verses of Gaudapada"), quite possibly the earliest available record of an uncompromising non-dualistic doctrine (advaita-vada) in the history of Indian Vedanta. According to the Advaita Vedanta tradition, Gaudapada, Shankara's guru's guru (parama-guru), authored all four chapters found in the Gaudapadiyakarika in the early 8th century. Through an analysis of the philosophy upheld in the "Treatise on Quelling the Firebrand" in relation to the two primary scholastic schools of Mahayana Buddhism (i.e., Madhyamaka and Yogacara) and an historical account of the earliest references and citations that may be found mentioning Gaudapada and his verses, we will attempt to determine why the author of this Vedanta treatise found it expedient to infuse his verses with elements drawn from Mahayana Buddhism.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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