ajAti vAda

teaching their disciples in the traditional way represent the core of the living advaita
tradition.
A few authors stand out among the 20th century savants in the advaita daSanAmI
tradition. One is SrI candrasekhara bhAratI of Sringeri, the world renowned
jIvanmukta, who wrote the vivekacUDAmaNi bhAshya. [17] This commentary was
reportedly begun by his guru, Sri saccidAnanda SivAbhinava nRsimha bhAratI. It is
incomplete, with no commentary to the last few verses of the work. Another important
author is SrI saccidAnandendra sarasvatI of the Adhyatma Prakasa Karyalaya,
Holenarsipur, who brought the critical thinking of modern academic scholarship to the
advaita tradition. He wrote the brahmavidyA-rahasya-vivRti on the chAndogya
upanishad, gItASAstrArtha-viveka, vedAntaprakriyA-pratyabhijnA and kleSApahAriNI
on sureSvara's naishkarmyasiddhi, in addition to many other texts in English and
Kannada on the advaita tradition. [18] A third author is SrI vidyAnanda giri, who wrote
a TIkA to toTaka's SrutisArasamuddhAraNa. [19]
Among the householder scholars of recent times, particular mention may be made of
Vasudev Sastri Abhyankar, author of advaitAmoda, N. S. Anantakrishna Sastri, who
wrote advaitatattvasudhA and other works, Kadalangudi Natesa Sastri (1878-1961),
whose periodical, Aryamata samvardhinI published many upanishads and bhAshyas,
with Tamil translations and Tetiyur Subrahmanya Sastri, whose Sankara Gurukulam
school has produced many scholars.
This brief survey of post-Sankaran authors in the advaita tradition attests to its basic
continuity irrespective of India's numerous historical upheavals. A large number of the
teachers in the tradition have remained anonymous, as they taught only select students,
and did not write commentarial texts. Great teachers and authors are found from all over
India, but the scholastic tradition has always been stronger in the south. The sannyAsins
travelled far and wide all over India, preaching basic religious values to the masses and
teaching philosophy to competent students. These teachers often lived and taught side by
side with Saiva siddhAntins, viSishTAdvaitins, dvaitins, bhedAbhedavAdins, leaders of
various bhakti movements, Jains, Muslims and others. As no human being lives in a
vacuum, the rapid changes in India's social, political and religious landscape made their
presence felt in the personal lives of the post-Sankaran teachers in advaita. We see
teachers of the stature of appayya dIkshita, madhusUdana sarasvatI and prakASAnanda
sarasvatI bringing various Saiva, vaishNava and SAkta religious groups, with their own
legacies, within the fold of the orthodox advaita vedAnta tradition. The leadership of
teachers of advaita vedAnta contributed immensely to the inclusivistic nature of
Hinduism, and encouraged a tolerant attitude towards diverse religious practices, that is
so essential to a pluralistic society. However, through it all, the basic "Great Equation"
of advaita vedAnta (Atman = brahman) has been firmly adhered to. The tradition
continues to this day, and possesses an enormous amount of resilience to continue well
into the future.
INDIAN PHILOSOPHIES