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Book Review
Ways of interpretation
N. VEEZHINATHAN
THE SELF AS THE SEER AND THE SEEN — A Phenomenological-Hermeneutic Study: R. Balasubramanian; Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Ernakulam District, Kerala-683574.
Rs. 400.
This work of impeccable scholarship sets forth the teachings of two important works of Sankara, the Atmabodha and the Drg-drsya-viveka, from the phenomenological and hermeneutical points of view. Phenomenology, as R. Balasubramanian observes, is a modern movement in the West from the 18th century and it became popular due to the writings of Husserl. It is an approach that concentrates on the study of consciousness and the objects of direct experience.
In the Indian philosophical tradition, this approach has been in vogue from ancient times. Hermeneutics is concerned with interpretation, especially text interpretation. This term, according to Richard E. Palmer, dates only from the 17th century. In the Indian context, however, the operations of the textual exegesis and the theories of interpretation, which the term implies, date back to antiquity.
Task of interpretation
The task of interpretation is to make something that is unfamiliar, distant and obscure in meaning into something real, near and intelligible. Identifying the commentaries of Sankara on the Prasthanatraya —the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Vedanta-sutra —as first order commentaries, he points out that the method of hermeneutics in regard to the scriptural interpretation adopted by him in his commentaries has reference to five factors: text; context; what the text conveys in the context; what the tradition says in the context and, fusion of horizons — that of the text and the reader. Sankara has interpreted the Prasthanatraya by adopting the phenomenological and hermeneutical methods and sets forth that there ever remains a principle which is fundamental to Nature and the Jivas, and which transcends objectification while in itself is a condition of all objectifications. It is the first principle of philosophy; it is consciousness, bliss, pure identity and a seamless whole. It is the Being. In it, owing to the radical error of Avidya, are superimposed three beings: Isvara, Jiva and the world. The goal of philosophical endeavour lies in unveiling of the Being of beings. In other words, man must realise his true nature as consciousness. This, in brief, is the philosophy of Advaita.
Sankara composed several manuals known as Prakaranas. R.Balasubramanian has chosen the Atmabodha and the Drg-drsya-viveka for applying the methods of phenomenology and hermeneutics. The text Atmabodha has epistemological importance and the text Drg-drsya-viveka has metaphysical significance. This work consists of six well-structured chapters. The first one dealing with the tradition and texts of Sankara brings out a fine distinction between the connotations of the terms “meaning” and “significance” and, he interprets the two texts by throwing light on their “significance.” In the subsequent chapters, he discusses the problem of “enworlded subjectivity”, the theory of superimposition or Adhyasa, the distinction between the two levels of reality (transcendental and empirical), the nature of Maya (Avidya), Brahman and Isvara, the problem of the one and the many, moral and spiritual discipline, liberation and liberated-in-life. The discussion throughout is scholarly and to the point. This is an urbanely objective work, capably and professionally executed. This is a valuable contribution to the literature on Advaita.
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