07-17-2004, 02:06 AM
In brief , the dharma was steeped in ritual on the one hand (without necessarilly understanding the meaning of the slokas) reminiscent of the situation today. On the other hand Buddhism ( a naastik darshana) had propagated the notion of sunyavada, with nihilistic overtones. Sankara placed the pendulum back within the 2 extremes with a proper understanding of the relationship of the Brahman (the universal reality) and Atman (the essence of the individual). From that flows many corollaries namely that the action of the individual does matter. For a summary of his life and teachings see
http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/sankara-life.html
http://www.sivananda.org/publications/yoga...ita-vedanta.pdf.
It is my belief that AS introduced the notion of the monastic order (borrowed from Buddhism) into the SDharma. Prior to his advent, i have no knowledge of monastic orders, although there were rishis and their ashramas. I will attempt a fuller reply once i have access to broadband.
I am not as familiar with the works of Ramanujaacharya, and will defer to others.
http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/sankara-life.html
http://www.sivananda.org/publications/yoga...ita-vedanta.pdf.
It is my belief that AS introduced the notion of the monastic order (borrowed from Buddhism) into the SDharma. Prior to his advent, i have no knowledge of monastic orders, although there were rishis and their ashramas. I will attempt a fuller reply once i have access to broadband.
I am not as familiar with the works of Ramanujaacharya, and will defer to others.