Drgdrsyaviveka: A philosophical investigation into the nature of the ‘Seer’ and the ‘seen’ (ASRAM VIDYA COLLECTION)

Drgdrsyaviveka, which constitutes an essential and valid introduction to the texts of Vedanta, especially Advaita (non-dual) Vedanta, describes the method that needs to be followed in order to distinguish (viveka) the seer (drk) from the seen (drsya), the ‘subject’ from the ‘object’.The proposed ‘method’ should be understood to mean ‘procedure’, ‘way of working’ to attain an end, and from the first sutra Drgdrsyaviveka not only synthesises the perceptive/cognitive process but also reveals, through a retrogressive procedure, how what appears to be the perceiver is seen in its turn to be something perceived, until we reach a ‘Seer who cannot be an object of perception’, because if it were perceived it would no longer be a knowing subject but a mere object of knowledge.In Drgdrsyaviveka we also find a detailed description of the different kinds of contemplation (samadhi); the three theories concerning the jıva; the sheaths/upadhis covering the jıva; the two powers of maya: that of projection (viksepasakti) and that of veiling (avrtisakti); the various types of karma; and other fundamental matters concerning the Vedantic teaching. These topics are directly related to Vivekacudamani, where Shankara, in a realisative dialogue between an advaitin Teacher and a neophyte, expounds Advaitavada or the Pathway of Non-duality.In his commentary Raphael dwells on the Advaita teaching, clarifying the main points related to the text, and, since any method consists of experimentation, he points out the appropriate ways of putting into practice the method presented by Drgdrsyaviveka.In addition he has matched many passages of this teaching with words of Plotinus, revealing points of convergence and, occasionally, of identity: see especially the quotations from the Enneads concerning ‘living contemplation’ and the metaphysical One which transcends Being.Since this work is an introduction to Vedanta, we thought it appropriate to add a Bibliographical Appendix relevant to the Upanishads, the Brahmasutra, and the Bhagavadgita, which constitute the ‘Threefold Knowledge’ (prasthanatraya) of Vedanta.Raphael is a Master in the Metaphysical Tradition of East and West. He has written several books on the pathway of Non-duality (Advaita) and has translated a number of key Vedanta texts from the Sanskrit. He has also commented on the Orphic Tradition and compared it to the works of Plato, Parmenides, and Plotinus. Read more