Panchapadika of Padmapada [English Translation]

THE PANCAPADIKA OF PADMAPADA (Translated into English) by Rajasevasakta D. VENKATARAMIAH, B.A., L.T. Formerly Mysore Educational Service ORIENTAL INSTITUTE BARODA 1948 GAEKWAD'S ORIENTAL SERIES Published under the Authority of the Government of His Highness the Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda General Editor : B. Bhattacharyya, M.A., Ph.D. Rajyaratna, Jnanajyoti No. CVII THE PANCAPADIKA OF PADMAPADA (Translated into English) PRINTED AT THE BANGALORE PRESS, BANGALORE CITY, BY G. SRINIVASA RAO, SUPERINTENDENT, AND PUBLISHED ON BEHALF OF THK GOVERNMENT OF HIS HIGHNESS THE MAHARAJA GAEKWAD OF BARODA BY BENOYTOSH BHATTACHARYYA, DIRECTOR, ORIENTAL INSTITUTE AT THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE, BARODA Price: Rs. 17 FOREWORD The famous Vedanta polemical work, PancapadikS. of Padmapadacarya in English translation is now presented to all lovers of Indian Philosophy as No. CVII of the Gaekwad's Oriental Series. The publication of this work is a melancholy story since the esteemed translator, the late Rajasevasakta Sri. D. Venkataramiah, died as soon as arrangements were made to print his book at the Bangalore Press, Bangalore. Before his death he was very anxious to have the book printed, and always reminded us that delay might kill him. The work was first entrusted under Government orders to the Sadhana Press, Baroda, but this press, hardpressed with work, could not make any headway even after a lapse of full one year. Thereafter, Mr. Venkataramiah him- self fixed the Bangalore Press for printing his work, and this printer within a short time set up nearly a hundred galleys in type. These galleys were sent to the editor without delay, but by that time Mr. Venkataramiah was too ill to revise the proofs. That illness proved to be his last illness and he expired on Friday, 13th June 1947, at the ripe old age of 81, and thus India lost a great scholar, a profound philosopher and above all, a gentleman of very high qualities and character. We were associated with Mr. Venkataramiah for the last ten years or more, and we shall ever remember with appreciation and admiration his great desire to help us in difficulties, his remarkable promptitude in disposing of business and the uniform courtesy that was inherent in him. The late Mr. Venkataramiah was conscious that he was old and that he may collapse at any time. In order that the printing of the work may not suffer in any way, he requested his friend and associate, Mr. D. V. Gundappa, a well-known political, literary and social worker of Mysore, to examine the proofs of the Pancapadika in case anything happened to him. But alas ! the worst happened, and the author passed away leaving the heavy responsibility of printing this complicated work to others. Those were the days of intense political excitement and activity in the State of Mysore, as throughout the rest of India ; and Mr. Gundappa, being an old public worker, could not but go forward to take' his share in the struggle. This necessarily meant the diversion of his attention from the unexciting pages of the Pancapadika which asked rather for concentration of attention. After he had gone through the first 30 or 40 pages, Mr. Gundappa saw that he was in a situation likely to make for delay if he continued to retain the responsibility for proof-reading; and it was thereupon agreed that the General Editor should take over the responsibility. The General Editor would assure the readers that he has performed his part to the best of his ability. His only regret is that the proofs of this great and standard philosophical work could not be examined either by the late author, Mr. Venkata- ramiah, or his nominee, Mr. D. V. Gundappa. The late Mr. Venkataramiah spared no pains in making the translation perfect. He not only translated the most difficult Vedantic text of Pancapadika but followed the subtle differentia- tion in elaborate notes from the Vivarana at every step. Besides this in a detailed conspectus he gave exhaustive notes with original quotations from Vedantic works and copious comparisons of topics and views of the greatest authorities on Vedanta. The material presented in this volume with the critical acumen exhibited by the translator at every step is bound to make the volume a standard work on the subject and an outstanding contribution to Vedanta Philosophy. At our request Mr. D. V. Gundappa has contributed a bio- graphical note on the late Rajasevasakta Sri. D. Venkataramiah, and this is printed as part of the preliminary pages, and for this act of courtesy, grateful thanks of the General Editor to Mr. Gundappa are recorded here. It is not possible to close this Foreword without a reference to the author, Padmapada, who is the founder of what is known as the Vivarana school of Vedanta, as running parallel to the Bhamati School started somewhat later by the famous scholar, Vacaspati Mi&ra. It is hardly necessary to state that Padmapada was a direct disciple of Sankaracarya, the founder of what is called the Advaita school of Vedanta. Sankaracarya's teachings are in- corporated in the Sariraka Bhasya on the Vedanta Sutras of Badarayana, and subsequently Sankara*s original teachings were interpreted differently by two different schools of thought, one headed by our author, Padmapada, and the other by Vacaspati MiSra as already alluded to. A large literature grew round the works of these two authors, and they were known by the names of the Vivarana and Bhamati schools of Vedanta. * In the course of time, the Vivarana school seems to have fallen into desuetude as compared with its rival ; and for this, two reasons at least are clearly discernible: (1) The basic text of the Vivarana school, namely, the Pancapadika, is available only in the form of a fragment while that of the other '(Bhamati) is in its complete form. The general student of Sankara's philosophy would naturally prefer that Vyakhyana which covers the Bhasya on all the 555 sutras to that which is unfortunately found limited to just four of them. It is not unreasonable to assume that the Bhasyakara's mind is more fully brought out in the Bhamati which deals with the sutra topics from A to Z than in the extant fraction of the Pancapadika, whatever be the relative merits of the two VyakhySnas which it should be only for specialists to take into account. To the average student, both alike represent Sarikara's Advaita; and their interpretative distinctions are to him merely a technical matter. Unlike Padmapada whose known achieve- ment is only in the field of one Darsana, Vacaspati the author of Bhamati has to his credit works of recognised authority in all the six DarSanas. His works in Nyaya, Samkhya and Purvamlmamsa have earned for him a prestige which naturally magnifies his stature in the realm of the Vedanta. This is an advantage not matched in the case of Padmapada. In addition to these two facts, we may also note that some scholars hold the view that while Vacaspati (Bhamati) scrupulously keeps close to the letter of the &ankara Bhasya, Padmapada (Pancapadika) tries to supple- ment the original with something of his own thought in the process of clarification and argument. This impression of Bhamati's greater literal approximation to the original may be another reason for Vivarana's comparative lack of popularity. On the other hand, thinkers and writers of no inferior stand- ing mindful of the doctrinal possibilities of the Saiikara Bhasya have looked upon the Vivarana (Pancapadika) literature as an invaluable source of light and guidance. This should be evident when it is recalled that among the contributors to this literature is the great Madhava Vidyaranya, author of the Vivarana-prameya- sangraha as of the more popular Vedanta Pancadasl. The question of the place of the Vivarana school in the history of Advatitc thought is one that awaits the attention of the researcher. Padmapada's work and all commentaries thereon are thus of academic and antiquarian interest, as they are undoubtedly of unique interest to the student of pure philosophy ; and if proper care is not taken to preserve this literature it is quite possible that the school will be relegated to the limbo of oblivion in the course of another century. Whether the Indian Pandits and the Sanskrit Pathasalas will make a renewed attempt to revive this forgotten school, time alone can say. But there is no doubt that Padma- pada's arguments are sound and have a strong appeal, and his painstaking interpretations with hair splitting differentiations will certainly excite the admiration of succeeding generations with unabated vigour. The hairline subtleties of his writings perhaps can only be compared with the critical analysis resorted to in the Navya Nyaya school of later times. Being a direct disciple of the great saint Sarikaracarya there is hardly any difficulty in fixing Padmapada's age. 3ankaracarya according to tradition lived for 32 years, and painstaking research has shown that this period was covered by the years 788-820 A.D. Thus Padmapada's time can be precisely fixed at 820 A.D. and scholars have generally agreed on this point. Our author Padmapada is reputed to have written two works both of which have fortunately survived. One of them is the Pancapadika which is a commentary on the Sankara Bhasya on the first four sutras of the Brahma Sutras. The name Pancapadika however sug- gests that the original commentary was obviously on five sutras, out of which one was lost subsequently. In his introduction to the Siddhanta Bindu (G.O.S. No. LX1V) on p. xci the editor Mr. P. C. Divanji has recorded an interesting story explaining the circumstances under which part of Padma- pada's book was lost.

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