abling
us to form a judgment as to the nature of the philosophical doctrine
advocated by Badaraya/n/a. The reason of this is that the greater part
of the work is taken up with matters which, according to /S/a@nkara's
terminology, form part of the so-called lower knowledge, and throw no
light upon philosophical questions in the stricter sense of the word.
This circumstance is not without significance. In later works belonging
to /S/a@nkara's school in which the distinction of a higher and lower
vidya is clearly recognised, the topics constituting the latter are
treated with great shortness; and rightly so, for they are unable to
accomplish the highest aim of man, i.e. final release. When we
therefore, on the other hand, find that the subjects of the so-called
lower vidya are treated very fully in the Vedanta-sutras, when we
observe, for instance, the almost tedious length to which the
investigation of the unity of vidyas (most of which are so-called
sagu/n/a, i.e. lower vidyas) is carried in the third adhyaya, or the
fact of almost the whole fourth adhyaya being devoted to the ultimate
fate of the possessor of the lower vidya; we certainly feel ourselves
confirmed in our conclusion that what /S/a@nkara looked upon as
comparatively unimportant formed in Badaraya/n/a's opinion part of that
knowledge higher than which there is none, and which therefore is
entitled to the fullest and most detailed exposition.

The question as to what kind of system is represented by the
Vedanta-sutras may be approached in another way also. While hitherto we
have attempted to penetrate to the meaning of the Sutras by means of the
different commentaries, we might try the opposite road, and, in the
first place, attempt to ascertain independently of the Sutras what
doctrine is set forth in the Upanishads, whose teaching the Sutras
doubtless aim at systematising. If, it might be urged, the Upanishads
can be convincingly shown to embody a certain settled doctrine, we must
consider it at the least highly probable that that very same
doctrine--of whatever special nature it may be--is hidden in the
enigmatical aphorisms of Badaraya/n/a.[24]

I do not, however, consider this line of argumentation a safe one. Even
if it could be shown that the teaching of all the chief Upanishads
agrees in all essential points (a subject to which some attention will
be paid later on), we should not on that account be entitled
unhesitatingly to assume that the Sutras