h pariharah acaryyaih_) and Anandagiri
says that "acaryya" there refers to Dravi@dacaryya. This Dravi@dacaryya
is known to us from Ramanuja's statement as being a
commentator of the dualistic school, and we have evidence here
that he had written a commentary on the Chandogya Upani@sad.

A study of the extant commentaries on the _Brahma-sutras_ of
Badaraya@na by the adherents of different schools of thought
leaves us convinced that these sutras were regarded by all as
condensations of the teachings of the Upani@sads. The differences
of opinion were with regard to the meaning of these sutras and
the Upani@sad texts to which references were made by them
in each particular case. The _Brahma-sutra_ is divided into four
adhyayas or books, and each of these is divided into four chapters
or padas. Each of these contains a number of topics of discussion
(_adhikara@na_) which are composed of a number of sutras, which
raise the point at issue, the points that lead to doubt and
uncertainty, and the considerations that should lead one to favour

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[Footnote 1: See note on p. 432.]

[Footnote 2: S'a@nkara's bha@sya on the _Brahma-sutras_, I. iii. 19.]

434

a particular conclusion. As explained by S'a@nkara, most of these
sutras except the first four and the first two chapters of the
second book are devoted to the textual interpretations of the
Upani@sad passages. S'a@nkara's method of explaining the absolutist
Vedanta creed does not consist in proving the Vedanta to
be a consistent system of metaphysics, complete in all parts, but
in so interpreting the Upani@sad texts as to show that they all agree
in holding the Brahman to be the self and that alone to be the
only truth. In Chapter I of Book II S'a@nkara tries to answer
some of the objections that may be made from the Sa@mkhya
point of view against his absolutist creed and to show that some
apparent difficulties of the absolutist doctrine did not present
any real difficulty. In Chapter II of Book II he tries to refute
the Sa@mkhya, Yoga, Nyaya-Vais'e@sika, the Buddhist, Jaina, Bhagavata
and S'aiva systems of thought. These two chapters and
his commentaries on the first four sutras contain the main points
of his system. The rest of the work is mainly occupied in showing
that the conclusion of the sutras was always in strict agreement
with the Upani@sad doctrines. Reason with S'a@nkara never
occupied the prem