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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON ). 



[Vol. XXI. 



forward each his view to be the true one. The expositions are 

 not easy to follow, and require the same effort of attention and 

 study as Western students have to devote to the intricate 

 arguments of Aristotle or Kant. 



Sankaracharya is sometimes described as "a Monist or 

 Non-dualist." But the terms are not regarded as synonymous 

 by the pure Non-dualists , especially by that school of pure 

 Non-dualism, which is the glory of Tamil philosophy and is 

 known as the Saiva Siddhanta. Its chief authority, the 

 Sivajnana polham, draws this important distinction (ii., 2 

 and 3) :— 



" One," say the Vedas. Behold, it is said of the One. The 

 One is the Lord. Thou who sayest " One," art the soul. Lo, in 



bondage art thou. If the One were not, . If vowel A were 



not, letters there would be none. In this wise say the Vedas 

 " One." 



Like song and its tune, like fruit and its flavour, the Lord's 

 energy everywhere pervadeth, non-dual. Therefore say the great 

 Vedas not "One," but '* Not- two." 



The meaning is this : When the Vedas say " Ekam Sat," 

 "All that is, is one," they do not mean the identity of God 

 and the soul, but that God pervades and energizes the soul. 

 The first sound uttered as the mouth opens is the sound of U 

 in but, which sound is represented in Indian alphabets by 

 their initial letter, the vowel A (Sansk. ^JJ, Tamil jy). This 

 sound exists in, and is indispensable to the formation of, the 

 sound represented by every other letter. Thus, the Indian 

 letter A, while it may be said to pervade and energize every 

 other letter, remains also a distinct and the chief letter. So 

 God and the soul. All souls are pervaded and energized by 

 God, as all letters by A, as a song by its tune, as a fruit by its 

 flavour. Nevertheless, like A, God stands apart, Himself, of 

 all things the source and the chief. " One," therefore, in the 

 Vedas must be understood to mean not unity, but non-duality, 

 of God and soul. The same argument is pithily expressed 

 by the poet Tiruvalluvar in his celebrated Kural : 



" All letters have for source the letter A, 

 The world for source hath the Ancient One, 

 The Adorable." 



