On the Alleged Indebtedness of the Vedānta Paribhāṣā Towards the Vedānta Kaumudī: Some Considerations on an Almost Forgotten Vivaraṇa Text (Studies in Vedānta Kaumudī I)

Dharmarāja Adhvarin’s (middle XVII cent.) Vedānta Paribhā?ā (VP) is a well-known introduction to Advaita Vedānta, targeted to beginners who are already trained in Navya Nyāya. According to Dasgupta (1942), the VP is so heavily indebted to Rāmādvaya’s Vedānta Kaumudī (VK), which was composed in the middle of the 14th century and is today almost forgotten, that the VP’s “claim to originality vanishes”. The VK was, however, only edited in 1955 and then again in 1973. In the light of this improved textual basis, what is our judgement about Dasgupta’s hypercritical statement? Did actually the VP ever claim to be original? Was this originality somehow superimposed on the VP later? Is the VP really so much indebted to the VK? This paper aims at comparatively analysing the textual background of these questions. I will start from the analysis of one Advaita’s epistemological tenet, namely the valid knowledge (pramā), in the VK and then compare it to the corresponding parts in the VP.     

Growing without a Strategy? The Case of European Security and Defence Policy

Contrary to the expectations of many experts and politicians, one of the most politically sensitive sectors of the European integration process, the common foreign and security policy, has seen remarkable growth in recent years. The pressure of crises and conflicts beyond the EU's borders and the need to deal with them in a unitary way has driven the governments of member states and the community institutions to take development of CFSP/ESDP more seriously. The process has been pragmatic, establishing the mechanisms and policies required to respond to the challenges. It is this bottom-up, disorderly growth that the Constitutional Treaty had attempted to rationalise in a coherent framework, completing the work of the preceding treaties. With the stalled ratification of the CT, this growth has continued. But it cannot go on indefinitely. In order to bring order and coherence into CFSP/ESDP bodies and procedures, the substance of the Constitutional Treaty must be saved and approved rapidly.     

The Death of Countess Agusta in Portofino (Northern Italy) and the Soil from Two Mismatched Slippers

Abstract:  Accident, suicide, or homicide might have caused the death of Countess Agusta who fell from the 80-m tall cliff of her villa. Two mismatched slippers were recovered along the cliff. Use was made of microscope, X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, and microprobe techniques to compare 40 mg of soil collected from the slipper soles with samples from the villa garden. Structural details of the slipper soles were consistent with the lady wearing them during the fall. Analysis of the soil residues confirmed that they originated from the garden only. The features of a few, minute glass chips adhering to the slipper soles reasonably matched those of other fragments that were found on a small ledge on the cliff beyond the garden parapet. Based on this and other evidence, the case was closed with a verdict of accidental fall.     

Analysis of the Second and Fourth Definitions of Mithy��tva in the Advaitasiddhi of Madhus��dana Sarasvat��

This paper is a preliminary analysis of two among the five definitions of falsity (mithy??tva) presented by Madhus??dana Sarasvat?? (MS) in his magnum opus, the Advaitasiddhi. It is mainly focused on the second and fourth definitions, which at first sight appear to be mere repetitions of one another. The first definition of falsity examined is Prak?????tman??s: ??falsity is the property of being the counter-positive of the absolute absence of an entity in the [same] locus in which it is perceived.?? The other definition investigated was first given by Citsukha: ??falsity is the property of being the counter-positive of the absolute absence residing in its own locus.?? The mutual differences among these two definitions will be underlined following MS himself, as well as some other authors of the later Advaita Ved??nta textual tradition.