The Buddha and His Predecessors - Page 112

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THE BUDDHA AND HIS PREDECESSORS

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Brahmana was a reality and that Atmana was the same as Brahmana. The Atmana did not realize that it was Brahman because of the Upadhis in which it was entangled.

  1. The question was: Is Brahmana a reality? The acceptance of the Upanishadic thesis depended upon the answer to this question.

  2. The Buddha could find no proof in support of the thesis that Brahmana was a reality. He, therefore, rejected the thesis of the Upanishads.

  3. It is not that questions on this issue were not put to the authors of the Upanishads. They were.

  4. Such questions were put to no less a person than Yajnavalkya, a great seer who plays so important a part in the Brahadarnyka Upanishad.

  5. He was asked : “What is Brahmana ? What is Atmana ?” All that Yajnavalkya could say : “Neti ! Neti! I know not ! I know not!”

  6. “How can anything be a reality about which no one knows anything,” asked the Buddha. He had, therefore, no difficulty in rejecting the Upanishadic thesis as being based on pure imagination.

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