Brahma Sutras: Text, Word-to-Word Meaning, Translation, and Commentary [Paperback]

Badarayana (Author), Swami Sivananda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2008

Commentaries,there have been many on the Brahma Sutras,but either they are too short and insufficient to be useful for a comprehensive study of the sutras,or are extremely tough and abstruse to be utilised by men of ordinary understanding.This work of Swami Sivananda is of a unique type in itself,unrivalled by any other.This commentary is neither too short to be useless,not too verbose to be unintelligible,but follows a cia media course,useful to one and all,mainly the spiritual aspirants,who want thought,not mere word. Swamiji has got his own inimitable way of writing,which is a boon to the inquisitive student on the spiritual path.All real aspirants after truth should possess this book,for it is a guide-light that is capable of steering them across the sea of ignrance and doubt. A clear and easy exposition by Swami Sivananda.Swamiji,explains the Brahma Sutras to all aspirants of Truth dispelling all ignorance and doubts.In addition,he has given useful information which will not be found elsewhere.An elaborate introduction and summary of the different Adhikaris precedes each pada. .Each Sutra contasins a word-by-word and a running translation.The text of the Brahma Sutras is included herein to enable the readers to do Swadhyayana and get them by heart for purposes of meditation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Brahma sutras, also known as Ved nta Sutras, constitute the Nyaya prasthana, the logical starting point of the Vedanta philosophy (Nyaya = logic/order). No study of Vedanta is considered complete without a close examination of the Prasthana Traya (Prasthanatrayi), the texts that stand as the three starting points. The Brahma Sutras are attributed to Badarayana. While the Upanishads ( ruti prasth na, the starting point of revelation) and the Bhagavad-Gita(Smriti prasthana, the starting point of remembered tradition) are the basic source texts of Veda nta, it is in the Brahma sutras that the teachings of Ved nta are set forth in a systematic and logical order. While the earlier commentators like Adi Shankara treat Badarayana, the author of the Brahma Sutra, as the Jnana-Shakti Avatara (knowledge-power incarnation) of God, Vaishnavite tradition identifies him with Krishna Dwipayana Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata. --Wikipedia

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 542 pages
• Publisher: Divine Life Society/Rishikesh/India; 3rd edition (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8170521513
• ISBN-13: 978-8170521518
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #778,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Hinduism > Sutras

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the most approachable edition of this difficult text, January 19, 2010

By 

tepi "tepi" - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Brahma Sutras: Text, Word-to-Word Meaning, Translation, and Commentary (Paperback)

BRAHMA SUTRAS - Text, Word-to-Word Meaning, Translation and Commentary by Swami Sivananda. Shivanandanagar, UP, Himalayas: The Divine Life Society, 1999 (1949). Hardback, xxxi + 671 pages. ISBN 8170521513

No mastery of Vedanta is considered complete without a careful study of the three texts that stand as the three starting points: the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita, and the Brahma Sutras, a text traditionally attributed to Badarayana in which the teachings of Vedanta are set forth in a systematic and logical order.

The Brahma Sutras is a difficult but important scripture of Vedanta. It consists of 555 brief aphorisms which give the essence of the arguments on a topic and which are rich with implication. These aphorisms will always be found interspersed throughout a lengthy and detailed commentary, of which the most important for Advaitins is the Shankara Bhasya, since it would be quite impossible to understand them without some sort of commentary.

The reason for condensing Advaita into 555 aphorisms was so that the entire system could be memorized and carried in the head. Here is the first aphorism, following which several pages of commentary are required to draw out the full implications:

Athato Brahmajijnasa

Now, therefore, the inquiry into Brahman.

I have found Swami Sivananda's to be the most approachable edition of the Brahma Sutras. He has obviously done his best to make this difficult text as accessible and intelligible as he could.

The book is in dialogue form and consists in an attempt to refute the dualistic arguments of rival Vedic interpreters. Detailed arguments by these rivals of Advaita are cited. These attacks are then in turn analyzed, point-by-point and often in great detail, and refuted by the commentator who sees it as his task to establish the correctness of the Advaitic position.

For other editions see my Listmania List: BRAHMA SUTRAS.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars After years, the right book., August 5, 2010

By 

H. Gielen "The yogi" (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Brahma Sutras: Text, Word-to-Word Meaning, Translation, and Commentary (Paperback)

As a yoga teacher since 1980,
Vedanta always came to my ears as: This is it.
His Holiness swami Sivananda
wrote this: Brahma Sutra's, commentary.
And now I can understand this difficult literature.
But also: I found out, it is not my school of thought.
Marvelous book,but only for advanced yogi's
or philosofer's.
Thanks

Herman Gielen
The Netherlands.