Gaudapada

Gauḍapāda
Adi Guru Shri Gauḍapādāchārya
Personal
ReligionHinduism
Organization
Founder ofShri Gaudapadacharya Math
PhilosophyAdvaita Vedanta

Gauḍapāda (Sanskrit: गौडपाद; fl.c. 6th century CE),[1] also referred as Gauḍapādācārya (Sanskrit: गौडपादाचार्य; "Gauḍapāda the Teacher"),[2] was an early medieval era Hindu philosopher and scholar of the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.[3][4] While details of his biography are uncertain, his ideas inspired others such as Adi Shankara who called him a Paramaguru (highest teacher).[2][5]

Gaudapada was the author or compiler of the Māṇḍūkya Kārikā, also known as Gaudapada Karika.[6] The text consists of four chapters (also called four books[7]), of which Chapter[8] Four uses Buddhist terminology thereby showing it was influenced by Buddhism. However, doctrinally Gaudapada's work is Vedantic, and not Buddhist.[3][9][10] The first three chapters of Gaudapada's text have been influential in the Advaita Vedanta tradition. Parts of the first chapter that include the Mandukya Upanishad have been considered a valid scriptural source by the Dvaita and Vishistadvaita schools of Vedanta.[8][11]

  1. ^ Raju 1971, p. 177.
  2. ^ a b Potter 1981, p. 103.
  3. ^ a b Potter 1981, p. 105.
  4. ^ TRV Murti (1955), The central philosophy of Buddhism, Routledge (2008 Reprint), ISBN 978-0-415-46118-4, page 114
  5. ^ Sarma 2007, pp. 125–126.
  6. ^ Nakamura 2004, p. 308.
  7. ^ Potter 1981, pp. 106–111.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference trvmurti114 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference trvmurti116 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Nakamura 2004, p. 311.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference iepgauda was invoked but never defined (see the help page).