ACHARYA means "religious
teacher." Shankara's date is a center of the usual scholastic dispute.
A few records indicate that the peerless monist lived from 510 to
478 B.C.; Western historians assign him to the late eighth century
A.D. Readers who are interested in Shankara's famous exposition
of the BRAHMA SUTRAS will find a careful English translation in Dr.
Paul Deussen's SYSTEM OF THE VEDANTA (Chicago: Open Court Publishing
Company, 1912). Short extracts from his writings will be found in
SELECTED WORKS OF SRI SHANKARACHARYA (Natesan & Co., Madras).
{FN24-4} "CHITTA VRITTI NIRODHA"-YOGA SUTRA I:2. Patanjali's date
is unknown, though a number of scholars place him in the second
century B.C. The rishis gave forth treatises on all subjects with
such insight that ages have been powerless to outmode them; yet,
to the subsequent consternation of historians, the sages made no
effort to attach their own dates and personalities to their literary
works. They knew their lives were only temporarily important as
flashes of the great infinite Life; and that truth is timeless,
impossible to trademark, and no private possession of their own.
{FN24-5} The six orthodox systems (SADDARSANA) are SANKHYA, YOGA,
VEDANTA, MIMAMSA, NYAYA, and VAISESIKA. Readers of a scholarly bent
will delight in the subtleties and broad scope of these ancient
formulations as summarized, in English, in HISTORY OF INDIAN
PHILOSOPHY, Vol.
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