The Vedānta Siddhāntamuktāvalī of Prakāśānanda

The work opens by identifying its subject as rational inquiry into the Self known through the Veda as non-dual, blissful, luminous, and imperishable. It first considers objections from materialist and realist positions that identify the Self with the body, senses, or another empirically knowable entity. The discussion then evaluates whether Brahman is illuminated by Vedic knowledge or whether scripture merely removes nescience obscuring the intrinsically self-luminous Self. Subsequent sections examine the relationship between jīva, Brahman, and avidyā; the plurality or unity of nescience; the distinction between its locus and object; and the inadequacy of theories that treat the individual self and Brahman as naturally or conditionally distinct. The text further analyses the authority and fallibility of perception, inference, and other means of cognition, using Upaniṣadic declarations of non-duality to establish the provisional status of empirical plurality. Sanskrit verses are followed by English translation, explanatory argument, scholastic objections and replies, and detailed comparative notes.