Gaudapada

Indian philosopher

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Gaudapada was an influential Indian philosopher, considered a key figure in the development of Advaita Vedanta philosophy. He is known for his work, the Mandukya-karika, a commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad. Gaudapada's philosophy, often termed ajativada or "discourse on the unborn," posits that reality is nondual and that the phenomenal world is an illusion, comparable to a dream. He argued against concepts of production and destruction, emphasizing the oneness of existence. His ideas show significant influence from Madhyamika Buddhism, particularly the Yogachara school, though he differed by rejecting the reality of mind as conceived by Buddhist idealists.12

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Advaita
…beginning with the 7th-century-ce thinker Gaudapada, author of the Mandukya-karika, a commentary in verse form on the Mandukya Upanishad.
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…beginning with the 7th-century-ce thinker Gaudapada, author of the Mandukya-karika, a commentary in verse form on the Mandukya Upanishad.
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Indian philosophy
Fragments from the Mandukya-karika until Shankara
…Mandana (both mentioned earlier), and Gaudapada. Shankara referred to Gaudapada as the teacher of his own teacher Govinda, complimented him for having recovered the advaita (nondualism) doctrine from the Vedas, and also wrote a bhashya on Gaudapada’s main work: the karikas on the Mandukya Upanishad.
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…Mandana (both mentioned earlier), and Gaudapada. Shankara referred to Gaudapada as the teacher of his own teacher Govinda, complimented him for having recovered the advaita (nondualism) doctrine from the Vedas, and also wrote a bhashya on Gaudapada’s main work: the karikas on the Mandukya Upanishad.
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Shankara
Early life
…who was a pupil of Gaudapada. Nothing certain is known about Govinda, but Gaudapada is notable as the author of an important Vedanta work, Mandukya-karika, in which the influence of Mahayana Buddhism—a form of Buddhism aiming at the salvation of all beings and tending toward nondualistic or monistic thought—is evident…
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…who was a pupil of Gaudapada. Nothing certain is known about Govinda, but Gaudapada is notable as the author of an important Vedanta work, Mandukya-karika, in which the influence of Mahayana Buddhism—a form of Buddhism aiming at the salvation of all beings and tending toward nondualistic or monistic thought—is evident…
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