ABSTRACT
This chapter situates Śaṅkara’s thought in the broad context of Indian philosophical speculation, found in incipient fashion in the Ṛg Veda and gradually developing in the Upaniṣads. While sharing philosophical approaches and assumptions with other philosophical schools, Śaṅkara systematizes a rigorous non-dualism, adumbrated in the prologue to his commentary on the Brahma Sūtra. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the social implications of an Advaitin metaphysic.
