IVAN ANDRIJANIĆ
Zagreb University iandrij@m.ffzg.hr
TRACING EARLY VEDĀNTA IN THE MOKṢADHARMAPARVAN
By “Vedānta” I do not mean the Upaniṣads themselves, but the classical philosophical tradition that emerged after the corpus of the older Upaniṣads had reached its canonical form and was effectively closed to further interpolation and redaction. Once the major Upaniṣads had been stabilized and have gained authority, the process of interpreting and systematizing their doctrines began, eventually culminating in the composition of the Brahma-sūtras and the later commentarial traditions. This paper explores whether the Mokṣadharmaparvan preserves evidence of such intellectual activity that would later develop into what came to be known as Vedānta. The presentation first examines the terminology associated with early Vedānta. While modern scholarship (e.g. Nakamura, Fitzgerald, Brockington [who notes an exception in the Kumbhakonam edition, 12.*566]) generally assumes that the term vedānta in the Mahābhārata refers simply to the Upaniṣads, the Mokṣadharmaparvan also contains several expressions that may point to an emerging exegetical tradition. These include vedāraṇyaka (12,336.76; 12,337.1) alongside references to other systems of thought, upaniṣad–pariśeṣa (12,306.16, 33), possibly meaning a “supplement to the Upaniṣads”, and references to vipras devoted to the study of the Upaniṣads (12,336.5), suggesting the existence of learned specialists engaged in their interpretation. The main part of the paper analyses a number of dialogues in the Mokṣadharmaparvan that exhibit distinctly Upaniṣadic and proto-Vedāntic ideas (Discourse on Adhyātma 12,187; Śuka’s questioning Vyāsa 12,224–247). Particular attention will be paid to the dialogue between Manu and Bṛhaspati (12,194–199), which not only develops a monistic conception of Brahman but also discusses the relationship between knowledge (jñāna) and ritual action (karman), a theme that would become central to classical Vedānta. The paper will also examine MBh 12.306.27ff., where the Gandharva Viśvāvasu becomes versed in the knowledge of Vedānta (vedāntajñānakovida) after receiving answers from Yājñavalkya to twenty-four questions concerning the Vedas and a further question on ānvīkṣikī. These and other passages suggest that the Mokṣadharmaparvan may preserve evidence for an early phase in the formation of Vedāntic thought, situated between the composition of the principal Upaniṣads and the emergence of the classical Vedānta schools.