First Five Brahmasutras

This is an annotated English translation of Vijnanabhiksu’s commentaries on the first five Brahmasutra (BS) of Badarayana called the Vijnanamrtabhasya (VijBh). This is a pioneering work as no translation of the VijBh has been done so far. Bhiksu is perhaps the only known Vedanta scholar who has argued for Brahman along with his prakrti-sakti being the cause of the world. He calls his Advaita philosophy as Avibhaga-Advaita and sets himself against Sankara’s Advaita which argues for Brahman alone being the material and efficient cause of the world. Bhiksu is also an unique Advaita scholar as he interprets Vedanta using Samkhya/Yoga principles. One of the reasons for choosing to comment on only the first five sutras was because the VijBh is a huge work and also because Bhiksu’s Avibhaga-Advaita can easily be understood from his commentaries on these first five sutras of the BS. Even though the real reason for Bhiksu’s commentary on the fifth sutra (BS I.1.5) should be clear to anyone familiar with Vedanta’s objection to prakrti being the cause of the world, it needed to be seen as to how Bhiksu, as a committed Samkhya-Yoga-Vedantacarya, defends prakrti’s role in being the cause. Just as writing commentaries on the first four sutras of Sankara’s BSBh done by some eminent scholars present the main features of Sankara’s Advaita, the commentaries on the first five sutras of the BS by Bhiksu could adequately present Bhiksu’s Avibhaga-Advaita Vedanta.