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Original Position-5: Bibliography

References: A Natural History of Human Morality by Michael Tomesello; Harvard Univ. Press (2016) A Theory of Justice by John Rawls; Harvard Univ. Press (1999) Advaita Vedānta: A Student’s Note by Shashikant Padalkar, CreateSpace Platform, (2013) [AVSN] Advaita-Paribhāshā of Dharmarāja Avadhīndra Trans. and annotated by Sw. Madhavānanda with a forward by Dr. S. N. Dasgupta and published by RK Mission, Belur Math (1942). Advaita: A Contemporary Study by Shashikant Padalkar, CreateSpace Platform, (2017) [ACS] Anarchy, State, and Utopia” by Robert Nozick, Basic Books (1974), Brahma-Sūtra Bhāṣhya of Shrī Shaṅkarāchārya, translated by Sw. Gambhirānanda, publ by Advaita Ashrama, Almora (1956) Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad with commentary by Shaṅkar-āchārya, translated by Sw. Mādhavānanda with introduction by Prof. Kuppuswami Shāstrī. (1950) Chāndogya Upaniṣhad with the commentary by Shaṅkar-āchārya, translated by Dr. Gaṅgānāth Jhā with an introduction and index by Dr Umesh Mishra, published by Poon...
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Original Position-4: Institutions

The social and political structures delineated by the JAF principles are generally known as liberal constitutional democracies. JAF principles are applied in four stages while designing the democratic systems. In first stage, participating parties adopt veil of ignorance in the original position. Limitations of knowledge imposed by the veil of ignorance are progressively relaxed in the next three stages: (a) the stage of constitutional convention, (b) the legislative stage in which laws are enacted as the constitution as well as principles of justice require and allow, and (c) the final stage in which the rules are applied by administrators and followed by citizens generally and the judicial processes are set by the members of judiciary to check and apply correctives to administrative processes. At this stage everyone has complete access to all the facts. The first JAF principle is applicable at the stage of constitutional convention, while second principle is applicable at the legisla...
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Original Position-3: Justification

Let us assume that society is a cooperative venture for mutual advantages marked by conflicting interests and aspirations of the participating members (aka citizens). The construction of “just” social structure is concerned with the set of principles whereby distribution of advantages (and disadvantages) is agreed upon by its members in a moral framework. These principles based on which we can select various social arrangements along with the rights and duties of the members and decide upon their distributive shares, are the principles of social justice.  A theory of social justice can be modeled on the social contract theory where consenting parties are ready to surrender some of their freedoms to some authority, in exchange for the protection of their remaining and significant rights. Such a theory can incorporate moral principles of equality and reciprocity in its “ original position ”. At this starting point there is no discrimination between consenting members; they are all tr...
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Original Position-2: Application

How do we apply this main doctrine (A=B) of Advaita to the everyday transactional domain?  In the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣhad (BU 3.4.1-2 and 3.5.1) this principle is worded as: "एषा त आत्मा सर्वान्तरः (This is your Self that is within all)”; while in Īsha Upaniṣhad it is expressed as: “Who sees everything in his Self & his Self in everything, by that he feels no alienation” (IU-6); ““The Knower in whose Self all beings are united, what delusion, what grief is there for him when he sees this unity” (IU-7). In Bhagavadgītā the doctrine appears as samatva (equanimity) in many verses. For example, BG 13.27 says: “He sees, who sees the Supreme Lord, existing equally in all beings, deathless in the dying.” The next verse (BG 13.28) says: “Since seeing the Lord equally existent everywhere, he injures not Self by self, and so goes to the highest goal.”  This equable state described in BG 13.27-28 and in many other BG verses retains theist coloring and closely connects with the princi...
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Original Position-1: Construction

Following is a constructive interpretation and application of Atman = Brahman in the dependency & subject-object framework: Let B = “Brahman”, S = “Sentient Being”, C = “Consciousness”, U = “Universe including Body-Mind-Intellects [BMIs] of all sentient beings”. Advaita's dependency principle is that there exists a self-established, independent B without which U cannot exist. That is, U is ‘totally’ dependent on B for its existence. This principle gives us two immediate corollaries: (1) B being self-established and (totally) independent is “non-relational”. It cannot be defined in relation to any-thing else. B is absolute. (2) U being dependent on B for its very existence means that U is holistically “relational”. It cannot be defined in itself. It can be defined only in relation to (or relative to) something else – that is, U is “relative”. Advaita uses the terms: (a) satya to denote that which is self-established and totally independent (non-relational); (b) mithyā (मिथ्या) t...
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Original Position-0: Atman = Brahman

Advaita aka Advaita Vedānta is an ancient Indian theological school which provides the basis and context for this blog post as well as subsequent four posts under the main title Original Position. For these four blog posts Original Position is A=B but we shall see as to how it can be exported  into Kantian / Rawlsian framework step-by-step in the next 4-5 blog posts. Steps: (a) construction of the non-dualist doctrine Atman = Brahman [A=B] within the Aupanishad (औपनिषद) framework of dependency (निर्भरता) and subject-object (प्रमाता-प्रमेय) duality, (b) establishing the principles of equanimous equality, reflective reciprocity, and the freedom of conscionable actions as the empirical connectives of this doctrine based on Upaniṣhads (उपनिषदे) and Bhagavadgītā (भगवद्गीता) / Mahabharata (महाभारत) – de facto primary source of the Hindu-Vedic theology, (c) extending these connectives to the principle of neutrality and the principles of distributive justice within Rawlsian framework, an...
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Dairy Culture of India

Cultures of Northern & Western parts of India, particularly of Indo Aryan (IA) language  population, is predominantly based on cows, milk, and milk products. The Cultural Evolution (CE) of this region has a strong influence not only on Hindu Vedic culture but also on many folk traditions of India. Both Lord Kriṣhṇa (Mahābharata and Bhāgavata), and Lord Rāma (Rāmāyaṇa) are associated with this region. Among all Avatārars of Lord Viṣhṇu, Kriṣhṇa has a very strong association with dairy culture. His early life starts in the divine world of Gokula, where he is a cowherd boy Gopāla. He loves butter and teases cowherd damsels. It is assumed that the same Kṛiṣhṇa is the wise statesman of the epic Mahābhārata where he advises Arjuna to fight the war and perform his duty as a warrior. Kṛiṣhṇa’s philosophical discourse on the battlefield is well known as Bhagavadgītā (“The Song of the God”). It is traditionally praised using the metaphor of the “cow’s milk”:  सर्वोपनिषदो गावो दोग्धा...
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