Abstract

This paper intends to show that Advaita Vedanta is one of the most misunderstood philosophies of India. There is a popular allegation against this philosophy that it is world-negating. An attempt has been made, in this paper, to probe into the underlying principles of this philosophy. There are sufficient grounds to prove that it has a profound social philosophy which deals with worldly life. Such grounds are found in both classical and modern exponents of Advaita Vedanta. In classical Advaita Vedanta, the Prasthanabheda of Madhusudan Saraswati has been discussed in the paper. Among modern thinkers, the views of Vivekananda and Gandhi have also been analyzed. The concepts of classical Advaita Vedanta have been interpreted and applied by these thinkers in a new perspective and these applications justify the theme of this paper.