the Vedic Religion. Of Suresvaracharya, however, his immediate disciple and literary collaborator, ordinary students of Vedanta know less than they ought to, simply because his writings have long remained inaccessible to all but the very select few who entered the fourth order of sannyasa and were intellectually qualified to study the highly erudite exposition of philosophy and metaphysics. Suffice it to say that, according to all received accounts, the great aim of S'ankaracharya's missionary peregrinations was to secure the eminent mimamsaka's allegiance to his own system of Vedanta. The nature of the work to which this disciple is said to have been detailed by the Teacher, and the masterly fashion in which he has done it,--the work, namely, of elucidating systematising, supplementing and even improving upon the great Master's teachings,--more than justifies the honourable position which tradition has unanimously accorded to him. He is known as the Vartika-kara, author of elucidative commentary on the teachings of S'ankaracharya who is known as the Bhashyakara, author of original commentaries. "Vartika" is defined as follows:

Uktanuktaduruktarthavyaktakari tu vartikam.

"A vartika is that which clearly explains what has been said, what has been left unsaid, and what has been ill said." Five works of the kind are attributed to Suresvaracharya, all of them having been recently published in India:

(1) Manasollasa (Mysore).*

(2) Pranava-vartika ( " ).*

(3) Naishkarmya-siddhi, a manual of Advaita doctrine (Bombay Sanskrit Series).

(4) An exposition of Sankaracharya's commentary on the Taittiriya-Upanishad (Poona, A'nandasrama Series).

(5) An exposition of Sankaracharya's on the Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad (Poona, A'nandasrama Series).

Suresvaracharya's exposition of the Vedanta Doctrine is often very original and is throughout marked with such thoroughness, precision, and clearness that it forms a very valuable supplement to the teachings of the Upanishads; and its authority on all knotty points is acknowledged with due reverence and submission by all the Advaitic writers of later days.

As an effective aid to a right understanding of the truths taught in the Vedanta, Sankaracharya's Hymn as well as Sruti inculcates highest devotion to the Divine Being as the Guru of Gurus, and an equal devotion to one's own immediate Guru who should be regarded as an incarnation of that Guru of Gurus. The Dakshinamurti-Upanishad shows in what form Siva, the Guru of Gurus, should be imaged and devoutly worshipped in the heart by the neophyte who is about to engage in a contemplation of the truths taught in the hymn. The style of the Upanishad is in perfect keeping with the character of the Minor Upanishads described in my introduction to "the Minor Upanishads, Vol. I."