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THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY yearning for release (mumuksutva),19 are the very means by which the Indian philosopher comes to his goal of understanding. The neophyte must be competent to command them. His heart and mind must already have been cleansed by the preliminary rituals and austerities of the orthodox religious practices of his community. He must be sufficiently trained in the Holy Scriptures. And he must then be able to bring himself to gain possession of these "necessary means” for the transcending of illusion. "Such an aspirant,” we read, “is a qualified student." 20
Philosophy as Power
IN THE Orient, philosophic wisdom does not come under the head of general information. It is a specialized learning directed to the attainment of a higher state of being. The philosopher is one whose nature has been transformed, re-formed to a pattern of really superhuman stature, as a result of being pervaded by the magic power of truth. That is why the prospective pupil must be carefully tested. The word adhikarin means, literally, as adjective, "entitled to, having a right to, possessed of authority, possessed of power, qualified, authorized, fit for”; also, "belonging to, owned by"; and as noun, "an officer, a functionary, head, director, rightful claimant, master, owner, a personage qualified to perform some sacrifice or holy work.”
Philosophy is but one of many kinds of wisdom or knowl19 Supra, pp. 51-52. 20 Vedāntasara 26.
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