샹까라의 불교 비판의 목적, 방법 그리고 중요성

Abstract

So far as Buddhism in Śaṅkara's critique of Buddhism stands for the whole Buddhist system which could be entirely called ‘nihilism’, the fact that Śaṅkara criticizes Buddhist sects without distinguishing their respective doctrines is out of the question. For although there are various Buddhist sects, from the point of view of Śaṅkara, Buddhism is just one heretical School opposing to Vedānta. Besides, it is an undeniable fact that his critique of Buddhism has lots of the limits, and yet it is more than what it superficially purports. The purpose of Śaṅkara's critique of Buddhism consists in two ways; one is the negation of other's views, and the other is the establishment of his own view. To put it in another way, whatever he proves the valuelessness of Buddhism, that proof automatically verifies superiority of Vedānta to Buddhism. The methods that Śaṅkara employes in his critique would be called ‘substitution of his own criterion’, ‘simplified standardization on another's view’, ‘appealing to common sense’. The first two is the method by which he shows the inconsistency of metaphysics as well as epistemology between Vedānta and Buddhism by means of highly comparative strategy. And through the third method he shows that Buddhist thought would never be in agreement with universal human experience. Śaṅkara treats Buddhism as if it is most disregardable system among all Indian philosophical systems. Accordingly it could be said that his critique symbolically presents the phase of Buddhism which is declining and that of Vedānta which is reviving in his age. Although his critique has no direct relation to the downfall of Buddhism, it is a very important ideologic-historic matter that elucidates the predominance of Vedāntic thought over Buddhist thought in Indian soil.