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Intoduction : II Was Gandapada a Buddhist ? we are sure that he had the highest respect for Buddha and for his teachings which he believed to be his ". Prof. Vidhuśekhara Bhattacharya is another great champion of Buddhism and has endeavoured in his edition of Gaudapādakārikas, to prove that Gaudapāda was merely reproducing Buddhist philosophical ideas in his work and no more. While Prof. Dasgupta does not appear to have made a detailed study of the Karikas, and so confines himself to a few salient points in his criticism, Prof. Vidhusekhara goes all out to uphold his thesis that Gaudapāda was a Buddhist. In our Notes, we have shown in detail how the interpretations put on the Karikās by Prof. Vidbuśckhara, do not bring out the meaning he wants to extract from them. Here we would be discussing the problem in a more general manner. To begin with, it must be made clear how the two Professors have chosen to ignore some basic facts in their enthusiasm for glorifying Buddhism : (1) The following verse is traditionally regarded as giving the Guruparampara of Sankaräcārya, नारायणं पद्मभवं वसिष्टं शक्तिं च तन्पुत्रपराशरं च व्यासं शुक्र गौडपदं महान्तं गोविन्दयोगीन्द्रमथास्य शिष्यम् । श्रीशङ्कराचार्यमथास्य पद्मपादं च हस्तामलकं च शिष्यं तं तोटकं वार्तिककारमन्यानस्मद्गुरून् सन्ततमानतोऽस्मि ।। Here Gaudapāda is mentioned as either the teacher's teacher (or, at any rate a predecessor ) of Sankatācārya. It is simply unthinkable that, if Gaudapāda were a Buddhist, he would have been so solemnly selected every day in the Sankarapithas that undoubtedly stand for the traditional Hinduism. Traditions are often, it is true, not quite trustworthy, but traditions involving daily practice can not be ignored. (2) Sankarācārya in his Sūtrabhāşya, quotes Gaudapādakārika, with the remark अत्रोक्तं वेदान्तार्थसंप्रदायविदिभिराचार्यैः अनादिमायया सुप्तो
etc. (I. 16 )'. He thus refers to Gaudapada, most respectfully as a great Ācārya who knows the traditional Vedanta teachings. Such a reference would be quite out of order, if Gaudapāda had been a Buddhist,
7 Same as गौडपाद; the use of पद् for पाद is perhaps due to the exigence of the metre.
