Comparison of the concept of human being in Brhadaranyakopanishad and Anattalakkhana Sutta with regard to soteriology

Vol.21,No.1(2023)

Eva Götzingerová

Stable URL (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/digilib.78584

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Abstract
Brhadaranyaka belongs to the earliest upanishads. It is dated to 850–500 BC, thus it is considered to be older than the teaching of Buddha. The parts from Brharanyaka describe philosophical reflections and contain some characteristics of the concept of "being". In this paper, I will compare these parts with the younger Buddhist source, which primarily focuses exactly on the character of human being. This source is Anattalakkhana Sutta from the Pali Canon. The comparison concerns the concept of human being with a specific focus on soteriology. The Buddha's sutta might refer to the period of ascetic reform, i.e. 500–200 BC, when the Buddha's teachings originated. Both sources are retrieved from the same cultural context, and the aim of this work is to reconstruct the differences in soteriological strategy linked to the concept of human being during the period of the ascetic reform in India.

Keywords:
Anattalakkhana Sutta; Brhadaranyakopanishad; upanishads; atman; anatta; non-self; concept of human being; ascetic reform; early Buddhism; brahmanism

Pages:
34–45
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