The Saiva Siddhanta As A Philosophy of Practical Knowledge
by
SWAMI VEDACHALAM
Alias
MARAIMALAI ADIGAL

I know nothing of Saiva Siddhanta beyond what I have leamt from Swami Vedachalam, but if it means, as he says, opposition to Vedantist Pantheism with its doctrines that all is one and all is illusion, it has my heartiest sympathy. For I have long thought monism as harmful socially as it is scientifically groundless, and the widespread acceptance it has won in India seems to be a clue to much of the political history of the country. If the peoples of India can be persuaded that the truth of speculations also must be tested by their bearing upon life, the progress of India will be much accelerated.

I have also been much struck by the account Swami Vedachalam gives of the relation between body and mind as conceived by S. Meikandan. For if it is correct it shows that he also anticipated William James in formulating the ‘transmission’ theory which supplies so elegant and irrefragable an answer to materialism.