("A compendium of all [philosophical] points of
view") Madhava compiled a philosophical encyclopedia in the late sixteenth
century.
Madhava collated the viewpoints of all extant philosophical
schools in this work, which he then arranged in a hierarchical order based on
his assessment of their truth worth.
Because its proponents fully rejected the value of any
religious life, the materialist schools were considered the lowest and least
credible.
Following that came numerous Buddhist schools, whose poor
reputation stemmed from the common belief that they were nihilists (nas tikas).
Madhava then travels through the major Hindu philosophical
systems, concluding with his own Advaita Vedanta school, which is regarded as
the greatest and most perfect representation of reality.
Despite being a polemical literature with an obvious slant,
the Sarvadarshanasangraha is one of the few remaining documents that examines
the perspectives of all current schools.
"Truly, this cosmos is Brahman," says Sarvam Idam
Khalu Brahman.
One of the "great utterances" (mahavakyas)
conveying the ultimate truth in Hindu philosophical tradition, namely the
sameness of the individual Self (atman) with the Supreme Reality (Brahman).
