[Advaita-l] vedAntins at the time of shankara

[Kalyan]

//Completely dualistic schools of Vedanta are a relatively recent 
development.  The only dualists in early times were Samkhyas.  It is they 
that Shankaracharya is contrasting with "followers of the Upanishads."//


I agree. Strict dualism in vedAnta is relatively new. One of the views floating around here is that post-advaitic rival vedAntic schools were caused by the difference in the views among the advaitins. I don't know how far this is true. 


The way I see it, the advent of these new rival vedAntic schools is probably due to a theistic reaction to the perceived non-theism of advaita. Neither sAmkhya nor early bhedAbheda were theistic. The new vedAntic schools came to fill in the theistic gap.


Regards
Kalyan