Out of his great compassion, Shankara leads the seekers of truth on the right path of Vedanta

As a knower of the all-encompassing Satchidananda Brahman, it was easy for Bhagavatpada to conceive the Supreme Lord in any form whatsoever (saguna) or even without any form or attribute (nirguna) however "No-self" was completely refuted by Shankara. Formless-ness or attributeless-ness does not mean the "void" as propounded by the Bauddhas. For, neither Shankara nor his great predecessors and his successors have accepted this view. To them, either the void exists, and then it becomes something, or it is itself nothing, and therefore it does not exist at all. Moreover, who is it that speaks about the "void" (shunyam) or the 'non-self" (Nairātmya)? None but a self. That being so, how can the non-self be maintained? The mere fact of someone speaking about the non-self disproves that which is spoken of. So Shankara concludes by saying that shunyavada is contradicted by every means of knowledge, and therefore no effort is needed for its refutation शून्यवादिपक्षस्तु सर्वप्रमाणविप्रतिषिद्ध इति तन्निराकरणाय नादरः क्रियते | In another place, he says that this theory should be completely ignored by those who desire the highest good सर्वथाप्यनादरणीयोऽयं सुगतसमयः श्रेयस्कामैरित्यभिप्रायः || Thus, out of his great compassion, Shankara leads the seekers of truth on the right path of Vedanta. ahambrahmaasmi. org

Negation is also a part of Vedantic teachings, but that relates to limiting adjuncts of the Self, not to the Self itself. नेति नेति Atma, says the Sruti, "The Self is not this, not this". Not that there is no Self, as advanced by nihilists, but the Self is beyond all limitations. Thus, there is not the least comparison between the Vedantic negation of limiting adjuncts and the Buddhistic negation of the very Self. Even comparative existence could not come from non-existence, but from an Absolute Being called "Sat". From nothingness, nothing can be produced, even by illusion. But from the plenitude of Brahman associated with the power of Maya, everything and anything can be explained. Brahman is well known by the scriptures as being the cause of all. That means it is both the efficient cause (Nimitta karana) and the material cause (Upadana karana), in other words, the one who wills creation and the one who assumes its shape. All this becomes possible only in the case of some all-pervading, all-knowing and all-powerful Being. - Swami Yogananda Sarasvati (Kaivalya Ashrama)

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