Swami Satchidanandendra's major work represents the first large-scale critical history of Advaita Vedanta ever attempted. It seek to establish a clear view of the traditional Advaita Vedanta based on the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita as systematised by Shankara and his close associates, unencumbered by the mass of conflicting theories developed by later writers of the school. Stripping back these layers of later interpretation, Swami Satchidanandendra calls the reader back to Shankara, who never forgot that the ultimate purpose of all study and reflection is the attainment of immediate experience of one's own true nature as the 'Self of Ali'.

Review 1:
''The work is undoubtedly of major importance for anybody who wishes to study the history and development of Advaitic thought and method of argumentation. The translation is very readable.''
Source: - Karel Werner, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, No. 1, 1990

Review 2:
''The translation speaks for the care and devotion which Alston has brought to bear on his undertaking...the work will be of interest to scholars in India and abroad. ...The author's translation and explanation of the sutras are quite readable.''
Source: - Prof. T.P. Ramachandran, The Mountain Path, May-June 1990.

Review 3:
''This volume is a reliable and highly enlightened translation of the Vedanta Prakriya Pratyabhijna, an important study of the vedanta...Dr. Alston... is faithful to the Sanskrit text. The translation is clear and convincing. We recommend this book to the serious students of Advaita Vedanta.'' Source: - E. R. Sreekrishna Sharma, Bulletin of the Adyar Library, Madras vol. 53, 1989