Scriptural innovation in medieval south India: The Srivaisnava articulation of Vedanta
Abstract
The S˙rīvais&dotbelow;n&dotbelow;ava theologian, Rāmānuja (1077–1157 CE) was one of the first and foremost proponents of systematic theistic Vedānta, a school of Hindu philosophy. His interpretation of Vedānta, called Viśis&dotbelow;t&dotbelow;ādvaita Vedānta (unity-of-the-differenced), uses a text of secondary importance, the Vis&dotbelow;n&dotbelow;u Purān&dotbelow;a, to accommodate and legitimate the different doctrinal claims of the S˙rīvais&dotbelow;n&dotbelow;ava sectarian tradition. ^ By an exegetical analysis of Rāmānuja's main works, namely the Vedārtha-sam&dotbelow;graha, the Śrībhās&dotbelow;ya , the Bhagavadgītābhās&dotbelow;ya, and the commentaries on them by his disciples Sudarśanasūri and Vedāntadeśika, I delineate the role of the Vis&dotbelow;n&dotbelow;u Purān&dotbelow;a as a text of fundamental importance for Rāmānuja's theological enterprise. In so doing, this dissertation problematizes the concept of scriptural corroboration (upabr&dotbelow;m&dotbelow;han&dotbelow;a). Most scholars have utilized this concept to classify the Vis&dotbelow;n&dotbelow;u Purān&dotbelow;a as a scripture of secondary importance in comparison to the primary significance that is accorded to the upanis&dotbelow;ads. Examining the function of the Vis&dotbelow;n&dotbelow;u Purān&dotbelow;a within Rāmānuja's commentaries, I demonstrate that the Vis&dotbelow;n&dotbelow;u Purān&dotbelow;a surpasses its use as a ‘corroborative’ text, and that a more nuanced understanding of corroboration is needed to comprehend the inter-textuality within Hindu commentarial traditions. ^
Subject Area
Religion, General
Recommended Citation
Sucharita Adluri,
"Scriptural innovation in medieval south India: The Srivaisnava articulation of Vedanta"
(January 1, 2009).
Dissertations available from ProQuest.
Paper AAI3363240.
http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3363240
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