Scriptural innovation in medieval south India: The Srivaisnava articulation of Vedanta
Abstract
The S rivais[dotbelow]n[dotbelow]ava theologian, Ramanuja (1077-1157 CE) was one of the first and foremost proponents of systematic theistic Vedanta, a school of Hindu philosophy. His interpretation of Vedanta, called Visis[dotbelow]t[dotbelow]advaita Vedanta (unity-of-the-differenced), uses a text of secondary importance, the Vis[dotbelow]n[dotbelow]u Puran[dotbelow]a , to accommodate and legitimate the different doctrinal claims of the S rivais[dotbelow]n[dotbelow]ava sectarian tradition. By an exegetical analysis of Ramanuja's main works, namely the Vedartha-sam[dotbelow]graha , the Sribhas[dotbelow]ya , the Bhagavadgitabhas[dotbelow]ya, and the commentaries on them by his disciples Sudarsanasuri and Vedantadesika, I delineate the role of the Vis[dotbelow]n[dotbelow]u Puran[dotbelow]a as a text of fundamental importance for Ramanuja'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 Puran[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 Puran[dotbelow]a within Ramanuja's commentaries, I demonstrate that the Vis[dotbelow]n[dotbelow]u Puran[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
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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