The nature of faith in the Sankaran Advaita Vedanta tradition of Srngeri is explored through a study of various smarta expressions of faith. This religious tradition is conceived as comprehensive of the doctrinal and practical aspects of the faith both of lay smarta house-holders and of ascetics . The main source for this study is a legendary Sanskrit biography of Sankara, Madhava's Sankaradigvijaya, probably compiled in the eighteenth century C.E. ;Faith expresses itself in lay smartas' karman and bhakti Sri Sarada) (...) and in samnyasins' nididhyasana , gurubhakti , and yoga practices.)Sraddha underlies and supports the faith of both lay people and ascetics. The smarta tradition of Srngeri teaches that the ultimate human goal is the attainment of emancipation . Sankara's philosophical works deal mainly with the emancipation of samnyasins, while the devotional hymns traditionally ascribed to Sankara are concerned with the salvation of devotees.)Sankara's philosophy asserts that moksa is unattainable through karman, which should thus be abandoned. Emancipation through jnana is the religious ideal for samnyasins. Having renounced worldly affairs, they accept a life of self-restraint in order to realize brahman. They take Sankara and the jagadgurus as their models in the path to emancipation. By contrast, according to the smarta teachings, the jagadguru, an incarnation of Sankara, and the all-transcendent Mother Goddess, Sri Sarada, could bring the bhaktas to brahma-vidya . Through their faith, however, most of lay people expect alleviation of all forms of distress. ;Whereas samnyasins are typically free to concentrate on the attempt to attain emancipation, lay people cannot exclusively pursue their religious commitments. Lay smartas follow smarta teachings sometimes because they promise the beneficent blessings from the jagadguru or a deity and sometimes because they seem to prescribe the only proper way of life as taught by scripture and the jagadguru. (shrink)

Our understanding of South Asian society and history is sometimes muddled by the rigid distinctions we make between ‘religion’ and ‘politics.’ The resurgent appeal of Hindu nationalism, the involvement of Hindu renouncers in contemporary Indian politics, and the continuing relevance of religious issues to political discourse throughout South Asia, show that such a distinction is of limited utility. In this essay, I have examined the notion of digvijaya in some detail, in an attempt to show that this ‘most important Indian (...) concept with regard to sovereignty’ was always both a ‘religious’ and a ‘political’ phenomenon. When it was performed by Hindu kings in the classical period, the ‘political’ dimension of digvijaya was foregrounded, while in the medieval and modern periods, when it was associated primarily with Hindu renouncers, its ‘religious’ aspects were paramount. But neither ‘political’ nor ‘religious’ aspects were ever absent from any of the digvijayas discussed here because religion and politics were mutually entailed in the digvijaya at all times, just as kings and renouncers were—and still are—alter-egos of each other. I am tempted to conclude that the digvijaya melded religious and political domains. Yet perhaps even to speak of ‘melding’ religion and politics is a peculiarly modern kind of discourse. Perhaps we need to rethink our categories and recognize that politics always has a religious element, while religion is always a political force. (shrink)

This study examines the hagiographies composed prior to and including the Sankara digvijaya ,eight works in all.Selections from seven previously untranslated texts are presented here for the first time.The book considers how Sankara has been received in India,focusing specifically on the conceptual models upon which his life story is constructed.Firstly,there are the mythic foundations.Secondly,the sense of place is established through the narratives of ? Sankara s all-India tour.

Orientalism and Religion offers us a timely discussion of the implications of contemporary post-colonial theory for the study of religion. Drawing on a variety of post-structuralist and post-colonial thinkers, including Foucault, Gadamer, Said, and Spivak, Richard King examines the way in which notions such as mysticism, religion, Hinduism and Buddhism are taken for granted, and shows us how religion needs to be redescribed along the lines of cultural studies.

The prakaraṇa text called "Pañcīkaraṇa", attributed to Śaṅkara, is investigated here. Through a comparative analysis with Śaṅkara's commentaries on the "Gītā" and some of the principal "Upaniṣads", it is shown that this text is most probably genuine. The background of Yoga in pre-Śaṅkaran Vedānta and in Śaṅkara's thought is completely reevaluated, and the need to develop new criteria to determine the validity of the attribution of these texts to Śaṅkara is highlighted.

CHAPTER I Introduction The history of mankind can boast not only of its times of fame and glory but also of quieter times with a different kind of heroism. ...

The third in a series, this volume is a reference book of summaries of the main works in the Advaita tradition during the primary phase of its development in the sixth and seventh centuries A.D., up to and including the works of Samkara and his pupils. Originally published in 1981. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of (...) these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. (shrink)

On the life and philosophy of Śaṅkarācārya.