The Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Vedānta of Jīva Gosvāmī : when knowledge meets devotion / Ravi M. Gupta.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gupta, Ravi M. (Ravi Mohan), 1982-

Series:

RoutledgeCurzon Hindu studies series

Routledge Hindu studies series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jīva Gosvāmī--Philosophy.

Jīva Gosvāmī.

Chaitanya (Sect).

Vedanta.

Bhakti.

Philosophy.

Physical Description:

xiv, 225 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2007.

Summary:

The Caitanya Vaisnava tradition is famous for its depth of devotion to Krsna, the blue-hued Deity. Caitanya Vaisnavas are known for having refined the practice and aesthetics of devotion into a sophisticated science. This imposing devotional edifice was constructed upon a solid foundation of philosophical argument and understanding. In The Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami, Ravi Gupta sheds new light on the contribution of Caitanya Vaisnavism to the field of Indian philosophy. He explores the hermeneutical tools employed, the historical resources harnessed, the structure of the arguments made, and the relative success of the endeavor. For most schools of Vaisnavism, the supporting foundation consists of the philosophical resources provided by Vedanta. The Caitanya tradition is remarkable in its ability to engage in Vedantic discourse and at the same time practice an ecstatic form of devotion to Krishna. The prime architect of this balance was the scholar-devotee Jiva Gosvami (ca. 1517 - 1608). This book analyses Jiva Gosvami's writing concerning the philosophy of the Vedanta tradition. It concludes that Jiva's writing crosses "disciplinary boundaries," for he brought into dialogue four powerful streams of classical Hinduism: [1] the various systems of Vedanta; [2] the ecstatic bhakti movements; [3] the Puranic commentarial tradition; and [4] the aesthetic rasa theory of Sanskrit poetics. With training in and commitments to all of these traditions, Jiva Gosvami produced a distinctly Caitanya Vaisnava system of theology.

Contents:

Caitanya Vaisnavism 5

Jiva Gosvami 6

The Bhagavata-sandarbha 11

Part I Jiva Gosvami's system of Vedanta 13

1 Bhakti and Vedanta: do they mix? 15

Challenges and possibilities for Vedantic discourse 15

The Bhagavata Purana as mediator 25

2 Caitanya Vaisnava hermeneutics 32

Bhagavan 32

Bhagavan's sakti 39

Bhagavan's inconceivable sakti 45

Hermeneutics applied 56

3 Sources for Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta 63

Jiva Gosvami's audience 63

Sridhara Svami 65

Ramanuja 84

Sankara and Madhva 87

4 Vedanta in the Bhagavata Purana 93

The overall purport of the Bhagavata 93

Satyam Param Dhimahi: Vedanta in the first verse 105

Part II Jiva Gosvami's Catuhsutri Tika 119

5 History of the written text 121

The manuscript tradition 121

Printed editions 131

Major variants 131

Editorial conventions followed in the critical edition 132

Editorial conventions followed in the translation 134

6 A critical edition 135

Establishing the meaning of the Bhagavata 166

The opening and concluding statements: the first indicator 166

Explanation of Brahma-sutra 1.1.1: Satyam Param Dhimahi 167

Explanation of Brahma-sutra 1.1.2: Janmady Asya Yatah 177

Explanation of Brahma-sutra 1.1.3-4: Anvayad Itaratas Carthesu 182

Explanation of Brahma-sutra 1.1.5: Abhijnah Svarat 185

Another explanation of Brahma-sutra 1.1.3: Tene Brahma... 187

Another explanation of Brahma-sutra 1.1.4: Muhyanti Yat Surayah 188

Another explanation of Brahma-sutra 1.1.5: Abhijnah Svarat 189

The meaning of the entire Brahma-sutra 189

The meaning of the Gayatri 190

The meaning of the entire Purana 192

The concluding statement 193

Repetition and novelty-the second and third indicators 197

Result-the fourth indicator 197

The statement of praise-the fifth indicator 198

Reasoning-the sixth indicator 199

Appendix Overview of the Bhagavata-sandarbha 201.

Notes:

Based on the author's thesis (doctoral--University of Oxford).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 208-216) and index.

ISBN:

0415405483

9780415405485

0203500687

9780203500682

OCLC:

71241931