A South Indian philosophical synthesis: the aikasastrya

Venkatanatha (also known with the honorific title Vedanta Desika, traditional dates 1269 1370), possibly the most prominent author of the South Indian philosophical and religious school of Visistadvaita Vedanta, attempted a philosophical synthesis that reached beyond the Visistadvaita Vedanta school, the lineage of which he was active in. This project investigates the synthesis, its range and its theoretical foundations. In this way, it also attempts to reframe the usual understanding of Venkatanathas impact on Visistadvaita Vedanta, shifting him from the position of a learned successor of the scholar the tradition acknowledged as the founder of the school, Ramanuja (9171037), to that of a builder of a new system with a different scope (ranging well beyond Visistadvaita Vedanta and incorporating much more into it) and possibly with a different basis. What was this basis? Preliminary work has shown that it was probably constituted by Venkatanathas work on the more ancient school of Purva Mimamsa (a philosophical school based on the exegesis of the prescriptive portion of the Indian Sacred Texts, the Vedas). The Purva Mimamsa had a history of long and complicated relations with the Vedanta (also called Uttara Mimamsa), a school which focused on the exegesis of a different portion of the Vedas and out of which the Visistadvaita Vedanta developed. Some of the Vedanta authors had explicitly refuted the necessity to study Purva Mimamsa and had claimed that their Vedanta was completely self-sufficient. By contrast, Ramanuja had allowed for a space for Purva Mimamsa in Visistadvaita Vedanta, although only as a preliminary for the study of Vedanta. Venkatanatha used the same strategy as a way to incorporate new elements into a reconfigured Visistadvaita Vedanta. Thus, the core of the system for Venkatanatha is no longer (Visistadvaita) Vedanta (as in Ramanuja) but the new unitary teaching of Purva and Uttara Mimamsa, their aikasastrya. Since the axis of Venkatanathas synthesising attempt seems to lie in his reframing Mimamsa into a more inclusive category, the project will use Venkatanathas main work on Mimamsa, his Sesvaramimamsa, as its key textual foundation. Of this text, no single critical edition has ever been produced and only the first two books have been edited and published. The applicant has, however, acquired some new manuscripts which could deepen our understanding of Venkatanathas enterprise and of its Mimamsa foundation, especially if the additional portions they contain could be proved to be part of the original Sesvaramimamsa.

Vekaantha (also known as Vednta Deśika, traditional dates 1269-1370), possibly the most prominent author of the South Indian philosophical and religious school of Viśidvaita Vednta, attempted a philosophical synthesis that reached beyond the Viśidvaita Vednta school, the lineage of which he was active in. This project investigated his synthesis, its range and its theoretical foundations. In this way, it also reframed the usual understanding of Vekaantha's impact on Viśidvaita Vednta, shifting him from the position of a learned successor of the scholar the tradition acknowledged as the founder of the school, Rmnuja (traditional dates: 917-1037), to that of a builder of a new system with a different scope (ranging well beyond Rmnuja's Vednta and incorporating much more into it) and possibly with a different basis. What was this basis? It was constituted by Vekaantha's work on the school of Prva Mms (a philosophical school based on the exegesis of the prescriptive portion of the Sanskrit sacred texts, the Vedas). The Prva Mms had a history of long and complicated relations with the Vednta (also called Uttara Mms), a school which focused on the exegesis of a different portion of the Vedas and out of which the Viśidvaita Vednta developed. Some of the Vednta authors had explicitly refuted the necessity to study Prva Mms and had claimed that their Vednta was completely self-sufficient. By contrast, Rmnuja had allowed for a space for Prva Mms in Viśidvaita Vednta, although only as a preliminary for the study of Vednta. Vekaantha used the same strategy as a way to incorporate new elements into a reconfigured Viśidvaita Vednta. Thus, the core of the system for Vekaantha is no longer (Viśidvaita) Vednta (as in Ramanuja) but the new unitary teaching of Prva and Uttara Mms, their aikasastrya. Since the axis of Vekaantha's synthesising attempt lies in his reframing Mms into a more inclusive category, the project used Vekaantha's main work on Mms, his Seśvaramms, as its key textual foundation. Of this text, no single critical edition had ever been produced and only the first two books have been edited and published. No translation nor studies exist. Within the project, I could especially focus on Vekaantha's understanding of: -the concept of aikaśstrya 'unity of the Vednta teaching', an inclusive strategy through which Vekaantha could enlarge the scope of Viśidvaita Vednta. -the discussion of the foundation of one's duty to study the Veda. This point is pivotal for the whole enterprise, since unless one needs to study the Veda, there would be no need for one to undertake the rituals it enjoins and there would be no need to take up the challenge and try to find a new synthesis between the Veda and one's other epistemological sources.