Work

The Fundamentalist Turn: Revisiting the Brahmasūtras in Late Advaita Vedānta

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Like their medieval and early modern predecessors, the Sanskrit intellectuals who wrote on Advaita Vedānta during and after the eighteenth century had a rich and complex relation with the foundational text of the Vedānta tradition—the Brahmasūtras. In this article, I discuss the renewed attention late Advaitins pay to this work as an exemplary text of the Advaita tradition. I examine their use of new categories of interpretation pertaining to the ‘intention’ and ’wording’ of the sūtras, and discuss how some Advaitins sought to establish them as teaching the doctrine of pure non-dualism without the intervention of Śaṅkara’s commentary.

Source: The Journal of Hindu Studies

DOI: 10.1093/jhs/hiaf009

Author: Jonathan Duquette

Institution: University of Cambridge

Language: English

Topic: Indian and Buddhist Studies

Subfield: Religious studies

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,373

Funder: Leverhulme Trust