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In his Nyāyamañjarī , the Nyāya scholar Bhaṭṭa Jayanta expounds on the issue of liberation when commenting on the Nyāyasūtra. In one of its subsections Jayanta discusses a sceptical view about the very possibility of liberation and the view of the Mīmāṁsāka scholar Kumārila. The present author focuses on this section of the Nyāyamañjarī and elucidates the theoretical criteria presupposed there in order to evaluate Jayanta's attitude towards Kumārila. Jayanta regards Kumārila as one who internally denies liberation while externally admitting its possibility. The present author also sheds light on Jayanta's view of the means of liberation in comparison to other Naiyāyika positions. Kumārila's emphasis on the karmic law can be regarded as a trigger for Jayanta to reconsider the previous views of the Naiyāyikas. How to deal with the accumulated karma s while following the karmic law? The present article clarifies the merits of Jayanta's solution in terms of theory and exegesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article thinks through the Buddhist sutra as a mode of world literary production from the second century CE to the present. I argue for understanding the sutra as a site of remediation and as a massively open-ended textual project aimed at articulating expressions of insight. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Accounts of the intersection between 'bhakti' and 'Advaita Vedānta' have tended to concentrate on their philosophical compatibility. But what if, instead of searching for philosophical consistency, we attempted to understand what Advaitic bhaktas were doing in writing as they did? What if they called into question the very coherence of the philosophical tradition in which they operated? What if we did not assume the coherence of that tradition to begin with? In this article, I explore these issues by briefly discussing the intellectual history of the Bhakti Sūtras of Śāṇḍilya (SBS), or the 'Aphorisms on Bhakti', with a commentary by the seventeenth-century Advaita Vedāntin Nārāyaṇa Tīrtha. Ultimately, I suggest that, as historians of Indian philosophy, we can better understand the relationship between bhakti and Advaita by paying attention not only to a wider range of texts, but also to the historical interventions they attempted to make. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book under review is the first translation of the Sarvatathāgatādhiṣṭhānasattvāvalokanabuddhakṣetrasaṃdarśanavyūha, a Mahayanasutra of mainly ritualistic content, preserved in Sanskrit in two Gilgit manuscripts. The translation is based on the edition prepared by the same author. The review deals with both the edition and the translation. It tries to show that especially the translation is rather problematic with regard to many passages and generally in its complete lack of explaining notes. The translation is accompanied by an interpretative essay, which is not conducive to a better understanding of the sutra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his Pāñcarātrarakṣā, Veṅkaṭanātha states that a Pāñcarātrin is not obliged to follow the prescriptions of the Pāñcarātra Saṃhitās, but can also follow those of the Vedic Sūtras when performing sandhyā worship. The paper tries to clarify the meaning and background of this statement by presenting and comparing various sandhyā prescriptions--from Veṅkaṭanātha himself, from Vedic Sūtras, and from several Pāñcarātra Saṃhitās--and it investigates the question of whether this statement gives us insight into the relationship between theory and practice of sandhyā worship in Veṅkaṭanātha’s lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My essay investigates a short passage of the Guhyasūtra—the longest, most detailed, and arguably youngest of the ‘Sūtras’ constituting the Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā, being the earliest Śaiva Tantra known to us. This is formed by verses 1–22ab of Paṭala 12, which single out the soteriological means and goals specific to such scantily documented Śaiva groups as the Pāñcārthika Pāśupatas, the followers of the Pramāṇaśāstras, the Kārukas, and the Vaimalas. By categorizing such groups according to their emphasis on conduct, initiation, or gnosis, the text presents a taxonomy of the Atimārga as seen from the perspective of Mantramārga Śaivism. Having compared, and contrasted, this model to analogous ones found scattered over the extant literature of the Śaiva Mantramārga, I tackle the issue as to whether those taxonomies reflect actual social realities or are the result of post hoc systematising attempts by medieval authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vedic mathematics is a system, or branch of mathematics, that is based on 16 sutras, or principles. By using these principles, Vedic Mathematics teaches methods of performing calculations in simpler and faster ways. In this presentation, we focus on Vedic ways for performing basic arithmetic. In addition, we will introduce the concept of digital roots to help verify the accuracy of computations and the concept of vinculums to increase the speed of computations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I attempt to understand the implications of Saṅkara's claim that liberation is not an action. If liberation is not an action, how is it up to us and therefore our responsibility? What role do actions have in a life concerned with liberation? The key to understanding Saṅkara's view, I suggest, requires broad reflection on his claim in his commentary on Brahma Sutra I.1.4 that cessation of action in accordance with Vedic prohibition is not an action. I will conclude by discussing the implications of this interpretation on the nature of māyā in Saṅkara. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Hindu religious teacher Śaṅkara and his concept of Brahman. The author focuses on the text "Brahma-sūtra-Bhāşya" from the Advaita tradition of Hinduism as an example of theological discourse allowing multiple voices. The author uses the concept of a "double voice" from Christian theologian Kathryn Tanner to evaluate the possibility of interreligious dialogue for Christianity that avoids apologetic agendas.

As Aristotle began to codify rhetorical practices in Greece, a theoretical and pragmatic text on argument, the "Nyaya Sutra," emerged in Ancient India, founding one of six key philosophies of India. Though it describes in detail a procedure of reasoning based on a five-part method of dialogic presentation, the rhetorical emphases of the "Nyaya" approach have been mostly overlooked. This essay proposes "Nyaya's" inclusion in the field of rhetorical studies, exploring its methods within their historical context, comparing its approach to the traditional logical syllogism, and relating it to the contemporary perspectives of Stephen Toulmin, Kenneth Burke, and Chaïm Perelman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a reply to a review of the book `Accomplishing the Accomplished: The Vedas as a Source of Valid Knowledge in Sankara,' by Anantanand Rambachan, appearing in the journal `Philosophy East and West,' October, 1993. Discussion of the commentaries of Shankara on Brahma-sutra.

The article provides an overview of the history of yoga. It mentions that soapstone seals are the earliest images of yoga from the Indus Valley archaeological site of Mohenjo-Daro that depicts a yogi in a cross-legged posture. Sage Patanjali is credited to author a compendium of aphorisms or sutras on yoga's nontheistic integrative form. Indian Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda introduced yoga to the U.S. at the World Conference on Religions in 1893