The Śivādvaita Paradox: ‘Śiva the Fourth’ (turīyaśiva) in Appayya Dīkṣita’s Śivatattvaviveka
The school of Śivādvaita Vedānta, articulated by Appayya Dīkṣita in the sixteenth century, is remarkable for its attempt to reconcile two seemingly incompatible philosophical positions: the ‘pure’ non-dualist view, rooted in Advaita Vedānta, which regards Śiva as identical with the non-dual, attributeless nirguṇa brahman transcending empirical existence; and the devotional view that conceives Śiva as an embodied deity, possessed of form and attributes, worshipped by devotees seeking liberation. In this talk, I examine how Appayya Dīkṣita addresses this apparent paradox in his Śivatattvaviveka by introducing a novel concept in the intellectual discourse of early modern Vedānta: ‘Śiva the Fourth’ (turīyaśiva)—an ontological principle (tattva) that transcends the phenomenal realm of names and forms yet is, paradoxically, endowed with a body or form (vigrahavat, rūpavat). I explore how Appayya Dīkṣita develops his argument both in dialogue and in tension with Śaṅkara’s Brahmasūtrabhāṣya, to argue that brahman, as the turīyaśiva, possesses a real body rather than one merely ‘imagined’ through ignorance.
- Organisateurs : Émilie Aussant (USN) et Vincent Eltschinger (EPHE-PSL)
- Invité : Jonathan Duquette (Université de Cambridge)
- Date et horaire : Mercredi 17 décembre 2025 de 12h à 14h
- Lieu et salle : Campus Nation, 8 av. de Saint-Mandé (Paris 12ᵉ); salle C104