Séminaire « Mondes indiens »
We are pleased to announce that Jonathan Duquette (University of Cambridge) will give a lecture as part of the “Mondes indiens” lectures cycle organized by Vincent Eltschinger and Isabelle Ratié.
This conference will take place on the Campus Nation of the Sorbonne Nouvelle, 8 avenue de Saint-Mandé (Paris 12e), room C206.
Abstract: It is well known that the history (and historiography) of modern Hinduism is closely intertwined with Advaita Vedānta. However, the dominating narrative has emphasised the importance of ‘neo-Vedanta’ to the expense of the ‘traditional’ Vedānta that was thriving in this period—the advaita of the pandits who continued to debate, teach and write in colonial times. What were they writing about? What key philosophical issues were they debating? Were these themes in continuity with the older exegetical tradition or responding to new patterns of epistemology and practice? Did Advaita Vedānta scholars continue to engage with canonical figures such as Śaṅkara, and if so, in what ways? How does this compare with neo-Vedanta interpretations, and what can we learn from this? In this talk, I reflect on these questions with a focus on Rāmasubba Śāstrī (1840-1922), a bold yet little known scholar of advaita who lived near Tanjore.