ANANTĀNANDAGIRI’S ŚAṄKARAVIJAYA: OR, HOW TO DEAL WITH RELIGIOUS PLURALITY
During medieval times in South India, different religious communities competed for social prestige and patronage. In such a situation, it was essential for each community to distinguish itself from the others and thus assert its superiority. This paper presents a strategy used by a Smārta community to achieve this aim. Anantānandagiri’s hagiography Śaṅkaravijaya (probably composed in South India in or after the fourteenth century), describes the famous Advaita philosopher Śaṅkara undertaking a journey across India. He meets the members of some sixty religious communities, debates with them, and eventually convinces them to follow his teachings.
However, the subsequent destinies of these people vary. Some become followers of Advaita Vedānta and live happily with their families. Others become disciples of Śaṅkara. Some take on functions in Śaṅkara’s retinue, but are not converted to Advaita Vedānta. And some are left behind, with Śaṅkara taking no further interest in them.
This paper will first explore the question of what these different outcomes of meeting Śaṅkara depend on for these individuals. It will demonstrate that they are not all considered to be equal, even though they had all been taught and converted by Śaṅkara himself. Instead however, they are ranked according to how much they had conformed to Brahmanic orthodoxy before they met Śaṅkara.
Then, the paper will show that, in a later section of the Śaṅkaravijaya, the hierarchization of religious systems (mata) can also be observed. This will describe how Śaṅkara (re-)established six religious systems, namely, those of the Śaivas, Vaiṣṇavas, Sauras, Śāktas, Gāṇapatyas, and Kāpālikas. In an inclusivist manner reminiscent of the doxographies composed by Advaitins, all of these systems are subordinated to Śaṅkara’s own system of Advaita Vedānta. Śaṅkara himself is here presented as the best teacher of all of these systems (sarvamataguruvarya). Thus, the paper will demonstrate how the the author of the Śaṅkaravijaya employs strategies of hierarchical inclusion and outright exclusion in order to organise religious diversity in a manner that serves the interests of his own tradition and positions it at the forefront of that plurality.
- Organisateurs : Émilie Aussant (USN) et Vincent Eltschinger (EPHE-PSL)
- Invitée : Marion Rastelli, Austrian Academy of Sciences/University of Vienna.
Marion Rastelli is a senior research associate and deputy director at the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and also teaches at the Institute for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies of the University of Vienna. Her main field of research is the Vaiṣṇava tradition of Pāñcarātra in all its aspects, including teachings, rituals and historical development. She is co-editor of the renowned Tāntrikābhidhānakośa, a dictionary of technical terms from Hindu Tantric literature.
- Date et horaire : Mercredi 12 novembre 2025 de 12h à 14h
- Lieu et salle : Campus Nation, 8 av. de Saint-Mandé (Paris 12ᵉ); salle C104