Abstract
In a pluralistic society, there are assumptions about the ways that religious communities ought, and ought not, to react to one another. Such modes of civility seem required in a secular democracy. The Mādhva school of Vedānta, whose origins are found in thirteenth-century India, anticipated a multicultural religious and philosophical landscape and prescribed strategies that fostered a robust saṃvāda (discussion and debate) that helped to sustain the tradition and may even be applied to contemporary and secular worlds.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
For more on “epistemic confidence,” see Griffiths (2001)
- 2.
- 3.
I am reliant upon Griffiths’ formulation of “alien” religions as found in his Problem of Religious Diversity (2001).
- 4.
I am reliant upon Griffiths’ formulation of “home” religions as found in his Problem of Religious Diversity (2001).
- 5.
…tadarthanirṇayāya brahmasutrāṇi cakāra |
All translations are mine.
- 6.
na sarveśām adhikāraḥ |
- 7.
athaśabdo mańgalārtho ‘dhikārānantaryārthaś ca | ataḥśabdo hetvarthaḥ |
The word “then” is used as an auspicious expression and for sequence of eligibility. The word “therefore” refers to the reason.
- 8.
For more on these virtuoso readers in Mādhva Vedānta, known in the tradition as āpta-gurus, see Sarma (1998)
- 9.
devarṣipitṛpanarā iti muktās tu pañcadhā | evaṃ vimuktiyogyāś … |
- 10.
… ca tamogāḥ sṛtisaṃsthitāḥ |
The terms tamoyogyāḥ and nityasaṃsārin were first used by Jayatīrtha in his Pramāṇapaddhati: ayoginaḥ api trividhāḥ | muktiyogyāḥ nityasaṃsāriṇiḥ tamoyogyāś ca iti | Jayatīrtha, Pramāṇapaddhati (1982b), 19.
- 11.
Thanks to Paul J. Griffiths for this language.
- 12.
vādo jalpo vitaṇḍeti trividhā… |
The threefold [debating methods] are vāda, jalpa, and vitaṇḍa. Vāda is a debate whose purpose is the pursuit of truth. Jalpa is a debate whose purpose is to bring fame and glory to the competitive victor. More on vitaṇḍa below.
- 13.
vitaṇḍā tu satām anyais tattvam eṣu nigūhitum | Madhvācārya, Vādalakṣaṇa 1971, 3.
anyaiḥ asadbhis saha |
[The word] “with another” [means] along with wicked [opponents].
- 14.
daurlabhyāc cchuddhabudhīnām bāhulyād alpavedinām |
- 15.
anādivāsanāyogādasurāṇāṃ bahutvataḥ | durāgrahagṛhītatvād vartante samayāḥ sadā |
- 16.
tathāpi śuddhabuddhīnām īśānugrahayoginām | suyuktayas tamo hanyur āgamānugatāḥ sadā |
tamaḥ ajñānam | (Jayatīrtha, Nyāya Sudhā 1982a, 3162).
[The term] “darkness” [refers to] the ignorant.
- 17.
iti vidyāpatiḥ samyak samayānāṃ nirākṛtim | cakāra nijabhaktānām buddhiśāṇatvasiddhaye |
- 18.
The Madhvavijaya is sometimes rendered as the Sumadhvavijaya.
- 19.
samastavādīndragajaprabhadgadaß caranavanyāṃ pratipakṣakāṇkṣayā | vedadviṣāṃ yaḥ prathamaḥ samāyayau savādisiṃho ‘tra sa buddhisāgara |
Buddhisāgara, the best among the haters of the Vedas, who is the defeater of all the elephants who are the best disputants, wandering along with Vādisiṃha, with the desire of [meeting] opponents, came here.
- 20.
Vaiśeṣikaviśeṣajño vādisiṃhābhidho dvijaḥ | mahīṃ vijitya saṃprāpto bauddhāgamyaṃ buddhisāgara |
He whose name is Vādisiṃha, the twice born, is a knower of the essence of the Vaiśeṣika [system]. Having conquered the earth, Buddhisāgara fell in with the incomprehensible followers of Buddha.
References
Griffiths, P. (1999). Religious reading. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Griffiths, P. (2001). Problems of religious diversity. Oxford: Blackwell Pub. Ltd.
Jayatīrtha. (1971). Vādalakṣaṇatikā. In P. P. Lakṣmīnārāyaṇopādhyāya (Ed.), Daśa Prakaraṇāni (4 Vols.). Bangalore: Pūrṇaprajñā Vidyāpiṭha.
Jayatīrtha. (1982a). Nyāya Sudhā.. Bangalore: Uttarādi maṭha Uttarādi maṭha.
Jayatīrtha. (1982b). Pramāṇapaddhati. R. S. Panchamukhi (Ed.) Dharwad: Sri Raghavendratirtha Pratishthana.
Madhvācārya. (1911). In R. Raghavendracharya (Ed.), Brahma Sūtra Bhāṣya. Mysore: Government Branch Press.
Madhvācārya. (1969–74). Tattvasaṃkhyāna. In Govindācārya (Ed.), Sarvamūlagranthāḥ . Bangalore: Akhila Bharata Madhwa Mahamandala.
Madhvācārya. (1971). Vādalakṣaṇa. Vol. 1. In P.P Lakṣmīnārāyaṇopādhyāya (Ed.), Daśa Prakaraṇāni (4 vols.) Bangalore: Pūrṇaprajñā Vidyāpiṭha.
Madhvācārya. (1991). Anuvyākhyāna Paṇḍurangi. Bangalore: Prabha Printing House.
Paṇḍitācārya, N. (1989). Bhāvaprakāśika. In Sumadhvavijayaḥ, Bhāvaprakāśikāsametaḥ. ed. Prabhañjanācārya. Bangalore: Sri Man Madhwa Siddantonnahini Sabha.
Paṇḍitācārya, N. (1989). Sumadhvavijayaḥ, In Prabhañjanācārya (Ed.), Bhāvaprakāśikāsametaḥ. Bangalore: Sri Man Madhwa Siddantonnahini Sabha.
Sarma, D. (1998). Exclusivist strategies in Mādhva Vedānta. Ph.D. diss, University of Chicago, Chicago.
Sarma, D. (2000). Let the Apta (Trustworthy) Hindu Speak! Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 68(4), 781–790
Sarma, D. (2005). Epistemology and the limitations of philosophical inquiry: doctrine in Mādhva Vedānta. Oxford: Routledge Curzon.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sarma, D. (2021). Mādhvas Tolerating Rival Truth Claims: Disagreement, Dialogue and Discernment. In: Puri, B., Kumar, A. (eds) Re-thinking Religious Pluralism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9540-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9540-0_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-9539-4
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-9540-0
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)