[INDOLOGY] Question

[Madhav Deshpande]

Thanks, Mrinal, for this clarification.  This question came up because we
have recently joined a Marathi discussion group, where we are reading the
अमृतानुभव, a philosophical work of ज्ञानेश्वर, and the person who is
leading the discussion is mixing up the Śāṅkara Advaita with Kashmiri
Śaivism.  However, it seems to me that Jñāneśvara's own work, along with
his more well known commentary on the Bhagavadgītā, the Jñāneśvarī alias
Bhāvārthadīpikā, are syncretic works. Jñāneśvara's guru is his own elder
brother Nivr̥ttinātha belonging to the Nātha tradition.  So it appears that
a brand of Kashmir Śaivism percolated into Maharashtra through the Nātha
tradition and it got syncretized with Śāṅkara Advaita and Bhakti
traditions.  I am myself just at the beginning stages of sorting all this
out, and I would appreciate any suggestions.  With best wishes,

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]


On Wed, Sep 2, 2020 at 6:16 PM Mrinal Kaul <mrinalkaul81 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Prof Deshpande,
>
> This is a problematic question. Śaṅkara is completely unknown to the
> authors of non-dual Śaivism or even the dual Śiddhānta Śaivism. In fact
> Utpala and Abhinava are using the 'advaita' of Bhartṛhari to encounter the
> 'advaita' of Vijñānavāda Buddhists to establish their own 'advaita' point.
> So Vedānta at large and particularly Śaṅkara is nowhere in the picture.
> There is a very nice preface written by Prof Ambikadatta Sharma to the book
> of Prof Navjivan Rastogi titled 'Abhinavagupta kā tantrāgamīya
> dharma-darśana' (2013) where he philosophically engages with this question
> mentioning why historically speaking Śaṅkara does not become important in
> the case of Śaiva schools of Kashmir, both dual or non-dual.
>
> Having said that, there certainly are references here and there to
> *śāntabrahmavādin*s, but mostly they are passing references. Vedāntins
> have never been important for Śaivas. However, I do think there should be a
> study that clearly reflects upon the two non-dual positions. I am saying
> this because I have myself seen in my own teaching practice that how easy
> is it to slip into the shoe of Śaṅkar's advaita when one is teaching
> Abhinava, for instance. I am trying to work on something. Let us see if I
> can finish it sooner than later.
>
> Best wishes.
>
> Mrinal
> ------
> *Mrinal Kaul*, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor - Manipal Centre for Humanities (MCH)
> Coordinator - Centre for Religious Studies (CRS)
> Dr TMA Pai Planetarium Complex
> Alevoor Road, Manipal (Udupi) 576 104
> Karnataka, INDIA
> Tel +91-820-29-23567 Extn: 23567
> https://mrinalkaul.academia.edu/
> email: mrinal.kaul@ <mrinal.kaul at manipal.edu>stx.oxon.org
>
>
> On Wed, 2 Sep 2020 at 22:07, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Can someone give me textual references for the refutation of the Shankara
>> Advaita in works on Kashmir Shaivism?  Thanks.
>>
>> Madhav M. Deshpande
>> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
>> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
>> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
>>
>> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]
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