Advaita Vedanta Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Late medieval India=== Michael S. Allen and Anand Venkatkrishnan note that Shankara is very well-studied, but "scholars have yet to provide even a rudimentary, let alone comprehensive account of the history of Advaita Vedānta in the centuries leading up to the colonial period."{{sfn|Allen|Venkatkrishnan|2017}} While indologists like Paul Hacker and Wilhelm Halbfass took Shankara's system as the measure for an "orthodox" Advaita Vedānta, the living Advaita Vedānta tradition in medieval times was influenced by, and incorporated elements from, the yogic tradition and texts like the ''[[Yoga Vasistha]]'' and the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]''.{{sfn|Madaio|2017|pp=4–5}} Yoga and samkhya had become minor schools of thought since the time of Shankara, and no longer posed a thread for the sectarian identity of Advaita, in contrast to the Vaishnava traditions.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=178–183}} The ''Yoga Vasistha'' became an authoritative source text in the Advaita vedānta tradition in the 14th century, and the "yogic Advaita"{{sfn|Fort|1996|p=136}}{{sfn|Fort|1998|p=97}} of Vidyāraņya's ''Jivanmuktiviveka'' (14th century) was influenced by the ''(Laghu-)Yoga-Vasistha'', which in turn was influenced by [[Kashmir Shaivism]].{{sfn|Madaio|2017|p=4}} Vivekananda's 19th century emphasis on ''nirvikalpa samadhi'' was preceded by medieval yogic influences on Advaita Vedānta. In the 16th and 17th centuries, some [[Nath]] and [[hatha yoga]] texts also came within the scope of the developing Advaita Vedānta tradition.{{sfn|Madaio|2017|p=5}} According to [[Andrew J. Nicholson|Andrew Nicholson]], it was with the arrival of Islamic rule, first in the form of [[Delhi Sultanate]] and later the [[Mughal Empire]], and the subsequent persecution of Indian religions, that Hindu scholars began a self-conscious attempts to define an [[Unifying Hinduism|identity and unity]].{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=190–194, 200–201}}<ref name="gaborieau7">{{cite journal |last=Gaborieau |first=Marc |date=June 1985 |title=From Al-Beruni to Jinnah: Idiom, Ritual and Ideology of the Hindu-Muslim Confrontation in South Asia |journal=Anthropology Today |publisher=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=7–14 |doi=10.2307/3033123 |jstor=3033123}}</ref> Between the twelfth and the fourteenth century, this effort emerged with the "astika and nastika" schema of classifying Indian philosophy.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=190–194, 200–201}} ==== Vidyāraṇya ==== It is only during this period that the historical fame and cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta was established.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}}{{sfn|Blake Michael|1992|p=60–62 with notes 6, 7 and 8}}{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=178–183}} Advaita Vedanta's position as most influential Hindu ''darsana'' took shape as Advaitins in the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] competed for patronage from the royal court, and tried to convert others to their sect.{{sfn|Stoker|2016|p=55-56}} Sringeri ''matha'' started to receive patronage from the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire{{sfn|Roodurmun|2002|pp=33–34}}{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}}{{sfn|Goodding|2013|p=89}}{{sfn|Blake Michael|1992|p=60–62 with notes 6, 7 and 8}} who shifted their allegiance from ''Advaitic'' [[Agama (Hinduism)|Agamic]] Shaivism to Brahmanical Advaita orthodoxy.{{sfn|Clark|2006|p=215, 221-222}} Central in this repositioning was [[Vidyaranya|Vidyāraṇya]],{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}}{{sfn|Blake Michael|1992|p=60–62 with notes 6, 7 and 8}} also known as Madhava, who was the Jagadguru of the [[Sringeri Sharada Peetham|Śringeri Śarada Pītham]] from 1380 to 1386<ref name="Chisholm, Hugh 1911">Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mādhava Āchārya". Encyclopædia Britannica.</ref> and a minister in the Vijayanagara Empire.{{sfn|Talbot|2001|p=185–187, 199–201}} He inspired the re-creation of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire of South India, in response to the devastation caused by the Islamic [[Delhi Sultanate]],{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}}{{sfn|Blake Michael|1992|p=60–62 with notes 6, 7 and 8}}{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=178–183}}{{sfn|Talbot|2001|p=185–187, 199–201}} but his efforts were also targeted at Srivaisnava groups, especially ''[[Vishishtadvaita|Visistadvaita]]'', which was dominant in territories conquered by the Vijayanagara Empire.{{sfn|Stoker|2016|p=55}} Sects competed for patronage from the royal court, and tried to convert others to their own sectarian system, and Vidyaranya efforts were aimed at promoting Advaita Vedanta.{{sfn|Stoker|2016|p=55-56}} Most of Shankara's biographies were created and published from the 14th to the 17th century, such as the widely cited ''Śankara-vijaya'', in which legends were created to turn Shankara into a "divine folk-hero who spread his teaching through his ''digvijaya'' ("universal conquest") all over India like a victorious conqueror."{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}}{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|1998|p=177}}{{sfn|Goodding|2013|p=90}} Vidyaranya and his brothers wrote extensive Advaitic commentaries on the Vedas and Dharma to make "the authoritative literature of the Aryan religion" more accessible.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}} In his [[doxography]] ''[[Sarva-Darsana-Sangraha|Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha]]'' ("Summary of all views") Vidyaranya presented Shankara's teachings as the summit of all ''darsanas'', presenting the other ''darsanas'' as partial truths which converged in Shankara's teachings, which was regarded to be the most inclusive system.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=160-162}}{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}} The Vaishanava traditions of Dvaita and Visitadvaita were not classified as Vedanta, and placed just above Buddhism and Jainism, reflecting the threat they posed for Vidyaranya's Advaita allegiance.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=160}} [[Bhedabheda]] wasn't mentioned at all, "literally written out of the history of Indian philosophy."{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=161}} Vidyaranya became head of Sringeri ''matha'', proclaiming that it was established by Shankara himself.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}}{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|1998|p=177}} Vidyaranya enjoyed royal support,{{sfn|Talbot|2001|p=185–187, 199–201}} and his sponsorship and methodical efforts helped establish Shankara as a rallying symbol of values, spread historical and cultural influence of Shankara's Vedānta philosophies, and establish monasteries (''mathas'') to expand the cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedānta.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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