Abstract
This paper problematizes the prevalent model of studying the “Neo-Vedānta” of Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) principally in terms of an influx of Western ideas and nationalism. In particular, I demonstrate how scholarly constructions of “Neo-Vedānta” consistently appeal to a high culture, staticized understanding of “traditional” Advaita Vedānta as the alterity for locating Vivekananda’s “neo” or new teachings. In doing so, such studies ignore the diverse medieval and early modern developments in advaitic and Advaita Vedāntic traditions which were well-known to Vivekananda and other “Neo-Vedāntins”. Redressing this discursive imbalance, I propose that close attention to the way in which Swami Vivekananda drew from Indic texts opens up a wider frame for understanding the swami and the genealogy of his cosmopolitan theology.
Highlights
Reconsidering the study of Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), perhaps the most influential architect of global Hinduism, is instructive for shedding light on certain problematic trends in the analysis of precolonial and colonial period advaita related movements
This paper, and my argument here pertaining to issues of historiography and neglected text genres, was partly summarized in a RISA-L discussion thread (Madaio 2015)
In the discussion that follows, I argue that scholarly interest in historical origins and certain high culture forms of “traditional” Advaita Vedānta underrepresents the multivocality and diversity of advaitic theology
Summary
Reconsidering the study of Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), perhaps the most influential architect of global Hinduism, is instructive for shedding light on certain problematic trends in the analysis of precolonial and colonial period advaita related movements. The concern of the present paper, is not with how contemporary politics or a priori suppositions influence the unfurling of historical narratives (or, for that matter, with broader postmodernist critiques of history); rather, the aim is to de-stabilize the predominant explanatory model at the basis of numerous depictions of the swami in scholarly literature.2 This widespread, interpretative approach locates the etiology and development of Vivekananda’s theological innovativeness in terms of colonial period nationalism and, in particular, Western influence. In the discussion that follows, I argue that scholarly interest in historical origins and certain high culture forms of “traditional” Advaita Vedānta underrepresents the multivocality and diversity of advaitic theology It is precisely the underrepresented periods and text genres which were key sources for “Neo-Vedāntins”, such as Vivekananda. In that way, is to lay groundwork for future studies to examine how categories and ways of thinking, derived from pre-colonial advaitic and Advaita Vedāntic sources, were critically and creatively employed by Vivekananda in conversation with his global cosmopolitan milieu
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