“Upadesamrita” as a medieval source on the history of the philosophy of Bengal Vishnuism

Abstract

The article considers one of the classical Indian medieval texts written by Vaishnava thinker Rupa Goswami (1493– 1564), a follower of the Bengal branch of Vishnuism, an influential Indian religious and philosophical movement. The text "Upadeshamrita" (“Nectar of Instruction”) is one of the basic textbooks for the systematic study of Gaudiya Vishnuism since it not only sets out a concise form of philosophy but also is a practical guide to its application. The study analyzes its structure and content of the text, estimates its role and significance for Bengal Vishnuism. The authors consistently substantiate the relevance of this research, citing references to the works of domestic and foreign scientists and links to comments on this source in various languages. The article provides the history of the treatise and outlines its structure. The article also analyzes the verse meters of the Upadeshamrita. There are multiple approaches within the theoretical basis of Vishnuism to considering the structure of the text because it can derive the various meaning of the content. This analysis of the connections between the verses of the "Upadeshamrita" defined the functionality of the manuscript and presented a few interpretations of the structure. The authors demonstrate how transforms the essence of the message embedded in the text of the work, depending on the spiritual "portrait" of the reader. Therefore, according to the results of the research, the authors concluded that "Upadeshamrita" is a particularly important contribution to Vishnuism learning so it considers as a historical and philosophical source.