The Role of Divine Grace in the Soteriology of Śaṃkarācārya

This volume examines the role of divine grace in the non-dualist soteriology of ?a?kara. The author argues that grace is an essential but generally overlooked feature in ?a?kara's enlightenment spirituality. Introductory chapters summarize recent developments in ?a?kara research, ?a?kara's epistemology and ontology, ancient Ved?ntic teachings on grace, and modern scholarly disagreement about grace in ?a?kara's Advaita system. The heart of the book consists of two lengthy exegetical chapters examining ?a?kara's key passages on grace from his dozen genuine works. The final chapter presents for the first time a systematic summary of ?a?kara's understanding of the operation and necessity of divine grace. This book provides a useful summary of ?a?kara's system as a whole besides offering a radical revision of the standard understanding of ?a?kara's soteriology. It also reveals that ?a?kara was much more indebted in his thinking to his Vedantic predecessors than had hitherto been thought.