The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda's Reinterpretation of the Vedas
"Hailed as one of modern India's cultural heroes, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) has been credited not only with interpreting Hinduism to the west but with interpreting it to India itself. Despite his pervasive influence, critical assessments and attempts to "demythologize" Vivekananda have been rare, and rarer still are historical and hermeneutical clarification of his work. The Limits of Scripture offers a close examination of Vivekananda's understanding of the authority of sruiti (the Vedas) and its relationship to anubhava (personal experience)." "Beginning with an analysis of western influences and Hindu responses in the nineteenth century, Anantanand Rambachan moves on to a careful explication of Vivekananda's understanding of the Vedas, the nature and scope of their authority, and the hermeneutical principles employed by him in his approach to the texts. Throughout the discussion, the author also clarifies the generally overlooked distinctions between Vivekananda's view of anubhava as the source of liberating knowledge and that of Sankara (ca. 788-820), the principal systematizer and exponent of the Advaita tradition, who argued for the Vedas as the authoritative source of this knowledge. The task of critically distinguishing Sankara and Vivekananda has not been thoroughly accomplished elsewhere and is crucial for understanding religious and philosophical change in modern Indian thought." "In addition this work evaluates the coherence and consistency of Vivekananda's reinterpretations, drawing attention to important problems in his claim for the supremacy of personal experience, his arguments for "many paths to the same goal," and his attempts to reconcile the insights of Hinduism with the methods and findings of science. In undertaking this assessment and analysis, The Limits of Scripture makes a real contribution to the understanding of Vivekananda's legacy, Indian religions, and the wider study of religion."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Contents
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| 111 | |
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Chapter 6 The Legacy of Vivekananda
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124 |
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Notes
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137 |
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Glossary
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155 |
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Bibliography
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159 |
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Index
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167 |
Common terms and phrases
accepted Accomplished according action activity Advaita appears argues argument attainment attempt attitude authority basis become belief bhakti body brahmajñāna brahman Brahmo Samaj Calcutta chapter claims clear comes concept concerned conclusions considered contrast definition derived describes direct discussion doctrine emphasis example existence experience external fact freedom gain goal Hindu Hinduism History human idea identified important independent India influence inspiration interpretation jñāna kananda karmayoga kind knowledge latter lead lectures liberation limitations means method mind mokṣa movement nature never object path perception Philosophy position possible practice presented problem question rājayoga Ramakrishna realization reason reference relation religion religious result revealed samādhi Sankara says scientific scriptures seen sense significant soul spiritual śruti suggest Swami Tagore teacher texts things thought tion tradition true truth ultimate understanding universe Upanisads valid Vedas Vive Vivekananda worship writings Yoga
Popular passages
Page 29 - Such is the New Dispensation. It is the harmony of all scriptures and prophets and dispensations. It is not an isolated creed, but the science which finds and explains and harmonises all religions. It gives to history a meaning, to the action of Providence a consistency, to quarrelling Churches a common bond, and to successive dispensations a continuity. It shows by...
Page 95 - And that is the only condition of perfection. The Hindu religion does not consist in struggles and attempts to believe a certain doctrine or dogma, but in realizing; not in believing, but in being and becoming.
Page 68 - Before reaching this highest ideal, man's duty is to resist evil ; let him work, let him fight, let him strike straight from the shoulder. Then only, when he has...
Page 112 - ... [But] when to the knower of brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one smell and through what, what should one see and through what...
Page 36 - Our leading principle in interpreting Scripture is this, that the Bible is a book written for men, in the language of men, and that its meaning is to be sought in the same manner as that of other books.
Page 45 - When the whole soul goes to God, when we take refuge only in God, then we know that we are about to get this love." Obey the Scriptures until you are strong enough to do without them, then go beyond them. Books are not an end'all. Verification is the only proof of religious truth. Each must verify for himself; and no teacher who says, "I have seen, but you cannot," is to be trusted; only that one who says, "You can see too.
Page 37 - ... it is the direct and intuitive perception of some truth either of thought or of sentiment. There can be but one mode of inspiration ; it is the action of the Highest within the soul, — the divine presence imparting light...
Page 86 - ... it is the heart that is of most importance. It is through the heart that the Lord is seen, and not through the intellect. The intellect is only the street-cleaner, cleansing the path for us, a secondary worker, the policeman; but the policeman is not a positive necessity for the workings of society. He is only to stop disturbances, to check wrong-doing, and that is all the work required of the intellect. When you read intellectual books, you think when you have mastered them, "Bless the Lord...
Page 98 - From the lowest animal to the highest angel, sometime or other, each one will have to come to that state, and then, and then alone, will real religion begin for him.
Page 100 - There is only one method by which to attain this knowledge, that which is called concentration. The chemist in his laboratory concentrates all the energies of his mind into one focus, and throws them upon the materials he is analysing, and so finds out their secrets. The astronomer concentrates all the energies of his mind and projects them through his telescope upon the skies ; and the stars, the sun, and the moon, give up their secrets to him.
References to this book
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A History of Modern Yoga: Patanjali and Western Esotericism Elizabeth De Michelis No preview available - 2005 |
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda's Reinterpretation of the Vedas Study of the East Asian Institute |
| Author | Anantanand Rambachan |
| Publisher | University of Hawaii Press, 1994 |
| ISBN | 0824815424, 9780824815424 |
| Length | 170 pages |
| Subjects |
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Philosophy / General |
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