Niranjan Saha

Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, Humanities and Social Sciences, Adjunct

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I've done my B. A. Hons. in Philosophy with History and Sanskrit at Barasat Govt. College (University of Calcutta); M. A. in Indian Philosophy, M. Phil. in Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy, University of Madras; PhD on a topic entitled 'Philosophy of Advaita Vedanta according to Madhusudana Sarasvati's Gudharthadipika' at the Department of Religions and Philosophies, SOAS, University of London. I've also submitted a dissertation entitled 'An Analytical Exposition of the Siddhantabindu of Madhusudana Sarasvati' at the Department of Philosophy, University of Madras, for a PhD. I'm a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

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Supervisors: Professor Godabarisha Mishra (M.Phil., PhD supervisor); Professor Angelika Malinar. Dr.Thedore N. Proferes (PhD supervisors)

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Papers by Niranjan Saha

Advaita Vedanta: The Post-Sankara Subschools and Madhusudana Sarasvati

Bhagvadgītā: A Bird’s Eye View of Its Historical Background, Formation, and Teaching

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 2017

Though the Bhagavadgītā (400 BCE–400 CE) or Gītā is one of the important sourcebooks of Indian ph... more Though the Bhagavadgītā (400 BCE–400 CE) or Gītā is one of the important sourcebooks of Indian philosophy and religion, or rather of Hindu philosophy and religion, its date, authorship, textual formation, teaching, etc. are still debatable among the scholars—oriental and occidental. While supports in this regard can be garnered from both ancient and modern sources, they too seem to be inconclusive and contradictory. Thus, this paper, while analysing these debatable points regarding this text, taking into consideration both textual sources and modern scholars’ views, concludes that, in order to have an unbiased attitude (towards these points) and its true import at large, the text (i.e. the Bhagavadgītā) is to be viewed and read scrupulously from its literary need and historicity.

Vedāntic Commentaries on the Bhagavadgītā as a Component of Three Canonical Texts (prasthāna-trayī)

Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2016

The Vedānta philosophy has its roots in scriptural sources, specifically, in three canonical text... more The Vedānta philosophy has its roots in scriptural sources, specifically, in three canonical texts (prasthāna-trayī), viz. the Brahmasūtra-s by Bādarāyaṇa (BCE), which is called nyāya-prasthāna or tarka-prasthāna; the Upaniṣad-s (700–600 BCE), which are called the śruti-prasthāna; and the Bhagavadgītā (400 BCE–400 CE), which is regarded as the smṛti-prasthāna. Thus, like the first two constituents of this trio (i.e. the Brahmasūtra-s, the Upaniṣad-s), the third one (i.e. the Bhagavadgītā or the Gītā) has a tangible legacy of commentarial tradition; as almost all well-known advocates of the Vedānta schools have commented on these three sourcebooks. In this paper, an attempt has been made to give a brief sketch of such commentarial tradition of the Bhagavadgītā, starting with its commentary by Śaṃkara to the other major commentaries available up to the 15th–16th centuries. While each of these commentaries finds support in the text for their respective philosophical doctrines, an impartial evaluation, with support of modern scholars, shows that none of the commentaries can claim to represent faithfully the true intent of the text (i.e. the Bhagavadgītā), and that the true import of it can only be had if the text is judged from its literary and historical point of view.

A Brief Note on the Probable Place of Origin of Madhusudana Sarasvati and the Influence of Caitanyaite Movement on Him

Madhusūdana Sarasvatī (ca. sixteenth century CE), one of the seminal figures in post-Śaṃkara (Śaṃ... more Madhusūdana Sarasvatī (ca. sixteenth century CE), one of the seminal figures in post-Śaṃkara (Śaṃkara, ca. eighth century CE) Advaita (i.e., non-dualism) Vedānta philosophy, authored various works, including the Advaitasiddhi, a polemic of the highest kind against theistic dualism, which is considered to be one of the influential works of this Vedāntic system of philosophy. In contrast, his Bhaktirasāyana is the only extant independent exposition on the nature of devotion written by a staunch exponent of Advaita. Thus, while his other works like the Siddhāntabindu, Advaitaratnarakṣaṇa, etc., establish his amazing polemic skills as an uncompromising defender of Śaṃkara’s nondualistic Vedānta, Gūḍhārthadīpikā on the Bhagavadgītā, Mahimnastotraṭīkā (including the Prasthānabheda therein), Bhāgavatapurāṇaprathamaślokavyākhyā, Harilīlāvyākhyā, etc., point him out to be a proponent of devotional theology in Advaitic tradition, a fact that seems to be an apparent dichotomy in both Indian philosophical and Vedāntic discourses. However, despite his renown, his concrete biographical details are scanty, as, like any other ascetic follower of the tradition, Madhusūdana has not given any significant autobiographical details in any of his works.other than his name and the names of his preceptors appearing in colophons and salutatory verses. References to Madhusūdana in later literature are the only sources upon which a biographical history of the author may be based, but these are often hagiographical in nature and cannot be accepted uncritically.

An Introduction to the Daśaślokī of Śaṃkara and Its Commentary Siddhāntabindu by Madhusūdana Sarasvatī

Sophia

The aim of this short article is to introduce a topical text called the Daśaślokī of Ᾱdi Śaṃkara,... more The aim of this short article is to introduce a topical text called the Daśaślokī of Ᾱdi Śaṃkara, widely known as Śaṃkara (the systematic propounder of Advaita Vedānta, ca. eighth-century CE) and its only available commentary the Siddhāntabindu by Madhusūdana Sarasvatī (ca. sixteenth-century CE, generally said to have hailed from Bengal). While these two classics delineate in a nutshell the basic tenets of Advaita Vedānta philosophy and are placed with great significance in the tradition, very little work on them, particularly those based on textual study, has been done in modern scholarship. Thus, the article, without going into much detail of the content of these two works (i.e. the Daśaślokī and the Siddhāntabindu) and the commentaries available (on the Siddhāntabindu), gives, in brief, their introduction, in order to revisit them.

Philosophy of Advaita Vedānta according to Madhusūdana Sarasvatī's Gūḍhārthadīpikā

When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awardi... more When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination. Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed:__ ______________________Date 22.10.2014_______________ This undertaking has had a long gestation period. I first started thinking of the Gūḍhārthadīpikā for a PhD in 2005 at the University of Madras, under the supervision of Professor Godabarisha Mishra. The availability of a fellowship in 2007 for a PhD programme at the SOAS under the guidance of Professor Angelika Malinar made it possible for me to start working on it in earnest. I express my deep gratitude to both of them. However, my foremost gratitude goes to Dr L. K. Vimal with whom I recited the Gītā for the first time, and also read Madhusūdana Sarasvatī's Siddhāntabindu and Gūḍhārthadīpikā, during my field-study in New Delhi for training in reading Sanskrit language and texts. I am indebted to Dr Ramnath Jha, Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, who taught me a few chapters of the text and helped me draw an outline of the work; and to Professor Shashiprabha Kumar for her help. My sincere gratitude goes to Pandit Goda Venkateshwara Sastri, Chennai, who read the first two chapters of the text with me before I left Chennai for the UK. I pay my obeisance to Svāmī Paramātmānanda whose lectures on Śaṃkara's Gītābhāṣya I used to attend in Chennai. I am indebted to

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Bhagvadgītā: A Bird's Eye View of Its Historical Background, Formation, and Teaching

Though the Bhagavadgītā (400 BCE–400 CE) or Gītā is one of the important sourcebooks of Indian ph... more Though the Bhagavadgītā (400 BCE–400 CE) or Gītā is one of the important sourcebooks of Indian philosophy and religion, or rather of Hindu philosophy and religion, its date, authorship, textual formation, teaching, etc. are still debatable among the scholars—oriental and occidental. While supports in this regard can be garnered from both ancient and modern sources, they too seem to be inconclusive and contradictory. Thus, this paper, while analysing these debatable points regarding this text, taking into consideration both textual sources and modern scholars' views, concludes that, in order to have an unbiased attitude (towards these points) and its true import at large, the text (i.e. the Bhagavadgītā) is to be viewed and read scrupulously from its literary need and historicity.

A Survey of Modern Scholars’ Views on Śaṃkara’s Authorship of the Bhagavadgītābhāṣya

Sophia, 2016

A Survey of Modern Scholars’ Views on Śaṃkara’s Authorship of the Bhagavadgītābhāṣya

Sophia, 2016

Saguna and Nirguna-Bhakti, Advaita Vedanta and Madhusudana Sarasvati

Journal of Vaishnava Studies, Vol.28.1, 2019

This essay attempts to bring out an important insight, i.e. the devotional dimension in the Advai... more This essay attempts to bring out an important insight, i.e. the devotional dimension in the Advaitic fold of Madhusūdana Sarasvatī (ca. 1540-1647 CE), one of the greatest Advaitins of post-Śaṃkara era in Bengal. Advaita or non-dualism as propounded by Śaṃkarācārya recognized knowledge (jñāna) as the key means to liberation (mokṣa) in the main. The main means of liberation in Hindu thought have always been devotion to a personal God (bhakti), knowledge (jñāna), ritual or action (karma) and meditation (yoga). Śaṃkara in his works was always been very clear to delineate the importance of jñāna in liberation. However, in a major departure from the monk, Madhusūdana also interpreted the Bhagavadgītā to include the means of bhakti in liberation, at the same time maintaining that Kṛṣṇa, his preferred deity was nirguṇa-brahman or the highest essence. The same tone is also echoed in his other works like the Bhaktirasāyana etc.

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Bhagavadgītā: A Bird’s Eye View of Its Historical Background , Formation, and Teaching

Abstract: Though the Bhagavadgītā (400 BCE-400 CE) or Gītā is one of the important sourcebooks of... more Abstract: Though the Bhagavadgītā (400 BCE-400 CE) or Gītā is one of the important sourcebooks of Indian philosophy and religion, or rather of Hindu philosophy and religion; its date, authorship, textual formation, teaching etc. are still debatable among the scholars --- oriental and occidental. While supports in this regard can be garnered from both ancient and modern sources, they too seem to be inconclusive and contradictory. Thus, this paper, while analysing these debatable points regarding this text, taking into consideration both textual sources and modern scholars’ views; concludes that, in order to have an unbiased attitude (towards these points) and its true import at large, the text (i.e. the Bhagavadgītā) is to be viewed and read scrupulously from its literary need and historicity.

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An Introduction to the Daśaślokī of Śaṃkara and Its Commentary Siddhāntabindu by Madhusūdana Sarasvatī

Abstract: The aim of this short article is to introduce a topical text called the Daśaślokī (DŚ) ... more Abstract: The aim of this short article is to introduce a topical text called the Daśaślokī (DŚ) of Ᾱdi Śaṃkara, widely known as Śaṃkara (the systematic propounder of Advaita Vedānta, ca. 8th century CE) and its only available commentary the Siddhāntabindu (SB) by Madhusūdana Sarasvatī (MS, ca. 16th century CE, generally said to have hailed from Bengal). While these two classics delineate in a nutshell the basic tenets of Advaita Vedānta philosophy and are placed with great significance in the tradition, very little work on them, particularly those based on textual study, has been done in modern scholarship. Thus, the article, without going into much detail of the content of these two works and the commentaries available (on the SB), gives in brief their introduction, in order to revisit them.
Keywords: Daśaślokī, Advaita Vedānta, Ᾱdi Śaṃkara, commentary, Siddhāntabindu, Madhusūdana Sarasvatī.

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A Brief Note on the Probable Place of Origin of Madhusūdana Sarasvatī and the Influence of Caitanyaite Movement on Him

Madhusūdana Sarasvatī (ca. sixteenth century CE), one of the seminal figures in post-Śaṃkara (Śaṃ... more Madhusūdana Sarasvatī (ca. sixteenth century CE), one of the seminal figures in post-Śaṃkara (Śaṃkara, ca. eighth century CE) Advaita (i.e., non-dualism) Vedānta philosophy, authored various works, including the Advaitasiddhi, a polemic of the highest kind against theistic dualism, which is considered to be one of the influential works of this Vedāntic system of philosophy. In contrast, his Bhaktirasāyana is the only extant independent exposition on the nature of devotion written by a staunch exponent of Advaita. Thus, while his other works like the Siddhāntabindu, Advaitaratnarakṣaṇa, etc., establish his amazing polemic skills as an uncompromising defender of Śaṃkara’s nondualistic Vedānta, Gūḍhārthadīpikā on the Bhagavadgītā, Mahimnastotraṭīkā (including the Prasthānabheda therein), Bhāgavatapurāṇaprathamaślokavyākhyā, Harilīlāvyākhyā, etc., point him out to be a proponent of devotional theology in Advaitic tradition, a fact that seems to be an apparent dichotomy in both Indian philosophical and Vedāntic discourses. However, despite his renown, his concrete biographical details are scanty, as, like any other ascetic follower of the tradition, Madhusūdana has not given any significant autobiographical details in any of his works.other than his name and the names of his preceptors appearing in colophons and salutatory verses. References
to Madhusūdana in later literature are the only sources upon which a biographical history of the author may be based, but these are often hagiographical in nature and cannot be accepted uncritically.

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A Survey of Modern Scholars' Views on Shankara's Authorship of the Bhagavadgitabhashya

Abstract: Though the commentary on Bhagavadgītā by Śaṃkarācārya (ca. 8th century CE) is said to b... more Abstract: Though the commentary on Bhagavadgītā by Śaṃkarācārya (ca. 8th century CE) is said to be the earliest extant commentary on it available, the authenticity of its authorship is still debatable among the scholars both occidental and oriental. This article makes a brief survey of the views held by those scholars to make it firm that Śaṃkara, like that of his commentary on the Brahmasūtra-s and on the principle Upaniṣads, is the genuine author of his Bhagavadgītābhāṣya, which in turn professes him to be an indisputable commentator of these three canonical literature (prasthāna-trayī) in Vedānta philosophy, viz. the Brahmasūtra-s, Upaniṣads, and the Bhagavadgītā.

Key words: Śaṃkarācārya, Bhagavadgītābhāṣya, authenticity, debatable, modern scholars.

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Vedantic Commentaries on the Bhagavadgita as a Component of Three Canonical Texts (prasthana-trayi)

Abstract: The Vedānta philosophy has its roots in scriptural sources, specifically, in three cano... more Abstract: The Vedānta philosophy has its roots in scriptural sources, specifically, in three canonical texts (prasthāna-trayī), viz. the Brahmasūtra-s by Bādarāyaṇa (BCE), which is called nyāya-prasthāna or tarka-prasthāna; the Upaniṣads (700-600 BCE), which are called the śruti-prasthāna; and the Bhagavadgītā (400 BCE-400 CE), which is regarded as the smṛti-prasthāna. Thus, like the first two constituents of this trio (i.e. the Brahmasūtra-s, the Upaniṣads), the third one (i.e. the Bhagavadgītā or the Gītā) has a tangible legacy of commentarial tradition; as almost all well-known advocates of the Vedānta schools have commented on these three sourcebooks. In this paper, an attempt has been made to give a brief sketch of such commentarial tradition of the Bhagavadgītā, starting with its commentary by Śaṃkara to the other major commentaries available up to the 15th-16th centuries. While each of these commentaries finds support in the text for their respective philosophical doctrines, an impartial evaluation, with support of modern scholars, shows that none of the commentaries can claim to represent faithfully the true intent of the text (i.e. the Bhagavadgītā), and that the true import of it can only be had if the text is judged from its literary and historical point of view.

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Advaita Vedanta: The Post-Sankara Sub-schools and Madhusudana Sarasvati

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Nature of 'tat' (that) in the 2nd group of six chapters in the Gitagudharthadipika of Madhusudana Sarasvati

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