Dialogue and Doxography in Indian Philosophy Points of View in Buddhist, Jaina, and Advaita Vedānta Traditions PDF
Preview Dialogue and Doxography in Indian Philosophy Points of View in Buddhist, Jaina, and Advaita Vedānta Traditions
Dialogue and Doxography in Indian Philosophy This is the first book fully dedicated to Indian philosophical doxography. It examines the function such dialectical texts were intended to serve in the intellectual and religious life of their public. It looks at Indian doxography both as a witness of inter- and intra-sectarian dialogues and as a religious phenomenon. It argues that doxographies represent dialectical exercises, indicative of a peculiar religious attitude to plurality, and locate these ‘exercises’ within a known form of ‘yoga’ dedicated to the cultivation of ‘knowledge’ or ‘gnosis’ (jñāna). Concretely, the book presents a critical examination of three Sanskrit doxographies: the Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā of the Buddhist Bhāviveka, the Ṣaḍdarśanasamuccaya of the Jain Haribhadra, and the Sarvasiddhāntasaṅgraha attributed to the Advaitin Śaṅkara, focusing on each of their respective presentations of the Mīmāṃsā view. It is the first time that the genre of doxography is considered beyond its literary format to ponder its performative dimension, as a spiritual exercise. Theoretically broad, the book reaches out to academics in religious studies, Indian philosophy, Indology, and classical studies. Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette is currently an FWO post-doctoral researcher in Ghent, Belgium. He received his PhD at the Institute for Indology and Tibetology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Germany. Dialogues in South Asian Traditions: Religion, Philosophy, Literature and History Series Editors: Laurie Patton Middlebury College, USA Brian Black Lancaster University, UK Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad Lancaster University, UK Face-to-face conversation and dialogue are defining features of South Asian traditional texts, rituals, and practices. Not only has the region of South Asia always consisted of a multiplicity of peoples and cultures in communication with each other, but also performed and written dialogues have been indelible features within the religions of South Asia; Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Islam are all multi-vocal religions. Their doctrines, practices, and institutions have never had only one voice of authority, and dialogue has been a shared tactic for negotiating contesting interpretations within each tradition. This series examines the use of the dialogical genre in South Asian religious and cultural traditions. Historical inquiries into the plurality of religious identity in South Asia, particularly when constructed by the dialogical genre, are crucial in an age when, as Amartya Sen has recently observed, singular identities seem to hold more destructive sway than multiple ones. This series approaches dialogue in its widest sense, including discussion, debate, argument, conversation, communica- tion, confrontation, and negotiation. Opening up a dynamic historical and literary mode of analysis, which assumes the plural dimensions of religious identities and communities from the start, this series challenges many outdated assumptions and representations of South Asian religions. Shared Characters in Jain, Buddhist and Hindu Narrative Gods, Kings and Other Heroes Naomi Appleton In Dialogue with Classical Indian Traditions Encounter, Transformation and Interpretation Edited by Brian Black and Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad Dialogue and Doxography in Indian Philosophy Points of View in Buddhist, Jaina, and Advaita Vedānta Traditions Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette For more information and a full list of titles in the series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Dialogues-in-South-Asian-Traditions-Religion-Philosophy- Literature-and-History/book-series/ASTHASIAREL Dialogue and Doxography in Indian Philosophy Points of View in Buddhist, Jaina, and Advaita Vedānta Traditions Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette The right of Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-22613-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-27598-2 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC À trois joyaux, Renaud Paquette, André Couture, et Louis Painchaud. Contents Acknowledgements ix Preface xi Introduction 1 I.1 The form of doxography: systematic, dialectical, ahistorical 2 I.2 A universal definition of doxography 13 I.3 The content of Indian doxography: views 14 I.4 The function of Indian doxography: spiritual/ yogic exercise 18 I.5 The context of Indian doxography: a dialogical path to knowledge 20 Notes 22 1 The beginnings of Mādhyamika doxography: Bhāviveka’s MHK 25 1.1 The context of the MHK 25 1.2 The doxographical content and discourse of the MHK 32 1.3 The doxographical structure of the MHK 38 1.4 Table of contents of the MHK 43 1.5 The dialectical strategy of Chapter 9 48 1.6 The rhetorical and thematic progression of Chapter 9 54 1.7 Irony in Chapter 9: peace by polemics 71 Notes 76 2 The beginnings of Jaina doxography: Haribhadra’s ṢDS 91 2.1 Haribhadra’s doxography in context 91 2.2 Haribhadra’s ṢDS in context 103 2.3 ṢDS Chapter 6: the Jaiminīya 125 Notes 126 viii Contents 3 The beginnings of Advaita doxography: Śaṅkara’s SSS 133 3.1 Advaita doxography in context 133 3.2 The hierarchical context of Advaita doxography: above the above 142 3.3 Reconsidering the SSS: authorship, pedagogy, and doxography 155 3.4 SSS Chapters 7 and 8: review and reflection 166 Notes 169 Conclusion 178 Notes 183 Bibliography 184 Index 200 Acknowledgements The completion of this project would not have been possible without the finan- cial support of Distant Worlds: Munich Graduate School for Ancient Studies and the frequent funding from the Munich Promovierendenförderung GCCW. To my colleagues and the support staff at Distant Worlds, I can’t express my gratitude enough. The book edition itself was kindly supported by the Jan Gonda Foundation of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), administered by the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS). I am grateful for the time I spent in beautiful Leiden and to the people there who supported me. A word of thanks to Brian Black, editor of the present series, Dialogues in South Asian Traditions: Religion, Philosophy, Literature and History, for inviting me to publish this book in his collection, and for the brilliant conversations we exchanged on precious occasions. Surely, the result would not have been the same without the kind supervision of my Doktorvater, Professor Robert Zydenbos, who was the first to believe in the project and with whom I had numerous and meaningful discussions on the subject. Equally instrumental was the supervision of Professor Jens-Uwe Hartmann, who generously accepted to take me under his wing during this challenging journey. Thank you. Another word of thanks to the esteemed scholars who either exchanged articles with me, made meaningful recommendations, conveyed encouragements, and/ or commented on some version of the preliminary drafts. I especially think here of Vincent Eltschinger, who kindly reviewed a portion of my thesis manuscript. I would like to express my gratitude to Daniel Stuart, who commented on several sections of the same. I am particularly indebted to Philipp Maas for having read and kindly helping to improve the translation of and reflection on the materials which I present. I also think of Douglas Berger for his generous support and criti- cal contributions. A word of gratitude to Christophe Vielle, Matthew Kapstein, Anil Mudra, Piotr Balcerowicz, Olle Qvarnström, Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, and Johannes Bronkhorst for their severe critique, their friendly encouragements, and the precious information which they shared with me. It has been such a long jour- ney that most of them undoubtedly forgot what kindness informed their responses to my queries. But I did not. Thank you. x Acknowledgements Within a closer circle, to my friends and colleagues who shared their views and tolerated my rambling on this project and its theoretical implications, Patrick McCartney, Henry Albery, Agnieszka Rostalska, Peter Romaskiewicz, Charles DiSimone, Guttorm Norberg Gunderson, Constanze Pabst von Ohain, and Anna- Maria von Parseval, a heartfelt word of gratitude. May we meet more often. Thank you. Naturally, the eternal support of my family, father and mother, but especially the love, patience, and precious insights of my wife and dearest friend, Laura von Ostrowski, ensured that my heart and mind remained on course throughout this dialogical venture. I thank you all.
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