| The Jīvanmuktiviveka or “The Treatise on Liberation-in-Life,” is the only work in its period to specifically address one of the central issues in Hinduism: is liberation reserved for the world-renouncing religious elite, or is it attainable by everyone through devotion and organized ritual worship in the communal tradition? The work was composed c. 1380 CE by the Brahmin scholar Vidyāran&dotbelow;ya when he was the pontiff of the Śrn&dotbelow;geri monastery, which still endures today. This dissertation is a new edition of the Sanskrit text based on previously unused manuscript evidence and a new annotated English translation. The introduction is a study of some historical and philosophical problems in the Jīvanmuktiviveka. Historians of the twentieth century long debated Vidyāran&dotbelow;ya's identity and his political activity in the founding of the Vijayanagara kingdom in fourteenth century South India. The position taken here minimizes his political role and explores his possible role in the internal debates of medieval Vedānta philosophy between Advaita and Viśis&dotbelow;t&dotbelow;ādvaita, thus presenting a historical context for the Jīvanmuktiviveka. In this text, Vidyāran&dotbelow;ya takes the classical Advaita Vedanta position that internal knowledge of the Self (ātman) as Brahman and renunciation of social and ritual conventions lead to liberation, and that liberation can be achieved in an individual's own lifetime ( jīvanmukti). Tension had existed between the individual renunciant and the mainstream householder community in India for centuries. In medieval India this tension became focused into philosophical positions which resulted in lively debate. Vidyāran&dotbelow;ya attempted a novel solution to problems internal to Advaita and resolved this tension. The knowledge of Self as equivalent to Brahman in classical Advaita philosophy is considered insufficient to completely root out operative action which causes future births. Liberation also requires a lifelong commitment to the Yogic practices “eradication of latent tendencies” and “elimination of the mind.” Vidyāran&dotbelow;ya preserved the possibility of liberation in this lifetime, while also not disturbing the conventional religious social order who could see the virtues of the paramaham&dotbelow;sa yogin following Vidyāran&dotbelow;ya's teaching. This paramaham&dotbelow;sa yogin does not compromise his position but remains an ascetic outside of, while still recognized by, the householder society. |
