Epistemologies and the Limitations of Philosophical Inquiry: Doctrine in Madhva Vedanta (Routledgecurzon Hindu Studies Series)

Deepak Sarma explores the degree to which outsiders can understand and interpret the doctrine of the Màdhva school of Vedànta. The school is based on insider epistemology which is so restrictive that few can learn its intricate doctrines. This book reveals the complexity of studying traditions based on insider epistemologies and encourages its audience to ponder both the value and the hazards of granting any outsider the authority and opportunity to derive important insights into a tradition as an insider.

Do you have to be one to know one? Madhvàcàrya, the founder of the thirteenth century school of Vedànta, answered this question with a resounding 'yes!' Madhvàcàrya's insistence that one must be a Màdhva to study Màdhva Vedànta led him to employ various strategies to exclude outsiders and unauthorized readers from accessing the root texts of his tradition and from obtaining oral commentary from living virtuosos. Deepak Sarma explores the degree to which outsiders can understand and interpret the doctrine of the Màdhva school of Vedànta. The school is based on insider epistemology which is so restrictive that few can learn its intricate doctrines. This book reveals the complexity of studying traditions based on insider epistemologies and encourages its audience to ponder both the value and the hazards of granting any outsider the authority and opportunity to derive important insights into a tradition as an insider. The first analysis of the Màdhva tradition, this work contributes to the ongoing controversies regarding epistemic authority and voice in religious studies.

"Do you have to be one to know one? Madhvacarya, the founder of the thirteenth century school of Vedanta, answered this question with a resounding 'yes!' Madhvacarya's insistence that one must be a Madhva to study Madhva Vedanta led him to employ various strategies to exclude outsiders and unauthorized readers from accessing the root texts of his tradition and from obtaining oral commentary from living virtuosos. In this book Deepak Sarma explores the degree to which outsiders can understand and interpret the doctrine of the Madhva school of Vedanta. The school is based on insider epistemology, which is so restrictive that few can learn its intricate doctrines. Revealing the complexity of studying traditions based on insider epistemologies, this book encourages its audience to ponder both the value and the hazards of granting any outsider the authority and opportunity to derive important insights into a tradition as an insider. This work contributes to the ongoing controversies regarding epistemic authority and voice in religious studies."--Résumé de l'éditeur First analysis of the Màdhva tradition Jargon-free and comprehensible for non-specialists Contributes to the ongoing controveries regarding epistemic authority and voice in religious studies Lucid writing style Extremely useful for those interested in the Insider-Outsider controversy in the study of religion In a well-known skit on Saturday Night Live, African-American actor-comedian Eddie Murphy disguised himself as Mr. White, a Caucasian businessman, in order to understand what it is like to be white, an understanding that remained unavailable to him by any other means because of his race.1 This text offers an analysis of the parameters governing how one becomes an expert in the Medhva school of Vedanta. The school is based on insider epistemology which is so restrictive that few can learn its intricate doctrines