https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=The_Theological_Method_of_SamkaraThe Theological Method of Samkara - Revision history2026-10-20T18:59:30ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Theological_Method_of_Samkara&diff=156564&oldid=previmported>AnomieBOT: Dating maintenance tags: {{What}}2017-10-17T05:30:15Z<p>Dating maintenance tags: {{What}}</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Orphan|date=August 2012}}<br />
<br />
'''The Theological Method of Samkara''' is [[Richard De Smet]]'s [[doctoral dissertation]], defended at the [[Pontifical Gregorian University]], Rome, in 1953, with Fr Renatus Arnou, SJ as director. The dissertation, which rapidly became well-known, remains unpublished {{what|date=October 2017}}. The dissertation proposed that [[Sankaracarya|Sankara]] was not so much a pure philosopher, but rather a ''srutivadin'' or theologian, an exegete or hermeneutician of the scriptures. It also proposed that the doctrine of indirect signification (''lakṣaṇā'') plays a central role in Sankara's theological method.<ref>De Smet, 'The Theological Method of Samkara' 290, 292.</ref> However, in the dissertation itself, De Smet does not arrive clearly at his later rejection of the classical illusionist (''mayavadin'') monistic interpretation of Sankara in favour of a non-dualist 'realist' one.<ref>I. Coelho, "Introduction," ''Understanding Sankara: Essays by Richard De Smet,'' ed. Ivo Coelho (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, forthcoming) 4-7.</ref><br />
<br />
==Reception==<br />
De Smet himself reports that he sent the dissertation to various specialists in 1954, people like [[Olivier Lacombe]], [[Hajime Nakamura]], S.K. Belvalkar, Dhirendra Mohan Datta, Paul Hacker, [[Helmuth von Glasenapp]], [[Pierre Johanns]], A.J. Alston, [[Louis Renou]], A.C. Mukerji, Daniel Ingalls, Jacques-Albert Cuttat, [[Hubert Olympus Mascarenhas|H.O. Mascarenhas]] and J.B. van Buitenen, who seem to have appraised it positively.<ref>R. De Smet, "From the Vedas to Radhakrishnan," ''Understanding Sankara: Essays by Richard De Smet'' ch. 19, p. 295.</ref><br />
<br />
While De Smet's thesis has not been completely accepted among Indologists in general and among specialists of Sankara, it has received a positive reception by K. Satchidananda Murty in his ''Revelation and Reason in Advaita''<ref>(Waltair: Andhra University Press, 1959; reprint Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1974).</ref> and by Anantanand Rambachan in his ''Accomplishing the Accomplished: The Vedas as a Source of Valid Knowledge in Sankara''.<ref>(Honululu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991). For a comment on these two authors, see De Smet, "From Catholic Theology to Sankara Vedanta and Return with Fr F.X. Clooney," ''Understanding Sankara: Essays by Richard De Smet'' 411.</ref><br />
<br />
==Publication==<br />
In one of his last letters, De Smet had given permission for the publication of an updated and edited version of his thesis to George McLean, who worked with Bradley J. Malkovsky towards this end.<ref>Ivo Coelho, "Introduction," ''Understanding Sankara: Essays by Richard De Smet,'' 25, note 4.</ref> In his introduction to the De Smet commemorative volume, Malkovsky indicates that publication is in process.<ref>Malkovsky 8, note 11.</ref> The publication is still awaited.<br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
*[[Richard De Smet|De Smet, Richard]]. ''The Theological Method of Samkara.'' Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, 1953 (unpublished).<br />
*Murty, K. Satchidananda. ''Revelation and Reason in Advaita.'' Waltair: Andhra University Press, 1959; reprint Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1974.<br />
*Rambachan, A. ''Accomplishing the Accomplished: The Veda as a Source of Valid Knowledge in Śaṅkara''. Honululu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991.<br />
*Malkovsky, Bradley J. “Introduction: The Life and Work of Richard V. De Smet, S.J.” ''New Perspectives on Advaita Vedānta: Essays in Commemoration of Professor Richard De Smet, S.J.'' Ed. Bradley J. Malkovsky. Leiden / Boston / Köln: Brill, 2000.<br />
*[[Francis Xavier Clooney|Clooney, F.X.]] ''Theology after Vedānta: An Experiment in Comparative Theology.'' Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1993.<br />
*Coelho, Ivo. "Introduction." ''Understanding Sankara: Essays by Richard De Smet.'' Ed. Ivo Coelho. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, forthcoming. 1-30.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references /><br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theological Method of Samkara}}<br />
[[Category:Indology]]<br />
[[Category:Unpublished books]]<br />
[[Category:1953 documents]]</div>imported>AnomieBOT