Description:
Theistic Vedānta originated with Rāmānuja (1077-1157) was an initiate of the Śrīvaisnava sectarian tradition in South India. One of the processes by which the authority of the Śrīvaisnavas was consolidated was Rāmānuja's synthesis of popular Hindu devotionalism with the philosophy of Vedānta.
This book demonstrates that by incorporating a text often thought to be of secondary importance - the Visnu Purāna (1st-4th CE) - into his reading of the Upanisads, which were the standard of orthodoxy for Vedānta philosophy, Rāmānuja was able to interpret Vedānta within the theistic context of Śrīvaisnavism. It contributes new insights to broader issues in religious studies such as canon expansion, commentarial interpretation, tradition-building, and the comparative study of scripture.