Careful study of the commentaries of both Sankara and Ramanuja concerning the relationship between Self-knowledge and dharma confirmed the usual doctrinal differences between them which have been the focal point of scholarship on Vedanta but as well it also uncovered areas of structural convergence co-existing with the former. Accordingly this investigation proceeded on two levels: the first level was concerned with those differences in the ontologies; the second level was concerned with the "meaning-structures" common to both. Previous scholarship on Vedanta has not made reference to these areas of structural convergence. The objective of this work has been to verify how these areas of structural convergence throw light on their respective explicit positions. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In The Theology of Râmânuja, John Braisted Carman carefully examines the south Asian philosopher Râmânuja’s concepts of the Supreme Person, and the relational dynamics between the Supreme Person and the devotee. Carman sees in Râmânuja’s discussion of the master (úesî)/servant (úesa) relationship the most important understandings concerning the hierarchy between the Supreme Person and the devotee. Carmen argues that in this devotional relationship there is a point at which the distinction between the master and the servant is dissolved, and mutual dependence is revealed. This paper focuses on the point where the roles in the relationship between the divine and the devotee are reversed. In this reversal the master takes on the role of the servant and the servant the master. It is argued here that this role reversal is the action that illuminates the ultimate dissolution of the hierarchy that Râmânuja recognizes and results in spiritual empowerment for the devotee.

In The Theology of Râmânuja, John Braisted Carman carefully examines the south Asian philosopher Râmânuja’s concepts of the Supreme Person, and the relational dynamics between the Supreme Person and the devotee. Carman sees in Râmânuja’s discussion of the master (úesî)/servant (úesa) relationship the most important understandings concerning the hierarchy between the Supreme Person and the devotee. Carmen argues that in this devotional relationship there is a point at which the distinction between the master and the servant is dissolved, and mutual dependence is revealed. This paper focuses on the point where the roles in the relationship between the divine and the devotee are reversed. In this reversal the master takes on the role of the servant and the servant the master. It is argued here that this role reversal is the action that illuminates the ultimate dissolution of the hierarchy that Râmânuja recognizes and results in spiritual empowerment for the devotee.