PhD / Bodhasāra, previously untranslated into English, is a Sanskrit treasure. Written by Narahari in eighteenth century India, it consists of charming Sanskrit verse of the highest order. Full of metaphors and word puns, it is a clever piece of literature that stimulates the intellect and imagination. By carefully following the traditional protocols, Bodhasāra remains acceptable to orthodox Advaita Vedāntins. However, although superficially it appears to be merely another presentation of the Advaita Vedānta tradition, in-depth reading reveals a refreshingly new style. The Hindu tradition is poetically presented as invaluable to awaken discernment between the real and unreal, but the import of Bodhasāra is that, ultimately, liberation requires a maturity that is not bound by anything, including the tradition itself; it comes through an awakening discernment. Narahari is celebrating jīvanmukti, not as liberation from the world, but as liberation while living. Bodhasāra is stylishly poetic, but not poetry for poetry’s sake, nor bhakti (religious devotion); rather it exemplifies the potency of rasa (aesthetic flavour) and dhvani (aesthetic suggestion). Narahari understands the correspondence between words and truth and uses his poetic style to facilitate union of the individual and universal. Few eighteenth century Sanskrit works have even been read, let alone translated into English, so this translation of Bodhasāra is a valuable example of Indian thought immediately before Colonialism. It shows what modernity, defined here as a moving away from entrenched traditional beliefs to an empowerment of the individual living in the present moment, in an Indian context could have been like if Colonialism had not intervened. The implications of Bodhasāra to scholars of Indian history, Advaita Vedānta and Yoga need to be considered. Bodhasāra extends the project ‘Sanskrit knowledge systems on the eve of colonialism’ being a work on mokṣa written in the late eighteenth century. It revitalises academic research into Advaita Vedānta, presents a fresh view of Yoga, and fits well the notion of an Indian modernity or renaissance during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/283594 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Cover, Jennifer Joy |
| Publisher | University of Sydney., Indian SubContinental Studies |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | The author retains copyright of this thesis., http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/copyright.html |
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