The Ocean of Inquiry a Neglected Classic of Late Advaita Vedānta A

The Ocean of Inquiry A Neglected Classic of Late Advaita Vedānta A dissertation presented by Michael S. Allen to The Committee on the Study of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of The Study of Religion Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts April 2013 ! © 2013 Michael S. Allen All rights reserved. ! Dissertation Advisor: Professor Parimal G. Patil Michael S. Allen The Ocean of Inquiry: A Neglected Classic of Late Advaita Vedānta Abstract The Ocean of Inquiry is a vernacular compendium of Advaita Vedānta, one of the most influential traditions of South Asian religion and philosophy, especially in modern times. Its author, Niścaldās (ca. 1791 – 1863), was a classically trained pandit and a sādhu of the Dādū Panth. His work was widely read in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, both in its Hindi original and in regional translations: Vivekananda once referred to it as the most influential book in India. Surprisingly, however, The Ocean of Inquiry remains virtually unknown to Western scholars; even specialists in Hinduism have rarely heard of it. This dissertation aims to draw attention both to Niścaldās’s work and to the broader genre of vernacular Vedānta; it also calls into question the notion that late Advaita Vedānta represents a period of intellectual decline. Part I provides a historical and textual overview of The Ocean of Inquiry, arguing that Niścaldās’s work should be situated within what might be termed “Greater Advaita Vedānta,” or Advaita Vedānta as it was disseminated outside the received canon of Sanskrit philosophical works. This part of the dissertation also offers the first comprehensive biography of Niścaldās in English, and it analyzes the significance of his choice to write in the vernacular. Part II investigates the relationship of philosophy and religious practice in Niścaldās’s work. Taking as its starting point the question “What does it mean for knowledge to liberate?” this part of the dissertation argues that for Niścaldās, the key distinction is not between theoretical knowledge and liberating knowledge but between doubtful and doubt-free ! iii! awareness. For those who are properly qualified, the central practice on the path to liberation is the practice of inquiry (vicāra), interpreted as a dialectical process of raising and removing doubts. This interpretation is supported with three “case studies” of characters in The Ocean of Inquiry who reach liberation. The conclusion is that for Niścaldās, philosophical inquiry is not a purely theoretical undertaking; under the right conditions, it can become a concrete religious practice. ! iv! Table of Contents Preface vii Abbreviations x Part I – HISTORICAL AND TEXTUAL OVERVIEW Chapter 1: Introduction 2 The Ocean of Inquiry – Significance of the text - Reasons for its neglect - Literature review – Scope and method of the present dissertation – Chapter-by-chapter outline Chapter 2: The Life and Works of Niścaldās 31 Sources on the life of Niścaldās — Birth and early years — Affiliation with the Dādū Panth — Early education — Banaras, city of pandits— Life in Kihaḍaulī — Niścaldās as a teacher — The library at Kihaḍaulī — Composing The Ocean of Inquiry — Other works by Niścaldās — Guru to a king — Travels in Rajasthan — Final years — Conclusions Chapter 3: An Overview of The Ocean of Inquiry 77 The significance of the vernacular – Hindi, Sanskrit, and Classical Hindi - Sources and models – Synopsis PART II – INQUIRY AND LIBERATION Chapter 4: Why Epistemology Matters 104 Knowledge and liberation – The puzzle of Tattvadṛṣṭi – An overview of Niścaldās’s epistemology – Instrumental epistemology: The basic framework - Instrumental epistemology: The idealist framework – Excursus: Jīva and Brahman – Reflections of consciousness – Material epistemology – The three guṇas – Vedāntic cosmology – On epistemic conflict Chapter 5: The Path to Liberation 173 Restatement of the problem – Qualifications for the study of Vedānta - Śravaṇa, manana, and nididhyāsana – The meaning and process of inquiry – The role of nididhyāsana – The mirror of the mind: An illuminating passage from the Vṛtti- prabhākar – Remaining questions – Conclusions Chapter 6: Inquiry in Practice 225 The need for a teacher – The form of inquiry: Debates and dialogues – The case of Tattvadṛṣṭi – The case of Adṛṣṭi – The puzzle of Tarkadṛṣṭi - Conclusions Conclusion 287 Summary of the argument – Philosophy and religious practice – Intellectual values in late Advaita Vedānta – Directions for further research Bibliography 304 ! v! नोत!े िवना!ानं!िवचारणे ासाधन:ै Knowledge does not arise through any other means apart from inquiry. -Aparokṣānubhūti, verse 11 ! vi! Preface The wonderful thing about the study of South Asia, at least for a graduate student in search of a dissertation topic, is how open the field is: one need not look far to find rewarding texts and topics virtually untouched by other scholars. Advaita Vedānta is one of the most studied traditions of Indian philosophy and religion—some would perhaps call it over-studied—but even here, so much work remains to be done. An excellent example is the rich trove of Vedāntic texts written not in Sanskrit but in vernaculars across India, which no doubt played an important role in popularizing the tradition, but which remain unstudied and in many cases even unknown. This dissertation aims to draw attention to the genre of vernacular Vedānta by focusing on a Hindi-language work that was extremely popular in the nineteenth century: Niścaldās’s Ocean of Inquiry (Vicār-sāgar). I came across Niścaldās’s work by chance. I had studied Advaita Vedānta for several years without knowing anything about vernacular Vedānta; like many students of South Asian religions, I was under the impression that Vedānta was essentially a Sanskrit tradition. Then, in 2004-2005 I went to Jaipur to study Hindi through the American Institute of Indian Studies, and I chose to work on The Ocean of Inquiry for my final project. I knew of it only through the introduction to Ramana Maharshi’s Jewel Garland of Inquiry, which explained that Ramana’s work was based on “a rare book known as Vichara Sagaram written in Hindi by Sadhu Nishchaldas.” Only later did I learn that this “rare book” was once referred to by Vivekananda as the most influential book in India. The Ocean of Inquiry turned out to hold a double interest for me. There was of course its historical significance and the wider world of vernacular Vedānta towards which it pointed. But there was also the world within the text. In particular, The Ocean of Inquiry seemed to hint ! vii! at a solution to a problem I had been puzzling over for a long time. To put the matter bluntly: why were late Advaita Vedāntins so obsessed with polemics and scholastic hair-splitting? Didn’t they belong to a tradition that emphasized the direct realization of a reality beyond all words and thought? Reading Niścaldās helped me see the tradition in a new light: not filtered through my own presuppositions about what counts as “concrete” or “practical,” but through a worldview in which philosophical inquiry itself can become a concrete spiritual practice. I am grateful to the American Institute of Indian Studies for funding during my year in Jaipur, as well as for a summer research grant that allowed me to begin research on the life of Niścaldās. I owe thanks to all my teachers at the Hindi Language Program, but especially to Vidhu Chaturvedi for reading carefully and patiently through the first chapter of the text with me. I also wish to thank Śrī Gopāldās-jī Mahārāj of the Dādūdvārā in Nareṇa (Rajasthan) for his hospitality, as well as Dvārikādās Śāstrī-jī of Banaras for meeting with me and kindly providing me with a copy of his edition of Niścaldās’s text. In the summer of 2011 I received a grant from the South Asia Institute at Harvard to attend the Braj Bhasha and Early Hindi Retreat in Miercurea-Ciuc, Romania. I am grateful to all the participants for listening with enthusiasm as I discussed my project, and especially to Professors Imre Bangha, Monika Horstmann, and Allison Busch for their one-on-one help and advice. Thanks also to Professor Jack Hawley for offering several helpful leads early in my research, and for continuing to show enthusiastic interest in the project. I am also indebted to Shankar Nair for his friendship, support, and countless enriching conversations over the years. As a graduate student, so much depends on the faculty one works under. I have had the rare good fortune to have not just one but three outstanding guides during my time at Harvard: Professors Parimal Patil, Francis Clooney, and Anne Monius. I am immensely grateful ! viii! to each of them, not only for their help with this project, but for all their support and encouragement over the years. A very special thanks to Professor Patil; I could not have asked for a better advisor. The British philosopher Michael Dummett once reflected in a preface on the “conventional fatuity” of claiming responsibility for all errors in a work. “Obviously,” he writes, “only I can be held responsible for these: but, if I could recognize the errors, I should have removed them, and, since I cannot, I am not in the position to know whether any of them can be traced back to the opinions of those who have influenced me.” Fatuously or not, I do claim responsibility for all errors in this work. May the reader approach them with Niścaldās’s words in mind: dayā dharma siratāja, “Compassion is the crown of virtue.” To my wife, Elizabeth, I owe a greater debt of gratitude than I could ever hope to repay in a preface: for her boundless support, for her patience during countless evenings spent with cups of coffee rather than cups of Earl Grey, for her friendship, and for her love.

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