Parasarabhattas Tattvaratnakarah.

• Author: Clooney, Francis X.
• Position: Book Review

Parasarabhattas Tattvaratnakarah. By GERHARD OBERHAMMER. Materialen zur Geschichte der Ramanuja-Schule, pt. 1. Vienna: VERLAG DER OSTERREICHISCHEN AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFT, 1979. Pp. 258.

Vatsya Varadagurus Traktar von der Tranzendenz des Brahma in der kontroverstheologischen Tradition der Schule. By GERHARD OBERHAMMER, Materialen zur Geschichte der Ramanuja-Schule, pt. 2. Vienna: VERLAG DER OSTERREICHISCHEN AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFT, 1996. Pp. 115.

Yadavaprakasa, der vergessene Lehrer Ramanujas. By GERHARD OBERHAMMER. Materialen zur Gaschichte der Ramanuja-Schule, pt. 3. Vienna: VERLAG DER OSTERREICHISCHEN AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFT, 1997. Pp. 181.

Das "Innere Lenker" (Antaryami): Geschichte eines Theologems. By GERHARD OBERHAMMER. Materialen zur Geschichte der Ramanuja-Schule, pt. 4. Vienna: VERLAG DER OSTERREICHISCHEN AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFT, 1998. Pp. 127.

Zur Lehre von der ewigen vibhuti Gottes. By GERHARD OBERHAMMER. Materialen zur Geschichte der Ramanuja-Schule, pt. 5. Vienna: VERLAG DER OSTERREICHISCHEN AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFT, 2000. Pp. 154.

The five volumes reviewed here are the fruits of the long-term research of Gerhard Oberhammer, former professor and retired director of the Indological Institute at the University of Vienna. They are important and erudite contributions to our understanding of classical Hindu theology, specifically in the theist tradition of Ramanuja (1017-1137). While the main tenets of the Ramanuja interpretation of Vigistadvaita Vedanta have long been noted, most attention has remained focused on Ramanuja, perhaps in relation to the eighth-century non-dualist Vedantin Samkara; little attention has been paid to earlier or later theologians. As a corrective Oberhammer focuses on thinkers such as Yamuna (tenth c.), Yadavaprakasa (eleventh c.), Parasara Bhattar (twelfth c.), Vatsya Varadaguru (1190-1275), Sudarsanasuri (12th c.), Meghanadarisuri (early 13th c.), and of course Vedanta Desika (Venkatanatha, 1268-1369), with attention to their contributions to the conceptual development of the Visistadvaita. In light of this richer contextualization, even Ramanuja will now be seen in a more vivid intellectual context, as the continuities and new departures of his thought come into clearer perspective. (More too needs to be said about the links between Ramanuja's Visistadvaita and the Tamil Srivaisnava tradition, but such is not the topic of these volumes which are focused on Sanskrit-language materials.)...