An Introduction to Vedantic Hermeneutics: Jayatīrtha’s Commentary on the Īśā Upaniṣad: Session Eight

Hindu theology, and particularly Vedānta, is grounded in the reading of sacred texts and has been largely developed in commentaries on those texts. This Sanskrit reading class will explore the way Vaiṣṇava Vedānta develops its theology through a careful reading of the Upaniṣads. This term, we will read the commentaries on the Īśā Upaniṣad by Jayatīrtha, an important Dvaita theologian, paying particular attention to the way he builds on the commentary of his predecessor Madhva, and how he develops his theology. This reading class aims to introduce students with an intermediate knowledge of Sanskrit to the style and reasoning of Sanskrit commentaries as well as the fundamentals of Vaiṣṇava Vedānta.