Sixteenth century scholar-saint Caitanya has inspired many a Krishna devotee over the years. His message made its way from east India, travelling around the world, and reaching millions.
Dr. Ravi Gupta, alumnus of OCHS and Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies at Utah State University, has compiled a volume on Caitanya’s Vaisnava tradition, titled Caitanya Vaisnava Philosophy: Tradition, Reason, and Devotion.
Noted contributors include Joseph T. O’Connell, former OCHS academic director, and Kenneth Valpey and Kiyokazu Okita, OCHS alumni.
It begins with an introduction by Professor Valpey on discourses of ultimacy, followed by sections on epistemology and ontology, the relationship between God and the world, the continuity and transformation of the Caitanya Vaisnavism, the connection between ethics and devotional communities, and the aesthetics of religious experience.
Each chapter is accompanied by a reading, often from works in Sanskrit and Bengali that have not yet been studied in English.
Prominent philosophers and religious thinkers in the Vaisnava tradition are also featured in this volume, including Baladeva Vidyabhushana, Rupa Gosvami, Krsnadasa Kaviraja and Jiva Gosvami.
Professor Gupta’s previous work includes a 2013 collaboration with Kenneth Valpey, titled The Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and Living Tradition, as well as a 2007 work on Caitanya Vaisnava tradition and Jiva Gosvami, titled The Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami: When Knowledge Meets Devotion.
Caitanya Vaisnava Philosophy will be available from Ashgate starting March 2014, in both hardcover and e-book formats.
