G. R. Malkani
reinventing classical advaita vedānta
pp. 119-135
in: Sharad Deshpande (ed), Philosophy in colonial India, Berlin, Springer, 2015Abstract
This essay explores G.R. Malkani's reinvention of Advaita Vedānta in the context of neo-Vedānta in Indian academia during the colonial period. The first section examines why Advaita Vedānta received more attention than Buddhism despite unintelligibility of its central doctrine of the reality of Brahman and the unreality of the world of every day experience and why various forms of Vedānta continued to be vitally relevant to Indian society in its task of reforming itself into a vibrant modern society. The subsequent sections give a detailed account of Malkani's presentation of some key concepts and issues in Advaita Vedānta and the Hegelian influence on his "free rendering" of classical Advaita Vedānta.
