title: comment and discussion.

, by: dallmayr, fred,

philosophy east & west, 00318221, aug97, vol. 47, issue 2
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international vedanta congress in madras: a report
in early january 1996, a major gathering of scholars of
indian philosophy and religion took place in madras,
india; the occasion was the seventh international
congress of vedanta. the gathering marked the tenth
anniversary of the congress, which had been founded in
1986 at miami university, chiefly on the initiative of
professor s.s. rama rao pappu. since the time of its
founding, the congress has met annually or biennially,
attracting a steadily growing number of participating
scholars. in 1988, a meeting celebrated the birth
centennial of sarvepalli radhakrishnan, while two years
later the 1,200th anniversary of sri shankaracharya was
commemorated. in 1992 the focus was on swami
vivekananda, in memory of the swami's participation in
the world parliament of religions nearly a hundred years
earlier, while in 1994 and 1995 attention shifted,
respectively, to the life work of sri aurobindo and of
jiddu krishnamurti.
the seventh international congress was held from january
2 to 6, 1996, under the auspices of the radhakrishnan
institute for advanced study in philosophy at the
university of madras. the initiative for organizing the
meeting was due again to professor rama rao pappu, who
this time was joined by professor t. s. devadoss,
director of the radhakrishnan institute, and also by dr.
s. pannerselvam of the same institute, who acted as
general coordinator. attended by some 150 scholars from
india and abroad, the congress ranged broadly over the
multiple dimensions of vedanta and their continuing
significance in the contemporary world. for
organizational purposes, the program of the congress
listed four main themes (reflected in the structure of
the panels): principal interpretations of vedanta;
vedanta and other philosophical systems and traditions;
vedanta, neo-vedanta, and modern science; and vedanta
and indian literature. in addition, several plenary
sessions were devoted to the related themes of vedantic
interpretations, vedanta and science, and vedanta and
contemporary thought.
a noted feature of this congress was the scheduling of a
number of prominent "endowment lectures," presented,
respectively, by professors david w. atkinson of the
university of saskatchewan, daya krishna of jaipur, k.
l. seshagiri rao of the university of virginia, v. v.
raman of the rochester institute of technology, r. raj
singh of brock university (canada), rama rao pappu of
miami university, s.s. barlingay of pune, klaus k.
klostermaier of the university of manitoba, k. r.
sundararajan of st. bonaventure university, and rajendra
prasad of the indian council of philosophical research
(icpr).
the congress opened on january 2 with an inaugural
session attended not only by regular participants but
also by representatives from the public and economic
life in the region. following words of welcome by the
main organizers of the conference, dr. p. k. ponnuswamy,
vice-chancellor of the university of madras, highlighted
in his "presidential address" the timeliness of the
congress owing to the continuing and even increasing
relevance of vedanta in a period of profound domestic
and international rivalries and tensions. in dr.
ponnuswamy's view, vedanta symbolized the spirit of
social justice, equity, and human cooperation guided by
the rule of dharma. kindled first in the vedas and
upanishads, this spirit was later developed and fleshed
out by sankara and other vedantic thinkers as an
antidote to religious and social divisiveness and
sectarianism. it was noted that if the legacy of these
founders is properly preserved and cultivated, vedanta
could still serve as a vehicle of social harmony and
reconciliation in the contemporary global arena.
as dr. ponnuswamy emphasized, harmony and reconciliation
should not be equated with uniformity or homogeneity.
throughout her history, india had always exhibited a
rich tapestry of diverse religious and social strands;
accordingly vedanta and the vedantic tradition have
supported a variety of orientations, including pluralism
and monism, realism and idealism, theism and nontheistic
absolutism. nevertheless, this variety does not cancel
or impair the deeper "union of hearts and communion of
minds." this realization was seen to be especially
important in our time of globalization. in the
vice-chancellor's words: "the pathways we tread, the
names we give, the rituals we adopt all pale into
insignificance when we stand face to face in the
sparkling light of future hope--we may call it by the
name of god."
subsequent lectures and panels at the congress paid
tribute to the rich diversity of vedantic teachings and
traditions, while also linking them together in a
broader, now increasingly global, purpose. in his
endowment lecture that same afternoon, professor
atkinson endorsed the idea of vedanta as a bridge across
cultures and sectarian orientations. in his view,
however, this idea is far from being realized or even
glimpsed in today's world. in western universities and
colleges, indian thought, including vedanta, is still
confined to departments of oriental or religious studies
and entrusted to the care of specialized indologists. as
long as this is the case, no genuine dialogue or
learning can take place between indian philosophy and
other world philosophies; vedantic teachings, in
particular, are not allowed "to speak to the world."
curiously, this situation is out of touch with some of
the most recent trends in western thought, especially
those trends often labeled "postmodernism" or
"poststructuralism." in a hopeful vein, atkinson
perceived a "new possibility for dialogue" in our time
"as western postmodernism edges ever closer to adopting
philosophical positions that have enormous sympathy with
and often echo some of the major teachings of both the
hindu and buddhist philosophical traditions."
explorations of vedanta during the ensuing days all
reflected the immense wealth and variety of its
teachings (but only a few glimpses can be offered in
this synoptic report). among other endowment lecturers,
seshagiri rao spoke about aspects of gandhi's religious
and social thought, v. v. raman about vedanta and modern
science, rama rao pappu about the purusarthas, s.s.
barlingay about forms of rasa, and klaus klostermaier
about vedantic metaphysics. these plenary lectures were
flanked and surrounded by a host of panels--many of them
held concurrently--devoted to such topics as sankara's
relation to ramanuja, vedanta's stance vis-a-vis bhakti
and sufi thought, the comparison of vedanta with
hermeneutics and deconstruction, vedanta and modern
science, the ethical implications of vedantic teachings,
gandhi and karmayoga, and the practical relevance of
vedanta for contemporary democracy with its focus on
human rights.
no report of the congress would be adequate without
mentioning some of the more unusual features of this
gathering. one of the intriguing but nonetheless
instructive aspects of the program--at least for
delegates coming from the west--was a session titled
"interpretations of vedanta" reserved for classical
indian pundits. speaking in fluent sanskrit (followed by
translations into english), professors brahmashri
kalyana sundara sastrigal, ramanuja thathachar, b.n.k.
sharma, n. veezhinathan, laximi thathachar, and
srinivasa rao argued for the advaita, visistadvaita, and
dvaita traditions of vedanta. in this session, western
scholars got a glimpse into traditional ways of doing
philosophy in the sanskrit schools. (as we learned, the
vedanta congress nearly overlapped with a mimamsa
seminar held in nearby tirupati.)
the conference also made a sudden shift from traditional
pundits arguing texts to modern physicists relating
science to vedanta. the session "vedanta and science"
was chaired by professor p.r.j. gangadharam, a
microbiologist at the university of illinois-chicago.
important papers were presented in this session by
professor e.c.g. sudarshan, amit goswamy, v. v. raman,
r. puligandla, and klaus witz. professor ilya prigogine,
a nobel laureate, who could not attend the conference,
had sent his paper.
another unusual feature--for many delegates the high
point of the entire congress--was the performance of
devotional music by the renowned vocalist dr. (smt.) m.
s. subbulakshmi. the singer enchanted her audience by
her soft, yet quietly intense rendering of classical
bhajans--which, better perhaps than lectures or panels,
captured the gist or inner spirit of vedanta.
at the closing session of the congress, farewell
speeches were given by the main organizers, while
professor daya krishna reflected on the current state of
indian philosophy in light of the vedantic heritage. i
myself was asked to present the "valedictory address" at
that time. to conclude this report, i add a few passages
from my address:
the organizers have done me a great honor by asking me
to present the valedictory address at the conclusion of
this seventh international congress of vedanta. as you
realize, i myself come to vedanta from western
philosophy, especially from the continental perspective
associated with the names of heidegger and gadamer, a
perspective which can be briefly labeled "hermeneutics"
(or hermeneutical phenomenology). now hermeneutics is an
attempt to interpret, to understand, to make sense of a
text, a set of texts, a tradition, or a way of life that
has come down to us from the past (or that reaches us
from far off). from a hermeneutical vantage, a textual
tradition can never be a closed doctrine, a static
system of beliefs and ideas. to make sense, to have
meaning for us, it must speak to us and respond to our
inquiries--and we will find that it will respond in ever
new ways, sometimes in very unexpected ways. with
reference to our concern here, vedanta must not be
allowed to congeal into a dogma if it wishes to remain a
living vedanta, an ever fresh mode of inquiry into
reality or into "being" (which is how i prefer to
translate the classical term "brahman").
one of the things that attracts me (philosophically and
existentially) to vedanta is its hopeful teaching, the
teaching that we are not simply outcasts or people cast
into permanent exile--outcasts from being, from brahman,
in total desolation and abandonment--but that being
(with its promise of liberation or moksa) is also close
to us, is in effect always already there, lying in wait
for us. and i say this with some hesitation and
trembling--in a century in which desolation, despair,
and destruction have been so enormous and overwhelming.
in a real sense, we have strayed from being, from caring
(theoretically and practically) for being, from
jnanayoga and karmayoga. but i want to conclude with a
tribute, a "valedictory" to vedanta: now not so much to
its jnana and karma side, but to its bhakti or
devotional dimension. there is a gesture that people all
over the world--and not just philosophers or
academics--recognize instantly; i consider it a profound
vedanta gesture. here are two hands: not the same but
held together (advaita), not drifting apart in despair.
the gesture implies a twofold engagement: that we aim to
be mindful and not forgetful of being, in the hope that
being will be mindful of us and keep us in being, in
well-being. here are the opening lines of the kena
upanishad, which, i believe, formulate the meaning of
the vedanta gesture:
om. may full life be granted to my limbs, my speech, my
breath, my eyes, my ears, my strength, and all my
organs. brahman is all of which the upanishads speak.
may i not deny brahman nor brahman deny me. un-denying
may i not be denied.
~~~~~~~~
by fred dallmayr, dee professor of political theory in
the department of government and international studies
at the university of notre dame

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