Michael S. Allen - The Ocean of Inquiry: Niscaldas and the Premodern Origins of Modern Hinduism (South Asia Research)

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Martha Selby

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Oxford University Press

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A PRIESTS GUIDE FOR THE GREAT FESTIVAL

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THE RIGVEDA

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IN THE SHADE OF THE GOLDEN PALACE

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TO SAVOR THE MEANING

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THE OCEAN OF INQUIRY

Nicalds and the Premodern Origins of Modern

Hinduism

Michael S. Allen

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Allen, Michael S., 1980 author.

Title: The ocean of inquiry : Niscaldas and the premodern origins of

modern Hinduism / Michael S. Allen.

Description: 1. | New York : Oxford University Press, 2022. |

Series: South Asia research series | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021061026 (print) | LCCN 2021061027 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780197638958 (hardback) | ISBN 9780197638972 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Advaita. | Hinduism. | MESH: Niscaladasa, 1863. Vicarasagara. |

Niscaladasa, 1863.Criticism and interpretation.

Classification: LCC B132.A3 N52325 2022 (print) | LCC B132.A3 (ebook) |

DDC 181/.482dc23/eng/20220110

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021061026

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021061027

DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197638958.001.0001

Knowledge does not arise without inquiry.

Aparoknubhti, verse 11

Looking for a way to improve my Hindi while furthering my study of Vednta, I sought out a copy of Nicaldss Ocean of Inquiry. Only later did I learn that this rare book was once referred to by Vivekananda as the most influential work of its day.

The present book has its origins in my doctoral dissertation, The Ocean of Inquiry: A Neglected Classic of Late Advaita Vednta (2013). Portions of have been published previously in a 2017 article, Greater Advaita Vednta: The Case of Nicalds. I am grateful to the AIIS for funding during my year in Jaipur, as well as for a summer research grant (2005) that allowed me to begin research on the life of Nicalds. I owe thanks to all my teachers at AIIS, but especially to Vidhu Chaturvedi for reading carefully and patiently through the first chapter of the text with me. I also wish to thank r Goplds-j Mahrj of the Dd-dvr in Naraina (Rajasthan) for his hospitality, as well as Dvrikds str-j of Banaras for meeting with me and kindly providing me with a copy of his edition of Nicaldss text.

In the summer of 2011 I received a grant from the South Asia Institute at Harvard to attend the Braj Bhasha and Early Hindi Retreat in Miercurea Ciuc, Romania. I am grateful to all the participants for listening with enthusiasm as I discussed my project, and especially to Imre Bangha and Monika Horstmann for their expert advice. Thanks also to Jack Hawley for offering several helpful leads early in my research, and for continuing to show enthusiastic interest in the project over the years. I am also indebted to Allison Busch, both for her scholarship and her personal guidance. The field of Hindi literature will not be the same without her.

I had the rare good fortune to have not just one but three outstanding guides in graduate school: Parimal Patil, Francis Clooney, and Anne Monius. I am immensely grateful to each of them, not only for their help with my work on Nicalds, but for all their support over the years, as well as for their personal example. I only wish Anne Monius were alive so that I could thank her in person; the path from dissertation to book would have been much thornier and harder to find were it not for her advice. I owe a boundless debt of gratitude to another mentor no longer with us: James Cutsinger, who taught me how to think, and without whom I would never have gone into religious studies.

I am grateful to Hampden-Sydney College and the University of Virginia for summer funding (in 2015 and 2017) that allowed me to work on my manuscript. My gratitude extends also to many colleagues and friends whose conversations have left me enriched, at Harvard, Hampden-Sydney, and the University of Virginia. I could not ask for better colleagues than the ones I currently have. John Nemec has been unfailing in his support, encouragement, and guidance; I learn something new from Sonam Kachru every time we have a conversation; and I am deeply grateful to Shankar Nair for his friendship and advice on this project over the years.