S. Bhuvaneshwari
(1976) is a research fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and an independent scholar based in Chennai and Kerala (India). She obtained Bachelor’s degree in Economics (1996) and Master’s degree in Public Administration (1999) and later branched out to procure her Masters in Indian Philosophy (2006) and Sanskrit (2012). She obtained her PhD degree (2010) in Indian Philosophy, Department of Sanskrit, University of Madras for her study on Sanskrit Vicārasāgara. She held a Post-Doctoral research position (2016-17) at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT-Madras and worked in the field of Advaita Vedānta and Pūrva Mīmāṃsā. She has lectured in numerous institutes in India. She is the recipient of Shivdasani Visiting Fellowship for the Trinity Term 2024 at Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
She has authored three books viz., A Treatise on Advaita Vedānta: English Translation of Vicāracandrodaya of Pandit Pitambar (2013), The Pedagogical Concern: An Analysis of the Sanskrit Vicārasāgara of Vāsudeva Brahmendra Sarasvatī (2015) and An Ocean of Enquiry: Vicārsāgar of Sādhu Niścaldās, English translation of the Sanskrit Vicārasāgara in two volumes (2017). She served as an honourary research officer at the Adyar Library and Research Centre, Chennai (2014-16) and brought to light two unpublished manuscripts on Advaita viz., Saṃnyāsavicāra (2016) and Advaitasiddhipatram (2018). Her other main area of interest is the Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics especially the aesthetic theories of Bharata, Abhinavagupta and G.W.F. Hegel. She has published twenty-five research papers in the field of Indian Philosophy and Indian and Western Aesthetics. She is a classical dancer (Bharatanatyam) and has performed in both classical and Indian contemporary styles at the national and international avenues.
Role in the Project: I was introduced to the BhP project by Dr. G C Tripathi, Delhi. I participated in the BhP project meeting held at C P R Aiyar Foundation, Chennai on Jan 6th 2016. Dr. Ravi Gupta suggested to undertake the study of Madhusūdana Sarasvatī’s commentary to BhP 1.1.1. I undertook a preliminary study of the commentary and completed a draft translation of the text by Dec 2016. During the three-day national conference on ‘The Bhāgavata Purāṇa – History, Philosophy & Culture’ held in Chennai from Jan 6th to 8th 2017, I presented the paper titled “An enquiry into the philosophical and aesthetical interpretation of Madhusūdana Sarasvatī in his Paramahaṃsapriyā commentary to the first three invocatory verses of the Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa”. Between Jan 2017 to mid-July 2018, I worked with Dr. Kiyokazu Okita and revised the preliminary translation of Madhusūdana’s commentary. On further study of the commentary the question of authorship of Paramahaṃsapriyā arose. The research paper titled ‘The authorship of the Paramahaṃsapriyā commentary on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa’ evolved which was published in the Aug 2018 issue of the Journal of Hindu Studies, Oxford. The reading sessions with Dr. Kiyokazu Okita are in progress since mid-July 2018 and we are reading Bopadeva’s Harilīlā with commentary.
Madhusūdana Sarasvatī and the Bhāgavata Purāṇa
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Research paper on Madhusūdana Sarasvatī’s interpretative analysis of the first three invocatory verses of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa.
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Examining Madhusūdana’s Bhaktirasāyana in relation to his commentary on Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.1.
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Preparation of a monograph on Madhusūdana’s Ṭīkā to Bhāgavata 1.1.1 – 3: edited text, translation with notes and some observations.
Bopadeva and the Bhāgavata Purāṇa
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Harilīlā of Bopadeva with Hemādri’s Harilīlāviveka: A Study.
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Muktāphala of Bopadeva with Hemādri’s Kaivalyadīpikā: An Analysis.
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Research paper on ‘Bopadeva and the Bhāgavata Purāṇa.’
Āryābhāgavatam (Sanskrit) of Śyāmācārya
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Āryābhāgavatam consisting of twelve chapters presents the contents of the twelve skandhas of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa in āryā metre. A printed copy of this work is available in The Adyar Library and Research Centre (ALRC), Chennai. The colophon reads as it is the work of one Bhāgavata Śyāmācārya, son of Bhāgavatācārya. According to the library catalogue at the ALRC this work was edited by T R Krishnacharya and published by the Nirnaya Sagar Press, Bombay in 1890. It is proposed to bring out the text with translation with pictorial representations and notes.
Ekādaśaskandhabhāṣā (Hindi) of Caturdāsa
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Ekādaśaskandhabhāṣā presents the content of the eleventh skandha of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa in the form of dohā, soraṭhā and caupāī. It was published by Khemraj, Venkateswara Press in 1888. A copy of this work is available at the Bhogilal Leherchand Institute of Indology, New Delhi. The proposal is to conduct a study of this text and evolve a research paper for publication.
Bhāgavata Purāṇa – works in Tamil
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To prepare a bibliographical account of works in Tamil related to Bhāgavata Purāṇa with a brief note on the content of each of the works.
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To conduct a study of engagement of Tamil women with Bhāgavata Purāṇa in the late 19th – early 20th century CE.
Bhagavata-related Publications:
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Madhusūdana Sarasvatī’s Interpretation of Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.1-3: An Overview, Brahmavidyā, The Adyar Library Bulletin, Volume 85, 2021. pp. 137-199. ISSN 0972-2106. RNI 417783.
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The authorship of the Paramahaṃsapriyā commentary on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Journal of Hindu Studies, Oxford, Issue section: New Directions in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa Studies II. Volume 11, Issue 2, August 2018. pp.168-182.
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Bhāgavatānukramaṇikā: Indexical Works as Indicators of Textual Fluidity. Awaiting publication in Annals of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune.
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Cinematic Interpolation of the Syamantaka-Episode (Bhagavata 10.56-57). Awaiting publication in an edited volume on Bhāgavata in Arts.
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Application of Daśapurāṇalakṣaṇa to Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa – Bopadeva (13th century) to Madhusūdana Sarasvatī (16th – 17th century).
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Issues concerning Kautukalīlā (10.12-14) in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa.
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Vaṃśīdhara Śarman’s One Hundred Interpretations of Bhāgavata 1.1.1.
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Vaṃśīdhara Śarman’s Aesthetic Interpretation of Bhāgavata 1.1.3.
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Bhāgavata Commentator’s perspectives on the Sixty-Four Arts (Bhāgavata 10.45.36).
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Kucēlōpākkiyānam of Vallūr Tēvarāja Piḷḷai: Some Reflections on Social Concerns of 19th century Tamiḻnāṭu.
Contact
Email: nissangabs@gmail.com