Selected Aspects of the Textual Studies on the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā Tradition in Medieval Bengal

Abstract

This paper is conceived as an examination of the textual sources of the Tantric Vaiṣṇava tradition in its regional context and of the way in which vernacular Bengali and Sanskrit functioned as two factors determining the development and shape of the particular medieval esoteric tradition. The complicated history of the Bengali culture amalgam, which determines the special character of this region, takes on a crucial meaning here as pan-Indian Brahmanical and Sanskrit culture is juxtaposed on many levels with regional culture. The interactions between the regional and the pan-Indian as well as between the vernacular and Sanskrit seem to be a very complex problem with dynamic nets of interactions, functioning synchronically on multiple levels. The examination of this matter is proceeded by a general overview of the previous scholarship on the subject.

Keywords

• Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā
• Tantra
• yoga
• Bengal