Receptiveness, Assertion, and Subversion in Sectarian Spaces

The evolving sectarian environment of Hinduism in the second millennium CE allowed for novel undertakings in a variety of textual genres, especially in Sanskrit stotra s and their commentaries. Two significant figures, Appayya Dīkṣita and Madhusūdana Sarasvatī, wrote across Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava sectarian boundaries in their commentaries on stotra s. This chapter discusses the approaches and mechanics of Appayya’s Varadarājastava and its accompanying commentary and Madhusūdana’s commentary on the well-known Śivamahimnastava . The writings of Appayya and Madhusūdana suggest a mix of receptiveness, poetic self-assertion, and even subversiveness. By analyzing these texts, this chapter demonstrates how stotra s and their commentaries were central voices in the formation of religious selves and communities while at the same time adding complex layers to the picture of a Hindu sectarian world.