Vijñānabhikṣu: The Architect of Integral Hindu Unity and the Rejuvenation of the Astika Darshanas
Abstract
"In the panoramic history of Indian intellectual thought, few figures occupy a position as pivotal yet paradoxically under-examined as Vijñānabhikṣu. Emerging in the sixteenth century, a period characterized by vibrant sectarian fermentation and the looming shadow of Mughal political consolidation, Vijñānabhikṣu stands as a colossus of syncretic scholasticism. His intellectual project was nothing less than the philosophical unification of the orthodox (astika) systems of Hindu thought—Samkhya, Yoga, and Vedanta—against the perceived nihilism of the heterodox (nastika) schools and the illusionist metaphysics of Advaita Vedanta. To understand Vijñānabhikṣu is to understand the crystallization of "Hinduism" not merely as a colonial of the soul. construct, as some post-structuralist historiography might suggest, but as an indigenous, precolonial theological category defined by a shared adherence to the Veda and a realist ontology of the soul". The Editor of Esamskriti changed the title of the paper for some Google SEO.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Indian and Buddhist Studies
Study and Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy and Historical Thought
Publication details
- Journal / source
- PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation)
- Publication date
- 1 January 2026
- Language
- EN