Hindus have written theologies of liberation (moksa) for millennia, but Anantanand Rambachan is the first to work out an Advaita Vedanta liberation theology in the twentieth- and twenty-first-century style. A Hindu Theology of Liberation does many things that will feel familiar to readers of Latin American, African American, or Dalit Christian theology. It relates theology to social systems. It attends to power dynamics and listens to marginalized perspectives. It retrieves liberating resources from scripture and the tradition. It articulates an Advaita theology for the contemporary context.
Rambachan's work differs from these liberation theology movements, however, in the subject position he brings to the task. Rather than a voice from the margins of the tradition, he embodies many of the markers of an authoritative teacher of Advaita Vedanta.
Far from invalidating Rambachan's contribution, this situation reflects the impact of liberation theology on the mainstream theological conversation: its methods have become the go-to resource for addressing social issues theologically. Rambachan draws on this corpus to address patriarchy (chapter 5), homophobia (chapter 6), anthropocentrism (chapter 7), childism (chapter 8), and caste (chapter 9) in his tradition. Rambachan also advances the field, especially in his chapter on childism, which draws creatively from the four ends of life in the Hindu tradition to argue that nonviolence (ahimsa) toward children is a “basic obligation and duty” (yajna) (159).
In his prolegomenon, Rambachan must swim against a strong tide of thought that Advaitins should not respond to the world, which is not ultimate reality but the province of maya. His justification builds on the foundations of his earlier book, The Advaita Worldview (2006), in which he argues for creation as the celebrative and intentional self-expression of brahman. The nonduality of the world with brahman means that the world is to be valued, not neglected. Rambachan therefore advocates human action—even activism—that imitates brahman's creative action.
To make the case that social hierarchies controvert Advaita principles, Rambachan makes several important moves. He first paints a picture of the human condition as ignorance of the nondual nature of reality (chapter 1), which inevitably leads people to seek self-esteem by elevating the self over others. Social structures replicate this pattern on a grand scale (chapter 4). Liberation comes from the knowledge that the self—like the other—is already none other than the highest brahman. The liberated person will also “see…the tragedies that follow in the world when this unity is not discerned and its social implications not discussed,” and accordingly “become agents for social change” (182).
Rambachan's second major move is to clarify the use of scripture in the tradition. He distinguishes between the authority of unchangeable sruti and the “humanly authored systems of thought and practice” known as smrti (184). He also explains that, for Advaita Vedanta, scripture's authority pertains to knowledge unavailable through other valid means (pramanas), and that scripture will not contradict knowledge attained by such means. Thus, for caste: “The authority of other pramanas, like perception and inference, challenges the claim that birth decisively determines one's occupational aptitude and competence.…Any argument, therefore, based on scripture that birth qualifies a person for particular occupation is refuted by empirical evidence” (183).
In order to make each of these moves, Rambachan exposes Hindu traditions to criticism that will make his apologist counterparts uncomfortable. To be sure, some of his constructions of Advaita theology are familiar from Hindu apologetics, such as claims that the Hindu tradition empowers women or sees nature as divine. However, in each chapter, Rambachan looks squarely at scriptures, traditional teachings, and customs that have devalued women and children, denied homosexuality, ignored the natural world, or created hierarchical and oppressive social arrangements. In taking this approach, Rambachan holds his tradition accountable to what he sees as its highest ideals.
Rambachan's groundbreaking book thus marks an exciting moment for Hindu theology in the postcolonial era and will be a welcome conversational partner for the many global theologies that employ the methods of liberation theology.
