Journal of Vaishnava Studies Online (Beta)

This landmark Spring 2025 issue of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies offers a sustained and critical engagement with the intersection of Vaiṣṇava devotional traditions and political structures across a wide historical, geographical, and theological spectrum. Long regarded as a primarily interiorized and otherworldly spiritual path, Vaiṣṇavism is here reconsidered through the lens of political theology, social theory, and historical praxis. Guest-edited and introduced by Steven J. Rosen, the volume brings together twelve original essays that explore how Vaiṣṇava communities and theological frameworks have navigated, resisted, accommodated, and reshaped political authority from classical Sanskrit epics to contemporary legal disputes and nationalist ideologies.

• Myth as Political Allegory: William J. Jackson reinterprets key mythic narratives—such as the Churning of the Ocean and the figure of Garuḍa—through modern political theory, engaging intersectionality and dualism to reveal latent cosmopolitical dimensions.

• Religious Nationalism and Legal Contestation: Lia Kornmehl and Vinay Lal critically trace the theological and judicial transformations surrounding the Ramjanmabhoomi dispute, offering insight into how Hindu nationalist rhetoric and Vaiṣṇava symbolism have reconfigured Indian secularism.

• Political Theology in Epic Literature: Contributions from Zuzana Špicová and Rodney Sebastian examine the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa as complex political texts, with Kṛṣṇa and Rāma embodying competing ideals of divine kingship, diplomacy, and moral governance.

• Sacred Geography and the Nation-State: Elliott McCarter investigates Kurukshetra’s postcolonial transformation into a nationalist icon—"The Land of the Gītā"—illuminating the entanglements of religious space, pilgrimage, and state formation in modern India.

• Royal Patronage and Sectarian Identity: Essays by Sachi Patel, Steven J. Rosen, Caleb Simmons, and Sri Sathvik Rayala document the relationship between Vaiṣṇava institutions and dynastic power—from the Mughal court and the Woḍeyar kingdom to the Vijayanagara Empire—highlighting how devotional networks strategically engaged with imperial and local sovereignties.

• Vaiṣṇavism in Totalitarian Contexts: In a striking exploration of transnational history, Katrin Stamm and Jon Chapple analyze Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava engagements with Nazi Germany, interrogating the ethical dilemmas and theological responses to fascist regimes and wartime ideologies.

Steven J. Rosen’s introduction situates the volume within the emerging field of Vaiṣṇava political theology, offering interpretive tools grounded in dharma theory, divine kingship, Bhakti ethics, and historical memory. The framing argues that Vaiṣṇavism—far from being apolitical—is deeply implicated in the shaping and critique of political legitimacy, sovereignty, and social justice.

This issue represents a significant scholarly intervention in multiple disciplines, including:

• Religious Studies

• South Asian History

• Political Theology

• Postcolonial Theory

• Legal and Jurisprudential Studies

By combining close textual analysis with critical theory, fieldwork, and historical inquiry, Politics and Vaiṣṇavism broadens the methodological horizons of Vaiṣṇava studies. It brings to light the ways in which devotional traditions are not only shaped by political contexts but also act as active agents in the negotiation of power, identity, and moral authority.