Unifying Hinduism

''Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History'' is a book Andrew J. Nicholson on Indian philosophy, describing the philosophical unification of Hinduism, which it places in the Middle Ages. The book was published in the US in 2010 in hardcover, with a paperback edition appearing in 2014. An Indian hardcover edition was published by Permanent Black in 2011. The book won the 2011 award for Best First Book in the History of Religions from the American Academy of Religion, and has been reviewed in numerous professional journals.

Topics covered

''Unifying Hinduism'' contains 10 chapters.
Much of the book focuses on the thought of the medieval Indian philosopher, Vijnanabhiksu. The book's central concern is to show that Vijnanabhiksu provided a philosophical synthesis of diverse schools of Indian philosophy, thereby providing a philosophical unification of Hinduism long before the British colonial conquest and rule of India. This refutes claims that Hinduism only attained unity (or only was "invented") as a response to colonial influence.

After an introductory first chapter, the next five chapters focus on Vijñānabhikṣu's philosophical syntheses. Chapter 2, entitled "An Alternate History of Vedanta", sets the stage by tracing the history of Bhedābheda Vedānta, a comparatively neglected tradition that teaches the "difference and nondifference" of Brahman and the individual self. Vijnanabhikshu's version of this "Difference and Non-Difference" Vedanta is described in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 offers a historical overview of two important non-Vedanta Indian philosophies, the schools of Sāṃkhya and Yoga,
focusing on their views of God, documenting that contrary to widespread views of Sāṃkhya as entirely atheistic, most first millennium Sāṃkhya authors were theists.
Chapter 5, "Reading Against the Grain of the Samkhyasutras", focuses on a controversial assertion by Vijñānabhikṣu that some Sāṃkhyasūtra verses that explicitly argue against God's existence do not ultimately intend to deny God's existence, but represent merely a “temporary concession” (abhyupagamavāda) or “bold assertion” (prauḍhivāda).
Finally, Chapter 6, "Yoga, Praxis, and Liberation", discusses Vijñānabhikṣu's commentary on Patañjali's Yogasūtras, arguing that Vijñānabhikṣu's commentaries on Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, and Yoga represent a unified whole.

Chapter 7, "Vedanta and Samkhya in the Orientalist Imagination", discusses how Vijñānabhikṣu was diversely viewed by nineteenth-century European scholars, who in some sense can be understood as "intellectual inheritors of Vijñānabhikṣu’s thought".

The next two chapters return to South Asian thought, with Chapter 8 focuses on Indian philosophical doxographies (categorizations)
and Chapter 9, "Affirmers (Astikas) and Deniers (Nastikas) in Indian History", providing a history and preferred translation of the two terms āstika and nāstika, which are more often translated as " orthodox" and " heterodox".
The concluding tenth chapter, "Hindu Unity and the Non-Hindu Other", discusses the timing of the unification of Hindu philosophical schools, suggesting that the stimulus was the presence of Islam.

Reception

''Unifying Hinduism'' won the 2011 award for Best First Book in the History of Religions from the American Academy of Religion.

Reviews have appeared in the
'' Journal of the American Academy of Religion'',
''Religious Studies Review'',
'' Sophia'',
''Journal of the American Oriental Society