Bengali Vaishnava Epistemology

Abstract

Uskokov probes into how Bengali Vaishnava thinkers define “knowledge” (pramāṇa) and interpret scriptural authority. He presents a detailed analysis of how perception (pratyakṣa), inference (anumāna), and scriptural testimony (śabda) operate within the Gaudīya theological framework. By contextualizing the works of foundational thinkers like Jīva Gosvāmi and Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, he explores how epistemology becomes not just philosophy but a practice of devotion. The essay bridges classical Indian philosophy and contemporary hermeneutics, showing how knowledge in Vaishnavism is relational, affective, and transcendent.