The role of divine grace in the soteriology of Śaṃkarācārya

the long version

"This Volume examines the role of divine grace in the non-dualist soteriology of Samkara. The author argues that grace is an essential but generally overlooked feature in Samkara's enlightenment spirituality.". "Introductory chapters summarize recent developments in Samkara's research, Samkara's epistemology and ontology, ancient Vedantic teachings on grace, and modern scholarly disagreement about grace in Samkara's Advaita system. The heart of the book consists of two lengthy exegetical chapters examining Samkara's key passages on grace from his dozen genuine works. The final chapter presents for the first time a systematic summary of Samkara's understanding of the operation and necessity of divine grace.". "This book provides a useful summary of Samkara's system as a whole besides offering a radical revision of the standard understanding of Samkara's soteriology. It also reveals that Samkara was much more indebted in his thinking to his Vedantic predecessor than had hitherto been thought."--BOOK JACKET.