When Footnotes Pretend to Be History
Hindu philosophical traditions did not develop in a climate of uninterrupted harmony. Advaitins, Viśiṣṭādvaitins, Dvaitins, Buddhists, Jains, Śaivas, and Mīmāṃsakas often engaged in fierce—and sometimes deeply personal—polemics.
But a sectarian insult is not the whole history of a philosopher. A hostile hagiography is not a neutral biography. And a provocative footnote should not be presented as though it were a major chapter in the history of Indian thought.
From Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja to Vedānta Deśika and Madhva, the record reveals both acrimonious conflict and extraordinary intellectual creativity.
The real danger today is not that these old polemics are discussed. It is that social media detaches them from context, magnifies them, and turns historical trivia into historical truth.
When does a footnote become a distortion of history?