Colonial Reception

Abstract This chapter examines the Śikṣāpatrī’s reception history within the framework of the Svāminārāyaṇa–colonial encounter, analyzing its role in shaping both colonial and scholarly perceptions of the Svāminārāyaṇa Sampradāya from the nineteenth century onward. As colonial writers interpreted the Śikṣāpatrī and its author using frameworks of European and Christian reform, this chapter considers the extent to which the text mediated the Svāminārāyaṇa–colonial relationship, and how it became integral to the reiteration of a recursive historical narrative of Svāminārāyaṇa religious reform in scholarly discourse of the sampradāya. Moreover, the chapter also examines the sampradāya’s active contribution in sustaining this narrative through its continued promotion and presentation of the text to its colonial interlocutors.