Jagadeeswara Sastri (1894-1983) was an Advaita Vedanta scholar and closely associated with Ramana Maharshi. He was born to Yajna Venkatarama Dikshita and Abhayamba on December 15, 1895 CE, in Injikkollai village near Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu. Jagadishwara Shastri studied Nyaya, Vyakarana and Vedanta under Mahamahopadhyaya Harihara Shastri, Varahur Venkatarama Sastry and Karungulam Krishna Shastri. His renowned disciples are V Swaminatha Sastri and Goda Venkateswara Sastri.
Jagadeeswara Sastri was closely associated with Ramana Maharshi of Tiruvannamalai and Chandrasekharendra Saraswati of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam for more than 40 years. He served as asthana-vidwan (resident scholar) of Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt and also taught at the Sanskrit college, Chennai. He passed away on March 14, 1983.
Important works of Jagadeeswara Sastri include
- Nirgunatatva Nirnaya
- Upadeshasara Vyakhya
- Stotras on Ramana Maharshi.
His Cidacidasarirakabrahmsiddhi and Sapta-vidha-anupapattipariksha were selected as the best essays by Kumbakonam Advaita Sabha. In the first essay, he has presented the views of Advaita Vedanta in a concise manner and refuted the views of the opponent school, which is termed as Vishnu Visishtadvaita. Here he has also described that through qualified dualism is common to both Vishnu-Visishtadvaita and Shiva Visishtadvaita, it is the latter which is closer to the Vedic tradition than the former. In the second essay, he has examined the views of Ramanuja, who has rejected the Advaita concept of maya as nonsensical. Jagidhswara Shastri has offered arguments favoring maya-avidya was illogical.
He translated stotras like Harimide and Sivamahimna into Tamil. He edited Advaita texts like Nyayaratna dipavali. In the later part of his life, he was initiated into Srividya worship and achieved commendable proficiency in tantric worship in a short time. He taught Vedas, Vedanta, Nyaya and Srividya worship to a number of students. He received many honors and titles, including Atmavidyabhushanam, Shastra Ratnakara the like.