Polemics and Patronage in the City of Victory: Vyasatirtha, Hindu Sectarianism, and the Sixteenth-Century Vijayanagara Court

How did the patronage activities of India’s Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1346–1565) influence Hindu sectarian identities? Although the empire has been commonly viewed as a Hindu bulwark against Islamic incursion from the north or as a religiously ecumenical state, Valerie Stoker argues that the Vijayanagara court was selective in its patronage of religious institutions. To understand the dynamic interaction between religious and royal institutions in this period, she focuses on the career of the Hindu intellectual and monastic leader Vy?sat?rtha. An agent of the state and a powerful religious authority, Vy?sat?rtha played an important role in expanding the empire’s economic and social networks. By examining his polemics against rival sects in the context of his work for the empire, Stoker provides a remarkably nuanced picture of the relationship between religious identity and sociopolitical reality under Vijayanagara rule

Interpretation of health-related quality of life outcomes in Parkinson's disease from the EARLYSTIM Study.

The EARLYSTIM Study compared deep brain stimulation (DBS) with best medical treatment (BMT) over 2-years, showing a between-group difference of 8.0 from baseline in favor of DBS in health-related quality of life (HRQoL), measured with the PDQ-39 SI (summary index). This study obtained complementary information about the importance of the change in HRQoL as measured by the PDQ-39, using anchor-based (Patient Global Impression of Change, PGIC) and distribution-based techniques (magnitude of change, effect size, thresholds, distribution of benefit) applied to the EARLYSTIM study data. Anchor-based techniques showed a difference follow-up-baseline for patients who reported "minimal improvement" of -5.8 [-9.9, -1.6] (mean [95%CI]) in the DBS group vs -2.9 [-9.0, 3.1] in the BMT group. As the vast majority (80.8%) of DBS patients reported "much or very much improvement", this difference was explored for the latter group and amounted to -8.7 for the DBS group and -6.5 in the BMT group. Distribution-based techniques that analyzed the relative change and treatment effect size showed a moderate benefit of the DBS on the HRQoL, whereas a slight worsening was observed in the BMT group. The change in the DBS group (-7.8) was higher than the MIC (Minimally Important Change) estimated value (-5.8 by the anchor; -6.3 by triangulation of thresholds), but not in the BMT (0.2 vs. -3.0 to -5.4, respectively). Almost 90% of the patients in the DBS group declared some improvement (58.3% and 56.7% beyond the estimated MIC), which was significantly different from the BMT group whose proportions were 32.0% and 30.3%, respectively. The number needed to treat to improve ≥1 MIC by DBS vs BMT was 3.8. Change in depression, disability and pain influenced the improvement of the DBS group. DBS improved HRQoL in a high proportion of patients to a significant and moderate degree, at 2 years follow-up

Polemics and Patronage in the City of Victory

How did the patronage activities of India’s Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1346–1565) influence Hindu sectarian identities? Although the empire has been commonly viewed as a Hindu bulwark against Islamic incursion from the north or as a religiously ecumenical state, Valerie Stoker argues that the Vijayanagara court was selective in its patronage of religious institutions. To understand the dynamic interaction between religious and royal institutions in this period, she focuses on the career of the Hindu intellectual and monastic leader Vyasatirtha. An agent of the state and a powerful religious authority, Vyasatirtha played an important role in expanding the empire’s economic and social networks. By examining his polemics against rival sects in the context of his work for the empire, Stoker provides a remarkably nuanced picture of the relationship between religious identity and sociopolitical reality under Vijayanagara rule.https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/books/1158/thumbnail.jp

Polemics and Patronage in the City of Victory

How did the patronage activities of India’s Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1346–1565) influence Hindu sectarian identities? Although the empire has been commonly viewed as a Hindu bulwark against Islamic incursion from the north or as a religiously ecumenical state, Valerie Stoker argues that the Vijayanagara court was selective in its patronage of religious institutions. To understand the dynamic interaction between religious and royal institutions in this period, she focuses on the career of the Hindu intellectual and monastic leader Vyasatirtha. An agent of the state and a powerful religious authority, Vyasatirtha played an important role in expanding the empire’s economic and social networks. By examining his polemics against rival sects in the context of his work for the empire, Stoker provides a remarkably nuanced picture of the relationship between religious identity and sociopolitical reality under Vijayanagara rule. “Valerie Stoker’s work, with its insightful analysis of the role played by the Madhva sectarian leader Vyasatirtha in the complex and multifaceted interplay of religion and state patronage in sixteenth-century South India, is a valuable addition to the corpus of writings on Vijayanagara.” -ANILA VERGHESE, author of Religious Traditions at Vijayanagara “Never have Hindu philosophical debates and sectarian disputes seemed so lively and so relevant to historical dynamics.” -LESLIE C. ORR, author of Donors, Devotees and Daughters of God: Temple Women in Medieval Tamilnadu “Stoker sets a new standard for the study of religion in early modern South India, recognizing that doctrine does not unfold in a sociopolitical vacuum and providing an insightful account of the relations between sectarian organizations and their political patrons.” -PHILLIP B. WAGONER, Wesleyan University “In this engrossing and sophisticated book, Stoker brings together fine narrative fluency, careful scholarship across different disciplines, and critical sympathy for ideas and people from a different time and place.” -CHAKRAVARTHI RAM-PRASAD, author of Divine Self, Human Self: The Philosophy of Being in Two Gita Commentaries VALERIE STOKER is Associate Professor of South Asian Religions and Director of the Master of Humanities Program at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio

Polemics and Patronage in the City of Victory

How did the patronage activities of India’s Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1346–1565) influence Hindu sectarian identities? Although the empire has been commonly viewed as a Hindu bulwark against Islamic incursion from the north or as a religiously ecumenical state, Valerie Stoker argues that the Vijayanagara court was selective in its patronage of religious institutions. To understand the dynamic interaction between religious and royal institutions in this period, she focuses on the career of the Hindu intellectual and monastic leader Vyasatirtha. An agent of the state and a powerful religious authority, Vyasatirtha played an important role in expanding the empire’s economic and social networks. By examining his polemics against rival sects in the context of his work for the empire, Stoker provides a remarkably nuanced picture of the relationship between religious identity and sociopolitical reality under Vijayanagara rule. “Valerie Stoker’s work, with its insightful analysis of the role played by the Madhva sectarian leader Vyasatirtha in the complex and multifaceted interplay of religion and state patronage in sixteenth-century South India, is a valuable addition to the corpus of writings on Vijayanagara.” -ANILA VERGHESE, author of Religious Traditions at Vijayanagara “Never have Hindu philosophical debates and sectarian disputes seemed so lively and so relevant to historical dynamics.” -LESLIE C. ORR, author of Donors, Devotees and Daughters of God: Temple Women in Medieval Tamilnadu “Stoker sets a new standard for the study of religion in early modern South India, recognizing that doctrine does not unfold in a sociopolitical vacuum and providing an insightful account of the relations between sectarian organizations and their political patrons.” -PHILLIP B. WAGONER, Wesleyan University “In this engrossing and sophisticated book, Stoker brings together fine narrative fluency, careful scholarship across different disciplines, and critical sympathy for ideas and people from a different time and place.” -CHAKRAVARTHI RAM-PRASAD, author of Divine Self, Human Self: The Philosophy of Being in Two Gita Commentaries VALERIE STOKER is Associate Professor of South Asian Religions and Director of the Master of Humanities Program at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio

Deep Brain Stimulation Impact on Social and Occupational Functioning in Parkinson's Disease with Early Motor Complications.

Background Deep brain stimulation (DBS) improves motor symptoms and quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and early motor complications, suggesting that DBS could be prescribed to the working-age PD population. Objectives To investigate the effect of DBS compared with best medical therapy (BMT) on social, psychosocial, and occupational functioning in patients with PD ≤60 years of age with early motor complications, its correlates, and possible underlying rationale. Methods Methods included analyses of the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale, Scales for Outcomes for Parkinson's-Psychosocial, Professional Fitness, Starkstein Apathy Scale, and Schwab and England Activities of Daily Living Scale from the EARLYSTIM study. Results Compared with BMT, DBS resulted in significantly greater improvements from baseline through 24 months in social,occupational, and psychosocial functioning. Yet, work status in the 2 groups did not differ at baseline and 24 months. Physicians reported a significantly higher percentage of patients in the BMT group unable to work at 24 months relative to baseline compared with the DBS group. Apathy was significantly worse in patients for whom physicians overrated ability to work when compared with patients' own ratings than in the group of patients who physicians' ability to work ratings were comparable to, or worse than, patients' self-ratings of ability to work. Conclusions For patients aged ≤60 years with PD and early motor complications, DBS provided significant improvements in social, occupational, and psychosocial function, but not in the actual work engagement compared with BMT at 2 years. Apathy may impact ability to work