|
Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Hinduism
This volume makes a contribution to understanding pilgrimage, not
as a transient activity at the margins of daily life, but as an
event grounded firmly in the physical, symbolic and social
experience of the everyday world. The vital relationship between
pilgrimage and society is explored via a focus on a specific
pilgrimage - the Kanwar pilgrimage of Bihar and Jharkhand in India
and the southeast Terai of Nepal. The rising popularity of this old
but relatively unknown pilgrimage is striking and reflects profound
changes in caste, class and gender relation ships, subjectivity and
notions of work in a modern economy. Through the lens of pilgrimage
and pilgrims, the book explores the everyday context of life in
parts of rural Bihar and southeast Nepal, questions about agency
and desire in Hinduism, and the meaning given to symbolic life in a
changing world. This requires an integrative approach looking
beyond the performance of the pilgrimage to the historical,
economic and social-cultural context. The volume underscores the
role of popular and local history in understanding the life and
popularity of a complex phenomenon, such as the pilgrimage today.
Equal importance is given to the geography and climatic conditions,
for natural rhythms such as that of rains, rivers, planetary
movements, were and still are, intimately entwined with the
agricultural, socio-economic and ritual cycles. The particular
experience of the world that this engenders and its relationship to
the pilgrimage is described through the active voice of the
pilgrims and descriptions of rites, some new and many fast
disappearing. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or
distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
Shakti's New Voice is the first comprehensive study of Anandmurti
Gurumaa, a widely popular contemporary female guru from north India
known for offering spiritual teachings and music on satellite
television and the Internet. Based on extensive ethnographic
fieldwork and religious-historical research-as well as unexpected
and unprecedented outsider contact with the guru-Angela Rudert
offers an intimate portrait of "Gurumaa" that will be of interest
to the guru's admirers as well as to scholars. To examine Gurumaa's
innovation, Rudert turns to examples drawn from fieldwork research
in the guru's ashram and from other locations in India and in the
United States. These examples specifically discuss Gurumaa's
religious pluralism, her gender activism, and her embrace of new
media, in order to illuminate elements of continuity and change
within the time-honored South Asian tradition of guru-bhakti,
devotion to the guru. Raised in a Sikh family, educated in a
Catholic convent school and understood to have attained her
enlightenment in Vrindavan, the famous Hindu pilgrimage site of
Lord Krishna's divine play, Gurumaa refuses identification with any
particular religious tradition, or "ism," yet her teachings draw
from many. She speaks strongly, often harshly, about contemporary
issues of gender inequality, while calling for women's empowerment,
and she has established a non-governmental organization called
Shakti to promote girls' education in India. In the case of
Anandmurti Gurumaa and those spiritual seekers in her fold,
innovations and re-interpretations of tradition come from within
the pluralistic setting of Indian religiosity, while they exist and
act within a global religious milieu.
Scholars of religion have always been fascinated by asceticism.
Some have even regarded this radical way of life-- the withdrawal
from the world, combined with practices that seriously affect basic
bodily needs, up to extreme forms of self-mortification --as the
ultimate form of a true religious quest. This view is rooted in
hagiographic descriptions of prominent ascetics and in other
literary accounts that praise the ascetic life-style. Scholars have
often overlooked, however, that in the history of religions ascetic
beliefs and practices have also been strongly criticized, by
followers of the same religious tradition as well as by outsiders.
The respective sources provide sufficient evidence of such critical
strands but surprisingly as yet no attempt has been made to analyze
this criticism of asceticism systematically. This book is a first
attempt of filling this gap. Ten studies present cases from both
Asian and European traditions: classical and medieval Hinduism,
early and contemporary Buddhism in South and East Asia, European
antiquity, early and medieval Christianity, and 19th/20th century
Aryan religion. Focusing on the critics of asceticism, their
motives, their arguments, and the targets of their critique, these
studies provide a broad range of issues for comparison. They
suggest that the critique of asceticism is based on a worldview
differing from and competing with the ascetic worldview, often in
one and the same historical context. The book demonstrates that
examining the critics of asceticism helps understand better the
complexity of religious traditions and their cultural contexts. The
comparative analysis, moreover, shows that the criticism of
asceticism reflects areligious worldview as significant and
widespread in the history of religions as asceticism itself is.
Indian art, increasingly popular in the west, cannot be fully
appreciated without some knowledge of the religious and
philosophical background. This book, first published in 1985,
covers all aspects of Hindu iconography, and explains that its
roots lie far back in the style of prehistoric art. The dictionary
demonstrates the rich profusion of cults, divinities, symbols,
sects and philosophical views encompassed by the Hindu religious
tradition.
Drawing on insights from Indian intellectual tradition, this book
examines the conception of dharma by Jaimini in his Mimamsasutras,
assessing its contemporary relevance, particularly within ritual
scholarship. Presenting a hermeneutical re-reading of the text, it
investigates the theme of the relationship between subjectivity and
tradition in the discussion of dharma, bringing it into
conversation with contemporary discourses on ritual. The primary
argument offered is that Jaimini's conception of dharma can be read
as a philosophy of Vedic practice, centred on the enjoinment of the
subject, whose stages of transformation possess the structure of a
hermeneutic tradition. Offering both substantive and methodological
insights into the contentions within the contemporary study of
ritual, this book will be of interest to researchers in the fields
of Hindu studies, ritual studies, Asian religion, and South Asian
studies.
This book, first published in 1933, was the first text on the
general Hindu attitude to art. It sums up under the wider title of
the Hindu view of art all such considerations - religious,
philosophic, sociological, aesthetic and technical - as might be
helpful for the understanding of Indian art.
This book, first published in 1968, is a collection of twenty-five
lectures by Swami Prabhavananda, the outstanding scholar and
translator of Hindu scriptures. They present a direct and pragmatic
approach to spiritual life, and a clear guide to Hinduism.
This book, first published in 1957, was the first in English to
provide a full and clear introduction to one of the most
significant of Indian gods, and stresses his supreme role in Indian
religion and art. The book relates the full Krishna story,
explaining his role in Indian religion, and traces the history of
Krishna in Indian painting. There are 39 plates of Indian pictures,
each accompanied by a commentary by the author, revealing a wealth
of subtle and poetic detail.
The main sources for an understanding of classical Hindu law are
the Sanskrit treatises on religious and legal duties, known as the
Dharma stras. In this collection of his major studies in the field,
Ludo Rocher presents analytical and interpretive essays on a wide
range of topics, from general themes such as the nature of Hindu
law and Anglo-Hindu law to technical matters including word studies
and text criticism. Rocher's deep engagement with the language and
worldview of the authors in the Dharma stra tradition yields
distinctive and corrective contributions to the field, which are
informed by knowledge both of the Indian grammatical tradition and
of Roman and civil law. Davis's introduction presents an
interpretative account of Rocher's many contributions to the field,
organized around the themes that recur in his work, and examines
his key advances, both methodological and substantive. Comparisons
and contrasts between Rocher's ideas and those of his Indological
colleagues serve to place him in the context of a scholarly
tradition, while Rocher's fundamental view that the Dharma stra is
first and foremost a scholarly and scholastic tradition, rather
than a practical legal one, is also explored. This invaluable
collection serves both as summary review of the ideas of Rocher, a
leading authority in the field, and as a critical evaluation of the
impact of these ideas on the present study of law and Indology.
Hinduism and Christianity are different in structure and approach -
but have a great deal in common in matters relating to ethics. This
book, first published in 1969, is the first systematic and detailed
work which attempts to bring out both the differences and
similarities. The author selects some of the fundamental problems
of philosophical ethics, such as the moral law - its authority and
sources, moral effort and human freedom, moral failure and
responsibility - and explores the respective answers of Hinduism
and Christianity.
In Kali in Bengali Lives, Suchitra Samanta examines Bengalis'
personal narratives of Kali devotion in the Bhakti tradition. These
personal experiences, including miraculous encounters, reflect on
broader understandings of divine power. Where the revelatory
experience has long been validated in Indian epistemology, the
devotees' own interpretive framework provides continuity within a
paradigm of devotion and of the miraculous experience as intuitive
insight (anubhuti) into a larger truth. Through these unique
insights, the miraculous experience is felt in its emotional power,
remembered, and reflected upon. The narratives speak to how the
meaning of a religious figure, Kali, becomes personally significant
and ultimately transformative of the devotee's self.
This volume focuses on the religious shrine in western India as an
institution of cultural integration in the period spanning 200 BCE
to 800 CE. It presents an analysis of religious architecture at
multiple levels, both temporal and spatial, and distinguishes it as
a ritual instrument that integrates individuals and communities
into a cultural fabr
What is the Bhagavad-Gita? Is it just a religious text? When was it
composed? How relevant is it to the modern world? This book answers
these foundational questions and goes beyond. It critically
examines the Bhagavad-Gita in terms of its liberal, humanist and
inclusive appeal, bringing out its significance for the present
times and novel applicati
The aim of this book is to persuade the reader that the Indian
caste system is not the isolated phenomenon it is often thought to
be. But a species of a very widespread genus. Not being an isolated
phenomenon, it cannot be understood in isolation; it will merely be
misunderstood. More than once it will be shown in these pages how
localised specialism leads why from the truth and comparative study
returns to it. Comparison also saves time by cutting the tangled
knots which controversy ties round texts.
This book, first published in 1962, is an analysis of the history
of the philosophy of a country that has never distinguished
philosophy from religion. Indian philosophy is not merely
metaphysical speculation, but has its foundation in immediate
perception. This insistence upon immediate perception rather than
abstract reasoning is what distinguishes the Indian philosophy of
religion from philosophy as Western nations know it.
'Hinduism' is a term often used to summarize the aspirations of the
majority of the Indian people. But any simple definition of it is
difficult, if not impossible. This is partly owing to the nuances
of the Sanskrit language, in which many texts are written, and
partly to the too literal interpretation of Hindu imagery and
mythology that often veils its real significance. This book, first
published in 1977, is an essential reference source that goes some
way to clarifying the difficulties of understanding Hinduism.
This book, first published in 1968, comprises five articles on the
immortality of the soul. According to Hindu tradition this
immortality cannot be proved by the scientific method of reasoning
- it is based upon scriptural evidence and on the direct experience
of enlightened souls. These articles examine the Hindu tradition
and provide reasoned support to the scriptures and experiences.
This work, first published in 1968, presents the fabulous world of
Hinduism in its entirety in two volumes. It is the first general
encyclopedia of Hinduism covering every major aspect of Hindu life
and thought, embodying the results of modern scholarship yet not
ignoring the traditional point of view. It contains over 700
articles, each of which gives a comprehensive account of the
subject, and by a system of cross references interlinks all topics
related to it, so that a single theme may be traced in all its
ramifications through the whole book. An index of over 8,000 items,
which in itself forms a veritable treasury of Sanskrit terms and
names, will further assist the researcher finding their way among
the lesser topics treated in the work.
What is the Bhagavad-Gita? Is it just a religious text? When was it
composed? How relevant is it to the modern world? This book answers
these foundational questions and more. It critically examines the
Bhagavad-Gita in terms of its liberal, humanist and inclusive
appeal, bringing out its significance for both present times and
novel applications. The author elaborates the philosophy underlying
the text as well as its ethical and spiritual implications. He also
responds to criticisms that have been levelled against the text by
Ambedkar, D. D. Kosambi and, more recently, Amartya Sen. With
additional material including chapter summaries of the
Bhagavad-Gita, the second edition of the volume proposes new ways
of utilising the text in diverse fields, such as business and
management and scientific research. Eclectic and accessible, this
work will be of interest to scholars of philosophy, religion,
history, business and management studies, as well as the general
reader.
Dialogue is a recurring and significant component of Indian
religious and philosophical literature. Whether it be as a
narrative account of a conversation between characters within a
text, as an implied response or provocation towards an interlocutor
outside the text, or as a hermeneutical lens through which
commentators and modern audiences can engage with an ancient text,
dialogue features prominently in many of the most foundational
sources from classical India. Despite its ubiquity, there are very
few studies that explore this important facet of Indian texts. This
book redresses this imbalance by undertaking a close textual
analysis of a range of religious and philosophical literature to
highlight the many uses and functions of dialogue in the sources
themselves and in subsequent interpretations. Using the themes of
encounter, transformation and interpretation - all of which emerged
from face-to-face discussions between the contributors of this
volume - each chapter explores dialogue in its own context, thereby
demonstrating the variety and pervasiveness of dialogue in
different genres of the textual tradition. This is a rich and
detailed study that offers a fresh and timely perspective on many
of the most well-known and influential sources from classical
India. As such, it will be of great use to scholars of religious
studies, Asian studies, comparative literature and literary theory.
The Hindu thinker Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) was and remains an
important figure both within India, and in the West, where he was
notable for preaching Vedanta. Scholarship surrounding Vivekananda
is dominated by hagiography and his (mis)appropriation by the
political Hindu Right. This work demonstrates that Vivekananda was
no simplistic pluralist, as portrayed in hagiographical texts, nor
narrow exclusivist, as portrayed by some modern Hindu nationalists,
but a thoughtful, complex inclusivist. The book shows that
Vivekananda formulated a hierarchical and inclusivistic framework
of Hinduism, based upon his interpretations of a four-fold system
of Yoga. It goes on to argue that Vivekananda understood his
formulation of Vedanta to be universal, and applied it freely to
non-Hindu traditions, and in so doing, demonstrates that
Vivekananda was consistently critical of 'low level' spirituality,
not only in non-Hindu traditions, but also within Hinduism.
Demonstrating that Vivekananda is best understood within the
context of 'Advaitic primacy', rather than 'Hindu chauvinism', this
book will be of interest to scholars of Hinduism and South Asian
religion and of South Asian diaspora communities and religious
studies more generally.
The poetry emanating from the bhakti tradition of devotional love
in India has been both a religious expression and a form of
resistance to hierarchies of caste, gender, and colonialism. Some
scholars have read this art form through the lens of resistance and
reform, but others have responded that imposing an interpretive
framework on these poems fails to appreciate their authentic
expressions of devotion. This book argues that these declarations
of love and piety can simultaneously represent efforts towards
emancipation at the spiritual, political, and social level. This
book, through a close study of Nalini (1911), a Malayalam lyric
poem, as well as other poems, authored by Mahakavi Kumaran Asan
(1873-1924), a low-caste Kerala poet, demonstrates how Asan
employed a theme of love among humans during the modern period in
Kerala that was grounded in the native South Indian bhakti
understanding of love of the deity. Asan believed that personal
religious freedom comes from devotion to the deity, and that love
for humans must emanate from love of the deity. In showing how
devotional religious expression also served as a resistance
movement, this study provides new perspective on an understudied
area of the colonial period. Bringing to light an under-explored
medium, in both religious and artistic terms, this book will be of
great interest to scholars of religious studies, Hindu studies, and
religion and literature, as well as academics with an interest in
Indian culture.
Imagining Hinduism examines how Hinduism has been defined, interpreted and manufactured through Western categorizations, from the foreign interventions of eighteenth and nineteenth century Orientalists and missionaries to the present day. Sugirtharajah argues that ever since early Orientalists 'discovered' the ancient Sanskrit texts and the Hindu 'golden age', the West has nurtured a complex and ambivalent fascination with Hinduism, ranging from romantic admiration to ridicule. At the same time, Hindu discourse has drawn upon Orientalist representations in order to redefine Hindu identity. As the first comprehensive work to bring postcolonial critique to the study of Hinduism, this is essential reading for a full understanding of Hinduism.
|
|