The Ramayana, an ancient epic of India, with audiences across vast stretches of time and geography, continues to influence numberless readers socially and morally through its many re-tellings. Made available in English for the first time, the 16th century version presented here is by Candravati, a woman poet from Bengal. It is a highly individual rendition as a tale told from a woman's point of view which, instead of celebrating masculine heroism, laments the suffering of women caught in the play of male ego. This book presents a translation and commentary on the text, with an extensive introduction that scrutinizes its social and cultural context and correlates its literary identity with its ideological implications. Taken together, the narrative and the critical study offered here expand the understanding both of the history of women's self-expression in India and the cultural potency of the epic tale. The book is of interest equally to students and researchers of South Asian narratives, Ramayana studies and gender issues.

In recent years, changes in religious studies in general and the study of Hinduism in particular have drawn more scholarly attention to other forms of the Hindu faith that are concretely embodied in temples, icons, artworks, rituals, and pilgrimage practices. This book analyses the phenomenon of pilgrimage as a religious practice and experience and examines Shri Shailam, a renowned south Indian pilgrimage site of Shiva and Goddess Durga. In doing so, it investigates two dimensions: the worldview of a place that is of utmost sanctity for Hindu pilgrims and its historical evolution from medieval to modern times. Reddy blends religion, anthropology, art history and politics into one interdisciplinary exploration of how Shri Shailam became the epicentre for Shaivism. Through this approach, the book examines Shri Shailam's influence on pan-Indian religious practices; the amalgamation of Brahmanical and regional traditions; and the intersection of the ideological and the civic worlds with respect to the management of pilgrimage centre in modern times. This book is the first thorough study of Shri Shailam and brings together phenomenological and historical study to provide a comprehensive understanding of both the religious dimension and the historical development of the social organization of the pilgrimage place. As such, it will be of interest to students of Hinduism, Pilgrimage and South Asian Studies.

This title was first published in 2003. Can a text be used either to validate or to invalidate contemporary understandings? Texts may be deemed 'sacred', but sacred to whom? Do conflicting understandings matter? Is it appropriate to try to offer a resolution? For Hindus and non-Hindus, in India and beyond, Valmiki is the poet-saint who composed the epic RA mA yaAa. Yet for a vocal community of dalits (once called 'untouchables'), within and outside India, Valmiki is God. How then does one explain the popular story that he started out as an ignorant and violent bandit, attacking and killing travellers for material gain? And what happens when these two accounts, Valmiki as God and Valmiki as villain, are held simultaneously by two different religious groups, both contemporary, and both vocal? This situation came to a head with controversial demonstrations by the Valmiki community in Britain in 2000, giving rise to some searching questions which Julia Leslie now seeks to address.

The Ramayana of Valmiki is considered by many contemporary Hindus to be a foundational religious text. But this understanding is in part the result of a transformation of the epic's receptive history, a hermeneutic project which challenged one characterization of the genre of the text, as a work of literary culture, and replaced it with another, as a work of remembered tradition. This book examines Ramayana commentaries, poetic retellings, and praise-poems produced by intellectuals within the Srivaisnava order of South India from 1250 to 1600 and shows how these intellectuals reconceptualized Rama's story through the lens of their devotional metaphysics. Srivaisnavas applied innovative interpretive techniques to the Ramayana, including allegorical reading, slesa reading (reading a verse as a double entendre), and the application of vernacular performance techniques such as word play, improvisation, repetition, and novel forms of citation. The book is of interest not only to Ramayana specialists but also to those engaged with Indian intellectual history, literary studies, and the history of religions.

Tantric Revisionings presents stimulating new perspectives on Hindu and Buddhist religion, particularly their Tantric versions, in India, Tibet or in modern Western societies. Geoffrey Samuel adopts an historically and textually informed anthropological approach, seeking to locate and understand religion in its social and cultural context. The question of the relation between 'popular' (folk, domestic, village, 'shamanic') religion and elite (literary, textual, monastic) religion forms a recurring theme through these studies. Six chapters have not been previously published; the previously published studies included are in publications which are difficult to locate outside major specialist libraries.

Who is responsible for the Mahatma's death? Just one single, but determined, fanatic, the whole ideology of Hindu nationalism, the ruling Congress-led government whichfailed to protect him, or a vast majority of Indians and their descendants who considered Gandhi irrelevant? Such questions mean that Gandhi, even after his tragic and brutal death, continues to haunt India - perhaps more effectively in his afterlife than when he was alive. The Death and Afterlife of Mahatma Gandhi is a groundbreaking and profound analysis of the assassination of the 'father of the nation' and its after-effects. Paranjape argues that such a catastrophic event during the very birth pangs of a new nation placed a huge burden of Oedipal guilt on Indians, and that this is the reason for the massive repression of the murder in India's political psyche. The enduring influence of Gandhi is analysed, including his spectral presence in Indian cinema. The book culminates in Paranjape's reading of Gandhi's last six months in Delhi, where, from the very edge of the grave, he wrought what was perhaps his greatest miracle, the saving of Delhi and thus of India itself from internecine bloodshed. This evocative and moving meditation into the meaning of the Mahatma's death will be relevant to scholars of Indian political and cultural history, as well as those with an interest in Gandhi and contemporary India

Light from the East collates letters between Hon. P. Arunachalam of the legislative council of Ceylon and Edward Carpenter, which expand on issues of the Gnanam or divine knowledge. Carpenter edited these letters for publication in 1927 as well as writing additional articles on issues such as desire, birth control and bisexuality in relation to the customs of Ceylon and religious laws of Hinduism to give the reader a broad insight into the religion. This title will be of interest to students of sociology, anthropology and religious studies.

'Manu was seated, when the great seers came up to him: "Please, Lord, tell us the Laws of all the social classes, as well as of those born in between..."' The Law Code of Manu is the most authoritative and the best-known legal text of ancient India. Famous for two thousand years it still generates controversy, with Manu's verses being cited in support of the oppression of women and members of the lower castes. A seminal Hindu text, the Law Code is important for its classic description of so many social institutions that have come to be identified with Indian society. It deals with the relationships between social and ethnic groups, between men and women, the organization of the state and the judicial system, reincarnation, the workings of karma, and all aspects of the law. Patrick Olivelle's lucid translation is the first to be based on his critically edited text, and it incorporates the most recent scholarship on ancient Indian history, law, society, and religion. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

How have the premodern Shaiva ascetic sect of the Nath Yogis (known also as the Yogis with splitted ears) succeeded in maintaining its presence and importance until today? This book intends to give a general survey of this sampradaya which is said to have been founded by the Siddha Gorakhnath, known for his strong link to Hatha Yoga. However, rather than to Yoga, the history and expansion of the Nath sect are linked to its rich legendary corpus. Dealing first with the marks of belonging (such as the huge earrings worn by the fully initiated Yogis) which give the sect its unity, the book then focuses on its organization and explores the dialectics between the wandering Yogis and the monastic settlements. The Nath monasteries belong to two categories: the pancayati maths, collectively owned and managed by the sectarian authorities, which ensure the permanency of the sect, and the niji maths, owned on a personal basis and transmitted from guru to disciple, which permits innovative initiatives The book gives a detailed account of two pancayati monasteries, the Kadri Math of Mangalore where its head's enthronement is spectacularly performed every twelve years, and the Caughera Math of Dang Valley in Nepal, the royal foundation of which gives a glimpse of the complex relationships that can exist between monasteries and kingdoms. It then focuses on three niji maths: Amritashram in Fatehpur (Rajasthan), Ashtal Bohar in Rohtak (Haryana) and the Gorakhpur mandir (UP). Each of them shows a different mode of adaptation to a modern context and attests of the present importance and continuity of this pluri-secular tradition of asceticism.

An account of some of the achievements of Sathya Sai Baba, one of the most impressive men of miracles to appear for centuries.

This is the fascinating biography, first published in 1985, of the remarkable Bengali religious leader Swami Pranavananda who lived in the turbulent years of the early twentieth century. The story of his life has to some extent been eclipsed by the struggle for Indian independence, but his extraordinary personal qualities, his determined asceticism, his high ideals of social service and commitment to Hindu solidarity all serve to set him apart from his contemporaries and entitle him to be better known by political and religious historians of the period.

Recent studies of South India in the 19th- and 20th-centuries concentrate primarily on political and social issues. Studies of specifically religious developments, of religious encounter, institutions and movements, particularly of the 19th-century, have been few in number. The prupose of this study is to examine religious institutions, trends and developments in parts of South-east India, focusing on the Tanjore and Trichonopoly districts - areas famous for cultural and religious activity. It is recalled that neither Hinduism and Christianity were totally static forms of religious organization, ritual or belief, but were living traditions always in the process of change and adaptation. Thus, one of the major concerns of this book deals with continuities, conversion and change.

From the late nineteenth century onwards the concept of Mother India assumed political significance in colonial Bengal. Reacting against British rule, Bengali writers and artists gendered the nation in literature and visual culture in order to inspire patriotism amongst the indigenous population. This book will examine the process by which the Hindu goddess Sati rose to sudden prominence as a personification of the subcontinent and an icon of heroic self-sacrifice. According to a myth of cosmic dismemberment, Sati's body parts were scattered across South Asia and enshrined as Shakti Pithas, or Seats of Power. These sacred sites were re-imagined as the fragmented body of the motherland in crisis that could provide the basis for an emergent territorial consciousness. The most potent sites were located in eastern India, Kalighat and Tarapith in Bengal, and Kamakhya in Assam. By examining Bengali and colonial responses to these temples and the ritual traditions associated with them, including Tantra and image worship, this book will provide the first comprehensive study of this ancient network of pilgrimage sites in an art historical and political context.

Vedic Astrology, also called Jyotish, is the traditional astrology of India and its profound spiritual culture. It possesses a precise predictive value as well as a deep interpretation of the movement of life, unfolding the secrets of karma and destiny. Astrology of the Seers, first published in 1990, is regarded as one of the classic modern books on Vedic astrology, covering all the main aspects of its philosophy, background and practice. The present edition has been thoroughly revised and updated.

First published in 1909, this book presents an English translation of chapters 25-42 of the Bhishma Parva from the epic Sanskrit poem Mahabharata - better known as the Bhagavad-Gita, reckoned as one of the "Five Jewels" of Devanagari literature. The plot consists of a dialogue between Prince Arjuna and Krishna, the Supreme Deity, in a war-chariot prior to a great battle. The conversation that takes place unfolds a philosophical system which remains the prevailing Brahmanic belief, blending the doctrines of Kapila, Patanjali, and the Vedas. Building on a number of preceding translations, this highly-regarded poetic interpretation provides a major work of literature in an accessible popular form.

"The books line up on my shelf like bright Bodhisattvas ready to take tough questions or keep quiet company. They stake out a vast territory, with works from two millennia in multiple genres: aphorism, lyric, epic, theater, and romance."
--Willis G. Regier, "The Chronicle Review"

"No effort has been spared to make these little volumes as attractive as possible to readers: the paper is of high quality, the typesetting immaculate. The founders of the series are John and Jennifer Clay, and Sanskritists can only thank them for an initiative intended to make the classics of an ancient Indian language accessible to a modern international audience."
--"The Times Higher Education Supplement"

"The Clay Sanskrit Library represents one of the most admirable publishing projects now afoot. . . . Anyone who loves the look and feel and heft of books will delight in these elegant little volumes."
--"New Criterion"

"Published in the geek-chic format."
--"BookForum"

"Very few collections of Sanskrit deep enough for research are housed anywhere in North America. Now, twenty-five hundred years after the death of Shakyamuni Buddha, the ambitious Clay Sanskrit Library may remedy this state of affairs."
--"Tricycle"

aNow an ambitious new publishing project, the Clay Sanskrit Library brings together leading Sanskrit translators and scholars of Indology from around the world to celebrate in translating the beauty and range of classical Sanskrit literature. . . . Published as smart green hardbacks that are small enough to fit into a jeans pocket, the volumes are meant to satisfy both the scholar and the lay reader. Each volume has a transliteration of the original Sanskrit texton the left-hand page and an English translation on the right, as also a helpful introduction and notes. Alongside definitive translations of the great Indian epics -- 30 or so volumes will be devoted to the Maha-bharat itself -- Clay Sanskrit Library makes available to the English-speaking reader many other delights: The earthy verse of Bhartri-hari, the pungent satire of Jayanta Bhatta and the roving narratives of Dandin, among others. All these writers belong properly not just to Indian literature, but to world literature.a
--"LiveMint"

aThe Clay Sanskrit Library has recently set out to change the scene by making available well-translated dual-language (English and Sanskrit) editions of popular Sanskritic texts for the public.a
--"Namarupa"

The second volume of aPreparations for Wara seals the fate of the PAndavas and Kurus. This book is the turning point of the entire MahaA-bhArata. The failure of diplomacy ensures war is now inevitable, and with this realization come dramatic arguments, miracles and temptations. The MahaA-bhArata explores timeless problems of humanity, and in this volume of aPreparations for War, a it explores the realities of human nature in times of conflict. The lust for power and bloodshed overwhelms all attempts at negotiation.Interwoven with these serious issues come beautiful accountsof divinities, magical realms and legendary marvels.

Religion is of enduring importance in the lives of many people, yet the religious landscape has been dramatically transformed in recent decades. Established churches have been challenged by eastern faiths, revivals of Christian and Islamic fundamentalism, and the eclectic spiritualities of the New Age. Religion has long been regarded by social scientists and psychologists as a key source of identity formation, ranging from personal conversion experiences to collective association with fellow believers. This book addresses the need for a reassessment of issues relating to identity in the light of current transformations in society as a whole and religion in particular. Drawing together case-studies from many different expressions of faith and belief - Hindu, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Anglican, New Age - leading scholars ask how contemporary religions or spiritualities respond to the challenge of forming individual and collective identities in a nation context marked by secularisation and postmodern decentring of culture, as well as religious revitalisation. The book focuses on Britain as a context for religious change, but asks important questions that are of universal significance for those studying religion: How is personal and collective identity constructed in a world of multiple social and cultural influences? What role can religion play in creating, reinforcing or even transforming such identity?