Torkel Brekke
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199252367
- eISBN:
- 9780191602047
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925236X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book presents three case studies on the construction and politics of religious identity in the Indian regions during the 19th century. It explores the leadership of three religions: the Hindus ...
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This book presents three case studies on the construction and politics of religious identity in the Indian regions during the 19th century. It explores the leadership of three religions: the Hindus of Bengal, the Buddhists of Sri Lanka, and the Svetambara Jains of western India. Part 1 presents a discussion on Hinduism and focuses on Swami Vivekananda. Part 2 presents a discussion on Buddhism and focuses on Anagarika Dharmapala. Part 3 presents a discussion on Jainism and the history, archaeology, and politics of religion.Less
This book presents three case studies on the construction and politics of religious identity in the Indian regions during the 19th century. It explores the leadership of three religions: the Hindus of Bengal, the Buddhists of Sri Lanka, and the Svetambara Jains of western India. Part 1 presents a discussion on Hinduism and focuses on Swami Vivekananda. Part 2 presents a discussion on Buddhism and focuses on Anagarika Dharmapala. Part 3 presents a discussion on Jainism and the history, archaeology, and politics of religion.
Torkel Brekke
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199252367
- eISBN:
- 9780191602047
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925236X.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains in India were in the midst of redefining what it meant to belong to their communities by the end of the 19th century. This occurred within the confines set by the English ...
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Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains in India were in the midst of redefining what it meant to belong to their communities by the end of the 19th century. This occurred within the confines set by the English language, and European ideas of religion, history, societies, and nations. It is argued that the new role of religion that emerged in the 19th century had major implications for political life in the 20th century in South Asia. They also laid the foundation for different types of religious nationalism and communalism in South Asia.Less
Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains in India were in the midst of redefining what it meant to belong to their communities by the end of the 19th century. This occurred within the confines set by the English language, and European ideas of religion, history, societies, and nations. It is argued that the new role of religion that emerged in the 19th century had major implications for political life in the 20th century in South Asia. They also laid the foundation for different types of religious nationalism and communalism in South Asia.
M. Whitney Kelting
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195389647
- eISBN:
- 9780199866434
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195389647.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter contextualizes the book by introducing the materials examined, the key terms, the relevant background in Jainism, and the frames of analysis. Research materials span medieval and ...
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This chapter contextualizes the book by introducing the materials examined, the key terms, the relevant background in Jainism, and the frames of analysis. Research materials span medieval and contemporary Jain literature, interviews with Jain women, observation of Jain rituals associated with wifehood, and the observation of and conversations about the sociopolitics of Jain family life. The chapter introduces the ideologies of wifehood—the dedicated wife (pativrata), the state of auspicious wifehood (saubhagya) and the true woman (sati). In particular, the Jain use of the term sati is set in the context of Hindu traditional, British colonial, and feminist discussions of this highly contested term. Gender studies discourse on agency is used as a frame for the larger claim in the volume about the importance of the perception of choice and the ways that Jain women's religious practices contribute to their selfhood.Less
This chapter contextualizes the book by introducing the materials examined, the key terms, the relevant background in Jainism, and the frames of analysis. Research materials span medieval and contemporary Jain literature, interviews with Jain women, observation of Jain rituals associated with wifehood, and the observation of and conversations about the sociopolitics of Jain family life. The chapter introduces the ideologies of wifehood—the dedicated wife (pativrata), the state of auspicious wifehood (saubhagya) and the true woman (sati). In particular, the Jain use of the term sati is set in the context of Hindu traditional, British colonial, and feminist discussions of this highly contested term. Gender studies discourse on agency is used as a frame for the larger claim in the volume about the importance of the perception of choice and the ways that Jain women's religious practices contribute to their selfhood.
Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
While surveying textual sources, iconography, and other historical evidence for the development of Hanuman's popular cult, this chapter also interrogates the explanatory narratives that have been ...
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While surveying textual sources, iconography, and other historical evidence for the development of Hanuman's popular cult, this chapter also interrogates the explanatory narratives that have been constructed around this evidence by earlier scholars. After examining attempts to locate Hanuman's origins in pre-Vedic religion or in the Rig Veda, and in the cult of yakshas or earth-spirits, it examines the role of the wind (Hanuman's legendary father) in Ayurveda, and Hanuman's additional kinship with Shiva and Shaivism. It then traces the development of Hanuman's persona over roughly two millennia from the Valmiki Ramayana to the Rama tales in the Puranas, in the literature of Jainism, and in vernacular language epics. Interrogating a recent and influential theory that Hanuman's cult reflects a Hindu response to the excesses of Muslim hegemony, the chapter reexamines three historical periods that often figure in this argument: the late Vijayanagara empire, the early Maratha kingdom, and the “warrior ascetics” of the Ramanandi sadhu order in the late Mughal Empire and early colonial periods. It is argued that the apparent efflorescence of devotion to Hanuman in each of these contexts reflects a more complex range of historical and social factors than has generally been recognized.Less
While surveying textual sources, iconography, and other historical evidence for the development of Hanuman's popular cult, this chapter also interrogates the explanatory narratives that have been constructed around this evidence by earlier scholars. After examining attempts to locate Hanuman's origins in pre-Vedic religion or in the Rig Veda, and in the cult of yakshas or earth-spirits, it examines the role of the wind (Hanuman's legendary father) in Ayurveda, and Hanuman's additional kinship with Shiva and Shaivism. It then traces the development of Hanuman's persona over roughly two millennia from the Valmiki Ramayana to the Rama tales in the Puranas, in the literature of Jainism, and in vernacular language epics. Interrogating a recent and influential theory that Hanuman's cult reflects a Hindu response to the excesses of Muslim hegemony, the chapter reexamines three historical periods that often figure in this argument: the late Vijayanagara empire, the early Maratha kingdom, and the “warrior ascetics” of the Ramanandi sadhu order in the late Mughal Empire and early colonial periods. It is argued that the apparent efflorescence of devotion to Hanuman in each of these contexts reflects a more complex range of historical and social factors than has generally been recognized.
Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Whereas Hanuman is sometimes alleged to be primarily a “men's deity”, this chapter takes a fresh look at his cult through the lens of gender relations and of discourses about sexuality and its ...
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Whereas Hanuman is sometimes alleged to be primarily a “men's deity”, this chapter takes a fresh look at his cult through the lens of gender relations and of discourses about sexuality and its control. It re-examines the controversial Vrishakapi (“bull-monkey”) hymn in the Rig Veda as well as the emotional portrayal of Hanuman's encounter with Sita in the Sundarakanda of the Ramayana of Valmiki. It then turns to several modern temple cults in which an independent, virginal Mother Goddess is accompanied by a simian bodyguard and familiar, whose close relationship with her is celebrated in legends and folksongs. The final section of the chapter examines lore that questions or problematizes Hanuman's famed celibacy by making him (e.g., in the Rama stories of Jainism) either a lusty adventurer or (in much modern Hindi-language lore) the unwitting “husband” of a submarine wife and father to a mighty son.Less
Whereas Hanuman is sometimes alleged to be primarily a “men's deity”, this chapter takes a fresh look at his cult through the lens of gender relations and of discourses about sexuality and its control. It re-examines the controversial Vrishakapi (“bull-monkey”) hymn in the Rig Veda as well as the emotional portrayal of Hanuman's encounter with Sita in the Sundarakanda of the Ramayana of Valmiki. It then turns to several modern temple cults in which an independent, virginal Mother Goddess is accompanied by a simian bodyguard and familiar, whose close relationship with her is celebrated in legends and folksongs. The final section of the chapter examines lore that questions or problematizes Hanuman's famed celibacy by making him (e.g., in the Rama stories of Jainism) either a lusty adventurer or (in much modern Hindi-language lore) the unwitting “husband” of a submarine wife and father to a mighty son.
Eva De Clercq
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195380040
- eISBN:
- 9780199869077
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380040.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, World Religions
In “The Great Men of Jainism In Utero,” an overview is provided of the intrauterine lives of the sixty-three heroes of the “Universal History” of the Jains. A central motif in these accounts is a ...
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In “The Great Men of Jainism In Utero,” an overview is provided of the intrauterine lives of the sixty-three heroes of the “Universal History” of the Jains. A central motif in these accounts is a series of prophetic dreams that the mothers experience upon conception. In general, these dreams and other events surrounding the hero’s time in the womb parallel what happens to him in his life beyond the womb. The chapter further examines some similarities in Hinduism and Buddhism.Less
In “The Great Men of Jainism In Utero,” an overview is provided of the intrauterine lives of the sixty-three heroes of the “Universal History” of the Jains. A central motif in these accounts is a series of prophetic dreams that the mothers experience upon conception. In general, these dreams and other events surrounding the hero’s time in the womb parallel what happens to him in his life beyond the womb. The chapter further examines some similarities in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Parvis Ghassem-Fachandi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151762
- eISBN:
- 9781400842599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151762.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines how despite the historical influences of vegetarian Vaishnava traditions, Jainism, the salience of Mahatma Gandhi in Gujarat, and its current index of the abject, meat eating is ...
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This chapter examines how despite the historical influences of vegetarian Vaishnava traditions, Jainism, the salience of Mahatma Gandhi in Gujarat, and its current index of the abject, meat eating is not simply associated with disgust. It also carries great potency, and can signify power. If meat eating was on the one hand identified with vice and with groups considered backward, it could alternatively also be associated with erotic attraction and an alluring potency, modern decadence, and cosmopolitan freedom—an association gaining ground especially among the young. The dual valence of meat is acutely present in how members of lower-caste groups explain, legitimize, and rationalize their own practices of meat consumption or abstention.Less
This chapter examines how despite the historical influences of vegetarian Vaishnava traditions, Jainism, the salience of Mahatma Gandhi in Gujarat, and its current index of the abject, meat eating is not simply associated with disgust. It also carries great potency, and can signify power. If meat eating was on the one hand identified with vice and with groups considered backward, it could alternatively also be associated with erotic attraction and an alluring potency, modern decadence, and cosmopolitan freedom—an association gaining ground especially among the young. The dual valence of meat is acutely present in how members of lower-caste groups explain, legitimize, and rationalize their own practices of meat consumption or abstention.
M. Whitney Kelting
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195389647
- eISBN:
- 9780199866434
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195389647.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Being a good Jain woman involves negotiating between the mutually exclusive ideologies found in the South Asian discourse of devoted wifehood and in the Jain discourse of renunciation. This book ...
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Being a good Jain woman involves negotiating between the mutually exclusive ideologies found in the South Asian discourse of devoted wifehood and in the Jain discourse of renunciation. This book draws from a diverse collection of oral tellings, popular tracts, songs, verse narratives, fasting rituals, religious dramas, and large‐scale worship to provide new perspectives on the inherent tension between these ideologies and the space that tension creates for laywomen's agency. Heroic Wives suggests that women creatively and selectively negotiate their identities as wives at different moments on the trajectory of wifehood. In part I, women in established marriages use piety and ritual practices to protect their husband's health, to transform bad marriages into good ones, and to create and maintain ideal marriages. Part II examines how Jains reconfigure the relationship between wifehood and renunciation: on one hand, reconciling the two through stories of renunciation as a form of devoted wifehood, and, on the other, deploying the discourse of both in order to construct their identities as women who don't renounce, but instead choose to become wives. On a broader level, Heroic Wives discusses Jain narrative/ritual complexes as the site of laywomen's negotiations between multiple discourses that shape their thinking about wifehood, and in this context, Jain women position themselves as the agents of their futures. This book provides new perspectives on the experience of wifehood, South Asian women's lives, and Jain religious practices and narratives. It further advances ongoing dialogues about interactions of ritual, narrative, selfhood, and identity.Less
Being a good Jain woman involves negotiating between the mutually exclusive ideologies found in the South Asian discourse of devoted wifehood and in the Jain discourse of renunciation. This book draws from a diverse collection of oral tellings, popular tracts, songs, verse narratives, fasting rituals, religious dramas, and large‐scale worship to provide new perspectives on the inherent tension between these ideologies and the space that tension creates for laywomen's agency. Heroic Wives suggests that women creatively and selectively negotiate their identities as wives at different moments on the trajectory of wifehood. In part I, women in established marriages use piety and ritual practices to protect their husband's health, to transform bad marriages into good ones, and to create and maintain ideal marriages. Part II examines how Jains reconfigure the relationship between wifehood and renunciation: on one hand, reconciling the two through stories of renunciation as a form of devoted wifehood, and, on the other, deploying the discourse of both in order to construct their identities as women who don't renounce, but instead choose to become wives. On a broader level, Heroic Wives discusses Jain narrative/ritual complexes as the site of laywomen's negotiations between multiple discourses that shape their thinking about wifehood, and in this context, Jain women position themselves as the agents of their futures. This book provides new perspectives on the experience of wifehood, South Asian women's lives, and Jain religious practices and narratives. It further advances ongoing dialogues about interactions of ritual, narrative, selfhood, and identity.
John Cort
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195385021
- eISBN:
- 9780199869770
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385021.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, World Religions
This book is an interpretive analysis of the role of icons (images) of the Jina (the perfected, liberated, and enlightened teachers) in Jainism. The book places different interpretive frames around ...
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This book is an interpretive analysis of the role of icons (images) of the Jina (the perfected, liberated, and enlightened teachers) in Jainism. The book places different interpretive frames around the icon to understand some of the many ways that Jina icons have functioned in Jainism. Most of these frames are iconophilic narratives to account for and defend the origin, presence, and history of the Jina icons. There are also iconoclastic critiques of icons as idols that depict the introduction and worship of icons as a corruption of original Jainism. The Jain narratives include cosmological depictions of the universe, “mythical” accounts from Jain narrative history, and “historical” accounts located within India. Interpretation of the frames involves comparative discussions of materials from Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. It also involves comparative analysis of scripture and mandalas. The book fits within the growing field of scholarship on images and icons in the world's religious traditions.Less
This book is an interpretive analysis of the role of icons (images) of the Jina (the perfected, liberated, and enlightened teachers) in Jainism. The book places different interpretive frames around the icon to understand some of the many ways that Jina icons have functioned in Jainism. Most of these frames are iconophilic narratives to account for and defend the origin, presence, and history of the Jina icons. There are also iconoclastic critiques of icons as idols that depict the introduction and worship of icons as a corruption of original Jainism. The Jain narratives include cosmological depictions of the universe, “mythical” accounts from Jain narrative history, and “historical” accounts located within India. Interpretation of the frames involves comparative discussions of materials from Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. It also involves comparative analysis of scripture and mandalas. The book fits within the growing field of scholarship on images and icons in the world's religious traditions.
R.S. Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195687859
- eISBN:
- 9780199080366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195687859.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
Many races and tribes intermingled in early India. A significant attribute of ancient Indian culture has been the commingling of cultural elements from the north and south, and from the east and ...
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Many races and tribes intermingled in early India. A significant attribute of ancient Indian culture has been the commingling of cultural elements from the north and south, and from the east and west. Ancient India also saw the birth of Brahmanism or Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, but all these cultures and religions intermingled and interacted. There was also an unusual type of social system which developed in India. The relevance of the past ancient Indian history to the present is shown. The study of ancient Indian history is important to those who want to understand the true nature of the past and also to those who seek to understand the nature of the obstacles that impede India’s progress as a nation.Less
Many races and tribes intermingled in early India. A significant attribute of ancient Indian culture has been the commingling of cultural elements from the north and south, and from the east and west. Ancient India also saw the birth of Brahmanism or Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, but all these cultures and religions intermingled and interacted. There was also an unusual type of social system which developed in India. The relevance of the past ancient Indian history to the present is shown. The study of ancient Indian history is important to those who want to understand the true nature of the past and also to those who seek to understand the nature of the obstacles that impede India’s progress as a nation.
