Axel Michaels
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195343021
- eISBN:
- 9780199866984
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343021.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter describes and analyzes the Worship for the Salvation of the Country (Deóddhārapūjā). It is a festival and procession during which a group of representatives from the four classes ...
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This chapter describes and analyzes the Worship for the Salvation of the Country (Deóddhārapūjā). It is a festival and procession during which a group of representatives from the four classes (varṇa), built out of eight castes, are worshipped by the Newar population of Deopatan. Apparently, the varṇa scheme has been imposed on the local caste system involving all major social groups in order to harmonize tantric and smārta forms of worship. The festival is a fascinating field of study for its elaborated ṭīkā exchange and the binding of huge turbans for the varṇa representatives.Less
This chapter describes and analyzes the Worship for the Salvation of the Country (Deóddhārapūjā). It is a festival and procession during which a group of representatives from the four classes (varṇa), built out of eight castes, are worshipped by the Newar population of Deopatan. Apparently, the varṇa scheme has been imposed on the local caste system involving all major social groups in order to harmonize tantric and smārta forms of worship. The festival is a fascinating field of study for its elaborated ṭīkā exchange and the binding of huge turbans for the varṇa representatives.
Ariel Glucklich
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195314052
- eISBN:
- 9780199871766
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314052.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter outlines the economic and cultural developments of the centuries dominated by the Mauryan Empire. The primary achievements included a flowering of sciences that rested on Vedic ...
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This chapter outlines the economic and cultural developments of the centuries dominated by the Mauryan Empire. The primary achievements included a flowering of sciences that rested on Vedic foundations but supported a huge civilization. These included mathematics and astronomy, medicine, law (dharma), political science, grammar, architecture, and others. The underlying philosophical assumptions of Indian sciences are explained.Less
This chapter outlines the economic and cultural developments of the centuries dominated by the Mauryan Empire. The primary achievements included a flowering of sciences that rested on Vedic foundations but supported a huge civilization. These included mathematics and astronomy, medicine, law (dharma), political science, grammar, architecture, and others. The underlying philosophical assumptions of Indian sciences are explained.
Cynthia Talbot
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195136616
- eISBN:
- 9780199834716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195136616.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Although the caste system is thought to have dominated the society of traditional India, people who commissioned inscriptions in Kakatiya Andhra (a.d.1175–1324 ) mentioned their clan or lineage ...
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Although the caste system is thought to have dominated the society of traditional India, people who commissioned inscriptions in Kakatiya Andhra (a.d.1175–1324 ) mentioned their clan or lineage affiliation far more often than their varna. Status titles based on occupation were widely used and could vary from generation to generation within a family, demonstrating that social identities were linked to individual achievement. There were many opportunities for both travel and social mobility due to the prevalence of military activity, long distance trade, and herding. Inscriptions cast further doubt on the alleged rigidity of traditional Indian society by revealing the presence of collectives of people brought together by ties other than kinship or locality and of many women who were wealthy enough to make temple donations.Less
Although the caste system is thought to have dominated the society of traditional India, people who commissioned inscriptions in Kakatiya Andhra (a.d.1175–1324 ) mentioned their clan or lineage affiliation far more often than their varna. Status titles based on occupation were widely used and could vary from generation to generation within a family, demonstrating that social identities were linked to individual achievement. There were many opportunities for both travel and social mobility due to the prevalence of military activity, long distance trade, and herding. Inscriptions cast further doubt on the alleged rigidity of traditional Indian society by revealing the presence of collectives of people brought together by ties other than kinship or locality and of many women who were wealthy enough to make temple donations.
Arvind Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195658712
- eISBN:
- 9780199082018
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195658712.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This book sets out to explore the doctrinal dimension of classical Hinduism (eighth century BCE to circa 1000 CE.), and is organized in terms of its key concepts: brahman, karma, karma-yoga, etc. ...
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This book sets out to explore the doctrinal dimension of classical Hinduism (eighth century BCE to circa 1000 CE.), and is organized in terms of its key concepts: brahman, karma, karma-yoga, etc. which are discussed in their logical connection as well as in the context of a period of Hinduism which is chronologically connected with those that precede and succeed it. In textual terms, this covers the period from the Upanishads down to the late Purānas, and all that comes between them: the Smrtis (law books), the Itihāsas (epics), the Purānas (ancient lore), the Āgamas (liturgical manuals) and Darśanas (philosophical literature), etc. The purpose of the book is to synchronically and systematically present the governing concepts of classical Hinduism and their operation during the delimited period of classical Hinduism. Three features of the book to enable readers to use it to full advantage: (1) the first chapter constitutes the text of an oral presentation made at the Smithsonian Institution, designed to present classical Hindu thought in a concise and accessible manner. It forms a useful introduction to the conceptual framework of Hinduism, as the key ideas have deliberately been presented in a simple and direct manner. Their complexities and nuances are uncovered under the specific chapters that follow. (2) The rest of the book may be viewed as a magnification of the first chapter. (3) Among the essentials of classical Hindu thought, special and detailed consideration has been accorded to the concept of varna.Less
This book sets out to explore the doctrinal dimension of classical Hinduism (eighth century BCE to circa 1000 CE.), and is organized in terms of its key concepts: brahman, karma, karma-yoga, etc. which are discussed in their logical connection as well as in the context of a period of Hinduism which is chronologically connected with those that precede and succeed it. In textual terms, this covers the period from the Upanishads down to the late Purānas, and all that comes between them: the Smrtis (law books), the Itihāsas (epics), the Purānas (ancient lore), the Āgamas (liturgical manuals) and Darśanas (philosophical literature), etc. The purpose of the book is to synchronically and systematically present the governing concepts of classical Hinduism and their operation during the delimited period of classical Hinduism. Three features of the book to enable readers to use it to full advantage: (1) the first chapter constitutes the text of an oral presentation made at the Smithsonian Institution, designed to present classical Hindu thought in a concise and accessible manner. It forms a useful introduction to the conceptual framework of Hinduism, as the key ideas have deliberately been presented in a simple and direct manner. Their complexities and nuances are uncovered under the specific chapters that follow. (2) The rest of the book may be viewed as a magnification of the first chapter. (3) Among the essentials of classical Hindu thought, special and detailed consideration has been accorded to the concept of varna.
Alf Hiltebeitel
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195394238
- eISBN:
- 9780199897452
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394238.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Chapter 3 takes up the implications of dharma having never been a central concept in the pre‐Aśokan Vedic canon. It examines most of the Vedic canon's few prominent usages from the Ṛgveda through the ...
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Chapter 3 takes up the implications of dharma having never been a central concept in the pre‐Aśokan Vedic canon. It examines most of the Vedic canon's few prominent usages from the Ṛgveda through the mantra texts to the Upanisads in context. It first considers. the implications of dharma, in the form dhárman, having begun in the Ṛgveda as a new concept. It then pursues the use of this concept to generate novel enigmas there and elsewhere in the Vedic canon; its centrality to changing notions of kingship in these texts; and, no less important, to changing notions of the Brahmin in the consolidation of the varṇa or caste system.Less
Chapter 3 takes up the implications of dharma having never been a central concept in the pre‐Aśokan Vedic canon. It examines most of the Vedic canon's few prominent usages from the Ṛgveda through the mantra texts to the Upanisads in context. It first considers. the implications of dharma, in the form dhárman, having begun in the Ṛgveda as a new concept. It then pursues the use of this concept to generate novel enigmas there and elsewhere in the Vedic canon; its centrality to changing notions of kingship in these texts; and, no less important, to changing notions of the Brahmin in the consolidation of the varṇa or caste system.
Alf Hiltebeitel
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195394238
- eISBN:
- 9780199897452
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394238.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Chapter 5 is about how Brahmanical authors seek to shape consensus in a post‐Vedic society affected by Buddhism and other nāstika traditions or “heterodoxies” by composing dharma texts in new genres, ...
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Chapter 5 is about how Brahmanical authors seek to shape consensus in a post‐Vedic society affected by Buddhism and other nāstika traditions or “heterodoxies” by composing dharma texts in new genres, beginning with the dharmasūtras, and soon including dharmaśāstra (headed by The Laws of Manu) and the two “epics”: the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa. The chapter looks at how the dharmasūtras introduce consensus as one of the “sources of dharma” and underscore it practially by commending the householder life and the ”five great sacrifices” that a householder is to perform daily. It then looks at novel features of Manu, including its mixing of narrative and normative elements, and compares them with similar features of the epics. Unlike the dharmasūtras, Manu introduces a cosmological frame centered on the god Brahmā, and works in mini‐narratives about the king and the rod of punishment (daṇda) he should deploy in upholding dharma. The chapter unfolds the issues that classical Brahmanical dharma texts come to treat as basic, showing their development through them. These issues include varṇa (caste) and āśrama (life pattern or life‐stage); the theoretical origin of mixed classes; common portrayals of Śūdras and women; and increased attention to rājadharma or the dharma of kings.Less
Chapter 5 is about how Brahmanical authors seek to shape consensus in a post‐Vedic society affected by Buddhism and other nāstika traditions or “heterodoxies” by composing dharma texts in new genres, beginning with the dharmasūtras, and soon including dharmaśāstra (headed by The Laws of Manu) and the two “epics”: the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa. The chapter looks at how the dharmasūtras introduce consensus as one of the “sources of dharma” and underscore it practially by commending the householder life and the ”five great sacrifices” that a householder is to perform daily. It then looks at novel features of Manu, including its mixing of narrative and normative elements, and compares them with similar features of the epics. Unlike the dharmasūtras, Manu introduces a cosmological frame centered on the god Brahmā, and works in mini‐narratives about the king and the rod of punishment (daṇda) he should deploy in upholding dharma. The chapter unfolds the issues that classical Brahmanical dharma texts come to treat as basic, showing their development through them. These issues include varṇa (caste) and āśrama (life pattern or life‐stage); the theoretical origin of mixed classes; common portrayals of Śūdras and women; and increased attention to rājadharma or the dharma of kings.
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/9780195687859.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
The Northern Black Polished Ware phase remarked the origin of the second urbanization in India. Urbanization strengthened the state, increased trade, and promoted reading and writing. A rural base ...
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The Northern Black Polished Ware phase remarked the origin of the second urbanization in India. Urbanization strengthened the state, increased trade, and promoted reading and writing. A rural base contributed to the beginning of crafts, commerce, and urbanization in the mid-Gangetic basin. Technology became central to the progress of the rural and urban economy. Koshala and Magadha became mature states ruled by the hereditary monarchs belonging to the kshatriya varna. The real increase in state power is represented by the formation of a large professional army. The republican tradition in India is as old as the age of the Buddha. Such tradition became weak from the Maurya period. On the basis of regular taxes and tributes, large states could be founded. The varna order was devised, and the functions of each varna were delimited in order to continue this polity.Less
The Northern Black Polished Ware phase remarked the origin of the second urbanization in India. Urbanization strengthened the state, increased trade, and promoted reading and writing. A rural base contributed to the beginning of crafts, commerce, and urbanization in the mid-Gangetic basin. Technology became central to the progress of the rural and urban economy. Koshala and Magadha became mature states ruled by the hereditary monarchs belonging to the kshatriya varna. The real increase in state power is represented by the formation of a large professional army. The republican tradition in India is as old as the age of the Buddha. Such tradition became weak from the Maurya period. On the basis of regular taxes and tributes, large states could be founded. The varna order was devised, and the functions of each varna were delimited in order to continue this polity.
Toba Singer
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780813044026
- eISBN:
- 9780813046259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813044026.003.0029
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
René de Cárdenas comes from a family of dancers and after dancing with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, brought such as Sonlar to stages around the world, never hesitating to return to Cuba when needed ...
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René de Cárdenas comes from a family of dancers and after dancing with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, brought such as Sonlar to stages around the world, never hesitating to return to Cuba when needed to teach partnering class. He says that Fernando is not the only one “present” in his consciousness when he takes a rehearsal or teaches, because he is also hearing the words of Michel Fokine and the masters from the Golden Era of Ballet whose wisdom Fernando brings into the studio today.Less
René de Cárdenas comes from a family of dancers and after dancing with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, brought such as Sonlar to stages around the world, never hesitating to return to Cuba when needed to teach partnering class. He says that Fernando is not the only one “present” in his consciousness when he takes a rehearsal or teaches, because he is also hearing the words of Michel Fokine and the masters from the Golden Era of Ballet whose wisdom Fernando brings into the studio today.
Carole Hillenbrand
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748625727
- eISBN:
- 9780748671359
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625727.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter looks at the legacy of Manzikert in the later Middle Ages. It examines the ways in which the Turks are portrayed in the historical writings of the Muslim Arabs and Persians over whom ...
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This chapter looks at the legacy of Manzikert in the later Middle Ages. It examines the ways in which the Turks are portrayed in the historical writings of the Muslim Arabs and Persians over whom they ruled until the period of European colonialism and the creation of nation-states in the Middle East. The role of the Turks in the crusading context is analysed. The neglect by Muslim chroniclers of the battle of Myriocephalon of 1176 (in several ways a replay of Manzikert) in which the Seljuq sultan Kilij Arslan defeated the Byzantine emperor Manuel Comnenus, is revealed as a lost historiographical opportunity. The chapter also discusses early legendary folk literature, written in Turkish. The victories of the Mamluk sultans against Crusaders in the Middle East and those of the Ottoman sultans against Christian Europe (Varna, Kosovo and Mohacs) are then analysed. Close attention is given to the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453; the way in which its propagandistic potential is exploited to the full by contemporary Turkish historians is highlighted. Throughout the chapter the Turks are shown as exemplary upholders of Sunni Islam and jihad fighters against the Christian infidel, both Crusader and Byzantine.Less
This chapter looks at the legacy of Manzikert in the later Middle Ages. It examines the ways in which the Turks are portrayed in the historical writings of the Muslim Arabs and Persians over whom they ruled until the period of European colonialism and the creation of nation-states in the Middle East. The role of the Turks in the crusading context is analysed. The neglect by Muslim chroniclers of the battle of Myriocephalon of 1176 (in several ways a replay of Manzikert) in which the Seljuq sultan Kilij Arslan defeated the Byzantine emperor Manuel Comnenus, is revealed as a lost historiographical opportunity. The chapter also discusses early legendary folk literature, written in Turkish. The victories of the Mamluk sultans against Crusaders in the Middle East and those of the Ottoman sultans against Christian Europe (Varna, Kosovo and Mohacs) are then analysed. Close attention is given to the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453; the way in which its propagandistic potential is exploited to the full by contemporary Turkish historians is highlighted. Throughout the chapter the Turks are shown as exemplary upholders of Sunni Islam and jihad fighters against the Christian infidel, both Crusader and Byzantine.
Nagappa K. Gowda
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198072065
- eISBN:
- 9780199080748
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198072065.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, History of Ideas
Mahatma Ghandhi influenced the nationalist movement unlike any other leader. He drew much from the Gita for his nationalist project. Much of his thoughts can be found in the book Hind Swaraj and his ...
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Mahatma Ghandhi influenced the nationalist movement unlike any other leader. He drew much from the Gita for his nationalist project. Much of his thoughts can be found in the book Hind Swaraj and his philosophy of anasakti (non-attachment) is discussed in this chapter. It shows how Gandhi used the Bhagavadgita to defend the notions of ahimsa, truth, svadharma, swadeshi, and satyagraha. It also argues that Gandhi's version of the Bhagavadgita cautiously defends the institution of varna as an ordained form of division of labour. It explains how Gandhi's concept of anasaktiyoga translates into active engagement with one's fellowmen through service of the world.Less
Mahatma Ghandhi influenced the nationalist movement unlike any other leader. He drew much from the Gita for his nationalist project. Much of his thoughts can be found in the book Hind Swaraj and his philosophy of anasakti (non-attachment) is discussed in this chapter. It shows how Gandhi used the Bhagavadgita to defend the notions of ahimsa, truth, svadharma, swadeshi, and satyagraha. It also argues that Gandhi's version of the Bhagavadgita cautiously defends the institution of varna as an ordained form of division of labour. It explains how Gandhi's concept of anasaktiyoga translates into active engagement with one's fellowmen through service of the world.
