Laurie Patton
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520240872
- eISBN:
- 9780520930889
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520240872.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This book introduces a new perspective on Indic religious history by rethinking the role of mantra in Vedic ritual. The book takes a new look at mantra as “performed poetry” and in five case studies ...
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This book introduces a new perspective on Indic religious history by rethinking the role of mantra in Vedic ritual. The book takes a new look at mantra as “performed poetry” and in five case studies draws a portrait of early Indian sacrifice that moves beyond the well-worn categories of “magic” and “magico-religious” thought in Vedic sacrifice. Treating Vedic mantra as a sophisticated form of artistic composition, it develops the idea of metonymy, or associational thought, as a major motivator for the use of mantra in sacrificial performance. Filling a long-standing gap in our understanding, the book provides a history of the Indian interpretive imagination and a study of the mental creativity and hermeneutic sophistication of Vedic religion.Less
This book introduces a new perspective on Indic religious history by rethinking the role of mantra in Vedic ritual. The book takes a new look at mantra as “performed poetry” and in five case studies draws a portrait of early Indian sacrifice that moves beyond the well-worn categories of “magic” and “magico-religious” thought in Vedic sacrifice. Treating Vedic mantra as a sophisticated form of artistic composition, it develops the idea of metonymy, or associational thought, as a major motivator for the use of mantra in sacrificial performance. Filling a long-standing gap in our understanding, the book provides a history of the Indian interpretive imagination and a study of the mental creativity and hermeneutic sophistication of Vedic religion.
