Ariel Glucklich
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195314052
- eISBN:
- 9780199871766
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314052.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The Strides of Vishnu explores a wide range of topics in Hindu culture and history. Hinduism has often set out to mediate between the practical needs of its many communities and a ...
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The Strides of Vishnu explores a wide range of topics in Hindu culture and history. Hinduism has often set out to mediate between the practical needs of its many communities and a transcendent realm. Illuminating this connection, The Strides of Vishnu focuses not only on religious ideas but also on the various arts and sciences, as well as crafts, politics, technology, and medicine. The book emphasizes core themes that run through the major historical periods of Northern India, beginning with the Vedas and leading up to India's independence. Sophisticated sciences such as geometry, grammar, politics, law, architecture, and biology are discussed within a broad cultural framework. Special attention is devoted to historical, economic, and political developments, including urbanism and empire‐building. The Strides of Vishnu situates religious and philosophical ideas within such broad contexts so religion sheds its abstract and detached reputation. The message of classical and medieval religious masterpieces—including the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, plays of Kalidasa, and many others—comes to life within a broad world‐making agenda. But while the literary masterpieces reflected the work of the cultural elites, The Strides of Vishnu also devotes considerable attention to the work that did not make it into the great texts: women's rituals, magic, alchemy, medicine, and a variety of impressive crafts. The book discusses the stunning mythology of medieval India and provides the methods for interpreting it, along with the vast cosmologies and cosmographies of the Puranas. The Strides of Vishnu is an introductory book on Hindu culture, but while it highlights central religious themes, it explores these within broader historical and cultural contexts. It gives its readers a clear and highly textured overview of a vast and productive civilization.Less
The Strides of Vishnu explores a wide range of topics in Hindu culture and history. Hinduism has often set out to mediate between the practical needs of its many communities and a transcendent realm. Illuminating this connection, The Strides of Vishnu focuses not only on religious ideas but also on the various arts and sciences, as well as crafts, politics, technology, and medicine. The book emphasizes core themes that run through the major historical periods of Northern India, beginning with the Vedas and leading up to India's independence. Sophisticated sciences such as geometry, grammar, politics, law, architecture, and biology are discussed within a broad cultural framework. Special attention is devoted to historical, economic, and political developments, including urbanism and empire‐building. The Strides of Vishnu situates religious and philosophical ideas within such broad contexts so religion sheds its abstract and detached reputation. The message of classical and medieval religious masterpieces—including the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, plays of Kalidasa, and many others—comes to life within a broad world‐making agenda. But while the literary masterpieces reflected the work of the cultural elites, The Strides of Vishnu also devotes considerable attention to the work that did not make it into the great texts: women's rituals, magic, alchemy, medicine, and a variety of impressive crafts. The book discusses the stunning mythology of medieval India and provides the methods for interpreting it, along with the vast cosmologies and cosmographies of the Puranas. The Strides of Vishnu is an introductory book on Hindu culture, but while it highlights central religious themes, it explores these within broader historical and cultural contexts. It gives its readers a clear and highly textured overview of a vast and productive civilization.
Richard Seaford (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474410991
- eISBN:
- 9781474426695
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474410991.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This book focuses from various perspectives on the striking similarities (as well as the concomitant differences) between early Greek and early Indian thought. In both cultures there occurred at ...
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This book focuses from various perspectives on the striking similarities (as well as the concomitant differences) between early Greek and early Indian thought. In both cultures there occurred at about the same time the birth of 'philosophy', the idea of the universe as an intelligible order in which personal deity is (at most) marginal and the inner self is at the centre of attention. The similarities include a pentadic structure of narrative and cosmology, a basic conception of cosmic order or harmony, a close relationship between universe and inner self, techniques of soteriological inwardness and self-immortalisation, the selflessness of theory, envisaging the inner self as a chariot, the interiorisation of ritual, and ethicised reincarnation. Explanations for the similarites are a shared Indo-European origin, parallel socio-economic development, and influence in one direction or the other.Less
This book focuses from various perspectives on the striking similarities (as well as the concomitant differences) between early Greek and early Indian thought. In both cultures there occurred at about the same time the birth of 'philosophy', the idea of the universe as an intelligible order in which personal deity is (at most) marginal and the inner self is at the centre of attention. The similarities include a pentadic structure of narrative and cosmology, a basic conception of cosmic order or harmony, a close relationship between universe and inner self, techniques of soteriological inwardness and self-immortalisation, the selflessness of theory, envisaging the inner self as a chariot, the interiorisation of ritual, and ethicised reincarnation. Explanations for the similarites are a shared Indo-European origin, parallel socio-economic development, and influence in one direction or the other.
Joel J. Kupperman
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195096545
- eISBN:
- 9780199852918
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195096545.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter describes character as a second self or, on the other hand, as a first self. To understand the importance of character in human life, we must appreciate who it is that has a character. ...
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This chapter describes character as a second self or, on the other hand, as a first self. To understand the importance of character in human life, we must appreciate who it is that has a character. Full understanding of what character is will have to include the background of a metaphysical account of the self. The self is a relation which relates itself to its own self, or it is that in the relation that the relation relates to its own self; the self is not the relation but that the relation relates itself to its own self. Everyone is born with a self, which remains strictly self-identical throughout that person's life, in that, whatever character the person develops or however he or she changes, the self remains itself.Less
This chapter describes character as a second self or, on the other hand, as a first self. To understand the importance of character in human life, we must appreciate who it is that has a character. Full understanding of what character is will have to include the background of a metaphysical account of the self. The self is a relation which relates itself to its own self, or it is that in the relation that the relation relates to its own self; the self is not the relation but that the relation relates itself to its own self. Everyone is born with a self, which remains strictly self-identical throughout that person's life, in that, whatever character the person develops or however he or she changes, the self remains itself.
Keith Ward
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263937
- eISBN:
- 9780191682681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263937.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, World Religions
This chapter deals with one of the central revealed texts of orthodox Hinduism, the Upanishads, and with one major 20th-century commentators upon it, Aurobindo Ghose. The aim is to draw parallel to ...
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This chapter deals with one of the central revealed texts of orthodox Hinduism, the Upanishads, and with one major 20th-century commentators upon it, Aurobindo Ghose. The aim is to draw parallel to the chapter's treatment of the Semitic faiths, and to bring out the extent to which both traditions have been affected by the emphasis on temporality, creativity, and evolution. The central concept of the Upanishads is the concept of Brahman, or ‘the Supreme’. A key Upanishadic concept is the ‘Self’ (Atman)—it is one beyond duality and diversity of all sorts, ‘immeasurable’, unlimited in existence, beyond space and time. The Upanishads are concerned with the origin of all things, and offer various opinions about it. Sometimes it is said that all originates from Death or Hunger, a primal Nothingness which generates from itself all that is.Less
This chapter deals with one of the central revealed texts of orthodox Hinduism, the Upanishads, and with one major 20th-century commentators upon it, Aurobindo Ghose. The aim is to draw parallel to the chapter's treatment of the Semitic faiths, and to bring out the extent to which both traditions have been affected by the emphasis on temporality, creativity, and evolution. The central concept of the Upanishads is the concept of Brahman, or ‘the Supreme’. A key Upanishadic concept is the ‘Self’ (Atman)—it is one beyond duality and diversity of all sorts, ‘immeasurable’, unlimited in existence, beyond space and time. The Upanishads are concerned with the origin of all things, and offer various opinions about it. Sometimes it is said that all originates from Death or Hunger, a primal Nothingness which generates from itself all that is.
Christopher Janaway
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198250036
- eISBN:
- 9780191597817
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198250037.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Schopenhauer's philosophy was formed during the years 1810–18. This chapter looks at the influences that shaped it, principally Kant, but also Plato, and the Upanishads. Schopenhauer aimed at a ...
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Schopenhauer's philosophy was formed during the years 1810–18. This chapter looks at the influences that shaped it, principally Kant, but also Plato, and the Upanishads. Schopenhauer aimed at a synthesis of these influences. Although indebted to Kant for the framework of his thought, he developed a conception of metaphysics and a ‘better consciousness’ of objective reality that would be free from the limitations imposed by Kant. Schopenhauer's antagonistic relationship with Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel is also mentioned.Less
Schopenhauer's philosophy was formed during the years 1810–18. This chapter looks at the influences that shaped it, principally Kant, but also Plato, and the Upanishads. Schopenhauer aimed at a synthesis of these influences. Although indebted to Kant for the framework of his thought, he developed a conception of metaphysics and a ‘better consciousness’ of objective reality that would be free from the limitations imposed by Kant. Schopenhauer's antagonistic relationship with Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel is also mentioned.
M.V. Nadkarni
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198073864
- eISBN:
- 9780199082162
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198073864.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter examines the place of ethics in Hinduism. It shows that though Hinduism has shown a strong inclination to metaphysics and spiritualism, it has certainly not ignored ethics. It explains ...
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This chapter examines the place of ethics in Hinduism. It shows that though Hinduism has shown a strong inclination to metaphysics and spiritualism, it has certainly not ignored ethics. It explains that ethics as dharma comes first among the goals of human beings in Hinduism and the scriptures insisted that other goals are to be pursued according to dharma. This chapter also discusses the misunderstandings about ethics in Hinduism, the ethics in the Vedas and Upanishads, the contribution of the Bhagavadgita to Hindu ethics, and the ethics of sants and social reformers.Less
This chapter examines the place of ethics in Hinduism. It shows that though Hinduism has shown a strong inclination to metaphysics and spiritualism, it has certainly not ignored ethics. It explains that ethics as dharma comes first among the goals of human beings in Hinduism and the scriptures insisted that other goals are to be pursued according to dharma. This chapter also discusses the misunderstandings about ethics in Hinduism, the ethics in the Vedas and Upanishads, the contribution of the Bhagavadgita to Hindu ethics, and the ethics of sants and social reformers.
Tulsi Badrinath
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199465187
- eISBN:
- 9780199086511
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199465187.003.0026
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Jainism traces the roots of violence in absolutism of knowledge. Badrinath is of the opinion that the Jaina syada-vada suggests that to every assertion one has to add a syat, or a ‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’, ...
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Jainism traces the roots of violence in absolutism of knowledge. Badrinath is of the opinion that the Jaina syada-vada suggests that to every assertion one has to add a syat, or a ‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’, or ‘in a sense’. This leads us to perceiving the truth of anything, or of any person, as not something ‘one-sided’ but ‘many-sided’ at the same time; that every variety of human violence, with its cruelty and degradation, has flowed from the competing one-sided ideas of what truth is, and hence from one-sided judgements about oneself and about others. Jainism liberates us from the violence of one-sided truths. Badrinath informs us that both the Mahabharata and Jainism say to us that to be sensitive at all times to the other dimensions of truth is the best form of security.Less
Jainism traces the roots of violence in absolutism of knowledge. Badrinath is of the opinion that the Jaina syada-vada suggests that to every assertion one has to add a syat, or a ‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’, or ‘in a sense’. This leads us to perceiving the truth of anything, or of any person, as not something ‘one-sided’ but ‘many-sided’ at the same time; that every variety of human violence, with its cruelty and degradation, has flowed from the competing one-sided ideas of what truth is, and hence from one-sided judgements about oneself and about others. Jainism liberates us from the violence of one-sided truths. Badrinath informs us that both the Mahabharata and Jainism say to us that to be sensitive at all times to the other dimensions of truth is the best form of security.
Tulsi Badrinath
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199465187
- eISBN:
- 9780199086511
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199465187.003.0035
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
In the last essay of the book Badrinath mentions that both relativity and quantum mechanics were compelled by their own discoveries to discard the logical framework of either/or, in which not only ...
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In the last essay of the book Badrinath mentions that both relativity and quantum mechanics were compelled by their own discoveries to discard the logical framework of either/or, in which not only modern science and philosophy but also practically the whole of Western political thought have been rooted as any reliable guide to the knowledge of truth. The Upanishads and Jaina thought, as well as the Mahabharata in relation to daily human living, show decisively that either/or has very limited value; and when it is applied indiscriminately, it takes us away from truth. Peace among the peoples of the world can be founded only on truth; and truth is to be found in the natural unity of I and the other, where unity is not uniformity, and diversity is not the enemy of unity.Less
In the last essay of the book Badrinath mentions that both relativity and quantum mechanics were compelled by their own discoveries to discard the logical framework of either/or, in which not only modern science and philosophy but also practically the whole of Western political thought have been rooted as any reliable guide to the knowledge of truth. The Upanishads and Jaina thought, as well as the Mahabharata in relation to daily human living, show decisively that either/or has very limited value; and when it is applied indiscriminately, it takes us away from truth. Peace among the peoples of the world can be founded only on truth; and truth is to be found in the natural unity of I and the other, where unity is not uniformity, and diversity is not the enemy of unity.
Madhuri M. Yadlapati
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037948
- eISBN:
- 9780252095207
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037948.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter explores several notes of ambiguity or self-correction in Hindu faith: the relationship between mystical certitude and discursive doubt in the Upanishads; bhakti (devotional faith) and ...
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This chapter explores several notes of ambiguity or self-correction in Hindu faith: the relationship between mystical certitude and discursive doubt in the Upanishads; bhakti (devotional faith) and the limitations of dharma in the epics; the questioning of assumptions about reality spurred by the doctrine of maya; and the paradoxical character of Hindu theism as reflected in the figure of Shiva. This fourfold examination illustrates ambiguities in a few of the very different strands of Hindu thought and practice. Behind all four thematic strands is a sense that beyond the worldly values of dharma teachings, the spiritual journey requires self-correction as part of the transformative experience of religious transcendence.Less
This chapter explores several notes of ambiguity or self-correction in Hindu faith: the relationship between mystical certitude and discursive doubt in the Upanishads; bhakti (devotional faith) and the limitations of dharma in the epics; the questioning of assumptions about reality spurred by the doctrine of maya; and the paradoxical character of Hindu theism as reflected in the figure of Shiva. This fourfold examination illustrates ambiguities in a few of the very different strands of Hindu thought and practice. Behind all four thematic strands is a sense that beyond the worldly values of dharma teachings, the spiritual journey requires self-correction as part of the transformative experience of religious transcendence.
Balmiki Prasad Singh
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195693553
- eISBN:
- 9780199080328
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195693553.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The longing for conflict-free and harmonious living is both an ancient and a continuing human aspiration. Multiplicity of tribes and beliefs has been a special feature of the Indian society since ...
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The longing for conflict-free and harmonious living is both an ancient and a continuing human aspiration. Multiplicity of tribes and beliefs has been a special feature of the Indian society since early times. The earliest known Indian civilization, the Indus Valley Civilization, was already quite advanced by about 2500 BC. It decayed in the middle of the second millennium BC, perhaps because of invasion by people who described themselves as Aryans. The most ancient works of the Vedic period are the four Vedas — Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. Each Veda contains four sections consisting of Samhita or collection of hymns, prayers, benedictions, sacrificial formulae and litanies; Brahmanas or prose treatises discussing the significance of sacrificial rites and ceremonies; Aranyakas or forest texts, which are partly included in the Brahmanas and partly considered as independent; and Upanishads.Less
The longing for conflict-free and harmonious living is both an ancient and a continuing human aspiration. Multiplicity of tribes and beliefs has been a special feature of the Indian society since early times. The earliest known Indian civilization, the Indus Valley Civilization, was already quite advanced by about 2500 BC. It decayed in the middle of the second millennium BC, perhaps because of invasion by people who described themselves as Aryans. The most ancient works of the Vedic period are the four Vedas — Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. Each Veda contains four sections consisting of Samhita or collection of hymns, prayers, benedictions, sacrificial formulae and litanies; Brahmanas or prose treatises discussing the significance of sacrificial rites and ceremonies; Aranyakas or forest texts, which are partly included in the Brahmanas and partly considered as independent; and Upanishads.
Greg Bailey
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474410991
- eISBN:
- 9781474426695
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474410991.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
The central concept of atman was acknowledged to be 'ungraspable and unthinkable'. This problem is related to the contrast between the ontological completeness of atman and the ontological ...
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The central concept of atman was acknowledged to be 'ungraspable and unthinkable'. This problem is related to the contrast between the ontological completeness of atman and the ontological incompleteness of the physical world of the senses and mind. In order to understand the entrance of atman into the world of imperfect existence, there is a need for precise philology, and in particular the meanings of the verbs as ('being') and bhu ('becoming'), and the prefix vi-. The ontological issue is then related to socio-economic structure.Less
The central concept of atman was acknowledged to be 'ungraspable and unthinkable'. This problem is related to the contrast between the ontological completeness of atman and the ontological incompleteness of the physical world of the senses and mind. In order to understand the entrance of atman into the world of imperfect existence, there is a need for precise philology, and in particular the meanings of the verbs as ('being') and bhu ('becoming'), and the prefix vi-. The ontological issue is then related to socio-economic structure.
Hyun Höchsmann
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474410991
- eISBN:
- 9781474426695
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474410991.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This chapter compares the Rgveda, the early Upanishads, and Plato's Timaeus for their conception of the universe, the inner self, and the relation between them. All three texts envisage the universe ...
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This chapter compares the Rgveda, the early Upanishads, and Plato's Timaeus for their conception of the universe, the inner self, and the relation between them. All three texts envisage the universe as a hierarchically organised system in which order (rta in the Rgveda) prevails. But only in the Timaeus is there the motivation to create a cosmos endowed with beauty and goodness. Only in the Timaeus and the Upanishads is cosmology a prerequisite for self-knowledge and ethics, and both texts lay the foundations for moral realism, the belief in the objective validity of moral values.Less
This chapter compares the Rgveda, the early Upanishads, and Plato's Timaeus for their conception of the universe, the inner self, and the relation between them. All three texts envisage the universe as a hierarchically organised system in which order (rta in the Rgveda) prevails. But only in the Timaeus is there the motivation to create a cosmos endowed with beauty and goodness. Only in the Timaeus and the Upanishads is cosmology a prerequisite for self-knowledge and ethics, and both texts lay the foundations for moral realism, the belief in the objective validity of moral values.
David L. Haberman
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199929177
- eISBN:
- 9780199332960
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199929177.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter begins with a consideration of tree worship as a worldwide phenomenon, exploring the sentience of trees in such practices as the worship of oak trees in Europe. The specific worldview ...
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This chapter begins with a consideration of tree worship as a worldwide phenomenon, exploring the sentience of trees in such practices as the worship of oak trees in Europe. The specific worldview that informs much tree worship and makes it so widespread in India is taken up next. The extensive history of Indian thought expresses a major tenet of Hindu religious philosophy: the interconnectedness and sacred nature of all life. The whole world in its myriad of forms springs from and participates in a unified reality, often called Brahman in the Upanishads and Puranas. Importantly, the great variety of embodied forms of divinity include trees. This chapter concludes with an examination of the long history of tree worship (puja) in India. Virtually all sacred trees in India have been considered a kalpa-vriksha, the famous mythological “Wishing-Tree” that yields many kinds of favorable results, both material and spiritual.Less
This chapter begins with a consideration of tree worship as a worldwide phenomenon, exploring the sentience of trees in such practices as the worship of oak trees in Europe. The specific worldview that informs much tree worship and makes it so widespread in India is taken up next. The extensive history of Indian thought expresses a major tenet of Hindu religious philosophy: the interconnectedness and sacred nature of all life. The whole world in its myriad of forms springs from and participates in a unified reality, often called Brahman in the Upanishads and Puranas. Importantly, the great variety of embodied forms of divinity include trees. This chapter concludes with an examination of the long history of tree worship (puja) in India. Virtually all sacred trees in India have been considered a kalpa-vriksha, the famous mythological “Wishing-Tree” that yields many kinds of favorable results, both material and spiritual.
Charles I. Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781942954255
- eISBN:
- 9781786944160
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781942954255.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This essay looks at how Yeats consistently associated what he conceived of as “Eastern” thought with themes of rebirth and fresh beginnings, as well as a form of disinterestedness. This nexus is ...
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This essay looks at how Yeats consistently associated what he conceived of as “Eastern” thought with themes of rebirth and fresh beginnings, as well as a form of disinterestedness. This nexus is evident not only in his early poetry adopting Indian personae and themes, but also in the introductions he wrote in the 1930s for works by Shri Purohit Swami. In his introduction to An Indian Monk: His Life and Adventures (1932), Yeats claimed that much of the Western tradition actually stems from the East: “We have borrowed directly from the East and selected for admiration or repetition everything in our own past that is least European, as though groping backward towards our common mother.”This essay looks at doctrinal borrowings and overlap – both in the prose and poetry – with special emphasis on how Yeats’s relations with the East are intertwined with his readings of Hegel and Romanticism.Less
This essay looks at how Yeats consistently associated what he conceived of as “Eastern” thought with themes of rebirth and fresh beginnings, as well as a form of disinterestedness. This nexus is evident not only in his early poetry adopting Indian personae and themes, but also in the introductions he wrote in the 1930s for works by Shri Purohit Swami. In his introduction to An Indian Monk: His Life and Adventures (1932), Yeats claimed that much of the Western tradition actually stems from the East: “We have borrowed directly from the East and selected for admiration or repetition everything in our own past that is least European, as though groping backward towards our common mother.”This essay looks at doctrinal borrowings and overlap – both in the prose and poetry – with special emphasis on how Yeats’s relations with the East are intertwined with his readings of Hegel and Romanticism.
Bidyut Chakrabarty
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199951215
- eISBN:
- 9780199346004
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199951215.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory, Comparative Politics
The chapter demonstrates the intellectual sources from which Gandhi and King drew their inspiration; besides the external sources, both of them seem to have drawn more on the indigenous intellectual ...
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The chapter demonstrates the intellectual sources from which Gandhi and King drew their inspiration; besides the external sources, both of them seem to have drawn more on the indigenous intellectual sources: for Gandhi, it was the Indian religious and other classical texts while King focused more on the New Testament. Furthermore, in formulating their political strategies, they depended a great deal on their colleagues who held similar ideological predisposition: The chapter thus argues that without their equally committed partners it would not have been possible for them to achieve what they sought to achieve. What was unique in their endeavour was a very creative blending of religion with non-violence which acted most effectively in non-violent civil disobedience against racial atrocities and colonial exploitation in the US and India respectively.Less
The chapter demonstrates the intellectual sources from which Gandhi and King drew their inspiration; besides the external sources, both of them seem to have drawn more on the indigenous intellectual sources: for Gandhi, it was the Indian religious and other classical texts while King focused more on the New Testament. Furthermore, in formulating their political strategies, they depended a great deal on their colleagues who held similar ideological predisposition: The chapter thus argues that without their equally committed partners it would not have been possible for them to achieve what they sought to achieve. What was unique in their endeavour was a very creative blending of religion with non-violence which acted most effectively in non-violent civil disobedience against racial atrocities and colonial exploitation in the US and India respectively.
Diana Lobel
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231153157
- eISBN:
- 9780231527019
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231153157.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter examines the teachings of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gītā concerning God and the good. For both the Upanishads and the Gītā, the goal to be pursued in life is liberation from ...
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This chapter examines the teachings of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gītā concerning God and the good. For both the Upanishads and the Gītā, the goal to be pursued in life is liberation from samsāra, the cycle of birth and death. In the early Upanishads, liberation is attained through knowledge of the identity of one's inner self, the ātman, with the cosmic principle, brahman. In the later Upanishads, there develops a devotional theism to a personal God. Liberation is then redefined to mean abiding with the object of our devotion. The Upanishads maintain that the Absolute has qualities not only of being and goodness, but of awareness and joy. On the other hand, the Gītā points out that to discover the Absolute by knowledge alone requires intense concentration. The Good for Hinduism is moksa, freedom or liberation.Less
This chapter examines the teachings of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gītā concerning God and the good. For both the Upanishads and the Gītā, the goal to be pursued in life is liberation from samsāra, the cycle of birth and death. In the early Upanishads, liberation is attained through knowledge of the identity of one's inner self, the ātman, with the cosmic principle, brahman. In the later Upanishads, there develops a devotional theism to a personal God. Liberation is then redefined to mean abiding with the object of our devotion. The Upanishads maintain that the Absolute has qualities not only of being and goodness, but of awareness and joy. On the other hand, the Gītā points out that to discover the Absolute by knowledge alone requires intense concentration. The Good for Hinduism is moksa, freedom or liberation.
Munis D. Faruqui
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198081678
- eISBN:
- 9780199085002
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198081678.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
In 1656, towards the end of a brilliant two-decades-long scholarly career, Dara Shukoh commissioned a translation of the Upanishads. He believed he had found the lost kitab al-maknun, or ...
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In 1656, towards the end of a brilliant two-decades-long scholarly career, Dara Shukoh commissioned a translation of the Upanishads. He believed he had found the lost kitab al-maknun, or hidden/protected book, referred to in the Quran as humanity’s first monotheistic text. This chapter explores the journey that led Dara Shukoh to proclaim the Upanishads’ importance to Muslims and to the world; it interrogates the prince’s reliance on Shankaracharya, the eighth century Advaita Vedantin, for commentary on the Upanishads; and it investigates the political context in which Dara Shukoh was operating to indicate one possible way to understand his idiosyncratic editorial decisions and his controversial proclamations.Less
In 1656, towards the end of a brilliant two-decades-long scholarly career, Dara Shukoh commissioned a translation of the Upanishads. He believed he had found the lost kitab al-maknun, or hidden/protected book, referred to in the Quran as humanity’s first monotheistic text. This chapter explores the journey that led Dara Shukoh to proclaim the Upanishads’ importance to Muslims and to the world; it interrogates the prince’s reliance on Shankaracharya, the eighth century Advaita Vedantin, for commentary on the Upanishads; and it investigates the political context in which Dara Shukoh was operating to indicate one possible way to understand his idiosyncratic editorial decisions and his controversial proclamations.
M.V. Nadkarni
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199450534
- eISBN:
- 9780199083022
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199450534.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter examines the place of ethics in Hinduism. It shows that though Hinduism has shown a strong inclination to metaphysics and spiritualism, it has certainly not ignored ethics. It explains ...
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This chapter examines the place of ethics in Hinduism. It shows that though Hinduism has shown a strong inclination to metaphysics and spiritualism, it has certainly not ignored ethics. It explains that ethics as dharma comes first among the goals of human beings in Hinduism and the scriptures insisted that other goals are to be pursued according to dharma. This chapter also discusses the misunderstandings about ethics in Hinduism, the ethics in the Vedas and Upanishads, the contribution of the Bhagavadgita to Hindu ethics, and the ethics of sants and social reformers.Less
This chapter examines the place of ethics in Hinduism. It shows that though Hinduism has shown a strong inclination to metaphysics and spiritualism, it has certainly not ignored ethics. It explains that ethics as dharma comes first among the goals of human beings in Hinduism and the scriptures insisted that other goals are to be pursued according to dharma. This chapter also discusses the misunderstandings about ethics in Hinduism, the ethics in the Vedas and Upanishads, the contribution of the Bhagavadgita to Hindu ethics, and the ethics of sants and social reformers.
Arundhati C. Khandkar and Ashok C. Khandkar
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780199495153
- eISBN:
- 9780199098279
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199495153.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
As the East India Company’s trade expanded, so did their control, influence, and interference in Indian politics, society, and local laws. The Meerut Mutiny of 1857 was the turning point for Indians ...
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As the East India Company’s trade expanded, so did their control, influence, and interference in Indian politics, society, and local laws. The Meerut Mutiny of 1857 was the turning point for Indians to earnestly begin clamouring for freedom. To achieve that, however, bringing Indians together was a paramount task. So, the social reformers systematically began asking Indians to set aside caste-based discrimination practices and unite together against the Raj. Laxmanshastri espoused a reasoned and rational dialog as the principal way to bring people with opposing views together. He drew on the historiography of the dharma-shastras, pointing to the wide-ranging and rich polemical debates in the literature that allowed diametrically opposite views and interpretation. He believed in the central Upanishadic idea that all humans are Brahman. It was from that principle that he kept the injustices against Untouchables squarely in his vision, never losing sight of the idea of making India more equitable for all her citizens. While his command of the shastras was never questioned, changing deeply held biases proved to be more challenging, but he did succeed in getting the more orthodox upper caste members of Indian society to consider his arguments and pay more attention to the plight of the Untouchables.Less
As the East India Company’s trade expanded, so did their control, influence, and interference in Indian politics, society, and local laws. The Meerut Mutiny of 1857 was the turning point for Indians to earnestly begin clamouring for freedom. To achieve that, however, bringing Indians together was a paramount task. So, the social reformers systematically began asking Indians to set aside caste-based discrimination practices and unite together against the Raj. Laxmanshastri espoused a reasoned and rational dialog as the principal way to bring people with opposing views together. He drew on the historiography of the dharma-shastras, pointing to the wide-ranging and rich polemical debates in the literature that allowed diametrically opposite views and interpretation. He believed in the central Upanishadic idea that all humans are Brahman. It was from that principle that he kept the injustices against Untouchables squarely in his vision, never losing sight of the idea of making India more equitable for all her citizens. While his command of the shastras was never questioned, changing deeply held biases proved to be more challenging, but he did succeed in getting the more orthodox upper caste members of Indian society to consider his arguments and pay more attention to the plight of the Untouchables.
Wendy Doniger
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199360079
- eISBN:
- 9780199377923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199360079.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter examines the concept of lingam in Hinduism and its association with the Hindu god Shiva. It begins with a discussion of the history of the usages of the word lingam in ancient texts and ...
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This chapter examines the concept of lingam in Hinduism and its association with the Hindu god Shiva. It begins with a discussion of the history of the usages of the word lingam in ancient texts and the evidence of material images of the Shiva-lingam in Indian art, along with the historical role of foreign empires in the formation of contemporary attitudes toward the lingam. In particular, it traces the origins of the lingam to the Indus Valley Civilization in what is now northwest India and Pakistan. It also considers the appearance of the word lingam in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Mahabharata. Furthermore, it looks into the lingam in Gudimallam in southeastern Andhra Pradesh which is believed to be the earliest physical depiction of Shiva. The chapter also describes the role of the lingam in Hinduism under Muslim and Raj rule and concludes with an analysis of the problem of lingam symbolism.Less
This chapter examines the concept of lingam in Hinduism and its association with the Hindu god Shiva. It begins with a discussion of the history of the usages of the word lingam in ancient texts and the evidence of material images of the Shiva-lingam in Indian art, along with the historical role of foreign empires in the formation of contemporary attitudes toward the lingam. In particular, it traces the origins of the lingam to the Indus Valley Civilization in what is now northwest India and Pakistan. It also considers the appearance of the word lingam in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Mahabharata. Furthermore, it looks into the lingam in Gudimallam in southeastern Andhra Pradesh which is believed to be the earliest physical depiction of Shiva. The chapter also describes the role of the lingam in Hinduism under Muslim and Raj rule and concludes with an analysis of the problem of lingam symbolism.
