Karen C. Lang
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151138
- eISBN:
- 9780199870448
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195151135.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Candrakiriti rejects Brahmin priests’ belief in immortality, whether defined as eternal life in heaven, as the continuance of life on earth through the birth of sons, or as specialized knowledge ...
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Candrakiriti rejects Brahmin priests’ belief in immortality, whether defined as eternal life in heaven, as the continuance of life on earth through the birth of sons, or as specialized knowledge acquired through meditation. His arguments demonstrate his familiarity with the early Vedas’ advocacy of physical immortality through procreation and later Upaniṣads’ advocacy of spiritual immortality acquired through knowledge of the identity of the individual soul with the cosmic source of all life. The practice of mindfulness applied to the body provides direct and immediate perception of its mortal nature. The main thrust of Buddhist teachings on death is threefold: death is certain, the time of death is uncertain, and only religious practice will be of any value when death comes.Less
Candrakiriti rejects Brahmin priests’ belief in immortality, whether defined as eternal life in heaven, as the continuance of life on earth through the birth of sons, or as specialized knowledge acquired through meditation. His arguments demonstrate his familiarity with the early Vedas’ advocacy of physical immortality through procreation and later Upaniṣads’ advocacy of spiritual immortality acquired through knowledge of the identity of the individual soul with the cosmic source of all life. The practice of mindfulness applied to the body provides direct and immediate perception of its mortal nature. The main thrust of Buddhist teachings on death is threefold: death is certain, the time of death is uncertain, and only religious practice will be of any value when death comes.
Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199777594
- eISBN:
- 9780199919048
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199777594.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Viṭṭhal, also called Viṭhobā, is the most popular god in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, and the best-known Hindu god of that region outside of India. This book, presented here in English ...
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Viṭṭhal, also called Viṭhobā, is the most popular god in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, and the best-known Hindu god of that region outside of India. This book, presented here in English translation, is the foremost study of the history of Viṭṭhal, his worship, and his worshipers. First published in Marathi in 1984, this work remains the most thorough and insightful work on Viṭṭhal and his cult in any language, and provides an exemplary model for understanding the history and morphology of lived Hinduism. Viṭṭhal exemplifies the synthesis of Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva elements that not only typifies Maharashtrian Hindu religious life but also marks his resemblance to another prominent South Indian god, Veṅkateś of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The author's analysis highlights Viṭṭhal's connection with pastoralist hero cults, and demonstrates the god's development from a god of shepherds to a god of the majority of the population, including Brāhmaṇs. One chapter displays the feminine side of Viṭṭhal, his role as “Mother,” and another explores the efforts of various Brāhmaṇ adherents of Viṭṭhal to give his cult a Sanskritic, or even Vedic, sheen. In addition to these elements of Hindu traditions, Dhere also explores the connections of Viṭṭhal with Buddhist and Jain traditions.Less
Viṭṭhal, also called Viṭhobā, is the most popular god in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, and the best-known Hindu god of that region outside of India. This book, presented here in English translation, is the foremost study of the history of Viṭṭhal, his worship, and his worshipers. First published in Marathi in 1984, this work remains the most thorough and insightful work on Viṭṭhal and his cult in any language, and provides an exemplary model for understanding the history and morphology of lived Hinduism. Viṭṭhal exemplifies the synthesis of Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva elements that not only typifies Maharashtrian Hindu religious life but also marks his resemblance to another prominent South Indian god, Veṅkateś of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The author's analysis highlights Viṭṭhal's connection with pastoralist hero cults, and demonstrates the god's development from a god of shepherds to a god of the majority of the population, including Brāhmaṇs. One chapter displays the feminine side of Viṭṭhal, his role as “Mother,” and another explores the efforts of various Brāhmaṇ adherents of Viṭṭhal to give his cult a Sanskritic, or even Vedic, sheen. In addition to these elements of Hindu traditions, Dhere also explores the connections of Viṭṭhal with Buddhist and Jain traditions.
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.
Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199777594
- eISBN:
- 9780199919048
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199777594.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The Introduction establishes the significance of the god Viṭṭhal of Pandharpur for the religious history of Maharashtra from the eleventh or twelfth century onwards, pointing out that for the Vārkarī ...
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The Introduction establishes the significance of the god Viṭṭhal of Pandharpur for the religious history of Maharashtra from the eleventh or twelfth century onwards, pointing out that for the Vārkarī saint-poets, he is identical with the cowherd Kṛṣṇa. However, Viṭṭhal is not mentioned in the Vedas, the Epics, or the major Purāṇas, nor is he included in any list of the incarnations or names of Viṣṇu. Viṭṭhal must be a folk deity who gradually became famous. Who was this folk deity? What was he originally? What special characteristics enabled his transformation into Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa? After pointing out the difference between the religious study of a god and scholarly research into people's ideas about the god, the Introduction gives an account of the process of preparation of the book, acknowledges people who assisted in its completion, and discusses the opposition that some of the book's ideas had already aroused before its publication.Less
The Introduction establishes the significance of the god Viṭṭhal of Pandharpur for the religious history of Maharashtra from the eleventh or twelfth century onwards, pointing out that for the Vārkarī saint-poets, he is identical with the cowherd Kṛṣṇa. However, Viṭṭhal is not mentioned in the Vedas, the Epics, or the major Purāṇas, nor is he included in any list of the incarnations or names of Viṣṇu. Viṭṭhal must be a folk deity who gradually became famous. Who was this folk deity? What was he originally? What special characteristics enabled his transformation into Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa? After pointing out the difference between the religious study of a god and scholarly research into people's ideas about the god, the Introduction gives an account of the process of preparation of the book, acknowledges people who assisted in its completion, and discusses the opposition that some of the book's ideas had already aroused before its publication.
Ashutosh Dayal Mathur (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195685589
- eISBN:
- 9780199081578
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195685589.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
This book seeks to study the changes which took place in the field of Hindu law as it evolved between the eighth and the fourteenth centuries and as reflected in selected Sanskrit texts written ...
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This book seeks to study the changes which took place in the field of Hindu law as it evolved between the eighth and the fourteenth centuries and as reflected in selected Sanskrit texts written during this period. It also tries to explore the reasons which brought about those changes. Hindu law has a history of nearly four to five millennia recorded in an astonishingly large and varied range of texts. During this long journey, it has appeared in many different manifestations and has gone through several transformations with different sources, validating factors or justifications, methodologies and operative machinery. The Indian textual tradition can be broadly covered under three major stages, namely the stage of the Vedas, the stage of the ṣrtis, which includes both the later Vaidika texts called the dharma sūtras and the metrical sṃrtis, and the stage of commentaries and digests. This book argues that in the early medieval period, Hindu law emerged from the shadows of dharma and established itself independently as ‘vyvahāra’. This process is called the secularization of Hindu law. The book is an intensive study of seven leading ‘vyvahāra’ texts ranging from eighth to fourteenth-century.Less
This book seeks to study the changes which took place in the field of Hindu law as it evolved between the eighth and the fourteenth centuries and as reflected in selected Sanskrit texts written during this period. It also tries to explore the reasons which brought about those changes. Hindu law has a history of nearly four to five millennia recorded in an astonishingly large and varied range of texts. During this long journey, it has appeared in many different manifestations and has gone through several transformations with different sources, validating factors or justifications, methodologies and operative machinery. The Indian textual tradition can be broadly covered under three major stages, namely the stage of the Vedas, the stage of the ṣrtis, which includes both the later Vaidika texts called the dharma sūtras and the metrical sṃrtis, and the stage of commentaries and digests. This book argues that in the early medieval period, Hindu law emerged from the shadows of dharma and established itself independently as ‘vyvahāra’. This process is called the secularization of Hindu law. The book is an intensive study of seven leading ‘vyvahāra’ texts ranging from eighth to fourteenth-century.
Lisa Kemmerer
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199790678
- eISBN:
- 9780199919178
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199790678.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The second chapter explores animal-friendly teachings and practices in Vedic, Hindu, and Jain religious traditions through sacred texts and teachings and through the lives of religious exemplars, ...
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The second chapter explores animal-friendly teachings and practices in Vedic, Hindu, and Jain religious traditions through sacred texts and teachings and through the lives of religious exemplars, including key topics such as the sacred power of the natural environment, ahimsa, reincarnation and karma, oneness, interspecies kinship, Vishnu's incarnations, and the historic Hindu tendency toward a diet devoid of flesh and eggs. This chapter also probes rich affiliations between Vedic/Hindu deities and nonhuman animals, including vehicles associated with gods and goddesses, Krishna's connection with cows, and the importance and power of serpents/snakes/nagas, the elephant-headed Ganesha, and the much-revered monkey Hanuman. Chapter 2 closes by demonstrating animal activism in Hindu religious traditions through the life and teachings of Gandhi, as well as the lives and work of two contemporary Hindu animal liberationists, Dharmesh Solanki and PETA's Anuradha Sawhney.Less
The second chapter explores animal-friendly teachings and practices in Vedic, Hindu, and Jain religious traditions through sacred texts and teachings and through the lives of religious exemplars, including key topics such as the sacred power of the natural environment, ahimsa, reincarnation and karma, oneness, interspecies kinship, Vishnu's incarnations, and the historic Hindu tendency toward a diet devoid of flesh and eggs. This chapter also probes rich affiliations between Vedic/Hindu deities and nonhuman animals, including vehicles associated with gods and goddesses, Krishna's connection with cows, and the importance and power of serpents/snakes/nagas, the elephant-headed Ganesha, and the much-revered monkey Hanuman. Chapter 2 closes by demonstrating animal activism in Hindu religious traditions through the life and teachings of Gandhi, as well as the lives and work of two contemporary Hindu animal liberationists, Dharmesh Solanki and PETA's Anuradha Sawhney.
Tim Allender
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719085796
- eISBN:
- 9781526104298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719085796.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
Pre-British Indian learning for both elite Indian females and those of lesser status as early as 1,000 B.C. introduces this chapter. Complex female learning traditions were established for Indian ...
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Pre-British Indian learning for both elite Indian females and those of lesser status as early as 1,000 B.C. introduces this chapter. Complex female learning traditions were established for Indian females well before the arrival of the British. After 1818 British East India Company officials worried about the admittance of culturally insensitive Evangelical missions, whose networks threatened to undermine Company power and trade. The missions disrupted earlier emotional and partner relationships between Company officials and Indian women. These missions projected a story of emotional deficits in Indian females, contributing to the unravelling of orientalist-inspired knowledge transfer modalities that supported an equable relationship between East and West. The gender narratives coming out of CMS schools established a damaging contest with imaginative orientalist, village, schooling experiments in North India, as well as those sponsored by native education societies in Bombay. The initial easy harvest of ‘cholera orphans’ in CMS mission girls’ schools veiled the limited access such schools could have into the main Indian communities in Calcutta. Company and later state preference for missionary girls’ education led to perversions of state action in north India regarding female infanticide. Crude language policy for school teaching further undermined colonial claims to be educating Indian females.Less
Pre-British Indian learning for both elite Indian females and those of lesser status as early as 1,000 B.C. introduces this chapter. Complex female learning traditions were established for Indian females well before the arrival of the British. After 1818 British East India Company officials worried about the admittance of culturally insensitive Evangelical missions, whose networks threatened to undermine Company power and trade. The missions disrupted earlier emotional and partner relationships between Company officials and Indian women. These missions projected a story of emotional deficits in Indian females, contributing to the unravelling of orientalist-inspired knowledge transfer modalities that supported an equable relationship between East and West. The gender narratives coming out of CMS schools established a damaging contest with imaginative orientalist, village, schooling experiments in North India, as well as those sponsored by native education societies in Bombay. The initial easy harvest of ‘cholera orphans’ in CMS mission girls’ schools veiled the limited access such schools could have into the main Indian communities in Calcutta. Company and later state preference for missionary girls’ education led to perversions of state action in north India regarding female infanticide. Crude language policy for school teaching further undermined colonial claims to be educating Indian females.
Patrick Olivelle (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190696153
- eISBN:
- 9780190696184
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190696153.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism, World Religions
Much has been written about the Indian ascetic, but hardly any scholarly attention has been paid to the householder, generally referred to in Sanskrit as gṛhastha, “the stay-at-home.” The institution ...
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Much has been written about the Indian ascetic, but hardly any scholarly attention has been paid to the householder, generally referred to in Sanskrit as gṛhastha, “the stay-at-home.” The institution of the householder is viewed implicitly as posing little historical problems with regard to its origin or meaning. The current volume problematizes the figure of the householder within ancient Indian culture and religion. It shows that the term gṛhastha is a neologism and is understandable only in its opposition to the ascetic who goes away from home (pravrajita). Through a thorough and comprehensive analysis of a wide range of inscriptions and texts, ranging from the Vedas, Dharmaśāstras, Epics, and belle-lettres to Buddhist and Jain texts and works on governance and erotics, this volume analyzes the meanings, functions, and roles of the householder from the earliest times until about the fifth century CE. The central finding of these studies is that the householder bearing the name gṛhastha is not simply a married man with a family but someone dedicated to the same or similar goals as an ascetic while remaining at home and performing the economic and ritual duties incumbent on him. The gṛhastha is thus not simply a married person living at home with his family, that is, a general descriptor of a householder, for whom there are many other Sanskrit terms, but a religiously charged concept that is intended as a full-fledged and superior alternative to the concept of a religious renouncer.Less
Much has been written about the Indian ascetic, but hardly any scholarly attention has been paid to the householder, generally referred to in Sanskrit as gṛhastha, “the stay-at-home.” The institution of the householder is viewed implicitly as posing little historical problems with regard to its origin or meaning. The current volume problematizes the figure of the householder within ancient Indian culture and religion. It shows that the term gṛhastha is a neologism and is understandable only in its opposition to the ascetic who goes away from home (pravrajita). Through a thorough and comprehensive analysis of a wide range of inscriptions and texts, ranging from the Vedas, Dharmaśāstras, Epics, and belle-lettres to Buddhist and Jain texts and works on governance and erotics, this volume analyzes the meanings, functions, and roles of the householder from the earliest times until about the fifth century CE. The central finding of these studies is that the householder bearing the name gṛhastha is not simply a married man with a family but someone dedicated to the same or similar goals as an ascetic while remaining at home and performing the economic and ritual duties incumbent on him. The gṛhastha is thus not simply a married person living at home with his family, that is, a general descriptor of a householder, for whom there are many other Sanskrit terms, but a religiously charged concept that is intended as a full-fledged and superior alternative to the concept of a religious renouncer.
Rachel Fell McDermott and Jeffrey J. Kripal
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520232396
- eISBN:
- 9780520928176
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520232396.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Since the beginnings of Western scholarship in India, the figure of the blood-thirsty, violent, and explicitly sexual goddess Kālī appears to have held an especially central, but also ambivalent and ...
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Since the beginnings of Western scholarship in India, the figure of the blood-thirsty, violent, and explicitly sexual goddess Kālī appears to have held an especially central, but also ambivalent and disturbing, place in the colonial imagination. In the eyes of the early British colonial authorities, missionaries, and scholars, Kālī was identified as the most depraved of all forms of modern popular Hinduism, the quintessence of the licentiousness and idolatry that had destroyed the noble, monotheistic spirit of the Vedas and Vedānta. This chapter argues that Kālī was conceived by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century colonialists as the worst example of irrational Indian savagery. Such a reading of Kālī as the quintessential Other and the “extreme Orient” influenced Britons' dealings with the “Thugs” and led to the creation of a genre of Victorian novels centered on the lurid East. The chapter also discusses the strategies of appropriation and subversion used by Indian nationalists, who turned this Orientalist Kālī against her colonial creators in their own literatures and actions.Less
Since the beginnings of Western scholarship in India, the figure of the blood-thirsty, violent, and explicitly sexual goddess Kālī appears to have held an especially central, but also ambivalent and disturbing, place in the colonial imagination. In the eyes of the early British colonial authorities, missionaries, and scholars, Kālī was identified as the most depraved of all forms of modern popular Hinduism, the quintessence of the licentiousness and idolatry that had destroyed the noble, monotheistic spirit of the Vedas and Vedānta. This chapter argues that Kālī was conceived by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century colonialists as the worst example of irrational Indian savagery. Such a reading of Kālī as the quintessential Other and the “extreme Orient” influenced Britons' dealings with the “Thugs” and led to the creation of a genre of Victorian novels centered on the lurid East. The chapter also discusses the strategies of appropriation and subversion used by Indian nationalists, who turned this Orientalist Kālī against her colonial creators in their own literatures and actions.
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.
Stuart Gray
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190636319
- eISBN:
- 9780190636333
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190636319.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Theory
This book establishes a new analytic approach to understanding fundamental political ideas of other cultures and time periods, applying the approach to a study of ancient Greek and Indian conceptions ...
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This book establishes a new analytic approach to understanding fundamental political ideas of other cultures and time periods, applying the approach to a study of ancient Greek and Indian conceptions of rule. This cross-cultural study provides a defense for the importance of rule in contemporary political life, arguing that anthropocentric and instrumentalist conceptions of rule have led to destructive consequences for the welfare of both human and nonhuman life. Therefore, this book seeks to rethink the meaning of rule by critically retrieving and examining premodern ideas in both the West and South Asia. Conflicting cosmological and anthropocentric origins for rule in the history of Western political thought can be located in ancient Greece, particularly in the influential works of Homer and Hesiod. In contrast to a more human-centered and strongly individualistic conception of rule as “distinction” in Greece is an alternative understanding of rule as “stewardship” that appears in early Indian thought. A critical assessment of these two traditions not only provides a novel interpretation of each but also supplies a new framework for theorizing the meaning of rule that better accounts for relations between humans and nonhuman nature. The book thus outlines a new conception of rule as “panocracy,” which expands the ethical horizon for understanding humans’ political effect and responsibilities in an increasingly interconnected, fragile world. This culturally hybrid vision of ruling entails duties of stewardship toward nonhuman nature and involvement in processes of world-building on a global scale.Less
This book establishes a new analytic approach to understanding fundamental political ideas of other cultures and time periods, applying the approach to a study of ancient Greek and Indian conceptions of rule. This cross-cultural study provides a defense for the importance of rule in contemporary political life, arguing that anthropocentric and instrumentalist conceptions of rule have led to destructive consequences for the welfare of both human and nonhuman life. Therefore, this book seeks to rethink the meaning of rule by critically retrieving and examining premodern ideas in both the West and South Asia. Conflicting cosmological and anthropocentric origins for rule in the history of Western political thought can be located in ancient Greece, particularly in the influential works of Homer and Hesiod. In contrast to a more human-centered and strongly individualistic conception of rule as “distinction” in Greece is an alternative understanding of rule as “stewardship” that appears in early Indian thought. A critical assessment of these two traditions not only provides a novel interpretation of each but also supplies a new framework for theorizing the meaning of rule that better accounts for relations between humans and nonhuman nature. The book thus outlines a new conception of rule as “panocracy,” which expands the ethical horizon for understanding humans’ political effect and responsibilities in an increasingly interconnected, fragile world. This culturally hybrid vision of ruling entails duties of stewardship toward nonhuman nature and involvement in processes of world-building on a global scale.
Arvind Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195676389
- eISBN:
- 9780199081974
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195676389.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
In both classical and modern Hinduism, the ultimate reality is called brahman. While the time-honoured distinction between nirguna and saguna brahman remains important, it is somewhat less ...
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In both classical and modern Hinduism, the ultimate reality is called brahman. While the time-honoured distinction between nirguna and saguna brahman remains important, it is somewhat less significant in the context of modern Hinduism as compared to the classical. The main issue for the Vedāntins, who came after Śankara (ninth century), was whether brahman was nirguna or saguna. Ramana Maharni (1879–1950) represents the tradition of emphasizing the nirguna aspect, whereas Devendranath Tagore (1817–1905) represents the saguna aspect. This book analyses the concepts of modern Hindu thought. It is conceptually divided into three parts. Part 1 examines the historical context of modern Hindu thought, Part 2 presents the key concepts of modern Hinduism in relation to each other, and Part 3 explores each term constitutive of the modern Hindu world-view. These terms and concepts associated with Hinduism include Brahman, Íśvara, Devī, trimūrti, brahmā, Visnu, Śiva, Jīva, samsṁra, karma, dharma, māyā, moksa, jñāna-yoga, bhakti-yoga, karma yoga, varna, Āśrama, purusārthas, and Vedas.Less
In both classical and modern Hinduism, the ultimate reality is called brahman. While the time-honoured distinction between nirguna and saguna brahman remains important, it is somewhat less significant in the context of modern Hinduism as compared to the classical. The main issue for the Vedāntins, who came after Śankara (ninth century), was whether brahman was nirguna or saguna. Ramana Maharni (1879–1950) represents the tradition of emphasizing the nirguna aspect, whereas Devendranath Tagore (1817–1905) represents the saguna aspect. This book analyses the concepts of modern Hindu thought. It is conceptually divided into three parts. Part 1 examines the historical context of modern Hindu thought, Part 2 presents the key concepts of modern Hinduism in relation to each other, and Part 3 explores each term constitutive of the modern Hindu world-view. These terms and concepts associated with Hinduism include Brahman, Íśvara, Devī, trimūrti, brahmā, Visnu, Śiva, Jīva, samsṁra, karma, dharma, māyā, moksa, jñāna-yoga, bhakti-yoga, karma yoga, varna, Āśrama, purusārthas, and Vedas.
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.
Arvind Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195658712
- eISBN:
- 9780199082018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195658712.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Classical Hindu thought did not suddenly emerge fully fashioned in every respect. Even within the classical period, the key concepts underwent change, or at least refinement and realignment. The ...
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Classical Hindu thought did not suddenly emerge fully fashioned in every respect. Even within the classical period, the key concepts underwent change, or at least refinement and realignment. The constituent elements of classical Hinduism emerged in a certain order—a chronological order, as they achieved a certain logical order. This chapter attempts the task of historically surveying the emergence of the various key concepts of classical Hinduism. It concludes with a reference to the position of the Vedas.Less
Classical Hindu thought did not suddenly emerge fully fashioned in every respect. Even within the classical period, the key concepts underwent change, or at least refinement and realignment. The constituent elements of classical Hinduism emerged in a certain order—a chronological order, as they achieved a certain logical order. This chapter attempts the task of historically surveying the emergence of the various key concepts of classical Hinduism. It concludes with a reference to the position of the Vedas.
Arvind Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195658712
- eISBN:
- 9780199082018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195658712.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The first member of the Hindu trinity is Brahmā. The name has usually been explained as the masculinization of Brahman, which designates the ultimate reality in the neuter. However, it is also ...
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The first member of the Hindu trinity is Brahmā. The name has usually been explained as the masculinization of Brahman, which designates the ultimate reality in the neuter. However, it is also plausible that the god arose as a divinization of Brahmā, a word which originally designated a supervisory priest. Brahmā is closely associated with the Vedas, and to see how this association is connected with creation, one has to take into account certain characteristic Hindu ideas. One of them is that the universe undergoes periodic cycles of appearance and dissolution, on a rather spectacular scale. This chapter provides an account of the temporal dimensions involved, before which even computation in light years begins to appear rather dim.Less
The first member of the Hindu trinity is Brahmā. The name has usually been explained as the masculinization of Brahman, which designates the ultimate reality in the neuter. However, it is also plausible that the god arose as a divinization of Brahmā, a word which originally designated a supervisory priest. Brahmā is closely associated with the Vedas, and to see how this association is connected with creation, one has to take into account certain characteristic Hindu ideas. One of them is that the universe undergoes periodic cycles of appearance and dissolution, on a rather spectacular scale. This chapter provides an account of the temporal dimensions involved, before which even computation in light years begins to appear rather dim.
Arvind Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195676389
- eISBN:
- 9780199081974
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195676389.003.0022
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Classical Hinduism accepted, by and large, the dogma of Vedic authority and infallibility as far as knowledge about dharma and moksa was concerned; it did so on the basis of the claim that the Vedas ...
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Classical Hinduism accepted, by and large, the dogma of Vedic authority and infallibility as far as knowledge about dharma and moksa was concerned; it did so on the basis of the claim that the Vedas were eternal and self-revealed. Although some of modern Hinduism's representatives, such as Swāmī Dayānanda Sarasvatī, took a stand similar to the classical one, modern Hindus have generally taken a different view. Whereas the classical doctrine of the verbal authority of the Vedas involved a theory of language, modern Hinduism looks upon the Vedas as the record of the religious experience of seers, and hence of value—the scriptures of the other religions of the world could also be viewed similarly. Thus, modern Hinduism tends to take into account all the scriptures of the world and even consider them as Vedas.Less
Classical Hinduism accepted, by and large, the dogma of Vedic authority and infallibility as far as knowledge about dharma and moksa was concerned; it did so on the basis of the claim that the Vedas were eternal and self-revealed. Although some of modern Hinduism's representatives, such as Swāmī Dayānanda Sarasvatī, took a stand similar to the classical one, modern Hindus have generally taken a different view. Whereas the classical doctrine of the verbal authority of the Vedas involved a theory of language, modern Hinduism looks upon the Vedas as the record of the religious experience of seers, and hence of value—the scriptures of the other religions of the world could also be viewed similarly. Thus, modern Hinduism tends to take into account all the scriptures of the world and even consider them as Vedas.
Arvind Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195658712
- eISBN:
- 9780199082018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195658712.003.0022
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter discusses the significance of the Vedas as books. The Vedas are the sacred books of the Hindus. They are to the Hindus what the Bible is to the Christians, and the Qur'ān to the Muslims. ...
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This chapter discusses the significance of the Vedas as books. The Vedas are the sacred books of the Hindus. They are to the Hindus what the Bible is to the Christians, and the Qur'ān to the Muslims. According to the traditional Hindu view of the Vedas, these books are eternal, beginning-less, not made by man, and moreover, they are the source of all religion. Modern Western scholarship considers the following features of great significance in relation to the Vedas as books: the purity of the texts; the antiquity of the texts; and the importance of the texts in the history of Hinduism. The essence of the significance of the Vedas as books lies in the fact that the Vedas are ‘the book of origins’. They are the original Indo–European work, and contain the origins of later Hindu development in the religious and even secular fields.Less
This chapter discusses the significance of the Vedas as books. The Vedas are the sacred books of the Hindus. They are to the Hindus what the Bible is to the Christians, and the Qur'ān to the Muslims. According to the traditional Hindu view of the Vedas, these books are eternal, beginning-less, not made by man, and moreover, they are the source of all religion. Modern Western scholarship considers the following features of great significance in relation to the Vedas as books: the purity of the texts; the antiquity of the texts; and the importance of the texts in the history of Hinduism. The essence of the significance of the Vedas as books lies in the fact that the Vedas are ‘the book of origins’. They are the original Indo–European work, and contain the origins of later Hindu development in the religious and even secular fields.
Ashutosh Dayal Mathur
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195685589
- eISBN:
- 9780199081578
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195685589.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
Hindu law has allowed different groups and regions to develop their own dharmas. The growth of law in India may be likened to the evolution of disciplines like grammar, poetics, etymology, and ...
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Hindu law has allowed different groups and regions to develop their own dharmas. The growth of law in India may be likened to the evolution of disciplines like grammar, poetics, etymology, and prosody. Soon, however, these sciences freed themselves from sacerdotal concerns and came to be established as independent subjects of enquiry, paying only lip service to the authority of the Vedas. The same may be said to be true of law which was an appendage to sacred literature only in the period of the sūtras. Even earlier than the earliest of the known metrical sṃrtis, the artha śāstra tradition had recognised that politics and administration were outside the domain of the sacred. The sṃrtis of Nārada, Ḅrhaspati and Kātyāyana clearly recognise law as distinct from other branches of dharma and therefore they deal exclusively with law.Less
Hindu law has allowed different groups and regions to develop their own dharmas. The growth of law in India may be likened to the evolution of disciplines like grammar, poetics, etymology, and prosody. Soon, however, these sciences freed themselves from sacerdotal concerns and came to be established as independent subjects of enquiry, paying only lip service to the authority of the Vedas. The same may be said to be true of law which was an appendage to sacred literature only in the period of the sūtras. Even earlier than the earliest of the known metrical sṃrtis, the artha śāstra tradition had recognised that politics and administration were outside the domain of the sacred. The sṃrtis of Nārada, Ḅrhaspati and Kātyāyana clearly recognise law as distinct from other branches of dharma and therefore they deal exclusively with law.
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.
Heinrich Von Stietencron
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846311871
- eISBN:
- 9781846315671
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846315671.007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Hinduism as the third largest contemporary religion and comprises a whole number of different religions, which coexist peacefully. There are four dominant religions that arose within Hinduism: ...
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Hinduism as the third largest contemporary religion and comprises a whole number of different religions, which coexist peacefully. There are four dominant religions that arose within Hinduism: Vishnuism, Shivaism, Shāktism, and Vedānta. In this chapter, the social teachings of Hinduism are examined. It describes the notions of world and human being laid down in the holy texts called the Vedas. The chapter then discusses the politicization of religion and the attempts to homogenize the state and society in India.Less
Hinduism as the third largest contemporary religion and comprises a whole number of different religions, which coexist peacefully. There are four dominant religions that arose within Hinduism: Vishnuism, Shivaism, Shāktism, and Vedānta. In this chapter, the social teachings of Hinduism are examined. It describes the notions of world and human being laid down in the holy texts called the Vedas. The chapter then discusses the politicization of religion and the attempts to homogenize the state and society in India.
