Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
After highlighting the growing role of literacy and the mass-dissemination of standardized texts in popular Hindu practice, this chapter turns to the importance of Hanuman in the Hindi devotional ...
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After highlighting the growing role of literacy and the mass-dissemination of standardized texts in popular Hindu practice, this chapter turns to the importance of Hanuman in the Hindi devotional poetry attributed to the influential 16th-17th century saint-poet Tulsidas, author of the epic Ramcaritmanas and one of the great figures of bhakti literature. It then surveys a body of allegedly esoteric tantra literature that promotes Hanuman's ritual worship as an efficacious, boon-granting deity. Finally, it introduces and discusses the implications of a collection of exuberant late-20th century narratives that construct an elaborate “biography” (or in two cases, an autobiography) of Hanuman, making him the central hero in his own epic-like cycle.Less
After highlighting the growing role of literacy and the mass-dissemination of standardized texts in popular Hindu practice, this chapter turns to the importance of Hanuman in the Hindi devotional poetry attributed to the influential 16th-17th century saint-poet Tulsidas, author of the epic Ramcaritmanas and one of the great figures of bhakti literature. It then surveys a body of allegedly esoteric tantra literature that promotes Hanuman's ritual worship as an efficacious, boon-granting deity. Finally, it introduces and discusses the implications of a collection of exuberant late-20th century narratives that construct an elaborate “biography” (or in two cases, an autobiography) of Hanuman, making him the central hero in his own epic-like cycle.
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/9780199777594.003.0016
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This final chapter presents a culminating stage in the evolution of the cult of Viṭṭhal: its interpretation in spiritual terms. The chapter discusses, in turn, spiritual interpretations that the ...
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This final chapter presents a culminating stage in the evolution of the cult of Viṭṭhal: its interpretation in spiritual terms. The chapter discusses, in turn, spiritual interpretations that the Marathi poet-saints have given of the river at Pandharpur, of Pandharpur itself, of the temple of Viṭṭhal there, and of the god himself. The chapter discusses analogies in bhakti literature between the human body and temples, and analogies between various moral categories, such as remorse or a good person, on the one hand, and holy water-places (tīrthas), on the other. The chapter also examines the extensive image Jñāneśvar uses in comparing the Bhagavadgītā to the “Kailās” cave-temple at Ellora.Less
This final chapter presents a culminating stage in the evolution of the cult of Viṭṭhal: its interpretation in spiritual terms. The chapter discusses, in turn, spiritual interpretations that the Marathi poet-saints have given of the river at Pandharpur, of Pandharpur itself, of the temple of Viṭṭhal there, and of the god himself. The chapter discusses analogies in bhakti literature between the human body and temples, and analogies between various moral categories, such as remorse or a good person, on the one hand, and holy water-places (tīrthas), on the other. The chapter also examines the extensive image Jñāneśvar uses in comparing the Bhagavadgītā to the “Kailās” cave-temple at Ellora.
