Vasudha Narayanan

List of Illustrations A Note on Transliteration Introduction PART I WORSHIP 1 The Experience: App... more List of Illustrations A Note on Transliteration Introduction PART I WORSHIP 1 The Experience: Approaching God 2 The Deity: The Image of God 3 The Miraculous: The Birth of a Shrine PART II THE LIFE CYCLE 4 Marriage: Women in India 5 Death beyond Death: The Ochre Robe PART III FESTIVAL 6 Divali: The Festival of Lights 7 Holi: The Feast of Love PART IV PERFORMANCE 8 An Open-Air Ramayana: Ramlila, the Audience Experience 9 A Ramayana on Air: "All in the (Raghu) Family," A Video Epic in Cultural Context 10 Possession by Durga: The Mother Who Possesses PART V GURUS 11 Anandamayi Ma: God Came as a Woman 12 Radhasoami: The Healing Offer PART VI CASTE 13 A Dalit Poet-Saint: Ravidas 14 A Brahmin Woman: Revenge Herself PART VII DIASPORA 15 Hinduism in Pittsburgh: Creating the South Indian "Hindu" Experience in the United States 16 A Diasporic Hindu Creed: Some Basic Features of Hinduism PART VIII IDENTITY 17 Militant Hinduism: Ayodhya and the Momentum of Hindu Nationalism 18 Tolerant Hinduism: Shared Ritual Spaces--Hindus and Muslims at the Shrine of Shahul Hamid 19 Hinduism for Hindus: Taking Back Hindu Studies 20 Hinduism with Others: Interlogue List of Contributors 301 Index 307

AAR paper published in 1994 The Ramayana in the Theology of the Srivaishnava Community

1984 AAR - 1994 published The Ramayana in the Theology of the Srivaishnava community, 1984

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Dances of War, Pleas for Protection: the Dance of the Defeated Rākṣasas in Tirumaṅkai-āḻvār's Periya Tirumoḻi

by Prathik Murali and Vasudha Narayanan

Journal of Vaishnava Studies , 2023

This paper explores two sets of unusual Tamil poems, each ten verses long, composed by the 8 th c... more This paper explores two sets of unusual Tamil poems, each ten verses long, composed by the 8 th century Vaiṣṇava poet Tirumaṅkai-āḻvār. In these poems, he speaks in the voice of the defeated rākṣasas in the Rāmāyaṇa war. Speaking in the collective "we," he pleads with the victors not to torment or kill "them." Although these poems are unique, we contextualize them in the early history of the Tamil war ethics and victory dances done in battlefields. We also discuss the connections between war and dance in Sanskrit and Tamil literature as well as the commentarial tradition on these poems, and argue that Tirumankai's poems can be seen as a segue to the later concepts of seeking protection and coming for refuge (śaraṇāgati) in Śrīvaiṣṇava theology.

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La no violenicia en la mayor virtud/deber: Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah (Mahabharata)

Brill's encyclopedia of Hinduism

Choice Reviews Online, 2010

B rill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism is a thematic encyclopedia that attempts to encompass the great... more B rill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism is a thematic encyclopedia that attempts to encompass the great breadth of Hindu traditions within a multidisciplinary context. The opening statement given in the preface of each of the five volumes of this collection asserts that it is both for the scholar and the general reader interested in the study of Hinduism. That being said, this collection is not for the faint of heart. Rather than a multi-volume encyclopedia of fairly short entries on the widest variety of topics on the subject, with information one could most likely find on the Internet, this work is set up as a collection of critical essays ranging from fifteen to fifty pages. Each essay tackles the subject in depth, with an extensive bibliography and cross referencing. This collection is not for the casual researcher interested in getting a brief answer to a question on Hinduism. It is a collection of scholarly treatises that are appropriate for graduate level research.

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3. Arcāvatāra: On Earth as He Is in Heaven

Gods of Flesh, Gods of Stone, 1985

Response: shared and contested spaces

The Routledge Handbook of Hindu–Christian Relations, 2020

Gender in a Devotional Universe

The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, 2003

... Your soothing words burn my soul. Evening tramples like a rogue elephant and the fragrance of... more

Who is the Strong-Armed Monkey who Churns the Ocean of Milk?

សវាខលាងកលាដែលករសមទរទកដោះជានរណា? អនកសរាវជរាវតែងជជែកវែកញែកថា សវានៅចមលាកអងគរវតតតរងឈតករសមទរទកដោះនោះជា... more សវាខលាងកលាដែលករសមទរទកដោះជានរណា? អនកសរាវជរាវតែងជជែកវែកញែកថា សវានៅចមលាកអងគរវតតតរងឈតករសមទរទកដោះនោះជានរណា។ គេឃើញសវានោះជយ ពពកទេពឲយករសមទរដើមបយកទកអមរត។ អនកភាគចរើនអះអាងថា នេះជា ហនមាន ឬ ជនកាលថាជាសគរព។ អតថបទនេះផអែកលើ បរភពចរើនផសេងៗគនានៃតបននានានៅឥណឌាខាងតបង (សពវថងៃ គរដឋ Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh នង Karnataka)។ បរភពទាងនេះរាបបញចលផនែកខលះនៃរឿង រាមាយណនៅ Tamilnadu (តែងនៅស.វ.ទ៩ឬទ១២), ផទាងចមលាកនៅបរាសាទ Virupaksha (ស.វ.ទ៨), រឿង Ranganātha Rāmāyaṇamu, អតថបទ Telugu មយតែងនៅរវាងស.វ.ទ១៣, ពរមទាងនាដសលបៈនៅរដឋ Kerala ផង។ ពតហើយថាខមែរពមែនធវើអវៗតាមតែឥណឌានោះឡើយ បនែតកនងករណនេះ គបបយើងយកបរភព នានាពឥណឌាមកពចារណា។ បរភពទាងបនមានមកពឥណឌាខាងតបងនេះបងហាញចបាសថាសវានោះជា ពាល។ វតតមាននៃពាលកនងឈតករសមទរទកដោះនៅឥណឌាខាង តបងផងនងនៅអងគរវតតផងបញជាកថាចេញពករមបរភព ដើមមយជាមយគនា បនតែរបៀបរបបដែលទទលយកមករៀងៗខលននោះ អាសរយ ទៅតាមទេសកាលសងគមនងនយោបាយនៃអារយធមនមយៗ។ Who is the Strong-Armed Monkey who Churns the Ocean of Milk? Scholars have debated the identity of the monkey seen in the large bas-relief in Angkor Wat which depicts the story of the churning of...

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The History of the Academic Study of Religion in Universities, Centers, and Institutes in India1

Numen, 2015

India is home to more than 800 million Hindus and has a massive higher education system that is o... more India is home to more than 800 million Hindus and has a massive higher education system that is overseen by the University Grants Commission (ugc). Despite this, there are hardly any departments of religion or Hinduism in India, but the ugc, even though it has a secular mission, funds universities with explicit religious affiliations. This article traces the reasons for these paradoxes and discusses the apparent lacuna of religious studies departments by looking at the genealogy of the study of religion in India. It initially looks at the contested terrain of nineteenth-century educational institutions. The work of British missionaries, Orientalists, and government officials form the imperial context to understand Charles Wood’s momentous Despatch (1854), which, on the one hand, argues for secular institutions but, on the other, tries to accommodate the work of the Orientalists and the missionaries. Wood recommends a system in which government subsidies, secular education, and unive...

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2002 Presidential Address: Embodied Cosmologies: Sights of Piety, Sites of Power

Gender in a Devotional Universe

The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism

... Your soothing words burn my soul. Evening tramples like a rogue elephant and the fragrance of... more

One Tree Is Equal to Ten Sons": Hindu Responses to the Problems of Ecology, Population, and Consumption

Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 1997

... These are dharma (righteousness, ethics, duty, from dhr or that which sustains), artha (wealt... more

Reference Reviews, 2012

Gender in a Devotional Universe

Hinduism in America

Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2009

Hinduism : origins, beliefs, practices, holy texts, sacred places

Oxford University Press eBooks, 2004

Hindu Communities Abroad

Oxford University Press eBooks, Oct 26, 2006

The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual

Journal of the American Oriental Society, Oct 1, 1995

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The Tamil Veda : Piḷḷān's interpretation of the Tiruvāymol̲i

University of Chicago Press eBooks, 1989

... integral part of the poet&amp;amp;amp;#x27;s and com-mentator&amp;amp;amp;#x27;s asso... more

The Life of Hinduism

AAR paper published in 1994 The Ramayana in the Theology of the Srivaishnava Community

1984 AAR - 1994 published The Ramayana in the Theology of the Srivaishnava community, 1984

Download

Dances of War, Pleas for Protection: the Dance of the Defeated Rākṣasas in Tirumaṅkai-āḻvār's Periya Tirumoḻi

by Prathik Murali and Vasudha Narayanan

Journal of Vaishnava Studies , 2023

Download

La no violenicia en la mayor virtud/deber: Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah (Mahabharata)

Brill's encyclopedia of Hinduism

Choice Reviews Online, 2010

Download

3. Arcāvatāra: On Earth as He Is in Heaven

Gods of Flesh, Gods of Stone, 1985

Response: shared and contested spaces

The Routledge Handbook of Hindu–Christian Relations, 2020

Gender in a Devotional Universe

The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, 2003

... Your soothing words burn my soul. Evening tramples like a rogue elephant and the fragrance of... more

Who is the Strong-Armed Monkey who Churns the Ocean of Milk?

Download

The History of the Academic Study of Religion in Universities, Centers, and Institutes in India1

Numen, 2015

Download

2002 Presidential Address: Embodied Cosmologies: Sights of Piety, Sites of Power

Gender in a Devotional Universe

The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism

... Your soothing words burn my soul. Evening tramples like a rogue elephant and the fragrance of... more

One Tree Is Equal to Ten Sons": Hindu Responses to the Problems of Ecology, Population, and Consumption

Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 1997

... These are dharma (righteousness, ethics, duty, from dhr or that which sustains), artha (wealt... more

CHiTra Mela Research and Pedagogy in South Asia and Global Hindu Traditions: A Symposium for Faculty and Graduate Students in Florida Other Participants

by Jonathan Edelmann, Prea Persaud, and Vasudha Narayanan

South Asian Studies Conference, University of Florida, Jan 20-22, 2017

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1989 The Tamil Veda Pillan Interpretation of Tiruvaymoli -with John Carman

1989 The Tamil Veda Pillan's interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli, 1989

This book is a study of a Hindu commentary, the first work paraphrasing and interpreting Nammalva... more This book is a study of a Hindu commentary, the first work paraphrasing and interpreting Nammalvar's devotio al poem in Tamil the Tiruvaymoli. The poem is sometimes called the Tamil Veda, because South Indian worshipers of Lord Visnu (the Srivaisnavas) consider it equal in sanctity to the Sanskrit scriptures revered by all Hindus. This first commentary was written between I |00 and 1150 C. E. by Tirukkurukai Piran Pillfin the cousin and disciple of the community' s greatesltheologiaD, Ramanuja. Pillans commentary provides the earliest unmistakable evidence of a central feature of the Srivaisnava tradition: the flowing together of the Sanskrit and Tamil traditions of devotion to Visnu as the Supreme Lord. Although it is 6 The Two Streams all sorrow" [TVM 1.1.1], he gave Nathamuni the "three secrets," the Tiruvaymoli and the other three thousand verses, the truth of all philosophies, and the secret of the eightfold yoga." ' Visnu, in the privacy of his temple at Srirangam, the heart of Srivaisnava culture, reclines on the coils of the serpent which is his couch, warm and intimate as one's favorite armchair. And so too, in the familiar milieu of "the Tamil land, where musicians and devotees can sing and proclaim about the Lord who is wonderfully auspicious" (1.5. l l), the Srivaisnava uses Tamil, the language that he is most accustomed to, in expressing the joys of serving the Lord like the paradigmatic, eternal servant, Sesa-Ananta. Commenting on the polarity between Garuda and Sesa, Heinrich Zimmer says: "This is paradox with a reason; for Vishnu is the Absolute, the all-containing Divine Essence. He comprises all dichotomies. The Absolute becomes differentiated in polarized manifestations, and through these the vital tensions of the world process are brought into existence and maintained."-" For the Srivaisnava community, it is this Visnu who brings into existence the Sanskrit and Tamil Vedas; these, then, form the basis for its theology and shape its world view. sign. impersonality by vivid detail. Icamicss of line by richness of implication. These poems are not just the earliest evidence of the Tamil genius. 'l'he Tamils. in all their 2.000 years of literary effort, wrote nothing better.5 'l'licre are many legends about the origin of this Tamil culture; almost all of them trace it back to a sage called Agastya. A late myth explains the beginning in 'a curious way. A divine marriage was to take place and the whole world was going to the reception. The weight of all beings was to be concentrated in one area and there was fear that the earth-imagined at the time to be a giant teeter-totter-would become permanently tilted. To maintain the balance. the sage Agastya, a gentleman of short and rather squat stature, was sent to the south of India. Agastya came, bringing with him a wife and the Tamil language that had been communicated to him by the god Siva. According to a lluddhist version of the tale, Agastya was taught Tamil by the bodhisattva Avalokita." Agastya is credited with spreading "culture" to the south; his dis-_tur_ies C.E. The later parts of this collection, along with the Patinenkilkanakku (Eighteen Short Classics), which includes the didactic Tirukkural, were finished before the sixth century C.E. The earliest sections of the Eight Anthologies and Ten Songs deal primarily with two themes: akam (referring to romantic love) and puram (frequently referring to chivalry and war)." The early poems were unique in that they were not religious or moralistic in tone. Zvelebil correctly comments: "What is so important about these poems is that they are the only example of Indian secular literature dating from so ancient a period." '3 And yet, these works had been lost for over a thousand years and were rediscovered in the nineteenth century primarily through the efforts of S. V. Damodaran Pillai and U. V. Swaminatha Aiyar." ln contradistinction to these secular poems of chivalry and romance from the classical age, the later bhakti hymns of the alvars and the nayanmars have, at least since their revelation in the tenth century C.E., maintained a significant place in the piety and ritual calendar of the Vaisnava and Saiva devotees. The devotional hymns have been studied, appreciated, committed to memory, recited, enacfEd, enjoyed, and commented upon orally (or in writing) in every generation since the time of the preceptors. The Cankam poems (also known as the poems of the classical age or the bardic corpus), dealing with romantic or heroic themes, refer to five basic situations. These situations correspond in poetry to five landscape settings (tinai), for each of which there are appropriate birds, flowers, times, and gods. The five basic settings for akam are love-making, waiting anxiously for a beloved, separation, patient waiting of a wife, and angeTat a lover's real or imagined infidelity. These correspond to the mountainous (kurifici), seaside (neytal), arid (palai), pastoral (mullai), and agricultural (marutam) landscapes." In these poems, trees, flowers, birds, landscapes, and gods were fitted into a symbolic mesh, each expressing a mood, attitude, or situation in love and war. A reference to the seashore, for example, meant that there was a separation between lovers; the jasmine plant indicated the patient waiting of the dutiful wife for her husband; the mountains indicated a rapturous union. A poem had an underlying structure of meaning understood by everyone in the tradition. Consider the following example. A patient wife tells her husband: You come from the lands by the gem-colored sea. The jasmine plant, rich in pollen and covered with thorns that are sharp as the squirrel's teeth, grows there. If this state of life should change and we are born again, may you continue to be my husband and 1 your beloved. (Kurumokai 49) Ostensibly these are the statements of a happy and dutiful wife hoping that she and her husband will be together in all their future lives. The references to the You are all, and you are the substance and meaning of all." After the seventh century C.E., the devotional movement gained momentum. 'l'he devotees of Siva and Visnu drew freely upon their Tamil heritage. ()l' the twelve devotee-poets of Visnu, the one most revered by the Srivaisnava t-ommunity since the tenth century CE. is Nammalvar," a Sudra born in a Vellftla family." Nammalvar in Traditional Biography and Ritual l'he traditional biography of Nammalvar as given in the thirteenth-century hagiography, The Splendor, lists the calendrical details of his birth and the names of his seven forefathers, emphasizing that they were all devotees of Visnu." The Lord at Tirukkurunkuti answered the prayers of Nammalvar's parents and said that he would be born as their son. The story is then picked up in the biography of Maturakavi alvar. The newborn child did not eat or cry. After ten days his parents took him to the temple, named him Miran, and raised him under a sacred tamarind tree, which is reported to be an incarnation \a l 8 The Two SIreumx of Ananta, the cosmic serpent on which Visnu reclines. The boy stayed under the tree for sixteen years and his parents were convinced that he did not speak because there was no one else as spiritually qualified as he. Meanwhile, Maturakavi alvar, who was on a northern pilgrimage, saw a light in the sky; after a few days, he was convinced that the light was divine and followed it south. It went beyond Srirangam and disappeared when he reached Tirukkurukur. Here he searched and, under the tamarind tree that never closed its leaves, he saw a sixteen-year-old boy sitting in a lotus posture with his eyes closed. This was Nammalvar. To find out if the boy was conscious, Maturakavi alvar threw a pebble at him. Startled, Nammalvar opened his eyes. Maturakavi alvar posed a question: "If a little thing is born in the stomach of a dead thing, what will it eat and where will it lie?" This question is normally paraphrased by the Srivaisnava community as: "When the soul (atma) becomes associated with a body, how will it subsist?" Nammalvar answered softly, breaking the silence of sixteen years: "It will feed on that and live there." This answer is variously interpreted as "it will assume an earthly body and subsist on food" or "it will be nourished by God and abide in God." 3" Whatever the interpretation, Maturakavi alvar was convinced of Nammalvar's wisdom. Subsequently, the Lord appeared before Nammalvar, revealed his divine nature, his handsome form, auspicious qualities, and other divine attributes. Out of the love born from this experience, Nammalvar burst into song. He first composed the Tiruviruttam, the Tiruvaciriyam, and the Periya Tiruvantati which, according to The Splendor. have the essence of the Rig, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. Finally came the Tiruvaymoli, which is said to contain the essential meaning of the Séma Veda.2| According to some accounts, Nammalvar lived for thirty-five years, and after his "attainment of release," Maturakavi alvar established festivals to honor his teacher.22 Srivaisnava hagiographies say that Nammalvar sang all his songs while immersed in yoga under a divine tamarind tree and that the presiding deities of all the various holy places appeared in front of him. The commentators on the Tiruvaymoli. however, speak about his going to the various places, and either "gaining union" with the Lord there, or moving on to a different place, disappointed." Recent Srivaisnava scholarship has also reiterated this and acknowledged that he must have traveled to all the shrines.24 Srivaisnavas frequently refer to Nammalvar as "Maran, who rendered the Vedas in Tamil."25 In the fourteenth century, Manavala Mamuni, a very important Srivaisnava teacher and theologian, wrote: In that wonderful month of Vaikaci When the star Visakha was ascending, the handsome lord of Kurukur the precious lord, the true one, who rendered the Vedas in Tamil, was born. 'l'hc Alvftrs and Their Sweet Tamil...

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Hüsken, Ute, Vasudha Narayanan, and Astrid Zotter. 2021. Nine Nights of Power: Durgā, Dolls, and Darbārs. Albany: State University of New York Press.

by Astrid Zotter, Vasudha Narayanan, Caleb Simmons, Moumita Sen, Hillary P Rodrigues (he/him), and Neelima Shukla-Bhatt

The autumnal Navarātri festival—also called Durgā Pūjā, Dassehra, or Dasain—is the most important... more The autumnal Navarātri festival—also called Durgā Pūjā, Dassehra, or Dasain—is the most important Hindu festival in South Asia and wherever Hindus settle. A nine-night-long celebration in honor of the goddess Durgā, it ends on the tenth day with a celebration called “the victorious tenth” (vijayadaśamī). The rituals that take place in domestic, royal, and public spaces are closely connected with one’s station in life and dependent on social status, economic class, caste, and gender issues. Exploring different aspects of the festival as celebrated in diverse regions of South Asia and in the South Asian diaspora, this book addresses the following common questions: What does this festival do? What does it achieve, and how? Why and in what way does it sometimes fail? How do mass communication and social media increase participation in and contribute to the changing nature of the festival? The contributors address these questions from multiple perspectives and discuss issues of agency, authority, ritual efficacy, change, appropriation, and adaptation. Because of the festival’s reach beyond its diverse celebrations in South Asia, its influence can be seen in the rituals and dances in many parts of Western Europe and North America.

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