Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization

Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization PDF Author: Heinrich Robert Zimmer
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
ISBN: 9788120807518
Category : Hindu art
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
This book interprets for the Western mind the key motifs of India`a legends myth, and folklore, taken directly from the sanskrit, and illustrated with seventy plates of Indian art. It is primarily an introduction to image thinking and picture reading in Indian art and thought and it seeks to make the profound Hindu and Buddhist intuitions of the riddles of life and death recongnizable not merely as Oriental but as universal elements.

Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization

Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization PDF Author: Heinrich Robert Zimmer
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
ISBN: 9788120807518
Category : Hindu art
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
This book interprets for the Western mind the key motifs of India`a legends myth, and folklore, taken directly from the sanskrit, and illustrated with seventy plates of Indian art. It is primarily an introduction to image thinking and picture reading in Indian art and thought and it seeks to make the profound Hindu and Buddhist intuitions of the riddles of life and death recongnizable not merely as Oriental but as universal elements.

Myth = Mithya

Myth = Mithya PDF Author: Devdutt Pattanaik
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 8184750218
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
A decoding of Hindu mythology Hindus have one God. They also have 330 million gods: male gods; female gods; personal gods; family gods; household gods; village gods; gods of space and time; gods for specific castes and particular professions; gods who reside in trees; in animals; in minerals; in geometrical patterns and in man-made objects. Then there are a whole host of demons. But no Devil. In this groundbreaking book Dr Devdutt Pattanaik; one of India’s most popular mythologists; seeks an answer to these apparent paradoxes and unravels an inherited truth about life and death; nature and culture; perfection and possibility. He retells sacred Hindu stories and decodes Hindu symbols and rituals; using a unique style of commentary; illustrations and diagrams. We discover why the villainous Kauravas went to heaven and the virtuous Pandavas (all except Yudhishtira) were sent to hell; why Rama despite abandoning the innocent Sita remains the model king; why the blood-drinking Kali is another form of the milk-giving Gauri; and why Shiva wrenched off the fifth head of Brahma. Constructed over generations; Hindu myths serve as windows to the soul; and provide an understanding of the world around us. The aim is not to outgrow myth; but to be enriched and empowered by its ancient; potent and still relevant language.

Handbook of Hindu Mythology

Handbook of Hindu Mythology PDF Author: George M. Williams
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019533261X
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
Unlike many other ancient mythologies, Hinduism thrives in the modern world. One billion followers and countless others have been captivated by its symbolic representations of love, karma, and reincarnation. Handbook of Hindu Mythology offers an informative introduction to this dauntingly complex mythology of multifaceted deities, lengthy heroic tales, and arcane philosophies-all with a 3,000-year history of reinterpretations and adaptations. Williams offers a number of pathways by which to approach Hinduism's ever-changing gods and goddesses (e.g., Brahma, Vishnu, Siva), spiritual verses (such as the vedas), secular epics (including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata), myths within myths, devotional and esoteric traditions, psychic and yogic disciplines, and magical practices. With this handbook, readers can explore the history of Hindu mythology, follow a detailed timeline of key episodes and historical events, and look up specific elements of historical or contemporary Hinduism in a beautifully illustrated reference work. It is the ideal introduction to the origins of Hinduism, the culture that shaped it from antiquity to the present, and the age-old stories, ideas, and traditions that speak to the human condition as eloquently today as ever. Including annotated bibliographies, a glossary of cultural and mythological terms, and numerous illustrations, here is a gold mine of information on Hindu mythology. "

Philosophies of India

Philosophies of India PDF Author: Heinrich Zimmer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135029172
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 570

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Book Description
Originally published in 1973. The volume is divided into four sections: The introduction places the position of the Buddhist Tantras within Mahayana Buddhism and recalls their early literary history, especially the Guhyasamahatantra; the section also covers Buddhist Genesis and the Tantric tradition. The foundations of the Buddhist Tantras are discussed and the Tantric presentation of divinity; the preparation of disciples and the meaning of initiation; symbolism of the mandala-palace Tantric ritual and the twilight language. This section explores the Tantric teachings of the inner Zodiac and the fivefold ritual symbolism of passion. The bibliographical research contains an analysis of the Tantric section of the Kanjur exegesis and a selected Western Bibliography of the Buddhist Tantras with comments.

The King and the Corpse

The King and the Corpse PDF Author: Heinrich Zimmer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788120816251
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
Drawing from Eastern and Western literatures, Heinrich Zimmer presents a selection of stories linked together by their common concern for the problem of our eternal conflict with the forces of evil. Beginning with a tale from the Arabian Nights, this theme unfolds in legends from Irish paganism, medieval Christianity, the Arthurian cycle, and early Hinduism. In the retelling of these tales, Zimmer discloses the meanings within their seemingly unrelated symbols and suggests the philosophical wholeness of this assortment of myth. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Indian Mythology

Indian Mythology PDF Author: Devdutt Pattanaik
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1594775583
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
An exploration of 99 classic myths of India from an entirely non-Western paradigm that provides a fresh understanding of the Hindu spiritual landscape • Compares and contrasts Indian mythology with the stories of the Bible, ancient Egypt, Greece, Scandinavia, and Mesopotamia • Looks at the evolution of Indian narratives and their interpretations over the millennia • Demonstrates how the mythology, rituals, and art of ancient India are still vibrant today and inform the contemporary generation From the blood-letting Kali to the mysterious Ganesha, the Hindu spiritual landscape is populated by characters that find no parallel in the Western spiritual world. Indian Mythology explores the rich tapestry of these characters within 99 classic myths, showing that the mythological world of India can be best understood when we move away from a Western, monotheistic mindset and into the polytheistic world of Hindu traditions. Featuring 48 artistic renderings of important mythological figures from across India, the author unlocks the mysteries of the narratives, rituals, and artwork of ancient India to reveal the tension between world-affirming and world-rejecting ideas, between conformism and contradiction, between Shiva and Vishnu, Krishna and Rama, Gauri and Kali. This groundbreaking book opens the door to the unknown and exotic, providing a glimpse into the rich mythic tradition that has empowered millions of human beings for centuries.

Leaves of a Pipal Tree

Leaves of a Pipal Tree PDF Author: Harsha V. Dehejia
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
India is a civilisation of many images, a culture of many visual feasts, a tradition where the visible and the palpable are as important as the oral and the occurrent, where our highest truths are embodied in our kathas and gathas, our songs and stories, where our temples are not only places of worship but equally a gallery of beautiful forms and figures, where myth is as important as doctrine, where ancient memories are full of cherished narratives, where mythic beings are real in many different ways and we enrich our lives by festivals which celebrate events from the lives of our mythic gods and goddesses, and where knowledge is gained as much from itinerant performers as it is from learned discourses and where, when the wind blows through the Pipal tree it is as if we hear the hymns of the Vedas.Harsha V. Dehejia presents in this book selected myths and symbols from the Hindu tradition and offers a refreshingly different aesthetic and non-theistic analysis and shows how these mythic narratives and visual symbols are an alternative form of knowledge.The essays are richly illustrated with paintings andobjects from his personal collection.

Myths & Symbols of Vedic Astrology

Myths & Symbols of Vedic Astrology PDF Author: Bepin Behari
Publisher: Lotus Press (WI)
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
Many of the secrets of life and consciousness can be discovered through Vedic Astrology. Mythology students will find it helpful in unlocking the astrological keys to the great archetypes of the psyche.

Hindu Myths

Hindu Myths PDF Author: Wendy Doniger
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141903759
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 602

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Book Description
Recorded in sacred Sanskrit texts, including the Rig Veda and the Mahabharata, Hindu Myths are thought to date back as far as the tenth century BCE. Here in these seventy-five seminal myths are the many incarnations of Vishnu, who saves mankind from destruction, and the mischievous child Krishna, alongside stories of the minor gods, demons, rivers and animals including boars, buffalo, serpents and monkeys. Immensely varied and bursting with colour and life, they demonstrate the Hindu belief in the limitless possibilities of the world - from the teeming miracles of creation to the origins of the incarnation of Death who eventually touches them all.

Images and Symbols

Images and Symbols PDF Author: Mircea Eliade
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691238340
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Mircea Eliade--one of the most renowned expositors of the psychology of religion, mythology, and magic--shows that myth and symbol constitute a mode of thought that not only came before that of discursive and logical reasoning, but is still an essential function of human consciousness. He describes and analyzes some of the most powerful and ubiquitous symbols that have ruled the mythological thinking of East and West in many times and at many levels of cultural development.