Rāmāyaṇa Traditions in Eastern India

Rāmāyaṇa Traditions in Eastern India PDF Author: William L. Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Description: Through the structure of the popular Ramayanas composed in Assamese, Bengali and Oriya based on the version of Valmiki, the poets are eclectic in their choice of material and freely select episodes from the Puranas, Sanskrit devotional Ramayanas, Sakta works and the oral tradition, as long as these are not in direct conflict with Valmiki. Unlike vernacular Ramayanas in some other regions of India, here poets do not allow the narrative to be overwhelmed by theological or sectarian concerns. Many apocryphal episodes common to all three literatures do not seem to be found outside Eastern India.

Rāmāyaṇa Traditions in Eastern India

Rāmāyaṇa Traditions in Eastern India PDF Author: William L. Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Description: Through the structure of the popular Ramayanas composed in Assamese, Bengali and Oriya based on the version of Valmiki, the poets are eclectic in their choice of material and freely select episodes from the Puranas, Sanskrit devotional Ramayanas, Sakta works and the oral tradition, as long as these are not in direct conflict with Valmiki. Unlike vernacular Ramayanas in some other regions of India, here poets do not allow the narrative to be overwhelmed by theological or sectarian concerns. Many apocryphal episodes common to all three literatures do not seem to be found outside Eastern India.

Rāmāyaṇa Traditions in Eastern India

Rāmāyaṇa Traditions in Eastern India PDF Author: William L. Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Assamese poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description


Śambūka and the Rāmāyaṇa Tradition

Śambūka and the Rāmāyaṇa Tradition PDF Author: Aaron Sherraden
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 1839984716
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 187

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Book Description
According to Vālmīki’s Sanskrit Rāmāyaṇa (early centuries CE), Śambūka was practicing severe acts of austerity to enter heaven. In engaging in these acts as a Śūdra, Śambūka was in violation of class- and caste-based societal norms prescribed exclusively by the ruling and religious elite. Rāma, the hero of the Rāmāyaṇa epic, is dispatched to kill Śambūka, whose transgression is said to be the cause of a young Brahmin’s death. The gods rejoice upon the Śūdra’s death and restore the life of the Brahmin. Subsequent Rāmāyaṇa poets almost instantly recognized this incident as a blemish on Rāma’s character and they began problematizing this earliest version of the story. They adjusted and updated the story to suit the expectations of their audiences. The works surveyed in this study include numerous works originating in Hindu, Jain, Dalit and non-Brahmin communities while spanning the period from Śambūka’s first appearance in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa through to the present day. The book follows the Śambūka episode chronologically across its entire history—approximately two millennia—to illuminate the social, religious, legal, and artistic connections that span the entire range of the Rāmāyaṇa’s influence and its place throughout various phases of Indian history and social revolution.

The Rāmāyana in Bengali Folk Paintings

The Rāmāyana in Bengali Folk Paintings PDF Author: Mandakranta Bose
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789385285554
Category : Folk art
Languages : en
Pages : 139

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Book Description
The images presented in this book take us into the heart of the rich folk tradition of India. Of that heritage, the display of paintings accompanied by comments recited or sung has been a part of since very early times, as attested by references and legends in Sanskrit sources, including the Harsacarita, a 7th century work by Banabhatta. Known as patacitras or patas in short, these illustrated narratives on rectangular fabric or paper as well as on scrolls are a type of performed art that reaches out to audiences, mostly rural, conveying the artists' responses to legends and social themes of common knowledge across a wide range of audiences from varied social and cultural bases. A particularly powerful class of such paintings that come from the Bengali-speaking region of eastern India comprise the depiction of events from the Ramayana in the form of scrolls that are unrolled as the painter displays and explicates them. The vividly colourful images presented in this book occupy a special niche in the history of Indian art, remarkable because they are not only visual objects but narrative expositions of a text that has been part of vast numbers of the Indian people and often their source of moral guidance. Especially remarkable is that these patas by Bengali folk painters diverge so often from the magisterial Ramayanas of adikavi "First Poet" Valmiki, leave out important parts of it and import into the Rama saga episodes from local narrative caches.

The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume VI

The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume VI PDF Author:
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400833264
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1680

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Book Description
The sixth book of the Ramayana of Valmiki, the Yuddhakanda, recounts the final dramatic war between the forces of good led by the exiled prince Rama, and the forces of evil commanded by the arch demon Ravana. The hero Rama's primary purpose in the battle is to rescue the abducted princess Sita and destroy the demon king. However, the confrontation also marks the turning point for the divine mission of the Ramavatara, the incarnation of Lord Visnu as a human prince, who will restore righteousness to a world on the brink of chaos. The book ends with the gods' revelation to Rama of his true divine nature, his emotional reunion with his beloved wife, his long-delayed consecration as king of Kosala, and his restoration of a utopian age. The Yuddhakanda contains some of the most extraordinary events and larger-than-life characters to be found anywhere in world literature. This sixth volume in the critical edition and translation of the Valmiki Ramayana includes an extensive introduction, exhaustive notes, and a comprehensive bibliography.

Performing the Ramayana Tradition

Performing the Ramayana Tradition PDF Author: Paula Richman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197552536
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
The Ramayana, one of the two pre-eminent Hindu epics, has played a foundational role in many aspects of India's arts and social norms. For centuries, people learned this narrative by watching, listening, and participating in enactments of it. Although the Ramayana's first extant telling in Sanskrit dates back to ancient times, the story has continued to be retold and rethought through the centuries in many of India's regional languages, such as Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali. The narrative has provided the basis for enactments of its episodes in recitation, musical renditions, dance, and avant-garde performances. This volume introduces non-specialists to the Ramayana's major themes and complexities, as well as to the highly nuanced terms in Indian languages used to represent theater and performance. Two introductions orient readers to the history of Ramayana texts by Tulsidas, Valmiki, Kamban, Sankaradeva, and others, as well as to the dramaturgy and aesthetics of their enactments. The contributed essays provide context-specific analyses of diverse Ramayana performance traditions and the narratives from which they draw. The essays are clustered around the shared themes of the politics of caste and gender; the representation of the anti-hero; contemporary re-interpretations of traditional narratives; and the presence of Ramayana discourse in daily life.

Anatomy of a Confrontation

Anatomy of a Confrontation PDF Author: Sarvepalli Gopal
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9781856490504
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
With the rise of the Hindu fundamentalist BJP as a significant electoral force nationwide, Indian politics are in the process of a major shift in character. Not only is the shaky hold of Congress on power threatened by this dynamic party with its overt appeal to religious chauvinism, but the secular nature of the Indian state and delicate balance of relations between diverse religious communities are at stake. The eminent scholars who have collaborated in this book examine both the flash point issue of the mosque at Ayodha (demolished by militant Hindus), as well as the deeper causes - historic and contemporary - underlying rising communal tension in India today/ This book constitutes a profound but accessible re-examination of many basic features of Indian society and politics.

The Rāmāyaṇa Culture

The Rāmāyaṇa Culture PDF Author: Mandakranta Bose
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
The Essays In This Volume Approach The Ramayana From Different Perspectives Textual Criticism, Art And Architecture, And Film To Understand Its Ideological And Aesthetic Meanings. They Address Critical Issues Like The Seminal Status Of Valmiki, Gender Representation In Ramayana And The Importance Of The So-Called Ramayana Derivatives.

The Jedi in the Lotus

The Jedi in the Lotus PDF Author: Steven Rosen
Publisher: Arktos
ISBN: 1907166114
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
The Jedi in the Lotus is the first-ever examination of the Star Wars universe from a Hindu perspective, illuminating many hitherto undiscovered aspects of the background and meaning of the widely acclaimed film series. We are shown how its creators were influenced by the famed mythologist, Joseph Campbell, whose reading of the ancient Indian Epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, can be seen throughout the Star Wars films. This book also demonstrates how the metaphysical understanding of the Jedi Knights and the divinity conceived of as 'the Force' have resonances with teachings passed down by Hindu gurus and mystics for centuries, and how fantastic worlds and technology similar to that of the Star Wars universe were described in myths that are millennia old - and may even have had some basis in reality. Finally, The Jedi in the Lotus shows us how the Hindu traditions at the basis of Star Wars offer an alternative vision to the purely materialistic, soulless world of modernity. Steven J. Rosen (Satyaraja Dasa) is an initiated disciple of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He is also founding editor of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies and associate editor of Back to Godhead. He has published twenty-one books in numerous languages, including the recent Essential Hinduism (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008); The Yoga of Kirtan: Conversations on the Sacred Art of Chanting (FOLK Books, 2008); and Krishna's Other Song: A New Look at the Uddhava Gita (Praeger-Greenwood, 2010). 'In conclusion, I can only say that The Jedi in the Lotus is a breakthrough book when it comes to understanding the mythic depth of the Star Wars epics. Steven J. Rosen uses his masterful grasp of the Eastern traditions to explain the secrets of the most successful film series ever. This book also shows us why Joseph Campbell loved the wisdom tales from India, and, for those who found the Star Wars adventures memorable, this is a truly illuminating book.' - Dr. Jonathan Young, from the Foreword

Ramopakhyana - The Story of Rama in the Mahabharata

Ramopakhyana - The Story of Rama in the Mahabharata PDF Author: Peter Scharf
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113684662X
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 966

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Book Description
The most popular story in all of India and a classic of world literature is summarised in 728 verses in the great epic Mahabharata. Intended for independent study or classroom use for students of various levels who have had a basic introduction to Sanskrit, this fully annotated edition of the Ramopakhyana supplies all the information required for complete comprehension. It contains the Devanagari text, Roman transliteration, sandhi analysis, Sanskrit prose equivalents to the verses, syntactic and cultural notes, and the English translation, and word-by-word grammatical analysis.