The Origins & Development of Classical Hinduism

The Origins & Development of Classical Hinduism PDF Author: A.L. Basham
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
ISBN: 8120840690
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
Modelled on A.L. Bashamís monumental work The Wonder That Was India, this account of the Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism represents a lifetime of reflection on the subject, and offers an intriguing introduction to one of richest of all Asian traditions. The late A. L. Basham was one of the world s foremost authorities on ancient Indian culture and religion. Modelled on his monumental work The Wonder That Was India, this account of the origins and development of classical Hinduism represents a lifetime of reflection on the subject, and offers an intriguing introduction to one of richest of all Asian traditions. Synthesizing Basham s great knowledge of the art, architecture, literature, and religion of South Asia, this concise history traces the spiritual life of Indian from the time of the Indus Culture through the crystallization of classical Hinduism in the first centuries of the common era, and includes a final chapter by the editor, Kenneth G. Zysk, on Hinduism after the classical period. Uniquely comprehensive, it chronicles as well the rise of other mystical and ascetic traditions, such as Buddhism and Jainism, and follows Hinduism s later incarnations in the West. With its vivid presentation of Hinduism s sources and its clearly written explanations and analyses of the major Hindu texts-among them the Rg-veda, the Brahmanas, Upanisads, and the Mahabharata and Ramayana-The Origins of Classical Hinduism clarifies much of Hinduism s enduring mystique. Offering an especially helpful bibliography, numerous illustrations of jHindu art never before published, and a lucid, accessible style, this book is must reading for anyone who has ever been intrigued by this fascinating religion.

The Origins & Development of Classical Hinduism

The Origins & Development of Classical Hinduism PDF Author: A.L. Basham
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
ISBN: 8120840690
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 159

Get Book

Book Description
Modelled on A.L. Bashamís monumental work The Wonder That Was India, this account of the Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism represents a lifetime of reflection on the subject, and offers an intriguing introduction to one of richest of all Asian traditions. The late A. L. Basham was one of the world s foremost authorities on ancient Indian culture and religion. Modelled on his monumental work The Wonder That Was India, this account of the origins and development of classical Hinduism represents a lifetime of reflection on the subject, and offers an intriguing introduction to one of richest of all Asian traditions. Synthesizing Basham s great knowledge of the art, architecture, literature, and religion of South Asia, this concise history traces the spiritual life of Indian from the time of the Indus Culture through the crystallization of classical Hinduism in the first centuries of the common era, and includes a final chapter by the editor, Kenneth G. Zysk, on Hinduism after the classical period. Uniquely comprehensive, it chronicles as well the rise of other mystical and ascetic traditions, such as Buddhism and Jainism, and follows Hinduism s later incarnations in the West. With its vivid presentation of Hinduism s sources and its clearly written explanations and analyses of the major Hindu texts-among them the Rg-veda, the Brahmanas, Upanisads, and the Mahabharata and Ramayana-The Origins of Classical Hinduism clarifies much of Hinduism s enduring mystique. Offering an especially helpful bibliography, numerous illustrations of jHindu art never before published, and a lucid, accessible style, this book is must reading for anyone who has ever been intrigued by this fascinating religion.

The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism

The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism PDF Author: Kenneth G. Zysk
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description


Classical Hinduism

Classical Hinduism PDF Author: Mariasusai Dhavamony
Publisher: Gregorian Biblical BookShop
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 550

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Book Description
Hinduism has a span of three thousand years of history in which various forms of religious experience took shape and grew into a wide and rich variety of myths and cults, beliefs and practise, doctrines and disciplines, which have nurtured millions of Hindus throughout the ages. The exact ides of Hinduism is hard to define since the beliefs and practices of the Hindus differ greatly from one period of history to another, and within a given period, from one region to another, and within a given region, from one class of society to another. In its traditional form the chief distinguishing features of its development are Vedism, Brahmanism, classical Hinduism, Sectarian Hinduism, Medieval Hinduism, Modern Hinduism and Contemporary Hinduism. These developments should not be considered as water-tight compartments, for they merge into one another. Hinduism has shown in its long history a marked propensity to assimilate rather than exclude various religious currents which once used to be considered alien to its own orthodoxy; this feature divides sharply Hinduism from other religions, for example, from Islam and to a certain extent at least in its beginning, Judaism; These religions in their strict form reject as false all other religious beliefs and practices.

The Wonder That Was India

The Wonder That Was India PDF Author: A. L. Basham
Publisher: Scholarly Pub Office Univ of
ISBN: 9781597400084
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 692

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Book Description


History and the Making of a Modern Hindu Self

History and the Making of a Modern Hindu Self PDF Author: Aparna Devare
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136197079
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Taking the contentious debates surrounding historical evidence and history writing between secularists and Hindu nationalists as a starting point, this book seeks to understand the origins of a growing historical consciousness in contemporary India, especially amongst Hindus. The broad question it poses is: Why has ‘history’ become such an important site of identity, conflict and self-definition amongst modern Hindus, especially when Hinduism is known to have been notoriously impervious to history? As modern ideas regarding notions of history came to India with colonialism, it turns to the colonial period as the ‘moment of encounter’ with such ideas. The book examines three distinct moments in the Hindu self through the lives and writings of lower-caste public figure Jotiba Phule, ‘moderate’ nationalist M. G. Ranade and Hindu nationalist V. D. Savarkar. Through a close reading of original writings, speeches and biographical material, it is demonstrated that these three individuals were engaged with a modern historical and rationalist approach. However, the same material is also used to argue that Phule and Ranade viewed religion as living, contemporaneous and capable of informing both their personal and political lives. Savarkar, the ‘explicitly Hindu’ leader, on the contrary, held Hindu practices and traditions in contempt, confining them to historical analysis while denying any role for religion as spirituality or morality in contemporary political life. While providing some historical context, this volume highlights the philosophical/ political ideas and actions of the three individuals discussed. It integrates aspects of their lives as central to understanding their politics.

Classical Hindu Mythology

Classical Hindu Mythology PDF Author: Cornelia Dimmitt
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
ISBN: 8120839722
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
The Mahapuranas embody the received tradition of Hindu mythology. This anthology contains fresh translations of these myths, only a few of which have ever been available in English before, thus providing a rich new portion of Hindu mythology. The book is organized into six chapters. "Origins" contains myths relating to creation, time, and space. "Seers, Kings and Supernaturals" relates tales of rivers, trees, animals, demons, and men, particularly heroes and sages. Myths about the chief gods are dealt with in three separate chapters: Krsna, Visnu, and Siva. The chapter The Goddess presents stories of the wives and lovers of the gods, as well as of Kali, the savage battle goddess. In their introductions, the editors provide a historical setting in which to discuss Hindu mythology as well as a full analysis of its basic sources. The many names are given the original. The editors have provided a thorough glossary to make these names accessible.

The Roots of Hinduism

The Roots of Hinduism PDF Author: Asko Parpola
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190226935
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
Hinduism has two major roots. The more familiar is the religion brought to South Asia in the second millennium BCE by speakers of Aryan or Indo-Iranian languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. Another, more enigmatic, root is the Indus civilization of the third millennium BCE, which left behind exquisitely carved seals and thousands of short inscriptions in a long-forgotten pictographic script. Discovered in the valley of the Indus River in the early 1920s, the Indus civilization had a population estimated at one million people, in more than 1000 settlements, several of which were cities of some 50,000 inhabitants. With an area of nearly a million square kilometers, the Indus civilization was more extensive than the contemporaneous urban cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Yet, after almost a century of excavation and research the Indus civilization remains little understood. How might we decipher the Indus inscriptions? What language did the Indus people speak? What deities did they worship? Asko Parpola has spent fifty years researching the roots of Hinduism to answer these fundamental questions, which have been debated with increasing animosity since the rise of Hindu nationalist politics in the 1980s. In this pioneering book, he traces the archaeological route of the Indo-Iranian languages from the Aryan homeland north of the Black Sea to Central, West, and South Asia. His new ideas on the formation of the Vedic literature and rites and the great Hindu epics hinge on the profound impact that the invention of the horse-drawn chariot had on Indo-Aryan religion. Parpola's comprehensive assessment of the Indus language and religion is based on all available textual, linguistic and archaeological evidence, including West Asian sources and the Indus script. The results affirm cultural and religious continuity to the present day and, among many other things, shed new light on the prehistory of the key Hindu goddess Durga and her Tantric cult.

The Study of Hinduism

The Study of Hinduism PDF Author: Arvind Sharma
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN: 9781570034497
Category : Hinduism
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
In this text, leading scholars from around the world take stock of two centuries of international intellectual investment in Hinduism. Since the early 19th century, when the scholarly investigation of Hinduism began to take shape as a modern academic discipline, Hindu studies has evolved from its concentration on description and analysis to an emphasis on understanding Hindu traditions in the context of the religion's own values, concepts and history. Offering an assessment of the current state of Hindu studies, the contributors to this volume identify past achievements and chart the course for what remains to be accomplished in the field.

A Prehistory of Hinduism

A Prehistory of Hinduism PDF Author: Manu V. Devadevan
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 311051737X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
This book is a pioneering attempt to understand the prehistory of Hinduism in South Asia. Exploring religious processes in the Deccan region between the eleventh and the nineteenth century with class relations as its point of focus, it throws new light on the making of religious communities, monastic institutions, legends, lineages, and the ethics that governed them. In the light of this prehistory, a compelling framework is suggested for a revision of existing perspectives on the making of Hinduism in the nineteenth and the twentieth century.

The Hindus

The Hindus PDF Author: Wendy Doniger
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9781594202056
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 808

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Book Description
An engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the world's oldest major religions, The Hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds. The Hindus brings a fascinating multiplicity of actors and stories to the stage to show how brilliant and creative thinkers have kept Hinduism alive in ways that other scholars have not fully explored. In this unique and authoritative account, debates about Hindu traditions become platforms to consider history as a whole.