Author: Deborah A. Soifer
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791407998
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 340
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Book Description
The Sanskrit Puranas and epics are replete with stories of the avatars, incarnations of the god Visnu in various forms to rid the universe of malevolent forces and to restore the proper cosmic balance. As Narasimha, half-man half-lion, Visnu finds a loophole in the pact of invulnerability the demon Hiranaipu has received from god Brahma, and rends the demon apart with his claws. As the brahmin dwarf, Vamana, Visnu deceives the demon Bali with his diminutive appearance and thwarts Bali's attempt to gain universal sovereignty. After carefully analyzing the myths of Vamana and Narasimha, Deborah Soifer grounds her study in the textual history of each avatar and its myth, in their religious contexts, and in the intricate cosmology of the classical period of Hinduism. Contrasting the bestial persona of Narasimha with Vamana's priestly appearance and his associations with early cosmologic themes, she finds complementarity and significance in this pair as they are viewed in the larger context of periodic cosmic destructions and recreations. While focusing primarily on these two mythological figures, Soifer's work explores the relationship between dharma and the 'devious' acts of gods; the interplay between cosmic and 'sociocosmic' levels of reality; and the relationship between cosmology, theology, and soteriology in a religious worldview.
Author: Deborah A. Soifer
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791408001
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 340
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Book Description
The Sanskrit Puranas and epics are replete with stories of the avatars, incarnations of the god Visnu in various forms to rid the universe of malevolent forces and to restore the proper cosmic balance. As Narasimha, half-man half-lion, Visnu finds a loophole in the pact of invulnerability the demon Hiranaipu has received from god Brahma, and rends the demon apart with his claws. As the brahmin dwarf, Vamana, Visnu deceives the demon Bali with his diminutive appearance and thwarts Bali's attempt to gain universal sovereignty. After carefully analyzing the myths of Vamana and Narasimha, Deborah Soifer grounds her study in the textual history of each avatar and its myth, in their religious contexts, and in the intricate cosmology of the classical period of Hinduism. Contrasting the bestial persona of Narasimha with Vamana's priestly appearance and his associations with early cosmologic themes, she finds complementarity and significance in this pair as they are viewed in the larger context of periodic cosmic destructions and recreations. While focusing primarily on these two mythological figures, Soifer's work explores the relationship between dharma and the 'devious' acts of gods; the interplay between cosmic and 'sociocosmic' levels of reality; and the relationship between cosmology, theology, and soteriology in a religious worldview.
Author: Ajith Kumar
Publisher: Argead Star llc
ISBN: 0999071408
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 267
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Book Description
Sixteen stunning discoveries about Alexander the Great unravels the mystery surrounding his suspicious death. Who killed Alexander the Great? After more than two thousand years of speculation, the assassin of Alexander is finally identified in a comprehensive investigation in The Murder of Alexander the Great (in two books: The Puranas and The Secret War). In Book 1: The Puranas Alexander’s journey is chronicled not only through the siloed lens of Greek records but also through a comparison of ancient Indian and Greek texts and artifacts. For the first time ever, the story of the eminent king of Macedonia is retold from a different perspective — one that not only establishes Alexander prominently in ancient Sanskrit texts but also holds the key to resolving the age old mystery of his premature death. Inspired by fresh awareness to an ancient conundrum that has perplexed historians for millennia, The Murder of Alexander the Great is a powerful narrative of blood thirsty wars, mystic locales, and epic encounters — one that leads to SIXTEEN remarkable findings about Alexander the Great thus rewriting the history of this great emperor forever.
Author: Andrew Linzey
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429953119
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 505
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Book Description
The ethical treatment of non-human animals is an increasingly significant issue, directly affecting how people share the planet with other creatures and visualize themselves within the natural world. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Animal Ethics is a key reference source in this area, looking specifically at the role religion plays in the formation of ethics around these concerns. Featuring thirty-five chapters by a team of international contributors, the handbook is divided into two parts. The first gives an overview of fifteen of the major world religions’ attitudes towards animal ethics and protection. The second features five sections addressing the following topics: Human Interaction with Animals Killing and Exploitation Religious and Secular Law Evil and Theodicy Souls and Afterlife This handbook demonstrates that religious traditions, despite often being anthropocentric, do have much to offer to those seeking a framework for a more enlightened relationship between humans and non-human animals. As such, The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Animal Ethics is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies, theology, and animal ethics as well as those studying the philosophy of religion and ethics more generally.
Author: Denise Cush
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113518979X
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 1129
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Book Description
Covering all aspects of Hinduism, this encyclopedia includes more ethnographic and contemporary material in contrast to the exclusively textual and historical approach of earlier works.
Author:
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 938961189X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304
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Book Description
Art and History: Texts, Contexts and Visual Representations in Ancient and Early Medieval India seeks to locate the historical contexts of premodern Indian art traditions. The volume examines significant questions, such as: What were the purposes served by art? How were religious and political ideas and philosophies conveyed through visual representations? How central were prescription, technique and style to the production of art? Who were the makers and patrons of art? How and why do certain art forms, meanings and symbols retain a relevance across context? With contributions from historians and art historians seeking to unravel the interface between art and history, the volume dwells on the significance of visual representations in specific regional historical contexts, the range of symbolic signification attached to these and the mythologies and textual prescriptions that contribute to the codification and use of representational forms. Supplemented with over 60 images, this volume is a must-read for scholars and researchers of history and art.
Author: Diana L Eck
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 0385531923
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 578
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Book Description
A spiritual history of the world's most religiously complex and diverse society, from one of Harvard's most respected scholars. India: A Sacred Geography is the culmination of more than a decade's work from the renowned Harvard scholar Diana L. Eck. The book explores the sacred places of India, taking the reader on an extraordinary trip through the beliefs and history of this rich and profound place, as well as providing a basic introduction to Hindu religious ideas and how those ideas influence our understanding of the modern sense of "India" as a nation.
Author: Afsar Mohammad
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199997594
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 215
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Book Description
This study is about a popular manifestation of Islamic devotion that embraces a pluralist setting, keeping itself in a dynamic dialogue with non-Muslim practices. With evidence from various public devotional narratives and ritual practices, the author argues that even universal understanding of living Islam remains incomplete if we do not consider this locally produced pluralised devotional setting that surrounds it. He seeks to address various aspects of local and localised Islam through an examination of Gugudu's local and popular transformation of normative Islam, giving particular focus to the various devotional rituals that blend Muslim and Hindu practices in the public event of Muharram.
Author: Alf Hiltebeitel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199875243
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 766
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Book Description
Between 300 BCE and 200 CE, concepts and practices of dharma attained literary prominence throughout India. Both Buddhist and Brahmanical authors sought to clarify and classify their central concerns, and dharma proved a means of thinking through and articulating those concerns. Alf Hiltebeitel shows the different ways in which dharma was interpreted during that formative period: from the grand cosmic chronometries of kalpas and yugas to narratives about divine plans, gendered nuances of genealogical time, royal biography (even autobiography, in the case of the emperor Asoka), and guidelines for daily life, including meditation. He reveals the vital role dharma has played across political, religious, legal, literary, ethical, and philosophical domains and discourses about what holds life together. Through dharma, these traditions have articulated their distinct visions of the good and well-rewarded life. This insightful study explores the diverse and changing significance of dharma in classical India in nine major dharma texts, as well some shorter ones. Dharma proves to be a term by which to make a fresh cut through these texts, and to reconsider their own chronology, their import, and their relation to each other.
Author: Peter Bisschop
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004383514
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 383
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Book Description
Skandapurāṇa IV presents a critical edition of Adhyāyas 70-95 from the Skandapurāṇa , with an introduction and annotated English synopsis. The text edited in this volume includes the myths of Viṣṇu’s manifestation as the Man-Lion (Narasiṃha), the birth of Skanda, the birth of Andhaka, and Hiraṇyākṣa’s battle with the gods culminating in his victory and capture of the Earth. Thanks to generous support of the J. Gonda Fund Foundation, the e-book version of this volume is available in Open Access.
