Devotional Literature in South Asia
Current Research, 1985–1988

This volume addresses research topics within the field of Bhakti literature.

R. S. McGregor (Edited by)

9780521413114, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 September 1992

340 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.3 cm, 0.632 kg

This volume addresses research topics within the field of Bhakti literature, the devotional poetry and other compositions of devotional character in the earlier literature of the modern South Asian languages. Its papers range from the roots of the Bhakti tradition in the early history of Krsna to its modern adaptations in nineteenth- and twentieth-century culture. Geographically, they span Bengal to Sind, Panjab to Maharashtra. Contemporary study of the modern Indian languages has broadened the scope of scholarship to consider today's Hindu attitudes, and those of a mixed society, against the background of ancient culture. Here, materials in six modern Asian languages are discussed: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi in its main literary forms, Marathi, Panjabi and Sindhi; with assessment also of material in Sanskrit, Arabic and Chinese. In addition to studies of literary (and orally transmitted) works in the Krsna or Rama traditions, and of Sufi compositions and their interpretation, there are papers on the early history of sacred sites, the emergence of the religion of Rama, later religious formulations throughout the subcontinent, and the interaction of the Islamic and the Hindu.

List of conference members
Preface
List of abbreviations
Part I. Sacred Places and Sites: 1. Govardhan, the Eater hill Charlotte Vaudeville
2. The Manbhaus' seat on Ramtek Hill Hans Bakker
Part II. Formulation and Transmission of Religious Attitudes: 3. Singers' repertoires in western India Winand M. Callewaert
4. An oral theology: Dādūpanthī homilies Monika Thiel-Horstmann
5. Some aspects of the development of bhakti traditions, with especial reference to the Hindi poems attributed to Rāmānand Enzo Turbiani
6. The Hindu model of social organisation and the bhakti movement: the example of Vallabha's sampradāya Maya Burger
Part III. Interaction Between Islamic and Indian Religious Attitudes: 7. Sūfī influence in the Ekanāthī-bhāgavat: some observations on the text and its historical context H. van Skyhawk
8. How a Muslim looks at Hindu bhakti Peter Gaeffke
9. Muslim devotional literature in Gujarati: Islam and bhakti Françoise Mallison
10. The Ismaili gināns as devotional literature Ali S. Asani
Part IV. Literary and Religious Traditions in Maharashtra: 11. A grammar of bhakti: Pañcavārtika V. D. Kulkarni
12. Authorship and redactorship of the Jñāndev Gāthā Catharina Kiehnle
13. Mātāpitrbhakti: some aspects of the development of the Pundalīka legend in Marathi literature Erik Reenberg Sand
14. Tukārām: the making of a saint S. G. Tulpule
15. Sadguru and the Holy Spirit Christopher Shelke SJ
16. Special features of the Vārkarī cult as regards sādhanā G. Morje
Part V. Some Particular Expressions of the Sūfī Presence in North India: 17. The text of Alakh Bānī S. C. R. Weightman
18. Kutuban's Miragāvatī: its content and interpretation S. M. Pandey
19. Krsnaite and Nāth elements in the poetry of the eighteenth-century Panjabi Sūfī Bullhe Śāh Denis Matringe
Part VI. Some Topics in the Krsna Poetry of North India: 20. Three-three-two versus four-by-four: metrical frames for the padas of Sūrdās K. E. Bryant
21. Creative enumeration in the vinaya poetry of Sūrdās John Stratton Hawley
22. The padas attributed to Nanddās R. S. McGregor
23. Synoptic and sectarian bhakti in the poetry of Dhruvdās Rupert Snell
Part VII. Discussion of the Rāma Tradition in North and North-East India: 24. Taranisena: a parochialised devotional motif W. L. Smith
25. Tulsīdās and Confucius Jin Dinghan
Part VIII. Modernisation in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: 26. Hariścandra of Banaras and the reassessment of Vaisnava bhakti in the late nineteenth century Vasudha Dalmia-Lüderitz
27. A reinterpretation of bhakti theology: from the Pustimārg to the Brahma Kumaris R. K. Barz
Index.

Subject Areas: Anthologies [non-poetry DQ]