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The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism

Gavin Flood (Edited by), G Flood (Author)

9781405132510, Wiley

Paperback / softback, published 6 May 2005

624 pages
24.8 x 17.2 x 4.6 cm, 1.089 kg

“This collection offers a new way to parse the multiple entryways into the vast arena of Hinduism. Using the general divisional categories of theoretical issues, text and tradition, systematic thought, and society, politics and nation, Flood has achieved significant breadth in disciplines, subjects and historical perspectives.” Choice


“This is a most welcome, timely, and authoritative assessment of the entire field of study, a most commendable response to an enormous challenge.” Journal of Contemporary Religion

“It effectively serves to condense the proliferation of scholarship on Hinduism... The approach is interdisciplinary and places Hinduism not within a sphere of its own, but within a larger context, reading it as a dynamic product of historical global exchange. The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism also has an important section devoted to the Indian Sciences (language, mathematics, astrology, astronomy and medicine) which collectively destabilize colonialism’s claim that Hinduism was arbitrary and irrational. … A handsome addition to academic and personal libraries.” Asian Studies Review

An ideal resource for courses on Hinduism or world religions, this accessible volume spans the entire field of Hindu studies.

It provides a forum for the best scholars in the world to make their views and research available to a wider audience.

  • Comprehensively covers the textual traditions of Hinduism
  • Features four coherent sections covering theoretical issues, textual traditions, science and philosophy, and Hindu society and politics
  • Reflects the trend away from essentialist understandings of Hinduism towards tradition and regional-specific studies
  • Includes material on Hindu folk religions and stresses the importance of region in analyzing Hinduism
  • Ideal for use on university courses.

Contributors x

Preface and Acknowledgments xii

Introduction: Establishing the Boundaries 1
Gavin Flood

Part I Theoretical Issues 21

1 Colonialism and the Construction of Hinduism 23
Gauri Viswanathan

2 Orientalism and Hinduism 45
David Smith

Part II Text and Tradition 65

The Sanskrit Textual Traditions 67


3 Vedas and Upanisads 68
Michael Witzel

4 The Dharmaúâstras 102
Ludo Rocher

5 The Sanskrit Epics 116
John Brockington

6 The Purânas 129
Freda Matchett

Textual Traditions in Regional Languages 144

7 Tamil Hindu Literature 145
Norman Cutler

8 The Literature of Hinduism in Malayalam 159
Rich Freeman

9 North Indian Hindi Devotional Literature 182
Nancy M Martin

Major Historical Developments 199

10 The Saiva Traditions 200
Gavin Flood

11 History of Vaisnava Traditions: An Esquisse 229
Gérard Colas

12 The Renouncer Tradition 271
Patrick Olivelle

13 The Householder Tradition in Hindu Society 288
TN Madan

Regional Traditions 306

14 The Teyyam Tradition of Kerala 307
Rich Freeman

15 The Month of Kârtik and Women's Ritual Devotions to Krishna in Benares 327
Tracy Pinchman

Part III Systematic Thought 343

The Indian Sciences 345

Introduction 346
Frits Staal

16 The Science of Language 348
Frits Staal

17 Indian Mathematics 360
Takao Hayashi

18 Calendar, Astrology and Astronomy 376
Michio Yano

19 The Science of Medicine 393
Dominik Wujastyk

Philosophy and Theology 410

20 Hinduism and the Proper Work of Reason 411
Jonardon Ganeri

21 Restoring "Hindu Theology" as a Category in Indian Intellectual Discourse 447
Francis Cloone. SJ

22 Mantra 478
André Padoux

Part IV Society, Politics, and Nation 493

23 On the Relationship between Caste and Hinduism 495
Declan Quigley

24 Modernity, Reform and Revival 509
Dermot Killingley

25 Contemporary Political Hinduism 526
C Ram Prasad

26 The Goddess and the Nation Subterfuges of Antiquity, the Cunning of Modernity 551
Sumathi Ramaswamy

27 Gender in a Devotional Universe 569
Vasudha Narayanan

Index 588

Subject Areas: Religion & beliefs [HR]
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