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Heroic Shaktism
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Download or read book Heroic Shāktism written by Bihani Sarkar and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heroic 'Saktism is the belief that a good king and a true warrior must worship the goddess Durga, the form and substance of kingship. This belief formed the bedrock of ancient Indian practices of cultivating political power. Wildly dangerous and serenely benevolent at one and the same time, the goddess's charismatic split nature promised rewards for a hero and king and success in risky ventures. This work is the first expansive historical treatment of the cult of Durga and the role it played in shaping ideas and rituals of heroism in India between the 3rd and the 12th centuries CE.
Book Synopsis Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions by :
Download or read book Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-08-03 with total page 632 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Academic study of the tantric traditions has blossomed in recent decades, in no small measure thanks to the magisterial contributions of Alexis G. J. S. Sanderson, until 2015 Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford University. This collection of essays honours him and touches several fields of Indology that he has helped to shape (or, in the case of the Śaiva religions, revolutionised): the history, ritual, and philosophies of tantric Buddhism, Śaivism and Vaiṣṇavism; religious art and architecture; and Sanskrit belles lettres. Grateful former students, joined by other experts influenced by his scholarship, here offer papers that make significant contributions to our understanding of the cultural, religious, political, and intellectual histories of premodern South and Southeast Asia. Contributors are: Peter Bisschop, Judit Törzsök, Alex Watson, Isabelle Ratié, Christopher Wallis, Péter-Dániel Szántó, Srilata Raman, Csaba Dezső, Gergely Hidas, Nina Mirnig, John Nemec, Bihani Sarkar, Jürgen Hanneder, Diwakar Acharya, James Mallinson, Csaba Kiss, Jason Birch, Elizabeth Mills, Ryugen Tanemura, Anthony Tribe, and Parul Dave-Mukherji.
Book Synopsis Sacred Kingship in World History by : A. Azfar Moin
Download or read book Sacred Kingship in World History written by A. Azfar Moin and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2022-05-10 with total page 653 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sacred kingship has been the core political form, in small-scale societies and in vast empires, for much of world history. This collaborative and interdisciplinary book recasts the relationship between religion and politics by exploring this institution in long-term and global comparative perspective. Editors A. Azfar Moin and Alan Strathern present a theoretical framework for understanding sacred kingship, which leading scholars reflect on and respond to in a series of essays. They distinguish between two separate but complementary religious tendencies, immanentism and transcendentalism, which mold kings into divinized or righteous rulers, respectively. Whereas immanence demands priestly and cosmic rites from kings to sustain the flourishing of life, transcendence turns the focus to salvation and subordinates rulers to higher ethical objectives. Secular modernity does not end the struggle between immanence and transcendence—flourishing and righteousness—but only displaces it from kings onto nations and individuals. After an essay by Marshall Sahlins that ranges from the Pacific to the Arctic, the book contains chapters on religion and kingship in settings as far-flung as ancient Egypt, classical Greece, medieval Islam, Mughal India, modern European drama, and ISIS. Sacred Kingship in World History sheds new light on how religion has constructed rulership, with implications spanning global history, religious studies, political theory, and anthropology.
Book Synopsis Tantra, Ritual Performance, and Politics in Nepal and Kerala by : Matthew Martin
Download or read book Tantra, Ritual Performance, and Politics in Nepal and Kerala written by Matthew Martin and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-08-10 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time, Tantra, Ritual Performance and Politics in Nepal and Kerala offers a comparative approach to Tantric mediumship as observed in two locales: Navadurgā rituals in Bhaktapur, Nepal, and Teyyāṭṭam in North Kerala.
Download or read book Heroic Shāktism written by Bihani Sarkar and published by British Academy Postdoctoral F. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heroic Saktism is the belief that a good king and a true warrior must worship the goddess Durga, the form and substance of kingship. This belief formed the bedrock of ancient Indian practices of cultivating political power. Wildly dangerous and serenely benevolent at one and the same time, the goddess's charismatic split nature promised rewards for a hero and king and success in risky ventures. This book is the first expansive historical treatment of the cult of Durga and the role it played in shaping ideas and rituals of heroism in India between the 3rd and the 12th centuries CE. Within the story of ancient Indian kingship, two critical transitions overlapped with the rise of heroic Saktism: the decline of the war-god Skanda-Mahasena as a military symbol, and the concomitant rise of the early Indian kingdom. As the rhetoric of kingship once strongly linked to the older war god shifted to the cultural narratives of the goddess, her political imagery broadened in its cultural resonance. And indigenous territorial deities became associated with Durga as smaller states unified into a broader conception of civilization. By assessing the available epigraphic, literary and scriptural sources in Sanskrit, and anthropological studies on politics and ritual, Bihani Sarkar demonstrates that the association between Indian kingship and the cult's belief-systems was an ancient one based on efforts to augment worldly power.
Download or read book Krishna's Song written by Steven J. Rosen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2007-09-30 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rosen offers Westerners an easy-to-read introduction to a sacred text, demystifying its considerable philosophy in a user-friendly way. This is not yet another translation, merely reiterating what the Gita itself has to say. It is rather an attempt to culturally translate the text, making use of concepts and categories to which Western readers are accustomed. By engaging familiar motifs—such as issues of modernity, pop-culture icons, and well-known philosophers in the West—the author brings the Gita into focus for non-specialists and scholars alike. Through a series of contemporary news references and insightful summaries, readers will finally understand the facts and personalities that make up the Bhagavad Gita. Using his many years of Gita-centered research, Rosen unlocks the mysteries of the text's spiritual underpinnings. He provides an overview of the Gita's narrative and teachings alongside documentation of its traditional application and more modern ways in which the text can be understood. Students and scholars alike will rejoice in how well this book lays bare the culture and the context of the Gita, resulting in a reader's deep familiarity with this most sacred of all the world's wisdom texts.
Book Synopsis Myth of the Modern Hero by : Jane L. Bownas
Download or read book Myth of the Modern Hero written by Jane L. Bownas and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2017-11-21 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea of the hero originates in myths from the distant past and has been applied to many different concepts in different societies, cultures and historical time periods. As a mythical signifier the meaning of the word hero changes according to the intentions of the user, and this study examines some of the ways in which heroic myths have been created, either to justify the actions of those in power or to produce an imaginary ideal to which the majority can aspire. The warrior heroes of Greek legend fighting for individual glory and honour have little in common with the soldiers fighting in the wars of the twentieth century, resulting in the creation of a new hero myth, that of the patriotic, dutiful and obedient soldier. As a result of wars and the emergence of new states there is a need for new myths depicting heroes who fight and if necessary die in order to defend their nation. Heroic myths are important for those seeking power and this study considers the extent to which Germanic myths played a part in the emergence of Hitler as a heroic leader. In recent times the idea of the hero with which people most readily identify is the extreme altruist -- someone who is ready to risk their own life to save the life of another person. The possible origins of and reasons for such behaviour are examined. All humans possess the potential to act in ways which might be considered to be heroic, even when this involves living an ordinary life with courage and endurance.
Download or read book Bonding with the Lord written by and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-12-30 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few other Hindu gods guide a regional consciousness, pervade walks of everyday life and define a collective psyche the way Lord Jagannath does in Odisha and its contiguous areas. Jagannath is metonymic of Odisha and the Odia way of life, arguably much more than any other god for a particular geography or its peoples. While not derecognising the historical and the spiritual aspects of Jagannath, Bonding with the Lord attempts to look at the deployment of Jagannath in contemporary cultural practices involving the sensorium in the widest sense. The project of a cultural Jagannath not only materialises him in people's everyday practices but also democratises scholarship on him. The expansion of the scope of research on Jagannath to cultural expressions in a more encompassing way rather than confining to 'elitist' religious/literary sources makes him an everyday presence and significantly enhances his sphere of influence. Jagannath's 'tribal' origin, his association with Buddhism and Jainism and his avatari status make him an all-encompassing, multilayered symbol and a treasure trove for multiple interpretations.
Book Synopsis Oxford Companion to World Mythology by : David Leeming
Download or read book Oxford Companion to World Mythology written by David Leeming and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2005-11-17 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cave paintings at Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain, fraught with expression thousands of years later; point to an early human desire to form a cultural identity. In the Oxford Companion to World Mythology, David Leeming explores the role of mythology, or myth-logic, in history and determines that the dreams of specific cultures add up to a larger collective story of humanity. Stopping short of attempting to be all-inclusive, this fascinating volume will nonetheless be comprehensive, opening with an introduction exploring the nature and dimensions of myth and proposing a definition as a universal language. Briefly dipping into the ways our understanding of myth has changed from Aristotle and Plato to modern scholars such as Joseph Campbell, the introduction loosely places the concept in its present context and precedes articles on influential mythologists and mythological approaches that appear later in the Companion. The main body of Leeming's work consists of A-Z entries covering all aspects of mythology, including substantial essays on the world's major mythological traditions (Greek, Native American, Indian, Japanese, Sumerian, Egyptian), mythological types and motifs (Descent to the Underworld, the Hero, the Trickster, Creation, the Quest), mythological figures (Odysseus, Zeus, Osiris, Spider Woman, and Inanna) as well as numerous interrelated subjects such as fairly tales and legends. The Companion also locates myth in our lives today, relating it to language patterns, psychology, religion, politics, art, and gender attitudes. Many of the better-known and more significant myths are vividly retold in this volume that will be illustrated with maps, more than 70 black and white images, and eight pages of color highlighting the central role art has often played in the transmission and perpetuation of myth. Following the entries, a rich section of appendices will include family trees of the major pantheons, equivalency charts for the gods of Greece and Rome, Babylon and Sumer, as well as other traditions, an extensive bibliography, and an index.
Download or read book Hinduism written by Herbert Ellinger and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1996-04-01 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After looking at the basis of the Hindu understanding of the world, this introductory account describes the world of the Hindu gods; the Hindu scriptures; the castes, death, and rebirth; monks, saints, and ascetics; and Hindu temples and worship. Herbert Ellinger is the director of a pharmaceutical company. He has spent many years in the far East and has a deep interest in religion and philosophy.
Book Synopsis Dharma Karama of Hinduism by : Ahmed Sayeed
Download or read book Dharma Karama of Hinduism written by Ahmed Sayeed and published by Sankalp Publication. This book was released on with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Library of Congress Subject Headings by : Library of Congress. Subject Cataloging Division
Download or read book Library of Congress Subject Headings written by Library of Congress. Subject Cataloging Division and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 1314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Shades of Heroes by : Christopher M. Clarke
Download or read book Shades of Heroes written by Christopher M. Clarke and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-10-06 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heroes come in all shades, genders, time-frames, locations, and ages. This book is composed of inspirational stories of heroism, courage, fortitude, compassion, strategy, and honor from a wide range of times and places. They include a range of incidents spanning from ancient Rome to modern military chaplains, from Scots patriots to Tibetan freedom fighters, from mountain men and explorers of the Old West to Native Americans, from both sides of the U.S. Civil war, and from those involved in war to those merely attempting to survive. They include tales of heroic men and equally heroic women. These, of course, represent only a small sampling of the wonderful stories of heroic actions and individuals from around the globe and since the beginning of recorded history. The author hopes that in sharing a few of them, this book demonstrates that our human similarities outweigh our differences and that duty, honor, and compassion are not concepts which are unique to any country or culture, and further, that a greater understanding of our common human strengths and virtues will lead to greater respect and tolerance for our differences.
Book Synopsis Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls by : June McDaniel
Download or read book Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls written by June McDaniel and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-08-05 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Indian state of West Bengal is home to one of the world's most vibrant traditions of goddess worship. The year's biggest holidays are devoted to the goddesses Durga and Kali, with lavish rituals, decorated statues, fireworks, and parades. In Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls, June McDaniel provides a broad, accessibly written overview of Bengali goddess worship. McDaniel identifies three major forms of goddess worship, and examines each through its myths, folklore, songs, rituals, sacred texts, and practitioners. In the folk/tribal strand, which is found in rural areas, local tribal goddesses are worshipped alongside Hindu goddesses, with an emphasis on possession, healing, and animism. The tantric/yogic strand focuses on ritual, meditation, and visualization as ways of experiencing the power of the goddess directly. The devotional or bhakti strand, which is the most popular form, involves the intense love and worship of a particular form of the goddess. McDaniel traces these strands through Bengali culture and explores how they are interwoven with each other as well as with other forms of Hinduism. She also discusses how these practices have been reinterpreted in the West, where goddess worship has gained the values of sexual freedom and psychological healing, but lost its emphases on devotion and asceticism. Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls takes the reader inside the lives of practicing Shaktas, including holy women, hymn singers, philosophers, visionaries, gurus, ascetics, healers, musicians, and businessmen, and offers vivid descriptions of their rituals, practices, and daily lives. Drawing on years of fieldwork and extensive research, McDaniel paints a rich, expansive portrait of this fascinating religious tradition.
Download or read book Hidden Religion written by Micah Issitt and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-09-16 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covering secret societies, mysterious ancient traditions, and the often-mistaken history of the world's religious symbols, this book takes readers on a tour through the fascinating world of religious symbolism and reveals the most mysterious and misunderstood facets of religion. Hidden Religion: The Greatest Mysteries and Symbols of the World's Religious Beliefs not only explores the history and origins of widely recognizable symbols, like the Christian cross and the Star of David, but also introduces readers to more obscure symbols from religious traditions around the world—even defunct ones like those of the ancient Aztec and Mayan societies. In addition, the book discusses the "religious secrets" found in the major religions, including secret societies of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. Containing more than 170 entries, the encyclopedia is organized by religious category, such as Abrahamic, East Asian, and African Diasporic religions, then alphabetically within each category. Each entry is prefaced with a short introduction that explains where and when the religious tradition originated and describes the religion today. This information is followed by an analysis of the historical development and use of symbols along with an explanation of connections between symbols used by different religions, such as shared astrological symbolism in the form of moon, sun, or star motifs.
Book Synopsis On Heroes and the Heroic by : Rosen Publishing Group
Download or read book On Heroes and the Heroic written by Rosen Publishing Group and published by . This book was released on 1993-01 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a collection of essays examining the notion of the hero, the anti-hero, and heroic deeds in history and contemporary life.
Book Synopsis Library of Congress Subject Headings by : Library of Congress
Download or read book Library of Congress Subject Headings written by Library of Congress and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 1312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
