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Purifying the Earthly Body of God

Religion and Ecology in Hindu India by: Lance E. Nelson

Examining the relation between religion and ecological concern in Hinduism, the book covers aspects like the ecological implications of pilgrimage, worship of earth and river goddesses, and Vedanta and Tantra theologies. It discusses how traditional ideas affect contemporary Indian thought.

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ISBN: 9788124601556
Year Of Publication: 2000
Edition: 1st
Pages : ix, 366
Language : English
Binding : Hardcover
Publisher: D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
Size: 23 cm.
Weight: 700

Overview

Examining the relation between religion and ecological concern in Hinduism from textual, theological, anthropological, feminist, and eco-activist approaches, this volume brings together an international, interdisciplinary group of scholars. The book covers the most relevant aspects of the Hindu tradition, searching out the ecological implications of pilgrimage and sacred geography, earth and river goddesses, the beliefs and ritual practice of villagers, caste consciousness and Vedanta, Tantra, and Goddess theologies. “The book considers, in a thoughtful and analytical way, a timely issue: how important and basic traditional ideas like asceticism, karma and rebirth, and purity’ and impurity influence contemporary Indian thinking about the environment. It has an impressive and diverse array of contributors, and there is a nice balance of theory and fieldwork. It shows well how India is ‘sacred ground (and water)’.”

Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I
Theological and Textual Perspectives
1. Toward an Indigenous Indian Environmentalism
— Christopher Key Chapple
2. The Ecological Implications of Karma Theory
— Harold Coward
3. Attitudes to Nature in the Early Upanishads
— Arvind Sharma
4. The Dualism of Nondualism: Advaita Vedanta and the Irrelevance of Nature
— Lance E. Nelson
5. Sacred Immanence: Reflections of Ecofeminism in Hindu Tantra
— Rita Das Gupta Sherma
6. Models and Images for a Vaishnava Environmental Theology: The Potential Contribution of Shrivaishnavism
— Patricia Y. Mumme
Part II
Views from the Field

7. Sin and Rain: Moral Ecology in Rural North India
— Ann Grodzins Gold
8. On the Ethics and Aesthetics of Recycling in India
— Frank J. Koron
9. Learning the Story of the Land: Reflections on the Liberating Power of Geography and Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition
— David Kinsley

10. Theology and Ecology at the Birthplace of Krishna
— Bruce M. Sullivan
11. The Earth as Goddess Bhu Devi: Toward a Theory of “Embedded Ecologies” in Folk Hinduism
— Vijaya Rettakudi Nagarajan
12. Idioms of Degeneracy: Assessing Ganga’s Purity and Pollution
— Kalley D. Alley
Conclusion
— Lance E. Nelson
Contributors
Index

Meet the Author
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Lance E. Nelson is Assistant Professor of Theological and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego.
Books of Lance E. Nelson