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Vedic Religion and C...
Vedic Religion and Culture
An Exposition of Distinct Facets by: P.L BhargavaTo resolve controversies related to Vedic Religion/Culture, the author comes to grips with the idea of Gods omnipresence in Aryan religious thought, the Rgvedic Hymn of Visvedevas, etc. and explores matters of historical and literary importance.
₹135.00
ISBN: 9788124604472
Year Of Publication: 2008
Edition: 3rd
Pages : xiii, 120
Bibliographic Details : Index
Language : English
Binding : Paperback
Publisher: D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
Size: 22 cm.
Weight: 200
Despite two centuries of their multifarious, critical studies in India and the Western world, Vedic writings unveil myriad questions that have either baffled scholars or have led to serious controversies. A distinguished Indologist, Professor P.L. Bhargava marshals, for the first time, indisputable evidence to resolve some of these questions like, for instance: Who wrote the Rigvedic hymns? Which deities, in the Rigveda, constitute the group, called Adityas? Or, again in the Rigvedic contexts, what does the word asura mean? Who, of the two major Vedic gods: Indra and Varuna, has greater antiquity? Is Ayodhya: the birth place of Lord Rama, mentioned in the early Vedic literature? Where did Lord Ramas ancestors: the kings of Ikshvaku dynasty originally rule? And how far danastutis (the praises of gifts) of the Rigveda can help scholars to reconstruct the political history of the Vedic Age? Combining in him the erudition of a Sanskritist and a historian, the author also comes to grips with the idea of Gods omnipresence in Aryan religious thought, the enigmatic Hymn of Vishvedevas in the Rigveda, or the confounding words/phrases in its Hymn of Creation; besides several other issues of religious, cultural; historical and literary importance all these on the basis of his unbiased, life-long studies of the Vedic texts. An exquisite presentation of Dr Bhargavas writings, the volume covers a variety of themes that range from the very authorship of the Rigvedic hymns to the status of Vedic religion today. Invaluable to the scholars and specialists of Vedic lore.
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1. The Self-Introducing Rishis of the Rigveda and the Chronology of its Hymns
Self-Introducing Rishis
Chronology of the Hymns
2. The Word Asura in the Rigveda
3. The Adityas in the Rigveda
4. The Comparative Antiquity of Indra and Varuna
5. The Enigmatic Hymn of Vishvedevas in the Rigveda
6. Some Problematic Words and Phrases in the Hymn of Creation
7. Origin of the Idea of Omnipresence of God in Aryan Religious Thought
8. Position and Status of Women in India in the Early Vedic Period
9. Historical Importance of the Danastutis of the Rigveda
10. The Original Home of the Ikshvakus
11. Ayodhya in Early Vedic Literature
12. Yaska and Panini
13. Additions and Interpolations in the Bhagavadgita
14. Names and Epithets of Krishna in the Bhagavadgita
15. Vedic Religion Today
The Founders
The Scriptures
Cardinal Beliefs
Theology
Mode of Worship
Cosmology
Festivals
Holy Places
Index
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Sale!Aesthetic Textures ₹1,620.00
The fascinating world of multiple Bharatas that this book introduces its readers with is that of a perennial tale discovered and created afresh at each juncture of time; at each moment of self-doubt and self-exploration; at each rejoicing of self-discovery and self-recovery. If one does not come across a seamless continuity here, one does not encounter apparent ruptures either. The Bharatas, as narrated here, present us with amazing diversity with palpable consubstantiality expressed in myriad forms and multiple hues; tradition belonging as much to its contemporaneity as to its past; belonging as much to the spokes as to the axle; centrifugal and centripetal at once; a tradition old and new at the same moment of time.
The book is based on the proceedings of a seven-day international conference organized by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) on the living traditions of the Mahabharata in the year 2011. The conference explored the multiple tellings and retellings of the Mahabharata story as sung, danced, and celebrated in festivals, inscribed on to geographic landscapes, committed to memory as sacred genealogy, embodied in rituals, and sculpted in shrines and temples. The presentations ranged from issues of poetics and ethics to translations, adaptations, and variations to folk and tribal traditions as sung, recited, and performed. Rather than exploring the Mahabharata as a book or a singular narrative, these papers focus on the multi-tradition of the Mahabharata in all its multidimensionality, multiplicity, and above all, in its fluidity. The book would certainly interest the scholars engaged in the study of the living heritage of Indian epics, folklorists, indologists, and anthropologists. -
Sale!Ramayana Culture ₹720.00
These essays, originally presented at an international conference, are in the forefront of the modern response to an ancient work that has gained a new critical and social relevance in contemporary scholarship. Approaching the Ramayana from several angles in an attempt to understand its aesthetic and ideological meaning, they examine the epic through the perspectives of textual criticism, art, architecture and film. Thereby they address critical issues such as the seminal status of Valmiki, the underlying problem of canonicity itself, the importance of other — so-called derivative — Ramayanas, the implications of gender representation, and the cultural manipulation of social ideals relating to the position of women and the idealisation of love that achieves its highest value in marriage. Using the methods of rigorous textual and historical investigation, each essay seeks not only to uncover the layers of meaning in the complex structure of the epic in its varied forms but also to situate it critically in the cultures of South and Southeast Asia.
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Sale!Mutual Regards ₹2,610.00
This is an anthology of parallel texts from the Irish and Indian intellectual traditions ranging over what scholars have said about the two countries histories of turmoil, their philosophies of mind and being, their myths and fantasies, their contemplative imagination as expressed in their lyrical poetry, their learning in medicine, history, linguistics and poetics, the records left about them by Irishmen who came to India and by Indians who went to Ireland, and the contemporary engagements between the two countries.
The volume shows that, despite major differences between the two countries, contacts and similarities between them have been substantial. The recorded testimonies of Irish people and Indians who have visited the respective countries demonstrate that in both cases the experience has been a warm and encouraging one, which has led the visitor to become more aware of what is meant by nationality, what he or she has acquired from his or her country of origin and what he or she has gained by contact with another society and another culture. That the two appear to share the same spirit of the self is attested by the fact that they both end up in the twentieth century, by coincidence or destiny, with the symbolism in their flags of the same three colours orange, white, and green. -
Sale!An Introduction to the Study of Indian Poetics ₹540.00
The book aspires to do for Indian poetics what Hudson’s book, An Introduction to the Study of English Literature did for English literature, though in a totally different manner and style. It provides the student with the essential knowledge about almost all aspects of Indian poetics. Based on the original Sanskrit sources, it presents the necessary information lucidly in precise and clear terms. Each chapter is self-contained and complete in itself, with explanatory notes, and a bibliography of relevant works. The Sanskrit terms used in the text are invariably explained or provided with English equivalents.
For quick reference, “A Glossary of Sanskrit Literary Terms” is given in the Appendices, which contain also “A List of Noted Indian Poeticians (including commentators) and Their Works” and “Notes on Major Texts in Indian Poetics”.
This handy volume, with its unique features, will prove invaluable to those who are going to embark on the study of Indian poetics, especially the ones who have no Sanskrit background. To a devoted student, it will prove a useful companion during his/her further studies. -
Sale!Nomenclature of The Vedas ₹810.00
With elaborate notes on legends of the Vedas, the book attempts to study various aspects of the Vedas. It presents a detailed study of Indian traditionalists on the Vedic literature, beginning from Veda Vyasa to Sayana and other acaryas including modern saint-scholars. It also views researches of the Western scholars and historians who have critically studied various aspects of the Vedic corpus. It conducts an in-depth exploration of the commentaries on the Vedas, focusing on noted traditional Vedic commentators like Yaska, Jaimini, Kumarila Bhatta, Sayana and Mahidhara as also the modern Indian commentators including Swami Dayananda, S.D. Satavalekar, Sri Aurobindo, Devi Chand, Sriram Sharma and the Western commentators like H.H. Wilson, F. Max Müller, R. Roth, A. Weber, W.D. Whitney, A.B. Keith, and R.T.H. Griffith.
The volume deliberates on definition of the Vedas, division of the Vedas and various shakhas of the five Samhitas as well as a list of Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyaka and Upanishad that are extant. It delves into details of the Rigvedic Mandalas and the Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda with reference to their subject matter, divisions and even their cultural value. It also examines the phenomenon of oral tradition, especially in conveying the Vedas and secret of preserving the Vedas – Vedic chanting. It has numerous illustrations that include maps, charts and pictures.
