Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)

by Julius Lipner

  5.

  Hindu aristocracy traditionally traced its ancestry to either the solar or lunar lines of succession. The former was derived from Manu Vaivasvat, son of Vivasvat, the solar deity. Ikṣvāku was the first king of this dynasty to rule at Ayodhyā. The lunar dynasty descended from Soma, the moon deity, forbear of Puru and Yadu from whom sprang the two lineages of the lunar line.

  6.

  On the Vedic horse-sacrifice and its implications for fertility, see O'Flaherty 1988:7–10 & 14–19.

  7.

  For fuller summaries of the Rāmāyaṇa’s plot, see Whaling 1980: Chapter 2; Goldman 1984:6–13;and Brockington 1998:34–40. Whaling's book is useful for an understanding of the religious and theological implications of the Rāma-story and its subsequent development in Hindu tradition. Brockington's work (1998) provides a good scholarly analysis of the language, content and influence of Vālmīki's Rāmāyaṇa (as also of the Mahābhārata); see also Brockington 1984:1–8, which contains an earlier summary. Goldman is the general editor of a new English translation of Vālmīki's Rā.

  8.

  For a fuller summary, see Brockington 1998:28–34;for an abridged translation of the epic with linking summaries, see J.D. Smith 2009, where a description of the main characters is given in the Introduction.

  9.

  The implication being that there was a prior, shorter version (see our earlier discussion on the matter).

  10.

  See Lipner 1986 (especially Chapters 5 and 7), which analyses the eleventh-century Vedāntin, Rāmānuja's, theology for one important example.

  11.

  Much is made in the commentaries, of the Gītā’s teaching a balance between the three paths of jñāna yoga, karma yoga and bhakti yoga, viz. the yogas or disciplined practices of knowledge, action and devotion respectively, or indeed, of the Gītā’s favouring devotion over knowledge and action. The problem is that the Gītā does not directly address this issue, nor do commentators always agree as to what exactly is meant by these three paths in terms of the Gītā’s teaching.

  12.

  The Gītā may be read in accessible English translation in Zaehner 1969 (with the caveat that Zaehner's rendering of buddhi as ‘soul’, implying a spiritual substance, is highly misleading, since the buddhi is produced from the non-conscious principle that is prakṛti, and as such is a subtle dimension of what becomes matter in its grosser forms; buddhi is better translated as the reasoning or discerning faculty); in van Buitenen 1981 (which places the text in its broader epic context); in Sargeant 1984 (which has the advantage of providing a grammatical analysis of the Sanskrit text), and in Johnson 1994 (though the deterministic slant of his interpretation of the Gītā is dubious), among many other renderings.

  13.

  In keeping with its perennial popularity, the Gītā has become the object of entrepreneurial initiative. In September 2007, the following advertisement appeared on the internet (IndiaPRwire.com, 4 September): ‘Mobifusion Launches Bhagavad-Gita For Mobile Phone. The blurb continues: ‘Mobifusion ... today launched the entire Holy Bhagavad Gita on cell phones in India. The Holy Bhagavad Gita contains all 700 Sanskrit Slokas with its English translation ... According to Pavan Mandhani, Founder and CEO of Mobifusion, “With our built-in simple search engine [millions of users] can instantly access slokas that are relevant to a particular situation The hope is (besides making a tidy profit, no doubt), that accessing the Gītā in this way ‘will be particularly useful to de-stress in today's modern society’, as Prashant Gupta, Managing Director of Mobifusion's India centre, is quoted as saying. Here is an example of how modern technology is disseminating the influence of traditional smṛti.

  14.

  ‘[I]n North India today the word Rām is the most commonly used non-sectarian designation for the Supreme Being’, Lutgendorf1991:4.

  15.

  For translations into English see Hill 1952, and Growse 1987. For a mainly literary analysis of Tulsīdās’ works, see McGregor 1984, esp. pp. 109–17; for a largely performative analysis of the Rāmcaritmānas, see Lutgendorf 1991;and for a theological treatment of this text, see Whaling 1980, Part E.

  16.

  No doubt this count would have included Buddhist and Jain adaptations of the story as well.

  17.

  For a summary of earlier Sanskrit Rā. re-tellings (including vernacular Buddhist and Jain examples) see Leslie 2003:118–24, including footnoted bibliography.

  18.

  Chapter 3 of this work provides a comparison between Vālmīki's Rā. and Kṛttivās’ version.

  19.

  This is a slightly adapted quotation taken from the citation accompanying the award of the A.K. Ramanujan prize for Seely's critical Introduction to and English translation of Dutt's poem (Seely 2004).

  20.

  In this essay, I have discussed the content, context and reception of these serializations.

  21.

  For an account of participative response to the Mahabharat serial, see Mankekar 1993:551–2, 554.

  22.

  Pābūjī is also worshipped ‘though to a statistically lesser extent, in Panjab, Sindh, Kacch, Malwa and Saurashtra’ (Smith 1991:5–6). Dalrymple (2009: Chapter 4) gives a fine description of a performance of the epic and its paṛ.

  Chapter 9 The voice of tradition: folklore and the intellectual heritage

  1.

  The Harivaṃśa is not generally reckoned to be a Purāṇa; it is in the list because it is Purāṇic in style. There is not much point in trying to make a separate Upa-Purāṇa list, since a number of these names might fall in either classification. For technical information on the Purāṇas and a comprehensive list, see Rocher 1986.

  2.

  This last is of particular interest to royal houses claiming Kṣatriya ancestry, and is one indication that the Purāṇas originated in a Kṣatriya context.

  3.

  The scholar G. Bailey argues plausibly that Purāṇa scholarship has been vitiated hitherto by a preoccupation with what he calls a diachronic approach, viz. taking a specific topic in a Purāṇa, e.g. a particular myth or didactic theme, and analysing the way it is treated in that Purāṇa and other texts (including other Purāṇas) with a view to isolating the ‘paradigm myth’ and its ‘edited’ developments. Bailey points out that this approach is usually based on unsupported assumptions, e.g. that the Purāṇas have no intrinsic textual cohesiveness, that they are a confused mass of material, and indeed that there is such a thing as a paradigm form of the myth or theme under consideration. We have seen from our discussion of the epics that this last assumption is very suspect indeed. Bailey argues for the adoption of a ‘synchronic’ approach whereby the Purāṇas are studied as a genre in their own right and on their own terms. As an illustration of what this might mean, see his essay, ‘The Semantics of Bhakti in the Vāmanapurāṇa’ (1988), where he seeks to give coherence to the content of this Purāṇa in terms of its devotional structure.

  4.

  A ‘day’ of Brahmā lasts for many thousands of human years (see Chapter 13)!

  5.

  For the Sanskrit text see Rāmānuja's Vedārthasaṃgraha in van Buitenen's edition, 1956: 129–30.

  6.

  There is an implicit theology of religions here: some world-cycles are religiously more deluded under their presiding deities than others; the closer to the accredited worship of Viṣṇu they are, the less deluded they become. Similarly, extending this argument globally, we can say that the closer a theology is to one properly exalting and describing the qualities of Visnu, the more acceptable it is.

  7.

  There is a growing literature on the founding, development and theology of ISKCON as an accredited religious movement. See, e.g., Gelberg 1983, Knott 1986, and Valpey 2006.

  8.

  In 1990, the following recitations were also held: extracts from the Śiva Purāṇa in London and the Rāmāyaṇa in Bolton. There were recitations in 1989 from the Rāmāyaṇa in
Preston and Leicester, and in 1988, from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa in Leicester and the Ramayana in London. Though no caste or other barriers applied, each event seems to have been primarily intended for a particular linguistic community. Thus these occasions fostered both religious and social solidarity. I am grateful to Mr J. Buhecha and Dr Jacqueline Hirst for this information.

  9.

  Coburn's work provides a comprehensive literary study of this text.

  10.

  Itihāsapurāṇābhyāṃ vedaṃ samupabrṇhayet; see Coburn 1984:27.

  11.

  See Jha 1911;Keith 1978 (1921);D'Sa 1980;Lipner 1986a: Chapter 1;Bartley 2002: Chapters 1 & 2.

  12.

  Cf. under entry ‘Aurobindo Ghose’ in W. Johnson's Dictionary of Hinduism, OUP, forthcoming. For further reading on Sri Aurobindo, see works by Robert Minor and Peter Heehs, respectively.

  13.

  On viṣeśa, Sharma writes: ‘Each partless ultimate substance has an original peculiarity of its own, an underived uniqueness of its own’ (C. Sharma 1964:181) which is bestowed by the padārtha of viṣeśa (which itself is not subject to an infinite regress of self-bestowing uniqueness). The viṣeśa is the differentiator (vyāvartaka) of one irreducible substance from another similar one; were it not for viṣeśa, the two substances would be identical to each other. It is this category that gives the system, Vaiṣeśika (‘That which bears on Viṣeśa), its name.

  14.

  Thus vr.1 speaks of Puruṣa having covered the earth on all sides and then extended beyond it by ‘ten fingers’ (sa bhūmiṃ viūvato vṛtvātyatiṣṭhad daśāngulam), a metaphorical indication of Puruṣa's transcendence.

  15.

  Thus Sāṃkhya dualism differs from that of the Western thinker, René Descartes (15961650), for whom differentiated mental states (regarded by Sāṃkhya as prakritic or material) fall into the category of mind, which is irreducible to that of matter (of which the defining characteristic is extension).

  16.

  Indeed, the reformer Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902; see Chapter 4) glorified rajas, saying that the time had come for Indians to shake off their torpor and collectively refashion their religious and socio-political ideals. This dynamism for a new epoch in Indian history would come by activating the rajas guṇa in their natures.

  17.

  For a more detailed general exposition, see Hiriyanna 1932 (1970): Chapter XI, and C. Sharma 1964: Chapter 9; see also Larson 1979.

  18.

  For studies on the yoga of the Yoga Sūtra and subsequent development in various ways, see the writings of Georg Feuerstein, Ian Whicher and Elizabeth De Michelis among others.

  19.

  This could be a costly business if animals were to be procured, fees given to the officiating priests, and so on.

  20.

  The traditional view is forcefully defended by Kangle 1960–65: Part III; the proponent of the other view is Trautmann 1971.

  Chapter 10 The voice of experience

  1.

  In the text this extract is attributed to the teacher Bṛhaspati who is reputed to have lived ca. 600 B.C.E. In Puranic mythology, Brhaspati is the preceptor who taught the heresy of materialism to the antigods (or asuras), who passed it on to humans, particularly the Buddhists and the Jainas. See O'Flaherty 1976 (1980a):124f. The Sanskrit is taken from Abhyankar 1924:13–14. Some of the remarks in this diatribe are thought to derive from Buddhist and Jaina critiques.

  2.

  From Sañcayitā, collected poems of Rabindranath Tagore, Viśvabhāratī 6th edn, 1963:510 (my translation).

  3.

  In Sanskrit: tanvī śyāmā śikhara-[some authorities have śikhari-]daśanā pakva-bimbādharoṣṭhī, madhye kṣāmā cakita-hariṇī-prekśaṇā nimna-nābhiṣ/śroṇī-bhārād alasa-gamanā stoka-namrā stanābhyāṃ, yā tatra syād yuvati-viṣaye sṛṣṭir ādyeva dhātuṣ//. This verse is enumerated differently in different editions of the work; it is verse 78 in Edgerton 1964, and verse 79 in De 1957, etc.

  4.

  For an idea of Roy's use of argument, see Killingley 1982. For a more wide-ranging treatment of the way in which nineteenth-century Hindu ‘conservatives’ sought to defend their faith, see Young 1981. See also Lipner, in Coward 1987: Chapter 13.

  5.

  From Rāmānuja's Śrī Bhāṣya, 1.1.1; for the Sanskrit text, see Abhyankar 1914:27–8.

  6.

  asato mā sad gamaya, tamaso mā jyotir gamaya, mṛtyor māmṛtaṃ gamaya.

  7.

  This is the title of a book on Śiva's mythology by W.D. O'Flaherty 1981a.

  8.

  There is an essay touching on some of these aspects of Śiva Naṭarāja in Coomaraswamy 1971:66–79;see also Kramrisch 1988:439–42.

  9.

  For a complementary analysis of Gandhi's understanding of truth, with attention given to its social and political dimensions, see Ambler in Hick & Hempel 1989: Chapter 6.

  10.

  See under Brahma Sūtra 2.2.42 in Abhyankar's Sanskrit text;in Thibaut's English rendering this passage occurs under 2.2.43.

  11.

  There are a number of English translations of this work. See, e.g., Jagadānanda 1970 (with Sanskrit text);Mayeda 1973 (critically edited Sanskrit text) and 1979 (annotated English translation with Introduction), and Alston 1990 (transliterated text, English translation and comment).

  12.

  To the best of my knowledge, this text has not been satisfactorily translated into English.

  13.

  For conversations with Ramana Maharshi, see Venkataraman (3 vols.). On writings and teachings of RamanaMaharshi, see Arthur Osborne 1962,1969. Also see Godman 1985. For a good atmospheric account of the role of the guru, see Swami Abhishiktananda (aka Henri le Saux) 1974, especially the essay entitled'A Sage from the East.

  14.

  Some Indian Christians speak this way about Christ.

  Chapter 11 A story with a tale

  1.

  References follow the Sanskrit text of the Poona edition. The translations here are my own. An English translation of the Sabhā Parvan is available in van Buitenen 1975. It is important to note that I am not claiming two things: (i) that my analysis is some ‘key’ to unlocking the inner meaning of this narrative. On the contrary, whilst duly recognizing that the text is semantically multilayered, I wish to give credence too to the story-teller's art as it unfolds in the narration of this episode of the dicing match, without allowing a priori theories about some ‘inner’ meaning of the text to come in the way. Nor am I claiming (ii) that what follows is the only way to read this episode, of course. I am simply using it, legitimately I contend, as heuristic for the purpose at hand: to gain an insight into traditional Hindu understandings of the interplay between the concepts of ‘chance’ and ‘necessity’, broadly conceived. As such, I treat this episode of the Mbh. as more or less self-contained.

  2.

  Bhīṣma, as we have seen in Chapter 8, is Dhṛtārāṣṭra's highly respected uncle, and one of the chief elders ofthe court.

  3.

  For evidence that such views were about at the time, see the Śvetāsvatara Upaniṣad 1.1–2: ‘Those who speak of Brahman say, “What is the cause? Brahman? Whence are we born? By what do we live? On what are we founded?... Time, inherent nature, destiny, free will, the elements, the [mother's] womb (yoni), [some cosmic] Person (puruṣa), these are thought to be [the cause] . ..”’.

  4.

  ‘Here we should recall that, on strictly Vedic terms the rājasūya does not really bestow universal sovereignty, or sāmrājya; this claim is reserved for another ritual [the aūvamedha] ... In my view [the authors of this story] wanted the rājasūya for the dramatic possibilities this rite offered’;van Buitenen 1975:11. John Brockington gives added insight. He notes that the rājasūya tends to ratify the inauguration of a reign (as in Yudhisthira's case here). ‘This would distinguish [the rājasūya] from the aśvamedha, which is typically performed by an established king, e
ither to proclaim his overlordship or ... to purify him/his kingdom from some fault. Certainly the epic aśvamedhas are typically performed by established rulers ...’;personal communication (September 2008).

  5.

  ‘Never stated but implicit is this game's rule that it will go through twenty plays, which are presented as two phases of ten each’; van Buitenen 1975:29.

  6.

  Thus, as he drags Draupadī by the hair before the assembly, Duṣśāsana defies her to call out to Kṛṣṇa, among others, for help (2.60.26), and in Book 5 of the Mbh., 58.21 and 80.23–6, there are more or less clear references to Draupadī’s having invoked Kṛṣṇa to rescue her during this incident (see Hiltebeitel 2001:251–7). My own analysis has benefited from some observations made by Hiltebeitel in his study (2001: Chapter 7) of this episode.