The first English edition of the 11th-century Sanskrit text from Kashmir, a gigantic tale with an elaborate framing structure, often compared with the Arabian Nights, and of which it might be a cousin.
Medieval Indian Mindscapes: Space, Time, Society, Man centres on how Indians in pre-colonial times perceived their world. It compares the specific features of their 'mental programmes' with that of their counterparts in other pre-modern societies. While analysing the importance of space in the medieval world view, the book discusses how medieval Indians comprehended their territories and the landscape as 'their own' vis-a-vis the 'alien' space; the development of territorial-cultural and territorial-political identities, and knowledge about other lands and peoples. In a discussion of medieval temporality, the book also studies the ways of perceiving and reckoning time, attitudes to the historical past and the manifold ways of recording it. A special chapter on 'Society' deals with socio-ethical values and behavioural stereotypes of major estate and caste groups like the feudal landlords, priests and officials, merchants and craftsmen, peasants and the lower castes in villages. The book also has a chapter on the medieval Indian perception of Man, his appearance and peculiarities as they pertained to the a≥ behaviour, social status, and the steady development of individuality. Medieval Indian Mindscapes will be of interest to medievalists as well as general readers, keen to know more about the dynamics of pre-modern history and culture.
This unusual book examines definitions of the fable, apologue, parable, moral tale, etc. It then proposes the use of the term exemplum, used by medieval scribes, to define all types of wisdom narratives. It makes a cross-cultural structural analysis of the exemplum and identifies its tripartite structure composed of the promythium, the nucleus, and the epimythium. The book ends with an analysis of the reasons why grown men spent so much time writing and collecting these tales. It demonstrates that fables and related genres were not really meant for little children to learn moral lessons. They were used to teach complex religious and political ideologies, to safely ridicule tyrants and despots, to release tensions, and to give good or bad advice.
The name of Soma·deva's eleventh-century Ocean of the Rivers of Stories is no boast: in more than 20,000 verses it tells more than 250 tales. The reader has only to enjoy being swept away in the flood of stories, said to spring from that source of so much classical Indian literature, "The Long Story"--Publisher description.
For those who wonder what relation actual Tantric practices bear to the "Tantric sex" currently being marketed so successfully in the West, David Gordon White has a simple answer: there is none. Sweeping away centuries of misunderstandings and misrepresentations, White returns to original texts, images, and ritual practices to reconstruct the history of South Asian Tantra from the medieval period to the present day. Kiss of the Yogini focuses on what White identifies as the sole truly distinctive feature of South Asian Tantra: sexualized ritual practices, especially as expressed in the medieval Kaula rites. Such practices centered on the exchange of powerful, transformative sexual fluids between male practitioners and wild female bird and animal spirits known as Yoginis. It was only by "drinking" the sexual fluids of the Yoginis that men could enter the family of the supreme godhead and thereby obtain supernatural powers and transform themselves into gods. By focusing on sexual rituals, White resituates South Asian Tantra, in its precolonial form, at the center of religious, social, and political life, arguing that Tantra was the mainstream, and that in many ways it continues to influence contemporary Hinduism, even if reformist misunderstandings relegate it to a marginal position. Kiss of the Yogini contains White's own translations from over a dozen Tantras that have never before been translated into any European language. It will prove to be the definitive work for persons seeking to understand Tantra and the crucial role it has played in South Asian history, society, culture, and religion.
Publisher: Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften
ISBN: STANFORD:36105009576104
Category: Literature and science
Page: 160
View: 826
"Organicism as Reenchantment" explores how an organic metaphor for nature, based on the insights of philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, provides a basis for revitalizing the dialogue between the sciences and the humanities. The book examines the scientific work of Nobel laureate Ilja Prigogine and the novels of John Barth, and argues that the stories humans tell evolve in a manner strikingly similiar to nonlinear, physical systems. The author contends that literature is an external manifestation of the internal relations of nature, providing insight into the fundamental structure of reality.
Kalidasa is the greatest poet and playwright in classical Sanskrit literature and one of the greatest in world literature. Kalidasa is said to have lived and composed his work at the close of the first millennium BC though his dates have not been conclusively established. In all, seven of his works have survived: three plays, three long poems and an incomplete epic. Of these, this volume offers, in a brilliant new translation, his two most famous works"the play Sakuntala, a beautiful blend of romance and fairy tale with elements of comedy; and Meghadutam (The Cloud Messenger), the many-layered poem of longing and separation. Also included is Rtusamharam (The Gathering of the Seasons), a much-neglected poem that celebrates the fulfillment of love and deserves to be known better. Taken together, these works provide a window to the remarkable world and work of a poet of whom it was said: -Once, when poets were counted, Kalidasa occupied the little finger; the ring finger remains unnamed true to its name; for his second has not been found
