Religions of India in Practice

Published by Princeton University Press 1995

Religions of India in Practice

Edited by: Donald S. Lopez

Volume 12 in the series Princeton Readings in Religions

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691216263

Overview
Contents

About this book

The inaugural volume of Princeton Readings in Religions brings together the work of thirty scholars of the religions of India in a new anthology designed to reshape the ways in which the religious traditions of India are understood. The book contains translations of forty-five works, most of which have never before been available in a Western language. Many of these highlight types of discourse (especially ritual manuals, folktales, and oral narratives) and voices (vernacular, esoteric, domestic, and female) that have not been sufficiently represented in previous anthologies and standard accounts of Indian religions.

The selections are drawn from ancient texts, medieval manuscripts, modern pamphlets, and contemporary fieldwork in rural and urban India. They represent every region in South Asia and include Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, and Muslim materials. Some are written texts reflecting elite concerns, while others are transcriptions of oral narratives told by nonliterate peasants. Some texts are addressed to a public and pan-Indian audience, others to a limited coterie of initiates in an esoteric sect, and still others are intended for a few women gathered in the courtyard for a household ceremony. The editor has reinforced this diversity by arranging the selections within several overarching themes and categories of discourse (hymns, rituals, narratives, and religious interactions), and encourages us to make our own connections.

Author / Editor information

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., is Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan.

Reviews

"A volume in the valuable series of Princeton Readings in Religion.... [A] most useful set of penetrating studies ... their writers are among the most prominent scholars in the field."

"The very nature of this anthology suggests that the contemporary student be taught to learn in the context of uncertain borders, of conflicting and of ambiguous worlds. . . . The Religions of India in Practice should be in the hands of every teacher-scholar of religions in India and then in the hands of their students."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Princeton Readings in Religions Donald S. Lopez Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Note on Transliteration Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Contents by Traditions Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Contributor Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Introduction Richard H. Davis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Songs of Devotion and Praise
1. Bengali Songs to Kālī Rachel Fell McDermott Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
2. Kabīr Vinay Dharwadker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
3. Poems of Tukārām Vinay Dharwadker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	92
4. The Litany of Names of Mañjuśrī Ronald M. Davidson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
5. Sikh Hymns to the Divine Name Hew McLeod Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
6. Devotional Hymns from the Sanskrit Guy Leon Beck Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
7. Tamil Game Songs to Śiva Norman Cutler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
8. In Praise of Muhammad: Sindhi and Urdu Poems Ali Asani Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
9. Bāul Songs Carol Salomon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
10. Tamil Songs to God as Child Paula Richman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Rites and Instructions
11. The Power of Mantra: A Story of the Five Protectors Todd T. Lewis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
12. Royal Temple Dedications Michael D. Robe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
13. How to Partake in the Love of Kṛṣṇa Ned Delmonico Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	244
14. Women's Songs for Auspicious Occasions Lindsey Harlan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269
15. The Ocean of Mercury: An Eleventh-Century Alchemical Text David Gordon White Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281
16. Predicting the Future with Dogs David Gordon White Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	288
17. How To Worship at Śiva's Temple D. Dennis Hudson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	304
18. The Order for Khālsā Initiation Hew McLeod Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
19. The Rite of Veneration of Jina Images John E. Cort Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	326
20. The Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā Traditions of Medieval Bengal Glen A. Hayes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
21. The Goddess Ṣaṣṭhī Protects Children Tony K. Stewart Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	352
22. Women's Celebration of Muḥammad's Birth Marcia Hermansen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	367
Remarkable Lives and Edifying Tales
23. The Rescue of Two Drunkards Tony K. Stewart Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	375
24. Encountering the Smallpox Goddess: The Auspicious Song of Śītalā Tony K. Stewart Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	389
25. The Wonders of Śrī Mastnāth David Gordon White Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	399
26. Jain Stories Inspiring Renunciation Phyllis Granoff Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	412
27. A Holy Woman of Calcutta June McDaniel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	418
28. Jain Stories of Miraculous Power Rosalind Lefeber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	426
29. Mother Ten's Stories Ann Grodzins Gold Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	434
30. The Life of Guru Nānak Hew McLeod Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	449
31. The Autobiography of a Female Renouncer J. E. Llewellyn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	462
32. The Prince with Six Fingers Kirin Narayan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	473
33. How a Girl Became a Sacred Plant Kirin Narayan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	487
34. Lives of Sufi Saints Carl Ernst Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	495
35. Conversations of Sufi Saints Carl Ernst Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	513
36. Teachings of Two Punjabi Sufi Poets Mustansir Mir Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	518
Traditions in Transition and Conflict
37. Ascetic Withdrawal or Social Engagement Patrick Olivelle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	533
38. The Bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi's Subjugation of Śiva Ronald M. Davidson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	547
39. India as a Sacred Islamic Land Carl Ernst Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	556
40. The Exemplary Devotion of the "Servant of Hari" Tony K. Stewart Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	564
41. Satya Pīr: Muslim Holy Man and Hindu God Tony K. Stewart Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	578
42. Jain Questions and Answers: Who Is God and How Is He Worshiped? John E. Cort Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	598
43. Esoteric Knowledge and the Tradition of the Preceptors Douglas Renfrew Brooks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	609
44. The Rebuilding of a Hindu Temple Richard H. Davis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	627
45. The Origin of Liṅga Worship Richard H. Davis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	637
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	649