The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective

by Ariel Glucklich

Overview

Books about Hinduism often begin by noting the immense size and complexity of the subject. Hinduism is vast and diverse, they say. Or it doesn't exist at all - Hinduism is merely a convenient (and foreign) term that masks a plurality of traditions. In either case, readers are discouraged by the sense that they are getting only a tiny sample or a shallow overview of something huge and impossible to understand. This book is designed to be accessible and comprehensive in a way that other introductions are not, maintaining an appealing narrative and holding the reader's interest in the unfolding sequence of ideas through time and place. Each of the 13 chapters combines historical material with key religious and philosophical ideas, supported by substantial quotations from scriptures and other texts. The overarching organizational principle is a historical narrative largely grounded in archaeological information. Historic places and persons are fleshed out as actors in a narrative about the relation of the sacred to ordinary existence as it is mediated through arts, sciences, rituals, and philosophical ideas. Although many books purport to introduce the Hindu tradition, this is the only one with a broad historical focus that emphasizes archaeological as well as textual evidence. It will nicely complement Vasuda Narayanan's forthcoming introduction, which takes the opposite approach of focusing on the lived experience of Hindu believers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199886142
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/09/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Ariel Glucklich is Professor of Theology at Georgetown University. He is the author of many books, including Sacred Pain: Hurting the Body for the Sake of the Soul (OUP 2003) and Climbing Chamundi Hill.

Table of Contents

Chronology     xi
Introduction     3
The Dig and the Temple     13
Sacred Knowledge and Indian Origins     25
A City Where the Rivers Meet     43
King Janaka's Contest     59
Vedic Science The Grammar of Reality     71
Kanishka and Krishna     91
Performing Arts and Sacred Models     109
The Second Rationality     129
Maps and Myths in the Matsya Purana     145
Shankara and Kumarila Between Brahman and Dharma     163
Devotion and Knowledge The Indo-Muslim Centuries     181
The Eternal Dharma     197
Conclusion     213
Bibliography     217
Index     225

Editorial Reviews

"As predicted by the metaphor encoded in the title, this book has a wonderful span — and the terrain is not what everyone else has already seen." —John Stratton Hawley, Professor of Religion, Barnard College, Columbia University, and author of Three Bhakti Voices and, forthcoming, The Memory of Love

"Ariel Glucklich here tackles the enormous question of the interface between the physical world and what he calls ultimate reality in India, balancing the solid data of archeology and other evidence of material culture with the speculations of texts about the meaning behind physical reality. Engaging and provocative, written in a clear, high- spirited style, this book is simultaneously a good read and a good education." —Wendy Doniger, Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School, and author of The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology

"Ariel Glucklich has given us a rich and compelling introduction for those who long, like we all do, for a richer narrative of Hindu culture. This beautifully written book connects the philosophical, historical, scientific, and aesthetic dimensions of Hindu worlds. Its elegant syntheses are indeed contemporary bandhus in their own right. When we have absorbed its pages, we will stand at the crossroads of the many ideas of what Hinduism has been and what Hinduism is now. And through our expert guide, we will be better able to mark out our own pathways of understanding." —Laurie L. Patton, Howard O. Candler Chair in the Study of Religion and Professor of Early Indian Religions, Emory University

"Glucklich's refusal to contain his commentary within the realm of objectivity provides an example for non-Hindu students of a meaningful interaction with the tradition, intentionally encouraging them to raise questions about Hinduism that they may typically only raise with respect to their own traditions." —Journal of Hindu Studies

From the Publisher