The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Practice

Description

Traditions of asceticism, yoga, and devotion (bhakti), including dance and music, developed in Hinduism over long periods of time. Some of these practices, notably those denoted by the term yoga, are orientated towards salvation from the cycle of reincarnation and go back several thousand years. These practices, borne witness to in ancient texts called Upaniṣads, as well as in other traditions, notably early Buddhism and Jainism, are the subject of this volume in the Oxford History of Hinduism. Practices of meditation are also linked to asceticism (tapas) and its institutional articulation in renunciation (saṃnyăsa). There is a range of practices or disciplines from ascetic fasting to taking a vow (vrata) for a deity in return for a favour. There are also devotional practices that might involve ritual, making an offering to a deity and receiving a blessing, dancing, or visualization of the master (guru).

The overall theme—the history of religious practices—might even be seen as being within a broader intellectual trajectory of cultural history. In the substantial introduction by the editor this broad history is sketched, paying particular attention to what we might call the medieval period (post-Gupta) through to modernity when traditions had significantly developed in relation to each other. The chapters in the book chart the history of Hindu practice, paying particular attention to indigenous terms and recognizing indigenous distinctions such as between the ritual life of the householder and the renouncer seeking liberation, between 'inner' practices of and 'external' practices of ritual, and between those desirous of liberation (mumukṣu) and those desirous of pleasure and worldly success (bubhukṣu). This whole range of meditative and devotional practices that have developed in the history of Hinduism are represented in this book.

About the author:

Gavin Flood is Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion at Oxford University and a Senior Research Fellow of Campion Hall. He is also Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and Yap Kim Hao Visiting Professor of Comparative Religious Studies at Yale-NUS, Singapore. Before coming to Oxford, he taught at the universities of Stirling and Wales (Lampeter). He has research interests in Hindu tantric traditions, comparative religion, and phenomenology.

Table of contents

Acknowledgements
List of Contributors
Introduction to the Series

Introduction: A History of Hindu Practice Gavin Flood

I. TEXTUAL SOURCES

1. Ritual, Ascetic, and Meditative Practice in the Veda and Upaniṣads Cezary Galewicz
2. Historical Context of Early Asceticism Johannes Bronkhorst
3. Religious Practices in the Sanskrit Epics John Brockington

II. HISTORIES OF PRACTICE

4. The Early History of Renunciation Patrick Olivelle
5. The Later Institution of Renunciation Sondra L. Hausner
6. Measuring Innovation: Genesis and Typology of Early Pūjā Natalia Lidova
7. Hath? ayoga's Early History: From Vajrayāna Sexual Restraint to Universal Somatic Soteriology James Mallinson
8. The Quest for Liberation-in-Life: A Survey of Early Works on Hatḥa- and Rājayoga Jason Birch
9. Practice in the Tantric Religion of Śiva Gavin Flood
10. Vaiṣṇava Practice Rembert Lutjeharms
11. Theatre as Religious Practice Lyne Bansat-Boudon
12. Sounding Out the Divine: Musical Practice as Theology in Samāj Gāyan Richard David Williams
13. Women's Observances: Vratas Tracy Pintchman

III.RELIGIOUS PRACTICE AND POLITICS IN MODERN HINDUISM

14. Gandhi, Hinduism, and Humanity Faisal Devji
15. Legal Yoga Sunila S. Kale and Christian Lee Novetzke
16. The Modern Spirit of Yoga: Idioms and Practices Elizabeth De Michelis
17. Gurus in Contemporary Hindu Practice Daniel Gold

Index