Bhakti and embodiment : fashioning divine bodies and devotional bodies in Kṛṣṇa bhakti /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Holdrege, Barbara A., author.
Imprint:	Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2015. ©2015
Description:	xvii, 470 pages ; 25 cm.
Language:	English
Series:	Routledge Hindu studies series RoutledgeCurzon Hindu studies series.
Subject:	Krishna -- (Hindu deity) Puranas. -- Bhāgavatapurāṇa -- Criticism, interpretation, etc. Puranas. -- Bhāgavatapurāṇa. Bhakti. Vaishnavism. Chaitanya (Sect) Human body -- Religious aspects. Bhakti. Chaitanya (Sect) Human body -- Religious aspects. Krishna (Hindu deity) Vaishnavism. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/10424661

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780415670708 0415670705 9781315769325
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 393-423) and index.
Summary:	"This book explores the connections between bhakti and embodiment and is concerned more specifically with constructions of divine bodies and devotional bodies in Krishna bhakti traditions. Grounding general reflections on bhakti and embodiment in an analysis of two case studies: the Bhagavata Purana, one of the most important scriptures in the Vaisnava bhakti canon, and the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition, an important bhakti movement inspired by the Bengali leader Caitanya in the sixteenth century that invokes the canonical authority of the Bhagavata Purana as the basis for its own distinctive teachings"-- "With the emergence of bhakti (devotion) movements in the post-Vedic period, the body was re-figured to accord with the epistemological framework of the discourse of devotion. This historical shift from Vedic to bhakti traditions is characterised by various transformations which can best be understood in terms of these newly emerging discourses of the body in bhakti traditions. Bhakti and Embodiment: Fashioning Divine Bodies and Devotional Bodies in Kṛṣṇa Bhakti explores the connections between bhakti and embodiment and is concerned with constructions of divine bodies and devotional bodies in Kṛṣṇa bhakti traditions in particular. It discusses the historical shift to post-Vedic bhakti traditions and the accompanying transformations. These reflections are grounded in an analysis of two case studies: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, one of the most important scriptures in the Vaiṣṇava bhakti canon, and the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition, an important bhakti movement inspired by the sixteenth-century Bengali leader Caitanya. Holdrege argues that an exploration of the connections between bhakti and embodiment is critical to understanding the myriad forms that bhakti has historically assumed up to the present time. Making a significant contribution to several fields, this book is relevant to scholarship on the body in the History of Religions and in the Humanities generally. It will also be of interest to those working in the field of Asian Religions, Hindu Studies, and more specifically Bhakti Studies, Purāṇic Studies and Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Studies"--

Table of Contents:

Figures
Preface
Introduction
Theorizing the Body in the Human Sciences
The Body in Philosophy
The Body in Social Theory
The Body in Feminist and Gender Studies
The Body in Religion
Hindu Discourses of the Body
The Body as a Psychophysical Continuum
Transmigratory History of the Body
The Person, the Self, and the Body
Integral Bodies
Processual Bodies
Bhakti and Embodiment
Embodying the Divine
The Bhagavata Purana
The Gaudiya Sampradaya
1. The Limitless Forms of Krsna: Fashioning Divine Bodies
The Absolute Body and Its Endless Manifestations: The Gaudiya Discourse of Divine Embodiment
Bhagavan's Absolute Body and Self-Referral Play
The Gaudiya Challenge to Advaita Vedanta and Patañjala Yoga
Ananta-Rupa: The Limitless Forms of the Absolute Body
The Gaudiyas and the Srivaisnavas: Contending Theologies
Krsna's Mesocosmic Forms
2. The Embodied Aesthetics of Bhakti: Fashioning Devotional Bodies
Erotic-Ecstatic Devotion: The Embodied Bhakti of the Bhagavata Purana
Bodies of Devotion, Bodies of Bliss: The Embodied Aesthetics of Bhakti in the Gaudiya Tradition
Aesthetics Reimagined as Bhakti-Rasa
Sadhana-Bhakti: Re-figuring Bodily Identities
The Gaudiya Challenge to Advaita Vedanta and Patañjala Yoga Revisited
3. Bhagavata Purana as Text-Avatara: From Purana-Veda to Embodiment of Bhagavan
Sruti and Smrti: The Brahmanical Canon of Sastras
Veda, Sruti, and Smrti
Vedacizing Strategies
From Purana-Veda to Karsna-Veda: Puranic Constructions of Canonical Authority
Transcendent Authority of the Veda
Vedic Status of the Puranas
Bhagavata Purana as the Culmination of Sruti and Smrti
Bhagavata Purana as the Embodiment of Bhagavan
Sovereign of All Sastras and Embodiment of Bhagavan: Gaudiya Perspectives on the Bhagavata Purana
Transcendent Authority of the Veda
Vedic Status of the Puranas
Transcendent Authority of the Bhagavata Purana
Fashioning Devotional Bodies through Engaging the Bhagavata
4. Naman as Sound-Avatara: From Transcendent Vibration to Reverberating Name
Transcendent Vibrations, Primordial Utterances, and Meditation Devices: Vedic Perspectives on Mantras
Cognition of the Vedic Mantras
Vedic Mantras in the Discourse of Sacrifice
Root Mantras in the Discourse of Knowledge
Embodying the Divine Presence in Sound: Mantra and Naman in the Bhagavata Purana
Re-visioning Mantras
Engaging the Name
From Nama-Avatara to Nama-Samkirtana: Gaudiya Perspectives on the Name
Ontology of the Name
Transformative Power of the Name
Fashioning Devotional Bodies and Social Bodies with the Name
5. Vraja-Dhaman as Place-Avatara: From Geographic Place to Transcendent Space
Mythic Space, Pilgrimage Place, and Meditation Mandala: Puranic Constructions of Vraja
Vraja as a Mythic Space
Vraja as a Pilgrimage Place
Vraja as a Meditation Mandala
Geographic Place as Transcendent Space: Vraja-Dhaman in the Gaudiya Tradition
The Gaudiya Reclamation of Vraja
Vraja as Pilgrimage Place and Beyond
Vraja as the Body of Krsna
Ontology of the Dhumans: Geographic Place as Transcendent Space
Goloka-Vrndavana: Vraja-Dhaman as the Supreme Dhaman
Fashioning Devotional Bodies through Engaging Vraja-Dhaman
6. Meditation as Devotional Practice: Experiencing Krsna in His Transcendent Dhaman
Mantra Meditation and Mandala Visualization: Puranic Perspectives on Meditation
Mantra Meditation
Mandala Visualization
Beyond Yoga and Tantra: The Gaudiya Approach to Meditation
Meditation in Raganuga-Bhakti
Realizing Vraja-Dhaman: The Gaudiya Re-visioning of Pañcaratra
Conclusion: Bhakti and Embodiment
Fashioning Divine Bodies
The Absolute Body and Its Partial Manifestafions
Divine Bodies and Cosmos Bodies
Divine Bodies and Jiva Bodies
Mesocosmic Forms
Fashioning Devotional Bodies
Re-figuring the Sadhaka-Rupa
Realizing the Siddha-Rupa
Fashioning Social Bodies
Challenging the Discourses of Jnana and Yoga
Re-visioning Bhakti
Reimagining Theories of the Body
Divine Bodies beyond Matter
Human Bodies beyond Matter
Gender beyond Sex
Note on Translations and Editions
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index

Bhakti and embodiment : fashioning divine bodies and devotional bodies in Kṛṣṇa bhakti /

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