Donald S. Lopez Jr. - Religions of India in Practice

RELIGIONS OF INDIA IN PRACTICE

PRINCETON READINGS IN RELIGIONS

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Editor

TITLES IN THE SERIES

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Religions of India in Practice

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Buddhism in Practice

RELIGIONS OF

INDIA

IN PRACTICE

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Editor

PRINCETON READINGS IN RELIGIONS

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

Copyright 1995 by Princeton University Press

Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,

Princeton, New Jersey 08540

In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Religions of India in practice / edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr.

p. cm. (Princeton readings in religions)

Includes index.

ISBN 0-691-04325-6. ISBN 0-691-04324-8 (pbk.)

eISBN: 978-0-691-21626-3

1. IndiaReligion. I. Lopez, Donald S., 1952- II. Series.

BL2001.2.R384 1994

294dc20 94-34695

R0

DEDICATED TO

A. K. RAMANUJAN

1929-1993

PRINCETON READINGS
IN RELIGIONS

Princeton Readings in Religions is a new series of anthologies on the religions of the world, representing the significant advances that have been made in the study of religions in the last thirty years. The sourcebooks used by the last generation of students placed a heavy emphasis on philosophy and on the religious expressions of elite groups in what were deemed the classical civilizations of Asia and the Middle East. Princeton Readings in Religions provides a different configuration of texts in an attempt better to represent the range of religious practices, placing particular emphasis on the ways in which texts are used in diverse contexts. The series therefore includes ritual manuals, hagiographical and autobiographical works, and folktales, as well as some ethnographic material. Many works are drawn from vernacular sources. The readings in the series are new in two senses. First, the majority of the works contained in the volumes have never have been translated into a Western language before. Second, the readings are new in the sense that each volume provides new ways to read and understand the religions of the world, breaking down the sometimes misleading stereotypes inherited from the past in an effort to provide both more expansive and more focused perspectives on the richness and diversity of religious expressions. The series is designed for use by a wide range of readers, with key terms translated and technical notes omitted. Each volume also contains a substantial introduction by a distinguished scholar in which the histories of the traditions are outlined and the significance of each of the works is explored.

Religions of India in Practice provides a particularly appropriate inaugural volume for the Princeton Readings in Religions. The thirty contributors include leading scholars of Indian religions, each of whom has provided one or more translations of key works, most of which are translated here for the first time. Each chapter in the volume begins with a substantial introduction in which the translator discusses the history and influence of the work, identifying points of particular difficulty or interest. Professor Richard Davis has provided an introduction to the entire volume, moving chronologically from the Indus Valley civilization to the modern period, identifying the place of each chapter in the currents of the religious traditions of India.

Three other volumes of the Princeton Readings in Religions are in press: Religions of China in Practice, Religions of Japan in Practice, and Buddhism in Practice. Volumes currently nearing completion are devoted to: Islam in Asia, Islamic mysticism, and the religions of Tibet. Future volumes are planned for religions of Latin America, religions of Africa, as well as on Judaism and Christianity.

Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
Series Editor

NOTE ON
TRANSLITERATION

The works in this volume are translated from many Indian
languages. The translators have, in general, adhered to the standard
transliteration system for each of the languages. Certain common
place names and selected terms that have entered into English
usage appear without diacritical marks.

CONTENTS BY TRADITIONS

As explained in the introduction, this volume is organized thematically, rather than by tradition, in order to suggest the interactions, intersections, and confluences in the religious practices of India. It is useful, nonetheless, to see also how the works included in this volume might be organized by tradition. Such an organization presents certain difficulties, as evidenced by the title of , Satya Pr: Muslim Holy Man and Hindu God, which has been classed as Hindu below because Satya Pr is more widely revered today by Hindus than by Muslims. There are three chapters, however, which are not listed below because they elude such classification: Bul Songs (there are both Hindu and Muslim Buls), Tamil Song to God as Child (with songs to Muammad, Jesus, and ivas son), and Kabr. Kabr (1398-1518) was an orphan raised by low-caste Hindu weavers who may have only recently converted to Islam. His guru was a devotee of Rma. In his poetry, Kabr criticized both Hindus and Muslims. According to a popular story, upon his death his body was claimed by both Hindus and Muslims. When they pulled back his shroud they found only petals.

Buddhist

Hindu

Jain

Muslim

Sikh

CONTRIBUTORS

Ali Asani teaches in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University.

Guy Leon Beck teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at Louisana State University.

Douglas Renfrew Brooks teaches in the Department of Religion and Classics at University of Rochester.

John E. Cort teaches in the Department of Religion at Denison University.

Norman Cutler teaches in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago.

Ronald M. Davidson teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at Fairfield University.

Richard H. Davis teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at Yale University.

Neal Delmonico teaches in the Religious Studies Program at Iowa State University.

Vinay Dharwadker