Self-Surrender (prapatti) to God in Shrivaishnavism (eBook)

Tamil Cats or Sanskrit Monkeys?

Srilata Raman (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2007
256 Seiten
Taylor and Francis (Verlag)
978-0-203-96781-2 (ISBN)

Infos

Filling the most glaring gap in Shrivaishnava scholarship, this book deals with the history of interpretation of a theological concept of self-surrender-prapatti in late twelfth and thirteenth century religious texts of the Shrivaishnava community of South India. This original study shows that medieval sectarian formation in its theological dimension is a fluid and ambivalent enterprise, where conflict and differentiation are presaged on "e;sharing"e;, whether of a common canon, saint or rituals or two languages (Tamil and Sanskrit), or of a "e;meta-social"e; arena such as the temple. Srilata Mueller, a member of the Shrivaishnava community, argues that the core ideas of prapatti in these religious texts reveal the description of a heterogeneous theological concept. Demonstrating that this concept is theologically moulded by the emergence of new literary genres, Mueller puts forward the idea that this original understanding of prapatti is a major contributory cause to the emergence of sectarian divisions among the Shrivaishnavas, which lead to the formation of two sub-sects, the Tenkalai and the Vatakalia, who stand respectively, for the "e;cat"e; and "e;monkey"e; theological positions. Making an important contribution to contemporary Indian and Hindu thinking on religion, this text provides a new intellectual history of medieval Indian religion. It will be of particular interest to scholars of Shrivaishnava and also Hindu and Indian religious studies.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 8.2.2007
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Hinduismus
• ISBN-10: 0-203-96781-X / 020396781X
• ISBN-13: 978-0-203-96781-2 / 9780203967812