Dharma: Its Early History in Law, Religion, and Narrative (South Asia Research)

Between 300 BCE and 200 CE, concepts and practices of dharma attained literary prominence throughout India. Both Buddhist and Brahmanical authors sought to clarify and classify their central concerns, and dharma proved a means of thinking through and articulating those concerns. Alf Hiltebeitel shows the different ways in which dharma was interpreted during that formative period: from the grand cosmic chronometries of __kalpas__ and __yugas__ to narratives about divine plans, gendered nuances of genealogical time, royal biography (even autobiography, in the case of the emperor Asoka), and guidelines for daily life, including meditation. He reveals the vital role dharma has played across political, religious, legal, literary, ethical, and philosophical domains and discourses about what holds life together. Through dharma, these traditions have articulated their distinct visions of the good and well-rewarded life. This insightful study explores the diverse and changing significance of dharma in classical India in nine major dharma texts, as well some shorter ones. Dharma proves to be a term by which to make a fresh cut through these texts, and to reconsider their own chronology, their import, and their relation to each other. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Abbreviations......Page 16 1. Introduction......Page 22 A. Classical Dharma Texts and Their Relative Dating......Page 24 B. Three Critical Editions......Page 30 C. Paradigm Shifts on Dharma: The Case of the Mahābhārata......Page 39 D. Chapter by Chapter......Page 48 2. Aśoka Maurya......Page 54 A. Aśoka’s Inscriptions......Page 55 B. A Comprehensive Dhamma......Page 64 3. A Vedic History of Dharma......Page 70 A. Dhárman in Early and Later Rgvedic Usages......Page 71 B. Dhárman as Enigma......Page 77 C. Dhárman and Rgvedic Kingship......Page 85 D. Mantra Period and Later Samhitā Usages......Page 97 E. The Brāhmanas......Page 103 F. The Upanisads......Page 110 4. Early Buddhism: Three Baskets of Dharma......Page 122 A. Sūtra Basket Dharma......Page 126 B. Abhidharma Basket Dharma......Page 143 C. Vinaya Basket Dharma......Page 169 5. Post-Vedic Brahmanical Dharma......Page 200 A. Vedic Schools and the Dharmasūtras......Page 201 B. Toward Consensus in Brahmanical Dharma Texts......Page 208 C. What’s New with Manu......Page 215 D. Brahmā in Manu ’s Frame Narrative......Page 227 E. Varna (Caste), Āśrama (Life Pattern), the King, Śūdras,and Women......Page 234 F. Rājadharma: Establishing a King’s Dharma......Page 247 G. A Day in a King’s Life......Page 252 6. Dharma over Time, I: Big Time Dharma......Page 262 A. Kalpas and Yugas......Page 263 B. Buddhist and Hindu Kalpas......Page 265 C. Originary Dharma in the Mahābhārata......Page 279 D. Kalpas, Manvantaras, and Yugas in Manu and the Mahābhārata......Page 285 7. Dharma over Time, II: Prophesies of Disaster......Page 292 A. The Yuga Purāna......Page 293 B. Variations on the Debacle at Kauśāmbī......Page 317 C. The Yuga Purāna and the Kauśāmbī Myth......Page 352 8. Women’s Dharma: Śāstric Norms and Epic Narratives......Page 356 A. Strīdharma......Page 357 B. The Law of the Mother......Page 359 C. Mother Gangā......Page 364 D. Mother Kālī Satyavatī......Page 373 E. The Transitional “Three Mothers,”......Page 392 F. Mothers Kuntī and Gāndhārī......Page 402 G. Kuntī, Mādrī, and Pāndu among the Hundred Peak Mountain Rsis......Page 412 H. Settling Mother Kuntī and Her Sons Back at Hāstinapura......Page 425 I. Conclusions......Page 429 9. Two Dharma Biographies? Rāma and Yudhisthira......Page 430 A. The Royal Life as Adventure......Page 431 B. Frames and Frontmatter on Rāma, Yudhisthira, and Dharma......Page 434 C. Sidestories and Subtales, Foregrounding and Legal Precedent......Page 439 D. Monstrous Encounters......Page 448 E. Questionable Killings: Vālin and Drona......Page 472 F. Rāma and Yudhisthira: Some Comparative Points......Page 498 10. Draupadī and Sītā: Dharmapatnīs of Two Different Kinds......Page 500 A. Family Background, Birth, and Childhood......Page 503 B. Marriage, Divine Plan, Early Signs of Trouble......Page 507 C. Sītā and Draupadī on Their Svadharma......Page 514 D. Captivity and Exile......Page 517 11. Dharma and the Bhagavad Gītā......Page 536 A. Svadharma and Svakarma: Qualities, Merits, and Virtues......Page 537 B. Who Has Svadharma?......Page 548 C. Manu and the Bhagavad Gītā: Two Kinds of Karmayoga......Page 554 D. Where Krsna Is There Is Dharma......Page 561 E. Dharma Rings in the Bhagavad Gītā Proper......Page 572 12. Dharma and Bhakti......Page 588 A. Mapping the Divine Plans......Page 590 B. The Placer and the Ordainer......Page 604 C. “Avatāra,”......Page 608 D. Friendship, Hospitality, and Separation......Page 622 E. Rsidharma......Page 626 F. Rāma and Krsna as Guests, Hosts, and Friends......Page 635 13. Aśvaghosa’s Buddhacarita: A Buddhist Reading of the Sanskrit Epics and Their Treatments of Dharma......Page 644 A. Aśvaghosa’s Buddhacarita......Page 645 B. The Centrality of Dharma in Aśvaghosa’s Buddhacarita......Page 647 C. Aśvaghosa the Brahmin, Buddhist Convert, and Scholar......Page 652 D. Aśvaghosa and Epic Precedents......Page 654 E. The Buddhacarita and the Rāmāyana......Page 657 F. The Buddhacarita and the Mahābhārata......Page 664 G. Postscript on Aśoka......Page 702 Bibliography......Page 704 A......Page 746 B......Page 748 C......Page 750 D......Page 751 E......Page 752 G......Page 753 I......Page 754 K......Page 755 M......Page 756 N......Page 758 P......Page 759 R......Page 760 S......Page 761 T......Page 762 V......Page 763 Y......Page 765 Z......Page 766 "Between 300 BCE and 200 CE, concepts and practices of dharma attained literary prominence throughout India. Both Buddhist and Brahmanical authors sought to clarify and classify their central concerns, and dharma proved a means of thinking through and articulating those concerns. Alf Hiltebeitel shows the different ways in which dharma was interpreted during that formative period: from the grand cosmic chronometries of kalpas and yugas to narratives about divine plans, gendered nuances of genealogical time, royal biography (even autobiography, in the case of the emperor Asoka), and guidelines for daily life, including meditation. He reveals the vital role dharma has played across political, religious, legal, literary, ethical, and philosophical domains and discourses about what holds life together. Through dharma, these traditions have articulated their distinct visions of the good and well-rewarded life. This insightful study explores the diverse and changing significance of dharma in classical India in nine major dharma texts, as well some shorter ones. Dharma proves to be a term by which to make a fresh cut through these texts, and to reconsider their own chronology, their import, and their relation to each other."--Publisher's description