Language, Texts, and Society: Explorations in Ancient Indian Culture and Religion (Anthem South Asian Studies,Cultural, Historical and Textual Studies of South Asian Religions)

This collection brings together the research papers of Patrick Olivelle, published over a period of about ten years. The unifying theme of these studies is the search for historical context and developments hidden within words and texts. Words - and the cultural history represented by words - that scholars often take for granted as having a continuous and long history are often new and even neologisms, and thus provide important clues to cultural and religious innovations. Olivelle's book on the Asramas, as well as the short pieces included in this volume, such as those on ananda and dharma, seek to see cultural innovation and historical changes within the changing semantic fields of key terms. Closer examination of numerous Sanskrit terms taken for granted as central to 'Hinduism' provide similar results. Indian texts have often been studied in the past as disincarnate realities providing information on an ahistorical and unchanging culture. This volume is a small contribution towards correcting that method of textual study. Half Title Page......Page 1 Series Page......Page 2 Main Title Page......Page 3 Copyright Page......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Preface......Page 7 Abbreviations......Page 9 I. Young Svetaketu: A Literary Study of an Upanisadic Story......Page 13 II. dharmaskandhah and brahmasamsthah: A Study of Chandogya Upanisad 2.23.1......Page 53 III. Orgasmic Rapture and Divine Ecstasy: The Semantic History of ananda......Page 75 IV. Amrta: Women and Indian Technologies of Immortality......Page 101 V. Power of Words: The Ascetic Appropriation and the Semantic Evolution of dharma......Page 121 VI. Semantic History of Dharma: The Middle and Late Vedic Periods......Page 137 VII. Explorations in the Early History of Dharmasastra......Page 155 VIII. Structure and Composition of the Manava Dharmasastra......Page 179 IX. Caste and Purity: A Study in the Language of the Dharma Literature......Page 217 X. Rhetoric and Reality: Women’s Agency in the Dharmasastras......Page 247 XI. Manu and Gautama: A Study in Sastric Intertextuality......Page 261 XII. Manu and the Arthasastra: A Study in Sastric Intertextuality......Page 275 XIII. Unfaithful Transmitters: Philological Criticism and Critical Editions of the Upanisads......Page 287 XIV. Sanskrit Commentators and the Transmission of Texts: Haradatta on Apastamba-Dharmasutra......Page 301 XV. Hair and Society: Social Significance of Hair in South Asian Traditions......Page 321 XVI. Abhaksya and Abhojya: An Exploration in Dietary Language......Page 351 XVII. Food for Thought: Dietary Rules and Social Organization in Ancient India......Page 367 References......Page 395 Index......Page 413 This collection brings together a series of Patrick Olivelles research papers, published over a period of about ten years, whose unifying theme is the search for hidden historical context and developments within words and texts. Words (and cultural histories represented by words) that scholars often take for granted as having a continuous and long history are often new sometimes even being neologisms. They can thus provide important indications of cultural and religious innovations. Olivelles book on the asramas, as well as the short pieces included in this volume, such as those on ananda and dharma, seek to see cultural innovation and historical changes within the changing semantic fields of key terms. Closer examination of numerous Sanskrit terms taken for granted as central to Hinduism provide similar results. Indian texts have often been studied in the past as disincarnate realities providing information on an ahistorical and unchanging culture. Language, Texts, and Society is a small contribution towards correcting this method of textual study.