Reading the Fifth Veda: Studies on the Mahabharata - Essays by Alf Hiltebeitel vol. I (Numen Book Series Texts and Sources in the History of Religions)

Often spoken of as the 'Fifth Veda', i.e., as a text in continuity with the four Vedas and outweighing them all in size and import, the Mahbhrata presents a complex mythological and narrative landscape, incorporating fundamental ethical, social, philosophic, and pedagogic issues. In a series of position pieces and essays written over a span of 30 years, Alf Hiltebeitel, Columbian Professor of Religion, History, and Human Sciences at The George Washington University, articulates a compelling new approach to the epic: as a literary work of fundamental theological and philosophical significance rich in metaphor and meaning. In this three-part volume, the editors gather some of Hiltebeitels seminal writings on the epic along with new pieces written especially for the volume.This two volume edition collects nearly three decades of Alf Hiltebeitels researches into the Indian epic and religious tradition. The two volumes document Hiltebeitels longstanding fascination with the Sanskrit epics: volume 1 presents a series of appreciative readings of the Mahbhrata (and to a lesser extent, the Rmyaa), while volume 2 focuses on what Hiltebeitel has called the underground Mahbhrata, i.e., the Mahbhrata as it is still alive in folk and vernacular traditions. Recently re-edited and with a new set of articles completing a trajectory Hiltebeitel established over 30 years ago, this work constitutes a definitive statement from this major scholar. Comprehensive indices, cross-referencing, and an exhaustive bibliography make it an essential reference work. For more information on the second volume please click here. Contents 10 Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 12 Chronology of Works 38 I. Position Pieces 50 Chapter One Weighting Orality and Writing in the Sanskrit Epics 52 Chapter Two The Primary Process of the Hindu Epics 80 Chapter Three More Rethinking the Mahābhārata: Toward a Politics of Bhakti 98 Chapter Four Why Itihāsa? New Possibilities and Limits in Considering the Mahābhārata as History 122 Chapter Five The Archetypal Design of the Two Sanskrit Epics 160 Chapter Six Not Without Subtales:Telling Laws and Truths in the Sanskrit Epics 180 II. Major Position Pieces 234 Chapter Seven The Nārāyaṇīya and Early Reading Communities of the Mahābhārata 236 Chapter Eight Among Friends: Marriage, Women, and Some Little Birds 270 Chapter Nine Epic Aśvamedhas 308 Chapter Ten Authorial Paths Through the Two Sanskrit Epics: Via the Rāmopākhyāna 328 Chapter Eleven Mapping Bhakti in the Sanskrit Epics: Friendship, Hospitality, and Separation 364 Chapter Twelve On Reading Fitzgerald’s Vyāsa 382 III. Recent/Early Companion Pieces 414 Chapter Thirteen Bhīṣma’s Sources 416 Chapter Fourteen Nahuṣa in the Skies: A Human King of Heaven 436 Chapter Fifteen Kṛṣṇ̣a in the Mahābhārata: The Death of Karṇa 460 Chapter Sixteen Brothers, Friends, and Charioteers: Parallel Episodes in the Irish and Indian Epics 510 Chapter Seventeen The Two Kṛṣṇ̣as on One Chariot: Upaniṣadic Imagery and Epic Mythology 534 Chapter Eighteen Buddhism and the Mahābhārata: Boundary Dynamics in Textual Practice 562 Chapter Nineteen Kṛṣṇ̣a at Mathurā 584 Chapter Twenty Empire, Invasion, and India’s National Epics 602 Chapter Twenty-One Role, Role Model, and Function: The Sanskrit Epic Warrior in Comparison and Theory 630 IV. Apparatus 650 Bibliography 652 Index 678 9789004185661 BRILL NV Often spoken of as the'Fifth Veda', i.e., as a text in continuity with the four Vedas and outweighing them all in size and import, the Mahābhārata presents a complex mythological and narrative landscape, incorporating fundamental ethical, social, philosophic, and pedagogic issues. In a series of position pieces and essays written over a span of 30 years, Alf Hiltebeitel, Columbian Professor of Religion, History, and Human Sciences at The George Washington University, articulates a compelling new approach to the epic: as a literary work of fundamental theological and philosophical significance rich in metaphor and meaning. In this three-part volume, the editors gather some of Hiltebeitel's seminal writings on the epic along with new pieces written especially for the volume.This two volume edition collects nearly three decades of Alf Hiltebeitel's researches into the Indian epic and religious tradition. The two volumes document Hiltebeitel's longstanding fascination with the Sanskrit epics: volume 1 presents a series of appreciative readings of the Mahābhārata (and to a lesser extent, the Rāmāyaṇa), while volume 2 focuses on what Hiltebeitel has called “the underground Mahābhārata,” i.e., the Mahābhārata as it is still alive in folk and vernacular traditions. Recently re-edited and with a new set of articles completing a trajectory Hiltebeitel established over 30 years ago, this work constitutes a definitive statement from this major scholar. Comprehensive indices, cross-referencing, and an exhaustive bibliography make it an essential reference work. For more information on the second volume please click here. Bringing together Hiltebeitel's major essays on the the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyaṇa, and the south Indian cults of Draupadī and Kūttāṇṭavar along with new articles written especially for this collection, this two volume work offers a comprehensive re-reading of the Indian epic tradition by the foremost scholar in Indian epic studies today. Bringing together Hiltebeitel's major essays on the the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the south Indian cults of Draupadi and Kuttantavar along with new articles written especially for this collection, this two volume work offers a comprehensive re-reading of the Indian epic tradition by the foremost scholar in Indian epic studies today.