Speaking Of Basava : Lingayat Religion And Culture In South Asia

This is an evaluation of the religious culture of Lingayatism, a religion of more than eight million people about whom little is known outside India. The author records the achievements of Basava, an emissary prophet who waged a crusade against sociocultural inequalities and economic-political subordination of the masses in medieval South India. The bulk of the literature on Basava and Lingayatism incorporates both the Brahman and Bhakti movements. To do this is to lose sight of innovations that Basava introduced in reaction to his Brahman-dominated environment. Also, to look at Lingayatism as a direct linear descendant of the Hindu tradition is to ignore the revolutionary thrust of Lingayatism in its origin in the twelfth century A.O. and its continuing dynamism in the subsequent centuries. Cover Half Title Title Dedication Copyright Contents Preface 1. Introduction: The Context and the Theme 2. Sources 3. The Historical Context 4. The Story of Basava 5. Not an Off-shoot of Hinduism, but a New Religion 6. A Sarana Religion, Not a Bhakti Religion 7. The Teachings and Doctrines 8. An Appraisal 9. Some Vacanas of Sociological Significance Appendix: Population Growth in Karnataka: 1931-1981 References Index This book, based on a variety of source material, including Basava's own compositions (vacanas), addresses the neglected sociological task of description and analysis of Basava's innovative role in founding Lingayatism, focusing on the medieval Karnataka.