Violence Denied: Violence, Non-Violence and the Rationalization of Violence in South Asian Cultural History (Brill's Indological Library, 16)

In the course of millennia of dealing with problems of violence, South Asia has not only elaborated the ideal of total avoidance of violence in a unique manner, it also developed arguments justifying and rationalizing its employment under certain circumstances. Some of these arguments seemingly transform all sorts of 'violence' into 'non-violence'. Historical and cultural aspects of the tensions between violence and its denial and rationalization in South Asia are taken up in the contributions of this volume which deal with topics ranging from the origins of the concept of ahiṃsā, to the iconography and interpretation of a self-beheading goddess, and violent heroines in Ajñeya's Hindi short stories. Hindu Ahiṁsā And Its Roots / Henk W. Bodewitz -- Aspects Of The Buddhist Attitude Towards War / Lambert L. Schmithausen -- Raṇayajña: The Mahābhārata War As A Sacrifice / Danielle Feller Jatavallabhula -- To Kill Or Not To Kill The Sacrificial Animal (yajña-paśu)? Arguments And Perspectives In Brahminical Ethical Philosophy / Jan E.m. Houben -- Jainism As The Religion Of Non-violence / Robert J. Zydenbos -- Construction Sacrifice In India, Seen From The East / Roy E. Jordaan And Robert J. Wessing -- Iconography Of The Battlefield: The Case Of Chinnamastā / Karel R. Van Kooij -- Expressions Of Violence In Buddhist Tantric Mantras / Pieter C. Verhagen -- The Embarrassment Of Political Violence In Europe And South Asia, C. 1100-1800 / Jos Gommans -- Nationalism And Violence In Colonial India: 1880-1910 / Victor A. Van Bijlert -- Violent Heroines: Ajñeya And Violence / Theo Damsteegt. Edited By Jan E.m. Houben And Karel R. Van Kooij. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The treatments of violence in the history of the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) range from Jain ascetics wearing face masks and sweeping the ground in front of them to avoid killing any manner of life to Krishna's advice (while revealing himself as Vishnu in the Bhagavad Gita ) to his cousin Arjuna that the killing of his other cousins in war was a just part of his karma. Yet the Jain tradition has resulted in conqueror kings and Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi has argued that the Bhagavad is the strongest statement for nonviolence that exists. Twelve essays explore these and other tensions about the use of violence in the Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu traditions on the Indian subcontinent. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Historical and cultural aspects of the tensions between violence and its denial and rationalization in South Asia are taken up in this volume. It deals with topics ranging from the origins of the concept of Ahimsa, to the violent heroines in Ajneya's Hindi short stories.