Padmacarita

Padmacarita PDF

Author: Raviṣeṇa

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 562

ISBN-13:

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English translation of 7th cent. Jaina epic poem.

Catalogue of the Papers of Ernst Leumann in the Institute for the Culture and History of India and Tibet, University of Hamburg

Catalogue of the Papers of Ernst Leumann in the Institute for the Culture and History of India and Tibet, University of Hamburg PDF

Author:

Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 142

ISBN-13: 9783515070966

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Ernst Leumann (1859-1931), professor in Strasbourg, was one of the most distinguished scholars of his time in Indology, especially renowned for his work in Jaina studies. The papers left by him fill roughly 550 notebooks. The majority of them contain still unpublished transcriptions of Jaina manuscripts which deal mainly with the Jaina narrative literature. A wealth of analytical material concerning Indian literature in general and various Indian languages is also to be found in Leumann's work. The present catalogue presents for the first time a complete list of the material, and is supplemented with notes as to the contents of the notebooks and with various indices. "A Bibliography of Studies Connected With the Avasyaka-Commentaries" by Klaus Bruhn has been added as an appendix. (Franz Steiner 1998)

Śambūka and the Rāmāyaṇa Tradition

Śambūka and the Rāmāyaṇa Tradition PDF

Author: Aaron Sherraden

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2023-08-01

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 1839984716

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According to Vālmīki’s Sanskrit Rāmāyaṇa (early centuries CE), Śambūka was practicing severe acts of austerity to enter heaven. In engaging in these acts as a Śūdra, Śambūka was in violation of class- and caste-based societal norms prescribed exclusively by the ruling and religious elite. Rāma, the hero of the Rāmāyaṇa epic, is dispatched to kill Śambūka, whose transgression is said to be the cause of a young Brahmin’s death. The gods rejoice upon the Śūdra’s death and restore the life of the Brahmin. Subsequent Rāmāyaṇa poets almost instantly recognized this incident as a blemish on Rāma’s character and they began problematizing this earliest version of the story. They adjusted and updated the story to suit the expectations of their audiences. The works surveyed in this study include numerous works originating in Hindu, Jain, Dalit and non-Brahmin communities while spanning the period from Śambūka’s first appearance in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa through to the present day. The book follows the Śambūka episode chronologically across its entire history—approximately two millennia—to illuminate the social, religious, legal, and artistic connections that span the entire range of the Rāmāyaṇa’s influence and its place throughout various phases of Indian history and social revolution.

Jainism: A Guide for the Perplexed

Jainism: A Guide for the Perplexed PDF

Author: Sherry Fohr

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2015-01-29

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1474227554

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Jainism is arguably the most non-violent and austere religion in the world. While lay Jains attempt to never harm humans or animals, the strict non-violence followed by the highly revered monks and nuns also proscribes harm to any living being, even a microscopic organism. And while laywomen (and a few laymen) undergo long and difficult fasts, the longest being for one month, renouncers' austerities also include pulling their hair out by the roots two to five times a year, walking bare-foot throughout India most of the year, and, in the case of some monks, not wearing any clothing at all. Jainism: A Guide for the Perplexed is a clear and thorough account of this fascinating tradition, explaining many basic Jain values, beliefs and practices in the same way they are taught to Jains themselves, through the medium of sacred narratives. Drawing from Jainism's copious and influential narrative tradition, the author explores the inner-logic of how renouncers' and laypeople's values and practices depend on an intricate Jain worldview.

A Companion to Sanskrit Literature

A Companion to Sanskrit Literature PDF

Author: Sures Chandra Banerji

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 838

ISBN-13: 9788120800632

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In course of his studies in Sanskrit literature and research relating to various aspects of it, the author of the present work often felt the need of a vade mecum containing brief accounts of authors and works, information about the principal characters of Sanskrit plays, poems and prose works, the meaning of certain technical terms in common use, the common geographical names and the notable myths and legends. A Companion to Sanskrit Literature, the first work of its kind, covers a period of nearly 3500 years from the Vedic age down to the modern times. It seeks to acquaint the reader, within a brief compass, with the contents of outstanding works and authors in Sanskrit literature, followed by up-to-date bibliographies. Brief accounts of the important character in well-known poems, dramas and prose works have also been given. Important geographical names, with their modern identification as far as practicable, have also been laid down. Common technical terms, used in the different branches of Sanskrit literature, have been briefly explained, Prominent figures in myths and legends have been dealt with. In a number of appendices, various kinds of useful information about Sanskrit literature including sciences, sports and pastimes, etc. in ancient and medieval India have been set forth. It is an indispensable vade mecum for the general readers, the specialists and researchers. It is like a capsule taking the reader through the vast firmament of Sanskrit literature up to remote ages. -- Amazon.com.

Jaina-rūpa-maṇḍana

Jaina-rūpa-maṇḍana PDF

Author: Umakant Premanand Shah

Publisher: Abhinav Publications

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 9788170172086

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The JAINA-RUPA-MANDANA Volume I is an authentic work on Jaina iconography from the pen of a well-known authority on the subject, Dr. Umakant P.Shah, an eminent Indologist and art-historian with specialization in Jaina art and literature. Illustrated profusely with over two hundred monochrome plates, the work is a standard textbook and a very useful guide to all students in Indian art and archaeology and to Museum Curators. The work is supplemented with a large number of iconographic tables for images of all important Jaina gods and goddesses. Dr. Shah, the author, has for the first time given solutions to various basis problems of Jaina iconography supported with ample evidence from both archaeology and literature including unpublished original texts still in manuscripts.

Women and the Puranic Tradition in India

Women and the Puranic Tradition in India PDF

Author: Monika Saxena

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-09-03

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0429826397

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This book analyses the diverse ways in which women have been represented in the Purāṇic traditions in ancient India – the virtuous wife, mother, daughter, widow, and prostitute – against the socio-religious milieu around CE 300–1000. Purāṇas (lit. ancient narratives) are brahmanical texts that largely fall under the category of socio-religious literature which were more broad-based and inclusive, unlike the Smṛtis, which were accessible mainly to the upper sections of society. In locating, identifying, and commenting on the multiplicity of the images and depictions of women’s roles in Purāṇic traditions, the author highlights their lives and experiences over time, both within and outside the traditional confines of the domestic sphere. With a focus on five Mahāpurāṇas that deal extensively with the social matrix Viṣṇu, Mārkaṇḍeya Matsya, Agni, and Bhāgavata Purāṇas, the book explores the question of gender and agency in early India and shows how such identities were recast, invented, shaped, constructed, replicated, stereotyped, and sometimes reversed through narratives. Further, it traces social consequences and contemporary relevance of such representations in marriage, adultery, ritual, devotion, worship, fasts, and pilgrimage. This volume will be of interest to researchers and scholars in women and gender studies, ancient Indian history, religion, sociology, literature, and South Asian studies, as also the informed general reader.