Crossing the Lines of Caste: Visvamitra and the Construction of Brahmin Power in Hindu Mythology

337 Pages·2015·5.157 MB·English

by  Adheesh A. Sathaye

m
Crossing the Lines of Caste

Crossing the Lines of Caste
Viśvāmitra and the Construction of Brahmin
Power in Hindu Mythology
m
Adheesh A. Sathaye
1
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of
Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research,
scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
© Oxford University Press 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior
permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law,
by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization.
Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the
Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sathaye, Adheesh A., author.
Crossing the lines of caste : Viśvāmitra and the construction of Brahmin power in Hindu
mythology / Adheesh A. Sathaye.
pages cm
ISBN 978–0–19–934110–8 (hardback)—ISBN 978–0–19–934111–5 (paperback)—
ISBN 978–0–19–023684–7 (companion website) 1. Visvamitra (Hindu
mythology) 2. Caste—Religious aspects—Hinduism. I. Title.
BL1225.V495S28 2015
294.5—dc23
2014035149
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
in memory of
Alan Dundes (1934–2005)
Aditya Behl (1966–2009)
आई (1942–1999)

Contents
m
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
A Note on Transliteration xv
Abbreviations xvii
About the Companion Website xix
Introduction: Crossing the Lines of Caste 1
foUnDations
1. Poet, Priest, and Prince: Glimpses of Viśvāmitra in Vedic Literature 35
2. Genealogy of the Brahmin Other in the Sanskrit Epics 59
aDaPtations
3. Spinning the Brahmin Other in the Early Purāṇas 111
4. Geo-Mapping the Brahmin Other in Regional Purāṇic Literature 140
Confrontations
5. Encountering the Brahmin Double in Medieval India 177
6. Becoming a New Brahmin in Modern India 208
Conclusions: Texts, Performances, and Hindu Mythological Culture 241
Catalogue of Viśvāmitra Legends 253
Bibliography 259
Index 293
vii

List of iLLUstrations
m
fig. 2.1. Viśvāmitra, on a coin of the Audumbara king Dharaghoṣa,
c. 1st century, BCE. (Image courtesy of the Trustees of the
British Museum). 60
fig. 2.2. Reverse view of Dharaghoṣa’s Viśvāmitra coin, c. 1st century,
BCE, showing trident/battle-axe and fig tree. (Image courtesy
of the Trustees of the British Museum).  61
fig. 4.1. Viśvāmitra-kuṇḍa in Vadnagar, Gujarat, with ruins of a
Gaṇeśa/Saptarṣi temple in background.  141
fig. 4.2. Panoramic view of the town of Vadnagar, including Arjun
Bari Gate and Lake Śarmiṣṭhā.  160
fig. 4.3. Details of the ruins of the Gaṇeśa/Saptarṣi temple at
Viśvāmitra-kuṇḍa.  161
fig. 4.4. Panoramic view of Pavagadh, near Vadodara, Gujarat,
including the site of Viśvāmitra-saras.  172
fig. 5.1. Inscription from Udaypur, Madhya Pradesh, late eleventh
century, mentioning Viśvāmitra’s theft of Vasiṣṭha’s cow.
(Photographed by A. Führer, photolithography by W. Griggs.
Image reproduced from Epigraphia Indica, vol. 1, ed. by
J. A. S. Burgess (Calcutta, 1892), p. 234).  178
ix