Defining Hinduism: a reader PDF
Preview Defining Hinduism: a reader
Defining Hinduism Critical Categories in the Study of Religion Series Editor: Russell T. McCutcheon, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Alabama Critical Categories in the Study of Religion aims to present the pivotal articles that best represent the most important trends in how scholars have gone about the task of describing, interpreting, and explaining the position of religion in human life. The series focuses on the development of categories and the terminology of scholarship that make possible knowledge about human beliefs, behaviours, and institutions. Each volume in the series is intended as both an introductory survey of the issues that surround the use of various key terms as well as an opportunity for a thorough retooling of the concept under study, making clear to readers that the cognitive categories of scholarship are themselves historical artefacts that change over time. Published: Syncretism in Religion A Reader Edited by Anita M. Leopold and Jeppe S. Jensen Forthcoming: Ritual and Religious Belief A Reader Edited by Graham Harvey Myths and Mythologies A Reader Edited by Jeppe S. Jensen Religion and Cognition A Reader Edited by D. Jason Slone Readings in the Theory of Religion Map, Text, Body Edited by Scott S. Elliott and Matthew Waggoner Mircea Eliade A Critical Reader Edited by Bryan Rennie Defining Religion A Reader Edited by Tim Murphy What is Religious Studies f A Reader in Disciplinary Formation Edited by Stephen J. Sutcliffe Defining Buddhisms A Reader Edited by Karen Derris and Natalie Gummer Defining Hinduism A Reader Edited by J. E. Llewellyn First published 2005 by Equinox, an imprint of Acumen Published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon 0X14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This selection and introductory material © J. E. Llewellyn 2005 Chapter 1 is reprinted by permission from Tradition and Reflection: Explorations in Indian Thought by Wilhelm Halbfass, State University of New York Press © 1991, State University of New York Press. All rights reserved All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notices Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 13: 978-1-904768-73-9 (pbk) Typeset by ISB Typesetting, Sheffield To Margaret and Bridget Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings and learn to fly Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: The Problem of Defining Hinduism 1 PARTI Definitions of Hinduism Orientation 14 1 WILHELM HALBFASS 16 The Idea of the Veda and the Identity of Hinduism 2 JULIUS J. LIPNER 30 Ancient Banyan: An Inquiry into the Meaning of “Hinduness” PART II Hinduism in the Precolonial Period Orientation 50 3 DAVID N. LORENZEN 52 Who Invented Hinduism? 4 WILLSWEETMAN 81 Unity and Plurality: Hinduism and the Religions of India in Early European Scholarship Defining Hinduism PART III Hinduism in the Colonial Period and in Independent India Orientation 100 5 BRIAN K. SMITH 102 Questioning Authority: Constructions and Deconstructions of Hinduism 6 ROBERT ERIC FRYKENBERG 125 Constructions of Hinduism at the Nexus of History and Religion PART IV Hinduism and Caste Orientation 148 7 MARY SEARLE-CHATTERJEE 151 “World Religions” and “Ethnic Groups”: Do these Paradigms Lend Themselves to the Cause of Hindu Nationalism? 8 GAIL OMVEDT 167 Introduction to Dalit Visions 9 TIMOTHY FITZGERALD 171 Problems with “Religion” as a Category for Understanding Hinduism Bibliography 203 Index 218 Acknowledgments I am grateful to the publishers of the essays included in this book for the permission to reproduce them. The publishers retain the copyright to them. The original publication information is: Halbfass, Wilhelm. 1991. “The Idea of the Veda and the Identity of Hinduism.” In Tradition and Reflection: Explorations of Indian Thought, ed. Wilhelm Halbfass, 1-22. Albany: State University of New York Press. Copyright © 1991 State University of New York Press. All rights reserved. Reprinted with the permission of State University of New York Press. Lipner, Julius J. 1996. “Ancient Banyan: An Inquiry into the Meaning of ‘Hinduness.’” Religious Studies 32: 109-26. Copyright © 1996 Cam bridge University Press. Reprinted with the permission of Cambridge University Press. Lorenzen, David N. 1999. “Who Invented Hinduism?” Comparative Studies in Society and History 41/4 (October): 630-59. © 1999 Society for Comparative Study of Society and History. Reprinted with the permission of Cambridge University Press. Sweetman, Will. 2001. “Unity and Plurality: Hinduism and the Reli gions of India in Early European Scholarship.” Religion 31: 209-24. Copyright 2001, with permission from Elsevier. Smith, Brian K. 1998. “Questioning Authority: Constructions and Deconstructions of Hinduism.” International Journal of Hindu Studies 2: 313-39. ix
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