Pilgrimage in the Hindu tradition: salvific space

206 Pages·2014·2.167 MB·English

by  Jacobsen, Knut A

Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition
Salvific space is one of the central ideas in the Hindu traditions of pilgrimage, and
concerns the ability of space, especially sites associated with bodies of water such
as rivers and lakes, to grant salvific rewards. Focusing on religious, historical and
sociological questions about the phenomenon, this book investigates the narra-
tives, rituals, history and structures of salvific space, and looks at how it became
a central feature of Hinduism.
Arguing that salvific power of place became a major dimension of Hinduism
through a development in several stages, the book analyzes the historical process
of how salvific space and pilgrimage in the Hindu tradition developed. It discusses
how the traditions of salvific space exemplify the decentered polycentrism that
defines Hinduism. The book uses original data from field research, as well as
drawing on main textual sources such as Mahābhārata, the Purān.as, the medi-
eval digests on pilgrimage places (tīrthas), and a number of Sthalapurān.as and
Māhātmyas praising the salvific power of the place. By looking at some of the
contradictions in and challenges to the tradition of Hindu salvific space in history
and in contemporary India, the book is a useful study on Hinduism and South
Asian Studies.
Knut A. Jacobsen is Professor in the History of Religions at the University of
Bergen, Norway. He has published widely on religions in South Asia and in the
South Asian diasporas.
Routledge Hindu Studies Series
Series Editor: Gavin Flood, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
Former Series Editor: Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Harvard University
The Routledge Hindu Studies Series, in association with the Oxford Centre for Hindu
Studies, intends the publication of constructive Hindu theological, philosophical
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Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition
Salvific space
Knut A. Jacobsen

Pilgrimage in the
Hindu Tradition
Salvific space
Knut A. Jacobsen
First published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Knut A. Jacobsen
The right of Knut A. Jacobsen to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Jacobsen, Knut A., 1956-
Pilgrimage in the Hindu tradition : salvific space / Knut A. Jacobsen.
pages cm. – (Routledge Hindu studies series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Hindu pilgrims and pilgrimages. 2. Salvation–Hinduism.
3. Space–Religious aspects–Hinduism. 4. Hinduism–History. I. Title.
BL1239.32.J33 2012
294.5'351–dc23
2012006270
ISBN: 978–0–415–59038–9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978–0–203–10251–0 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
By Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon
Contents
Preface viii
Introduction 1
1 Concepts and sources 4
2 Salvific space, narratives and space as divinity 19
3 The origin of the Hindu traditions of salvific space 41
4 The growth and omnipresence of the Hindu
traditions of salvific space 71
5 Narratives and doctrines of salvific space:
the example of sage Kapila 96
6 The structure of Hindu salvific space: a pluralistic
pilgrimage tradition or why there is no Mecca of Hinduism 122
7 Contradictions and challenges 146
Notes 171
References 177
Index 187
Preface
First of all, I want to thank the numerous pilgrims at many Hindu places of pil-
grimage in India who took time to answer my questions and talk to me about
their pilgrimage, and the pan.d.ās and sādhus at these places for their guidance
and advice. Many other persons have provided ideas and suggestions but I espe-
cially want to thank Mark S. G. Dyczkowski, Peter Flügel, Kay Hutchings, Madhu
Khanna, Gerald James Larson, Julius Lipner, Sri Narayan Mishra and Rana P. B.
Singh. I am most indebted to my partner and co-pilgrim, Hanne Svendsen. I thank
the University of Bergen, Norway for numerous grants to visit pilgrimage places
in India.
I have used diacritics in the names of tīrthas, but anglicized forms of the modern
states of India, i.e. Vārān.asī, Prayāg, Miśrik and Naimis.āran.ya, but Uttar Pradesh;
.
Gangāsāgar, Tārakeśvar, but Bengal; and Badrīnāth and Kedārnāth, but Uttara-
khand, and so on. The words Brahman and Brahmanical have become part of the
English language and are written without diacritics.
Some of the material in Chapter 5 has earlier been published in Knut A. Jacob-
sen, Kapila: Founder of Sām.khya and Avatāra of Vis.n.u, New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal, 2008.
Introduction
This book is a critical study of Hindu traditions of salvific space. I emphasize
the word critical. Some of the writings on Hindu pilgrimage typically just repeat
the ideology of the sacred places promoted by the texts that celebrate the place:
the Māhātmyas and Purān.as. They read like, and may even become, modern
Māhātmyas and Purān.as. Critical studies, on the other hand, try to understand the
processes that create and maintain or terminate salvific space. This book addresses
the nature of Hindu salvific space and the questions of how and why salvific space
attained the central role in Hinduism. My interest in this topic is as a scholar of
religion. I am interested in salvific space as the idea and practice has unfolded in
the history of Hinduism, in the tradition attributing salvific or salvational power to
space and in the Hindu idea of salvific power of space. Hindu pilgrimage texts are
important sources for knowledge about ancient Indian geography and they have,
to a large degree, been studied for the purpose of attaining such knowledge. My
interest is in salvific space as a particular religious conception and practice that
has a historical origin and a history, and the dynamics of Hindu pilgrimage tradi-
tions as they have developed over time. I am interested in the ascription of sacred-
ness, divinity and salvific power to places, and in pilgrimage rituals as sources for
understanding an aspect of the history of Hinduism. No religion has more elabo-
rate conceptions of sacred space than Hinduism, and in this religion sacred space
is also salvific space. Space is, in a number of ways, presented as a source of the
attainment of salvational goals.
The study of Hindu pilgrimage is the study of texts and places, their social and
cultural organization, the value and meaning attached to places, and of people and
their rituals. This study of Hindu pilgrimage is based on the examination of his-
torical textual sources (Sanskrit and Hindi texts), as well as contemporary litera-
ture praising the places, the academic texts on the topic and my own field research
and studies of living pilgrimage traditions. Some historical questions about the
phenomenon are in focus: how did pilgrimage traditions become such an impor-
tant feature of Hinduism – that is, how did pilgrimage originate and what are
the reasons for its immense success? In the Vedic tradition, pilgrimage to sacred
places was unimportant or perhaps non-existent. It will be argued that power of
place became a main element in Hinduism at different stages through a histori-
cal process. Chapter 1 introduces the subject, the concepts and the sources. In