Strong arms and drinking strength : masculinity, violence, and the body in ancient India

238 Pages·2011·0.89 MB·English

by  Jarrod L. Whitaker

Strong Arms and
Drinking Strength
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Strong Arms and
Drinking Strength
Masculinity, Violence, and the
Body in Ancient India
.
JARROD L WHITAKER
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Copyright © 2011 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Whitaker, Jarrod.
Strong arms and drinking strength : masculinity, violence, and the body
in ancient India / Jarrod L. Whitaker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-19-975570-7 (clothbound)
1. Masculinity in the Vedas. 2. Soma in the Vedas. 3. Vedas. Rgveda—Criticism, interpretation, etc.
I. Title.
BL1112.57.W55 2011
294.5 ′ 9212048—dc22 2010013596
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To Nicole, for making me listen.
To Gabriel and Maya, for allowing me to see.
It’s not about whose facts are true.
It’s about whose fabrication of history and
culture has the most consensus.
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Contents
Acknowledgments , ix
Introduction , 3
1. Manhood and Masculinity , 35
2. Brave Men and Manliness , 59
3. Mighty Champions and Slaying the Dragon , 109
4. Strong Arms and Drinking Strength , 133
Conclusion , 161
Notes , 167
Bibliography , 203
Index of Passages , 211
Index of Subjects , 223
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Acknowledgments
It is impossible to thank all the people who have helped this project
come to fruition, but it is with great pleasure that I can acknowledge
some of them. Three people deserve more praise than I can possibly
state here. First, none of this would have been possible without Joel
Brereton’s statesmanship, equanimity, and unfailing encouragement.
He also gave me an enormous gift of time, especially the hundreds of
hours spent drinking tea and translating the R gveda on Saturday
̥
mornings during 2002–2004. If I can embody and pass on just a
little of his qualities, then my students will be well served. Second, I
am truly thankful for Stephanie Jamison, whose patient criticism of
my translations and arguments over the years has kept me honest
and humbled, and whose faith in my ability to do this thing called
philology has allowed me to rein in the cart so as to put the horse in
its rightful place. Third, I am constantly grateful for Patrick Olivelle’s
example, integrity, and support. All three scholars have given me
much more than an academic education, and for that I am eternally
indebted.
My gratitude goes also to Dean Franco, James Powell, Theodore
Proferes, Tanisha Ramachandran, and Stephen Sharp. Their com-
ments greatly improved the chapters. My sincere thanks to the two
anonymous readers for the J ournal of the American Oriental Society ,
whose candid criticism helped me reformulate what is now chapter 3
(in the end, the material worked better in the book than in article
form); likewise thanks to the two anonymous readers for Oxford