Sūtras, stories and yoga philosophy: narrative and transfiguration

173 Pages·2016·5.109 MB·English

by  Raveh, Daniel

Sūtras, Stories and Yoga Philosophy
This book presents a close reading of four Indian narratives from different time
periods (epic, Upaniṣadic, pre- modern and contemporary): Ekalavya’s story
from the Mahābhārata (MBh 1.123.1–39), the story of Prajāpati, Indra and Viro-
cana from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (CU 8.7.1–8.12.5), the story of Śaṅkara in
the King’s body from the Śaṅkaradigvijaya, and A.R. Murugadoss’s Hindi film
Ghajini (2008), respectively. These stories are thematically juxtaposed with
Pātañjala-yoga, namely Patañjali’s Yogasūtra and its vast commentarial body.
The sūtras reveal hidden philosophical layers. The stories, on the other hand,
contribute to the clarification of “philosophical junctions” in the Yogasūtra.
Through sūtras and stories, the author explores the question of self- identity, with
emphasis on the role of memory and the place of body in identity- formation.
Each of the stories diagnoses the connection between self- identity and (at least a
sense of ) freedom.
Employing cutting- edge methodology, crossing the boundaries of literary
theory, story- telling and philosophical reflection, this book presents fresh inter-
pretations of Indian thought. It is useful to specialists in Asian philosophy and
culture.
Daniel Raveh is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Tel-A viv
University, Israel.
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Sūtras, Stories and Yoga
Philosophy
Narrative and transfiguration
Daniel Raveh
First published 2016
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© 2016 Daniel Raveh
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ISBN: 978-1-138-63838-9 (hbk)
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Typeset in Times New Roman
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For Chava Magnes (1915–2015)
and for Mukundji
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Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Transliteration ix
List of abbreviations x
Introduction: stories and sūtras 1
1 Truth versus truthfulness in the Mahābhārata story of
Ekalavya 28
2 Is mokṣa pleasant? An alternative discourse on freedom in
the eighth chapter of the Chāndogya-Upaniṣad 59
3 Shankara in the King’s body: knowing by living through 94
4 Memory, forgetting, self-i dentity: philosophical
inscriptions in A.R. Murugadoss’ Ghajini 122
Bibliography 142
Index 156
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Daya Krishna, Mukund Lath, Shlomo Biderman, R.S.
Bhatnagar, Jay Garfield, Arindam Chakrabarti, Yashdev Shalya, Bhagat Oinam,
Yohanan Grinshpon, Trichur Rukmani, Bhuvan Chandel, Christopher Chapple,
Gerald Larson, Banwarilal Rao, Agastya Sharma, Yoav Ariel, Galia Patt-S hamir,
Jacob Raz, Bhaskarjit Neog, Murzban Jal, Heeraman Tiwari, Ronie Parciack,
Roy Tzohar, Asha Mukherjee, Bijoy Mukherjee, Udi Halperin, S.P. Gautam,
R.P. Singh, Manidipa Sen, Elise Coquereau, Muzaffar Ali, Neelima Vashishtha,
Francis Arakkal, Christopher Titmuss, Thakur Sudarshan Singh, Gil Ben- Herut,
Devasia M. Antony, Yaron Schorr, Rafi Peled, Achia Anzi, Nir Feinberg, Anha
Osimlak Tsypin, Itamar Ramot, Guy Kaplan, Shaked Eshach, Bhaskar Kowshik,
Samir Jha, Dinkarji and Asha, Shalini Goswami, Anat Hirsch, Sonu Didi, Odje,
Nikku and Pramo, Sallu et al., Kartar S. Pathania, Neerja Lath, Arvind Mayaram,
Abhinav Mayaram, Lia Weiner, Iddo Weiner, S. Reuven and Nicolette, Mikey
Ginguld, Vijay Chaturvedi, Thakur Saab, Randhir Singhji, Rustam Bhai, Chuttu,
Purushotamji, Madan Maharaj, Ganeshji Maharaj, Ramdayal Dassji Maharaj,
Lior Perry, the Danzigers, Ru and Raven, Michal Magnes- Raveh, Chava
Magnes, and Nina.
Special thanks to Dorothea Schaefter, Jillian Morrison, Steve Turrington, Dor
Miller, Doron Peisik, Alex Cherniak, Shea Arieli, Shail Mayaram and Sonia N.
Weiner.
I would also like to acknowledge Ira Landgarten, Aditya Goel of Aditya Pra-
kashan, Motilal Banarsidass, Springer, The Advaita Ashrama, SUNY Press, the
Raqs Media Collective, Hypatya, the MIT Press, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Uni-
versity of Hawaii Press and University of Chicago Press for their kind permis-
sion to quote from works for which they hold the copyright.
Transliteration
Whenever I use a term or quote a phrase, sūtra or paragraph in Sanskrit, they are
transliterated into English (or Roman) letters. I follow the standard transliteration
as (roughly) the following:
a as in cut
ā as in car
i as in sit
ī as in sweet
u as in full
ū as in pool
ṛ pronounced ri as in rich
ṇ as in under or unreal
ñ as in inch or angel (both ṇ and ñ are different
from n as in and or ant)
c pronounced as ch as in chain
ś pronounced as sh as in sheep
ṣ pronounced as sh as in shy