Table Of Content

The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism Blackwell Companions to Religion The Blackwell Companions to Religion series presents a collection of the most recent scholarship and knowledge about world religions. Each volume draws together newly commissioned essays by distinguished authors in the field, and is presented in a style which is accessible to undergraduate students, as well as scholars and the interested general reader. These volumes approach the subject in a creative and forward-thinking style, providing a forum in which lead- ing scholars in the field can make their views and research available to a wider audience. Published 1. The Blackwell Companion to Judaism Edited by Jacob Neusner and Alan J. Avery-Peck 2. The Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Religion Edited by Richard K. Fenn 3. The Blackwell Companion to the Hebrew Bible Edited by Leo G. Perdue 4. The Blackwell Companion to Postmodern Theology Edited by Graham Ward 5. The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism Edited by Gavin Flood Forthcoming The Blackwell Companion to Political Theology Edited by William T. Cavanaugh and Peter Scott The Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics Edited by William Schweiker The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology Edited by Gareth Jones The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics Edited by Stanley Hauerwas and Sam Wells The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity Edited by Ken Parry The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion Edited by Robert A. Segal The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism Edited by Alister E. McGrath The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism Edited by Gavin Flood Copyright © 2003 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd Editorial arrangement, selection and introduction © 2003 by Gavin Flood Introduction to “The Indian Sciences” and ch. 16 © 2003 by Frits Staal Editorial Offices: 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK Tel: +44 (0)1865 791100 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5018, USA Tel: +1 781 388 8250 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, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2003 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Blackwell companion to Hinduism / edited by Gavin Flood. p. cm. – (Blackwell companions to religion) Includes index. ISBN 0-631-21535-2 (alk. paper) 1. Hinduism. I. Flood, Gavin D., 1954- II. Series. BL1202 .B72 2002 294.5 – dc21 2002071220 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10.5/12.5 pt Photina by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong Printed and bound in the UK by MPG Books Ltd., Bodmin, Cornwall. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com To the memory of Norman Cutler and Wilhelm Halbfass Contents Contributors x Preface and Acknowledgments xii Introduction: Establishing the Boundaries Gavin Flood 1 Part I Theoretical Issues 21 1 Colonialism and the Construction of Hinduism Gauri Viswanathan 23 2 Orientalism and Hinduism David Smith 45 Part II Text and Tradition 65 The Sanskrit Textual Traditions 67 3 Vedas and Upanis.ads Michael Witzel 68 4 The Dharmasá¯stras Ludo Rocher 102 5 The Sanskrit Epics John Brockington 116 6 The Pura¯n.as Freda Matchett 129 viii contents Textual Traditions in Regional Languages 144 7 Tamil Hindu Literature Norman Cutler 145 8 The Literature of Hinduism in Malayalam Rich Freeman 159 9 North Indian Hindi Devotional Literature Nancy M. Martin 182 Major Historical Developments 199 10 The Sáiva Traditions Gavin Flood 200 11 History of Vais.n.ava Traditions: An Esquisse Gérard Colas 229 12 The Renouncer Tradition Patrick Olivelle 271 13 The Householder Tradition in Hindu Society T. N. Madan 288 Regional Traditions 306 14 The Teyyam Tradition of Kerala Rich Freeman 307 15 The Month of Ka¯rtik and Women’s Ritual Devotions to Krishna in Benares Tracy Pintchman 327 Part III Systematic Thought 343 Introduction Frits Staal 345 The Indian Sciences 347 16 The Science of Language Frits Staal 348 17 Indian Mathematics Takao Hayashi 360 18 Calendar, Astrology, and Astronomy Michio Yano 376