Bhakti And Embodiment (Routledge Hindu Studies Series) - 9780415670708

With the emergence of bhakti (devotion) movements in the post-Vedic period, the body was re-figured to accord with the epistemological framework of the discourse of devotion. This historical shift from Vedic to bhakti traditions is characterised by various transformations which can best be understood in terms of these newly emerging discourses of the body in bhakti traditions. Bhakti and Embodiment: Fashioning Divine Bodies and Devotional Bodies in Ka Bhakti explores the connections between bhakti and embodiment and is concerned with constructions of divine bodies and devotional bodies in Ka bhakti traditions in particular. It discusses the historical shift to post-Vedic bhakti traditions and the accompanying transformations. These reflections are grounded in an analysis of two case studies: the Bhgavata Pura, one of the most important scriptures in the Vaiava bhakti canon, and the Gauya Vaiava tradition, an important bhakti movement inspired by the sixteenth-century Bengali leader Caitanya. Holdrege argues that an exploration of the connections between bhakti and embodiment is critical to understanding the myriad forms that bhakti has historically assumed up to the present time. Making a significant contribution to several fields, this book is relevant to scholarship on the body in the History of Religions and in the Humanities generally. It will also be of interest to those working in the field of Asian Religions, Hindu Studies, and more specifically Bhakti Studies, Puric Studies and Gauya Vaiava Studies.

• | Author: Barbara A. Holdrege
• | Publisher: Routledge
• | Publication Date: Nov 01, 2015
• | Number of Pages: 490 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover
• | ISBN-10: 0415670705
• | ISBN-13: 9780415670708