“Sacrifice and Immortality: Theoretical Implications of Embodiment in Hathayoga.” South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 35 (2): 408-433. (original) (raw)
Related papers
AIOO (Annali dell'Università di Napoli), Sezione Orientale, 2016
Sacrifice is a keyword in religious studies. Yajña is a governing concept of Vedic literature. On the basis of the major theories of rituals that flourished between the 18th and the 19th centuries, yajña has been referred to as a perfect example of sacrificial pattern in Vedic tradition. However, while ‘sacrifice’ as a category has been widely discussed among scholars from different fields, the equivalence between ‘sacrifice’ and yajña has been tacitly assumed in the notion of ‘Vedic sacrifice’.Focusing on the rise of Indology as a discipline, this article explores the success of ‘sacrifice’ as a category in the history of scholarship in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. The main argument is that the equivalence between ‘sacrifice’ and yajña has developed at the crossroads between Indology and the socio-anthropological studies, while the Vedic notion of yajña is, indeed, strictly related to the semantic field that has developed around the root yaj-, of which it is proposed to maintain the etymological meaning “to honour, offer, dedicate”. As a result, it is suggested that the translation of yajña as ‘sacrifice’ may be rejected by three types of arguments: linguistic, theoretical, and historical.
Journal of the American Oriental Society 137.4 (2017): With The Head Beneath the Altar: Hindu Mythology and the Critique of Sacrifice, Brian Collins turns mimetic theory loose on the fertile terrain of Vedic sacrifice and makes a case for the relevance of René Girard's ideas to the study of Hindu myth. It is a stimulating monograph that should appeal to scholars of comparative mythology, ritual studies, Indology, and the sociology of religion.
Horizonte - Revista de estudos de Teologia e Ciências da Religião, 2018
The objective of the present article is to suggest that systematic, deliberate and gradual renunciation (tyāga) constitutes the fundamental thrust of Indian Vedic traditions and the main feature of what may be called a religious or spiritual outlook, in contrast with a mundane one. I’ll try show that renunciation is ultimately purportful in enabling one to overcome suffering (duḥkha) through gradual immersion into the knowledge of the deepest levels of one’s immediate Reality. Considering the two-step ladder that make-up Vedic religious designs according to Advaita Vedānta - viz., karma as ritual-related actions leading to improved rebirths, and jñāna as knowledge-related disciplines leading to ultimate self-realization, - the specific focus of the present article will be on the first step. Accordingly, I’ll strive to unveil the specific characteristics, modalities and cognitive facets of renunciation that make up, in my opinion, the fundamental meaning of dharma as a goal to be pursued in accordance with the narrative prescriptions of the Vedas and in the form of ritual actions - karma -, leading one to paradise in next life.
FROM VEDIC SACRIFICE TO VEDANTIC LIBERATION -INDIA'S SOCIO-SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
The course of India's socio-religious continuity has seen some major changes. One great change had been in the mode of Hindu worship: in transition from the fire-and-sacrifice ritual of yajñas to the practice of image worship. Available archaeological evidence from the Indus Valley sites may perhaps indicate some manner of overlap of the two cults. Thus, the 'fire altars', the pit of animal bones, the well-head and drain found at Kalibangān of the 2 nd or 3 rd millennium BC have been interpreted by modern archaeologists as a ritual centre for fire sacrifice. 1 But these seem to have been preceded by the even earlier (3 rd to 5 th millennium BC) terracotta figurines of mother goddesses found in most of the Indus sites. An even more striking relic of image worship in early Harappan times is the 'Paśupati' seal at Mohejo-daro, supposedly representing the proto-Śiva.
In India, the practice of self-immolation by fire as a form of protest has developed to the extent that it now appears to be standard practice in the political realm. Though its present form is new, relying on the presence of the media, self-immolation is also part of a wider cultural heritage related to sacrifice. I will first explore the latter, and highlight the logic behind self-sacrifice and sacrifice, and their interrelations as parallel, complementary or conflicting paths, by basing my reflection on widely known myths. 1 I will then compare this material with modern practices in order to address the question at the origin of this special issue of Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines as to whether self-immolation is of a religious or political nature?