Goddesses and women in the Indic religious tradition / / edited by Arvind Sharma.

• Superior document: Brill's Indological library, v. 24
• TeilnehmendeR: Sharma, Arvind.
• Year of Publication: 2005
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Brill's Indological library ; v. 24.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (182 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Goddesses and Women in the Indic Religious Tradition goes beyond the traditional sources that lie at the basis for determining the position of goddesses and women in India. Following the lead of a "hermeneutics of surprise" the book identifies, indeed, surprising new material - and conclusions; for example the analysis of Vedic Śrauta ritual. Or by offering surprising conclusions, when the location is obviously one involving women and goddesses, or anthropology discovers that the worship of the Great Goddess temporarily elevates the position of women. Other examples of the effectivity of the "hermeneutics of surprise" are seen when applied to the role of ḍākinīs , Śakti worship, the Marathi Sant tradition,and to Śaṅkara's commentaries.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION; CHAPTER ONE: Roles for Women in Vedic Srauta Ritual (STEPHANIE W. JAMISON); CHAPTER TWO: Tibetan Fairy Glimmerings: Dakinis in Buddhist Spiritual Biography (VICTORIA KENNICK URUBSHUROW); CHAPTER THREE: Women, Earth, and the Goddess: A Sakta-Hindu Interpretation of Embodied Religion (KARTIKEYA C. PATEL); CHAPTER FOUR: Women in the Worship of the Great Goddess (HILLARY RODRIGUES); CHAPTER FIVE: Between Pestle and Mortar: Women in the Marathi Sant Tradition (VIDYUT AKLUJKAR); CHAPTER SIX: Sankara on the Salvation of Women and Sudras (KATHERINE K. YOUNG); INDEX