The Hindus: An Alternative HistoryAn engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the world's oldest major religions, The Hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds. Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a strictly chronological account: many of its central texts cannot be reliably dated even within a century; its central tenets karma, dharma, to name just two arise at particular moments in Indian history and differ in each era, between genders, and caste to caste; and what is shared among Hindus is overwhelmingly outnumbered by the things that are unique to one group or another. Yet the greatness of Hinduism - its vitality, its earthiness, its vividness - lies precisely in many of those idiosyncratic qualities that continue to inspire debate today. Wendy Doniger is one of the foremost scholars of Hinduism in the world. With her inimitable insight and expertise Doniger illuminates those moments within the tradition that resist forces that would standardize or establish a canon. Without reversing or misrepresenting the historical hierarchies, she reveals how Sanskrit and vernacular sources are rich in knowledge of and compassion toward women and lower castes; how they debate tensions surrounding religion, violence, and tolerance; and how animals are the key to important shifts in attitudes toward different social classes. The Hindus brings a fascinating multiplicity of actors and stories to the stage to show how brilliant and creative thinkers - many of them far removed from Brahmin authors of Sanskrit texts - have kept Hinduism alive in ways that other scholars have not fully explored. In this unique and authoritative account, debates about Hindu traditions become platforms from which to consider the ironies, and overlooked epiphanies, of history. |
Contents
The Man or the Rabbit in the Moon | 1 |
Working with Available Light | 17 |
50 Million to 50000 BCE | 50 |
50000 to 1500 BCE | 65 |
2000 to 1500 BCE | 85 |
1500 to 1000 BCE | 103 |
800 to 500 BCE | 135 |
600 to 200 BCE | 164 |
800 to 1300 CE | 503 |
1500 to 1700 CE | 527 |
1500 to 1700 CE | 551 |
1600 to 1900 CE | 574 |
1800 to 1947 CE | 610 |
1900 | 636 |
1950 | 654 |
25 Inconclusion or the Abuse of History | 687 |
8 The Three or Is It Four? Aims of Life in the Hindu Imaginary | 199 |
400 BCE to 200 CE | 212 |
300 BCE to 300 CE | 252 |
300 BCE to 300 CE | 277 |
100 BCE to 400 CE | 304 |
100 BCE to 900 CE | 338 |
300 to 600 CE | 370 |
600 to 900 CE | 406 |
650 to 1500 CE | 445 |
800 to 1500 CE | 473 |
Acknowledgments | 691 |
Chronology | 693 |
Guide to Pronunciation and Spelling of Words in Sanskrit and Other Indian Languages | 695 |
Abbreviations | 696 |
Glossary of Terms in Indian Languages and Names of Key Figures | 697 |
Notes | 704 |
729 | |
Photo Credits | 754 |
755 | |
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Common terms and phrases
addiction Akbar ancient animals antigods Arjuna ascetic Ashoka avatar became bhakti Brahma Brahmanas Brahmin British Buddha Buddhist called caste century chariot citing classes cows culture cursed Dalits death Delhi dharma Doniger O’Flaherty Draupadi Early India earth evil father fire Flood Gita goddess gods Gupta heaven Hindu Hinduism horse sacrifice human husband Iainas Ibid ideas Indo-European Indra Indus Islam Kabir Kali karma Keay killed king Krishna Kshatriya language later linga lives Mahabharata male Manu monkeys mother Mughals Muslim myth Nishadas nonviolence ofthe ogres Pariah Parvati poems political priest Purana Rama Rama’s Ramanujan Ramayana Ravana religion religious renunciation Rig Veda ritual sage Sanskrit Sanskrit texts sects sexual shastras Shatapatha Brahmana Shiva Shudra Sita social soma sometimes South India story suttee Tamil Tantra Tantric tell Thapar tradition Upanishads Vaishnava Vedic violence Vishnu wife woman women word worship Yudhishthira