Seven Days of Nectar: Contemporary Oral Performance of the BhagavatapuranaThe thousand-year-old Sanskrit classic the Bhagavatapurana, or "Stories of the Lord," is the foundational source of narratives concerning the beloved Hindu deity Krishna. For centuries pious individuals, families, and community groups have engaged specialist scholar-orators to give week-long oral performances based on this text. Seated on a dais in front of the audience, the orator intones selected Sanskrit verses from the text and narrates the story of Krishna in the local language. These sacred performances are thought to bring blessings and good fortune to those who sponsor, perform, or attend them. Devotees believe that the narratives of Krishna are like the nectar of immortality for those who can appreciate them. In recent years, these events have grown in number, scale, and popularity. Once confined to private homes or temple spaces, contemporary performances now fill vast public arenas such as sports stadiums, and attract live audiences in the tens of thousands while being simulcast around the world. In Seven Days of Nectar, McComas Taylor applies the tools of performance theory to uncover the factors that contribute to the explosive growth of this tradition. His innovative approach, which draws on close textual reading, philology, and ethnography, casts new light on the ways in which narratives are experienced as authentic and transformative and, more broadly, how texts shape societies. |
Contents
1 IntroductionKṣetropadhāna | 1 |
2 The SaptāhaYajña | 27 |
3 The SponsorYajamāna | 60 |
4 The ExponentHotṛ | 77 |
5 The TextVeda | 106 |
6 The VersesMantra | 127 |
7 The AudienceViś | 147 |
8 ResultsPhala | 172 |
9 ConclusionPūrṇāhuti | 200 |
Notes | 209 |
Glossary | 213 |
215 | |
221 | |
Other editions - View all
Seven Days of Nectar: Contemporary Oral Performance of the Bhagavatapurana McComas Taylor Limited preview - 2016 |
Seven Days of Nectar: Contemporary Oral Performance of the Bhāgavatapurāṇa McComas Taylor Limited preview - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
Abhishek Goswami āratī ashram ātman attended audience members avatāra Bhadri Prasad Bhagavadgītā Bhagavān Bhāgavata Bhāgavata exponents Bhāgavata-kathā Bhāgavata-saptāha Bhāgavatapurāṇa bhajans Bhakti Yoga Brahmā Brahmin Brisbane Canberra Chandan chapter contemporary saptāha context deity described devotees devtā dharma Divine ence experience exponent’s exposition gopīs guru guru-kula Hindi Hindu important India individual ISKCON kathā Kṛṣṇa lineage listen Lord Mahābhārata Māhātmya mantra Mridul Krishna Nārada narratives nectar one’s oral performance organizers Parīkṣit practice prasād purāṇas purāṇic Rādhā Radha Raman Radhikadas recite religious ritual role śabda śabda-brahman sacred sage saṁkalpa sampradāya Sanatkumāras Sanskrit text Sanskrit verses saptāha at Naluna saptāha audiences saptāha events saptāha performances Śaunaka scriptural Senj session seven days Shri Shrivatsa Shrivatsa Goswami Siddhanti Maharaj skandha social songs speakers spiritual spoken discourse sponsor Śrīmad-bhāgavata stories Śuka sūta temple throne tion tradition transformative Ugraśravas Vaikuṇṭha Vaiṣṇava Vedas Vedic village Viṣṇu Vrindavan Vyāsa Wilczewska words yajmān yajña young