Seven days of nectar : contemporary oral performance of the Bhāgavatapurāṇa
The 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. In recent years, these events have grown in number, scale, and popularity, filling vast public arenas, such as sports stadiums, and attracting live audiences in the tens of thousands while being simulcast around the world. In Seven Days of Nectar, McComas Taylor uncove
Criticism, interpretation, etc
1 online resource
9780190611934, 9780190611927, 0190611936, 0190611928
944211418
Print version :
Cover; Seven Days of Nectar; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; Note on Transliteration; 1. Introduction-Kṣetropadhāna; What Is a Purāṇa?; The Bhāgavatapurāṇa; Editions, Translations, and Scholarship; The Archetypal Saptāha; The Contemporary Saptāha; Writings on Saptāhas; Other Oral Performance Traditions; Theoretical Approach: From "Stuff" to "Performance"; This Book and the Metaphor of Yajña; 2. The Saptāha-Yajña; Mridul Krishna's Saptāha, Vrindavan; Saptāha at Naluna, Garhwal; The Senj Devtā; The Saptāha Commences; The Middle Days; The Final Day Sri Vishnu Shiva Mandir, CanberraThe First Session: Māhātmya; Mornings; Afternoons and Evenings; Two Events; Three Saptāhas Compared; 3. The Sponsor-Yajamāna; Typology; Motivations; The Role of Sponsors; Personal Narratives; Naluna Sponsor; Brisbane Organizers; 4. The Exponent-Hotṛ; The Goswamis of Vrindavan; Shrivatsa Goswami; Abhishek Goswami; Chandan Goswami; The Guru-Kula Path; Radhikadas Maharaj; Siddhanti Maharaj; Vedic Yatra Pathashala; The Crowded Marketplace; 5. The Text-Veda; Preliminaries: The Māhātmya; Day One: Skandha 1; Day Two: Skandhas 2-4; Day Three: Skandhas 4-6 Day Four: Skandhas 7-8Day Five: Skandhas 9-10; Day Six: Skandha 10 Continues; Day Seven: Skandhas 11-12; 6. The Verses-Mantra; The Avatāras of Kṛṣṇa; The Bhāgavata as an Avatāra; The Naimiṣa Forest; Vaikuṇṭha: The State of Bliss; Nārada and Bhakti: Two Narrative Verses; Audience Reception; Ways of Understanding the Verses; Scripture, Evidence, Faith, and Truth; 7. The Audience-Viś; The Brisbane Bhakti Yoga Centre; What Attracts Audiences?; Vows and Restrictions; The Audience Experience; Saptāhas as Transformation; Sources of Transformation; Are These Experiences Typical? The Audience "Makes" the Event8. Results-Phala; The Results of a Saptāha; Internal Sources of Authenticity; Potency of Oral Transmission; Exponents' Qualities; The Role of Sanskrit; Śabda-Brahman: The Power of the Divine Word; Satsang and Darshan; The Experience of Communitas; Audiences as Agents; External Drivers of Growth; National and Global Contexts; 9. Conclusion-Pūrṇāhuti; Why This Text?; The Future of Saptāha; Mandala of Basic Questions; A Personal Note; Notes; Glossary; Bibliography; Index