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    Religion and Society in Early India

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    Shivatva Beniwal
    This course examines the social contexts and historical developments of early Indian religious traditions from the mid-second millennium BCE to the early medieval period. It covers topics such as the social basis of Vedic religion in early texts, the development of ritual priesthood and caste system, the emergence and philosophies of Buddhism and Jainism in the 6th century BCE, the evolution of Puranic religions and concepts of bhakti and image worship, schisms within Buddhism and Jainism, and the evolution of the cult of Rama in early medieval literature. The course uses an interdisciplinary approach and discusses religious traditions in relation to their social, political, and intellectual contexts over different periods of history.

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    Religion and Society in Early India

    Uploaded by

    Shivatva Beniwal
    66 views1 page
    This course examines the social contexts and historical developments of early Indian religious traditions from the mid-second millennium BCE to the early medieval period. It covers topics such as the social basis of Vedic religion in early texts, the development of ritual priesthood and caste system, the emergence and philosophies of Buddhism and Jainism in the 6th century BCE, the evolution of Puranic religions and concepts of bhakti and image worship, schisms within Buddhism and Jainism, and the evolution of the cult of Rama in early medieval literature. The course uses an interdisciplinary approach and discusses religious traditions in relation to their social, political, and intellectual contexts over different periods of history.

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    Religion and Society in Early India

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    Religion and Society in Early India (1)

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    This course examines the social contexts and historical developments of early Indian religious traditions from the mid-second millennium BCE to the early medieval period. It covers topics such as the social basis of Vedic religion in early texts, the development of ritual priesthood and caste system, the emergence and philosophies of Buddhism and Jainism in the 6th century BCE, the evolution of Puranic religions and concepts of bhakti and image worship, schisms within Buddhism and Jainism, and the evolution of the cult of Rama in early medieval literature. The course uses an interdisciplinary approach and discusses religious traditions in relation to their social, political, and intellectual contexts over different periods of history.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    66 views1 page

    Religion and Society in Early India

    Uploaded by

    Shivatva Beniwal
    This course examines the social contexts and historical developments of early Indian religious traditions from the mid-second millennium BCE to the early medieval period. It covers topics such as the social basis of Vedic religion in early texts, the development of ritual priesthood and caste system, the emergence and philosophies of Buddhism and Jainism in the 6th century BCE, the evolution of Puranic religions and concepts of bhakti and image worship, schisms within Buddhism and Jainism, and the evolution of the cult of Rama in early medieval literature. The course uses an interdisciplinary approach and discusses religious traditions in relation to their social, political, and intellectual contexts over different periods of history.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    M 214/7 Religion and Society in Early India

    MA optional lecture course, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
    Course Instructor: Prof. R. Mahalakshmi

    This course studies the social basis of early Indian religious traditions. What were the
    historical contexts in which institutionalized religions emerged, evolved and transformed
    over centuries, is the primary concern. In chronological terms, the developments from the
    early Vedic traditions of the mid-second millennium BCE to the early medieval periods
    will be thematically surveyed.

    I. Historiography of early Indian religious traditions: Problems and Perspectives


    In this theme, we look at the ways in which scholars from different
    disciplinary viewpoints, including history, have understood Indian religious
    traditions. The recent emphases on inter-disciplinary methods to study
    mythologies, sacred texts and liturgy that constitute religious traditions will be
    discussed.
    II. Religion and society as revealed by early Vedic literature: The Rg Veda is a
    landmark for two reasons – it provides the first literary evidence for the
    settling of Indo-Aryan speaking communities in the sub-continent. Secondly,
    it allows us to study the social contexts in which Vedic religion had its roots.
    III. Religion and society on the basis of later Vedic texts: Development of ritual
    priesthood and caste system. The elaboration of sacrifice and its socio-
    economic implications will be discussed.
    IV. Religious movements of the sixth century BCE: Buddhism and Jainism, can
    we call them sectarian developments or sramanic movements? We look at the
    origins of the movements from what we know of their founders/ prominent
    leaders. What was the social context that led to the development of such
    traditions? What were the philosophical currents that these traditions were
    engaging, discursing and debating with?
    V. Evolution of Puranic religions: Image worship and associated rituals; the
    concepts of bhakti and ahimsa; the process of brahmanization of tribal cults;
    the concepts of acculturation, Sanskritization; the typologies of Viṣṇu, Ṥiva
    and Durgā.
    VI. Schisms within Buddhism and Jainism: evolution of institutionalized forms of
    both traditions. The temporal spread of the traditions, acculturation/
    transformation through interactions with local traditions.
    VII. The legend of Rāma Daśarathi and the evolution of his cult. This theme
    explores the ways in which Rāma appears as an iconic figure in early
    medieval literature and seeks reasons for this conspicuous positioning of the
    hero/ deity and the cult that developed around him.
    VIII. Inter-cultural exchanges, syncretism and contestations

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