Bringing the gods to mind : mantra and ritual in early Indian sacrifice / Laurie L. Patton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Patton, Laurie L., 1961-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vedas--Recitation.

Vedas.

Hinduism--Rituals.

Hinduism.

Mantras.

Physical Description:

xv, 289 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2005]

Summary:

This Elegantly Written Book Introduces a new perspective on Indic religious history by rethinking the role of mantra in Vedic ritual. In Bringing the Gods to Mind, Laurie Patton takes a new look at mantra as "performed poetry" and in five case studies draws a portrait of early Indian sacrifice that moves beyond the well-worn categories of "magic" and "magicoreligious" thought in Vedic sacrifice. Treating Vedic mantra as a sophisticated form of artistic composition, she develops the idea of metonymy, or associational thought, as a major motivator for the use of mantra in sacrificial performance. Filling a long-standing gap in our understanding, her book provides a history of the Indian interpretive imagination and a study of the mental creativity and hermeneutic sophistication of Vedic religion.

Patton begins with the Rg Vedic hymns, the mantras themselves, and then follows the Asvalayana and Sankhayana schools, where the mantras are applied in the public ritual activity of the Srauta rites, and the domestic sphere of the Grhya rites. She ends with the more broadly practical sphere of the Vidhana texts, where mantras apply to almost any situation. Using this lineage, she conducts small "poetic histories" of five themes: fire and digestion, the idea of an enemy, the quest for mental agility, the start of a journey, and attaining the world of brahmaloka. In these studies, Patton describes how usage of particular mantras changed over time in a complex ritual and poetic process extending across generations. Aesthetically compelling and humanely written, this study offers a rare combination of scholarship and empathy in its portrait of how ritual participants have drawn on the rich and varied imaginative world of Vedic mantra.

Contents:

Part 1 The Theories

1 Poetry, Ritual, and Associational Thought in Early India: The Sources 15

2 Poetry, Ritual, and Associational Thought in Early India: The Theories 38

3 Viniyoga: The Recovery of a Hermeneutic Principle 59

Part 2 The Case Studies

4 Fire, Light, and Ingesting over Time 91

5 The Vedic "Other": Spoilers of Success 117

6 A History of the Quest for Mental Power 142

7 The Poetics of Paths: Mantras of Journeys 152

8 A Short History of Heaven: From Making to Gaining the Highest Abode 168

Conclusions: Laughter and the Creeper Mantra 182.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-274) and indexes.

ISBN:

0520240871

OCLC:

54416016

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description