Krishna's Mahabharatas : devotional retellings of an epic narrative / Sohini Sarah Pillai.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pillai, Sohini, 1990- author.

Contributor:

American Academy of Religion, associated with work.

Series:

AAR religion in translation.

Oxford scholarship online.

AAR religion in translation

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Krishna (Hindu deity).

Krishna.

Mahābhārata--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Mahābhārata.

Bhakti.

Vaishnavism.

Viśiṣṭādvaita.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (297 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford University Press 2024

Summary:

'Krishna's Mahabharatas' is a comprehensive study of premodern regional Mahabharata retellings. This book argues that Vaishnavas (devotees of the Hindu god Vishnu and his various forms) throughout South Asia turned this epic about an apocalyptic, bloody war into works of ardent bhakti or 'devotion' focused on the beloved Hindu deity Krishna. Examining over 40 retellings in 11 different regional South Asian languages composed over a period of 900 years, it focuses on two particular Mahabharatas: Villiputturar's 15th-century Tamil Paratam and Sabalsingh Chauhan's seventeenth-century Bhasha (Old Hindi) Mahahbharat. Through close comparative readings, this book reveals the similar ways poets from opposite ends of the Indian sub-continent transform the story of the Sanskrit Mahabharata into devotional narratives centered on Krishna.

Contents:

Cover

Series

Krishna's Mahabharatas

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgments

Note on Terms and Transliteration

Introduction

Part I

1. Setting the Scene: Interpretations of Krishna in the Sanskrit Mahābhārata

2. Many (Krishna-​Centric) Mahabharatas: An Overview of Premodern Regional Retellings

Part II

3. Commencing and Concluding the Carita of Krishna: The First and Final Books of Villi's Pāratam and Chauhan's Mahābhārat

4. Prayers and Protection: Draupadi's Disrobing and the Book of Effort in Villi's Pāratam and Chauhan's Mahābhārat

Part III

5. Beginning with Bhakti: Invocations and the Shrivaishnava Tradition in Villi's Pāratam

6. Remembering Rama: The Role of Tulsidas's Ramayanas in Chauhan's Mahābhārat

Conclusion

Appendix: Glossary of Characters

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Also issued in print: 2024.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on January 8, 2024).

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-775357-4

0-19-775358-2

0-19-775356-6

OCLC:

1406020619