Explicitly acknowledging its status as a stri-sudra-veda (a Veda for women and the downtrodden), the Mahabharata articulates a promise to bring knowledge of right conduct, fundamental ethical, philosophical, and soteriological teachings, and its own grand narrative to all classes of people and all beings. Hiltebeitel shows how the Mahabharata has more than lived up to this promise at least on the ground in Indian folk traditions. In this three-part volume, he journeys over the overlapping terrains of the south Indian cults ...
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Explicitly acknowledging its status as a stri-sudra-veda (a Veda for women and the downtrodden), the Mahabharata articulates a promise to bring knowledge of right conduct, fundamental ethical, philosophical, and soteriological teachings, and its own grand narrative to all classes of people and all beings. Hiltebeitel shows how the Mahabharata has more than lived up to this promise at least on the ground in Indian folk traditions. In this three-part volume, he journeys over the overlapping terrains of the south Indian cults of Draupadi (part I) and Kuttanavar (part II), to explore how the Mahabharata continues to be such a vital source of meaning, and, in part III, then connects this vital tradition to wider reflections on prehistory, sacrifice, myth, oral epic, and modern theatre. This two volume edition collects nearly three decades of Alf Hiltebeitel's researches into the Indian epic and religious tradition. The two volumes document Hiltebeitel's longstanding fascination with the Sanskrit epics: volume 1 presents a series of appreciative readings of the Mahabharata (and to a lesser extent, the Ramayana), while volume 2 focuses on what Hiltebeitel has called "the underground Mahabharata," i.e., the Mahabharata as it is still alive in folk and vernacular traditions. Recently re-edited and with a new set of articles completing a trajectory Hiltebeitel established over 30 years ago, this work constitutes a definitive statement from this major scholar. Comprehensive indices, cross-referencing, and an exhaustive bibliography make it an essential reference work. For more information on the first volume please click here.
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Add this copy of When the Goddess Was a Woman. Mahabharata Ethnographies to cart. $193.36, new condition, Sold by Literary Cat Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Machynlleth, Powys, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2011 by Brill.
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New with no dust jacket. 9004193804. Shelfwear only.; With illustrations. Shelfwear only. A collection of essays by Alf Hiltebeitel, edited by Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee. Published in 2011, this volume explores the Mahabharata's role as a 'stri-sudra-veda'—a Veda for women and the downtrodden. Hiltebeitel examines how the epic imparts ethical, philosophical, and soteriological teachings to diverse audiences, focusing on South Indian traditions like the Draupadi and Kutta? ? Avar cults. This work offers valuable insights into the Mahabharata's enduring cultural significance. This comprehensive work includes cross-referencing, and an exhaustive bibliography, making it an essential reference work and major contribution in its area of study and reflection.; Octavo (standard book size); 290 pages.
