The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism

The RV text was composed before the introduction and massive use of iron, that is before ca. 1200–1000 bce. Internal evidence in ...

(Brown 1940, 1968, Lüders 1917, 1944) which has counterparts in other Indo- European (Watkins 1979) and Eurasian cultures (Witze ...

(Soma). However, as Kuiper (1962: 43) has pointed out, “understanding a single mythological figure isolated from the context of ...

European and even to earlier Eurasian periods, include Su ̄rya “the male belong- ing to the sun”; Dyaus “Heaven, Sky” (or Dyaus ...

Bra ̄hman.a style texts, mythology explains (details of) and refers to ritual activ- ity in mythological narratives. A deep conn ...

R.gvedic ritual evolved further during the middle and late R.gvedic period (Pro- feres 1999), especially under the influence of ...

7); this is visible, however, only when the additional hymns are excised. Thus, if one knows – as is still prescribed today befo ...

tute the texts of the Black Yajurveda, while the explanatory prose (S ́B) is sepa- rated from the Mantras (VS) in the White YV w ...

mostly neglected until recently, is the principle of reciprocal exchange (Witzel 1979, 1998, Weber-Brosamer 1988, Malamoud 1989, ...

The ritual system, however, does not work without s ́raddha ̄(lit. “place the heart,” Latincre ̄do ̄), the “confidence” in the e ...

Themainparticipants, however, are the (except for Soma and Agni) invisible deities who are invited to attend as guests in a form ...

Other important S ́rauta rituals include the Ra ̄jasu ̄ya(“Consecration of the King,” Weber 1893, Heesterman 1957), the As ́vame ...

mythological tales that are meant to bolster the status of individual rites, as well as much incidental ritual speculation. An a ...

The Upanis.ads The Upanis.ads (Up.) contain the secret teaching, by a variety of late Vedic teach- ers, of early philosophical s ...

Certain new doctrines emerge: The late Bra ̄hman.a opinion on the fate of humans after death (punarmr.tyu), and most importantly ...

notbeing evil, in fact, as guiltless (Witzel 1987a,b), and the beginning of the Bhagavadgı ̄ta ̄ still defends the dharmaof a Ks ...

The Kosala–Videha area was one of great mixture of peoples due to various movements of tribes and individuals, and consequently ...

its texts, though the classical/medieval tradition assigns them to a separate cat- egory, the Smr.ti texts. Indeed, the older on ...

The “original” contents of the Gr.hya texts (Oldenberg 1892), however, have been influenced by the much more predominant ritual ...

relate and control macrocosmic forces by microcosmic manipulation (Henry 1904, Stutley 1980). Earlier, comparable texts are the ...