this volume is on text and different readings of text, although some relate text
to material history where this is possible and to contemporary practice. Con-
versely, the essays focusing on anthropological fieldwork often draw on the texts
of tradition.
Inevitably, although unfortunately, there are gaps in what could be covered
in the present volume. This is due partly to restrictions of space but also due to
other contingencies beyond the editor’s control. We do not have, for example,
specific essays on the Indus Valley civilization, yoga, ritual, the Hindu diaspora,
the Goddess and the temple, nor on some major regional traditions. But even so,
these essays present systematic accounts of the history of traditions and their
texts, examples of important regional traditions, and accounts of the rise of
modern Hinduism and its contemporary connections with nationalism and the
politics of identity.
The book uses the standard, scholarly transliteration of Indian alphabets,
although this is not consistently applied to all place names and some proper
names. There is considerable variation in practice, as many names have common
anglicized forms.
I would like to thank all the scholars who have participated in the project, par-
ticularly Rich Freeman, Patrick Olivelle, and Frits Staal for their encouragement
and support, along with the team at Blackwell, particularly Alison Dunnett,
Laura Barry, Rebecca Harkin, and Cameron Laux. I would also like to thank Alex
Wright who, when at Blackwell, first suggested the project to me. I would like to
acknowledge permission from Routledge to publish Jonardon Ganeri’s essay
“The Motive and Method of Rational Inquiry,” first published in Philosophy in
Classical India(Routledge, 2000). I would also like to acknowledge permission
from Routledge to publish Gavin Flood’s “The S ́aiva Traditions,” a version of
which is to be published in S. Mittal, ed., The Hindu World(Routledge, forthcom-
ing). The book is dedicated to the memory of Wilhem Halbfass who made such
a great contribution to the study of the Indian traditions, and to Norman Cutler
who sadly passed away before the publication of this book.
preface and acknowledgments xiii