The Co(s)mic Vision: Humour in the Bhagavata Purana

The Bhagavata Purana (BhP) is a popular sacred Sanskrit text characterized by its devotion for Krsna and the many narratives concerning him and his incarnations. These narratives have an edifying quality. A great number of them bring their point across through the use of humour. Though the comic tra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions of South Asia
Main Author: Babajee, Siegfried J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Equinox 2020
In: Religions of South Asia
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bhagavata-Purana / Religiosity / Humor
RelBib Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
BK Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism
Further subjects:B līlā
B Bhakti
B Narrative
B Bhāgavata Purāṇa
B Māyā
B Humour
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Summary:The Bhagavata Purana (BhP) is a popular sacred Sanskrit text characterized by its devotion for Krsna and the many narratives concerning him and his incarnations. These narratives have an edifying quality. A great number of them bring their point across through the use of humour. Though the comic tradition of India has been covered by scholars, such studies primarily discuss the performing arts. I argue that there is a strong presence of humour in the BhP, and that this humour communicates a playful attitude which has a prominent place in the overall religiosity of the BhP, thus communicating a worldview I term the co(s)mic vision. This study contributes to the discussion on the ludic dimensions of religious traditions and indicates how religious discourse is established through the entertaining and edifying effects of humour. Narrative is used as an entertaining alternative to religious instruction as exhortation, theological assertion, or propositional excursuses.
ISSN:1751-2697
Contains:Enthalten in: Religions of South Asia
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/rosa.19325