Renunciation and Non-Renunciation in Indian Films

Renunciation is one of the most widely studied subjects among Indic traditions. The image of a half-naked ascetic with a stick in one hand and a begging bowl in other has captured the attention of scholars more often than the mundane householder. Whereas the ascetic captured the imagination with his...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religion compass
Main Author: Jain, Pankaj (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2010
In: Religion compass
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Renunciation is one of the most widely studied subjects among Indic traditions. The image of a half-naked ascetic with a stick in one hand and a begging bowl in other has captured the attention of scholars more often than the mundane householder. Whereas the ascetic captured the imagination with his (and sometimes her) individualistic spirit rebelling against the maligned caste hierarchy, the householder has been seen as a poor creature living a routine life according to the rules dictated by the caste (varna) and the stage in life (ashrama). In this article, I review several films to analyze the portrayal of ascetics and householders, but cannot claim that the review is encyclopedic because there are so many films with variations on this theme. All of the films introduced here were made by Indian filmmakers except for two Hollywood films,1The Householder (1963) and Siddhartha (1972), that were filmed in India with an Indian cast and story.
ISSN:1749-8171
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion compass
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00198.x