The Yuga-Avatāra Complex in the Mahābhārata and Harivaṃśa: A Trial for Literary-Holist Readings of the Sanskrit Epic
A recent publication (I by Simon Brodbeck, 2022) proposes to resolve a long-standing theological conundrum of Hindu mythology on the basis of a literary-holist or "synchronic" reading of the Sanskrit Mahābhārata, seeking thereby to displace earlier scholarship treating this theme. This rev...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
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| Published: |
American Oriental Society
2023
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| In: |
Journal of the American Oriental Society
Year: 2023, Volume: 143, Issue: 4, Pages: 903-927 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | A recent publication (I by Simon Brodbeck, 2022) proposes to resolve a long-standing theological conundrum of Hindu mythology on the basis of a literary-holist or "synchronic" reading of the Sanskrit Mahābhārata, seeking thereby to displace earlier scholarship treating this theme. This review essay provides a thorough analysis of the arguments of Divine Descent and the closely linked matter of the two competing methodologies in the reading of the Sanskrit epics: the "synchronic" or holist approach championed by Brodbeck and the "analytic" approach, which views the Mahābhārata as a historically layered text. Ultimately, I argue here that the latter "analytic" solutions to the conundrum, which it was Brodbeck’s purpose to challenge, account for the matter far more persuasively. In particular, I make special reference to a 1960 study by Paul Hacker as a work of persisting value for understanding the historic development of the avatāra system over time . |
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| ISSN: | 2169-2289 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Oriental Society, Journal of the American Oriental Society
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.7817/jaos.143.4.2023.ra004 |