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Book Cover
E-book
Author De Simini, Florinda, author

Title Of gods and books : ritual and knowledge transmission in the manuscript cultures of premodern India / Florinda De Simini
Published Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter, [2016]

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 478 pages)
Series Studies in manuscript cultures ; volume 8, 2365-9696
Studies in manuscript cultures ; v. 8. 2365-9696
Contents Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Manuscripts, Ritual, and the State in Indian Sources -- The Task of Writing and the Art of Giving -- Manuscripts, Ritual, and the Medieval Literature on Dharma -- The Throne of Knowledge: Aspects of the Cult of the Book in the Ṡaiva and Vaiṣṇava Tantric Traditions -- Appendix 1 -- Appendix 2 -- Table A: Structure of the Chapters on the Gift of Knowledge in the Sanskrit Law-Digests -- References -- Index of Authors -- Index of Works
Summary India has been the homeland of diverse manuscript traditions that do not cease to impress scholars for their imposing size and complexity. Nevertheless, many topics concerning the study of Indian manuscript cultures still remain to receive systematic examination. Of Gods and Books pays attention to one of these topics-- the use of manuscripts as ritualistic tools. Literary sources deal quite extensively with rituals principally focused on manuscripts, whose worship, donation and preservation are duly prescribed. Around these activities, a specific category of ritual gift is created, which finds attestations in pre-tantric, as well as in smarta and tantric, literature, and whose practice is also variously reflected in epigraphical documents. De Simini offers a first systematic study of the textual evidence on the topic of the worship and donation of knowledge. She gives account of possible implications for the relationships between religion and power. The book is indispensable for a deeper understanding of the cultural aspects of manuscript transmission in medieval India, and beyond
Analysis Book history South-Asia
Cult of the book
Hinduism
India
Kannada
Sanskrit
ritual practices
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and indexes
Notes Appendices includes Sanskrit text from Śivadharmottara with English translation
Print version record
Subject Hinduism -- Sacred books
Hinduism -- Rituals -- History and criticism
Tantric literature -- History and criticism
Manuscripts, Sanskrit -- History
Manuscripts, Kannada -- History
Hinduism -- Sacred books.
Hinduism
Hinduism -- Rituals
Manuscripts, Kannada
Manuscripts, Sanskrit
Tantric literature
Hinduismus
Heilige Schrift
Handschrift
Heiliger Gegenstand
Sanskrit
Kannada
Ritus
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
History
Sacred books
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9783110478815
3110478811
3110477769
9783110477764