Tapta-Marga/ Walter O. Kaelber

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Tapta-Marga/ Walter O. Kaelber
Tapta-Marga Asceticism and Initiation in Vedic India Walter O. Kaelber
Delhi,Sri Satguru. Rs.200.
About the Book
"Kaelber takes a subject which looks obscure at first sight, digests, distills, and comments on a difficult body of scholarship, and then writes about it in a way that is easily accessible to any beginning reader on the subject while at the same time fresh, abrim with new insights, and a stimulating read for the scholar. He achieves this by persistently showing how tapas, in its many transformations, remains at the center of the mainstream of Vedic religion from its beginnings to its Upanishadic 'end.' I see this book as something we have long needed for the teaching of Hinduism: a good book with which to introduce students to the continuities of Vedic religion." -- Alf Hiltebeitel, George Washington University
This is the most comprehensive study yet made of tapas and of asceticism during the Vedic period. It also explains three other essential components of Vedic thought: sacrifice, homology, and knowledge. These concepts, along with tapas and initiation symbolism, reveal the heart of Vedic religion. therefore, this study presents a "history of Vedic religion," organized around the central building blocks of that tradition.
"This is an excellent study of an important topic in the history of Vedic religion. What I like best about the work is the way it reveals the variety of meanings and uses of tapas in different contexts to establish connections between natural, human, and cosmic realities and to maintain continuity between ritual tradition and the path of knowledge. This is a creative study that provides important new insights into the basic principles of Vedic religion." -- Thomas J. Hopkins, Franklin and Marshall College
Walter O. Kaelber is Professor of Religious Studies at Wagner College.
Table Of Contents
Acknowledgments Introduction The Vedic Inter-entities: An Overview Observations on Method 1. Tapas, Rainfall, and Fertility Natural Heat: Sun and Fire Ascetic Heat: The Brahmacarin Ritual Heat 2. Tapas, Birth, and Spiritual Rebirth Tapas and Procreation Tapas and Spiritual Rebirth 3. Tapas and Purification Tapas: Destructive Heat and Purification Tapas: Pain, Asceticism, and Purification Tapas: Penance and Purification 4. Tapas, Knowledge, and Spiritual Rebirth "In the Beginning" and "On High" Now and Here Below 5. A Vedic Watershed: Karma/Jñana 6. Tapas, Knowledge, and Liberation Tapas and Knowledge in the Principal Upanisads Homology, Meditation, Liberation 7. The Emergence and Development of Brahmanic Asceticism Heuristic Models The Brahmacarin 8. The "Dramatic" Element in Vedic Initiation Symbols of Death, Danger, and Difficult Passage in Early Vedic Initiation The Doctrine of Transmigration and Its Impact on Initiation Symbolism Conclusions Notes General Works and Translations Cited Index
Thanking You
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