Poetry as Prayer in the Sanskrit Hymns of Kashmir
history of Sanskrit hymns of praise (stotras) in Kashmir. The book provides a broad introduction to the history and general features of the stotra genre, and it charts the course of these literary hymns in Kashmir from the eighth century to the present. In particular, it offers the first major study
in any European language of the Stutikusumājali, an important work of religious literature dedicated to the god Śiva and one of the only extant witnesses to the trajectory of Sanskrit literary culture in fourteenth-century Kashmir. The book also contributes to the study of Śaivism by examining the ways in which Śaiva poets have integrated the traditions of Sanskrit literature and poetics, theology (especially non-dualism), and Śaiva worship and devotion. It substantiates the diverse configurations of Śaiva bhakti expressed and
explored in these literary hymns and the challenges they present for standard interpretations of Hindu bhakti. More broadly, this study of stotras from Kashmir offers new perspectives on the history and vitality of prayer in South Asia and its complex relationships to poetry and poetics.
| Publisher Name | Oxford University Press USA |
|---|---|
| Author Name | Hagendorf, Col |
| Format | Audio |
| Bisac Subject Major | REL |
| Language | NG |
| Isbn 10 | 0190889810 |
| Isbn 13 | 9780190889814 |
| Target Age Group | min:NA, max:NA |
| Dimensions | 00.93" H x 00.06" L x 40.00" W |
| Page Count | 352 |
Hamsa Stainton is Assistant Professor in the School of Religious Studies at McGill University. He studied South Asian religions at Columbia University (Ph.D., 2013), Harvard Divinity School (M.T.S., 2007), and Cornell University (B.A., 2004). His co-edited volume (with Bettina Sharada Bumer),
Tantrapuspajali: Tantric Traditions and Philosophy of Kashmir; Studies in Memory of Pandit H.N. Chakravarty, was published in 2018 by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
