The Sense of Adharma

Contents......Page 10
Abbreviations......Page 14
Introduction: On Understanding Culture Through the Body......Page 18
Dharma......Page 22
Adharma......Page 24
Smrti as Remembrance......Page 26
The Symbol and the Image......Page 29
Mahāvrata Images......Page 38
The Structure of Images......Page 40
Indian Images......Page 42
2. The Duration of Images in Time......Page 53
Conceptions of Time in India......Page 54
Temporal Images—Method......Page 56
Time in the Rāmāyana......Page 59
Time in the Mahāvrata Ritual......Page 66
Musical Time......Page 70
Conclusion......Page 74
3. Why Rivers Purify (And Only Bad Witches Are Ugly)......Page 81
Conceptual Approaches to Pollution and Sin......Page 82
Bathing (Snāna)......Page 86
The Phenomenology of Bathing—A Gestalt Approach......Page 91
Isomorphism......Page 92
Good Forms in Perception......Page 93
The Phenomenal Ego......Page 94
Perception and Proprioception......Page 95
The Meaning of Bathing......Page 97
Concluding Remarks......Page 100
4. Dermatology and Cosmology......Page 104
Apālā and Indra......Page 106
The Symbolism of the Apālā Sukta......Page 108
Skin Therapy......Page 111
Dermatology......Page 112
Interpretation......Page 115
Ksetriya and Jaundice......Page 117
Nonsymbolic Analysis of Disease......Page 120
Animal Skins (Carman)......Page 123
Dharma Metaphors......Page 130
Perception and Forms in Space......Page 131
Being and Becoming—Time and Space Reversed......Page 133
The Picture Frames of Tribal India......Page 135
House Walls......Page 139
Temple Walls......Page 142
Fences......Page 143
Doors......Page 145
Crossing Boundaries......Page 149
6. Passage to Marriage—The Dharma Agent......Page 158
The Marriage Ritual......Page 159
The Marriage as a Rite de Passage......Page 162
Sociological and Cosmological Meaning of Passage......Page 165
The Wedding in Verbal Formulas......Page 166
The "Person" in Passage......Page 168
The Perception of Passage......Page 171
The Dharma Agent: Intention by Extension......Page 176
7. Playing The Field: Adultery as Claim Jumping, by Wendy Doniger......Page 184
The Appeal of the Human Lover: The Kāmāsutra......Page 185
The Wife's Reasons for Committing Adultery......Page 186
The Wife's Reasons for Not Committing Adultery......Page 187
The Lover's Reasons for Committing Adultery......Page 188
The Lover's Reasons for Not Committing Adultery......Page 190
The Appeal of the Divine Lover: Bhakti Texts......Page 191
The Appeal of Theft: The Romance of Adultery......Page 194
Breaching the Boundary: The Husband's Nightmare......Page 196
Conclusion......Page 201
8. Thieves and Dharma in the Story Literature......Page 204
Thieves and Kings......Page 207
The Theft of Identity......Page 210
Achievements of the Best in the Trade......Page 211
Idiot Thieves......Page 213
Brahmin Thieves—A Digression on Dharma Itself......Page 214
Divine Thieves: The Theft of Soma, Vedas, Amrta......Page 220
Vertical Space......Page 228
Danda in Nature......Page 231
Danda in Society......Page 235
Danda in the Sacrifice......Page 238
Danda in Mythology......Page 240
Danda and the Goddess......Page 247
Conclusion......Page 249
Conclusion: Back to the Body......Page 254
Bibliography......Page 258
B......Page 276
D......Page 277
G......Page 278
K......Page 279
M......Page 280
P......Page 281
S......Page 282
T......Page 283
V......Page 284
Z......Page 285