The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata

The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata PDF Author: Nikhil Govind
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 9393715955
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
The Mahabharata, one of the most popular epics, has had a remarkable impact on literary and cultural thought in India through the centuries. It is also of immense religious and philosophical importance and is considered itihasa, literally 'that which happened', or sacred history. Though the setting of the Mahabharata is distant in time, something of its indefatigable, insistent formulation of the pivotal dilemmas of our shared human moral imagination remains insistent and inextinguishable even today. The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata closely reads the conceptual and narrative intricacies of the epic through the four foundational terms of dharma (law), artha (worldliness), kama (desire) and moksha (freedom), offering riveting insights on the moral psychology of Indic civilization. Drawing from scholarly forays in philology, history, religious studies and pre-modern Asian traditions, this critical attention by a literary scholar to the Mahabharata's narrative impulses and the internal vigour of select episodes brings to fore the gripping dilemmas that animate the epic. The book travels through an atmospheric and exuberant pre-modern milieu to provoke prescient metaphysical and ethical questions that are only accumulating in relevance in the contemporary world.

The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata

The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata PDF Author: Nikhil Govind
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 9393715955
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Get Book

Book Description
The Mahabharata, one of the most popular epics, has had a remarkable impact on literary and cultural thought in India through the centuries. It is also of immense religious and philosophical importance and is considered itihasa, literally 'that which happened', or sacred history. Though the setting of the Mahabharata is distant in time, something of its indefatigable, insistent formulation of the pivotal dilemmas of our shared human moral imagination remains insistent and inextinguishable even today. The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata closely reads the conceptual and narrative intricacies of the epic through the four foundational terms of dharma (law), artha (worldliness), kama (desire) and moksha (freedom), offering riveting insights on the moral psychology of Indic civilization. Drawing from scholarly forays in philology, history, religious studies and pre-modern Asian traditions, this critical attention by a literary scholar to the Mahabharata's narrative impulses and the internal vigour of select episodes brings to fore the gripping dilemmas that animate the epic. The book travels through an atmospheric and exuberant pre-modern milieu to provoke prescient metaphysical and ethical questions that are only accumulating in relevance in the contemporary world.

The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata

The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789393715739
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata

The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata PDF Author: Nikhil Govind
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 9393715858
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
The Mahabharata, one of the most popular epics, has had a remarkable impact on literary and cultural thought in India through the centuries. It is also of immense religious and philosophical importance and is considered itihasa, literally 'that which happened', or sacred history. Though the setting of the Mahabharata is distant in time, something of its indefatigable, insistent formulation of the pivotal dilemmas of our shared human moral imagination remains insistent and inextinguishable even today. The Moral Imagination of the Mahabharata closely reads the conceptual and narrative intricacies of the epic through the four foundational terms of dharma (law), artha (worldliness), kama (desire) and moksha (freedom), offering riveting insights on the moral psychology of Indic civilization. Drawing from scholarly forays in philology, history, religious studies and pre-modern Asian traditions, this critical attention by a literary scholar to the Mahabharata's narrative impulses and the internal vigour of select episodes brings to fore the gripping dilemmas that animate the epic. The book travels through an atmospheric and exuberant pre-modern milieu to provoke prescient metaphysical and ethical questions that are only accumulating in relevance in the contemporary world.

Moral Dilemmas in the Mahabharata

Moral Dilemmas in the Mahabharata PDF Author: Bimal Krishna Matilal
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
ISBN: 8120806034
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
Here the collected papers explore the whole question of the relation between the mythopoetic and the moral in the context of the Mahabharata. Here we have a story of extreme complexity, characters that are unforgettable, and a cosmic context in which gods and men alike grapple with destiny. The obligations of kinship and friendship jostle with each other. The women characters, as in everyday life, seem to bear a very heavy load of the burden of life and to stand in a key position in almost every conflict. We are presented with predicaments at every turn. At times these predicaments seem to be aggravated by social structure. At other times they are cushioned by it. Philosophical tangles tied up with karma and dharma are interwoven with the mythopoetic material. Perhaps philosophical issues are pinpointed rather more than they are in Greek epic literature. The essays in this book treat the Mahabharata from an unusual angle, fastening on the moral dilemmas it presents. How universal are the dilemmas faced by the characters in the story, and are the dilemmas in fact resolved? In dealing with these questions, the discussions range over the meaning of the purusarthas, the institutions of marriage and the family, the concept of action in the Gita and the special predicaments faced by Draupadi, Arjuna and others. These studies invite the scholar to reflect afresh on the text and encourage the general reader to find in epic literature much that is relevant to life today.

Exploring Agency in the Mahabharata

Exploring Agency in the Mahabharata PDF Author: Sibesh Chandra Bhattacharya
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351061402
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
The Mahabharata, one of the major epics of India, is a sourcebook complete by itself as well as an open text constantly under construction. This volume looks at transactions between its modern discourses and ancient vocabulary. Located amid conversations between these two conceptual worlds, the volume grapples with the epic’s problematisation of dharma or righteousness, and consequently, of the ideal person and the good life through a cluster of issues surrounding the concept of agency and action. Drawing on several interdisciplinary approaches, the essays reflect on a range of issues in the Mahabharata, including those of duty, motivation, freedom, selfhood, choice, autonomy, and justice, both in the context of philosophical debates and their ethical and political ramifications for contemporary times. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers engaged with philosophy, literature, religion, history, politics, culture, gender, South Asian studies, and Indology. It will also appeal to the general reader interested in South Asian epics and the Mahabharata.

Ethics and Weapons of Mass Destruction

Ethics and Weapons of Mass Destruction PDF Author: Sohail H. Hashmi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521545266
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 558

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Book Description
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Ethical Elements of Mahabharata

Ethical Elements of Mahabharata PDF Author: Manju Rani Verma
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description


The Moral Fabric in Contemporary Societies

The Moral Fabric in Contemporary Societies PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9047402294
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 389

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Book Description
Neither the title of the 35th Congress of the International Institute of Sociology, nor its timing and location were coincidental — The Moral Fabric in Contemporary Societies being discussed in 2001 in Poland, a country which had experienced two totalitarianisms in the previous century. The events of the new millennium thus far demonstrate that history is aimless unless the societies who are its agents have moral goals or visions which they pursue. The contents of this volume constitute the best evidence of a belief in the universality and importance of moral issues for the social sciences. The deliberations here cover the notion of trust, proceed with the issue of economic inequalities, discuss multiple modernities as a response to imposed modernization, debate postcommunism and corruption, and, finally, examine genocide and its social consequences. The book opens and closes with reflections on the theoretical aspects of what constitutes the moral fabric today.

John Dewey and the Artful Life

John Dewey and the Artful Life PDF Author: Scott R. Stroud
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271050071
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
"Examines the relationship between art and morality discussed in the writings of American pragmatist John Dewey. Argues that there is a clear connection between the experience of art and the project of moral cultivation"--Provided by publisher.

AJAYA

AJAYA PDF Author: Anand Neelakantan
Publisher: One Point Six Technology Pvt Ltd
ISBN: 9381576033
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
THE MAHABHARATA ENDURES AS THE GREAT EPIC OF INDIA. But while Jaya is the story of the Pandavas, told from the perspective of the victors of Kurukshetra; Ajaya is the narrative of the ÔunconquerableÕ Kauravas, who were decimated to the last man. At the heart of IndiaÕs most powerful empire, a revolution is brewing. Bhishma, the noble patriarch of Hastinapura, is struggling to maintain the unity of his empire. On the throne sits Dhritarashtra, the blind King, and his foreign-born Queen Ð Gandhari. In the shadow of the throne stands Kunti, the Dowager-Queen, burning with ambition to see her firstborn become the ruler, acknowledged by all. And in the wings: Parashurama, the enigmatic Guru of the powerful Southern Confederate, bides his time to take over and impose his will from mountains to ocean. Ekalavya, a young Nishada, yearns to break free of caste restrictions and become a warrior. Karna, son of a humble charioteer, travels to the South to study under the foremost Guru of the day and become the greatest archer in the land. Balarama, the charismatic leader of the Yadavas, dreams of building the perfect city by the sea and seeing his people prosperous and proud once more. Takshaka, guerilla leader of the Nagas, foments a revolution by the downtrodden as he lies in wait in the jungles of India, where survival is the only dharma. Jara, the beggar, and his blind dog Dharma, walk the dusty streets of India, witness to people and events far greater than they, as the Pandavas and the Kauravas confront their searing destinies. Amidst the chaos, Prince Suyodhana, heir of Hastinapura, stands tall, determined to claim his birthright and act according to his conscience. He is the maker of his own destiny Ð or so he believes. While in the corridors of the Hastinapura palace, a foreign Prince plots to destroy India. And the dice fallsÉ