This book analyses the diverse ways in which women have been represented in the Puranic traditions in ancient India - the virtuous wife, mother, daughter, widow, and prostitute - against the socio-religious milieu around CE 300-1000. Puranas (lit. ancient narratives) are brahmanical texts that large...

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Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Saxena, Monika (Author)
Format:	Electronic eBook
Language:	English
Published:	London Routledge 2018
Edition:	1st
Subjects:	Puranas Women in Hinduism / India Women / Religious aspects / Hinduism Sex role / Religious aspects / Hinduism
Online Access:	Volltext
Summary:	This book analyses the diverse ways in which women have been represented in the Puranic traditions in ancient India - the virtuous wife, mother, daughter, widow, and prostitute - against the socio-religious milieu around CE 300-1000. Puranas (lit. ancient narratives) are brahmanical texts that largely fall under the category of socio-religious literature which were more broad-based and inclusive, unlike the Smrtis, which were accessible mainly to the upper sections of society. In locating, identifying, and commenting on the multiplicity of the images and depictions of women's roles in Puranic traditions, the author highlights their lives and experiences over time, both within and outside the traditional confines of the domestic sphere. With a focus on five Mahapuranas that deal extensively with the social matrix Visnu, Markandeya Matsya, Agni, and Bhagavata Puranas, the book explores the question of gender and agency in early India and shows how such identities were recast, invented, shaped, constructed, replicated, stereotyped, and sometimes reversed through narratives. Further, it traces social consequences and contemporary relevance of such representations in marriage, adultery, ritual, devotion, worship, fasts, and pilgrimage. This volume will be of interest to researchers and scholars in women and gender studies, ancient Indian history, religion, sociology, literature, and South Asian studies, as also the informed general reader
Item Description:	Abbreviations. Notes on Transliteration. Notes on Primary Texts. Foreword . Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Chapter I: The Shaping of the Purāṇic Narrative and Gender Chapter II: Women's Identity and Purāṇic Patriarchy Chapter III: Women Outside the Family Circle: Not Bound, Not Free Chapter IV: Vrata s, Rituals, and the Purāṇic Social Hierarchy. Some Parting Thoughts. Appendix: A Brief Note on the Purāṇic Scholarship. Glossary. Bibliography. Index
Physical Description:	1 online resource
ISBN:	9780429826399 0429826397 9780429826405 0429826400 9780429826382 0429826389 9780429448003 0429448007