Fall Quarter, 2021
Thursdays, 1:00-2:30 p.m.
D. An Introduction to the Hindu Traditions, Mark McClish, Associate Professor, Religious Studies. Thursdays, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
One of the largest and most ancient of all religions, ‘Hinduism’ is better understood as a family of related traditions. Over the last 5000 years, the Hindu traditions of South Asia have developed an astonishing diversity of rituals, beliefs, and spiritual practices and a pantheon of hundreds and thousands of gods and goddesses, from the elephant headed Gaṇeśa to the fierce goddess Kālī and many local deities. This course will examine the breadth of the Hindu traditions as they have developed over time, highlighting the major elements that characterize them collectively, such as ritual sacrifice (yajña), world renunciation (saṃnyāsa), law (dharma), spiritual discipline (yoga), devotion (bhakti), and worship (pūjā). We will pay particular attention to how these traditions have contributed to the development of modern Hinduism. During the course we will explore the great works of Hindu literature, such as the Rāmāyaṇa and the Bhagavad Gītā, as well as other important sources such as art, architecture, anthropology, and film.
Suggested Readings:
Introducing Hinduism, 2nd ed by Hilary Rodrigues. Routledge, 2016, ISBN: 9780415549660
The Life of Hinduism ed. by John Hawley and Vasudha Narayanan, Univ. of California Press, 2006, ISBN: 0520249143
The Rigveda: A Guide by Joel Brereton and Stephanie Jamison, Oxford UP, 2020, ISBN: 0190633379
Samskara, by U. R. Ananthamurthy, Tr. by A. K. Ramanujan, New York: Oxford University Press, 1979
Upaniṣads, Tr. by Patrick Olivelle. Oxford, 2008, ISBN 978-0199540259
Shankara’s Crest Jewel of Discrimination, Tr. Swami Prabhavananda & Christopher Isherwood. Vedanta Press, 1970, ISBN 9780874810387
The Rāmāyaṇa: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic, Tr. by R. K. Narayan. Penguin, 2006, ISBN: 978-0143039679
The Bhagavad Gītā, Tr. by Laurie Patton. Penguin, 2008, ISBN: 978-0140447903
Love Song of the Dark Lord: Jayadeva’s Gītagovinda, Tr. by Barbara Stoler Miller. Columbia University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0231110976
India: A Sacred Geography, Diana Eck. Harmony Press: 2013, ISBN: 978-0385531924
Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy, Georg Feuerstein. Shambhala, 1998. ISBN: 978-1570623042
Hinduism in the Modern World, Brian A. Hatcher (ed.) Routledge, 2015. ISBN: 9780415836043