JAAR 2011 - Vol. 79,1

Brian Black and Jonathan Geen:

The Character of “Character” in Early South Asian Religious Narratives: An Introductory Essay. - In: JAAR. - 79 (2011), S. 6-32.
DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfq063

Abstract: This essay introduces the five subsequent articles, all of which focus on one or more literary characters from South Asian religious narratives. Covering examples from source texts found in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, this essay will introduce the main characters discussed in the subsequent articles, examine some general features pertaining to the “character” of literary characters in South Asian religious narratives, identify some of the scholarly trends and issues in examining character in South Asian religious literature, and highlight our particular contributions to this endeavor. For specialists in South Asian religious traditions, we hope this collection of papers can help open up some new avenues of research; for those readers who focus on other traditions, we hope these papers can help bring to attention some of the wonderfully complex and engaging literary characters that populate the sources of South Asian religious traditions, and provoke analogous work on other traditions and other areas.

Steven E. Lindquist:

Literary Lives and a Literal Death: Yājñavalkya, Śākalya, and an Upaniṣadic Death Sentence. - In: JAAR. - 79 (2011), S. 33-57.
DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfq060

Abstract: One of the most popular stories found in the Upaniṣads centers around a debate between the ritualist and philosopher, Yājñavalkya, and a series of interlocutors about the nature of sacrifice, the self, and the cosmos. This story, from a textual–historical perspective, is unique in that the last interlocutor, Śākalya, is said to die by having his head shatter because he is unable to answer a question about the fundamental nature of immortality. In this paper, I analyze the interrelationship of these two main characters and argue that this relationship is one key to not only understanding the portrayal of these characters, but also the larger import of this debate about immortality. I provide an intratextual rationale for the head-shattering conclusion and discuss how character and doctrine are fundamentally intertwined in this text.

Jonathan Geen:

Fair Trade and Reversal of Fortune: Kr̥ṣṇa and Mahāvīra in the Hindu and Jaina Traditions. - In: JAAR. - 79 (2011), S. 58-89.
DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfq059

Abstract: Hindu and Jaina mythological texts share many literary characters, some of which were clearly borrowed from one another. This paper examines two such cases of borrowing: the incorporation of the Hindu character Kr̥ṣṇa into the Jaina tradition and the incorporation of the Jaina savior Mahāvīra by Hindus. While the Hindu mythological tradition underwent subtle changes as a result of adopting Mahāvīra, the incorporation of Kr̥ṣṇa had a profound effect on Jaina mythology. In fact, as Jaina mythology developed, Kr̥ṣṇa came to be seen as a sort of Mahāvīra-in-the-making, while Mahāvīra was described as a Kr̥ṣṇa-of-the-past, implying a chronologically shifted equivalence between them. The original impetus for borrowing one another's popular characters seems to have been a desire to discredit them. Over time, however, the fortunes of these characters in their new literary environment steadily rose, and they managed to take on lives of their own.

Sara L. McClintock:

Compassionate Trickster: The Buddha as a Literary Character in the Narratives of Early Indian Buddhism. In: JAAR. - 79 (2011), S. 90-112.
DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfq061

Abstract: Throughout the narrative literature of early Indian Buddhism, we find the Buddha using tricks to help people along the path to awakening. These tricks, which involve both deceptions and illusions, enable those who experience them to put an end to defilements through unmistakable and often funny encounters with their own impermanent limitations. This article asks how such tricks relate to the Buddha’s other activities as a compassionate teacher of the Dharma. By placing the Buddha’s trickster-like qualities at the forefront of our investigation, we come to see the Buddha as an embodiment of the unconditioned, whose paradoxical status directly accounts for the transformations he works in others’ lives. The category of the trick, though not indigenous to Buddhism, highlights structural similarities underlying all the Buddha’s actions, thus easing the tension that seems to exist between his role as a teacher of sober sermons and a performer of awesome miracles.

Laurie L. Patton:

Traces of Śaunaka: A Literary Assessment. - In: JAAR. - 79 (2011), S. 113-135.
DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfq062

Abstract: This article takes up the question, “Who is Śaunaka?” from a literary angle. Śaunaka was both a proponent of a method of Vedic interpretation and a mythological sage. It examines the references to Śaunaka in the Vedic and Epic literature, and characterizes the distinction of his approach. Śaunaka's emphasis on the role of the deity and the giving of names (nāmadheya) in ritual activities is distinct from other sages. Second, it argues that the later legends that treat the progenitor of this school, the sage Śunaka, as well as his descendant, Śaunaka, focus in some way on the power of the deity within ritual action, especially the use of mantra. In his penchant for mantra-centered theological commentary (especially through etymological means), Śaunaka stands for a deity-centered literary style, even in the later texts in which he appears as a mythological figure. The article ends by suggesting that in ancient India, an author does not create a text so much as a textual tradition creates a sense of authorial capacity, an authorial imaginaire.

Brian Black:

Ambaṭṭha and Śvetaketu: Literary Connections Between the Upaniṣads and Early Buddhist Narratives. - In: JAAR. - 79 (2011), S. 136-161.
DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfq058

Abstract: This paper focuses on similarities between two literary characters: Śvetaketu from the Upaniṣads and Ambaṭṭha from the Dīgha Nikāya. By comparing these two characters, as well as the characters with whom they interact, I will suggest that these literary figures from competing religious traditions appear in different presentations of the same story. Both Śvetaketu and Ambaṭṭha are depicted as brahmin students who are young and arrogant as they approach the domain of a non-brahmin. In the case of Śvetaketu, he is rude in his encounter with the king; whereas Ambaṭṭha is disrespectful to the Buddha. In both cases, the young brahmin leaves the non-brahmin after being defeated in debate, without having learned from him an important teaching. Finally, both brahmins are replaced by their teachers, who in contrast are more refined and humble. As I will demonstrate, these similarities, along with other shared literary features between these stories, shed new light on the relationship between the Brahmanical and Buddhist narrative traditions.

Thomas Borchert:

Monastic Labor: Thinking about the Work of Monks in Contemporary Theravāda Communities. - In: JAAR. - 79 (2011), S. 162-192.
DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfq035

Abstract: The work of Theravāda Buddhist monks is often understood as being focused on two different areas or “burdens”: the burden of books and the burden of insight. In other words, monks (and novices) are supposed to be either studying or meditating. While no one can deny that monks do in fact engage in these activities, this paper argues that these activities comprise only a small portion of the work performed by monastics, a fact that scholars have tended to ignore. On the basis of fieldwork conducted in a Theravāda community in Southwest China, in this paper I argue that we need to have an expanded view of what we should think of as appropriate monastic labor, to include activities that are not usually or necessarily seen as religious. It is only by seeing this wider variety of activities that we can begin to fully understand monks as social actors.