About the Book

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Preface
A note on transliteration
Preliminary guidelines on pronunciation

Introduction

• Preamble
• "Hinduism," "Hindu," and "India" Defined
• The geographical distribution of Hindus
• The Indian subcontinent
• The Indus Valley Civilization
• Indus Valley Religion
• The Aryans
• Aryan and non-Aryan influences
• A Brief History of Hinduism

1. Vedic religion

• The Vedic Samhitas
• Vedic deities
• Rta and Cosmic Order
• The Brahmanas
• Vedic rituals (yajña)
• Soma
• The Aranyakas
• The Upanisads
• Atman and Brahman
• Other Vedic literature
• Astrology
• Ayurveda

2. Karma and Cosmology

• The Hindu conception of time
• The Hindu Calendar
• The Hindu Universe
• Karma, Samsara, and Reincarnation
• Moksa

3. Hindu Social Organization and Values

• Dharma and the Dharma Sastras
• The four classes of Hindu society
• The caste system
• The untouchables
• Purity and pollution
• Auspiciousness and inauspiciousness

4. Dharma and the individual

• Hindu rites of passage (Samskara)
• Investiture with the Sacred Thread (Upanayana)
• Marriage (Vivaha)
• Householder's Samskaras
• Antyesti
• The four goals/aims and the four stages of life
• Women in Hinduism
• Vowed ascetic observances (vrata) and auspiciousness (saubhagya)
• Marriage and Pativrata
• Sati and the status of widows

5. The Sanskrit language 1

• Panini and the Astadhyayi
• The sphota theory of language
• Structure of the Sanskrit alphabet
• Mantra and the theology of sound

6. Indian philosophical schools

• The wandering philosophers
• Orthodox versus heterodox schools
• The heterodox philosophies
• The six orthodox systems

7. The Epics (Itihasa)

• The Ramayana
• The Mahabharat

8. The Bhagavad Gita and the rise of bhakti

• The Bhagavad Gita
• The householder versus the renouncer
• The Bhagavad Gita's three yogas
• Jnana yoga
• Karma yoga
• Bhakti yoga
• South Indian Hinduism and the rise of devotionalism
• The Alvars and the Nayanars

9. Major Hindu theistic sects

• Saivism
• Vaisnavism
• Saktism

10. Hindu deities and Puranic mythology

• The Puranas
• The decline of the Vedic deities
• Saiva deities: Iconography, myths, and festivals
• Vaisnava deities: Iconography, myths, and festivals
• Sakta deities: Iconography, myths, and festivals
• Other Deities

11. Hindu art and worship rituals

• A note on orthodoxy
• Domestic worship and puja
• Darsana and temple worship
• The Hindu temple
• Some noteworthy temples
• Sacred specialists
• Hindu pilgrimage

12. Vedanta

• Sankara's radical non-dualism
• Ramanuja's qualifi ed non-dualism
• Madhva's dualism

13. Tantra

• The origins of tantra
• Characteristic elements of Hindu tantra
• Saivism in Kashmir
• Non-dualistic tantric philosophy
• Kundalini yoga
• The Left Hand Path
• Goddesses and women in tantra
• Symbolism of tantric mantras and yantras

14. Reform and revitalization

• Some early critiques of Hinduism and its responses
• Islam in India (A brief history)
• Hinduism under Islam
• Religious syncretism (e.g. Bhakti, Sufi sm, tantra) in North India
• The British in India (A brief history)
• Hindu responses to Christianity
• Related developments
• Hinduism in universalistic religion
• Hinduism and humanism
• Hinduism and politics

15. Hinduism beyond India

• Hinduism in Nepal
• Hinduism in Southeast Asia
• Hinduism in Indonesia

16. Hinduism and the West

• Diaspora Hinduism
• Hinduism for the West
• Some contemporary teachers of Hinduism to Westerners

17. Select themes in Hinduism

• Hinduism and ecology
• Some noteworthy figures in contemporary Hinduism
• Hinduism and modernity

Appendix I

• A Timeline of Hinduism

Appendix II

• A: Pronunciation guide and general glossary
• B: Pronunciation guide and glossary of people's names
• C: Pronunciation guide and glossary of place names
• D: Pronunciation guide and glossary of texts

Further reading
Index