The Religious Culture Of India: Power, Love And Wisdom

Book Summary

This is a fresh and innovative exploration of traditional Indian religion and culture - an area that has fascinated and puzzled the West for centuries. Making use of his own original research, conducted over twenty-five years, Friedhelm Hardy aims at presenting the widest possible range of themes that have preoccupied Indian culture. He draws on a variety of sources, in various languages, and listens not only to what the philosopher or theologian in the classical Sanskrit texts has to say, but also to what folk and regional cults and cultures express in stories, myths and poetry. In an often humorous and always entertaining manner he reveals the colourful world of India to the non-specialist by making the three primary human drives of power, love and wisdom his focal points. Individual themes are frequently also illustrated from relevant Occidental sources. The book is based on public lectures delivered at the University of Oxford. While professional Indian studies become increasingly specialized, and popular interest in the subject loses itself in a mystical maze, this book presents a view of the whole culture from which has arisen the huge diversity of Indian religion in a manner that is both authoritative and accessible. This study conducts a lively and innovative exploration of the traditional Indian religions and cultures that have both fascinated and puzzled the West for centuries. The author uses a great variety of sources, and listens not only to what the learned philosopher or theologian in the classical Sanskrit texts has to say, but also to what folk cults express in stories, myths, and poetry. By focusing on the three universal human drives of power, love and wisdom, Hardy offers a colorful picture of the huge diversity that is Indian religion.

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