Release from Life – Release in Life: Indian Perspectives on Individual Liberation
Authors:
Andreas Bigger, Rita Krajnc, Annemarie Mertens, Markus Schupbach, Heinz Werner Wessler (editors)
ISBN:
9783034303316
Binding:
Paperback
Year:
2010
Pages:
340
Size:
15 x 22 cm
Weight:
555 grams
Price:
INR
2670.00
This volume consists of a collection of studies which are based on papers presented at the symposium «Erlöst leben – oder sterben, um befreit zu werden?» (Zurich, May 2008), organized in honour of Peter Schreiner. It offers a selective overview of individual liberation as dealt with in Indian texts and rituals at different times. Starting from the two prominent approaches to this problem, namely, that of jīvanmukti (‘liberation in one’s lifetime’) and that of videhamukti (‘liberation beyond the body’), some important questions have to be considered: How has life been thought compatible with mokṣa? How have ‘life’ in the concept of the ‘liberated living’ and ‘death’ in the concept of the ‘disembodied liberated’ been conceived by philosophers, poets, religious thinkers, ritual practitioners and social activists?Coming from various disciplinary backgrounds – Indology, Religious Studies, Social Anthropology – the contributors explore these questions in the context of their particular fields of research. Through this multi-faceted approach, the volume presents an original and substantial analysis of an intriguing topic touching on many aspects of religious and secular life. The careful interpretation of the sources by a group of internationally renowned scholars leads to critical perspectives on some crucial developments in the history of Indian religion.
Andreas Bigger
Andreas Bigger (PhD) is a librarian at the University Library of Basel.
Rita Krajnc
Rita Krajnc is a doctoral student at the URPP Asia and Europe at the University of Zurich and reader in Hindi at the Department of Indology. She is writing a dissertation on the contemporary Hindi author Mṛdulā Garg and her novels.
Annemarie Mertens
Annemarie Mertens (PhD) is a research assistant and reader in Sanskrit, other Indian languages and classical Indian studies at the Department of Indology at the University of Zurich. Her research focuses on Sanskrit Purāṇas and the correlation of group identities and religious conflicts in Indian society.
Markus Schupbach
Markus Schüpbach is a doctoral student at the Department of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (Indology) at the University of Zurich. His research focuses on the Sanskrit epics and the history of philosophical concepts.
Heinz Werner Wessler
Heinz Werner Wessler (PhD) is senior lecturer of Indology at the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies at the University of Bonn. His fields of research cover Purāṇa studies, modern religion and politics in South Asia and Hindi literature.