Soulless Matter, Seats of Energy: Metals, Gems and Minerals in South Asian Religions and Culture

by Thomas Dahnhardt (Editor), Fabrizio M Ferrari (Editor)

Overview

Soulless Matter, Seats of Energy: Metals, Gems and Minerals in South Asian Traditions investigates the way in which Indian culture has represented inorganic matter and geological formations such as mountains and the earth itself. The volume is divided into four sections, each discussing from different angles the manifold dimensions occupied by minerals, gems and metals in traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. The various chapters offer a rigorous analysis of a variety of texts from different South Asian regions from a range of perspectives such as history, philology, philosophy, hermeneutics and ethnography. The themes discussed include literature (myth and epics), ritual, ethics, folklore, and sciences such as astrology, medicine, alchemy and cosmetics.
The volume critically reflects on the concept of “inanimate world” and shows how Indian traditions have variously interpreted the concept of embodied life and lifelessness. Ranging from worldviews and disciplines which regard metals, minerals, gems as alive, sentient or inhabited by divine presences and powers to ideas which deny matter possesses life and sentience, the Indian Subcontinent proves to be a challenge for taxonomic investigations but at the same time provides historians of religions and philosophers with stimulating material.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781791295
Publisher:	Equinox Publishing
Publication date:	09/01/2016
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.17(h) x (d)

About the Author

Fabrizio M. Ferrari is Professor of Indology and South Asian Religions in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Chester. Thomas Dahnhardt is Assistant Professor in Hindi and Urdu Languages and Literatures in the Department of Asian and Mediterranean African Studies at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice.

Table of Contents

Introduction Fabrizio M. Ferrari and Thomas Dahnhardt Section 1: Myth and Ritual 1. Five Stones - Four Rivers - One Town: the Hindu Pancayatana Puja Mikael Aktor, University of Southern Denmark 2. A "Sulphurous" Sakti: The Worship of Goddess Hingula in Baluchistan Francesco Brighenti, University of Hyderabad 3. From Iron to Sapphire: Indian Myths and Rituals about Saturn, the Implacable Lord of Celestial Spheres Monia Marchetto, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and Manuel Hoefer, Venetian Academy of Indian Studies Section 2: Science and Health 4. Mineral Healing: Gemstone Remedies in Astrological and Medical Traditions Anthony Cerulli, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, and Caterina Guenzi, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales 5. Mercury Tonics (Rasayana) in Sanskrit Medical Literature Dagmar Wujastyk, University of Zurich 6. When Ngulchu is not Mercury: Tibetan Taxonomies of 'Metals' Barbara Gerke, Humboldt University of Berlin Section 3: Power and Devotion 7. In Search of the Sadhu's Stone: Metals and Gems as Therapeutic Technologies of Transformation in Vernacular Asceticism in North India Antoinette E. De Napoli, University of Wyoming 8. Deg Tegh Fateh: Metal as Material and Metaphor in Sikh Tradition Eleanor Nesbitt, University of Warwick Section 4: Body and Embodiment 9. A Little Lipstick Goes a Long Way: Chit-chatting with Women in the Ramayana and Mahabharata Deeksha Shivakumar, Emory University 10. Ratna: A Buddhist World of Precious Things Mattia Salvini, Mahidol University, Thailand 11. Living Earth: Earth-bodied Beings in Jain Tradition Ana Bajzelj, University of Rajasthan