Alain Daniélou

India: A Civilization of Differences (eBook, ePUB)

The Ancient Tradition of Universal Tolerance

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A collection of Daniélou's writings that builds a bold and cogent defense of India's caste system • Looks at the Hindu caste system not as racist inequality but as a natural ordering of diversity • Reveals the stereotypes of Indian society invented to justify colonialism • Includes never-before-published articles by the internationally recognized Hindu scholar and translator of The Complete Kama Sutra (200,000 copies sold) In classical India social ethics are based on each individual's functional role in society. These ethics vary according to caste in order to maximize the individual's effectiveness in the social context. This is the definition of caste ethics. The Indian caste system is not a hierarchy with some who are privileged and others who are despised; it is a natural ordering, an organizing principle, of a society wherein differences are embraced rather than ignored. In the caste system it is up to the individual to achieve perfection in the state to which he or she is born, since to a certain extent that state also forms part of a person's nature. All people must accomplish their individual spiritual destinies while, as members of a social group, ensuring the continuity of the group and collaborating in creating a favorable framework for all human life--thereby fulfilling the collective destiny of the group. The notion of transmigration provides an equalizing effect on this prescribed system in that today's prince may be reborn as a woodcutter and the Brahman as a shoemaker. In India: A Civilization of Differences, Daniélou explores this seldom-heard side of the caste debate and argues effectively in its favor. This rare collection of the late author's writings contains several never-before-published articles and offers an in-depth look at the structure of Indian society before and after Western colonialism.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Simon + Schuster LLC
• Seitenzahl: 160
• Erscheinungstermin: 5. Juli 2005
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781620550328
• Artikelnr.: 49160676

Autorenporträt

Alain Daniélou (1907-1994) spent more than 15 years in the traditional society of India, using only the Sanskrit and Hindi languages and studying music and philosophy with eminent scholars. He was duly initiated into esoteric Shaivism, which gave him unusual access to texts transmitted through the oral tradition alone. He is the author of more than 30 books on the religion, history, and arts of India and the Mediterranean.

Inhaltsangabe

Foreword: Caste and Freedom for Alain Daniélou
by Jacques E. Cloarec
Preface: Sacred Order and Human Society
by Jean-Louis Gabin
The Caste Institution
Hinduism and Human Behavior
The Hindu Caste System
Racism and Castes
The Hindu Woman and the Goddess
The Ahir Caste at Benares
On the Work of Abbé Dubois: Customs,
Institutions, and Ceremonies of the
Peoples of India
Evolution and Freedom
The Dictatorship of the Pen-Pushers, or
Alpha-Bêtise-Me
The Castes in Modern India
The West and the Merchant Caste
Remarks on Cultural Colonization
Cultural Genocide in Africa
Relations Between the Dravidian and
African Negro Cultures
Rights and Duties
Notes
Origin of the Texts
Other Works by Alain Daniélou Dealing with
the Caste Institution
General Bibliography Provided by Alain
Daniélou
Index