Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online
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Subject: Asian Studies
Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism presents the latest research on all the main aspects of the Hindu traditions. Its 438 essays are original work written by the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism. The encyclopedia presents a balanced and even-handed view of Hinduism, recognizing the divergent perspectives and methods in the academic study of a religion that has ancient historical roots with many flourishing traditions today. Including all essays from the heralded printed edition, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism is now to be regularly updated with new articles and available in a fully searchable, dynamic digital format.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
Edited by: Knut A. Jacobsen (Editor-in-Chief), University of Bergen, and Helene Basu, University of Münster, Angelika Malinar, University of Zürich, Vasudha Narayanan, University of Florida (Associate Editors)
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Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism presents the latest research on all the main aspects of the Hindu traditions. Its 438 essays are original work written by the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism. The encyclopedia presents a balanced and even-handed view of Hinduism, recognizing the divergent perspectives and methods in the academic study of a religion that has ancient historical roots with many flourishing traditions today. Including all essays from the heralded printed edition, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism is now to be regularly updated with new articles and available in a fully searchable, dynamic digital format.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
Old Age
(5,595 words)
A wide variety of images and understandings of old age exists in Hindu textual traditions and daily life. Two key themes are salient in many contexts. The first is the theme of transience; aging and the gradual decline of the body as death grows near, for better or worse, epitomizes the transience of human existence, the ephemeral nature of the cycle of births and deaths that makes up the worldly life of
saṃsāra. The second key theme is that of care and respect, or respectful service (
sevā), offered to elders within the family. Here, the notion is that proper moral-religious order or
dharma dic…
Date:
2020-05-18
Oṃ
(1,629 words)
Considered to be the most sacred and important of all sounds and
mantras in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions,
oṃ is recited at the beginning and end of almost all prayers and meditational exercises. The word is understood to have three sounds,
a, u, and
m, with the diphthong
au producing an
o sound. The sound
oṃ, which begins deep in the body and ends at the lips, is thought to be auspicious, and articulating it is said to exercise the whole vocal apparatus. The sound itself is variously considered to be a full manifestation of: 1.
brahman; 2. the universe (it is, in fact, coeval w…
Date:
2020-05-18