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
Jharkhand
(8,189 words)
The state of Jharkhand, founded in 2000 from the southern districts of Bihar, includes the Chhotanagpur Plateau and the Santal Parganas. Though a “tribal” state, with the Munda, Santal, Ho, and Oraon as the largest tribal populations, it has a Hindu majority, due to immigration from the plains. The terms “tribe” and “tribal” are used to refer to populations who claim to have a distinct identity from the Hindu castes (see Bates, 1995; Carrin, 2008, for a discussion of the term “tribe”; Bhatt, 200…
Date:
2020-05-18
Jiddu Krishnamurti
(4,998 words)
Jiddu Krishnamurti was a 20th-century philosopher who traveled the world to give public talks over a period of about 70 years, sharing his thoughts on philosophical questions in an epistemological context. He was concerned about the source, meaning, and effects of spirituality as it might be understood beyond the bounds of religious dogma and ritual. He advocated the importance of freedom from the known mind to enable self-inquiry, and the role of relationship in understanding oneself. Krishnamu…
Date:
2020-05-18
Jīva Gosvāmī
(4,606 words)
The Caitanya Vaiṣṇava tradition, also known as Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism due to its Bengali origins, was founded in the early 16th century by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (1486-1534). Caitanya brought a wave of Kṛṣṇa devotion to eastern India, particularly the regions of Bengal and Orissa. Although he left little by way of written work, the movement he inspired produced a wide array of poetical, philosophical, and ritual literature dedicated to Kṛṣṇa. Much of the school’s early literature was composed by the six
gosvāmīs (ascetic adepts) of Vrindavan, namely, Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī,…
Date:
2020-05-18
Jīvanmukta
(3,177 words)
Jīvanmukta is a Sanskrit word that means “one who is already liberated (
mukta) even while living in the world (
jīvan),” and
jīvanmukti is the noun form meaning “liberation while still living in the world.” In other words,
jīvanmukti denotes a state of liberation that can be enjoyed even before the demise of the body, which is indeed a bold and innovative concept that at least some schools of Indian philosophy discuss in their texts. In this article I will only address the concept as discussed in Advaita Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, and Yoga …
Date:
2020-05-18
Jñāndev
(4,940 words)
Jñāndev or Jñāneśvar (also Dnyaneshwar, Dnyandeo, Jnanadeva, and Gnyaneshwar) is remembered as a poet-saint who was born in Alandi (or possibly Apegav, east of Paithan on the Godāvarī River), in what is today Maharashtra, sometime in the third quarter of the 13th century CE. Born to a Deshastha Brahman family, he is said to have mastered Sanskrit and much of its philosophical literature as a child. He is remembered as one of the first masters of Marathi as a literary language, having composed at…
Date:
2020-05-18