Embodying the Vedas

Abstract

Introduction 1 1.1 Locating the Vedapāṭhaśālās 9 1.2 The Indian in a Foreign Body: Ethnography and Participant Observation 12 1.3 The Indologist without a Text 16 1.4 The Oral Transmission of the Veda 19 1.5 Manuscript Culture and the Use of a Text 30 2 Framing the Veda: General Contexts 37 2.1 Brāhmaṇas in Maharashtra 37 2.2 The Brāhmaṇa in Modern and Globalized India 45 2.3 Bhakti and Orthodox Brāhmaṇism 50 2.4 Modern Hinduism and the Religious Market in India 56 3 The Vedic Schools in Contemporary Maharashtra 64 3.1 Governmental Regulations 64 3.2 "Money Matters": The Economy of Vedic Schools 68 3.3 New Patrons of the Veda 75 3.4 Today's Vedic Schools in Maharashtra: a Typology 77 3.4.1 The 'Gurukula Type' 79 3.4.2 The 'Vedapāṭhaśālā Type' 82 3.4.3 The 'Vedavidyālaya Type' 84 3.4.4 Concluding Remarks on the Use of a Typology 85 3.5 Curricula of the Vedapāṭhaśālās in Maharashtra 86 3.6 Styles of Vedic Recitation 100 3.7 Modalities of Teaching and Studying the Veda 102 3.7.1 Spaces and Seating Arrangements for the Veda Instruction 103 3.7.2 Introductory Lesson (Santhā) 105 3.7.3 Revision Class (Guṇḍikā) 110Despite the most rigorous adherence to "the old ways," they are refracted by the prism of history. To adapt an adage: tradizione tradimento.