Table of Contents

Preface Wendy Doniger Introduction Laurie L. Patton Part One: The Vedas Reflect on Themselves 1. The Mastery of Speech Canonicity and Control in the Vedas David Carpenter 2. Veda in the Brahmanas Cosmogonic Paradigms and the Delimitation of Canon Barbara A. Holdrege 3. The Veda and the Authority of Class Reduplicating Structures of Veda and Varna in Ancient Indian Texts Brian K. Smith Part Two: The Vedas in Classical Discourse 4. Puranaveda Frederick M. Smith 5. From Anxiety to Bliss Argument, Care, and Responsibility in the Vedanta Reading of Taittiriya 2.1-6a Francis X. Clooney, S.J. 6. "Whither the Thick Sweetness of Their Passion?" The Search for Vedic Origins of Sanskrit Drama David L. Gitomer Part Three: The Vedas in Modernity and Beyond 7. The Authority of an Absent Text The Veda, Upangas, Upavedas, and Upnekhata in European Thought Dorothy M. Figueira 8. From Interpretation to Reform Dayanand's Reading of the Vedas John E. Llewellyn 9. Redefining the Authority of Scripture The Rejection of Vedic Infallibility by the Brahmo Samaj Anantanand Rambachan 10. Poets and Fishes Modern Indian Interpretations of the Vedic Rishi Laurie L. Patton Afterword Laurie L. Patron Contributors Index

About the Author

Laurie L. Patton is Assistant Professor of Asian Religions at Bard College.

Reviews

"What a feast these essays provide! Together they constitute the most sophisticated yet accessible volume I have come across in years. There are moments in reading when I simply had to pause to write the word 'stunning' and to ponder the implications of what the author had just said." - Thomas B. Coburn, St. Lawrence University "This anthology assembles a series of superbly researched and written articles around the theme of authority and anxiety as it displays itself in the Hindu tradition. The authors are the best of the generation of young scholars now establishing or having established their names in the field. There is a very good level of conversation among the articles, and the editor's introduction does an exceptionally clear and compelling job of setting forth the issues of canon and authority with respect to the place of the Vedas in traditional Hindu culture and modern Western scholarly and Hindu traditions. The volume is well crafted, coherent, and well written." - Paul B. Courtright, Emory University