Greetings!
I want to call your attention to the programming the Mahābhārata and Classical
Hinduism Seminar will be presenting at this year’s annual meeting of the AAR.
Please note that the listing of panelists at the special session dedicated to
remembering Alf Hiltebeitel has changed from what appears in the program book.
I hope to see you there!
Saturday, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM (A18-443)
Theme: The Performance of Social and Religious Status in the Mahābhārata
San Antonio Convention Center-Room 210B (Meeting Room Level)
Arti Dhand, University of Toronto, Presiding
This session responds to the Presidential Theme for this year, addressing the
Mahābhārata’s depictions of serving or marginalized classes – the dāsīs, the
sūtas, the hunters and butchers and fisher-folk – emphasizing their roles as
exemplars of wisdom and dharma. Performance of one’s dharma is a major theme
of the text and our session considers the significance of such performances of
virtue. This session also addresses the literal and figurative "handcrafting"
of Mahābhārata, by authors ancient or modern who contribute in original ways to
leave their mark on retellings of epic narratives. Papers on Vidura and
Ekalavya are complemented by a paper on the “Act of Truth” statements.
Vishwa Adluri, Hunter College
“Dharma Born from a Śūdrayoni: Vidura in the Mahābhārata”
The Mahābhārata presents itself as a Veda for those excluded from privilege and
as a dharmaśāstra. The wisest character is the author’s biological son Vidura,
who is born from a śūdra woman. Because of his birth, Vidura is systematically
excluded from having a say in dharma and from questioning his standing in life,
even though he is the very incarnation of Dharma. Scholars (Kantawala 1995,
Goldman 1985, Hiltebeitel 2001) have focused on the episode of Dharma being
cursed to be born from a śūdrayoni (MBh 1.57.80d, 81b, and adhyāya 101), but in
this paper, in keeping with this year’s Presidential Theme, I focus on the
plight of Vidura, the paradigmatic political outsider. I trace the epic’s
argument that privilege uses dharma in a legalistic, unethical way and
delegitimates those who oppose its abusive power. Vidura the outsider is a
witness to how Hāstinapura insiders conducted politics, but also Justice
personified.
Richard H. Davis, Bard College
“Ekalavya in the Mahābhārata and His Modern Followers”
The Ekalavya episode in the Mahabharata occupies one short chapter in the
lengthy epic. In this brief narrative, Ekalavya is the ambitious son of a
Nishada chieftain, who is deeply wronged by the Brahmin Drona and the Kshatriya
Arjuna. Like many portions of the epic, it is a living story that continues to
speak in modern India, but it speaks to different audiences in very different
ways. This paper explores the narrative first as it appears in the Sanskrit
Mahabharata, and then how three contemporary groups of situated readers have
portrayed the story: middle-class Hindus (represented by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar),
Dalits, and members of the modern Nishad class.
Bruce M. Sullivan, Northern Arizona University
“The Poetics of Performative Speech Acts: Literary Expressions of Truth, Power,
and Virtue”
The Act of Truth is a distinctive type of verbal expression performed in
moments of crisis, and the Mahābhārata includes many instances of it. A
consistent feature of the Act of Truth is the speaker’s citation of past
actions performed well, and the imperative statement that based on that past
performance a desired outcome must occur. The verbal formula is used to
protect, to heal, to revive the dead, and even to kill. Comparison of the Act
of Truth with other related speech acts (the curse, boon, and vow), and a few
examples from Buddhist literature, reveals that they are all based on a shared
ideology of the power of truthful speech. This paper draws on speech act
theory, including its analysis of performative utterances, to examine the
religious meanings and uses of the Act of Truth in the Mahābhārata as
demonstrations of virtue and power.
Business Meeting
Arti Dhand, University of Toronto, Presiding
Bruce M. Sullivan, Northern Arizona University, Presiding
Sunday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (A19-317)
Special Session: Celebrating the Life and Work of Alf Hiltebeitel (1942-2023)
San Antonio Convention Center-Room 212B (Meeting Room Level)
Arti Dhand, University of Toronto, Presiding
Bruce M. Sullivan, Northern Arizona University, Presiding
Panelists:
Brian Collins, Ohio University
Perundevi Srinivasan, Siena College
Brian Black, Lancaster University
Veena Howard, CSU Fresno
Shubha Pathak, American University
Sunday, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM (A19-445)
Theme: Royalty and Divinity in Regional, Vernacular, and Performative
Mahābhārata Traditions
Grand Hyatt-Republic A (4th Floor)
Bruce M. Sullivan, Northern Arizona University, Presiding
This session is devoted to texts and traditions of Mahābhārata performances
such as theater, film, and vernacular language textual traditions, with a focus
on the religious uses of these traditions. Papers in this session include
Tamil performative and religious traditions and Tamil films that reimagine
Mahābhārata characters from the Kaurava side of the conflict, and articulate
the cultural significance of such retellings. In addition, Kālidāsa’s
retelling of the story of Śakuntalā and the king in drama reveals changing
social practices and audience expectations over time.
Perundevi Srinivasan, Siena College, Loudonville
“Transformation of the Kaurava Queen Peruntiruvāḷ into the Goddess:
Periyāṇṭacchi Worship in Tamilnadu”
This paper explores the narratives and practices associated with Periyāṇṭacchi
("She, of the big universe") in the Dharmapuri region of Tamilnadu, India,
based on ethnographic fieldwork and Tamil chapbooks. Periyāṇṭacchi is the clan
deity of numerous families belonging to the Vanniya Kavundar caste group and is
identified with both the goddess Pārvatī and Duryodhana's wife Peruntiruvāḷ
(also known as Bhānumatī) from different yugas or cosmic ages. The story of
"Arjuna's Tapas," which is part of the “Draupadī cult Mahābhārata” (Hiltebeitel
1988) and has been passed down through various oral and performance traditions,
has played a crucial role in the identification of Periyāṇṭavar and
Periyāṇṭacchi as Śiva and Pārvatī, respectively. Specifically, the encounter
between Arjuna and two hunter couples during his journey has contributed to the
deification of the Kaurava queen in the Tamil milieu, which I analyze in detail.
Sowparnika Balaswaminathan, Concordia University, Montreal
“Ethics, Affect, and the Mahabharata: Karna as the Hero in Tamil Political Mass
Movie”
This paper examines the character of Karna in two Tamil films: Thalapathi
(1991; Dir. Mani Ratnam) and Karnan (2021; Dir. Mari Selvaraj), and explores
how vernacular cinematic conventions and Tamil understandings of morality
contribute towards a Dravidian rendering of the epic narrative. In Thalapathi,
Surya is a henchman of a local don and a man of the masses. Confronted by
Arjun, an agent of the state about their illegal activities, Surya must choose
between his comrade and as he finds out later, his half-brother. Karnan draws
inspiration from a historical event of caste violence against a Dalit community
in Tamilnadu, and maps characters from the Mahabharata onto a regional
narrative about oppression, resistance, and liberation. In this paper, I
analyze how Tamil understandings of ethics and love vernacularize the epic and
situate Karna as heroic, allowing for a radical reinterpretation of what can be
called a just society.
Mukti Patel, University of Chicago
“Kālidāsa’s Writing a Romantic History: Aesthetic Love in the Story of
Śakuntalā”
Kālidāsa tells a story from the Mahābhārata that arguably had a further reach
than the original verses. He rewrites the story of Bharata’s birth from
Śakuntalā and Duḥṣanta in his drama, Abhijñānaśākuntalam. This paper will
examine how Kālidāsa represents the love between these two characters though an
analysis of the drama’s aesthetic features in the first act. Kālidāsa’s
protagonists, accompanied by a cast of characters, develop a shy romance that
is largely communicated through glances, thoughts to themselves, and hushed
jokes amongst friends. He departs in many ways from the Mahābhārata’s story,
most notably making the King and Śakuntalā into characters that are more
amenable to his audience’s contemporary sensibilities. Kālidāsa thereby
dramatically transforms, by virtue of his retelling, the social imagination of
history through his literary work.
Thanks,
Brian
Prof. Brian Collins
(He/Him/His)
Department Chair and Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande Chair in Indian Religion and
Philosophy
Department of Classics and Religious Studies
234 Ellis Hall
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio
740-597-2103 (office)
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