The so called Bhakti movement spread, during the Late Medieval period, like wildfire across the South Asian subcontinent and acted like a catalyst for the development of nirguṇī-traditions. These newly emerging nirguṇī-traditions rallyd men and women alike, preaching for the abolation of the varṇa-system, for Muslim-Hindu unity, devotion to the one omipresent godhead, nirguṇa. Among these traditions, a man named Kabīr came and claimed the leading position, a position that history still, to this day, gives credit as being one of the most, if not the most, important figure amongst the of the North Indian bhakti preachers. Kabīr’s teachings came to be, after his passing, the foundation for the establishmentof the Kabīr Panth (Path of Kabīr) a by now well known tradition. However, at an early stage of formation, the Kabīr Panth began to separate into many branches, which all started to produce their own literature regarding several contrasting retellings of Kabīr’s life, his poems, and the installation of rituals and praxis. As a consequence of the various legends along with myths created, following the schism between the main branches, Kabīr’s life and legacy came to be displayed and understood rather differently. This study does not only demonstrate how Kabīr is perceived within the various branches, most prominent that of the Kabīr Chaurā and Dharmadasī branch, and what attributes, human and divine, are given him. Throughout the study it is also shown how these perceptions of Kabīr, may be understood as forms of, to various degrees, fostering of Sanskritization in order to gain upward momentum within the Indian socio-religious ladder of hierarchy, more commonly known as the varṇa-system.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-04-04T17:45:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 matheuslandaudecarvalho.pdf: 1505552 bytes, checksum: e6eba60dd8ebb84885929c4e6229a2bc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-04-24T03:46:35Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 matheuslandaudecarvalho.pdf: 1505552 bytes, checksum: e6eba60dd8ebb84885929c4e6229a2bc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-24T03:46:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 matheuslandaudecarvalho.pdf: 1505552 bytes, checksum: e6eba60dd8ebb84885929c4e6229a2bc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-06-28 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / É objetivo desta Dissertação investigar os princípios que regem o sistema varṇa-āśrama da tradição hindu, tal como presente na obra Leis de Manu (Mānava-Dharmaśāstra). O sistema varṇa-āśrama combina de forma orgânica os ideais de estratificação sócio-ocupacional (varṇa) e de etapa de vida (āśrama). A qualificação e a descrição desses ideais envolvem argumentos de caráter mítico-religioso e de caráter racional-sociológico. Em outras palavras, pretende-se esmiuçar, a partir da referida obra, explicações racionais que estabeleçam exigências para a funcionalidade da sociedade segundo fins práticos necessários à manutenção da mesma, e, por outro lado, explicações meta-racionais, imbuídas de uma fundamentação religiosa, cujas ações seriam orientadas para fins transcendentais segundo a prescrição de injunções rituais e/ou a busca por bens espirituais, valendo-se de ambos os tipos de explicação enquanto categorias modernas de entendimento e compreensão do sistema varṇa-āśrama, numa abordagem externa ao contexto de surgimento das Leis de Manu (Mānava- Dharmaśāstra). Além disso, a Dissertação reflete também o esforço inédito de compreensão direta do texto original em sânscrito a partir do referencial linguístico-cultural da língua portuguesa. / The aim of this Dissertation is the investigation of the principles which govern the varṇaāśrama system of Hindu tradition as it is present in the Laws of Manu (Mānava- Dharmaśāstra). The varṇa-āśrama system arranges organically the ideals of sociooccupational stratification (varṇa) and stages of life (āśrama). The qualification and description of these ideals involve mythical-religious and rational-sociological arguments. In other words, it is intended here some enquiry into the aforesaid source looking for rational explanations which establish some exigencies for the society’s functionality according to practical purposes necessary to its maintenance, and, on the other hand, for meta-rational explanations, religiously grounded and whose actions would be orientated towards transcendental purposes according to prescribed ritual injunctions and/or the search for spiritual goods, drawing upon both types of explanation as modern categories of understanding and comprehension towards varṇa-āśrama system, in an outside approach to the context of the Laws of Manu’s (Mānava-Dharmaśāstra) emergence. Furthermore, the Dissertation also reflects a brand new effort of direct comprehension of the original Sanskrit text from the point of the cultural-linguistic reference of Portuguese language.