Inaug.-diss.-Kiel. / Lebenslauf.

Thesis--Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1993. / English, with summary in Dutch. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p.278-297)

"Thesis approved for the degree of doctor of philosophy in the University of Calcutta, 1907." / On cover: Indian logic: mediæval school.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Illustrations not reproduced. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 694-708).

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, Sweden, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-170).

The bhakti sect of Vallabhacarya, founded by the preceptor-saint of that name in the last decade of the fifteenth century AD, otherwise known as Pustimarga or the Path of Grace, continues to attract an enthusiastic following in northern and western India, To the outsider, Pustimarga is manifestly 'this-worldly' in its orientation. For one thing, there are no ascetics; the gurus are hereditary descendants of Vallabhacarya by virtue of which they are highly revered by their disciples. For another, the bhakti ideals of detachment, disinterestedness and dedication receive palpable expression in the lavish and energetic worship of temple deities which are regarded as actual manifestations of the infant Krishna. This thesis, based largely on fieldwork conducted among devotees in Ujjain city, central India, gives a detailed account of routine temple life and worship. At the same time it explores the nature of the correspondence between the spiritual and phenomenal worlds epitomised in the temple as the celestial abode of Krishna and in its paraphernalia as embodiments of the exuberant emotions experienced by participants in the divine lila. Of pairticular significance in this respect is the special emphasis which devotees place on sacred food and feasting. The temple is geared to a redistributive economy in which the circulation of ritual commodities, including sacred food, becomes an elaborate expression for the sharing of divine sentiments. But as many devotees point out, this altruistic system of worship is always open to abuse from those persons who would exploit it for selfish ends.

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The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate the advantages of adopting a sociological approach to the study of the smrti literature of India. For this purpose a functional-sociological approach is outlined by extrapolating and combining classical, sociological principles taken from the writings of Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and Peter Berger. The approach is designed to illustrate the three principal phases in the sacralization of social processes--explanation, legitimation and perpetuation. In Chapter One these three phases are discussed and defined with the aid of Emile Durkheim's and Mircea Eliade's concepts of the sacred, Max Weber's concepts of rationalization, legitimacy, traditionalism and charisma, and Peter Berger's concepts of cosmization, 'world-construction', 'world-maintenance' and plausibility structure. In Chapters Two and Three this approach is applied to three of the major smrti texts--The Visnu Purana, The Manu Smrti and the Mahabharata. Each of these texts admirably illustrates one phase of the sacralization process. In addition, the three aspects of the Indian concept, dharma--cosmis, social and individual--are discussed in terms of sacralization process. The advantages of this type of approach to smrti literature lie in its ability to point to some of the reasons for Hinduism's historical emergence during the period of smrti literature, the fifth century B.C. to the fifth century A.D. Second, it demonstrates the relationship of the different genre of smrti to one another. Third, it provides a framework for the understanding of smrti which is familiar to non-Indians, and which harmonizes well with smrti as defined by the Indians themselves. / Arts, Faculty of / Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of / Graduate