Knut A. Jacobsen

Three Functions of Hell in the Hindu Traditions

In this article are analysed three functions of hell in the Hindu traditions, a narrative, a social and an economic. Because of the strong images the narratives of hell contain, they are excellent means to catch the attention of the audience. The social function of hell is to protect the social order, the security of the people and especially to protect the privileges of those on top of the hierarchy. Since gifts to the priests are matched with specific punishments in hell that they release from, one economic function of hell seems to be as a source of income for the priests. However, it is argued that even though hell is both a textual and ritual reality in the Hindu traditions, its significance should not be exaggerated. Death is not the end of life, but the end of one rebirth, and release, moksa , is not about escaping a destiny in hell, but to gain freedom from the rebirth realms.

Establishing Tamil Ritual Space: A Comparative Analysis of the Ritualisation of the Traditions of the Tamil Hindus and the Tamil Roman Catholics in Norway

The purpose of this essay is to make a contribution to the study of religious pluralism in the south Asian diasporas. The essay compares the establishment of ritual traditions of the Tamil Hindus and the Tamil Roman Catholics in Norway. There are several parallel developments, and the essay identifies some of these similarities. It is argued that features sometimes assumed to be unique of the Hindu diaspora may not always be so, but may be common features of several of the religious traditions of south Asia in the diaspora. Attention to the plurality of religious traditions in the south Asian diasporas is therefore sometimes a better strategy than the study of each religious tradition in isolation.

The Female Pole of the Godhead in Tantrism and the Prakrti of Sāmkhya

The dualism of the consciousness principle ( puruṣa ) and the material principle ( Prakrti ) in the Sāmkhya and Pātanjala-Sāmkhya (Yoga) traditions of religious thought has often been thought of as a dualism of a male and a female principle. Contrary to what is often assumed however the material principle of Sāmkhya and Pātanjala-Sāmkhya does not possess a female identity. This paper argues that the identification of the Sāmkhya and Pātanjala-Sāmkhya Prakrti with a female principle among scholars is due to a very selective use of evidence and too much dependence on later sources, especially the Tantric religious systems in which the female-male polarity was utilized for the interpretation of the ultimate reality, the structure of the world and the means to attain liberation. The way the Tantric religions utilized the Sāmkhya dualism of Prakrti and puruṣa to illustrate the female-male polarity of ultimate reality illustrates the manner in which the Tantric religions reinterpreted elements of earlier systems of religious thought and transformed them according to their own purpose and the process of borrowing and synthesizing of what had come before them typical of the Hindu religious traditions.

Bhagavadgītā, Ecosophy T, and deep ecology

This article analyses the influence of Hinduism on Ecosophy T. Arne Naess in several of his environmental writings quotes verse 6.29 of the Bhagavadgitā, a Hindu sacred text. The verse is understood to illustrate the close relationship between the ideas of oneness of all living beings, non‐injury and self‐realization. The article compares the interpretations of the verse of some of the most important Hindu commentators on the Bhagavadgitā with the environmentalist interpretation. There is no agreement in the history of the Hindu tradition on the meaning of the verse. The interpretation of Ecosophy T contrasts sharply with the interpretations of the Hindu monastic traditions but has similarities with the twentieth‐century social activist interpretations of Mohandas K. Gandhi and S. Radhakrishnan. In Ecosophy T aspects of this social activist version of Hinduism have been creatively reinterpreted in the context of contemporary environmentalism.

‘Second generation’ Sikh autobiographies and authobiographical novels in European languages: Turning towards and away from traditions

ABSTRACT The article analyzes autobiographies and autobiographical novels by Sikh authors who were born and grew up in Europe and North America as sources for understanding developments of Sikh religion. It uses the concepts panjabiat (Punjabi-ness), Sikh religion and modernity/Western society to understand the tensions and conflicts described in these books. The authors had to work out the differences between panjabiat, Sikh religion and modernity/Western society. They had to figure out what place the Sikh religion should have in their new identity and for this they were looking for similarities between the Sikh religion and Western society. In the autobiographies Sikh religion emerges as an ideology employed to criticize Punjabi culture and society and Sikh religion is reinterpreted and often comes to refer to some general principles that are compatible and supportive of Western modernity.

The Child Manifestation of Śiva in Contemporary Hindu Popular Prints

God posters have become one of the most visible aspects of popular religious culture in South Asia. In this article I argue that the God poster industry has created opportunities for iconographic innovations, but that the God posters nevertheless build on traditional sacred narratives and conceptions of the Hindu gods found especially in the Hindu epics and the Purānas.. Even if the iconographic representation of the child manifestations of Śiva is something new, these God posters rely on the presence of the child manifestations of Śiva in the sacred narratives of the Hindu tradition. While only some of the episodes of Śiva as a child till now have been depicted in the God posters, it is not unreasonable to expect that more episodes involving the manifestation of Śiva as a child will be depicted in God posters in the future.