Patrick Olivelle

Caste and purity: A study in the language of the Dharma literature

The caste system, according to the currently prevalent view, is based on purity, each caste being located on a hierarchical gradation of purity, a thesis laid out most compellingly by Louis Dumont. It has generally bern assumed that purity is the basis of hierarchy in ancient India. This paper examines the ancient texts on Dharma relating to purity and social hierarchy and finds that the texts establish no link between the two and that they rarely, if ever, refer to purity as an abstract condition or state. The language of purity itself is multifaceted, containing numerous terms with significant differences in meaning, and it makes a clear distinction between persons and things. With respect to persons, the vocabulary clearly indicates that the focus is not on any permanent, or even transitory, condition of purity but rather on the transition from impurity to purity, on the recovery of lost purity; the dynamic meaning dominates the use of the major Sanskrit terms for pure.

Young Śvetaketu: A Literary Study of an Upaniṣadic Story@@@Young Svetaketu: A Literary Study of an Upanisadic Story

This paper is a literary analysis of the story of Śvetaketu, versions of which are found in three upanisads : Brhadāranyaka, Chāndogya, and Kausitaki. Its aim is to examine the divergent ways in which the authors of these versions develop the character of Śvetaketu and to explore the possible theological and literary reasons for those divergences. This study also throws light on the literary structure and theological intent of these documents, and more broadly on the historical processes that resulted in the composition of the upanisads.

Heart in the Upaniṣads

Among the parts of the human anatomy, the heart occupies a central place in Upaniṣadic discourse. It deals with the space within the heart, the veins that run from the heart; with the exact function of the heart and veins, especially during sleep, dream, and wakefulness. At still another level there is the speculation concerning the “cave of the heart” as the bodily location of the immortal “self”. The epistemological function of the heart, especially with regard to memory, is another area of cardiac speculation. This paper addresses several of these issues, focusing on the perceived epistemological function of the heart in relation to memory and meditative contemplation.

Abhaksya and Abhojya: An Exploration in Dietary Language

This paper focuses on two terms relating to food proscriptions in the dharma literature, abhaksya and abhojya, two words that underwent significant semantic developments and assumed technical meanings. A close reading of the literature permits us to draw the following conclusions. Abhaksya refers to items of food, both animals and vegetables, that are completely forbidden; generally the term refers to food sources rather than cooked food served at a meal. Abhojya, on the other hand, refers to food that is normally permitted but due to some supervening circumstances has become unfit to be eaten. This term takes on a secondary meaning referring not directly to food but to a person whose food one is not permitted to eat.

Dharmaskandhāḥ and Brahmasaṃsthaḥ: A Study of Chāndogya Upaniṣad 2.23.1@@@Dharmaskandhah and Brahmasamsthah: A Study of Chandogya Upanisad 2.23.1

This paper undertakes a close reading and analysis of an important upanisadic text that has been viewed by both native exegetes and modern scholars as the vedic basis for the asrama system. Challenging the accepted understanding of this passage, the paper offers a new and contextual interpretation. The expression dharmaskandhah does not mean branches of dharma but persons whose torso is dharma, that is, people who have made dharma the central focus of their lives. Such people, who are subject to rebirth, are contrasted with brahmasamsthah, that is, a person steadfast in brahman, who attains immortality. The term brahman here, moreover, refers to the syllable OM.

The Āśrama System: The History and Hermeneutics of a Religious Institution@@@The Asrama System: The History and Hermeneutics of a Religious Institution

This is the first full-length study of the asrama system, a Hindu construct consisting of four legitimate ways of leading a religious life. Together with the varna (class) system, it forms one of the pillars of Hindu life. Olivelle traces its early history and how it gradually established connections with other Hindu religious institutions to emerge as one of the two central dimensions of the Hindu dharma. It represents a major study not only of Hindu religious history but also of the tradition of Indian hermeneutics.

Devī-Māhātmya: The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition@@@Devi-Mahatmya: The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition

The Devi Mahatmya is an account on the Goddess in Sanskrit and it has maintained its centrality in the Goddess (Sakta) tradition to the present-day. It is this that the present volume accomplishes.