Rel. 132 -- Study Guide for Test 3                [Return to Rel. 132 Page]

I. Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage, or tirtha-yatra ("journey to the holy place[s]"), involves the time, effort, and expense involved in traveling to the TIRTHA (literally, 'ford', 'crossing-place'), where the divine and human spheres intersect, when human beings may 'see' God, and experience the divine presence, esp.:
1. in certain types of landscape: in the mountains, at rivers (esp. the Ganga; DEVI, pp. 137-151)
2. at places associated with the deity in myth: Rama at Ayodhya, Krishna at Brindavan (Braj/Vraj)
3. in famous temple images: Krishna as Jagannath at Puri
4. in holy persons (see below)
- Eck (CR 5, pp. 63-75) provides a good review.

a. Sthala-Puranas: local legends, often called mahatmyas ("glorifications") about how God came to reside in a place, or manifested Himself to a sage, and is associated with an Alvar and/or a learned teacher in the tradition; these Sanskrit (or Sanskrit-influenced) texts lend an air of scriptural authority to the story of the temple's founding and importance.
- establish the connections bet. local deity (e.g. "Precious Son") and "high," pan-Indian God (Vishnu).

COMPARE: The competing "glorifications" of the Goddess at Vindhyachal (Humes chapter in Devi): At the temple to Vindhyavasini ("she who dwells at Vindhyachal"), the local "Vindhya Mahatmya" is losing ground to the widely known (pan-Indian) "Devi Mahatmya" (discussed in Coburn's chapter in Devi), which the pandits and the pandas prefer, as having a wider appeal and thus drawing in a wider range of pilgrims.

b. Pilgrimage to Brindavan
- established by pilgims to the Braj country ca. 1500, inspired by the teachings of the charismatic Bengali Caitanya, who sent Sanatana and Rupa Gosvami, and then the Gopal Bhatt of Srirangam, to whom the self-formed shalagrama image of Radha Raman appeared in Nepal.
- K., in his post-avatar days, resides in Goloka, a subtle, heavenly realm, which is easiest to perceive in Brindavan; images aid devotees to "see" his higher form.
- the Gosvamis serve him in his daily routine: the cycle of daily rites in the temple thus re-create the primordial time of K.'s life on earth: ephemeral moments made eternal through repetition.
        The RAS LILA's two segments:
- Ras: boy performers are consecrated as SVARUPAs, Krishna's and the gopis' "own forms": they become Krishna and Radha and are crowned and venerated as the divine pair themselves. Krishna summons the girls with his flute the dance of love; replicates himself for each
- Lila: depicts some episode from Krishna's childhood, one a day for up to 23 days; one is put on every day of the year at one place, and touring Ras troupes tour the region and the country.
- It is not just drama, but liturgy: devotion as shared experience (bhakti)
    When K. left the Gopis forever, they found solace in reenacting their love with him.
        Recreates the BHAVA (sentiment) of loving devotion.
Swami Prabhupada brought this tradition of Krishna devotion to the USA in the form of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON, popularly known as the Hari Krishna movement).

II. The BHAKTI SAINT, whose experience of God in his or her life is so direct and so powerful that they cannot conform to the norms of social life and come to appear crazy (pagal) in their devotion. This is one manifestation of an exquisite sensibility (bhava, pious ecstasy) so powerful that it can be called "possession by bhava" characterized by a vacillation between a sense of union and one of separation and longing for God (on this see CR 7).

The model of passionate devotion in Gaudiya Vaishnavism is Caitanya, the 16^th-century Bengali renunciant ascetic who used to appear to fall into trances during which he was enrapt in the contemplation of Krishna's lila.
- the highest state is mahabhava, in which one experiences exalted elation, delirium, distraction, and madness, all pervaded by Krishna's sweetness (madhurya).
- this intense devotion can be cultivated through the practice (sadhana) of a sort of bhakti-yoga, which endows one with a "perfected body" (siddha deha) by which to experience Krishna's nature directly.
- the methods of this yoga are recitation (japa) of the divine name and other mantras (this evokes Krishna's actual presence), puja and kirtana (devotional rites and singing), and visualization of Krishna's lila ("play," i.e., activities).
   These ideals are exemplified in the stories of the four Gaudiya saints that McDaniel tells in CR 7.

    a. the Velar CAMIYATI (pron. 'samiyadi'; = "god-dancer") (GoF/GoS, ch. 5): legitimate, solicited, controlled possession; the basis of Velars' religious authority and rights as providers of clay images for worship.

    b. Kali possesses Kantacami's daughter: unsolicited possession, but treated as message from Kali; a new shrine built and worship begun there; the role of heat (sign of SHAKTI) in possession.

    c. Murugan possesses Valliyamma; her asceticism purifies her to receive Murugan, to heal the faithful with a secret mantra (releasing the sick from an imbalance of heat and cold), to distribute sacred ash as prasada, and to cool Murugan himself.

Moreno (GoF/GoS, ch. 6) notes the COMPATIBILITY between a deity and its camiyati, which leads to possession, and the camiyati's resulting COMPETENCE to act and speak on behalf of the deity. Establishes an asymmetrical relation of mutual giving and receiving between God and humans.

- Unexpected possession may be attributed to other agents, or be considered insanity;
- one may learn to regularize the experience; participating in vigils and festivals may bring it on.
The NAVARATRA festival for Durga: the mothers come together at the shrine, and the goddess plays in them, while others make offering and consult her.
The TWO MATAS OF GUMTI: charisma transformed into cult
- celibate women---purity necessary to serve the Goddess, who answers questions, heals, and brings good fortune to the faithful

- young Tamil women are under pressure to remain untainted by sexual desire until marriage--proper, modest, chaste, reticent, absolutely self-controlled in the presence of men; those troubled by this pressure may identify with Kali.
- Kali embodies feminine anger, passion, excitation directed against the demon; she receives the "blood"-offering (guruti) (cf. legends of the YAKSHI, the murderous
- her TEMPLES are known as places for healing mental disturbances in unmarried or newly married women especially; such women may become possessed, enact a hopping dance (tullal), and banging a nail into the demon tree with the head and fists to pin down the demon.

- Social and psychological dimensions: widow (esp. young) weak and vulnerable to psychological pressure and physical coercion to become sati; may be motivated by suicidal emotions, or a sense of duty to family and deceased husband, not unlike the moral fortitude of the martyr.
- Religious dimensions: sati seen as strong, overcoming others' opposition and doubts, defiant before oppressive authority (the Thakur [village headman] in the tale of Godavari), virtuous in contrast to others' scheming and greed; she forcefully states her intention (the repeated VOWS), and the power of her truth gives force to her CURSES; a sati bring blessings, honor, and glory to family and village; shown on stone plaques (steles) holding up her arm with its intact wedding bangles.

    Reflect upon the impact holy men and women can have on their devotees, and the powers of conferring guidance and blessings, health and well-being, that are attributed to them. This power, in Christian terms, has been called charisma (Greek for 'grace', the power of the Holy Spirit). It is spiritual in basis, but is often believed to be transferable in the material world, resulting in powers of "faith healing" and other blessings, and immunity to pain and harm (manifested in the ability to hold pots of fire, walk on coals, be pierced by poles and hooks, roll 3000 kms, etc.).  Such figures can fulfill devotees' prayers and a believed to speak with the wisdom of the divine.

 a. The Lingayat swamis: sect / regional tradition of Karnataka

- Traces its lineage to Basava (12th c.) and Siddhalingeshvara, whose "seat" is Tontadarya Jagadguru Math (Monastery; pron. mutt)
- devotees carry the ISHTA-LINGA (held in the left hand, worn around neck): a mobile image in a mobile temple (the body).
- the dispassionate (virakta) renouncer awakens in himself the shakti, which may be perceived as a brightness or aura about him, or a heat.

    VIEW OF THE WORLD:

All things are made of God's energy, but it may be obscured or polluted (as among householders) or pure and concentrated (in the ascetic swami or linga)

Two Realms:
    The Realm of Pure Shakti (embodied in sannyasis and jagrta [enlivened] objects)
    Samsara (the cloudy, muddled world of attachments and mental dullness)

Power is transmitted from high to lower status through gift-giving
- begins from a situation of hierarchy
- but aims to bring about equality through divinization
Because Siddhalingeshvara attained absolute SAMADHI (pure, divine consciousness) = lingaikya (identity with Shiva), he is able to bring the same state about in ("give shakti to") each swami of his lineage (in whom he is still alive).
His is likewise "awake" (jagrt) in his tomb-shrine at Ediyur for his devotees.
The swami will then enter into relationships with devotees (bhaktas):
    - devotees bring offerings and love to the swamis, and donate more substantially (land, services, etc.) to the monastery
    - the swami responds by offering prasad and sacred ashes and water from worship of his holy feet, which is then used, applied the body, consumed.
 
material gift (food / ash) = subtle, spiritual gift (love /shakti, blessing, wisdom); the humble devotee's pious intention increases the value of his simple gift, so that she or he merits God's much more valuable offering: "The guru is like a philosopher's stone that turns iron into gold."

Sahajanand Swami (1781-1830) = Parabrahman (the formless "Supreme Brahman"): his body was pure divinity, the akshara-dhama ("abode of the imperishable").
- called Swaminarayan by his devotees (as an AVATAR of Vishnu Narayana)
- devotees wear the double rosary (kanthi) + the Vaishnava forehead mark

Gunatitanand Swami (1785-1864) = Akshara(-Brahman) (the "imperishable form of divine"), the Swami in "Swaminarayan"
    His presence (via the succession of swamis) as the Akshara allows for (1) individual salvation (2) continuation of the tradition: otherwise, no guru, no satsang (devotional gathering), no salvation from illusory experience in the world (maya) and worldly preoccupations

Narayanswarupdas Swami (b. 1921) the current embodiment of Akshara-Brahman
- changed sect dharma by decree after caste riots in Gujarat in 1981: caste abolished for sadhus (ascetics), and no caste discrimination in festive meals and other sect activities.

other examples
Consider the attitudes and expectations of Lotan Baba's and the Shankaracharya's devotees in the films we watched in class ("Sadhus," part 1, "Lotan Baba, the Rolling Saint" and part 2, "The Living God"). If you have not seen these, I suggest you do.)
- How did people seek Lotan Baba's blessing during and after his rolling pilgrimage?

VI. HINDU DEITIES AND SAINTS as a FOCUS OF SOCIAL OR POLITICAL ACTIVISM

Be prepared to identify important issues and players (1) in the controversy over the destruction of the Babari mosque in Ayodhya and the VHP's campaign to build a temple to Lord Rama on the site, which is claimed to be his birthplace (janmabhumi) (this issue is comes up in both of the "Sadhus" videos); and (2) in the VHP's project to build a temple to Bharat Mata (Mother India) as goddess in the Himalayan pilgrimage town of Hardwar (in DEVI).

Be able to summarize what is distinctive about Western feminist appropriations of the Hindu goddess as a positive model of feminine power (last chapter in DEVI), as well as the respects in which such Western attitudes harmonize with or differ from Indian understandings of Devi in her various forms.