Contents

Figures

Preface

Introduction

Theorizing the Body in the Human Sciences

The Body in Philosophy

The Body in Social Theory

The Body in Feminist and Gender Studies

The Body in Religion

Hindu Discourses of the Body

The Body as a Psychophysical Continuum

Transmigratory History of the Body

The Person, the Self, and the Body

Integral Bodies

Processual Bodies

Bhakti and Embodiment

Embodying the Divine

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa

The Gauḍīya Sampradāya

1  The Limitless Forms of Kṛṣṇa: Fashioning Divine Bodies

The Absolute Body and Its Endless Manifestations:
The Gauḍīya Discourse of Divine Embodiment

Bhagavān’s Absolute Body and Self-Referral Play

The Gauḍīya Challenge to Advaita Vedānta and Pātañjala Yoga

Ananta-Rūpa: The Limitless Forms of the Absolute Body

The Gauḍīyas and the Śrīvaiṣṇavas: Contending Theologies

Kṛṣṇa’s Mesocosmic Forms

2  The Embodied Aesthetics of Bhakti: Fashioning Devotional Bodies

Erotic-Ecstatic Devotion:
The Embodied Bhakti of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa

Bodies of Devotion, Bodies of Bliss:
The Embodied Aesthetics of Bhakti in the Gauḍīya Tradition

Aesthetics Reimagined as Bhakti-Rasa

Sādhana-Bhakti: Re-figuring Bodily Identities

The Gauḍīya Challenge to Advaita Vedānta and Pātañjala Yoga Revisited

3  Bhāgavata Purāṇa as Text-Avatāra: From Purāṇa-Veda to Embodiment of Bhagavān

Śruti and Smṛti:
The Brahmanical Canon of Śāstras

Veda, Śruti, and Smṛti

Vedacizing Strategies

From Purāṇa-Veda to Kārṣṇa-Veda:
Purāṇic Constructions of Canonical Authority

Transcendent Authority of the Veda

Vedic Status of the Purāṇas

Bhāgavata Purāṇa as the Culmination of Śruti and Smṛti

Bhāgavata Puāṇa as the Embodiment of Bhagavān

Sovereign of All Śāstras and Embodiment of Bhagavān:
Gauḍīya Perspectives on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa

Transcendent Authority of the Veda

Vedic Status of the Purāṇas

Transcendent Authority of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa

Fashioning Devotional Bodies through Engaging the Bhāgavata

4  Nāman as Sound-Avatāra:
From Transcendent Vibration to Reverberating Name

Transcendent Vibrations, Primordial Utterances, and Meditation Devices: Vedic Perspectives on Mantras

Cognition of the Vedic Mantras

Vedic Mantras in the Discourse of Sacrifice

Root Mantras in the Discourse of Knowledge

Embodying the Divine Presence in Sound:
Mantra and Nāman in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa

Re-visioning Mantras

Engaging the Name

From Nāma-Avatāra to Nāma-Saṃkīrtana:
Gauḍīya Perspectives on the Name

Ontology of the Name

Transformative Power of the Name

Fashioning Devotional Bodies and Social Bodies with the Name

5  Vraja-Dhāman as Place-Avatāra:
From Geographic Place to Transcendent Space

Mythic Space, Pilgrimage Place, and Meditation Maṇḍala:
Purāṇic Constructions of Vraja

Vraja as a Mythic Space

Vraja as a Pilgrimage Place

Vraja as a Meditation Maṇḍala

Geographic Place as Transcendent Space:
Vraja-Dhāman in the Gauḍīya Tradition

The Gauḍīya Reclamation of Vraja

Vraja as Pilgrimage Place and Beyond

Vraja as the Body of Kṛṣṇa

Ontology of the Dhaāmans: Geographic Place as Transcendent Space

Goloka-Vṛndāvana: Vraja-Dhāman as the Supreme Dhāman

Fashioning Devotional Bodies through Engaging Vraja-Dhāman

6  Meditation as Devotional Practice:
Experiencing Kṛṣṇa in His Transcendent Dhāman

Mantra Meditation and Maṇḍala Visualization:
Purāṇic Perspectives on Meditation

Mantra Meditation

Maṇḍala Visualization

Beyond Yoga and Tantra:
The Gauḍīya Approach to Meditation

Meditation in Rāgānugā-Bhakti

Realizing Vraja-Dhāman: The Gauḍīya Re-visioning of Pāñcarātra

Conclusion:
Bhakti and Embodiment

Fashioning Divine Bodies

The Absolute Body and Its Partial Manifestations

Divine Bodies and Cosmos Bodies

Divine Bodies and Jīva Bodies

Mesocosmic Forms

Fashioning Devotional Bodies

Re-figuring the Sādhaka-Rūpa

Realizing the Siddha-Rūpa

Fashioning Social Bodies

Challenging the Discourses of Jñāna and Yoga

Re-visioning Bhakti

Reimagining Theories of the Body

Divine Bodies beyond Matter

Human Bodies beyond Matter

Gender beyond Sex

Note on Translations and Editions

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index