Mouse Chromosome 11

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46996/1/335_2004_Article_BF00648429.pd

Pilgrimage within: Paramanand\u27s lyrics as play between the sacred and the profane

Paramanand\u27s padas (lyrics) facilitate the transformation of the bhakta\u27s(devotee) consciousness from the laukika (profane) to the alaukika (sacred) and function as a heuristic device for the sacred. Paramanand, a sixteenth century poet-saint linked with the Vallabha Sampradaya, composed lyrics in praise of Krishna and performed seva. As rituals of transformation, his lyrics cultivate the bhava that enables the bhakta to relate intimately with Krishna and ultimately to sport in Krishna\u27s alaukika lila. Cues meaningful within a particular cultural context arouse the emotions (socially and culturally constructed), and the padas shift the bhakta\u27s perspective from the laukika to the alaukika. In this perspectival transformation, the bhakta invests a person or object with bhava (emotion), thus sacralizing the profane. Indian aesthetic techniques (linked to devotional religion by the tenth century) provide the structure for this transformation. The padas function as sites on a pilgrimage by promoting and facilitating bhava and darsana (sight) of Krishna\u27s lila. The padas (just as the pilgrimage sites) present vignettes of the lila to which the bhakta supplies the interpretive narrative and context. Paramanand leads the bhakta on this journey within, a cognitive and internal pilgrimage rather than a physical or geographical trip. The transformation of the profane to the sacred rests upon the Vaishnava conception of reality which is vastly different from that of the West. Rather than a substantial difference between the sacred and the profane, the difference is perspectival and the boundaries fluid. Paramanand aesthetically mediates between the sacred and the profane and guides the bhakta to a relationship with Krishna. His intercessionary role as well as his exemplary lifestyle designate him a saint within the Braj devotional community. Through his padas, he intercedes for the bhakta with Krishna by arousing emotions which enable the bhakta to enter into a relationship with Krishna and participate in the alaukika lila--the goal of the bhakta

Growing Stories from India: Religion and the Fate of Agriculture

The seven chapters in this book explore the narrative dimensions of human relations with the earth and suggest that we might not only come to understand our narratives but also to employ our ecological imagination to change agricultural practices. The book uses a Hindu agricultural narrative as a framework for discussing human behavior in the context of agricultural practice because this story confronts the dilemmas of human entitlement to the earth\u27s bounty that all agriculturalists face. The dynamics of this story and the ritual and social context of its telling during the Hindu springtime festival of Holi offer insight into forces that shape human relations with the earth and social, particularly gendered, relations among humans. Exploring this story in its broader context reveals parallel social dynamics in Indian and U.S. agrarian thought. These parallel dynamics help explain why agriculture has received relatively little attention in environmental thought and why narratives of industrial agriculture continue to be told. This book directly challenges prevailing agricultural narratives and their relationship to practice and complements dialogue within the scientific areas of restoration ecology, emerging alternative agricultures such as agroecology, and conservation biology because these endeavors assume some level of corrective intervention within ecosystems. This cross-cultural approach helps us imagine means of food production that are sustainable and equitable for multiple human and non-human communities.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_theology/1002/thumbnail.jp