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Guardians of the transcendent : an ethnography of a Jain ascetic community / Anne Vallely.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Anthropological horizons ; 22.Publication details: Toronto ; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, ©2002.Description: 1 online resource (x, 296 pages) : illustrationsContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9781442675544
  • 1442675543
  • 1282014528
  • 9781282014527
  • 9786612014529
  • 6612014520
Subject(s): Additional physical formats: Print version:: Guardians of the transcendent.DDC classification:
  • 294.4/9 22
LOC classification:
  • BL1380.T4 V34 2002eb
Other classification:
  • online - EBSCO
Online resources:
Contents:
pt. 1. The ethics of renunciation -- Introduction -- Ethics and the ascetic ideal -- pt. 2. The rituals of separation -- Creation through negation : the rite of Bhiksha -- The making of an ascetic : the construction of difference -- Death, demons, and desire -- pt. 3. Being of the world -- The worldly life of renunciants -- Devotion and divinity -- Conclusion : ascetic women : the link in the Laukik and Lokottar -- Appendices. The fourteen Gunasthanas (stages of spiritual development) ; Rules and regulations in the ascetic life ; Examples of Sarala's poems (abridged) ; The ascetic ideal ; Examples of the Nivrtti-Marg : Jainism's public face ; The daily routine of the Sadhvis.
Summary: Itinerant white-robed ascetics represent the highest ethical ideal among the Jains of rural Rajasthan. They renounce family, belongings, and desires in order to lead lives of complete non-violence. In their communities, Jain ascetics play key roles as teachers and exemplars of the truth; they are embodiments of the lokottar - the realm of the transcendent. Based on thirteen months of fieldwork in the town of Ladnun, Rajasthan, India, among a community of Terapanthi Svetambar Jains, this book explores the many facets of what constitutes a moral life within the Terapanthi ascetic community, and examines the central role ascetics play in upholding the Jain moral order. Focussing on the Terapanthi moral universe from the perspective of female renouncers, Vallely considers how Terapanthi Jain women create their own ascetic subjectivities, and how they construct and understand themselves as symbols of renunciation. The first in-depth ethnographic study of this important and influential Jain tradition, this work makes a significant contribution to Jain studies, comparative religion, Indian studies, and the anthropology of South Asian religion.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - EBSCO (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (ebsco)468173

Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-291) and index.

pt. 1. The ethics of renunciation -- Introduction -- Ethics and the ascetic ideal -- pt. 2. The rituals of separation -- Creation through negation : the rite of Bhiksha -- The making of an ascetic : the construction of difference -- Death, demons, and desire -- pt. 3. Being of the world -- The worldly life of renunciants -- Devotion and divinity -- Conclusion : ascetic women : the link in the Laukik and Lokottar -- Appendices. The fourteen Gunasthanas (stages of spiritual development) ; Rules and regulations in the ascetic life ; Examples of Sarala's poems (abridged) ; The ascetic ideal ; Examples of the Nivrtti-Marg : Jainism's public face ; The daily routine of the Sadhvis.

Print version record.

Itinerant white-robed ascetics represent the highest ethical ideal among the Jains of rural Rajasthan. They renounce family, belongings, and desires in order to lead lives of complete non-violence. In their communities, Jain ascetics play key roles as teachers and exemplars of the truth; they are embodiments of the lokottar - the realm of the transcendent. Based on thirteen months of fieldwork in the town of Ladnun, Rajasthan, India, among a community of Terapanthi Svetambar Jains, this book explores the many facets of what constitutes a moral life within the Terapanthi ascetic community, and examines the central role ascetics play in upholding the Jain moral order. Focussing on the Terapanthi moral universe from the perspective of female renouncers, Vallely considers how Terapanthi Jain women create their own ascetic subjectivities, and how they construct and understand themselves as symbols of renunciation. The first in-depth ethnographic study of this important and influential Jain tradition, this work makes a significant contribution to Jain studies, comparative religion, Indian studies, and the anthropology of South Asian religion.

English.