Text and Tradition in South India 1438467761, 9781438467764

Table of contents :
Contents
Sources of Publication
Preface and Acknowledgments
Sanjay Subrahmanyam: VNR—Some Introductory Remarks
I
II
III
Key Bibliographic Elements
Notes
1 Multiple Literary Cultures in Telugu: Court, Temple, and Public
Linguistic and Geographical Boundaries of Telugu Literary Cultures
The First Poet and the Production of a Brahminical/Puranic Literary Culture
The Literary Culture of Śaivabhakti
Poetry for Pleasure: Kāvya Culture
Court Poetry
Poetry in the Temple
Literature for the God-king in His Court-temple
Literature in Public Space: The Cāṭu World
The Question of Literary Language
The Politics of Translation
The Culture of Writing and the Propagation of Books
Notes
References
2 Notes on Political Thought in Medieval and Early Modern South India
Introduction
Some Ur-Texts
Nīti and its Opponents during the Medieval Period
An Imperial Interlude: Kṛṣṇadevarāya
Early Modern Variations
Nīti and Karaṇam Culture
Conclusion
Notes
3 Purāṇa as Brahminic Ideology
The Five Distinguishing Marks
Purāṇizing the Folk Tradition
Purāṇa: What it is and What it is Not
The Author/Speaker of the Purāṇas
Purānạ and Orality
What the Purāṇas Say
What the Purāṇas do not Say
The Change in the Nature of the Purāṇas
Notes
4 Coconut and Honey: Sanskrit and Telugu in Medieval Andhra
The Śaiva Protest
Mārga and Deśi
Separation of Styles
The Late-Medieval Crystallization
Notes
References
5 Multiple Lives of a Text: The Sumati Śatakamu in Colonial Andhra
From Nīti to Morals
A Telugu Book on Nīti
A Guide to Success
Probable Readership of the SS
Śataka Genre
C.P. Brown and the SS
Features of Oral Transmission
The Metrics of Kandamu
Features of the PSS
Features of Literary Style
Popularity of the SS
Critical Editions of the SS and Authorship of the SS
Bhīmana vs. Baddĕna
Conclusion
Notes
References
6 When Does Sīta Cease to be Sīta: Notes Toward a Cultural Grammar of Indian Narratives
Sītā in Sundarakāṇḍa
Problematics of Uttarakāṇḍa
Sītā in Selected Non-Vālmīki Versions
Sītā in the Twentieth Century
An Ecology of Indian Narratives
Notes
References
7 A Rāmāyaṇa of Their Own: Women’s Oral Tradition in Telugu
Some Background
The Songs
The Structure of the Songs
Sītāyana
Non-Brahmin Songs
Conclusion
Notes
8 The Politics of Telugu Ramayanas: Colonialism, Print Culture, and Literary Movements
The Rāmāyaṇa Tradition and Vālmīki
Bhakti-ization and Iconization of Rāma’s Story
Change in the Status of Non-Brahmins
Modernity and its Respondents
Conclusion
Notes
9 Epics and Ideologies: Six Telugu Folk Epics
The Epic Stories
Epic Communities
Sex-Role Reversals
Secondary Epic Formations
Deified Virgin and Chaste Wife
Conclusion
Notes
References
10 Texture and Authority: Telugu Riddles and Enigmas
Pŏḍupukatha
Other Riddle Forms
Literary Riddles
Riddles with Stories
The Enigma of the Future: A Telugu Nostradamus
Vyāsa Deceives His Teacher Viśvakarma
Vīra Brahmam Announces that he will Come as the Savior
Conclusion
Notes
References
11 Buddhism in Modern Andhra: Literary Representations from Telugu
Colonial Backdrop: Buddhacaritramu by the Twin Poets
English, the New Language of Power
The Prabandha Genre in Telugu
Brahmin Acceptance of Buddhist Non-violence
Gandhian Buddhism: Saundaranandamu by Katuri and Pingali
Modernist Critique of Buddhism: Buccibabu
Brahminic Reaction: A Jātaka Tale by Viswanatha Satyanarayana
Concluding Remarks
Notes
References
12 The Indigenous Modernity of Gurajada Apparao and Fakir Mohan Senapati
Notes
References
13 Purāṇa
Indigenous Concepts of the Purāṇa
What the Purāṇas Say about Themselves
The Purāṇa as a Distinct Genre: Five Distinguishing Marks of a Purāṇa
Purāṇic Time and Space
The Number of Purāṇas and Their Classification
Dialogical Structure of the Purāṇas: The Purāṇa Ethos
Sūta: The Teller of Stories
Purāṇas in the Popular Understanding of the Hindus
Three Kinds of Purāṇas
The Purāṇas and the Bhakti Tradition
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa
The Skanda Purāṇa
The Other Purāṇas: Agni and Bhaviṣya
Counter-Purāṇas
Purāṇas from Below
Colonial Scholarship of the Purāṇas
Modern Scholarship on the Purāṇas
Dating the Purāṇas
The Absent Paurāṇika
Notes
References
14 A Day in the Life of a Housewife: “Sita Locked Out”
A Day in the Life of a Housewife: A Second Look at “Sīta Locked Out”
Notes
15 Urmila Sleeps: A Rāmāyaṇa Song that Women in Andhra Sing
Notes
Index

Citation preview

Text and Tradition in South India

SUNY series in Hindu Studies WENDY DONIGER, EDITOR

VELCHERU NARAYANA RAO

Text and Tradition in South India With an Introduction by

SANJAY SUBRAHMANYAM

Text and Tradition in South India by Velcheru Narayana Rao was first published by Permanent Black D-28 Oxford Apts, 11 IP Extension, Delhi 110092 INDIA, for the territory of SOUTH ASIA. Not for sale in South Asia Published by State University of New York Press, Albany Copyright 2016 Velcheru Narayana Rao Introduction Copyright 2016 Sanjay Subrahmanyam All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production, Jenn Bennett Marketing, Anne M. Valentine Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Narayana Rao, Velcheru, author Title: Text and Tradition in South India Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2017] | Series: SUNY series in Hindu Studies | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: ISBN 9781438467757 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438467771 (e-book) Further information is available at the Library of Congress.

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Paruchuri Sreenivas Stronger, even, than the bond that comes from having the same mother are the bonds we make by sharing words.

Ma]diki Si