Rites of the god-king : Śānti and ritual change in early Hinduism
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Rites of the god-king : Śānti and ritual change in early Hinduism
（Oxford ritual studies / series editors, Ronald Grimes, Ute Hüsken, Barry Stephenson）
Oxford University Press, c2018
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [283]-300) and indexes
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Scholars of Vedic religion have long recognized the centrality of ritual categories to Indian thought. There have been few successful attempts, however, to bring the same systematic rigor of Vedic Scholarship to bear on later "Hindu" ritual. Excavating the deep history of a prominent ritual category in "classical" Hindu texts, Geslani traces the emergence of a class of rituals known as Santi, or appeasement. This ritual, intended to counteract
ominous omens, developed from the intersection of the fourth Vedathe oft-neglected Atharvavedaand the emergent tradition of astral science (Jyotisastra) sometime in the early first millennium, CE. Its development would come to have far-reaching consequences on the ideal ritual life of the king in early-medieval
Brahmanical society. The mantric transformations involved in the history of santi led to the emergence of a politicized ritual culture that could encompass both traditional Vedic and newer Hindu performers and practices.
From astrological appeasement to gift-giving, coronation, and image worship, Rites of the God-King chronicles the multiple lives and afterlives of a single ritual mode, unveiling the always-inventive work of the priesthood to imagine and enrich royal power. Along the way, Geslani reveals the surprising role of astrologers in Hindu history, elaborates conceptions of sin and misfortune, and forges new connections between medieval texts and modern practices. In a work that details ritual
forms that were dispersed widely across Asia, he concludes with a reflection on the nature of orthopraxy, ritual change, and the problem of presence in the Hindu tradition.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Inception of a Ritual Category
2. The Ritual Culture of Appeasement
3. Varahamihira's Astrological Ritualism
4. Kingship in a Portentous Age
5. Signs in the Gods, Gods in the Pots
6. Ritual Change and the Problem of Presence
Conclusion
Appendices
Glossary
Bibliography
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