The Mahabharata in Global Political and Social Thought

doi:10.1017/9781009484695

The ancient Indian epic, Mahabharata, was first composed in Sanskrit and then rendered into Indian vernaculars and other Asian and European languages. This book demonstrates how the epic has shaped the birth of modern politics and thought across India, Europe, Japan, China, Thailand, Iran, and the Arab world. It draws on methodologies of global intellectual and religious history. The contributing authors are specialists on various world-regions. They reveal how kings and peasants, statesmen and revolutionaries, intellectuals, and activists, have invoked the epic to forge their political visions over the past centuries. The epic has thus contributed to state formation, nationalism, as well as the decolonization and democratization of the modern world. This book helps us understand the non-Eurocentric roots of modern political and social ideas, in India and across Asia and Europe. We thereby understand the global origins of contemporary politics, society, and democracy.

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv
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Contents
pp v-vi
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Acknowledgements
pp vii-viii
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A Note on Transliteration
pp ix-x
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Introduction
pp 1-12
- By Milinda Banerjee, Julian Strube
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1. - The Mahabharata and the Making of Modern India
pp 13-47
- By Milinda Banerjee
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2. - ‘Epic’ Past, ‘Modern’ Present: The Mahabharata and Modern Nationalism in Colonial Western India
pp 48-74
- By Alok Oak
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3. - The Bhagavadgita and the Gandhian Hermeneutic of Non-Violence: Globalizing Selfless Action
pp 75-107
- By Arkamitra Ghatak
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4. - A Nostalgia for Transcendental Closure: The Relationship between the Mahabharata and Notions of Nationalism in the Works of Friedrich Schlegel, Maithilisharan Gupt, and Jawaharlal Nehru
pp 108-136
- By Philipp Sperner
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5. - The Production and Deconstruction of the ‘Ideal Indian Woman’ on the Basis of the Mahabharata in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
pp 137-160
- By Melanie J. Müller
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6. - Rethinking Transnational Intellectual History and Epic Nationalisms through Lithographic Labour: Persian and Urdu Mahabharatas in India and Iran
pp 161-185
- By Amanda Lanzillo
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7. - ‘Philosophical Poetry’ or a ‘Failed Beginning’? A Metaphilosophical Enquiry into Wilhelm von Humboldt’s and G. W. F. Hegel’s Perspectives on the Bhagavadgita
pp 186-216
- By Paulus Kaufmann
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8. - East Asian Uses of Indian Epic Literature: Refractions of the Mahabharata in Japan and China, Late Nineteenth–Early Twentieth Century
pp 217-240
- By Egas Moniz Bandeira
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9. - The Reception of the Mahabharata in Siam: Evolving Conceptions of Kingship
pp 241-256
- By David M. Malitz
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10. - Understanding Global Intellectual Exchanges through Paratexts: Wadiʿ al-Bustani’s Introduction to His Arabic Translation of the Mahabharata
pp 257-272
- By Christopher D. Bahl, Abdallah Soufan
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About the Contributors
pp 273-276
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Index
pp 277-285
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The Mahabharata in Global Political and Social Thought

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

Acknowledgements
pp vii-viii

A Note on Transliteration
pp ix-x

Introduction
pp 1-12

1. - The Mahabharata and the Making of Modern India
pp 13-47

2. - ‘Epic’ Past, ‘Modern’ Present: The Mahabharata and Modern Nationalism in Colonial Western India
pp 48-74

3. - The Bhagavadgita and the Gandhian Hermeneutic of Non-Violence: Globalizing Selfless Action
pp 75-107

4. - A Nostalgia for Transcendental Closure: The Relationship between the Mahabharata and Notions of Nationalism in the Works of Friedrich Schlegel, Maithilisharan Gupt, and Jawaharlal Nehru
pp 108-136

5. - The Production and Deconstruction of the ‘Ideal Indian Woman’ on the Basis of the Mahabharata in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
pp 137-160

6. - Rethinking Transnational Intellectual History and Epic Nationalisms through Lithographic Labour: Persian and Urdu Mahabharatas in India and Iran
pp 161-185

7. - ‘Philosophical Poetry’ or a ‘Failed Beginning’? A Metaphilosophical Enquiry into Wilhelm von Humboldt’s and G. W. F. Hegel’s Perspectives on the Bhagavadgita
pp 186-216

8. - East Asian Uses of Indian Epic Literature: Refractions of the Mahabharata in Japan and China, Late Nineteenth–Early Twentieth Century
pp 217-240

9. - The Reception of the Mahabharata in Siam: Evolving Conceptions of Kingship
pp 241-256

10. - Understanding Global Intellectual Exchanges through Paratexts: Wadiʿ al-Bustani’s Introduction to His Arabic Translation of the Mahabharata
pp 257-272

About the Contributors
pp 273-276

Index
pp 277-285

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The Mahabharata in Global Political and Social Thought

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