Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Surveying the Imagination Landscape
- Part I Theoretical Perspectives on the Imagination
- 2 The Evolution of a Human Imagination
- 3 Material Imagination: An Anthropological Perspective
- 4 The Archaeological Imagination
- 5 Philosophical Perspectives on Imagination in the Western Tradition
- 6 Imagination in Classical India: A Short Introduction
- 7 From Prediction to Imagination
- 8 Memory and Imagination: Perspectives on Constructive Episodic Simulation
- 9 Capturing the Imagination
- 10 A Sociocultural Perspective on Imagination
- 11 Artificial Intelligence and Imagination
- Part II Imagery-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part III Intentionality-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part IV Novel Combinatorial Forms of the Imagination
- Part V Phenomenology-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part VI Altered States of the Imagination
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
6 - Imagination in Classical India: A Short Introduction
from Part I - Theoretical Perspectives on the Imagination
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2020
Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Surveying the Imagination Landscape
- Part I Theoretical Perspectives on the Imagination
- 2 The Evolution of a Human Imagination
- 3 Material Imagination: An Anthropological Perspective
- 4 The Archaeological Imagination
- 5 Philosophical Perspectives on Imagination in the Western Tradition
- 6 Imagination in Classical India: A Short Introduction
- 7 From Prediction to Imagination
- 8 Memory and Imagination: Perspectives on Constructive Episodic Simulation
- 9 Capturing the Imagination
- 10 A Sociocultural Perspective on Imagination
- 11 Artificial Intelligence and Imagination
- Part II Imagery-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part III Intentionality-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part IV Novel Combinatorial Forms of the Imagination
- Part V Phenomenology-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part VI Altered States of the Imagination
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
This essay is an outline of some of the key terms in the classical Sanskrit tradition that can be translated as “imagination.” This enables us to map a very different yet recognizable terrain for our understanding of the concept. The essay is in four parts. The first looks at the articulation of ideas recognizably centred on imagination in the performative aspects of early or Vedic texts (1500–300 BCE). The second presents various terms that approach different aspects of “imagination,” and looks at some of the genres within which these terms were thematized. The third section surveys some influential contemplative practices in which imagination was carefully explored as a disciplined way of cultivating and expanding awareness. The fourth section very briefly considers the philosophical question of the cognitive status of imagination at least in aesthetic production. The conclusion opens up discussion about how this tradition of thematizing imagination may enrich the contemporary study of imagination, whose philosophical roots lie in the Western tradition.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination , pp. 80 - 93Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
References
Christie, E. (1979). Indian Philosophers on Poetic Imagination (pratibhā). Journal of Indian Philosophy, 7, 153–207.Google Scholar
Eck, D. L. (1998). Darśan: Seeing the Divine Image in India. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Gnoli, R. (1968). The Aesthetic Experience According to Abhinavagupta. Varanasi, India: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series.Google Scholar
Heesterman, J. C. (1985). Brahmin, Ritual and Renouncer. In The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kinship, and Society. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Ingalls, D. H. H, Masson, J. M., and Patwardhan, M. V. (1990). The Dhvanyāloka of Ānandavardhana with Abhinava’s Locana. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Johnson, W. (1980). Poetry and Speculation of the Ṛg Veda. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Kaviraj, G. N. (1924/1966). The Doctrine of Pratibhā in Indian Philosophy. In Aspects of Indian Thought. Calcutta, India: University of Burdwan, 1–44.Google Scholar
Kuanpoolpol, P. (1991). Pratibhā: The Concept of Intuition in the Philosophy of Abhinavagupta. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, PhD Thesis.Google Scholar
Mahoney, W. K. (1997). The Artful Universe. An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Mammaṭa, (1967). Kāvyaprakasha. Edited and translated by Ganganatha Jha. Revised edition, reprint. Varanasi, India: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan.Google Scholar
Matilal, B. K. (1986). Perception: An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of Knowledge. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Parashar, S. (2000). Rājaśekara’s Kāvyamīmāṃsā. Text and Translation with Explanatory Notes. New Delhi, India: D. K. Printworld.Google Scholar
Pollock, S. (2010). What was Baṭṭa Nāyaka Saying? The Hermeneutical Transformation of Indian Aesthetics. In Pollock, S (ed.), Epics and Argument in Sanskrit Literary History: Essays in Honor of Robert P. Goldman. Delhi, India: Manohar.Google Scholar
Ram-Prasad, C. (2018). Human Being, Bodily Being: Phenomenology from Classical India. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shulman, D. D. (2012). More Than Real: A History of the Imagination in South India. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, B. K. (1998). Reflections on Resemblance, Ritual, and Religion. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Sreekantaiya, T. N. (1980). Imagination in Indian Poetics and Other Literary Studies. Mysore, India: Geetha Book House.Google Scholar
Timalsina, S. (2013). Imagining Reality: Image and Visualization in Classical Hinduism. Southeast Review of Asian Studies 35, 50–69.Google Scholar
Nyāya-Pañcāna, Viśvanātha (1940). The Bhāṣāpariccheda with Siddhānta-Muktāvalī. Translated by Swami Madhavananda. Calcutta, India: Advaita Ashrama.Google Scholar
Walimbe, Y. S. (1980). Abhinavagupta on Indian Aesthetics. Delhi, India: Ajanta Publications.Google Scholar
Walimbe, Y. S. Yogavāsiṣṭha (1984). Translated by Swami Venkatesananda. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar