scholarly journals Buddhist Endowments by Śaiva Kings under the Maitrakas of Valabhī in Western India (5th–8th Cent.) and the Yodhāvaka Grant of Dharasena iv, [Valabhī] Year 326

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 107-134
Author(s):  
Annette Schmiedchen
Keyword(s):  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Western India ◽  
Specific Character ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
Personal Beliefs ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Royal Inscriptions ◽  
Ambivalent Relationship ◽  
The Individual

Abstract The phenomenon of interreligious patronage on the Indian subcontinent in the pre-modern period is best attested in royal inscriptions recording religious endowments. It is striking that most pre-Islamic Indian rulers patronised priests, monks, ascetics, and religious establishments of multiple faiths. The personal religious affiliations of the kings often contrasted remarkably with the patronage patterns followed by them according to the testimony of their epigraphs. The strongest indication for the individual confessions of rulers is given by the religious epithets among their titles. While the ambivalent relationship between the personal beliefs of the kings and their donative practices has been repeatedly described as an expression of Indian religious “tolerance” or of the specific character of Indian religious traditions, this paper emphasises that there were several reasons for the dichotomy. This will be investigated on the basis of the epigraphic material of the Maitraka dynasty, which ruled in Gujarat from the 5th to the 8th centuries. The article also contains an edition and translation of the hitherto unpublished Yodhāvaka Grant of Dharasena iv.

The Modes and Intentions of Biography

2007 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-84
Author(s):  
Graham Hassall
Keyword(s):  
Inner Life ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
The Individual

This paper explores a range of modes, intentions and problems of Baha'i biography, in order to offer some initial observations on the ways in which biographical literatures frame understandings of the individual in the context of community. It distinguishes between documentary, hagiological and critical modes of biography as these have emerged in the diverse literature of the world's religious traditions, as well as in the secular literature of the modern period. It suggests that much Baha'i biography has continued the traditions of remembrance and exempla, although more critical works have also begun to appear. The quest to write spiritual biographies that explore a subject's inner life and journey remains difficult, due mostly to limitations on sources, since few subjects give adequate exposure to their inner thoughts. Rather than privilege one tradition above any other, Baha'i biographies have to date drawn on the skills of the craft elaborated across generations, religions and cultures, while beginning to draw also on Baha'i scripture for inspiration productive of new insights into how lived lives can be depicted in literature.

scholarly journals Humanism as the essence of the principle of religious tolerance (on the example of the Ideas of L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, and N. N. Pirogov)

2021 ◽  
pp. 28-41
Author(s):  
Evgeniia Mikhaylovna Zhukova
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual System ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
War And Peace ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Transformational Process ◽  
Single Organism ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity

During the period of globalization, various social strata comprise a new conceptual system. This ongoing transformational process prompts reconsideration of the fundamental concept of religious tolerance: it disintegrates and accretes with extraneous connotations. The worldwide growing religious fanaticism makes the problem of religious tolerance exceedingly acute. Its comprehension becomes relevant not only on the examples of countries, but also on the legacy of prominent representatives of different eras. The object of this research is the literary-philosophical heritage of L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, and N. N. Pirogov. The subject is the principle of religious tolerance in the worldview of the listed philosophers. Each of them demonstrates a superior example of humanism in the era of close interaction of various ethnic groups. The analysis of works of the three cultural figures indicates that despite the difference in worldviews, they all agreed upon the general humanistic essence of religious tolerance. The recognition of religious tolerance as a general cultural universal is based on their perception of the world as a single organism that does not unify various religious traditions, but rather constitute them into the “unity of diversified”. If L. N. Tolstoy elucidates humanistic nature of religious tolerance on the level of the individual, communities and entire humanity, then F. M. Dostoevsky has such reflections due to theme of war and peace. In combination with the “cosmic” worldview of N. N. Pirogov, these three views reveal different edges of religious tolerance based on the principle of complementarity. The study of humanistic ideas of the Russian philosophers may contribute to the creation of the methodological concept of religious tolerance as one of the fundamentals of the state domestic and foreign policy of the Russian Federation during the globalization era.

scholarly journals A Wolf in Another Wolf’s Clothing: Post-Genomic Regulation Dictates Venom Profiles of Medically-Important Cryptic Kraits in India

Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kartik Sunagar ◽  
Suyog Khochare ◽  
R. R. Senji Laxme ◽  
Saurabh Attarde ◽  
Paulomi Dam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Clinical Effectiveness ◽  
Venom Gland ◽  
Western India ◽  
The Common ◽  
Genomic Regulation

The Common Krait (Bungarus caeruleus) shares a distribution range with many other ‘phenotypically-similar’ kraits across the Indian subcontinent. Despite several reports of fatal envenomings by other Bungarus species, commercial Indian antivenoms are only manufactured against B. caeruleus. It is, therefore, imperative to understand the distribution of genetically distinct lineages of kraits, the compositional differences in their venoms, and the consequent impact of venom variation on the (pre)clinical effectiveness of antivenom therapy. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted phylogenetic and comparative venomics investigations of kraits in Southern and Western India. Phylogenetic reconstructions using mitochondrial markers revealed a new species of krait, Romulus’ krait (Bungarus romulusi sp. nov.), in Southern India. Additionally, we found that kraits with 17 mid-body dorsal scale rows in Western India do not represent a subspecies of the Sind Krait (B. sindanus walli) as previously believed, but are genetically very similar to B. sindanus in Pakistan. Furthermore, venom proteomics and comparative transcriptomics revealed completely contrasting venom profiles. While the venom gland transcriptomes of all three species were highly similar, venom proteomes and toxicity profiles differed significantly, suggesting the prominent role of post-genomic regulatory mechanisms in shaping the venoms of these cryptic kraits. In vitro venom recognition and in vivo neutralisation experiments revealed a strong negative impact of venom variability on the preclinical performance of commercial antivenoms. While the venom of B. caeruleus was neutralised as per the manufacturer’s claim, performance against the venoms of B. sindanus and B. romulusi was poor, highlighting the need for regionally-effective antivenoms in India.

Potential distribution of the endemic Short-tailed ground agama Calotes minor (Hardwicke & Gray, 1827) in drylands of the Indian sub-continent

2021 ◽  
pp. 132-141
Author(s):  
Ashish Kumar Jangid
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Aridity Index ◽  
Species Distribution Modelling ◽  
Spatial Knowledge ◽  
Western India ◽  
Distribution Modelling ◽  
Modelling Framework ◽  
Specific Species ◽  
Precise Distribution

The Short-tailed ground agama or Hardwicke’s bloodsucker Calotes minor (Hardwicke & Gray, 1827) is known to occur in the Indian subcontinent and is largely confined to arid to semiarid environments, such as hard barren desert and abandoned fields. The precise distribution of this species is largely unknown to date, with few locality records spread biogeographically across Eastern Pakistan, Central and Western India. To improve on the existing spatial knowledge on this species and assess the ability to predict species distributions for taxa with few locality records, we studied the distribution of C. minor using a species distribution modelling framework. Our study allowed us to predict the distribution range of C. minor and help define a niche for this habitat-specific species. Highly probable habitats for C. minor were arid and semi-arid dryland habitats, characterised by plains or less rugged terrain with moderately narrow temperature range, lower aridity index, moderate to low vegetation index, and wide precipitation range. Furthermore, we report four additional occurrence records of C. minor from central Rajasthan.

Appropriating Law in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Dred

2007 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 380-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura H. Korobkin
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Slave System ◽  
Personal Beliefs ◽  
Great Dismal Swamp ◽  
Dismal Swamp ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual

This essay investigates Harriet Beecher Stowe's interpolation of State v. Mann, a harsh 1829 North Carolina proslavery decision, into her 1856 novel Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. The essay argues that Stowe's use of State v. Mann continues a conversation about slavery that had been carried on through its text for many years in abolitionist writings. Bringing State v. Mann's circulation history into view shows Stowe engaging the antislavery establishment as well as the legal system, borrowing and imitating its techniques for handling proslavery materials. If her novel is infiltrated and structured by the many legal writings that it assimilates, its fictive world in turn infiltrates, interprets, and alters the significance of the writings she employs, so that proslavery legal writings are made to testify strongly against the slave system that they originally worked to maintain and enforce. Stowe's hybrid text dominates the law while smoothly assimilating it into an interpretive fictive context. Simultaneously, Stowe's typographical cues remind readers of State v. Mann's ongoing, destructive extratextual legal existence. By linking fictive context to legal content, Stowe's novel suggests that slave law must be read and interpreted as a unit that includes the individual suffering it imposes. Misreading State v. Mann as revealing its author's belief in the immorality of slavery, Stowe constructs a fictional judge who upholds slave law despite his personal beliefs. By absorbing, imitating, and besting the strategies and the reach of both legal and abolitionist writings, Dred implicitly stakes a claim for the superior power of political fiction to act in the world.

scholarly journals Revivals of ancient religious traditions in modern India

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-77
Author(s):  
Knut A. Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Printed Books

The article compares the early stages of the revivals of Sāṃkhyayoga and Buddhism in modern India. A similarity of Sāṃkhyayoga and Buddhism was that both had disappeared from India and were revived in the modern period, partly based on Orientalist discoveries and writings and on the availability of printed books and publishers. Printed books provided knowledge of ancient traditions and made re-establishment possible and printed books provided a vehicle for promoting the new teachings. The article argues that absence of communities in India identified with these traditions at the time meant that these traditions were available as identities to be claimed.

scholarly journals Specificity of psychon structure forming the personality of transgressive and protective spouses

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-542
Author(s):  
Andrzej Dakowicz
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Marital Relationship ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Personal Beliefs ◽  
Potential Strength ◽  
Personal Needs ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Research Tools

AbstractIn terms of psychotransgressionism, personality is a network of five equipollent psychons, the content of which determines the personality’s functioning. The strength and power of the individual psychons underlies the tendency to undertake transgressive actions. In this study, we hypothesized that transgressive spouses are characterized by greater potential strength, greater power of cognitive, instrumental, motivational, emotional, and personal psychons than protective spouses. We operationalized all psychons, created the appropriate research tools, and then studied married couples. Using the Transgression Scale developed by Studenski, we found a group of spouses with higher levels of transgression (transgressive), and a group of spouses with lower levels of transgression (protective). Transgressive wives are characterized by better knowledge about their husbands’ operational sphere, and are more aware of personal beliefs than protective wives. Similarly, transgressive husbands have greater knowledge of their wives’ operational sphere, stronger cognitive needs, and weaker personal needs than protective husbands. Transgressive husbands are characterized by a positive affective shift and have a greater awareness of personal beliefs than protective husbands. The potential brought into interpersonal relationships by transgressive spouses may create a climate conducive to building a satisfying marital relationship.

From Buddha to Tagore and Gandhi: Value-Creating Curricula in India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Namrata Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Value Creation ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Rabindranath Tagore ◽  
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Buddha

It is common practice to use theoretical frameworks developed in the West for education worldwide, but important contributions come as well from non-Western education perspectives that shed light on the emergence of ideas within given regional diasporas. Value creation serves as a valuable lens through which to examine the ideas and relevance of three thinkers from the Indian subcontinent—the Buddha (6th or 5th century bce), Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), and Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948). The term “value creation” encompasses a Japanese approach to curriculum (based on the work of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, 1871–1944) that is founded on an interdependent view of life and aimed at developing learners’ capacity to enhance their own existence and contribute to the well-being of others. Using value creation as a lens to examine the contributions of the Buddha, Tagore, and Gandhi can allow for a discourse on the indigenous nature of their respective ideas that are rooted in Eastern philosophies based on similar interdependent worldviews. The emergence of alternative curricular in the Indian diaspora that are based on such interdependent worldviews, offer an integrated approach to education. A value-creating framework can be useful to examine the Indian educational scene and the many attempts that have been made for the individual learner to be the focus of education.

Temporary Housing and Unsettled Population: Drivers of Urban Change in Early Modern Marseille and Rome

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 118-140
Author(s):  
Eleonora Canepari
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Modern Cities ◽  
Two Cities ◽  
Mobile Population ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This paper argues that unsettled people, far from being “marginal” individuals, played a key role in shaping early modern cities. It does so by going beyond the traditional binary between rooted and unstable people. Specifically, the paper takes the temporary places of residence of this “unsettled” population – notably inns (garnis in France, osterie in Italy) – as a vantage point to observe social change in early modern cities. The case studies are two cities which shared a growing and highly mobile population in the early modern period: Rome and Marseille. In the first section, the paper focuses on two semi-rural neighborhoods. This is to assess the impact of mobility in shaping demographic, urbanistic, and economic patterns in these areas. Moving from the neighborhood as a whole to the individual buildings which composed it, the second section outlines the biographies of two inns: Rome’s osteria d’Acquataccio and Marseille’s hôtel des Deux mondes. In turn, this is to evaluate changes and continuities over a longer period of time.

Vedānta

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen H. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Indian Philosophy ◽  
True Self ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The West ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Classical Systems ◽  
Sri Aurobindo ◽  
Hindu Community ◽  
The Individual

Indian philosophical speculation burgeoned in texts called Upaniṣads (from 800 bc), where views about a true Self (ātman) in relation to Brahman, the supreme reality, the Absolute or God, are propounded and explored. Early Upaniṣads were appended to an even older sacred literature, the Veda (‘Knowledge’), and became literally Vedānta, ‘the Veda’s last portion’. Classical systems of philosophy inspired by Upaniṣadic ideas also came to be known as Vedānta, as well as more recent spiritual thinking. Classical Vedānta is one of the great systems of Indian philosophy, extending almost two thousand years with hundreds of authors and several important subschools. In the modern period, Vedānta in the folk sense of spiritual thought deriving from Upaniṣads is a major cultural phenomenon. Understood broadly, Vedānta may even be said to be the philosophy of Hinduism, although in the classical period there are other schools (notably Mīmāṃsā) that purport to articulate right views and conduct for what may be called a Hindu community (the terms ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hinduism’ gained currency only after the Muslim invasion of the South Asian subcontinent, beginning rather late in classical times). Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), the great popularizer of Hindu ideas to the West, spoke of Vedānta as an umbrella philosophy of a Divine revealed diversely in the world’s religious traditions. Such inclusivism is an important theme in some classical Vedānta, but there are also virulent disputes about how Brahman should be conceived, in particular Brahman’s relation to the individual. In the twentieth century, philosophers such as Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, K.C. Bhattacharyya and T.M.P. Mahadevan have articulated idealist worldviews largely inspired by classical and pre-classical Vedānta. The mystic philosopher Sri Aurobindo propounds a theism and evolutionary theory he calls Vedānta, and many others, including political leaders such as Gandhi and spiritual figures as well as academics, have developed or defended Vedāntic views.

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