Conclusion

This concluding chapter returns to the recurring themes introduced in Chapter 1—Kashmir, poetry, poetics, stotra, bhakti, and prayer—in light of the arguments developed throughout this book. It explores how stotras are about relationships and connections, and it argues that these Sanskrit hymns are critical sources for studying the history and historiography of bhakti traditions in South Asia. It summarizes the appeal of the stotra form as a genre for religious practice and reflection, and it revisits what this study of Sanskrit hymns contributes to the study of prayer more broadly. As a whole, this chapter serves as a commentary on the title of the book, unpacking what it means to study poetry as prayer in the stotras of Kashmir.

Devotion as Rasa

In addition to being an important center for religious innovation and literary production, Kashmir was also the site of major developments in aesthetics from the end of the eighth century onward. After reviewing this history, this chapter considers how Kashmirian poets adopted and adapted language and ideas from aesthetics—particularly the language of rasa—in unusual and creative ways. It focuses on the idea of bhaktirasa, the “taste” or experience of devotion. Notably, many Kashmirian explorations of bhaktirasa occurred long before Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava authors would make bhaktirasa well known in South Asia. This chapter argues that the Śaiva hymns of Kashmir represent earlier reflections on the aesthetic dimensions of devotion that can contribute to our understanding of the relationship between aesthetics and religion in South Asia.

Poetry as Prayer

This chapter develops the study of poetry as prayer. It reviews recent scholarship on prayer and evaluates the perils and potential of prayer as a category of analysis in the study of South Asian religions. Then, focusing on an important and previously unstudied text from fourteenth-century Kashmir—Jagaddhara Bhaṭṭa’s Stutikusumāñjali (Flower-Offering of Praise)—it analyzes various types of prayer sheltered under the umbrella of the stotra genre. In addition, it explores two creative ways of interpreting poetic prayer. First, it examines how Jagaddhara dramatizes Śiva’s interactions with Sarasvatī as the beautifully embodied form of poetry. Then it analyzes praise-poetry as a type of verbal prasāda, an offering received by a deity and then enjoyed by a community of devotees. Finally, the chapter argues that some of the evidence from Kashmir challenges a persistent view in the study of Hinduism that “true” prayer is a spontaneous outpouring of the heart.

Poetry as Theology

This chapter delves into the complexity of poetry as theology. Focusing largely on the most influential period of theological composition in Kashmir, from the ninth century to the twelfth, it reevaluates poetry by some of the most well-known Śaiva authors from the region, including Utpaladeva, Abhinavagupta, and Kṣemarāja. It charts multiple ways that Sanskrit hymns can do theological work, and specifically how the poetic features of many hymns help to constitute their theological content. Some hymns show pedagogical concerns and serve as models for human audiences to emulate, both in their interpretations of specific positions and in their implementation of those positions in practice. The chapter argues, in particular, that the stotra form was appealing for non-dualistic authors seeking to reinterpret various practices and features of worship that might otherwise be seen as dualistic, including praise, prayer, and devotion.

Introduction

This chapter frames the present study of Sanskrit hymns of praise from Kashmir in terms of the relationship between poetic and religious expression in South Asia. It introduces and discusses six key elements that weave throughout the book: the genre known as the stotra (hymn of praise); poetry (kāvya); poetics (alaṅkāraśāstra); prayer; bhakti (devotion); and the region of Kashmir, including the major contours of its religious and literary history. In doing so, the chapter summarizes the central themes of the book and establishes the context for analyzing poetry as prayer. It concludes by reviewing the contents and organization of the book.

Stotra as Kāvya

This chapter investigates the relationship between Sanskrit hymns of praise and classical Sanskrit literature. It first surveys the complicated and often ambiguous position of stotras within Sanskrit literary culture. Then it analyzes Jagaddhara Bhaṭṭa’s Stutikusumāñjali as an historically significant example of how devotional poets sought to elevate the status of the stotra form. Jagaddhara reaffirms the value of classical Sanskrit poetry and poetics even as he re-envisions this literary world as being justified and revitalized by devotional praise of Śiva. He incorporates and expands upon earlier traditions of poetry and poetics in creative ways, giving special prominence to the “flashy” style of poetry (citrakāvya) and the poetic figure of “repetition” (yamaka). His ambitious and innovative hymns, as well as those of later poets in Kashmir, testify to the vitality of Sanskrit literary production in the region and offer critical evidence in the debate about the so-called death of Sanskrit.

Literary Hymns from Kashmir

This chapter presents an overview of the history and study of literary hymns from Kashmir. In roughly chronological order it introduces the central texts discussed in the remainder of this book. It highlights three distinctive themes that emerge from a long view of stotras in Kashmir. The first is the relationship between theology and literature, and specifically how many Kashmirian authors address theological issues, such as the nature of non-dualistic prayer and devotion, in their hymns. Second, these stotras frequently engage with multiple, complex audiences, both human and divine. In some cases this serves pedagogical purposes, or facilitates the transmission of highly technical teachings. Finally, it shows how the trajectory of this genre is markedly different from that of other genres in Kashmir. Kashmirian authors repeatedly turned to the flexible stotra form for creative literary experiments that challenged contemporary conventions or re-envisioned earlier traditions.

Stotra as Tradition

Part of the enduring appeal of the stotra form has been the way that it has enabled specific communities to creatively negotiate Kashmir’s literary and religious pasts. This chapter analyzes stotras in the seventeenth and twentieth centuries to explore how hymns have functioned as part of tradition as a process. In the seventeenth century, Sāhib Kaul’s devotional poetry provides evidence for how one community of immigrants to Kashmir integrated themselves into a complex religious and literary culture while using its Maithila Śākta heritage as a resource for innovation. In the twentieth century, Swami Lakshman Joo promoted the study and practice of stotras in influential ways. Lastly, the chapter argues that stotras have been pivotal to the configuration of “Kashmir Śaivism” as a distinct regional tradition.

Stotra Literature

This chapter presents an overview and analysis of stotra literature in South Asia from three different angles: definition, classification, and history. It first reviews recent descriptions of the stotra genre and offers a working definition for the present study. Then it considers some of the factors that can be used to classify and analyze this voluminous and diverse corpus. In doing so, it highlights many of the most salient and recurring features of stotra literature overall. Finally, it surveys the history of stotra literature in South Asia, highlighting key texts, authors, and periods of development, such as the relationship between stotras and Vedic hymns, political eulogies (praśasti), and vernacular devotional (bhakti) poetry, the early history of Buddhist and Jain stotras, and hymns by or attributed to famous authors like Śaṅkara. Overall, the chapter highlights the diversity, flexibility, and persistent appeal of stotra literature across regions and traditions over the millennia.