KRISHNA IN INDIAN LITERATURE AND ART ANS 372 : 31720 & RS 341: 43672 Spring 2017 TTh 5:00 6:30 MEZ 2.122 Rupert Snell In this new course we will encounter Krishna in his many different aspects and forms, from the spiritual advisor in the Bhagavad Gita to the spirited Krishna Gopal, beloved deity of medieval and modern Vaishnavism. Alongside the many texts sampled in English translation we will also study Krishna in painting and iconography, and savor performances dedicated to the praise of this unique deity. See the draft syllabus below. Students with a good reading knowledge of Hindi may also take an optional add-on, for one hour s class credit, HIN 130D, in which we will read Braj Bhasha texts in the original. Mail rupertsnell@austin.utexas.edu for more details. 1
Krishna in Indian Literature and Art READING: Eck, The land and story of Krishna. Canvas. 1 17 19 January The Krishna narrative: concepts, themes, images READING: Bryant, Krishna in the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana. Sourcebook pp. 111-136. 2 24 26 January Episodes in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa READING: Entwistle, Braj: centre of Krishna pilgrimage 1987:1-41. Canvas. 3 31 Jan 2 February Braj, birthplace of Krishna Gopal; the meanings of saguṇ bhakti READING: Wolff, Radha: consort and conqueror of Krishna, 1996:109-134. Electronic resource. 4 7 9 February Radha: Krishna s divine consort; the Gītagovinda of Jayadeva READING: Dimock, Doctrine and practice among the Vaiṣṇavas of Bengal 1963:106-127. Canvas. 5 14 16 February Caitanya and the Gaudiya tradition of Krishna-bhakti READING: Barz, Kumbhandas: the devotee as salt of the earth, Sourcebook pp. 477-504 6 21 23 February Vallabha and the Pushtimarg READING: Listopad, In the service of Kṛṣṇa: paintings from Nathdwara. Canvas. 7 28 Feb 2 March Krishna as Shrinathji READING: Stewart, When Rāhu devours the moon, 1997. Canvas. 8 7 9 March Hagiography: saintly folk as Krishna s servants and intimates READING: Hawley, At play with Krishna: pilgrimage dramas from Vrindaban, 1981; 3-20, 53-73, 155-167. WRITING: Take-home exam (due 23 March) 9 21 23 March Performance: Rāsa-līlā, bhajan, and participation in bhakti READING: Hawley, Braj: fishing in Sur s Ocean. Sourcebook pp. 223-240; READING: Martin, Rajasthan: Mirabai and her poetry. Sourcebook pp. 241-254. 10 28 30 March Poetry and vision in the works of Surdas and Mirabai READING: Smith, Old Indian: the two Sanskrit epics. Canvas. 11 4 6 April Krishna in the Mahābhārata READING: Minor, Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. Sourcebook pp. 77-94. 12 11 13 April The Bhagavad Gītā WRITING: Term paper (due 2nd May) 13 18 20 April Bringing Krishna to the classroom: Student presentations WRITING: Term paper (due 2nd May) 14 25 27 April Bringing Krishna to the classroom: Student presentations READING: [Rosenstein article on Haridasis & Radhavallabhis citation details needed.] 15 2 4 May How texts develop and are transmitted: the case of the Caurāsī Pada 2
ASSESSMENT Participation and Discussion 25% Weekly response papers 25% Take-home midterm, due 23rd March 25% Term paper (2000 words), due 2nd May 25% GRADING SCALE 93-100 A 90-92 A- 87-89 B+ 83-86 B 80-82 B- 77-79 C+ 73 76 C 70-72 C- 67-69 D+ 63-66 D 60-62 D- 0-59 F HOW TO DO WELL IN THIS COURSE Guidance is available to you at every stage, especially in the writing of your term paper: you are not alone here. Feedback on outlines and drafts is available and you are strongly advised to take this opportunity for enhancing your work! PARTICIPATION & DISCUSSION Our classes will run on the seminar model, regularly beginning with a discussion of the week s reading and then branching out into a broader presentation and discussion of the week s topic. Your careful reading of the various articles and chapters will facilitate your writing of the response papers, will help you take a meaningful part in class discussions (leading to a good grade in the 25% of the total allocated to Participation & Discussion), and will strengthen your hand when it comes to writing the mid-term exam and the term paper. 3
RESPONSE PAPERS Response papers should be brief about 300-600 words. Head your paper with the bibliographical details, like this: Selby, Martha: On the translatability of intention in Indian poetry, in Journal of South Asian Literature, Vol. 26 No. 1/2 (1991), pp. 111-124. There is much good advice online for the writing of response papers: in particular the PDF available from Duke University is worth reading before you start your first piece: https://twp.duke.edu/uploads/assets/response%20paper.pdf The ideal response paper for this class will include (a) your synopsis of the author s main points, and (b) your individual reaction to what has been said. Your papers are to be written in English and submitted through Canvas, through which I will give you timely feedback. Don t fall behind in your work, and I won t either! Bibliography Barz, Richard, The bhakti sect of Vallabhācārya. Delhi, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1992. Barz, Richard, Kumbhandas: the devotee as salt of the earth. In Edwin F. Bryant, Krishna: a sourcebook. Oxford, OUP, 2007, pp. 477-504. Bhagavad Gītā See Mascaró, Miller 2004, and Patton. Bhāgavata Purāṇa see next. Bryant, Edwin F. (trans.), Krishna : the beautiful legend of God ; Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Book X. London, Penguin, 2003. Bryant, Edwin F. (ed.), Krishna: a sourcebook. Oxford, OUP, 2007. Dimock, Doctrine and practice among the Vaiṣṇavas of Bengal. In History of Religions, Vol. 3 No. 1 (Summer 1963), pp. 106-127. Eck, Diana, India: a sacred geography. New York, Harmony Books, 2012. Entwistle, A.W., Braj: centre of Krishna pilgrimage. Groningen, E. Fortsen, 1987. Fitzgerald, James L., India s fifth Veda: the Mahābhārata s presentation of itself. In Journal of South Asian Literature, Vol. 20, No. 1, Part I: (Winter, Spring 1985), pp. 125-140. Hatto, A.T., ed., Traditions of heroic and epic poetry. Vol. 1. London, Modern Humanities Research Association, 1980. Hawley, J.S., At play with Krishna: pilgrimage dramas from Vrindaban. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1981. Hawley, J.S., Braj: Fishing in Sur s ocean. In Edwin F. Bryant (ed.), Krishna: a sourcebook. Oxford, OUP, 2007, pp. 223-240. Jayadeva, Gītagovinda see Miller 1997. Listopad, John, In the service of Kṛṣṇa: paintings from Nathdwara under Dāmodar II and Govardhanlāl in the Los Angeles Museum of Art, in Ars Orientalis Vol. 30 Supplement 1 (2000) pp. 115-126. 4
Lo, Meilu, A true self revealed: song and play in Pushti Marg liturgical service. In The World of Music, Vol. 51, No. 2, Music for Being (2009), pp. 23-43 Mahābhārata: see Satyamurti, and Smith. Majumder, Sanjoy, From ritual drama to national prime time: Mahabharata, India s televisual obsession. In Deepika Bahri and Mary Vasudeva, Between the lines: South Asians and postcoloniality. Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 1996, pp. 204-215. Martin, Nancy, Rajasthan: Mirabai and her poetry. In Edwin F. Bryant (ed.), Krishna: a sourcebook. Oxford, OUP, 2007, pp. 242-154. Mascaró, Juan (trans.), The Bhagavad Gita. London, Penguin, 1962. Miller, Barbara Stoler (trans.), The Bhagavad Gita: Krishna s counsel in times of war. New York, Bantam Dell, [1986] 2004. Miller, Barbara Stoler (trans.), Love song of the dark lord : Jayadeva's Gītagovinda. New York, Columbia University Press, [1977] 1997. Minor, Robert N., Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. In Edwin F. Bryant, (ed.) Krishna: a sourcebook. Oxford, OUP, 2007 pp. 77-94. Patton, Laurie L. (trans.) The Bhagavad Gita. London, Penguin, N.d. Rosenstein, Lucy [article on Haridasis & Radhavallabhis details to follow!] Satyamurti, Carole (trans.), Mahabharata: a modern retelling. New York, Norton, 2015. Smith, J.D. (trans.), The Mahābhārata: an abridged translation. London, Penguin Books, 2009. Smith, J.D., Old Indian: the two Sanskrit epics. In A.T. Hatto, (ed.), Traditions of heroic and epic poetry, Vol. 1. London, Modern Humanities Research Association, 1980, pp. 48-78. Stewart, When Rāhu devours the moon: the myth of the birth of Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Aug., 1997), pp. 221-264. Timm, Jeffrey R., The celebration of emotion: Vallabha's ontology of affective experience. In Philosophy East and West, Vol. 41, No. 1, Emotion East and West (Jan., 1991), pp. 59-75. Wolff, Radha: consort and conqueror of Krishna, In. John S. Hawley and Donna M. Wulff, (ed.), Devī: goddesses of India. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1996, pp. 109-134. 5