[INDOLOGY] Book Announcement: Krishna's Mahabharatas

Lauren Bausch lauren.bausch at drbu.edu
Wed Mar 27 15:15:15 UTC 2024


Congratulations on the publication of your book, Sohini! I’m so happy for
you!

Maitrīcittena,
Lauren


On Tue, Mar 26, 2024 at 7:32 PM Sohini Pillai <Sohini.Pillai at kzoo.edu>
wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
>
>
> (With apologies for cross-posting!)
>
>
>
> I'm excited to share that my new book *Krishna’s Mahabharatas: Devotional
> Retellings of An Epic Narrative
> <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/krishnas-mahabharatas-9780197753552?cc=us&lang=en&prevNumResPerPage=100&prevSortField=1&resultsPerPage=100&sortField=1&start=100>
> *(AAR’s Religion in Translation series)*, *is now available from Oxford
> University Press. The publisher's description of the book is below.
>
>
>
> If you order the book directly from OUP's website
> <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/krishnas-mahabharatas-9780197753552?cc=us&lang=en&>
> you can save 30% with the promotion code AAFLYG6. Please note, however,
> that due to OUP’s systems changeover, they will not be able to take orders
> until the systems go live in mid to late April
>
>
>
> With best wishes,
>
> Sohini
>
>
>
> *Book Description:*
>
>
>
> Recognized as the longest poem ever composed, the ancient Sanskrit
> *Mahabharata* epic tells the tale of the five Pandava princes and the
> cataclysmic battle they wage with their one hundred cousins, the Kauravas.
> This story is one of the most popular and widely-told narratives in South
> Asia, let alone the world. Between 800 and 1700 CE, a plethora of
> Mahabharatas were created in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada,
> Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil, Telugu, and several other
> regional South Asian languages.
>
>
>
> *Krishna's Mahabharatas: Devotional Retellings of an Epic Narrative* is a
> comprehensive study of premodern regional Mahabharata retellings. This book
> argues that Vaishnavas (devotees of the Hindu god Vishnu and his various
> forms) throughout South Asia turned this epic about an apocalyptic, bloody
> war into works of ardent *bhakti *or “devotion” focused on the beloved
> Hindu deity Krishna. Examining over forty retellings in eleven different
> regional South Asian languages composed over a period of nine hundred
> years, it focuses on two particular Mahabharatas: Villiputturar's
> fifteenth-century Tamil *Paratam* and Sabalsingh Chauhan's
> seventeenth-century Bhasha (Old Hindi) *Mahabharat*.
>
>
>
> Through close comparative readings, this book reveals the similar ways
> poets from opposite ends of the Indian sub-continent transform the story of
> the Sanskrit *Mahabharata* into devotional narratives centered on
> Krishna. At the same time, it also shows how these Mahabharatas are each
> unique pieces of religious literature that speak to different local
> audiences in premodern South Asia.
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Sohini Sarah Pillai, PhD (she/her/hers)
>
>
>
> Assistant Professor of Religion
>
> Director of Film and Media Studies
>
> Kalamazoo College
>
>
>
> www.sohinisarahpillai.com
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20240327/32563795/attachment.htm>


More information about the INDOLOGY mailing list