Woman and Goddess in Hinduism: Reinterpretations and Re-envisionings [Hardcover]

Offering?multilayered explorations of Hindu understandings of the Feminine, both human and divine, this book emphasizes theological and activist methods and aims over historical, anthropological, and literary ones.A Hermeneutics of Intersubjectivity; R.D.Sherma PART I: THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION Sat?, Suttee, and S?vitr?; A.Sharma Still a Goddess at Second Sight: Envisioning the Beautiful Woman of the Saundarya Lahar?; F.Xavier Clooney Mystery, Wonder, and Knowledge in the Triadic Figure of Maha??vidya? Chinnamasta?: A ?a?kta Woman's Reading; N.Bhattacharya Saxena PART II: RECLAIMING ALTERNATIVE MODALITIES OF FEMININE POWER S?t? Raso?s and ??kta P??has: A Feminine Reclamation of Mythic and Epic Proportions; P.Herman Female Gurus and the Divine Feminine; K.Pechilis The K?l? Practice: Revisiting Women's Roles in Tantra; L. Biernecki PART III: THE FEMININE PRINCIPLES IN HINDU THOUGHT AND PRACTICE: PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES Hindu Rituals on Behalf of Women: Notes on First Principles; L.Patton The Feminine Concept of Surrender in Vai??avism; E.H.Rick Jarow Gandhi's Construction of the Feminine in Hinduism: Negotiating Traditional Values for Modern Goals; V.Howard Afterword: Reimagining the Hindu Feminine: Concluding Reflections

The role of the female within the Hindu tradition is both varied and vigorous, as the multiple contributors to this text reveal. They bring together scholarship and sensitivity in conveying unique dimensions and valuable perceptions of that role.This book is an important read for anyone seeking to comprehend female spirituality and divinity in the Hindu context. - Ramdas Lamb, Associate Professor of Religion, University of Hawaii at Manoa The essays in this outstanding volume successfully avoid the common pitfalls of, on the one hand, objectifying and exoticizing the various Hindu categories and concepts with which they engage, and on the other, of deploying these same categories and concepts in a simplistic and uncritical manner. The hermelÓ"