Living Through Intense Yearning and Elated Bliss: Emotional Indoctrination in the Songs of Tukaram (Western India)
Abstract
There is hardly any umbrella term for 'feeling" and/or ‘emotion’ in New Indo-Aryan languages, including Marathi, as well as in Middle Indian dialects and ancient Sanskrit. Although both English notions are not yet satisfactorily defined, polysemantic bhav(a) employed in various meanings in Indian aesthetics and theology has entered the usage as an alternative counterpart to both. The same gloss is one of the key concepts in the medieval manifestations of Hinduism known as bhakti, 'a division, a share,’ and ‘participation’, also explained as 'emotional devotionalism.’ The potent poetic tradition of eulogizing (through the 13th to the 17th century) the god Vitthal/ Vithoba/Pandurang is abound with the verbal expression of this emotionality and till now serves as a source of indoctrination for the right religious feelings in the Marathispeaking regions of Western India.
About the Author
Irina Glushkova
Institute of Oriental Studies of Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
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For citation:
Glushkova I. Living Through Intense Yearning and Elated Bliss: Emotional Indoctrination in the Songs of Tukaram (Western India). Orientalistica. 2018;1(1):66-81. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31696/2618-7043-2018-1-1-66-81
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