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How have South Asian traditions responded to plurality and difference? The question lies at the centre of this collection, inviting us to challenge established conceptions of pluralism and understand South Asian ways of thinking about difference, diversity, and ''the other''. Drawing from a wide range of literary, intellectual, and religious sources, this is the first in-depth treatment of how South Asian traditions understand themselves in relation to others in a context where there are so many. Marking a significant contribution to re-thinking pluralism in the 21st century, it shows what can we stand to learn from recognising the diversity among the pluralisms seen throughout the history of South Asian thought. Bringing together engaging case studies, a team of leading scholars articulate different theorizations of plurality articulated across South Asian traditions from antiquity to the present. Each example is representative of the rich variety of pluralisms in South Asia, cuttting across historical periods, knowledge systems and religious groups. This inclusive collection covers Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, and Hinduism, identifies strategies we use for engaging with different traditions and uncovers how we conceptualise the status of our own truth claims in relation to others.
List of contents
Table of Contents Introduction: Brian Black and James Madaio.
Part 1: Pluralisms in Ancient South Asia Chapter 1: Claire Maes: '"I heard it through the grapevine." Gossip and Rumour in the Pali Canon as Strategies to Deal with Religious Others'
Chapter 2: Sonam Kachru: 'Asoka's Principled Pluralism'
Chapter 3: Mark McClish: 'Pluralism and Religious Policy in the Arthasastra'
Chapter 4: Brian Black: 'The
Mahabharata's Dharmic Pluralism'
Chapter 5: Vrinda Dalmiya: 'In Defence of Double-Think: Stances, Standpoints, and Justice in the
Mahabharata and Feminist Epistemology'
Chapter 6: Jessica Frazier: 'Collaboration, Inference, and Virtue in the
Caraka Samhita'
Chapter 7: Anil Mundra: 'Pluralistic Selves: Jain Engagements with Doctrinal Difference and Identity'
Chapter 8: Patrick Lambelet: 'Weaving Many into One: Plurality and Unity in the Buddhist Mantrayana'
Part 2: Pluralisms in Pre-Modern South Asia Chapter 9: Nancy M. Martin: 'Forging Self and
Sampraday: Inclusion, Equality, and Religious Diversity in Pre-Modern Bhakti'
Chapter 10: Pashaura Singh: 'Religious Pluralism and the
Bhagat Bani in the
Guru Granth Sahib'
Chapter 11: Jaroslav Strnad: 'Plurality of Spiritual Paths in the Dadupanthi Community of 17th Century Rajasthan'
Chapter 12: Rembert Lutjeharms: 'Encounters with the Inconceivable: Experience and Inclusivism in Early Gaudiya Vaisnava Theology'
Chapter 13: Rosie Edgley and Jacqueline Suthren Hirst: 'Addressing Plurality in Madhusudana Sarasvati's
Bhagavadgita commentary'
Chapter 14: Supriya Gandhi: 'Reconciling Difference Through
Tatbiq: Pluralism and Comparative Religion at the Mughal Court
Part 3: Pluralisms in Modern South Asia Chapter 15: Scott R. Stroud: 'Ambedkar, Pragmatic Buddhism, and Democratic Pluralism'
Chapter 16: Elise Coquereau-Saouma: 'Witnessing and Realising Plurality in 20th Century Indian Philosophy'
Chapter 17: Arindam Chakrabarti: 'Seesaw Worlds, Interrogative Reality, and Alternative Theories of Error: From Kalidas Bhattacharya back to Abhinavagupta'
Chapter 18: James Madaio: 'Plurality and the Other in Ramchandra Gandhi's Hermeneutics of Being'
Chapter 19: Humeira Iqtidar: 'Is Tolerance Liberal? Javed Ahmed Ghamidi and the Non-Muslim Minority'
Chapter 20: Brian Black and James Madaio: 'Concluding Reflections: Thinking Pluralistically about Pluralism'
About the author
Brian Black is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University. He is author of The Character of the Self in Ancient India: Priests, Kings, and Women in the Early Upanisads (2007) and In Dialogue with the Mahabharata (2021).James Madaio is Head of the Department of South Asia at the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic, and a Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, UK.
