Umeå universitets logga

Kapitlet rör sig om en aspekt av levd religion genom fokus på yoga. Texten undersöker hur yoga framställs som kulturarv, och beskrivs som inkluderande och universellt. Samtidigt utgör yoga också ett verktyg för den hindunationalistiska regeringen och fungerar därmed som ett maktmedel.

The Hindu Vaiśeṣika philosophers' main concerns in relation to liberation from rebirth are knowing (jñāna) and acting (karma). In connection to this, ideas of a disembodied self (ātman) as eternal, noncognizing, and uncreated are important factors within their thought. They furthermore purport a creator god who is responsible for a world wherein the selves could be liberated. The actions required are performance of religious duties and refraining from unethical behavior. Through the practice of yoga a human being can attain a mindset suitable for such actions. The Vaiśeṣikas' main interests are to describe the bodily self, its capacity for knowledge, and what this self should know, hence epistemology and ontology are central aspects of their philosophizing.

This chapter presents and criticizes three influential scholars’ ideas about how “Indian philosophy” and “Indian philosophical tradition” can be understood: Krishna Daya, Jitendranath Mohanty, and Wilhelm Halbfass. They have all reacted upon how Indian philosophy seldom is understood as proper philosophy within Western academia. I will argue for an extended way of apprehending tradition through the notion of philosophy by showing how the idea of siddhānta functions as a discursive and individualized activity of philosophizing within the Nyāya-Vaiṣeśika school. 

Detta kapitel tar upp några generella drag i hinduismens ritualer och levnadsregler men betonar också mångfalden i den hinduism som utövas idag. Den första delen behandlar ritualer och de platser som de utförs på. Den andra tar upp olika föreställningar om hur en hindu ska leva sitt liv och hur dessa ideer förmedlas.