Indian Renouncer and Postmodern Poison: A Cross-Cultural Encounter Book

	List of Abbreviations
	Preface
1	Introduction: The Renouncer's Way of Life	1
	Origins of Renunciation	5
	The Concept of Tapas	8
	Renouncer's Way of Life	13
	Types of Renouncers	19
	Symbols of the Renouncer	23
2	The Face of the Stranger and Society	47
	The Face of the Other	51
	Honored and Feared	54
	Life-Style of the Renouncer	61
	The Living Dead	66
	Concluding Remarks	69
3	The Heroic Narrative of the Renouncer	81
	The Pattern of the Hero's Adventure	83
	Narrative and the Katha Upanishad	85
	The Narrative of the Buddha	90
	The Narrative of Mahavira	99
	Structure of the Renouncer's Narrative	105
4	The Renouncer and Violence	123
	The Sacrificial Model	125
	Three Levels of Being	131
	Meaninglessness of Ritual	134
	The First Victim	136
	Hindu Renouncer	138
	Epic Narrative of Violence	142
	Self-sacrifice, Buddhism, and Jainism	144
	Concluding Comments	150
5	Masochism and Self-Sacrifice	165
	A Theory of Masochism	165
	Self-sacrifice and Vedanta	167
	Shaiva Tradition and Self-sacrifice	171
	Later Vaishnava Tradition	176
	A Complex System	180
	Symbolic Structure	183
6	Eroticism, Power, and Androgyny	199
	A Theory of Eroticism	200
	Sexuality and Power	202
	Androgynous Symbolism in Myth and Ritual	203
	Tantric Renouncer	206
	Shaiva Renouncer	211
	Vaishnava Renouncer	222
	Concluding Remarks	233
7	Narcissistic Wound	255
	Freudian Tradition	256
	Postmodern Theories	258
	Indian Renouncers	261
	Renouncers and Theories of Narcissism	273
8	The Renouncer and Culture	287
	Transformation and Culture	289
	The Renouncer as a Cultural Figure	293
	The Unity of the Mythico-Ritualistic Motifs	297
	Bibliography	305
	Index	351