The Character of the Self in Ancient India: Priests, Kings and Women in the Early Upanisads Book

Acknowledgments     xi
Abbreviations     xiii
Introduction     1
Opening statement     1
What are the Upanisads?     3
The self, life, death, and immortality     7
The historical and social context     12
Characterizing the self     16
Literary characters     19
The social conditions of knowledge     22
Mystery or mystique: The character of knowledge     24
Teachers and students: The emergence of teaching as an object of discourse     29
Introduction     29
Sandilya and the teaching of atman and brahman     30
Sandilya: From ritualist to teacher     33
Uddalaka Aruni and the teaching of tat tvam asi     36
Uddalaka and Svetaketu: Acting out the upanayana     38
Indra as the persistent student     41
Narada and Sanatkumara: Knowledge of atman as more important than the Vedas     44
Naciketas and the initiation of an Upanishadic brahmin     46
The graduation of a brahmin student in the Taittiriya Upanisad     50
Satyakama and the beginnings of a brahmin hagiography     53
Conclusion     57
Debates between brahmins: The competitive dynamics of the brahmodya     59
Introduction     59
The brahmodya and the sacrifice     60
Uddalaka Aruni and the brahmodya in the Satapatha Brahmana     63
Yajnavalkya and the philosophical tournament     67
Yajnavalkya's interlocutors: The social and political implications of debate     70
Yajnavalkya and the tactics of debate     74
Losing face or losing one's head? The motif of head shattering     80
Upanishadic teachings and material wealth     88
Yajnavalkya and renunciation     92
The life story of Yajnavalkya     96
Conclusion     98
Kings and brahmins: The political dimensions of the Upanisads     101
Introduction     101
The myth of ksatriya authorship     103
Janaka and Yajnavalkya: Negotiating the brahmin's position in the court     105
Janaka and Yajnavalkya in the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad     110
Kings as teachers: Asvapati teaches a group of brahmin householders     112
Uddalaka Aruni and Svetaketu: Instructions for how to seek patronage     114
Conflicting agendas for how kings should teach brahmins     117
Upanishadic knowledge as a political discourse     119
The battle of the pranas as a political metaphor      121
Pravahana and the teaching of the five fires     124
Conclusion     129
Brahmins and women: Subjectivity and gender construction in the Upanisads     133
Introduction     133
The gender of the self: Atman and the male body     135
The self, virility, and immortality     141
Yajnavalkya and Satyakama: Competing ideals of male subjectivity     145
The myth of recovering an authentic female voice     148
Gargi: The debating tactics of a female philosopher     150
Women and gandharvas: The lack of authority for female speakers     156
The ambiguities of Satyakama's mother and wife     158
Maitreyi and Katyayani: Knowledge of atman versus striprajna     162
Conclusion     167
Conclusion     169
Notes     175
Glossary     197
Bibliography     201
Index     211