TL;DRAbstract
The central role played by ascetic ideals and life styles in the religious traditions of India is so taken as axiomatic by scholars and practitioners alike that the point bears little repetition. There is, however, another equally important strand of Indian religious history that is older than asceticism and without reference to which asceticism cannot be properly understood. I am referring to the society-centered religion of the Vedas and of the later dharma tradition. This paper examines the conflict between asceticism and the established societal religion and the symbolic universe of classical Hinduism that emerged from their interaction.
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The central role played by ascetic ideals and life styles in the religious traditions of India is so taken as axiomatic by scholars and practitioners alike that the point bears little repetition. There is, however, another equally important strand of Indian religious history that is older than asceticism and without reference to which asceticism cannot be properly understood. I am referring to the society-centered religion of the Vedas and of the later dharma tradition. This paper examines the conflict between asceticism and the established societal religion and the symbolic universe of classical Hinduism that emerged from their interaction.
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