Unworthy Recipients and the Mercy of God

This article examines the ideology of gift in the Sant hagiographies (paracaī) of Anantadās (16th/17th century). It is assumed that understanding author’s implicit view of gift giving (dāna) is fundamental to unraveling the meaning of certain episodes of the paracaīs. These involve curious cases su...

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Main Author: Jarosław Zapart
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ksiegarnia Akademicka Publishing 2023-12-01
Series:Cracow Indological Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.akademicka.pl/cis/article/view/5592
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author Jarosław Zapart
author_facet Jarosław Zapart
author_sort Jarosław Zapart
collection DOAJ
description This article examines the ideology of gift in the Sant hagiographies (paracaī) of Anantadās (16th/17th century). It is assumed that understanding author’s implicit view of gift giving (dāna) is fundamental to unraveling the meaning of certain episodes of the paracaīs. These involve curious cases such as that of Kabīr abandoning his dāna-related duties or those of various Sants, for example, Pīpā, offering gifts to the brahmins (who are, nevertheless, depicted mainly as enemies of the bhakts). The approach of Anantadās to dāna seems to differ significantly from the ideas expounded by the medieval Brahmanic, Buddhist, and Jain sources as it transcends the notion of the gift as being motivated by the socioreligious status of the recipient. It also proves the existence of a certain God-bhakt reciprocity. As such, dāna works on a soteriological level, as a devotional act aimed at creating a relationship with Hari, and on a proselytic level as a tool for expanding the religious community.
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spelling doaj.art-c1599c6230d34d29b9500ddad99276bb2024-03-01T15:16:28ZengKsiegarnia Akademicka PublishingCracow Indological Studies1732-09172449-86962023-12-0125210.12797/CIS.25.2023.02.07Unworthy Recipients and the Mercy of GodJarosław Zapart0Jagiellonian University, Poland This article examines the ideology of gift in the Sant hagiographies (paracaī) of Anantadās (16th/17th century). It is assumed that understanding author’s implicit view of gift giving (dāna) is fundamental to unraveling the meaning of certain episodes of the paracaīs. These involve curious cases such as that of Kabīr abandoning his dāna-related duties or those of various Sants, for example, Pīpā, offering gifts to the brahmins (who are, nevertheless, depicted mainly as enemies of the bhakts). The approach of Anantadās to dāna seems to differ significantly from the ideas expounded by the medieval Brahmanic, Buddhist, and Jain sources as it transcends the notion of the gift as being motivated by the socioreligious status of the recipient. It also proves the existence of a certain God-bhakt reciprocity. As such, dāna works on a soteriological level, as a devotional act aimed at creating a relationship with Hari, and on a proselytic level as a tool for expanding the religious community. https://journals.akademicka.pl/cis/article/view/5592SanthagiographygiftKabīrAnantadāsdāna
spellingShingle Jarosław Zapart
Unworthy Recipients and the Mercy of God
Cracow Indological Studies
Sant
hagiography
gift
Kabīr
Anantadās
dāna
title Unworthy Recipients and the Mercy of God
title_full Unworthy Recipients and the Mercy of God
title_fullStr Unworthy Recipients and the Mercy of God
title_full_unstemmed Unworthy Recipients and the Mercy of God
title_short Unworthy Recipients and the Mercy of God
title_sort unworthy recipients and the mercy of god
topic Sant
hagiography
gift
Kabīr
Anantadās
dāna
url https://journals.akademicka.pl/cis/article/view/5592
work_keys_str_mv AT jarosławzapart unworthyrecipientsandthemercyofgod