Animals in Vedic prose
<p>This thesis examines a well-known axiom of ancient Indian thought: the human being is classified as one of the five domestic animals, paśu. Although this notion is well-known, often mentioned in secondary literature, it has not yet received a comprehensive, scholarly treatment. Drawing on t...
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| Ձևաչափ: | Թեզիս |
| Լեզու: | English |
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2022
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| _version_ | 1826312020033536000 |
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| author | Sojkova, B |
| author2 | Minkowski, C |
| author_facet | Minkowski, C Sojkova, B |
| author_sort | Sojkova, B |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>This thesis examines a well-known axiom of ancient Indian thought: the human being is classified as one of the five domestic animals, paśu. Although this notion is well-known, often mentioned in secondary literature, it has not yet received a comprehensive, scholarly treatment. Drawing on the detailed philological and textual-historical study of the Vedic poetry and prose, this thesis explores the classification of the human as a domestic animal, as well as the categories of “animality” and “humanity” more broadly.</p>
<p>The thesis is composed of three core chapters. The first discusses the semantic history of the three most common Vedic animal terms: paśu, mṛga, and the antonymic dyad, grāmya and āraṇya paśu. As well as introducing the terms in a broad context, it argues that their evolution documents the transition of Vedic lifestyle from semi-nomadic pastoralism to agricultural sedentism.</p>
<p>Building on this, the second and third chapters explore the position of the human being within the paśu group. The second chapter discusses similarities and differences between the human and the rest of the group, in terms of both body and behaviour. The Vedic corpus suggests, however, that in the mythical past, people and domestic animals used to look and behave alike: just like people, domestic animals walked on two-feet, exercised agency, and sacrificed. I argue that this common history indicates that the species of paśus are mutually “related”. There is a sense of what I call “ontological proximity”: an entangled existence driven by a shared history and mutual care. The third chapter further investigates the notion of “ontological proximity” by way of detailed reading of two mythical narratives from the Vedic Brāhmaṇas, arguing that this idea is clearly present and used creatively in Vedic animal imagery.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:21:25Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:4634343e-5b5a-441b-9b20-e857133f4430 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:21:25Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:4634343e-5b5a-441b-9b20-e857133f44302024-02-01T08:44:30ZAnimals in Vedic proseThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:4634343e-5b5a-441b-9b20-e857133f4430India--Study and teachingHuman-animal relationships in literatureVeda (The Sanskrit word)EnglishHyrax Deposit2022Sojkova, BMinkowski, C<p>This thesis examines a well-known axiom of ancient Indian thought: the human being is classified as one of the five domestic animals, paśu. Although this notion is well-known, often mentioned in secondary literature, it has not yet received a comprehensive, scholarly treatment. Drawing on the detailed philological and textual-historical study of the Vedic poetry and prose, this thesis explores the classification of the human as a domestic animal, as well as the categories of “animality” and “humanity” more broadly.</p> <p>The thesis is composed of three core chapters. The first discusses the semantic history of the three most common Vedic animal terms: paśu, mṛga, and the antonymic dyad, grāmya and āraṇya paśu. As well as introducing the terms in a broad context, it argues that their evolution documents the transition of Vedic lifestyle from semi-nomadic pastoralism to agricultural sedentism.</p> <p>Building on this, the second and third chapters explore the position of the human being within the paśu group. The second chapter discusses similarities and differences between the human and the rest of the group, in terms of both body and behaviour. The Vedic corpus suggests, however, that in the mythical past, people and domestic animals used to look and behave alike: just like people, domestic animals walked on two-feet, exercised agency, and sacrificed. I argue that this common history indicates that the species of paśus are mutually “related”. There is a sense of what I call “ontological proximity”: an entangled existence driven by a shared history and mutual care. The third chapter further investigates the notion of “ontological proximity” by way of detailed reading of two mythical narratives from the Vedic Brāhmaṇas, arguing that this idea is clearly present and used creatively in Vedic animal imagery.</p> |
| spellingShingle | India--Study and teaching Human-animal relationships in literature Veda (The Sanskrit word) Sojkova, B Animals in Vedic prose |
| title | Animals in Vedic prose |
| title_full | Animals in Vedic prose |
| title_fullStr | Animals in Vedic prose |
| title_full_unstemmed | Animals in Vedic prose |
| title_short | Animals in Vedic prose |
| title_sort | animals in vedic prose |
| topic | India--Study and teaching Human-animal relationships in literature Veda (The Sanskrit word) |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sojkovab animalsinvedicprose |