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Original Articles

Who is the ideal karmayogin?

The meaning of a Hindu religious symbol

Pages 41-59 | Published online: 23 Feb 2011

NOTES

  • Kopf , D. 1979 . The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind Princeton See the excellent studies by
  • Jones , K.W. 1976 . Arya Dharm: Hindu Consciousness in 19th Century Punjab Berkeley
  • Sprockhoff , J.F. 1976 . Samnyasa. Quellenstudien zur Askese im Hinduismus Wiesbaden See especially the critical analysis of sources undertaken by
  • Subramaniam , V. 1978 . Karmayoga (work-ethic) as a Westernized Middle Class Interpretation of the Bhagavadgita . 9th World Congress of Sociology . August 14–19 1978 , Uppsala. This interpretation was put forward in a paper given by
  • Lambert , H.M. , ed. 1967 . Jnaneshvari 2 vols , London Subramaniam also points out that among the traditional commentaries on the Bhagavad-Gita only one includes a partly activist interpretation of karma in the sense of social duties, and that is the Jnaneshvari (XIIIth century) from Maharashtra. This text deserves much closer examination; see
  • Sharpe , E.J. 1976 . Indian Nationalism and Hindu Universalism . Temenos , 12 : 37 – 49 . See
  • 1955–62 . The Complete Works of Vivekananda (hereafter abbreviated CW) , Mayavati Memorial Edition 8 vols , Calcutta see CW, I, p. 116.
  • Swami , Abhedananda . 1967 . Complete Works (CW) 10 vols , Calcutta see CW, III,p. 76f.
  • 1896 . Addresses on the Vedanta Philosophy by the Hindu Yogi Swami Vivekananda 3 vols , London See The first volume is entitled Karma Yoga and the quotation is found on p. 8. This early work was later incorporated into CW, I but not without considerable changes in the text. The second volume of the 1896 edition was entitled Bhakti Yoga or Realization of the Divine through Love (now in CW, IV). The third volume was The Ideal of a Universal Religion and includes several, but not all lectures reprinted under this title in CW, II.
  • 1917 . A Study in Karma , 2nd edition Vivekananda, Karmayoga, p. 41. Whilst Western influences shaped Vivekananda's new understanding of karma, it must also be mentioned that the Theosophical Society made extensive use of an activist reinterpretation of karma, both in India and the West. Annie Besant maintains that the idea of karma first became known in the West through theosophical writings; see her works
  • 1930 . Karma Once More Madras
  • Subha Rao , G. 1969 . Indian Words in English 25 Oxford This claim to the historical priority in the diffusion of the karma concept is supported by the analysis of linguistic usage found in
  • King , U. 1978 . Indian Spirituality, Western Materialism: An Image and its Function in the Reinterpretation of Modern Hinduism . Social Action , 28 : 62 – 85 . For a detailed discussion of this dichotomy and its meaning see
  • Hacker , P. 1961 . Schopenhauer und die Ethik des Hinduismus . Saeculum , 12 : 366 – 399 . The reinterpretation of ethics on the basis of Vedanta monism is discussed in great detail by
  • Radhakrishnan , S. 1913–1914 . The Ethics of Vedanta . International Journal of Ethics , 24 : 168 – 183 . For two different approaches to this subject from an Indian point of view see
  • Raju , P. T. 1952 . “ ‘The Inward Absolute and the Activism of the Finite Self’ ” . In Contemporary Indian Philosophy Edited by: Radhakrishnan , S. and Muirhead , J. H. London
  • King , U. 1977 . True and Perfect Religion: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Reinterpretation of Hinduism . Religion , 7 : 268 – 272 . Bankim's concept of God and his understanding of Krishna are dealt with in more detail in
  • Kramrisch , S. 1933 . Indian Sculpture 197 London See
  • Zimmer , H. 1955 . The Art of Indian Asia New York and plate XLVII. The figure of Krishna is of great iconographic importance in the avatar series but no major reference work on Indian art seems to include a representation of Krishna as a teacher or as charioteer at Kurukshetra, based on the text of the Bhagavad-Gita. See
  • Rao , T. A. Gopinath . 1971 . Elements of Hindu iconography , (new edition) 2 vols , New Delhi
  • Liebert , G. 1976 . Iconographic Dictionary of the Indian Religions ‐ Hinduism , Leiden : Buddhism, Jainism .
  • 1972 . Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library 30 vols , Pondicherry (hereafter CL), See, Extracts from the Karmayogin are found in CL, II and III, pp. 343–409. A facsimile of the title page of the review is found at the beginning of Vol. II (no page number)
  • 1929 . The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Vol. XLI , Ahmedabad See, 1970
  • Gandhi , M.K. , ed. 1958 . “ The Message of the Gita ” . In Hindu Dharma Ahmedabad also the essay
  • Bharati , A. 1970 . “ Gandhi's Interpretation of the Gita — An Anthropological Analysis ” . In Gandhi, India and the World Edited by: Ray , S. Philadelphia See
  • Bharati , A. 1971 . “ Hinduism and Modernization ” . In Religion and Change in Contemporary Asia Edited by: Spencer , R.F. Minnesota
  • Johnston , W. 1978 . The Inner Eye of Love — Mysticism and Religion 26 London
  • Stephenson , G. 1972 . Ansätze zum geschichtlichen Denken im Reformwerk Swami Vivekanandas (1863–1902) . Saeculum , 23 : 90 – 108 . A detailed examination of Vivekananda's understanding of history is found in
  • Organ , T. W. 1970 . “ ‘Karma as Marga’ ” . In The Hindu Quest for the Perfection of Man Ohio This tension is well brought out in, especially in ch . VIII,
  • Hacker , P. 1958 . Der Dharma-Begriff des Neuhinduismus . Zeitschrift für Missions- und Religionswissenschaft , 42 : 1 – 15 . See
  • Derrett , J. D. M . 1968 . Religion Law and the State in India London
  • O'Flaherty , W. D. and Derrett , J. D. M. 1978 . The Concept of Duty in South Asia Delhi discusses the tension which exists between the traditional understanding of dharma and the modern concept of law and its application to contemporary society. Many aspects of the understanding of dharma are examined in the symposium edited by
  • Sharpe , E. J. 1975 . “ ‘Avatara and Sakti : Traditional Symbols in the Hindu Renaissance’ ” . In New Religions Edited by: Bizais , H. 55 – 69 . Stockholm For other aspects which have influenced the reinterpretation of Hinduism see
  • Larson , G.J. 1975 . The Bhagavad-Gita as Cross-Cultural Process: Toward an Analysis of the Social Locations of a Religious Text . Journal of the American Academy of Religion , XLIII : 651 – 669 . The cross-cultural influences which have shaped the modern interpretation of the Bhagavad-Gita are examined in detail in the stimulating article by

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