Churning Selves: Intersecting Biographies in the Nīlakaṇṭhavijaya

Talia Ariav, Naresh Keerthi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Sanskrit campū Nīlakaṇṭhavijaya is arguably the most popular literary work of Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita. It narrates the mythical story of the churning of the Ocean of Milk, with an emphasis on the part played by Dīkṣita’s personal god—Śiva. A close reading reveals that this text is preoc-cupied with themes of agency and subjectivity. The multiple characters of the story are not conventional archetypes. Rather, they inhabit shared worlds and come across as having distinct yet intersecting identities. Gods, demons, snakes and even Venom are given very human biographies and social milieux. And all these biographies flow into that of the titular Nīlakaṇṭha, presenting an implicit model of the self. But who is the Nīlakaṇṭha of the title?.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)29-60
Number of pages32
JournalCracow Indological Studies
Volume24
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 18 Aug 2022
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Ksiegarnia Akademicka Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • early modern South India
  • Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita
  • Sanskrit kāvya
  • self
  • sharedness

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