... such as Agnicayana 1975? Copyright © Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1986 1986 VOL. XLV, N O . 2 JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES FEBRUARY 1986 Wrestling Against Time: The Performance Aspects of Agni RICHARD SCHECHNER I n 1975 Frits Staal, in collaboration with Robert Gardner, filmed in Panjal, Kerala, South India...

...Frits Staal VOL. 46, No. 1 JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES FEBRUARY 1987 Communications to the Editor Professor Schechner's Passion for Goats In his review of Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar (JAS 45 [1986]2:35563), Richard Schechner writes: "There is no recognition that Agnicayana 1975...

... a benchmark for the interdisciplinary, multifaceted study of an historic religious phenomenon. Copyright © Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1986 1986 VOL. XLV, N O . 2 JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES FEBRUARY 1986 A Review Symposium: Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar, by Frits Staal Stalking...

.... Swithin's day, it will rain for forty days thereafter. 15 Agni Parāṇa , Vol. I (Dutt's trans.) V. pp. 27 – 28 . 16 Idem. 17 Mbh. Vana P. 110 . 343 . 18 It is undoubtedly a mistake in the transliteration which confuses Romapāda and Lomapāda as the name...

... the nature of this system." FRITS STAAL University of California, Berkeley A "Vedic Ritual" in Quotation Marks Frits Staal misses the point. In Agni, and in Altar ofFire (the film Robert Gardner made of the agnicayana), there is projected a romantic fantasy still all too common in the human sciences...

... principle" (tamas), his precursors from the Vedic-Brahmanical period are such deities as Varuna, Yama, Nirrti, Agni, Kala, The mother-goddess, and Kama. Visnu, the "passive and good principle" (sattva), is represented by the Vedic solar gods Savitr, Surya, Vivasvat, Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Daksa, Indra...

...). With such assumptions (i.e., conclusions) in mind, Bhattacharji organizes her book around the above "Triad" and comparative methodology. With Siva representing the lunar, "active, evil principle" (tamas), his precursors from the Vedic-Brahmanical period are such deities as Varuna, Yama, Nirrti, Agni, Kala, The mother...

... the tridoṣavāda and the mahābhūta s. Of greater concern still is the relation between agni /fire, and pitta , with agni often emphasized over pitta in older ayurvedic works. Agathe Keller analyzes “Bhāskara I's Geometrical Diagrams in the Āryabhaṭīyabhāṣya ” (p. 63). She uses intriguing clues...

..., which may reflect long-standing indigenous attitudes toward power and the use of foreign linguistic codes. Different aspects of the rapidly changing linguistic situation in Jakarta may reflect on the emerging national language and culture. ABSTRACTS A Review Symposium: Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire...

... and the atman, and Agni's cleansing action is meaning of the Vedic literature which they directly compared to the transfiguration of feel scholars have neglected in favor of philo- Jesus. In attempting to thus develop their logical analysis. theme, they have overlooked certain inconsist- In defense...

... in the contrast between the dry and the moist forests, as conflated with Agni and Soma, and with the realms of wheat and rice. Through the powers of Agni and Soma the supernatural and natural realms are assimilated into the dynamics of warmth and liquid in the human body. In the annual cycle of jungle land...

... difference between the purusas sors. The authors stress the spiritual, intuitive and the atman, and Agni's cleansing action is meaning of the Vedic literature which they directly compared to the transfiguration of feel scholars have neglected in favor of philo- Jesus. In attempting to thus develop...

... from his addiction to gambling rather than to guarantee that he will win. The celebrated story of Videgha Mathava's progress eastward across northern India with the god Agni is interpreted as "the clearing of jungle and waste by farming" (p. 40), but it seems at least equally likely that the story...

... in the problem of course lies in the lack of "close" strangest ways. The sun god Surya, a miserable translations that are really of help in unravelling little fire god called Agni, and a sulking bully of the original. a storm god named Indra make common cause Usha Saksena Nilsson's Dual Language Reader...

..., SURESH MOHAN. Peculiarities in naissance in Nepal by aero-field techniques and the Alamkara-section of the Agni-Purana. (/n: photography. Proceedings of the American Kalelkar, N . G., ed. Sushil Kumar De felicita- ...

... connected with him. Thus, on page 89 her "etincelle" is a translation for the Hindi cihgdri and "brule par le feu (du soupqon)" for agni-ddh men jalne lage. The Urdu uses wholly different metaphors: shoshah (ingot) for spark and tufdn (storm) for fire (Goshah-yi 'dfiyyat (sic) {Dehli: Idarah-yi Farogh-i...

..., or "praise of Agni." During this ritual, juice is extracted three times from Soma stalks by pressing or pounding them with stones. During the morning pressing each of five chants is followed by a Rgveda recitation, oblations of Soma, and Soma drinking by the priests. The midday pressing includes five similar...

... old and new. Johannes Hertel would argue just as passionately that the organizing principle of Vedic culture was not the class system, but was fire (Agni). If we stray away from the "orthodox" Veda of the sacrificial cults and explore passages from the Atharvaveda, we find revealed there yet another...

... of the Hindi Novel, Godaan. BY PREMCHAND. Translated by Gordon C. Roadarmel. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1968. xiv, 442 pp. Introduction, Glossary. too are transferred. The primal mistress of 17-95- Fire emerges as Agni, the cow goddess as Roadarmel's translation of Premchand's last Bull-god (Nandi...

..., and references should be given. I believe that the situation is just the opposite from what is here pictured: the Vedic gods were transcendent beings who had to be summoned in sacrifice through the intermediary Agni, while the Tamils worshipped (and still worship) immanent gods and powers of fearful aspect who...