Loving Stones: Making the Impossible Possible in the Worship of Mount Govardhan

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David L. Haberman (Professor of Religious Studies, Professor of Religious Studies, Indiana University)

Loving Stones

Making the Impossible Possible in the Worship of Mount Govardhan

David L. Haberman (Professor of Religious Studies, Professor of Religious Studies, Indiana University)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
05 June 2020

Comparative religion; Hindu worship, rites & ceremonies; Hindu life & practice; Social & cultural anthropology

Loving Stones is a study of devotees' conceptions of and worshipful interactions with Mount Govardhan, a sacred mountain located in the Braj region of north-central India that has for centuries been considered an embodied form of Krishna. It is often said that worship of Mount Govardhan ""makes the impossible possible."" In this book, David L. Haberman examines the perplexing paradox of an infinite god embodied in finite form, wherein each particular form is non-different from the unlimited. He takes on the task of interpreting the worship of a mountain and its stones for a culture in which this practice is quite alien. This challenge involves exploring the interpretive strategies that may explain what seems un-understandable, and calls for theoretical considerations of incongruity, inconceivability, and other realms of the impossible. This aspect of the book includes critical consideration of the place and history of the pejorative concept of idolatry (and its twin, anthropomorphism) in the comparative study of religions. Loving Stones uses the worship of Mount Govardhan as a site to explore ways in which scholars engaged in the difficult work of representing other cultures struggle to make ""the impossible possible.""

By: David L. Haberman (Professor of Religious Studies Professor of Religious Studies Indiana University)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 231mm, Width: 155mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 544g
ISBN: 9780190086725
ISBN 10: 0190086726
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 05 June 2020
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgements Note on Translation and Transliteration Map of Mount Govardhan Introduction- Seduced by a Mountain Chapter 1- On the Slopes of Mount Govardhan: Lay of the Land Chapter 2- Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Challenges of Difference Chapter 3- A God of Stone: Divine Conceptions Chapter 4- Honoring the King of Mountains: Embodied Worship Chapter 5- A Tale of Two Mountains: Idolatry Applied Chapter 6- Drawing Personality Out of a Stone: Techniques of Intimacy Chapter 7- Non-Duality, Play, and an Invitation Appendix Glossary Bibliography Index

David L. Haberman is Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University. He has a broad interest in all religions, but specializes in the Hindu traditions of northern India. Much of his work has centered on the culture of Braj, a pilgrimage site long associated with Krishna. His present research interests track the relationship between religion, ecology and nature, with a focus on Hindu conceptions of and interaction with nonhuman entities.

Reviews for Loving Stones: Making the Impossible Possible in the Worship of Mount Govardhan

Haberman's book is a pleasure to read: his prose is alive with curiosity and wonder. Loving Stones is also accessibly written, and either the entire work or individual chapters could be suitable for undergraduate and graduate teaching. The book can be recommended not only to scholars of Hinduism but to all scholars with interests in religion and environment, as well as to anyone who has never spoken to a stone but who wishes to experience a radically different way of seeing the world. * Michael S Allen, Journal for the study of Religion, Nature and Culture * ... the book as a whole, is very well suited for use as an undergraduate textbook in the method and theory of the study of religion. * John E. Cort, Denison University *