The Other Rāma

Brian Collins

Description

The Other Rāma presents a systematic analysis of the myth cycle of Paraśurāma ("Rāma with the Axe"), an avatára of Viṣṇu best known for decapitating his own mother and annihilating twenty-one generations of the Kṣatriya warrior caste in an extermination campaign frequently referred to as "genocide" by modern scholars. Compared to Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, the other human forms of Viṣṇu, Paraśurāma has a much darker reputation, with few temples devoted to him and scant worshippers. He has also attracted far less scholarly attention. But dozens of important castes and clans across the subcontinent claim Paraśurāma as the originator of their bloodline, and his mother, Reṇukā, is worshipped in the form of a severed head throughout South India.

Using the tools of comparative mythology and psychoanalysis, Brian Collins identifies three major motifs in the mythology of Paraśurāma: his hybrid status as a Brahmin warrior, his act of matricide, and his bloody one-man war to cleanse the earth of Kṣatriyas. Collins considers a wide variety of representations of the myth, from its origins in the Mahābhārata to contemporary debates online. He also examines Paraśurāma alongside the Wandering Jew of European legend and Psycho's matricidal serial killer Norman Bates. He examines why mythmakers once elevated this transgressive and antisocial figure to the level of an avatāra and why he still holds such fascination for a world that continues to grapple with mass killings and violence against women.
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Acknowledgments

Preface: The Other Rāma

Introduction: God with an Axe

1. The Brahmin Warrior: Paraśurāma in Extremis

2. Matricide I: The Broken Pot

3. Matricide II: The Severed Head

4. Varṇicide I: The Extermination of the Kṣatriyas and Its Aftermath

5. Varṇicide II: Blood and Soil in Malabar and Maharashtra

Conclusion: Introducing Paraśurāma

Notes
Works Cited
Index

Sujets

• India
• Hinduism
• Comparative religion

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781438480404
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Other Rāma
SUNY series in Hindu Studies

Wendy Doniger, editor
The Other Rāma
Matricide and Genocide in the Mythology of Paraśurāma
BRIAN COLLINS
Cover image: Indian axe (18th–19th century) from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection (public domain).
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2020 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Collins, Brian, author.
Title: The other rāma : matricide and genocide in the mythology of paraśurāma / Brian Collins, author.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2020] | Series: SUNY series in Hindu Studies | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: ISBN 9781438480398 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438480404 (ebook)
Further information is available at the Library of Congress.
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Contents
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Preface: The Other Rāma
Introduction: God with an Axe
Chapter 1 The Brahmin Warrior: Paraśurāma in Extremis
Chapter 2 Matricide I: The Broken Pot
Chapter 3 Matricide II: The Severed Head
Chapter 4 Var ṇ icide I: The Extermination of the K ṣ atriyas and Its Aftermath
Chapter 5 Var ṇ icide II: Blood and Soil in Malabar and Maharashtra
Conclusion: Introducing Paraśurāma
Notes
Works Cited
Index
List of Figures
Figure I.1 Pā ṇḍ avas and Nis ṣ ādas Ranked with Implicit Reference to a Hierarchy of Values
Figure 1.1 The Descents of Paraśurāma and Viśvāmitra
Figure 1.2 Comparison of the P ṛ thu and Paraśurāma Myths
Figure 2.1 Comparison of the Matricide Myth, the Vedic Sacrifice, and the Tamil Exorcism
Figure 3.1 A Painted Plaster Sculpture Showing Jamadagni Ordering Paraśurāma to Decapitate Re ṇ ukā
Figure 3.2 The Contextual Layers of the Brahmā ṇḍ a Purā ṇ a Recitation at the Bhadradipāprati ṣṭ ā
Figure 3.3 Comparison of the Ga ṇ eśa, Paraśurāma, and Gan ̣ eśa-Paraśurāma Stories
Figure 3.4 Comparison of the Ahalyā, Re ṇ ukā, and Cirakāri Stories
Figure 3.5 Structural Comparison of Re ṇ ukā Myths and Rituals in South India
Figure 3.6 The Triangle of the Dead Mother Complex and the Triangle of the Re ṇ ukā Myth
Figure C.1 The Inversion and Reestablishment of the Analogic Key
Figure C.2 A Synchronic Representation of the Paraśurāma Myth
Figure C.3 The Four Cycles within the Paraśurāma Myth
Figure C.4 The Four Cycles Interpreted with the Analogic Key
Figure C.5 The Brahmin Warrior Motif
Figure C.6 The Matricide Motif
Figure C.7 The Var ṇ icide Motif
Figure C.8 The Libidinal Triangles Representing the Two Murders in Psycho
Figure C.9 The Libidinal Triangles Representing Paraśurāma’s Matricide and Cattle Theft
Abbreviations AV Atharva Veda B ḍ P Brahmā ṇḍ a Purā ṇ a BhP Bhāgavata Purā ṇ a BVP Brahmavaivarta Purā ṇ a HV Hariva ṃ śa KaP Kalki Purā ṇ a KG K ṛṣ i Gītā MBh Mahābhārata MSRM Mukapi ṭ havāsi ṇ ī Śrī Re ṇ ukā Mahātmya PP Padma Purā ṇ a Rām Rāmaya ṇ a Ṛ V Ṛ g Veda ŚB Śatapatha Brāhma ṇ a SkP Skandha Purā ṇ a TS Taittirīya Sa ṃ hitā VāP Vāyu Purā ṇ a VDhP Vi ṣṇ udharmottara Purā ṇ a ViP Vi ṣṇ u Purā ṇ a
Acknowledgments
My thanks in providing invaluable assistance for this project go first to my University of Chicago Divinity School dissertation advisor Wendy Doniger, whose advice, encouragement, and mentoring have extended long past the expiration date and whose student I will always be. I am also extremely grateful to David Dean Shulman, now retired from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Alf Hiltebeitel, now retired from George Washington University, the latter of whom assigned me the editorship of the Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism ’s entry on “Rāma Jāmadagnya/Paraśurāma” when I was looking for academic work just after finishing my PhD and was also kind enough to read and comment on this manuscript in 2019. Both Alf and David served as readers of my dissertation and graciously extended to me some of their invaluable insights into and knowledge of the Mahābhārata and its traditions.
My ba ḍ a bhai in Paraśurāma studies, Pradeep Kant Chowdhary, formerly of Delhi University, has been doubly helpful, first for publishing his wonderful Rāma with the Axe: Myth and Cult of Paraśurāma in the same year in which my dissertation came out and then for being so generous with hospitality and feedback during my two visits to see him in New Delhi. Likewise, another great Paraśurāma scholar, Nicolas Dejenne of the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, was kind enough to share with me his work on modern interpretations of the Paraśurāma story and its contemporary political significance.
Swagata Pandit did an amazing job turning around a rush translation of some Marā ṭ hī texts, and Anne Feldhaus of Arizona State University gently dispelled some of my ignorance on matters of the worship of the Goddess in Maharashtra. I am also thankful to Patrick Olivelle from the University of Texas at Austin for his provocative and compelling arguments on the status of var ṇ a in the time leading up to the epic’s composition. Gratitude is also owed to Adheesh Sathaye of the University of British Columbia, Borayin Larios of the University of Vienna, and James Mallinson of the School of Oriental and African Studies for each assisting me in various ways, as well as Keralan filmmaker Jayan Cherian, my former SUNY editor Chris Ahn, my subsequent SUNY editor James Peltz, and the two anonymous reviewers who took such great care in reading, commenting upon, and immeasurably improving the manuscript in 2018.
From the Gopikabai Sitaram Gawande College in Umarkhed, Maharashtra, Someshwar Vadrabade, Vitthal Kadam, Yadaorao Raut, and Sakshi Jamde assisted me in getting to the Shri Renuka Devi Mandir in Mahur and showed me boundless kindness and generosity. With her deep and broad knowledge of the rituals surrounding Māriyamma n , Perundevi Srinivasan of Siena College helped me to rethink and clarify some of the ideas in chapter three. G. H. Visweswara shared with me his labor of love, the Mahābhārata Spectroscope , which was a great help in navigating the Southern recension of the epic. Madhavi Kolhatkar, retired from Deccan College, thoughtfully shared with me a paper of hers on Paraśurāma during a visit to Athens in the summer of 2015.
I am immensely grateful to Marcello De Martino and Claudia Santi for inviting me to present portions of this work at the second Comparative Mythology Today Conference, “ Nomen Numen : Expressions of the Sacred between History of Religions, Linguistics, and Archeology,” held on April 15, 2019, at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli,” in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy.
My graduate students Emily McPherson and Glynnis “Gabby” Gunnett have my sincere appreciation for performing various acts of drudgery in service of this project in the 2017–18 school year. From the Department of Classics and World Religions at Ohio University, I wish to thank my past and present colleagues Cory Crawford, Loren Lybarger, Myrna Pérez Sheldon, William Owens, James Andrews, Ruth Palmer, Neville McFerrin, Neil Bernstein, Fred Drogula, Tom Carpenter, Lynne Lancaster, Steve Hays, Elizabeth Collins, and Jaclyn Maxwell for helping to provide the supportive working environment that was necessary to bring this book to fruition.
Additionally, I am eternally grateful to the Gawande family: Sushila, Meeta, Atul, and the late Sitaram, who made this book possible. Sushila and Meeta should receive special thanks, Sushila for being unfailingly supportive of me and my family since I took the Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande Chair in Indian Religion and Philosophy in 2013 and Meeta for seeing the wisdom of writing a provision for research funds into the endowment in this time of austerity for the humanities. This book is for them, as well. Finally, I thank my family for their love and support, especially my wife Jennifer and our daughter Arwyn (may she never bear an axe!).
Brian Collins Athens, Ohio
Preface
The Other Rāma
Leveling accusations against a god requires some delicacy. This is true even of the three rabbis with chutzpah enough to give the Deity his day in cour