The Science of Satyug

Daniel Heifetz

Description

The All World Gayatri Pariwar is a modern religious movement that enjoys wide popularity in North India, particularly among the many STEM workers who joined after becoming disillusioned with their lucrative but unfulfilling private-sector careers. Founded in the mid-twentieth century, the Gayatri Pariwar works to popularize practices inspired by ancient religious texts and breaks with convention by framing these practices as the foundation of a universal spirituality. The movement appeals to science in its advocacy of these practices, claiming that they have medical benefits that constitute proof that rational people around the world should find persuasive. Should these practices become sufficiently widespread, the belief is that humanity will enter a new satyug, or "golden age."

In The Science of Satyug, Daniel Heifetz focuses on how religion and science are objects of intense emotion that help to constitute identities. Weaving engaging ethnographic anecdotes together with readings of Gayatri Pariwar literature, Heifetz interprets this material in light of classic and contemporary theory. The result is a significant contribution to current conversations about the globalized middle classes and the entanglement of religion and science that will appeal to anyone interested in understanding these aspects of life in modern India.
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Note on Translation and Transliteration

Introduction

1. Gurudev

2. Coming to Shantikunj

3. From Gurudev to Doctor-sahib

4. Ritual-Experiments

5. Mataji and Jiji

6. Becoming All World

Conclusion: Enchanted Science

Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Hinduism

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438481722
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE SCIENCE
OF SATYUG
SUNY series in Hindu Studies

Wendy Doniger, editor
THE SCIENCE
OF SATYUG
Class, Charisma, and Vedic Revivalism in the All World Gayatri Pariwar
Daniel Heifetz
Cover image of the Havan or Homa, igniting sacrificial or ceremonial fire in copper square kunda; from www.123rf.com
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2021 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 Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Name: Heifetz, Daniel, author.
Title: The science of satyug : class, charisma, and Vedic revivalism in the All World Gayatri Pariwar / Daniel Heifetz.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2021] | Series: SUNY series in Hindu Studies, Wendy Doniger, editor. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: 9781438481715 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438481722 (ebook)
Further information is available at the Library of Congress.
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Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Note on Translation and Transliteration
Introduction
Chapter 1 Gurudev
Chapter 2 Coming to Shantikunj
Chapter 3 From Gurudev to Doctor-sahib
Chapter 4 Ritual-Experiments
Chapter 5 Mataji and Jiji
Chapter 6 Becoming All World
Conclusion: Enchanted Science
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations Figure I.1 The Yajña Laboratory, Brahmavarchas Shodh Sansthan Figure I.2 Replica of Jantar Mantar’s Samrā ṭ Yantra at DSVV Figure 3.1 Veneration of Gurudev, Shantikunj, Basant Panchami 2012 Figure 3.2 Doctor-sahib, speaking from behind a lectern at DSVV Figure 4.1 Gayatri Mata Mandir, Shantikunj Figure 4.2 Samādhi (Memorial) to Gurudev and Mataji, Shantikunj Table 4.1 Shantikunj’s daily routine Figure 6.1 Devatma Himalaya Mandir, Shantikunj Figure 6.2 DSVV’s competitive yoga team demonstration at the International Conference and Gathering of the Elders Figure 6.3 The author, inside the Yajña Pavilion, Manlius, NY (photo by Joanne Waghorne)
Preface
Like many academic books, The Science of Satyug is rooted in confusion and frustration—confusion as to why things are the way they are and frustration with the available explanations. This book resolves confusion that I felt late in my doctoral coursework, when my primary interest was global guru movements. I’d been noticing how ubiquitous appeals to scientific authority were in such movements, but I could not square these appeals with my presumption that guru movements attracted followers by offering an escape from disenchantment. This confusion was compounded by a frustration with the frequently dismissive scholarly treatment these appeals to scientific authority often received. It seemed that such a widespread cultural pattern deserved to be taken seriously. As I continued to work through these issues, I found that the field of postcolonial science and technology studies had laid substantial groundwork for understanding these issues, but I still could not see what it was about the contemporary situation that had caused such a proliferation of scientific discourse in global guru movements.
These interests were what led me to pursue research on the All World Gayatri Pariwar. I had not heard of the movement before I began searching for a suitable case to explore my interests. It quickly became clear that it was an ideal case: not only was their discourse rooted in laboratory research conducted on site, but also the movement had never seen sustained scholarly attention despite its wide popularity in North India. My suspicions were confirmed during a short preliminary visit in August 2010. This visit culminated in me seeking permission to conduct my research in the community. Commenting on a research proposal I had shared, one community leader suggested that I ought to read Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions . As this book is a foundational work in the field of science and technology studies, I was already familiar with it, but the mere fact that my contact made this suggestion confirmed my sense that there was a great deal I could learn from the Gayatri Pariwar.
Acknowledgments
I am very fortunate to have studied a community that was so enthusiastic about my project. Not only were my hosts at Shantikunj very hospitable in providing me with a home in their community during my fieldwork, but they were also kind and patient in educating me about their movement by putting me in touch with so many thoughtful community members who could answer my many questions. Chinmay, Somnath, Piyush, and Gagan played particularly crucial roles in situating me in their community and facilitating my research. I am also grateful for the time and energy that was invested in my project by my interview contacts, and the countless other community members I interacted with during my stay. My greatest hope for this book is that it does their community justice, and that they will feel as if their efforts were worthwhile.
Transforming the inchoate tangle of information I gathered from the field into a coherent piece of writing would not have been possible without significant support. As I worked toward this project’s initial form as a dissertation, the fantastic community of scholars at Syracuse University played a major role. As my dissertation advisor, Joanne Waghorne provided excellent advice on my project especially in her encouragement to think about spatial theory and the nature of the Gayatri Pariwar’s middle class. Ann Gold provided a number of helpful comments as well, sharpening my ethnographic research and writing skills and compelling me to think with greater nuance about the Gayatri Pariwar’s gendered leadership. Gareth Fisher similarly supported my project’s ethnographic components while supporting my thought with helpful points of comparison from his work on contemporary Chinese Buddhism. Gail Hamner made immense contributions to my theoretical framework through her knowledge of science and technology studies and affect theory. Many of my other colleagues at Syracuse played a major role in this project, including James Watts, Susan Wadley, Anand Dwivedi, Lawrence McCrea, Carol Babiracki, Donovan Schaefer, Wendy DeBoer, Jenny Caplan, John Borchert, Emera Bridger Wilson, Ian Wilson, Nidhi Vij, Jocelyn Kilmer, Drew Thomases, Yoshina Hurgobin, Sravani Biswas, Alisa Weinstein, Jonathan Jackson, and the rest of the religious studies, South Asian studies, and anthropology communities at Syracuse University.
A little something was missing from the dissertation, and the evolution of this project into its current form rested on the support of some of the fantastic scholars I have known since. Of particular importance was the process of adapting my work to two thematic journal issues. The first of these was Where Class Meets Religion: Examining Middle-Class Religiosity in India in the International Journal of Hindu Studies , organized by Jenn Ortegren. This piece helped solidify parts of my analysis of middle-class identity that are foundational to my argument in this book. Parts of chapter 2 are based on this article (reprinted by permission from Springer Nature: “Religion, Science, and the Middle Class in the All World Gayatri Pariwar,” International Journal of Hindu Studies 23, no. 1 (2019): 27–42). Contributing to the volume The Moralizing of Dharma in Everyday Hinduisms in Nidān: International Journal for Indian Studies organized by Antoinette DeNapoli and Tulasi Srinivas was also important for allowing me to develop my thoughts on the role of morality in relation to the larger themes of my research. Parts of chapter 4 are based on this article (reprinted with permission: “Yajña without Dharma? Ritual and Morality in the All World Gayatri Pariwar,” Nidān: International Journal for Indian Studies 1, no. 2 (2016): 14–31). Finally, parts of chapter 3 also appeared in an earlier article (republished with permission of Brill Academic Publishers: “From Gurudev to Doctor-sahib: Religion, Science, and Charisma in the All World Gayatri Pariwar,” Method Theory in the Study of Religion 30, no. 3 (2018): 252–78; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc).
In addition to these projects with colleagues at other institutions, I have been grateful for the support of my religious studies colleagues at Mercyhurst University and Bucknell University. I felt fortunate to have worked with these departments, as they engaged with me as a researcher in ways that contingent faculty so rarely experience.
My family has played an important role in this work as well. My parents, Pamela, David, and Kimberly Cheifer, have encouraged me to chase my dreams, supporting me from the very beginning of my academic career. My wife, Maria Carson, has been a presence in my life since the earliest stages of my writing process at Syracuse University. Her contributions to this project are innumerable. She has been an important intellectual interlocutor, offering me feedback and constructive criticism on the basis of her excellent grasp of theory. She has been an important emotional support, offering both sympathy and encouragement when I struggled. Finally, she has been willing to make sacrifices as we ha