Latest / New Books in Indian Religions
Jarrod Whitaker, "Strong Arms and Drinking Strength: Masculinity, Violence, and the Body in Ancient India" (Oxford UP, 2011)
Today I talked to Jarrod Whitaker about his book Strong Arms and Drinking Strength: Masculinity, Violence, and the Body in Ancient India (Oxford UP, 2011).
The Rgveda contains over a thousand hymns, addressed primarily to three gods: the deified ritual Fire, Agni; the war god, Indra; and Soma, who is none other than the personification of the sacred beverage soma. The hymns were sung in day-long fire rituals in which poet-priests prepared the sacred drink to empower Indra. The dominant image of Indra is that of a highly glamorized, violent, and powerful Aryan male; the three gods represent…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.