Customer Reviews

Cooking the World: Ritual and Thought in Ancient India (French Studies in South Asian Culture and Society)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Malmoud has done a brilliant analysis of Hindu rituals based on an an indepth indological reading of sanskrit texts that discuss vedic rituals, and are still performed by Brahmin in India. As Malamoud discusses and illustrates, sacrifice is the ultimate ritual and that gives meaning to all activities in Hindu India. It is what establishes a relation between the divine, social and the natural world. It is the mechanism that founds and situates the socio-cosmic order. Based on several examples such s the marriage and death rites Malmoud argues that rituals are an epistemological statement in action. The idea of debt or rin s it is called in India is the central notion. This idea of paying back to the world: natural and social and divine forms the conceptual model of all exchange relations and social life in village India. In Malmouds, analysis it is not the spoken word, the mantra which is critical ut the performance of rituals which ensures the continuoty oof the social order.

Hence, Malmoud convincingly argues sacrifice is the model for all actions. Everyday life is a constant movement towards attaining this ritualideal.