This is a study of the Bengali Kartabhaja sect and its place in the broader movement of Tantrism, an Indian religious movement employing purposely shocking sexual language and rituals. Urban looks closely at the relationship between the rise of the Kartabhajas, who flourished at the turn of the 19th century, and the changing economic context of colonial Bengal. Made up of the poor lower classes laboring in the marketplaces and factories of Calcutta, the Kartabhajas represent "the underworld of the imperial city." Urban shows that their esoteric poetry and songs are in fact saturated with the language of the marketplace and the bazaar, which becomes for them the key metaphor used to communicate secret knowledge and mystical teachings.
The Economics of Ecstasy
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Editorial Reviews
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"Urban's two volumes offer a magisterial overview and theoretically sophisticated interpretation of a group that is notoriously difficult to approach, either linguistically or in terms of context." --Journal of the American Oriental Society
"A refreshing blend of archival and field research, history of religions, postmodernism, and postcolonial studies."-- The Journal of Religion
About the Author
Hugh B. Urban is at Ohio State University. Wendy Doniger is at University of Chicago.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In the final chapter of the great sixteenth-century hagiography of Sri Caitanya, the Caitanya-caritamrta, there is one particularly enigmatic little verse, which Advaita Acarya sends as a coded message to his master, Caitanya. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mint sayings, mercantile terminology, alternative social hierarchy, jeweled altar, secret marketplace, exoteric society, stinking fruit, mercantile imagery, alternative social space, cryptic songs, esoteric hierarchy, esoteric discourse, exoteric world, poorer lower classes, root mantra, deviant sects, socialized body, frog dance, obscure religious cults, spiritual commodities, secret discourse, mercantile office, poor company, sexual rituals, poor lower classes Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Hidden City, Language of the Mint, Good-Mannered Company, Sri Caitanya, Sudhir Cakravarti, Black Town, Ghoshpara Meld, Good Mannered Company, Religion of Truth, East Bengal, Gaudiya Vaisnava, Mad Company, Ranajit Guha, William Ward, Battle of Plassey, Bhñver Gita, Bhwer Gita, Company's Fort, Ghoshpara Mehl, Hon'ble Company, Indigo Rebellion, James Scott, Jesus Christ, Rabindranath Tagore, Rammohun Roy New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In the final chapter of the great sixteenth-century hagiography of Sri Caitanya, the Caitanya-caritamrta, there is one particularly enigmatic little verse, which Advaita Acarya sends as a coded message to his master, Caitanya. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mint sayings, mercantile terminology, alternative social hierarchy, jeweled altar, secret marketplace, exoteric society, stinking fruit, mercantile imagery, alternative social space, cryptic songs, esoteric hierarchy, esoteric discourse, exoteric world, poorer lower classes, root mantra, deviant sects, socialized body, frog dance, obscure religious cults, spiritual commodities, secret discourse, mercantile office, poor company, sexual rituals, poor lower classes Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Hidden City, Language of the Mint, Good-Mannered Company, Sri Caitanya, Sudhir Cakravarti, Black Town, Ghoshpara Meld, Good Mannered Company, Religion of Truth, East Bengal, Gaudiya Vaisnava, Mad Company, Ranajit Guha, William Ward, Battle of Plassey, Bhñver Gita, Bhwer Gita, Company's Fort, Ghoshpara Mehl, Hon'ble Company, Indigo Rebellion, James Scott, Jesus Christ, Rabindranath Tagore, Rammohun Roy New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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4
books
cite this book:
- Subaltern Studies: Writings on South Asian History and Society, Vol. 6 by Ranajit Guha on 7 pages
- Hindu Castes and Sects by Jogendra N. Bhattacharya on 7 pages
- Religions of India in Practice by Donald S. Lopez Jr. on 4 pages
- Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest by Anne McClintock on 4 pages
- Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain by Stuart Hall on 4 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
- Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal by June McDaniel in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Converting Women: Gender and Protestant Christianity in Colonial South India by Eliza F. Kent in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Identity and the Politics of Scholarship in the Study of Religion by Jose Cabezon on page 207
- Identity and the Politics of Scholarship in the Study of Religion by Jose Cabezon on page 207
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