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## Preface This book treats Hinduism from the perspective of Indology and religious studies. But, since the religion of nearly 700 million people and roughly three thousand years of history can hardly be compressed into a few hundred pages, it should be said immediately what readers may and may not expect: My view is oriented toward a Hinduism that is traditional but still practiced, not toward a modernized, Western-influenced Hinduism. I look at the village and only minimally at the city. Literature, art, mythology, or philosophy are treated only peripherally; parallels to Buddhism and Jainism are disregarded. I would like to offer an analysis of the socioreligious aspects of Hindu society, but not of Indian society. Therefore, expectations of salvation are accorded more attention than illiteracy rates or political parties. Despite these constraints, I try to grasp "the whole" of Hinduism in its difference and uniqueness. Such an aspiration can be no more than an attempt: One individual cannot cope with the diversity of Hinduism and the magnitude of India. Recent publications in Indology and anthropology seem to put an end to antiquated customs in representations of Hinduism. I sh

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published

2004