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Hochschulschriften

Eine kleine Auswahl neuerer Hochschulschriften zu südasienkundlichen Themen:

Liu, Zhen:
Versenkung und Askese : eine neue Sanskrit-Quelle zur Buddha-Legende / vorgelegt von Zhen Liu. - München, 2008. - IV, 159 S. [Mikrofiche-Format]
Hochschulschrift: München, Univ., Diss., 2008

Beschreibung: Die Lebensbeschreibung des Buddha folgt bestimmten Formen der Hagiographie. So ist sie durch charakteristische Wendepunkte segmentiert. Einen solchen Punkt markiert die Erleuchtung, mit der die spirituelle Wirksamkeit beginnt. Ein anderer, früherer Einschnitt erfolgt, als der Prinz seinen Status aufgibt und den Palast verläßt. Damit beginnt die Phase der spirituellen Suche; hier erprobt der Buddha verschiedene Versenkungsformen und extreme Askesepraktiken. Als diese Praktiken sein Leben bedrohen, erfolgt ein weiterer Einschnitt, nämlich die Abwendung von der Askese, und damit wird die Phase der spirituellen Suche abgeschlossen. Für diesen Abschnitt liegt nun eine neue kanonische Quelle vor, in welcher der Buddha in autobiographischer Form rückblickend von seinen Versenkungs- und Askeseübungen berichtet. Die Quelle soll sprachlich und inhaltlich erschlossen, mit den Parallelüberlieferungen verglichen und in ihrem spezifischen Beitrag zur Konstruktion der Hagiographie des Buddha untersucht werden.

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Barth, Norbert Victor:
India Book House und die Comic-Serie Amar Chitra Katha (1970-2002) : eine kulturwissenschaftliche Medienanalyse / vorgelegt von Norbert Victor Barth. - Würzburg, [2007]. - II, 275 S., [35] Bl. : Ill. [Elektronische Ressource]
Hochschulschrift: Würzburg, Univ., Diss., 2007

Beschreibung: Die Dissertation India Book House und die Comic-Serie Amar Chitra Katha (1970-2002) ist eine interdisziplinär angelegte Studie. Sie vermittelt Erkenntnisse über einen vernachlässigten Bereich der Mediengeschichte Indiens. Im ersten Teil wird das Modell "Kreislauf der Kultur" auf das Medienprodukt Amar Chitra Katha angewandt. Dabei werden fünf Prozesse berücksichtigt: Repräsentation, Produktion, Identität, Konsum und Regulierung. Im zweiten Teil werden ausgewählte ACK-Ausgaben aus den Kategorien Mythologie und Geschichte formal-inhaltlich analysiert und verglichen. Die jeweiligen Unterschiede in der Bearbeitungsform der ACK-Ausgaben werden auf die Erkenntnisse des ersten Teils bezogen. Dadurch konnten die arbeitsbedingten und verlagspolitischen Motive der Transformationen der ACK-Serie belegt werden.

URL: http://www.opus-bayern.de/uni-wuerzburg/volltexte/2008/2789/; http://d-nb.info/989452212/34 (Archivserver der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek); Katalogeintrag der DNB: http://d-nb.info/989452212

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Hsiao, Mei:
A study of Yogācāric influence on tathāgatagarbha doctrine as found in "Laṅkāvatārasūtra" / by Mei Hsiao. - Ph.D. thesis. - Calgary, Alberta, 2008. - 174 S.
Hochschulschrift: Calgary, University of Calgary (Canada), Diss., 2008
ISBN 9780494380208
UMI Publication Number: AAT NR38020

Beschreibung: Through a close examination on three Sanskrit compounds - i.e., tathāgatanairātmyagarbha, tathāgatagarbhālayavijñāna and pariniṣpannasvabhāvas tathāgatagarbhahṛdayam - in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, this thesis will demonstrate how the tathāgatagarbha thought in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra is significantly enriched by Yogācāric influence.
   First, in regard to tathāgata-nairātmya-garbha, a doctrinal review of the term "nairātmya" is necessary, because its definition differs according to different traditions. In primitive Buddhism, the term "nairātmya" is a synonym of the term "anātman" (non-existence of a substantial self), which indicates that in the realm of suffering and the impermanence of life phenomena that arise according to the principle of co-dependent origination/pratītyasamutpāda, no eternal and dependent ātman can be found. According to the Madhyamaka School, the term "nairātmya" is a synonym of the term "niḥsvabhāva" (no intrinsic-nature) which implies that all beings, whether conditioned or unconditioned, are all devoid of an ever-abiding intrinsic nature. For the Yogācāra School, the reality of nairātmya is said to be grasped under the principle of mind-only. That is to say, the imagined self/kalpitātman that is the presentation of mind is unreal, while the indescribable self/anabhilāpyātman that is the genuine mind itself is real. Finally, it can be said that the tathāgata-nairātmya-garbha in Laṅkāvatārasūtra accords well with the Yogācāra teaching. In other words, it is the Yogācāric sense of nairātmya that sheds an influence upon the tathāgatagarbha doctrine.
   Secondly, in regard to tathāgatagarbhālayavijñāna, a doctrinal development is promoted owing to the identification of tathāgatagarbha with ālayavijñāna, which according to the Yogācāra School is also named "sarvabījavijñāna" (cognition as the seed of everything). This latter synonym references its function of bringing forth all beings just as a giant tree originates from a seed. As a result of its identification with the ālayavijñāna, the tathāgatagarbha is said to be endowed with the function of bringing forth all forms of existence and thus becomes the "producing cause" of all. This interpretation is not seen in earlier scriptures wherein the tathāgatagarbha is described simply as a static substance supporting all beings.
   Thirdly, in regard to pariniṣpannasvabhāvastathāgatagarbhahṛdayam, the implication of the tathāgatagarbha was expanded substantially by declaring that pariniṣpannasvabhāva" is the very essence of tathāgatagarbha. The term "pariniṣpannasvabhāva" according to some important Yogācāra texts is defined as tathatā (ultimate realm of suchness). The combining of pariniṣpannasvabhāva with tathāgatagarbha that had formerly focused on the subjective potential of realizing wisdom, shifts the doctrinal emphasis toward the objective realm of realized perfection.
   This thesis reveals that, having assimilated the Yogācāric doctrine of dharmanairātmya, ālayavijñāna and pariniṣpannasvabhāva, the tathāgatagarbha thinking in Laṅkāvatārasūtra presents the comprehensive and distinctive features in comparison to the scriptures that preceded it.
   This thesis reveals that, having assimilated the Yogācāric doctrine of dharmanairātmya, ālayavijñāna and pariniṣpannasvabhava, the tathāgatagarbha thinking in Laṅkāvatārasūtra presents the comprehensive and distinctive features in comparison to the scriptures that preceded it.

URL: UMI/ProQuest

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James Andrew McHugh:
Sandalwood and carrion : Smell in South Asian culture and religion / by James Andrew McHugh. - Cambridge, Mass., 2008. - 441 S.
Hochschulschrift: Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard University, Diss., 2008
UMI Publication Number: AAT 3312456
ISBN 9780549617693

Beschreibung: Sandalwood and Carrion: Smell in South Asian Culture and Religion is an examination of the sense of smell and the use of aromatics in early and medieval South Asia. This study considers the discourses and practices associated with the sense of smell as presented in Sanskrit texts of many genres. Drawing on the study of material culture, French cultural historiography, and Sanskrit philology, the dissertation both documents the culture of smell in South Asia and also considers the discursive features of texts dealing with smell. Sandalwood and Carrion is the first study of the prominent material and literary culture of smell in South Asian culture, and it is also an important contribution to the study of the material culture of religion in a non-western civilization. Additionally, the study contemplates the possibility of a hermeneutics of perfumes.
   For the elite of medieval South Asia, luxury was a necessity, and the use of precious aromatics was indispensable in the rituals that attended both the divine and the royal. Through patronage, perfumers and others became highly skilled in the creation of ingenious perfumes and incense, and South Asians were also actively involved in trading these aromatics both internally and externally. In exploring the history of smell in South Asia, the study examines a number of major discourses concerning smell. Philosophers debated the fundamental nature of odors, and odor occupies a prominent place in many genres of literature, such as courtly poetry, epics, Buddhist narratives, and Hindu ritual texts. Not only did scholars describe the world of smells, but we also possess texts documenting the ways in which South Asians manipulated the world of odors through the creation of perfumes.
   Smell in early and medieval South Asia was considered the most consistently affective sense. The complex manipulation of this powerful sense in both texts and practices created an unsurpassed and cosmopolitan olfactory culture that played a vital role in both secular and religious life.

URL: UMI/Proquest.

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