{"product_id":"re-figuring-the-ramayana-as-theology-ajay-k-rao-9780415687515","title":"Re-Figuring the Ramayana as Theology: A History of Reception in Premodern India","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Rāmāyana of Vālmīki is considered by many contemporary Hindus to be a foundational religious text. But this understanding is in part the result of a transformation of the epic's receptive history, a hermeneutic project which challenged one characterization of the genre of the text, as a work of literary culture, and replaced it with another, as a work of remembered tradition. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book examines Rāmāyana commentaries, poetic retellings, and praise-poems produced by intellectuals within the Śrīvaisnava order of South India from 1250 to 1600 and shows how these intellectuals reconceptualized Rāma's story through the lens of their devotional metaphysics. Śrīvaisnavas applied innovative interpretive techniques to the Rāmāyana, including allegorical reading, \u003ci\u003eślesa \u003c\/i\u003ereading (reading a verse as a \u003ci\u003edouble entendre\u003c\/i\u003e), and the application of vernacular performance techniques such as word play, improvisation, repetition, and novel forms of citation. The book is of interest not only to Rāmāyana specialists but also to those engaged with Indian intellectual history, literary studies, and the history of religions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ajay K. Rao\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0415687519\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780415687515\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Routledge\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/31\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 156\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.83lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.41h x 6.74w x 0.52d","brand":"Ajay K. Rao","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48086644785407,"sku":"9780415687515","price":200.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d01f1b53-4bd7-45ea-9545-9f35b53aa1a2.jpg?v=1769095784","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/re-figuring-the-ramayana-as-theology-ajay-k-rao-9780415687515","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}