Release from Life - Release in Life

This volume consists of a collection of studies which are based on papers presented at the symposium “Erloest leben – oder sterben, um befreit zu werden?” (Zurich, May 2008), organized in honour of Peter Schreiner. It offers a selective overview of individual liberation as dealt with in Indian texts and rituals at different times. Starting from the two prominent approaches to this problem, namely, that of jivanmukti (‘liberation in one’s lifetime’) and that of videhamukti (‘liberation beyond the body’), some important questions have to be considered: How has life been thought compatible with moksa? How have ‘life’ in the concept of the ‘liberated living’ and ‘death’ in the concept of the ‘disembodied liberated’ been conceived by philosophers, poets, religious thinkers, ritual practitioners and social activists? Coming from various disciplinary backgrounds – Indology, Religious Studies, Social Anthropology – the contributors explore these questions in the context of their particular fields of research. Through this multi-faceted approach, the volume presents an original and substantial analysis of an intriguing topic touching on many aspects of religious and secular life. The careful interpretation of the sources by a group of internationally renowned scholars leads to critical perspectives on some crucial developments in the history of Indian religion.

Author Biography

Andreas Bigger (PhD) is a librarian at the University Library of Basel. Rita Krajnc is a doctoral student at the URPP Asia and Europe at the University of Zurich and reader in Hindi at the Department of Indology. She is writing a dissertation on the contemporary Hindi author Mrdula Garg and her novels. Annemarie Mertens (PhD) is a research assistant and reader in Sanskrit, other Indian languages and classical Indian studies at the Department of Indology at the University of Zurich. Her research focuses on Sanskrit Puranas and the correlation of group identities and religious conflicts in Indian society. Markus Schupbach is a doctoral student at the Department of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (Indology) at the University of Zurich. His research focuses on the Sanskrit epics and the history of philosophical concepts. Heinz Werner Wessler (PhD) is senior lecturer of Indology at the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies at the University of Bonn. His fields of research cover Purana studies, modern religion and politics in South Asia and Hindi literature.