Greater Magadha: Studies in the Culture of Early India, Volume 0

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BRILL, 2007 - Social Science - 414 pages
Greater Magadha, roughly the eastern part of the Gangetic plain of northern India, has so far been looked upon as deeply indebted to Brahmanical culture. Religions such as Buddhism and Jainism are thought of as derived, in one way or another, from Vedic religion. This belief is defective in various respects. This book argues for the importance and independence of Greater Magadha as a cultural area until a date close to the beginning of the Common Era. In order to correct the incorrect notions, two types of questions are dealt with: questions pertaining to cultural and religious dependencies, and questions relating to chronology. As a result a modified picture arises that also has a bearing on the further development of Indian culture.
 

Contents

The separate culture of Greater Magadha
1
PART I CULTURAL FEATURES OF GREATER MAGADHA
11
PART II BRAHMANISM VISÀVIS REBIRTH AND KARMIC RETRIBUTION
73
PART III CHRONOLOGY
173
PART IV CONCLUSION
263
PART V APPENDICES
277
References
367
Index
401
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About the author (2007)

Johannes Bronkhorst, Ph.D. (1979) University of Poona, doctorate (1980) University of Leiden, is Professor of Sanskrit and Indian studies at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). He has published extensively on Indian thought in its various manifestations.