Horstmann, Monika, Der Zusammenhalt der Welt. Religiose Herrschafislegitimation und Religionspolitik Maharaja Savai Jaisinghs (1700-1743).
Malinar, Angelika
Horstmann, Monika, Der Zusammenhalt der Welt. Religiose
Herrschafislegitimation und Religionspolitik Maharaja Savai Jaisinghs
(1700-1743). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2009; xiv, 399 pp; bibliography,
maps, illustrations, index. ISBN: 978-3-447-05840-7.
In the last decades, religious politics and theological disputes in
North Indian Hindu kingdoms in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
and the role of religious communities in that much fragmented political
landscape have increasingly attracted scholarly interest. This resulted
in important and even foundational studies in this rather neglected
phase of the history of Indian and especially Hindu religions. Most
prominent are perhaps Catherine Clementin-Ohja's book on the
conflicts between Saiva and Vaisnava communities (Le trident sur le
palace; 1999) and her subsequent studies of disputes between Vaisnava
groups competing for royal patronage; William Pinch's two books on
Peasant and Monks in British India (1999) and on Warrior Ascetics (2005)
as well as Monika Horstmann's monograph on the history of the deity
Govinddevji's migration from Vrindavan to the capital of the
Kachvaha dynasty and King Savai Jaisingh (In Favour of Govinddevji;
1999). The focus on the different religious communities enhances our
historical understanding of this epoch by unfolding the theological
concerns of religious experts who were connected to the ruling dynasty.
The present book is a further highly welcome contribution in this
field of study as well as to a number of publications dealing with
issues of "religious legitimation" of (royal) power in
different historical and regional contexts in India. The first six
chapters of Horstmann's book deal with "religious
politics" and theological disputes; a long seventh chapter contains
the edition and complete German translation of two theological treatises
and three theological statements. The book begins with an outline of the
historical background of the Kachvaha dynasty and the self-perception of
King Savai Jaisingh. This is followed by an introduction into the
religious issues that were dealt with in the theological treatises
composed at the request of the king. The author then turns to an
analysis of the political motives that incited Jaisingh's
engagement in religious matters. Partly emulating the successful
self-representation of the famous Maratha king Sivaji as the new ideal
Hindu king who would bring about a "Hindu renaissance" at the
end of an "age of darkness", Jaisingh not only endorsed Vedic
rituals, but also the propagation of a "Vedic Visnuism". The
peculiar constellation at the court of Jaisingh led to the production of
theological treatises expressing the interest in a revitalized Vedic
ritual tradition with a strong emphasis on obeying the rules of dharma
(correct behaviour; social and ritual duties) detailed in the
Brahmanical law-books. This is explored by tracing the biography and
religious orientation of important religious figures and by embedding
them in a larger framework of intra- and intercommunal disputes. The
tensions between the different branches of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas are the
topic of the third chapter of the book, which draws in most parts on the
studies of De, Cakrabarty, and Haberman and offers as pointed out by the
author "nothing new for experts in Gaudiya theology" (p. 59,
n. 39). Yet, these well known disputes gain additional significance when
put in the context of court politics as done by Horstmann. This
constellation gains shape in the figure of Krsnadeva Bhattacarya, a
Gaudiya Vaisnava theologian, who received an endowment from the king and
played an important role in a dispute between different fractions from
1718 onwards. In the course of this conflict, Krsnadeva Bhattacarya
authored three theological treatises, one of which, Karmavivrti, is
edited and translated in the seventh chapter. This text establishes a
doctrinal framework to be followed by all Gaudiya Vaisnavas.
Jaisingh's engagement with the Vaisnava order was not limited
to settling theological disputes, he also intended to revitalize the
Vedic foundation of his kingship. In so doing, he ordered that ritual
practices peculiar to the Vaisnava communities had to be in accordance
with the ritual prescriptions ordained in Vedic and Dharmasastra texts.
The Vedic tradition was represented by a small groups of Brahmins still
practising Vedic srauta rituals and by what is, rather cryptically,
referred to as "milieu smarta" Brahmins (what kind of
"milieu" is meant?), who observe the worship of a group of
five deities (pancayatana). Their notions gained a normative status as
Vaisnava ritual practices based on the authoritative scriptures of the
individual sampradayas had now to be mediated with Vedic rituals in
order to turn them into practices of "Vedic Vaisnavas". An
example of how this was brought about is the case when the observance of
ekadasi, the Vaisnava fasting day par excellence, coincides with the
performance of the Vedic ancestral rite of sraddha which demands a
ritual meal. Therefore an "ordo for the Vaisnavas", thus the
title of chapter four, had to be created which was done at the order of
the king by his court theologian Harekrsna Misra, a Brahmin from
Karnataka (spelled variously Hari- or Harekrsna; deciding on one
spelling as done in the index would have been helpful in the main text
as well). He authored a ritual manual called Vaidikavaisnavacara which
is edited and translated in chapter seven.
King Jaisingh's attempts not only to decide on certain
theological issues, but also to define what a Vaisnava is supposed to be
are interpreted as being part of a larger project of a "Vedic
renaissance". This is testified in the performance of at least two
Vedic "horse sacrifices" (asvamedha) that are applauded by
panegyrics and discussed in chapter 5. Whether the ritual actually
included the killing of a horse remains unclear and the opinion of the
author is inconclusive at this point (p. 181) reflecting the uncertainty
of the available sources. It would have been worthwhile to contextualize
in greater detail the author's view that Jaisingh and the
Maharashtrian Brahmins at his court intended to surpass Sivaji's
coronation as the Hindu king. Such contextualization should include a
comparison of the Vedic model of restoration with forms of legitimation
based on the bhakti model of the legitimacy as formulated, for instance,
in the Bhagavadgita. Here, the king functions as representative of the
highest god or goddess and is at the same time a bhakta. Such
comparisons could shed further light at the connection between
Jaisingh's horse sacrifice(s) and the worship of Kalkin, the last
and future embodiment (avatara) of the god Visnu. The Kalki cult and its
relationship to the cult of Varadaraja is briefly discussed at the
end of chapter five. This corroborates the importance of this other
field of Jaisingh's religious politics that connects him not only
again with Sivaji and his cult of the (royal) goddess Bhavani, but also
to neighbouring kings in Rajasthan and Gujarat. An inclusion of this
connection between bhakti and the role of an avatara would have further
substantiated the arguments put forward by Horstmann, especially with
regard to that aspect of Jaisingh's policy which is considered to
be the central concern of his kingship and gives the book its title:
"Der Zusammenhalt der Welt" (coherence of the world). This is
a translation of Skt. lokasamgraha, a compound used in Bhagavadgita 3.20
in order to postulate the necessity of performing one's ritual and
social duties. In this connection the king is turned into the model of
this type of action. When the concept is made the subject of a short,
concluding sixth chapter, the use of this idea in the texts discussed
is, unfortunately, not commented upon. An explanation of the place of
this concept in the Bhagavadgita and its exposition of the role of the
king in a theology mediating Vedic rituals, ascetic ideas of liberation
and the new doctrine of bhakti would have helped understanding why this
expression is regarded as being the essence of Jaisingh's political
programme.
The final chapter (title "Textanhang") offers an edition
and German translation of two of the theological treatises studied
before, Karmavivrti and Vaidikavaisnavacara, as well as the edition of
three statements made by members of the Gaudiya Sampradaya in the course
of the theological dispute discussed in chapter three. The Karmavivrti
is preceded by a summary of content which is very helpful for a first
orientation (a similar introduction would have been highly welcome for
the Vaidikavaisnavacara as well). Both texts largely consist of
quotations from other texts, which are traced meticulously by the
author. The translation is excellent with only few renderings inviting
reconsideration, for instance, yogaksema (BhG 9.22) rendered
"Stabilitat ihres Yogas" in this connection rather means
"acquisition and sustenance" (see also the use of niryogaksema
in BhG 2.45 as something one should strive for). Therefore the
expression should be rendered with "I bring goods" (pointing
to the royal function of the god; see also Arthasastra 1.5.1) which also
suits the context of the citation in the Karmavivrti that deals with the
healing, worldly power of Bhagavan (god). The translation of
tatastha-bhakti with "liminale bhakti" calls for explanation
for those who are not experts in the theological classifications of the
Pancaratra traditions dealt with here (this applies also to the
"liminaler Korper" at p. 127). Some instances of odd German in
the main text should be corrected in a future edition of the book, for
instance on p. 133 when Brahmins are said to "beobachten" in
their daily practice the rituals for the five deities (see also p.143
about recommending "die Beobachtung" of Sivaratri; other
instances p. 204, 205 etc.).
The monograph is a great achievement and will prove indispensable
for all studying this epoch, topics related to the religious
legitimation of power as well as the history of Vaisnava orders. The
author does not only offer new textual sources perfectly edited and
translated, but also gives important insights in the complexity of
discourses and constellations of making religious politics in an age of
religious pluralism. At the very end of the study, Monika Horstmann
points out that another study is called for that explores the views of
those not directly participating in the religious discourse initiated by
the Savai Jaisingh. Only then it would be possible to draw a complete
picture of the whole situation. While this seems too much of an
understatement at the end of this intriguing in-depth study, it can only
be hoped that this call for another volume is answered by Monika
Horstmann in the near future.
Angelika Malinar
Department of Indology, University of Zurich
