Gavin Flood is Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion at Oxford University, Academic Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, and Senior Research Fellow at Campion Hall. He is the author of several books including Religion and the Philosophy of Life.

List of Contributors x
About the Editor xii
Preface to the First Edition and Acknowledgements xiii
Preface to the Second Edition xv
Introduction: Establishing the Boundaries xvi
Gavin Flood
Part I Theoretical Issues 1
1 Colonialism and the Construction of Hinduism 3
Gauri Viswanathan
2 Orientalism and Hinduism 21
David Smith
Part II Text and Tradition 37
The Sanskrit Textual Traditions 39
3 Vedas and Upaniads 41
Michael Witzel
4 The Dharmasastras 69
Ludo Rocher
5 The Sanskrit Epics 81
John Brockington
6 The Puraas 92
Freda Matchett
7 The Bhagavad Gita: Genesis of the Text, Its Messages, and Its Impact on the Mahabharata and on Indian Religions and Philosophy 105
Mislav Je?ic
Textual Traditions in Regional Languages 129
8 Tamil Hindu Literature 131
Norman Cutler
9 The Literature of Hinduism in Malayalam 143
Rich Freeman
10 North Indian Hindi Devotional Literature 163
Nancy M. Martin
Major Historical Developments 179
11 The Saiva Traditions 181
Gavin Flood
12 History of Vaiava Traditions: An Esquisse 209
Ge¿rard Colas
13 Hinduism and the Goddess: Sakta Traditions 245
Bjarne Wernicke-Olesen
14 The Householder Tradition in Hindu Society 275
T.N. Madan
15 The Renouncer Tradition 290
Patrick Olivelle
Regional Traditions 305
16 The Teyyam Tradition of Kerala 307
Rich Freeman
17 The Month of Kartik and Women's Ritual Devotions to Krishna in Benares 323
Tracy Pintchman
18 Hindu Diasporas and Gods on the Move: Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage in Hindu Europe 338
Knut A. Jacobsen
Part III Systematic Thought 353
The Indian Sciences 355
19 Introduction 357
Frits Staal
20 The Science of Language 359
Frits Staal
21 Indian Mathematics 370
Takao Hayashi
22 Calendar, Astrology, and Astronomy 384
Michio Yano
23 The Science of Medicine 399
Dominik Wujastyk
Philosophy and Theology 415
24 The Classical Worldview: Early Foundations of Hindu Philosophy 417
Jessica Frazier
25 Hinduism and the Proper Work of Reason 448
Jonardon Ganeri
26 Restoring "Hindu Theology" as a Category in Indian Intellectual Discourse 479
Francis Clooney SJ
27 Mantra 505
André Padoux
28 Realism and Non-Realism in Indian Philosophy 517
Ionut Moise
29 Hinduism Compared 536
Reid B. Locklin
Part IV Society, Politics, and Nation 551
30 On the Relationship between Caste and Hinduism 553
Declan Quigley
31 Modernity, Reform, and Revival 565
Dermot Killingley
32 The Goddess and the Nation: Subterfuges of Antiquity, the Cunning of Modernity 580
Sumathi Ramaswamy
33 Gender in a Devotional Universe 595
Vasudha Narayanan
Index 612