Authority and Meaning in Indian Religions

Download or read book Authority and Meaning in Indian Religions written by Julia Leslie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title was first published in 2003. For Hindus and non-Hindus, in India and beyond, Valmiki is the poet-saint who composed the epic Ramayana. Yet for a vocal community of Dalits (ex-untouchables), Valmiki is God. How does one explain the popular story that Valmiki started out as an ignorant and violent bandit, attacking and killing travellers for material gain? And what happens when these two accounts, Valmiki as God and Valmiki as villain, are held simultaneously by two different religious groups, both contemporary, and both vocal?