The Knowledge of Human Marks in Jain Medieval Narratives
Apart from exegetical texts and short edifying stories, Jain monks wrote several literary narratives in Sanskrit, Prakrit, or Apabhraṃśa, between the 8th and 12th centuries. While they aimed at creating works as sophisticated as Hindu kāvyas in their style and plot, they also included technical pass...
| Published in: | Indo-Iranian journal |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
[2019]
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| In: |
Indo-Iranian journal
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Jainism
/ Religious literature
/ Novel
/ Human being
/ Physiognomy
/ Knowledge
/ History 700-1100
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| IxTheo Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BK Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism |
| Further subjects: | B
Medieval India
B human marks B Physiognomy B Jain novels |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Apart from exegetical texts and short edifying stories, Jain monks wrote several literary narratives in Sanskrit, Prakrit, or Apabhraṃśa, between the 8th and 12th centuries. While they aimed at creating works as sophisticated as Hindu kāvyas in their style and plot, they also included technical passages borrowed from various knowledge systems. One of them is the science of physiognomy, which deals with human marks and their interpretation. In the past decade, K. Zysk has studied this knowledge in various Hindu and Buddhist sources and proposed several hypotheses as regards the development of the science of physiognomy in India. Since passages included in the long Jain medieval narratives have not been taken into account so far, this paper aims at exploring to what extent these sources can throw further light on the gradual establishment of this knowledge system and on its channels of transmission in India. |
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| ISSN: | 1572-8536 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Indo-Iranian journal
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15728536-06201002 |