Hatha Yoga, Live Burial, and Human Hibernation: How the West (Mis)Conceptualized the Samadhis of Yogi Haridas in the Nineteenth and the Early Twentieth Centuries
Haridas was an early nineteenth century Hindu hatha yogi who reportedly survived interments for months at a stretch. His incredible feats had received wide publicity in Europe and America. Through a survey of nineteenth and early twentieth century writings on Haridas’s so-called "live burials,&...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Creighton University
2024
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| In: |
The journal of religion & society
Year: 2024, Volume: 26, Pages: 43-63 |
| Further subjects: | B
Hatha Yoga
B Haridas B Human Hibernation B Live Burial B Samadhi |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Haridas was an early nineteenth century Hindu hatha yogi who reportedly survived interments for months at a stretch. His incredible feats had received wide publicity in Europe and America. Through a survey of nineteenth and early twentieth century writings on Haridas’s so-called "live burials," this paper scrutinizes how the West tried to make sense of such a peculiar ascetic practice. It emerges that Western conceptualization of this ascetic practice was informed both by colonial discourse and power relationship as well as by the prevailing anxiety about premature burials. The paper reveals that religious and cultural practices acquire new meanings when lifted out of their proper contexts. By highlighting the ways in which Haridas's samadhis were (mis)conceptualized abroad, it ventures into a hitherto uncharted territory. Of particular interest is the equation of the samadhis with human hibernation. The paper concludes by explaining why Haridas was subsequently forgotten in both India and abroad, and why he needs to be remembered in our present times. |
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| ISSN: | 1522-5658 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of religion & society
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