Böcker av Jonathan Dickstein

This is not a theological treatise. I do not deliberate the question of divinity northe persuasiveness of varying conceptions of God. Rather this thesis probes the historyand function of a word-¿¿vara-that carries serious theological implications in IndianPhilosophy.1 The persistent tendency to distort or shroud the meaning of this word is theprecise target of my critique. Although the subject matter may seem narrow in scope,revolving around a single word, several overarching issues concerning textualinterpretation and the popular reception of religious texts are directly implicated.Patañjali's Yogas¿tra (YS) forms the textual basis for what is commonly called"Classical Yoga Philosophy". This first millennia text repeatedly employs the word"¿¿vara" to refer to some divine entity, the nature of which has stirred heated debate inboth traditional and modern commentaries. In contrast to the wealth of moderninterpretations that minimize both the nature and function of this ¿¿vara in Classical Yoga,I argue that the "God" of the YS sustains the same grandeur as found in staunchly theistictexts such as the Bhagavad G¿t¿. In short, "God" means "Supreme God" for Patañjali,regardless of the damage it inflicts on the scholarly wish for a robust and rational'philosophy' of Classical Yoga. This conclusion derives not from a personal affection fortheism and/or devotionalism, but rather a comprehensive archaeology of the term with afocus on textual depiction and historical context.