Yoga, Bhoga and Ardhanariswara (2^nd Ed.) Individuality, Wellbeing and Gender in Tantra

This book offers a social?scientific interpretation of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions of Tantra dating back 15 centuries. It is a self-reflexive study approached with an insider?s empathy and the perspective of an Indologist, anthropologist, mystic and practitioner of the cult.

The work includes a discussion of non-modern Indic themes: mandala as a trope and its manifestations in South Asian regions such as Nepal; yoga and Indic individuality; the concept of bhoga; disciplined wellbeing; gender; and Indic axiology. Using personal praxis to inform his research, the author examines three core themes within Tantra ? a ?holonic?/mandalic individuality that conduces to mystical experience; a positive valorisation of pleasure and play; and cultural attitudes of gender-mutuality and complementarity, as neatly encapsulated in the icon of Shiva as Ardhanariswara. This analysis, as captured by the Tantric mandalas of deities in intimate union, leads to his compelling metathesis that Tantra serves as a permanent counterculture within the Indic civilization.

This second edition, with a new Afterword, will greatly interest those in anthropology, South Asian studies, religious studies, gender studies, psychology and philosophy, as also the general reader.

Preface. Foreword by Jeffrey J. Kripal. 1. Introduction: Three Non-modern Indic Themes 2. The Kathmandu Valley: The Mandala as Indic Trope 3. Yoga and Indic Individuality 4.Bhoga and Disciplined Eudaemonism 5. Ardhanariswara and Indic Gender 6. Tantra as Counter-culture: The Core Axiology of Indic Culture. Afterword to the Second Edition: The Aesthetics of Tantra and the Re-enchantment of the World. Bibliography. Index

Prem Saran is a former member of the Indian Administrative Service (1978–2012) and served in Assam. In 1981 he was initiated into a traditional Tantric cult that his mentor, the Austrian-American scholar Agehananda Bharati, was also initiated into. He has researched Hindu and Buddhist Tantric traditions of South Asia at the Universities of Pennsylvania and of California at Santa Barbara. His MA thesis at the University of Pennsylvania resulted in the well-received monograph, Tantra: Hedonism in Indian Culture (1994). This book is based on his doctoral fieldwork in the traditional Indic ambience of the Kathmandu Valley towns.