bki Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 169 (2013) 68-103 brill.com/bki Modern Hindu Intellectuals and Ancient Texts: Reforming Śaiva Yoga in Bali Andrea Acri* Visiting Research Fellow, Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, ISEAS
[email protected] Abstract This article aims at providing a fresh perspective on the modern, reformed version of ‘Balinese Hinduism’ that came to the fore on the island since the early 20th century. It describes certain important elements of doctrinal continuity and change in the light of the pre-colonial Śaiva religious discourse, on the basis of textual and historical data that have so far been neglected. It attempts to show that the Javano-Balinese theological tradition is characterized by a remarkable continuity, especially when it comes to its exegetical and text-building practices, but also by important elements of changes. To investigate the nature of such changes—in particular the treatment of Yoga in selected textual sources—and the historical and cultural dynamics behind them is the main concern of this article. Keywords Shaivism, Balinese Hinduism, Agama Hindu, Old Javanese, Sanskrit, Yoga * Note on spelling: This article maintains, side-by-side, the diffferent spelling conventions used to transliterate Old Javanese, Sanskrit, modern Balinese and Bahasa Indonesia. Old Javanese/Sanskrit words found in the works by modern authors have not been standardized and retain their original spelling, even when faulty or inconsistent (I have, however, adapted them to the reformed version of Indonesian spelling for the sake of clarity). Old Javanese/ Sanskrit words found in other contexts have been standardized to the spelling conventions used by Zoetmulder (1982) in his Old Javanese-English Dictionary, with the exception that v renders the Sanskrit semivowel v (instead of w), and that ṅ renders the Sanskrit velar nasal (instead of ŋ), as well as the anusvāra or cĕcak.