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Poetry and Prayer: Stotras in the Religious and Literary History of Kashmir

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Poetry and Prayer: Stotras in the Religious and Literary History of Kashmir Poetry and Prayer: Stotras in the Religious and Literary History of Kashmir Hamsa Stainton Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Hamsa Stainton All rights reserved ABSTRACT Poetry and Prayer: Stotras in the Religious and Literary History of Kashmir Hamsa Stainton This dissertation investigates the close connection between poetry and prayer in South Asia by studying the history of Sanskrit hymns of praise (stotras) in Kashmir. It offers a broad introduction to the history and general features of the stotra genre, and it charts the course of these literary hymns in Kashmir from the ninth century to the present. Historically, Kashmir was one of the most dynamic and influential centers of Sanskrit learning and literary production in South Asia. This dissertation focuses on a number of innovative texts from this region, such as Kṣemarāja’s eleventh-century commentaries and Sāhib Kaul’s seventeenth-century hymns, which have received little scholarly attention. In particular, it offers the first study in any European language of the Stutikusumāñjali, a major work of religious literature dedicated to the god Śiva and one of the only extant witnesses to the trajectory of Sanskrit literary culture in fourteenth-century Kashmir. This dissertation also contributes to the study of Śaivism by examining the ways that Śaiva poets have integrated the traditions of Sanskrit literature (kāvya) and poetics (alaṅkāraśāstra), theology (especially non-dualism), and Śaiva worship and devotion. It argues for the diverse configurations of Śaiva bhakti expressed and explored in these literary hymns and the challenges they present for standard interpretations of Hindu bhakti. More broadly, this study of stotras from Kashmir offers new perspectives on the history and vitality of prayer in South Asia and its complex relationships to poetry and poetics. Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE 1 Introduction: Poetry, Prayer, Stotras, and Kashmir • Poetry and Prayer 1 • What is a Stotra? 13 • On the History of Stotras 25 • Stotra Scholarship 51 • Stotras and Kashmir 58 • Dissertation Outline 74 CHAPTER TWO 81 Literary Hymns from Kashmir: An Overview • The Ninth-century Hymns of Ratnākara and Ānandavardhana 85 • The Sāmbapañcāśikā, Stavacintāmaṇi, and Śivastotrāvalī 99 • Stotras in the Krama Tradition 103 • The Stotras of Abhinavagupta 117 • Kṣemarāja’s Bhairavānukaraṇastotra 129 • Stotras in Kashmir after the Twelfth Century 134 • The Stotra Literature of Sāhib Kaul 138 • A Few Observations on the Period after Sāhib Kaul 153 • Conclusion 159 CHAPTER THREE 161 Poetry and the Hermeneutics of Non-dualism: Stotras and the Eleventh-century Exegesis of Kṣemarāja • The Poetry and Theology of the Stavacintāmaṇi of Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa 165 • The Stavacintāmaṇivivṛti of Kṣemarāja 178 • Rethinking the Śivastotrāvalī of Utpaladeva 188 • The Śivastotrāvalīvivṛti of Kṣemarāja 205 • The Sāmbapañcāśikā, a Hymn to the Sun-god 210 • The Sāmbapañcāśikāṭīkā of Kṣemarāja 221 • Conclusion 229 CHAPTER FOUR 232 The Language of Men in the World of the Gods: The Poetry and Poetics of the Stutikusumāñjali • Why the Stutikusumāñjali? 233 • Title and Organization of the Stutikusumāñjali 235 • The Language of Men 241 • Poetry and Patronage 244 • Stotra and Kāvya: The Poetry of the Stutikusumāñjali 250 • Citrakāvya in the Stutikusumāñjali 262 i • Rasa, Dhvani, and the Poetics of the Stutikusumāñjali 270 • The Courtship of Śiva and Sarasvatī 275 • The Stutikusumāñjali’s Human Audience 282 • The Stutikusumāñjali’s Divine Audiences 287 • Creative Consolidation: The Stutikusumāñjali and the “Death of Sanskrit” 289 • Conclusion 293 CHAPTER FIVE 298 Bhakti, Śaivism, and the Language of Prayer in the Stutikusumāñjali • The Śaivism of the Stutikusumāñjali 299 • Bhakti in the Stutikusumāñjali 313 • The Language of Prayer 327 • Praise as Prayer 328 • Dimensions of Prayer: 335 Homage, Blessings, and the Invocation of Auspiciousness • Petitionary Prayer 344 • Additional Types of Prayer 351 • Conclusion 353 • Postscript: The Legacy of the Stutikusumāñjali 356 CHAPTER SIX 360 Conclusion BIBLIOGRAPHY 371 ii Acknowledgements For me, this opportunity to acknowledge the many, many individuals who have supported, challenged and inspired me as I worked on this project serves as a kind of academic stotra, my own prose hymn of praise and thanksgiving. It is truly a pleasure to offer my gratitude in this small way. My advisors and the members of my dissertation committee have been exceptional. I have learned a tremendous amount from them as teachers, mentors, and thoughtful, caring human beings. Whatever faults remain in this work, there are far fewer because of their thorough feedback. Sheldon Pollock served as the chair of my committee, and his constant support has been invaluable. Shelly has challenged me to think broadly and read deeply, and I am profoundly grateful for his guidance. John S. Hawley has been tireless in his mentorship, and I cannot think of an interaction with him that was not illuminating and uplifting in some way. I had the opportunity to be Jack’s graduate teaching assistant on several occasions, and I learned more from that teaching experience than any class I ever took. Rachel McDermott has supported my development as a teacher and a scholar every step of the way. I can only hope to bring the same care, insight, and enthusiasm to my own teaching and scholarship. Shelly, Jack, and Rachel read various versions of this dissertation, plus numerous applications for grants, jobs, and so on, with the patience and attention of only the best of advisors. I know how rare such support can be, and I can only offer my thanks, again and again, for all that they continue to do. My deep appreciation also goes to Elizabeth Castelli, who served on my committee and offered valuable guidance even though my research does not overlap with her own primary interests. I already miss the many iii stimulating conversations I had with her and our colleagues in New York. Finally, my thanks go to Yigal Bronner, who joined my committee near the end. He generously shared his time and expertise, despite geographic and institutional distance. In addition to my committee, I owe special thanks to Somadeva Vasudeva. For several years I studied a wide variety of Sanskrit texts with him at Columbia, including many that I discuss in this dissertation. I am grateful for the time, energy, and stunning range of knowledge, in addition to the countless resources for pursuing my studies, that he shared with me. Many other senior scholars have supported me over the years, either formally or informally. In particular, I thank Gudrun Bühnemann, Daniel Gold, Dominic Goodall, Jane Marie Law, William Mahony, Lawrence McCrea, Anne Monius, and Parimal Patil. Jürgen Hanneder generously shared some of his unpublished work on Sāhib Kaul and Ratnakaṇṭha with me, and both David Smith and Mark Dyczkowski shared e-texts of the Stutikusumāñjali. My thanks go to all the faculty in the Religion Departments at Columbia and Barnard. In addition, I’m grateful to my new colleagues at the University of Kansas for their support and understanding in the final phase of this project. I have benefitted from countless conversations and collaborations with other scholars and graduate students who have fostered the spirit of intellectual excitement and camaraderie that has made this journey so enjoyable. These include: Carla Bellamy, Liane Carlson, Victor D’Avella, Alberta Ferrario, Elaine Fisher, James Hare, Chris Marrewa Karwoski, Jon Keune, Joel Lee, Sajida Jalalzai, Kali Handelman, Katy Hardy, Katherine Kasdorf, Simone Barretta McCarter, Isaac Murchie, Luther Obrock, Jay Ramesh, Jason iv Schwartz, Simran Jeet Singh, Travis Smith, Alexandra Wenta, and Tyler Williams. Many colleagues read or heard parts of my dissertation, shared e-texts and other resources, and dispensed invaluable advice as I navigated the waters of graduate school. I owe special thanks to Emilia Bachrach, Todd Berzon, Joel Bordeaux, Patton Burchett, Udi Halperin, Mark McLaughlin, John Nemec, Andrew Nicholson, Andrew Ollett, Sarah Pierce Taylor, Drew Thomases, Audrey Truschke, Anand Venkatkrishnan, Christopher Wallis, and Ben Williams. I am thankful for the many institutions and programs that have supported me over the years. Long ago as an undergraduate my first research was financially supported by Cornell University, and The Cornell Tradition sponsored a summer internship with the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute in Maharashtra. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison I received a year-long Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship for Hindi. The Religion Department at Columbia University sponsored an important summer research trip to India that laid the groundwork for this dissertation. Like many scholars studying India, my research would not have been possible without the support of the American Institute of Indian Studies. In the summer of 2005 I studied Sanskrit in Pune on the AIIS program, which greatly benefitted my language skills. I am particularly grateful to Madhura Godbole and Meenal Kulkarni. From August 2010 to June 2011 I lived in India conducting research for this dissertation on an AIIS Junior Research Fellowship. In addition to supporting my research, this fellowship helped me make rewarding connections with many scholars and institutions in India. I offer my gratitude to everyone in the AIIS community, and especially to Purnima Mehta, Purushottama
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