Krishna 840:357:01 Spring 2014 Tues, periods 2-3 (10:55pm-1:55pm) Heldrich Science Building Room 204 Instructor: Edwin Bryant. Tel: x 23289. E-mail:
Course Description and Objectives: An encounter with the Krishna tradition as expressed in the classical Sanskrit text, the Bhagavata Purana. The course will primarily consist of an in depth reading of the first 10 books of this Purana. Secondary readings will give students some sense of the varied contexts within which the text is experienced in Krishna bhakti.
Course Prerequisites: None.
Course Requirement: Class attendance and participation, 10% of the final grade (10 or more absences constitutes a Fail grade); 3 quizzes (20% of the final grade each); a final paper, due the last day of class (30% of the final grade.
Please note: there are no make-ups for missed exams except in the case of an absence caused by an unexpected emergency and evidenced by a doctor's or dean's note. In the event of such a documented emergency, the instructor must be informed of the impending absence immediately (i.e. on the day of the quiz), and the make-up must be taken on the day after the quiz. There are no exceptions to these conditions.
Required Reading: (available at the Book Store): Bryant, Edwin Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God London: Penguin Classics, 2003 Gupta and Valpey, eds. The Bhagavata Purana New York: Columbia university Press, 2013. st Tue Jan 21 Focus: General introduction to the course. Readings: Handout.
Tue Jan 28th Focus: Krishna in Vraj Readings: Bryant, Book X, Intro (1-lxxxi) & chapters 1-21 (pps 1-103) Gupta and Valpey, chapter 6, Sacred Geography.
Tue Feb 4th Focus: Krishna in Vraj, Mathura and post-Vraj. Readings: : Bryant, Book X, chapters 22-59 (pps 103-257) Gupta and Valpey, chapter 7, The Rasa Lila OF Krishna and the Gopis.
Tue Feb 11th Focus: Krishna’s adult life. Readings: : Bryant, Book X, chapters 60-90 & Book XI, chapters 1, 6, 29-31 (pps 258-419) Gupta and Valpey, chapter 10, Two Braj Bhasa Versions of the Rasa Lila Pancadhyaya. Tue Feb 18th Quiz I. Focus: Readings: Bhagavata Purana, Book 1 Gupta and Valpey, chapter 2, Time and Narrative
Tue Feb 25th Focus: Readings: Bhagavata Purana, Book 2 Gupta and Valpey, chapter 4, Ethics
Tue March 4th Focus: Readings: Bhagavata Purana, Book 3 Gupta and Valpey, chapter 5 Vallabha, the Bhagavata and the Path of Grace
Tue March 11th Focus: Readings: Bhagavata Purana, Book 4 Gupta and Valpey, chapter 8 Boundaries: Hersey and Heretics in the Bhagavata Purana.
Spring break March 15th -23rd
Tue March 25th Quiz II. Focus: Readings: Bhagavata Purana, Book 5 Gupta and Valpey, chapter 3, Cosmology
Tue April 1st Focus: Readings: Bhagavata Purana, Book 6 Gupta and Valpey, chapter 9, Dance.
Tue April 8th Focus: Readings: Bhagavata Purana, Book 7 Gupta and Valpey, chapter 1, Reading: Puranic Trekking Along the Path of the Bhagavata
Tue April 15th Focus: Readings: Bhagavata Purana, Book 8 Gupta and Valpey, chapter 11, Recitation.
Tue April 22nd Quiz III. Focus: Readings: Bhagavata Purana, Book 9 Gupta and Valpey, chapter 12, Text History. Modern Reception and Text Migration of the Bhagavata Purana.
Tue April 29th FINAL PAPERS DUE.
Focus: Concluding Reflections. Students Paper Presentations. Readings: