The Self Possessed: Deity and Spirit Possession in South Asian Literature and Civilization

731 Pages·2006·34.58 MB·English

by  Frederick M. Smith

the self possessed
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the self possessed
Deity and Spirit Possession in
South Asian Literature and Civilization

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Frederick M. Smith
columbia university press new york
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2006 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Frederick M.
The self possessed : deity and spirit possession in South Asian literature and civilization /
Frederick M. Smith.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-231-13748-6 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 0-231-51065-9 (electronic)
1. Spirit possession—South Asia. 2. Spirit possession in literature. 3. Sanskrit
literature—History and criticism. 4. Tantrism—South Asia. 5. Spirit possession—
Hinduism. I. Title.
bl1055.s63 2006
133.4´260954—dc22 2005056030
8
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
This book was printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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As a refl ection is to a mirror or other similar surface, as cold and heat are
to living beings, as a sun’s ray is to one’s gemstone, and as the one sustaining
the body is to the body, in the same way “seizers” enter an embodied one but
are not seen.
su´sruta samhitā 6.60.19
.
This work is dedicated to the memory of the late Pratap
Bhagwandas Mody of Bombay, who demonstrated artfully
and convincingly that we are never quite alone.
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list of illustrations xi
preface xiii
acknowledgments xix
introduction xxi
Part I. Orthodoxies, Madness, and Method 1
1. Academic and Brahmanical Orthodoxies 3
Sanskritic Culture and the Culture of Possession 3
The Sanskritic Vocabulary of Possession 13
Problematics of Interpretation 15
Part II. Ethnography, Modernity, and the Languages of Possession 31
2. New and Inherited Paradigms:
Methodologies for the Study of Possession 33
Classical Study and Ethnography 33
Defi nitions and Typologies 35
viii Contents
The Devil’s Work 39
Psychiatric and Psychoanalytic Interpretations 43
Possession as a Form of Social Control 56
Possession and Shamanism 60
Possession as Ontological Reality 66
Uakti, the Localization of Divinity, and the Possessed 68
Performative and Biographical Context 75
Conclusions 78
3. Possession, Trance Channeling, and Modernity 95
4. Notes on Regional Languages and Models of Possession 110
Lexicography, Languages, and Themes 110
Exorcists, Oracles, and Healers 142
Refl ections on “Folk” and “Classical” in South Asia 146
Part III. Classical Literature 173
5. The Vedas and Upaniùads 175
Embodiment and Disembodiment Among the ñùis 175
Possession in the Early Vedic Literature 177
Shape-Shifting and Possession 195
In the Beginning, God Possessed Heaven and Earth 202
Transfer of Essence 211
The Gandharva, the Apsaras, and the Vedic Body 224
6. Friendly Acquisitions, Hostile Takeovers: The Panorama
of Possession in the Sanskrit Epics 245
The Mahābhārata, Where Everything Can Be Found 246
Notes on Possession in the Rāmāyaâa 275
7. Enlightenment and the Classical Culture of Possession 284
Possession as Yoga Practice 286
Possession and the Subtle Body in the Yogavāsiù•ha 290
Śaãkara’s Possession of a Dead King 294
Possession and the Body in the Brahmasūtras 297
Possession in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism 302
Conclusions 308
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Contents ix
8. Vampires, Prostitutes, and Poets: Narrativity and the Aesthetics
of Possession 317
Culture, Fiction, and Possession 317
Possession in Sanskrit Fiction 320
Can There Be an Aesthetic of Possession? 330
9. Devotion as Possession 345
Devotional Possession in the Gītā and Ānandavardhana 345
Vallabhācārya’s Concept of Āveśa 347
Ś rī Caitanya and the Gaubīya Concepts of Āveśa, Avatāra, and
Multiple Bodies 350
Āveśa and Bhāva 353
Āveśa, Bhāva, and Alternative Vedāntas 356
Part IV. Worldly and Otherworldly Ruptures: Possession
as a Healing Modality 363
10. Possession in Tantra: Constructed Bodies and
Empowerment 367
Samāveśa as Tantric Realization 367
Discipline and Enlightenment 368
Divinizing the Body 374
Possession in Buddhist Tantras 390
Tantric Possession and Images of a Multiple Self 398
11. T antra and the Diaspora of Childhood Possession 416
The Śaiva and Buddhist Tantras and the South Indian Texts 418
Svasthāveśa and the Prasenā 421
Epigraphical Evidence for the Practice of Svasthāveśa 427
The Ritual of Svasthāveśa 429
Possession Across the Himalayas 432
Aweishe: The Indic Character of Chinese Possession 435
Svasthāveśa in South India 440
The Mantramahodadhhi 441
The Tantrarāja 443
Indian Āveśa and Chinese Aweishe: A Comparison 444
Conclusions 448
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x Contents
12. The Medicalization of Possession in Āyurveda and Tantra 471
Disease-Producing Spirit Possession 471
B hūtavidyā: Vedic and Āyurvedic Demonologies 474
O ther Indic Demonologies 508
P iśācas and the Piśācmocan Temple 525
C hildsnatchers and Therapy to Counter Demonic Possession
(Piśācagóhītabhaiùajyam) 530
Healing and the Circulation of Knowledge 536
Possession and Exorcism in Contemporary Āyurveda 544
Diagnosing Possession 551
Conclusions: Notes on the Textuality of Āyurveda 555
13. Conclusions: Identity Among the Possessed and Dispossessed 579
Variation and Vocabulary 579
Possession and Embodiment 581
Sudden and Gradual 591
Questions and (a Few) Answers 593
B ringing It All Back Home: The Mahābhārata and Traditions of
Possession 598
bibliography 607
index 665
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