Bhakti and Embodiment: Fashioning Divine Bodies and Devotional Bodies in K¿¿¿a Bhakti explores the connections between bhakti and embodiment and is concerned with constructions of divine bodies and devotional bodies in K¿¿¿a bhakti traditions in particular. It discusses the historical shift to post-Vedic bhakti traditions and the accompanying transformations. These reflections are grounded in an analysis of two case studies: the Bh¿gavata Pur¿¿a, one of the most important scriptures in the Vai¿¿ava bhakti canon, and the Gaü¿ya Vai¿¿ava tradition, an important bhakti movement inspired by the sixteenth-century Bengali leader Caitanya.

Preface. Introduction 1. Bhakti and Divine Embodiment: Fashioning Divine Bodies 2. The Embodied Aesthetics of Bhakti: Fashioning Devotional Bodies 3. Bhagavata Purana as Text-Avatara: From Purana-Veda to Krishna-Veda to Embodiment of Bhagavan 4. Naman as Sound-Avatara: From Transcendent Vibration to Reverberating Name 5. Vraja-Dhaman as Place-Avatara: From Mythic Space to Pilgrimage Place to Transcendent Space 6: Meditation as Devotional Practice: Experiencing Krishna in His Transcendent Dhaman. Conclusion.

Barbara A. Holdrege is Professor of Religious Studies and Chair of the South Asian Studies Committee at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her publications include Refiguring the Body: Embodiment in South Asian Religions; Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture; and Ritual and Power.