

Description
Origins of the Virasaiva Sects is probably the most thorough exploration of Virasaivism available in any language except Kannada. Already, the activities of founder/reformer Basava are well known throughout India and the world. Similarly, certain reformational aspects of Virasaivism have attracted the attention of Western scholarship.
Professor Michael's book, however, goes beyond all previous efforts in non-Kannada languages. It explores a crucial text, the Sunyasampadane, from Virasaivism's third century of development. There it finds sources for the seldom explored variety of forms and practices which characterize contemporary Virasaiva sectarian and denominational patterns.
Non-Virasaivas will finally have an opportunity to appreciate the richness and depth of this significant religious movement. Virasaivas themselves may acquire a new appreciation of their own tradition's breadth and sophistication. All impressive and informative.
About the Author:
PROFESSOR R. BLAKE MICHAEL is Swan-Collins-Allen Professor of World Religions and Christian Mission and also Director of Off-Campus Programs at Ohio, USA. An ordained United Methodist minister, he has also served as Adjunct Professor at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio.
Professor Michael holds the A.B. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the M. Div A.M., and Ph.D. degree from Harvard University. He has also studied at the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore and has travelled throughout South India in the conduct of his research.
He has published half a dozen articles on Virasaivism in the journals of the American Oriental Society, Association of Asian Studies, American Academy of Religion, and in Numen. Many of these have been reprinted in the Basava Journal of Bangalore. He is currently researching for a monograph on Akkamahadevi.
PREFACE
TRANSLITERATION
ABBREVIATIONS
CHAPTER
- INTRODUCTION: THE VIRASAIVA'S AND THEIR CONTEXT
The Distinctness of Virasaivism
Virasaivism's Relatedness to Brahmanical Orthodoxy
Attempts to Understand the Virasaivas as a "Hindu" "Sect"
Attempts to Understand the Virasaivas as "Protestants"
Prospectus for a Typological Analysis of Virasaiva Associational Patterns
Notes - THE SUNYASAMPADANE: ITS CONTEXT, COMPOSITION, AND CONTEXT
The Context: Vijayanagara
The Composition: The Four Editions
The Content: Twenty Tales of the Saints
Patterns of Diversity in the Sunyasampadane
Notes - THE SOTERIOLOGY OF THE SUNYASAMPADANE: OBJECTIVIST v. SUBJECTIVIST
The astavarana Scheme
Dialectical Encounters in the Sunyasampadane
The Three Views in Ritual Worship
Notes - THE ECCLESIOLOGY OF THE SUNYASAMPADANE: UNIVERSALIST v. PARTICULARIST
Disputes over Membership in the Surana Band
The Three Views on Society Membership
Notes - CONCLUSION
Competing Associational Ideals in Ancient Virasaivism
Denominational Factors in Contemporary Virasaivism
Prospectus for Future Studies
Notes
APPENDIXES
- Lingayatas in Karnataka (Estimate)
- The General Typology of Religious Associations and Its Cross-Cultural Applicability
CLASSIFIED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDICES
Author Index of Vacana Quotations
Text-Source Index of Vacana Quotations
Kannada First-Line Index of Vacana Quotations
English First-Line Index of Vacana Quotations
Index with Glossary
Errata