Marko Geslani
Biographic Data
| ID | 173708 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Marko Geslani |
| GIVEN NAMES | Marko |
| FAMILY NAME | Geslani |
| SIGNATURE | GESLANI M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of South Carolina |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8638-6463 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Divination and Danger in the Festival of Indra’s Banner
This article centers on an analysis of the structure of the medieval Hindu festive ritual of “Indra’s Banner” ( indradhvaja ), using the canonical account of the sixth-century astrologer-astronomer Varāhamihira ( Bṛhatsaṃhitā 42). After situating the ritual within the broader calendar of royal ceremonial, as the inauguration of the autumnal war season, it argues for an interpretation centering on two outstanding and related themes: warfare and di…
On the Orientalism of Dana Logan’s Awkward Rituals
This article assesses the merits of Dana Logan’s Awkward Rituals as a notable anthropological intervention in the study of American religions, one that opens significant converse with Asian ritual traditions, as mediated by colonial history. It suggests that the book presents a genealogically measured theoretical advance to the tradition of ritual studies
The History of the Arthaśāstra
Since its rediscovery in the early twentieth century, few texts in the modern study of Sanskrit literature have held as much promise as the Arthaśāstra, the famed political treatise long attributed to Cāṇakya, a supposed minister in the Mauryan court of Candragupta in the late fourth century BCE. Filled with ruthless pragmatism, the treatise has always carried an air of worldliness into ancient South Asian history, a realm long captive to otherwo…
Śaiva Rites of Expiation
Śaiva Rites of Expiation: A First Edition and Translation of Trilocanaśiva’s Twelfth-Century Prāyaścittasamuccaya (with a Transcription of Hṛdayaśiva’s Prāyaścittasamuccaya). Edited and translated by R. Sathyanarayanan, with an introduction by Dominic Goddall. Collection Indologie, vol. 127. Pondicherry: Institut Française de Pondichéry; École Française d’Extrême Orient, 2015. Pp. 651
Resentment and retrenchment
Despite significant genealogical work in recent decades, curricula in religious studies still struggle to incorporate disciplinary histories of colonialism and Orientalism, especially at the undergraduate level. This reticence seems ironic, given the historic importance of Asian religions to twentieth century frameworks of comparison still regnant today. To assess this postcolonial impasse, I juxtapose Wendy Doniger's theory of comparison in her …
Astrological Vedism
This article examines the possible roots of the sixth-century astrologer/astronomer, Varāhamihira. Ritual instructions from astrological texts on the yātrā (military march) are compared with the preliminary services of the Atharvaveda Śāntikalpa to demonstrate that much of the astrological ritual system can be seen as an adaptation of Atharvan śānti (appeasement) ritual. This analysis illuminates both the possible interchange between Vedic and Jy…
Rites of the God-King
Most accounts of Hinduism posit a radical difference between the aniconic fire sacrifice ( yajña ) and temple-based image worship ( pūjā ). The historical distinction between ancient Vedism and medieval Hinduism is often premised on this basic ritual opposition. Through an exacting study of ritual manuals, Rites of the God-King offers an alternative account of the formation of mainstream Hindu ritual through the history of śānti , or “appeasement…
Varāhamihira’s Astrological Ritualism
This chapter examines the nexus of Vedism and astrology (Jyotiḥśāstra) in the work of the famous polymath Varāhamihira (fl. 550). In its use of ritual conventions, Varāhamihira’s texts demonstrate the influence of Atharvan ritual in astrological circles. It also clarifies importance of the yātrā , or war march, in figurations of kingship. The chapter shows how the ritual narrative of the war-bound king came to be incorporated in the royal ritual …
The Inception of a Ritual Category
A prime instance of innovation within orthopraxy, this chapter tracks the inception of the śānti (appeasement) ritual through the combination of diverse instruments first described in the earliest ritual manual of the Atharvaveda (the Kauśikasūtra ), especially the mantra-infused “appeasement water.” It describes a shift in emphasis within the Atharvan priesthood, from the brahmán , the fourth priest of the solemn sacrifice, to the purohita , the…
Homo Ritualis
Axel Michaels’ Homo Ritualis indicates something of a mini-renaissance at the intersection of ritual studies and South Asian studies. This rebirth has been facilitated in no small part by the Oxford Ritual Studies series, which, in addition to this book, also recently produced a volume on Vedic fire sacrifice (Homa Variations, edited by Richard K. Payne and Michael Witzel, 2015). In its content and method Homo Ritualis shares much in common with …
Śānti Rites in the Development of the Purānic Rāajyābhiseka
This article details the contribution of Atharvan and astrological śānti (appeasement) rituals in the formation of the Purānic rājyābhiseka (royal consecration), described most elaborately in the Visnudharmottarapurāna . It argues that the form of this ceremony derives from consecratory forms originating in late-Vedic Atharvan ritual manuals ( Śāantikalpa and Pariśistas ), and further developed in the Brhatsamhitā , rather than from earlier śraut…
Resentment and retrenchment
Despite significant genealogical work in recent decades, curricula in religious studies still struggle to incorporate disciplinary histories of colonialism and Orientalism, especially at the undergraduate level. This reticence seems ironic, given the historic importance of Asian religions to twentieth century frameworks of comparison still regnant today. To assess this postcolonial impasse, I juxtapose Wendy Doniger's theory of comparison in her …
Śānti Rites in the Development of the Purānic Rāajyābhiseka
This article details the contribution of Atharvan and astrological śānti (appeasement) rituals in the formation of the Purānic rājyābhiseka (royal consecration), described most elaborately in the Visnudharmottarapurāna . It argues that the form of this ceremony derives from consecratory forms originating in late-Vedic Atharvan ritual manuals ( Śāantikalpa and Pariśistas ), and further developed in the Brhatsamhitā , rather than from earlier śraut…
Śānti Rites in the Development of the Purānic Rāajyābhiseka
This article details the contribution of Atharvan and astrological śānti (appeasement) rituals in the formation of the Purānic rājyābhiseka (royal consecration), described most elaborately in the Visnudharmottarapurāna . It argues that the form of this ceremony derives from consecratory forms originating in late-Vedic Atharvan ritual manuals ( Śāantikalpa and Pariśistas ), and further developed in the Brhatsamhitā , rather than from earlier śraut…
Homo Ritualis
Axel Michaels’ Homo Ritualis indicates something of a mini-renaissance at the intersection of ritual studies and South Asian studies. This rebirth has been facilitated in no small part by the Oxford Ritual Studies series, which, in addition to this book, also recently produced a volume on Vedic fire sacrifice (Homa Variations, edited by Richard K. Payne and Michael Witzel, 2015). In its content and method Homo Ritualis shares much in common with …
Rites of the God-King
Most accounts of Hinduism posit a radical difference between the aniconic fire sacrifice ( yajña ) and temple-based image worship ( pūjā ). The historical distinction between ancient Vedism and medieval Hinduism is often premised on this basic ritual opposition. Through an exacting study of ritual manuals, Rites of the God-King offers an alternative account of the formation of mainstream Hindu ritual through the history of śānti , or “appeasement…
Varāhamihira’s Astrological Ritualism
This chapter examines the nexus of Vedism and astrology (Jyotiḥśāstra) in the work of the famous polymath Varāhamihira (fl. 550). In its use of ritual conventions, Varāhamihira’s texts demonstrate the influence of Atharvan ritual in astrological circles. It also clarifies importance of the yātrā , or war march, in figurations of kingship. The chapter shows how the ritual narrative of the war-bound king came to be incorporated in the royal ritual …
The Inception of a Ritual Category
A prime instance of innovation within orthopraxy, this chapter tracks the inception of the śānti (appeasement) ritual through the combination of diverse instruments first described in the earliest ritual manual of the Atharvaveda (the Kauśikasūtra ), especially the mantra-infused “appeasement water.” It describes a shift in emphasis within the Atharvan priesthood, from the brahmán , the fourth priest of the solemn sacrifice, to the purohita , the…
The History of the Arthaśāstra
Since its rediscovery in the early twentieth century, few texts in the modern study of Sanskrit literature have held as much promise as the Arthaśāstra, the famed political treatise long attributed to Cāṇakya, a supposed minister in the Mauryan court of Candragupta in the late fourth century BCE. Filled with ruthless pragmatism, the treatise has always carried an air of worldliness into ancient South Asian history, a realm long captive to otherwo…
Śaiva Rites of Expiation
Śaiva Rites of Expiation: A First Edition and Translation of Trilocanaśiva’s Twelfth-Century Prāyaścittasamuccaya (with a Transcription of Hṛdayaśiva’s Prāyaścittasamuccaya). Edited and translated by R. Sathyanarayanan, with an introduction by Dominic Goddall. Collection Indologie, vol. 127. Pondicherry: Institut Française de Pondichéry; École Française d’Extrême Orient, 2015. Pp. 651
Resentment and retrenchment
Despite significant genealogical work in recent decades, curricula in religious studies still struggle to incorporate disciplinary histories of colonialism and Orientalism, especially at the undergraduate level. This reticence seems ironic, given the historic importance of Asian religions to twentieth century frameworks of comparison still regnant today. To assess this postcolonial impasse, I juxtapose Wendy Doniger's theory of comparison in her …
Astrological Vedism
This article examines the possible roots of the sixth-century astrologer/astronomer, Varāhamihira. Ritual instructions from astrological texts on the yātrā (military march) are compared with the preliminary services of the Atharvaveda Śāntikalpa to demonstrate that much of the astrological ritual system can be seen as an adaptation of Atharvan śānti (appeasement) ritual. This analysis illuminates both the possible interchange between Vedic and Jy…
On the Orientalism of Dana Logan’s Awkward Rituals
This article assesses the merits of Dana Logan’s Awkward Rituals as a notable anthropological intervention in the study of American religions, one that opens significant converse with Asian ritual traditions, as mediated by colonial history. It suggests that the book presents a genealogically measured theoretical advance to the tradition of ritual studies
Divination and Danger in the Festival of Indra’s Banner
This article centers on an analysis of the structure of the medieval Hindu festive ritual of “Indra’s Banner” ( indradhvaja ), using the canonical account of the sixth-century astrologer-astronomer Varāhamihira ( Bṛhatsaṃhitā 42). After situating the ritual within the broader calendar of royal ceremonial, as the inauguration of the autumnal war season, it argues for an interpretation centering on two outstanding and related themes: warfare and di…
History (8 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Indian and Buddhist Studies (6 works) · Art (5 works) · Classics (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Archaeology (4 works) · Eurasian Exchange Networks (4 works) · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies (4 works) · Literature (4 works)