Kṛṣṇa the Magician
Metapoesis and ambivalence in Faiḍī's Mahābhārat
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12563365 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Justin N Smolin (University of Chicago, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 399-433 |
| Publication date | 2024-02-15 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1356-1863 • E-ISSN: 1474-0591 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1356186323000639 |
| OpenAlex | W4391841208 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 6 |
In this article, I discuss the vilification of Kṛṣṇa as a deceitful sorcerer in the Mughal poet-laureate Shaikh Abū'l Faiḍ bin Mubārak, or ‘Faiḍī's Mahābhārat and his correspondent apotheosis as the ‘essence of the True God' in the Shāriq al-maʿrifat , a treatise also ascribed to Faiḍī. As I argue, this inconsistency, or ambivalence, is a common and overlooked facet of the elite Islamicate engagement with religious diversity and difference in early modern Hindustan. In the case of the Mahābhārat , however, Faiḍī's portrayal of Kṛṣṇa as a deceitful illusionist reflects not only an Islamic discomfort with Vaishnavite theology, but Faiḍī's own performative insecurities as a Hindustani writer of Persian poetry and literary prose. Kṛṣṇa's so-called ‘magic’ lies in large part in his way with words: the verbal and social manipulation he uses to stoke the flames of conflict. The character thus becomes a kind of shadow or double of Faiḍī himself-a demiurgic author of the Mahābhārat upon which the poet can displace the classical Islamicate association of poetry with sorcery and deceit
Ambivalence · Psychoanalysis · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Psychology · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |