The Breathing Body, Whistling Flute, and Sonic Divine
Oneness and Distinction in Bengal Vaishnavism's Devotional Aesthetics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3401047 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sukanya Sarbadhikary (0000-0001-6729-5737, Presidency University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 743 |
| Publication date | 2021-09-09 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel12090743 |
| OpenAlex | W3197224148 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 4 |
This paper studies complex narratives connecting the Hindu deity Krishna, his melodious flute, and the porous, sonic human body in the popular devotional sect, Bengal Vaishnavism. From the devotee-lover responding to Krishna's flute call outside, envying the flute's privileged position on Krishna's lips, to becoming the deity's flute through yogic breath-sound fusions-texts abound with nuanced relations of equivalence and differentiation among the devotee-flute-god. Based primarily on readings of Hindu religious texts, and fieldwork in Bengal among makers/players of the bamboo flute, the paper analyses theological constructions correlating body-flute-divinity. Lying at the confluence of yogic, tantric, and devotional thought, the striking conceptual problem about the flute in Bengal Vaishnavism is: are the body, flute and divinity distinct or the same? I argue that the flute's descriptions in both classical Sanskrit texts and popular oral lore and performances draw together ostensibly opposed religious paradigms of Yoga (oneness with divinity) and passionate devotion/bhakti (difference): its fine, airy feeling fusing with the body's inner breathing self, and sweet melody producing a subservient temperament towards the lover-god outside. Flute sounds embody the peculiar dialectic of difference-and-identity among devotee-flute-god, much like the flute-lip-lock itself, bringing to affective life the Bengal Vaishnava philosophical foundation of achintya-bhed-abhed (inconceivability between principles of separation and indistinction
Aesthetics · Alliteration · Art · Art history · BENGAL · Divinity · Flute · Hinduism · Literature · Poetry · Sanskrit · Theology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |