PRIYAMVADA NAMBRATH
University of Pennsylvania\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pnamb@sas.upenn.edu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ASCETIC ABUNDANCE AND THE PROCEDURAL IMAGINATION: RE-READING BHARADV\u0100JA\u2019S FEAST IN THE AYODHY\u0100K\u0100\u1e46\u1e0cA<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n This paper offers a close reading of Bharadv\u0101ja\u2019s reception of Bharata\u2019s army in the Ayodhy\u0101k\u0101\u1e47\u1e0da<\/em> (sarga<\/em> 91) of the R\u0101m\u0101ya\u1e47a<\/em>, where an ascetic forest hermitage is transformed into a site of extraordinary abundance. While often read as a conventional display of ascetic power (tapas<\/em>) or hospitality (\u0101tithya<\/em>), the episode is better understood as a carefully structured representation of the controlled production of plenitude. The scene unfolds through a sequence of invocations and commands, as Bharadv\u0101ja calls forth rivers, groves, food, drink, and celestial attendants. This progression foregrounds the mediating role of speech in generating and organizing space, while the lexical field of bhoga<\/em>, sampad<\/em>, and k\u0101ma<\/em> frames the experience of abundance within defined limits. The transformation of the \u0101\u015brama<\/em> into a space that evokes both courtly and celestial environments is thus not unbounded but regulated within the ascetic\u2019s authority. Read in this way, the episode complicates the apparent opposition between renunciation and enjoyment. The presence of sensorial excess, such as apsaras, intoxicants, and luxurious surroundings, does not mark a departure from ascetic practice, but rather its extension into a different register. The forest hermitage emerges as a site in which tapas and bhoga<\/em> are not mutually exclusive but co-constitutive, with authority grounded in the capacity to produce and regulate abundance. By situating this reading within broader discussions of spatiality in Sanskrit epic, the paper suggests that the distinction between forest and court is less a fixed opposition than a dynamic field of transformation. Bharadv\u0101ja\u2019s act of hospitality thus becomes a key site for examining how power, space, and embodiment are configured through narrative in the epic tradition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PRIYAMVADA NAMBRATHUniversity of Pennsylvania\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pnamb@sas.upenn.edu ASCETIC ABUNDANCE AND THE PROCEDURAL IMAGINATION: RE-READING BHARADV\u0100JA\u2019S FEAST IN THE AYODHY\u0100K\u0100\u1e46\u1e0cA This paper offers a close reading of Bharadv\u0101ja\u2019s reception of Bharata\u2019s army in the Ayodhy\u0101k\u0101\u1e47\u1e0da (sarga 91) of the R\u0101m\u0101ya\u1e47a, where an ascetic forest hermitage is transformed into a site of extraordinary abundance. While often read as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2214","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2215,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2214\/revisions\/2215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}