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<DIV>Asian Division of The Library of Congress<BR>Asian Division Friends Society<BR>Present:</DIV>
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<DIV>Portraying an Upanisadic Female Sage at the Cusp of Colonialism:<BR>Baladeva Upadhaya on Gargi Vacaknavi</DIV>
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<DIV>by David Buchta<BR>University of Pennsylvania<BR>2008 Florence Tan Moeson Fellow</DIV>
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<DIV>The role in religious life allotted to women throughout the history of what is now called Hinduism has been, to various degrees, restricted. This has been especially true for the philosophical school of Vedanta. The premium placed on study of scriptural literature and on asceticism, coupled with the fact that access to both was often prohibited for women and those of lower castes, has precluded the possibility for them to attain liberation. However, Gargi Vacaknavi, a paradigmatic female ascetic, appears as an important interlocutor in a debate narrated in the Brhadaranyaka-Upanisad. To be sure, traditional exegetes have sometimes downplayed Gargi’s importance. Yet, Baladeva Vidyabhusana, writing at the cusp of colonialism and its attendant effects on women’s issues, identifies her as having the highest qualification for inquiry into Brahman. Baladeva explicitly mentions her superiority to her male interlocutor, Yajnavalkya. For it is she who controls the discourse, she by whose judgment Yajnavalkya is declared the victor of the debate.</DIV>
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<DIV>Thursday, August 28, 2008<BR>12:00 – 1:00 P.M.<BR>Asian Division Conference Room <BR>Jefferson Building- LJ 149 <BR>1st & Independence Ave., SE<BR>Washington, DC 20540</DIV>
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<DIV>Feel free to forward this.</DIV>
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<DIV>Contact: Dr. Allen Thrasher (202) 707-3732 or <A href="mailto:athr@loc.gov">athr@loc.gov</A></DIV>
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<DIV>Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 <BR>(voice/TTY) or email <A href="mailto:ADA@loc.gov">ADA@loc.gov</A></DIV>
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