Siva: The Erotic Ascetic (Galaxy Books) | 
 enlarge | Author: Wendy Doniger O'flaherty
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $39.99
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Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 746838
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0195202503
Dewey Decimal Number: 294.5211
EAN: 9780195202502
ASIN: 0195202503
Publication Date: May 28, 1981
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Originally published under the title Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva, this book traces the development of an Indian approach to an enduring human dilemma: the conflict between spiritual aspirations and human desires. The work examines hundreds of related myths and a wide range of Indian texts--Vedic, Puranic, classical, modern, and tribal--centering on the stories of the great ascetic, Siva, and his erotic alter ego, Kama.
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| Customer Reviews:
 biased garbage April 24, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you would like to read about how to denigrate hinduism, wendy doniger is your woman. She has in all her books insulted hinduism. Her lack of intellectual background or cultural understanding and pure racial bias are very obvious in her writings.
Poor academics. February 25, 2008
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
Wendy Doniger's life's work purportedly covers topics that would be of great interest to curious Westerners looking to expand the horizons of their world view and personal morality. Her books lead one to believe that she has through an outstanding intellect decrypted ancient myths and uncovered the underlying truths of our contemporary behavior.
The only problem is that there is a growing body of evidence as to her pathetic scholarship and outlandish deviation from Hinduism's tenets to support her personal convictions. This issue unfortunately pops up all too often in the works of prominent 20th Century US anthropology-inspired researchers such as Joseph Campbell and Margaret Mead. But unlike Campbell, Doniger is a tedious writer, a pompous lecturer, and an even worse professor.
I do not claim to be an expert nor do I have the time to myself refute each of Doniger's arguments. But having read both sides of this issue, it is quite clear to me that this so-called "academic" is untrustworthy. Even a cursory listen to one of her lecturers or introduction by her proteges is embarassingly bush-league; she deals in a facile synthesis of culture that bewitches those desperately seeking intellectual stimulus. it's because of phonies like Doniger that so many of us have abstained from entering the academic realms of the United States. Do yourself a favor and read a British author instead. It pains me to say it.
Go to wikipedia, input her name, and read all of the articles under the "criticism" section.
Misrepresentative November 5, 2003
14 out of 37 found this review helpful
This author may be a self-thought scholar and the western world annoited scholar on hinduisim however, she does not quite understand hinduisim correctly or represent it correctly.
 Excellent read December 28, 2000
12 out of 24 found this review helpful
This is an excellent source for those interested in all the variant mythologies surrounding Siva. The information is well organized and told with an even objective viewpoint, which is perfect since Siva is fascinating in his own right, so there is no need to flower things up. The multple tellings of the same core myth really drives home the core points and character traits of Siva. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Siva or Hindu Mysticism.
Amazing November 13, 1998
21 out of 31 found this review helpful
This wonderful review of the literature of Siva, by far one of the most interesting and misunderstood of the Indic gods, is already a classic. The contrasts between asceticism and eroticism are carefully and precisely laid out, without the quackery of popular psychological babble. The stories are well translated, with full notes, in such a way as to leave the ambiguities of the original intact. Absolutely lovely.
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