Opponent är Nathan McGovern, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Ur avhandlingens abstract:

"Ascetic poetry in ancient India: The ideal renouncer and the path to liberation, according to independent verses in early Brahmanic, Buddhist, and Jaina literature" av Kristoffer af Edholm.

The dissertation identifies the ideal renouncer and the path to liberation on the basis of nearly 3500 “independent verses”, i.e. single-stanzas (gāthās, ślokas), in early Brahmanic, Buddhist, and Jaina literature, including Mahābhārata, Suttanipāta, Dhammapada, Saṃyuttanikāya, Uttarajjhayaṇa, Sūyagaḍa, Isibhāsiyāiṃ, and other texts. It is argued that this genre of poetry is important for our knowledge about the ascetic milieu in Northern India around the 5th century BCE.

Verses from the three traditions are compared with one another, the verse-material is compared with selected texts belonging to other genres, and the literature is placed in its historical context. Attention is given to vocabulary, formulas, similes, and recurrent themes. Hypotheses about the early history of the renouncer-traditions are tested against the verse-material.

Till avhandlingen i DiVA

Kristoffer af Edholm - spikblad (140 Kb)