Medieval Kashmir in its golden age saw the development of some of the most sophisticated theories of language, literature, and emotion articulated in the pre-modern world. These theories, enormously influential on the later intellectual history of South Asia, were written at a time when religious education was ubiquitous among intellectuals, and when religious philosophies were hotly and publicly debated. It was also a time of deep interreligious influence and borrowing, when traditions intermixed and intellectuals pushed the boundaries of their own inheritance by borrowing ideas from many different places-even from their rivals. To Savor the Meaning examines the overlap of literary theory and religious philosophy in this period by looking at debates about how poetry communicates emotions to its readers, what it is readers do when they savor these emotions, and why this might be valuable. Focusing on the work of three influential figures-Anandavardhana [ca. 850 AD], Abhinavagupta [ca. 1000 AD], and the somewhat lesser known theorist Mahimabhatta [ca. 1050 AD]-this book gives a broad introduction to their ideas and reveals new, important, and previously overlooked aspects of their work and their debates. James D. Reich places these pre-modern intellectuals within the wider context of the religious philosophies current in Kashmir at the time, and shows that their ideas cannot be fully understood in isolation from this broader context.

About the Author
James D. Reich is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Pace University. His work focuses on the intellectual history of literature, religion, and philosophy in South Asia. He studied religion at Harvard University (Ph.D., 2016), Harvard Divinity School (M.T.S., 2009), and Vassar College (B.A., 2005).

Reviews
To Savor the Meaning offers a fascinating look into the merger of aesthetics and theology in Indian thought. Reich insightfully explores how Abhinavagupta analyzed the response to a poem as akin to God's self-reflection, what might have led to this view, and how it was later criticized, all in the context of the rich, multi-religious debates of Kashmir between the ninth and the twelfth centuries. * Yigal Bronner, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem *
To Savor the Meaning ventures into a significant but heretofore insufficiently explored area of intellectual enquiry: the relationship of aesthetics and religion in the Sanskritic learned literatures of Kashmir. The materials addressed in this book are complex, important, and fascinating, for Reich sets in comparison the approaches of two foundational authors of Indian aesthetics (alamkarasastra), the Saiva polymath Abhinavagupta and the author of the Vyaktiviveka Mahimabhatta, both of whom flourished in Kashmir just after the turn of the second millennium. Lucidly written and exhibiting extensive learning, this book makes a significant contribution to the study of Indian religions. * John Nemec, Author of The Ubiquitous Siva, vols. I and II (OUP 2011 and 2021) *
James Reich's study of the debate at the center of medieval Kashmiri philosophical aesthetics is an invaluable addition to the literature. It shows with exceptional clarity the complex argumentation inside two philosophical schools that sought to ground aesthetic philosophy in two different theologies; which reveals the grandeur and range of medieval Kashmiri philosophy. This will be an indispensable guide for those who, without being Sanskritists, wish to understand and make use of the immense diversity and subtlety of Kashmiri theories in philosophical aesthetics. * Sudipta Kaviraj, Columbia University *
To Savor the Meaning is a clear, cohesive, engaging, and compelling book. Most of all, it is a book worth reading carefully. * Hamsa Stainton, Indo-Iranian Journal *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197544839
Author James D. Reich
Format Hardback
Page Count 280
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 567g
Dimensions(mm) 160mm * 236mm * 25mm