God Inside Out

This book offers a new exploration of the mythology of the Hindu god Siva seen through the prism of the game of dice that occupies most of his time. This notion of the god at play argue Handelman and Shulman is one of the most central and expressive veins in the metaphysics elaborated through the centuries in many idioms and modes around the god. The book''s three interlocking essays look first at the game itself then at two mythic sequels to the game. Based on their analysis of these sequels the authors argue that notions of asceticism so frequently associated with Siva with Yoga and with Hindu religion are in fact foreign to Hinduism''s inherent logic as reflected in Siva''s game of dice. They suggest an alternative reading of this set of practices and ideas providing startling new insights into Hindu mythology and the major poetic texts from the classical Sanskrit tradition.