From Vedic Recitation to Nāma-Saṃkīrtana: Reimagining the Name in Kṛṣṇa Bhakti

This presentation begins with a brief analysis of three distinct constructions of Vedic mantras: the epistemology of cognition of the Vedic mantras in the Ṛg-Veda Saṃhitā; the cosmogonic function of the Vedic mantras in the Brāhmaṇas’ discourse of sacrifice; and the soteriological function of root mantras such as Om in the Upaniṣads’ discourse of knowledge. I will then turn to a consideration of Purāṇic traditions and will focus more specifically on constructions of mantra and nāman in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, the consummate textual monument to Kṛṣṇa bhakti. Finally, I will discuss the ontology of the divine name and the practice of nāma-saṃkīrtana within the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava discourse of bhakti, and in the associated regimen of sādhana-bhakti that defines the distinctive tradition of the Gauḍīya community of devotees inspired by the Bengali leader Caitanya in the sixteenth century.