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Journal of the American Academy of Religion 2005 73(1):89-110; doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfi005
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the American Academy of Religion. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

Shifting the Center: Yaksas on the Margins of Contemporary Practice

A. Whitney Sanford

Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011

Contemporary Braj practice regarding yaksa worship invites us to reconsider notions of the interaction between the hegemonic Krishna-Gopal complex and the local traditions absorbed into this tradition. Practices comprising the naga-yaksa-Balarama continuum offer a counterpoint to the pastoral Krishna tradition that became dominant in the sixteenth century. Yaksas present an interesting test case, because, in contrast to Balarama-Sesa, they were not absorbed into Vaisnavism. Scholars and Vaisnava Brahmins have consistently privileged the pastoral Krishna as the center of the circle. However, attention to yaksa practices offers a re-visioning of the center-periphery image that has dominated Braj thought and necessitates a re-conceptualization of the relationships between these traditions. This article focuses our attention on contemporary yaksa worship to re-map the landscape to reflect these multiple circles. These multiple circles will more accurately represent the dialectical and mutually interdependent relationships between the different traditions in Braj.


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