Tears, Laughter and Horror Understanding the Diverse Responses to Tales of Violence in Śrīvaiṣṇava Hagiographies: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

While most religious traditions sanction violence in a variety of circumstances, there is usually the underlying notion of the destruction of
evil through such violence, or of a larger duty: Rāma’s killing of Rāvaṇa or Kṛṣṇa’s exhortation to Arjuna in the battlefield at the start of the Mahābhārata war are classic examples. How do audiences react when violent acts appear in scriptural texts without even such a veneer of justification?