On the Periphery of Krishna— Max Weber, Modernity and Postmodern Divinity.: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the periphery of Krishna, and with Krishna on the periphery. How does Krishna relate to modernity, to postmodernity? After brief discussion of these terms, Krishna is considered in relation to the Indian independence
movement and to Hindu nationalism: instances of the rise of nationalism in modernity; and nationalism itself as a feature of modernity. The point of focus here is his insertion on the periphery of a collage produced for the Vallabhite community around
Nathdwara. Krishna is then considered in relation to business and commerce, in relation to artha. Krishna’s role in Weber’s presentation of Hinduism in his essay on Hinduism and Buddhism is then considered. Although Weber’s essay is itself peripheral to scholarship on India, the historical importance of Weber in modern formulations of the nature of modernity makes the fact that Weber’s argument hinges largely on the nature of Krishna and his worship of particular interest in the present context. Weber
heavily emphasizes orgiasticism within Krishna worship; and fails to note the relevance of Pushtimarg doctrines for his theory of capitalism, as Jurgen Lutt has shown.
The paper concludes by considering a recent conjunction of Krishna with eroticism in the western mind, namely the singing of Bhagavad-gita 4.8 in the background to the orgy scene of Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. In this way, the sublimated eroticism of Krishna is found to be an example of postmodernity.