 The
project on Mahima Dharma is designed to edit, translate and analyze basic
Mahima-Dharma-texts, especially of Bhima Bhoi, the founder poet. It uses
material of the late Anncharlott Eschmann and collects new oral or written
text material. The project focuses on the early texts of the Mahima Dharma,
but analyses also the impact of Bishwanath Baba.
The broader framework of this research is to work on the discursive
implications and the context of the texts: To whom are the texts addressed?
What do we know about the authors? Who reads or recites the texts? Is
there a kind of canonization? What about "heterodox" or "apocryphal"
texts? In which social and religious context are the texts placed? How
is the relationship between an educated elite and the lay followers
or uneducated subaltern groups?
Especially important is the analysis of the use of philosophical and
religious key terms in relation to other religious movements or schools,
mainly the bhakti movement and (Neo)Vedanta. The project aims at the
presentation of a reader of basic texts along with a thorough introduction
into the philosophy, religious practices and institutions of Mahima
Dharma.
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