Еще одна форма литургического дебата: Brahmodya competition ("Высказывания брахманов")
БРАХМОДЬЯ — диалоги, состоящие из вопросов и ответов по мистическим и религиозным проблемам. Б. — экзамен, устраиваемый старшими жрецами молодым за право участия в ритуалах. Неотъемлемый компонент ведического культа. Б. предварял значимые жертвоприношения.
ИсточникIn the tenth century BC, the priests of India devised the Brahmodya competition, which would become a model of authentic theological discourse. The object was to find a verbal formula to define the Brahman, the ultimate and inexpressible reality beyond human understanding. The idea was to push language as far as it would go, until participants became aware of the ineffable. The challenger, drawing on his immense erudition, began the process by asking an enigmatic question and his opponents had to reply in a way that was apt but equally inscrutable. The winner was the contestant who reduced the others to silence. In that moment of silence, the Brahman was present - not in the ingenious verbal declarations but in the stunning realisation of the impotence of speech. Nearly all religious traditions have devised their own versions of this exercise.
К. Армстронг
ИсточникAn attempt is made to clarify certain formal and pragmatic features of the classical Vedic brahmodya ("bráhman utterance"), a ritualized verbal contest involving a formulaic interrogation sequence posed by one priest and an equally formulaic response on the part of a rival. Such exchanges serve as an arena in which rivals alternatively test each other's mastery of the dominant cultural and poetic code and, on the other hand, display their mastery of that code and thereby establish personal authority.
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