Hindu narratives on human rights / Arvind Sharma.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Right to justice -- 2. Does Hinduism possess a concept of rights? -- 3. Freedom of religion -- 4. Hinduism and the right to property -- 5. Hinduism and the right to livelihood -- 6. Hinduism and the rights of children -- 7. Marriage and the rights of women : Sakauntala -- 8. Marriage and the rights of women : Savitri -- 9. Marriage and the right of a woman to choose her husband -- 10. Animal rights and Hinduism -- 11. Do Hindu women possess the right to study the Vedas? -- 12. The rights of the child and the right to parenthood : a case study -- 13. A discussion of law and morality from ancient India -- 14. Hinduism and egalitarianism -- 15. Hinduism and the rights of the dead -- 16. Human rights, human dignity, and Alexander's invasion of India -- App. I. Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- App. II. Hinduism and human rights : a critical excursus.

Hinduism is often perceived as lacking a universalistic element and having a particularistic approach to morality. Through the use of story. however, Hinduism pays elaborate attention to both the particular and the universal dimensions of ethics, offering its followers a rich body of narrative that serves as a catalyst for moral decision making." "Written by a leading Hindu scholar, Hindu Narratives on Human Rights is organized around specific rights. such as the right to own property, the rights of children, women's rights. and animal rights. Within these categories and in light of the questions they raise. the book provides a guided tour of Hindu narratives on ethics, ranging from the famous religious epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, to various forms of secular literature drawn from almost 1,000 years of Indic civilization." "The realization that Hindu ethical discourse is narrative rather than propositional is a relatively recent one. Hence, the prevailing tendency in the West has been to overlook it in the context of the discussion of human rights. This book was written to correct that oversight. It shows that the presence of the universal, particularly in Hindu stories is a key to understanding Hindu thinking about human rights-and it indicates ways in which Hindu ethical discourse can interact creatively with human rights discourse.