Words for the Heart - by Maria Heim

Book Synopsis

A richly diverse collection of classical Indian terms for expressing the many moods and subtleties of emotional experience

Words for the Heart is a captivating treasury of emotion terms drawn from some of India's earliest classical languages. Inspired by the traditional Indian genre of a "treasury"--a wordbook or anthology of short texts or poems--this collection features 177 jewellike entries evoking the kinds of phenomena English speakers have variously referred to as emotions, passions, sentiments, moods, affects, and dispositions. These entries serve as beautiful literary and philosophical vignettes that convey the delightful texture of Indian thought and the sheer multiplicity of conversations about emotions in Indian texts. An indispensable collection, Words for the Heart reveals how Indian ways of interpreting human experience can challenge our assumptions about emotions and enrich our lives.

• Brings to light a rich lexicon of emotion from ancient India
• Uses the Indian genre of a "treasury," or wordbook, to explore the contours of classical Indian thought in three of the subcontinent's earliest languages--Sanskrit, Pali, and Prakrit
• Features 177 alphabetical entries, from abhaya ("fearlessness") to yoga ("the discipline of calm")
• Draws on a wealth of literary, religious, and philosophical writings from classical India
• Includes synonyms, antonyms, related words, and suggestions for further reading
• Invites readers to engage in the cross-cultural study of emotions
• Reveals the many different ways of naming and interpreting human experience

Review Quotes

"A valuable glimpse into the vast richness of Indian languages, which express emotions that have yet to be explored in their own right. This work will be of significant benefit to Indologists, particularly those engaged in the study of the psychological aspects of Indian religiosity."---Cao Nhut Quang Hyunh, Religious Studies Review

"[Words from the Heart] reveals a world of emotional arrangements that is by turns both familiar and deeply unfamiliar."---James David Reich, Boston Review

"An homage to the Sanskrit tradition. . . . A good sample of Sanskrit literature and philosophy that will, I am sure, whet many appetites for more writings from and about classical India."---Sophus Helle, Marginalia Review of Books

"The diversity of source material (combined with the alphabetical arrangement) provides for unexpected and sometimes delightful juxtapositions: entries from the Kama Sutra sit alongside Buddhist instructions for charnel ground meditations, and the sublime attitudes of the brahma-viharas are sandwiched between the malicious and the macabre. . . . Being fully aware of one's own emotional experience is a wonder, a miracle. In this light, Words for the Heart offers the reader 177 entry points to wonder."---Sarah Fleming, Tricycle

About the Author

Maria Heim is the George Lyman Crosby 1896 & Stanley Warfield Crosby Professor in Religion at Amherst College and a Guggenheim fellow. Her books include The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Emotions in Classical Indian Philosophy and The Forerunner of All Things: Buddhaghosa on Mind, Intention, and Agency. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.