Santucci, James A. See all items with this value

2006

7

50-63

1530-4108 See all items with this value

The one discipline that comes closest to religion appears to be economics. It is a most unlikely comparison, but the more one examines the underpinnings of the two, the more obvious the parallel structure of the two. The common foundation is ‘desire’ in all its forms, manifestations, and variants: drives, inclinations, cravings, hunger, aspirations, thirst, wishes, lust, love, romance, longing, wants, appetite, mania, avarice, dispositions, rapaciousness, voracity, greed, self-interest, power, independence, curiosity, acceptance, order, saving, honor, idealism, family, status, vengeance, tranquility, and eating. This paper demonstrates some ways in which desire functions in Vedic religion, namely in myths of creation and in Vedic ritual, especially in the Optional or Special Interest Offerings (kāmyeṣṭi-s) and the duality that is established in the Upaniṣads between desire and non-desire. This existential duality established in South Asian religions is comparable to the dualities of good and evil, salvation and damnation recognized in all Abrahamic religions and Manichaeanism, and of the duality between the faithful and infidel in Islam and to a lesser extent in Christianity.