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Podcast: New Books in South Asian Studies
Episode: Joanna Jurewicz, "Invisible Fire: Memory, Tradition and the Self in Early Hindu Philosophy" (2021)
Description: Invisible FireĀ by Joanna Jurewicz explores early Hindu philosophy through theĀ Manusmį¹ti,Ā BhagavadgÄ«tÄ, andĀ Mokį¹£adharma, showing that reality is a single cognitive field manifesting through subject-object perception. Drawing from Vedic roots and cognitive linguistics, Jurewicz argues that creation, bondage, and liberation are all epistemic processes. Misrecognition leads to suffering; liberation arises through refined cognition and self-recognition. The āinvisible fireā symbolizes transformative awareness latent in ritual, memory, and selfhood. Integrating modern theories of metaphor, play, and responsibility, the book reveals earlyĀ Smį¹tiĀ as a sophisticated philosophy of consciousness rooted in tradition and aimed at ontological and ethical integratio...