Abstract
The Introduction frames the book’s problematic. It begins by describing the received narrative on the origins of early Indian religions using the metaphor of the snake and the mongoose, which several scholars have erroneously attributed to the 2nd century grammarian Patañjali as a comparison to the antagonism between Brahmans and śramaṇas. It then examines how Orientalist scholarship constructed this narrative under the influence of the “Lutheran” myth of Protestant origins and how this legacy lives on both in modern scholarship and modern narratives in India. Finally, it outlines a new methodology for the study of early Indian religions that sees “Brahmanical” and “non-Brahmanical” identities as having emerged over time, rather than being metahistorical essences.
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