Compare and contrast the purpose and practices of flower divination of and prescriptions for achieving cukam (see Daniel Ch. 5) with the purpose and practices of undertaking a pilgrimage to worship Lord Ayyappan in order to achieve a kind of temporary moksa (Tm: mokam) or what Daniel refers to as “equipoise (see Daniel Ch. 7).

 

Be sure to address (a) concerns about kunam/dosa disequilibrium in flower divination and (b) the metaphysical movement from “firstness” to “secondness” to “thirdness” in a Tamil pilgrimage (in Daniel Ch. 7).

 

Another way to think about this is to explicate the following semantic opposition:

 

• “Degraded” equilibrium (Tm: cukam = Kn: madi = “purity”)
• “Genuine” or “ultimate” equilibrium or “equipoise” (Tm: mokam; Sk: Moksa)

 

 

This is the name of the book we have to use.

Daniel, E. Valentine

1984 Fluid Signs: Being a Person the Tamil Way. Berkeley: University of California Press.

 

Compare and contrast the purpose and practices of flower divination of and prescriptions for achieving cukam (see Daniel Ch. 5) with the purpose and practices of undertaking a pilgrimage to worship Lord Ayyappan in order to achieve a kind of temporary moksa (Tm: mokam) or what Daniel refers to as “equipoise (see Daniel Ch. 7).

 

Be sure to address (a) concerns about kunam/dosa disequilibrium in flower divination and (b) the metaphysical movement from “firstness” to “secondness” to “thirdness” in a Tamil pilgrimage (in Daniel Ch. 7).

 

Another way to think about this is to explicate the following semantic opposition:

 

• “Degraded” equilibrium (Tm: cukam = Kn: madi = “purity”)
• “Genuine” or “ultimate” equilibrium or “equipoise” (Tm: mokam; Sk: Moksa)

 

 

This is the name of the book we have to use.

Daniel, E. Valentine

1984 Fluid Signs: Being a Person the Tamil Way. Berkeley: University of California Press.