This article explores the manner in which bhakti emerges as a politicotheological concept in the period of rising nationalism in colonial Bengal. It examines Śrī Amiya Nimāī Carita, a multivolume sacred biography of Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya (1486–1533) authored by Sisir Kumar Ghosh (1840–1911) between 1885 and 1910. Ghosh was a journalist and a publisher with a reputation for anticolonialism and Hindu revivalism. Ghosh’s autobiographical and didactic prefaces attached to this sacred biography allow us to parse out a complex narrative of filial bonds and belonging that is integrally connected to an ambrosial (amiya) Nimāī (Caitanya’s nickname) and the devotional collective dedicated to him. Furthermore, these sacred biographies draw correspondences between the figure of Nimāī himself and the idea of Bengal—its history, culture, people, and society. This article systematically examines the evidence provided in this sacred biography of such overlaps between the figure of Caitanya and love for Bengal to argue that in the years leading up to the Swadeshi movement (1905–8), Vaiṣṇava bhakti, with its emphasis on love, loss, and femininity, arises as the idiom of comprehending and reifying ideas of intimacy and belonging to one’s homeland. In this fashion, they intellectually prepare the ground for the emergence of the powerful notion of deś-bhakti in its modern form—as patriotic nationalism based upon love and devotion for homeland.

中文翻译：

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西西尔的眼泪：奉爱和归属于孟加拉殖民地

本文探讨了在殖民时期孟加拉民族主义兴起的时期，奉爱作为一种政治神学概念出现的方式。它考察了 Śrī Amiya Nimāī Carita，这是一本多卷本的 Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya（1486-1533）神圣传记，由 Sisir Kumar Ghosh（1840-1911）在 1885 年至 1910 年期间撰写。Ghosh 是一位以印度教和反殖民主义而闻名的记者和出版商. Ghosh 附在这本神圣传记上的自传和说教前言让我们能够解析出一个复杂的关于孝顺和归属的叙述，这与一个好兄弟（amiya）Nimāī（柴坦尼亚的昵称）和奉献给他的虔诚集体紧密相连。此外，这些神圣的传记描绘了尼玛本人的形象与孟加拉的思想——其历史、文化、人民和社会之间的对应关系。本文系统地研究了这本神圣的传记中提供的证据，证明柴坦尼亚的形象与对孟加拉的爱之间存在这种重叠，以论证在斯瓦德西运动（1905-8）之前的几年里，Vaiṣṇava 奉爱强调爱，失落和女性气质是理解和具体化亲密和归属于祖国的观念的习语。以这种方式，他们在智力上为现代形式的 deś-bhakti 强大概念的出现奠定了基础——作为基于对祖国的热爱和奉献的爱国民族主义。和女性气质，作为理解和具体化亲密和归属于祖国的观念的习语而出现。以这种方式，他们在智力上为现代形式的 deś-bhakti 强大概念的出现奠定了基础——作为基于对祖国的热爱和奉献的爱国民族主义。和女性气质，作为理解和具体化亲密和归属于祖国的观念的习语而出现。以这种方式，他们在智力上为现代形式的 deś-bhakti 强大概念的出现奠定了基础——作为基于对祖国的热爱和奉献的爱国民族主义。