About the Book:
The Devi-Mahatmya is well-known to both devotees and scholars of the Indian Great Goddess. Composed some 1500 years ago, it is the first comprehensive account of the Goddess in Sanskrit, and it has maintained its centrality in the Goddess (Sakta) tradition to the present day. Like so much in that tradition, however, the text has until now resisted careful study from an historical perspective. It is this study that the present volume accomplishes
The central task here is to explore how an anonymous Sanskrit text articulates a view of ultimate reality as feminine then there is virtually no precedent in the Sanskrit tradition for such a view. To accomplish this task, an appropriate method of scriptural analysis is developed. This involves an examination of Hindu understanding of the Puranas in general, and in general, and of the Devi-Mahatmya in particular along with consideration of several recent scholarly discussions, in India and elsewhere. Subsequently, a comprehensive inquiry into the Goddess's epithets in this text is undertaken, followed by examination of the earlier history of the myths that the Devi-Mahatmya associates with her. The study culminates in translations of the text's hymns, which are annotated so as to indicate the synthesis that is here being accomplished. The resulting illumination of Sanskritized form of Goddess worship is what Daniel H. H. Ingalls calls in his Foreword "a notable scholarly achievement."
About the Author:
THOMAS B. COBURN is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies has many academic works to his credit. In addition to Devi Mahatmaya, he is the author of Encountering the Goddess: A Translation of the Devi Mahatmya and A Study of its Interpretation, as well as numerous articles on Indian and comparative topics.
Cover Photograph:
The Cover photograph is of an eighth century Pallava sculpture, Durga as the slayer of the buffalo demon (Mahisa), and is reproduced with courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Denman W. Ross Collection. It shows the Goddess standing on the severed head of her antagonist and displaying the weapons with which she was armed by the host of male deities (Devi-Mahatmya, chapter two). Her lower right arm, now missing, was probable raised in the abhaya (Fear-not) gesture, while her other right arms hold sword, arrow and discus. Her left arms carry shield, conch, and bow, and over her shoulders are visible two quivers and trident.
Foreword - Daniel H. H. Ingalls
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
PROLEGOMENON
PART I: THE EPITHETS
svadha-svaha sri sraddha kalyani isa parvati prakrti katyayani mahavidya-vidya varahi bhadrakali yoganidra-nidra visnumaya sanatani mahadevi visvesvari muktihetu
PART III: THE HYMNS
APPENDICES
INDEX
Of Related Interest :
Conception and Evolution of The Mother Goddess in India
Shakti - Power and Femininity in Indian Art
Durga - Narrative Art of an 'Independent' Warrior Goddess
Mother Goddess as Kali - The Feminine Force in Indian Art
The Srimad Devi Bhagavatam
A Collection of Devi Sculptures
Paintings of the Devi
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Vedas (1377)
Upanishads (666)
Puranas (831)
Ramayana (894)
Mahabharata (328)
Dharmasastras (164)
Goddess (474)
Bhakti (243)
Saints (1277)
Gods (1291)
Shiva (331)
Journal (132)
Fiction (44)
Vedanta (323)
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