The Viṣṇu Purāṇa: Ancient Annals of the God with Lotus Eyes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
McComas Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Visnu Purana

KRSNA'S INITIATION AT SĀNDĪPANI'S HERMITAGE

Numen ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-60
Author(s):  
André Couture
Keyword(s):  
Adult Life ◽  
Bhāgavata Purāṇa ◽  
Initiation Process ◽  
Bhagavata Purana ◽  
Visnu Purana

AbstractIn the Harivamśa 79 [HV], the Visnu-Purāna 5.21 [ViP], the Brahma-Purāna 86 [BrP], and the Bhāgavata-Purāna 10.45 [BhP], immediately after the young Krsna kills Kamsa, Krsna's initiation at Sāndīpani's hermitage takes place. To date, this strange episode has not been studied in its own right. Occasionally mentioned in scholarly works, no attempt has been made to understand the importance or significance of this event within the Krsna tradition. This paper begins with a summary of HV 79, and then moves on to examine the character of Sāndīpani, his connection with Garga/Gārgya, the initiation process and the underlying father/son relationships, as well as variations on these themes. The episode provides a narrative link between Samkarsana and Krsna's childhood and the rest of the story which deals with their adult life as ksatriyas, and as such, helps to clarify the overall structure of the HV. Emphasizing Sāndīpani's role as a guru, this paper uncovers, little by little, his connections with (1) the whole trimūrti comprised of Brahmā, Visnu and Śiva-Rudra, (2) the sacrificial logic which involves one who sacrifices, a deity and an officiant, and (3) the variations on the theme of filiation implied in the narration.

Yoga in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-402
Author(s):  
Sucharita Adluri
Keyword(s):  
Visnu Purana

Purāna Leǵends and the Prakrit Tradition in New Indo-Aryan

1936 ◽  
Vol 8 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 457-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suniti Kumar Chatterji
Keyword(s):  
Visnu Purana ◽  
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa

It is now generally admitted that a great deal of the ancient and medieval myth and legend enshrined in the Sanskrit epics and Purānas is of non-Aryan origin, and that even in Vedic mythology certain pre-Aryan elements are present. Puranic myths of the godsand legends of kings, heroes, and sages, in the form in which we find them in the Sanskrit works, represent undoubtedly a considerable amount of modification from their original forms, whether Aryan or non-Aryan: witness, e.g., the treatment of what would appear to bea genuine Aryan (? Indo-European) saga-that of Purūravas and Urvaśī, as we find it in the Rigveda and the Śatapatha Brāhmana, in the Visnu Purāna and in the subsequent Puranas.

scholarly journals Bṛhaspati and the Barhaspatyas

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramkrishna Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Visnu Purana

The name of Bṛhaspati is associated with the materialist doctrine in India. He is supposed to be the preceptor of the gods. It was in order to help them in their battle against the demons that he created the materialist doctrine and thereby deluded the demons. This story, Puranic in origin, can be traced back to a lateUpaniṣad,Maitrī. However, the story given in theViṣṇu Purāṇaand other sources does not contain anything specifically materialistic; all the heretical doctrines preached by Māyāmoha appear to be pre-existing; the Jains and the Buddhists are particularly mentioned, not the Lokāyatikas or the Cārvākas. More interestingly, in some other later sources, Bṛhaspati does not seem to be a god or a demi-god; he is as much a human as Kapila, Gautama and other founders of philosophical systems are. This trend of treating Bṛhaspati as a human is found in Kṛṣṇamiśra’s play, thePrabodhacandrodaya. He belongs to the camp of Kali. Whatever be the identity of Bṛhaspati, his attribution to materialism is inappropriate and has got nothing to do with the development of materialism in India.

scholarly journals Devotional Foundations of Earthly Sovereignty: Conceptualizing Sovereignty and the Role of Devotion in Narrative Political Theology in Premodern India

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 911
Author(s):  
Caleb Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Political Theology ◽  
The Political ◽  
New Model ◽  
Cosmic Scale ◽  
Narrative Literature ◽  
Visnu Purana ◽  
And Diffusion

The central premise of this article is that narrative literature from premodern India can give us insights into the ways that sovereignty was conceptualized within broader cosmological structures, creating what has been called “political theology” in other contexts. Looking to narratives for theology can give us particular insights into a tradition’s self-description. It is through narratives that Indian kings and their courts were able to describe the intentional-agential worlds of political hierarchies on a cosmic scale and situate themselves within this broader structure. This article, therefore, examines narratives from Purāṇas, particularly the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and the Dēvī Māhātmya, and dynastic foundational stories and genealogies from Karnataka found in vaṃśāvaḷis and epigraphic praśastis, using a twelfth-century Western Gaṅga inscription as an example, to see the political theologies from the premodern courts of India as they are articulated and performed in and between the realms of the divine and on Earth. After an examination of these materials, this article offers a new model to explain how premodern courts viewed their sovereignty vis-à-vis other divine and earthly sovereigns and how they understood the constitution, transfer, and diffusion of sovereignty throughout this cosmic spectrum of divine and earthly royalty through devotion and giving.

scholarly journals Antiquity of the divyakṣetras in Pāṇḍināḍu

1970 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
R.K.K Rajarajan
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
North India ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Visnu Purana ◽  
Later Phase

The Āḻvārs in their hymns, the Nālāyirativviyappirapantam, have listed 108 sacred venues or centers of worship of Viṣṇu in the Indian subcontinent, called divyadeśa. The 108 are brought under certain topographical segmentations such as Malaināḍu (Kerala), Pāṇḍinaḍu (south of River Kāviri), Cōḻanāḍu (Kāviri delta), Vaṭanāḍu (North India) and so on. Among these 18 are found in the Pāṇḍya country. The hymns present a cavalcade of data bearing on these sthala/kṣetras, dealing with the Mūrti, tīrtha, vkṣa, ecology, landscape, flora and fauna, pūjās and utsavas, mythologies bearing on Viṣṇu and so on. The impact of the Vedas and Sanskritic purāṇas such as the Harivaṃśa and Viṣṇu Purāṇa may be found in them. Besides, the Āḻvārs have recast the theme to the Tamil taste to suit the local cultural traditions. The present article presents a summary of data bearing on the 18 divyadeśas, trying to locate the roots in an ancient poem, called Paripāṭal. The date of the Āḻvārs is briefly discussed. Among the twelve only seven have extolled the divyadeśas in Pāṇḍināḍu. Of the 24 integral wings of the Nālāyiram eleven talk of these sthalas. The Āḻvārs have presented a picture of the deśas as they found these around the 6th-9th century CE. Later the temples under study have developed at the hands of the successive rulers of the land down to the 18th century CE. The photographic evidences we have presented relate to such a later phase while in some cases such as Tirumeyyam the early medieval rock-cut temples and images are to be found. The text is supported by maps and photographic evidences.

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