Auspicious Wisdom: The Texts and Traditions of Srividya Sakta Tantrism in South India

Douglas Renfrew Brooks

SUNY Press, Jan 1, 1992 - Religion - 301 pages

Rooting itself in Kashmir Shaivism, Srividya became a force in South India no later than the seventh century, and eventually supplanted the Trika as the dominant Tantric tradition in Kashmir. This is the first comprehensive study of the texts and traditions of this influential school of goddess-centered, Sakta, Tantrism. Centering on the goddess's three manifestations--the beneficent deity Lalita Tripurasundari, her mantra, and the visually striking sricakra--Srividya creates a systematic esoteric discipline that combines elements of the yogas of knowledge, of devotion, and of ritual. Utilizing canonical works, historical commentaires, and the interpretive insights of living practitioners, this book explores the theological and ritual theories that form the basis for Srividya practice and offers new methods for critical and comparative studies of esoteric Hinduism.

Contents

• KULA TANTRISM AND ŚRĪVIDYĀ TRADITION: 11
• GODDESS WORSHIP IN THE ŚRĪKULA TANTRAS: 16
• ŚRĪVIDYĀ WITHIN AND BEYOND KULA TANTRISM: 18
• EARLIEST HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR ŚRĪVIDYĀ IN TAMIL LITERATURE: 29
• ŚRĪVIDYĀ IN TEXT AND HISTORY: 37
• THE ŚRĪKULA TANTRAS AND OTHER EARLY SOURCES: 38
• GAUḌAPĀDA ŚAṄKARA AND THE ŚĀṄKARA TRADITION: 43
• RITUAL SOURCE BOOKS TREATISES AND LATER TRADITION: 50
• REGIONAL AND VERNACULAR SOURCES OF ŚRĪVIDYĀ AND FURTHER REMARKS ON THE CONCEPT OF AUTHORITY AND SCRIPTURE: 56
• THE GODDESS LALITĀ MAHĀTRIPURASUNDARĪ THE STHŪLA ASPECT: 59
• THE MAKING OF A GREAT GODDESS: 60
• THE ICONOGRAPHIC AND MYTHIC LALITĀ IN SOUTH INDIAN TEMPLES: 71
• THE ESOTERIC INTERPRETATION OF LALITĀS IMAGE AND MYTHOLOGY: 74
• THE ŚRĪVIDYĀ MANTRA ŚRĪVIDYĀ: 81
• INTERPRETING THE CANON OF SIGNS: 82
• MYTHICAL AND HISTORICAL DERIVATION OF THE ŚRĪVIDYĀ: 86
• KĀDI AND HĀDI VIDYĀS: 89
• THE ŚRĪVIDYĀ ŚĀKTA SPECULATIONS AND TRIADIC SYMBOLISM: 90
• THE ŚRĪVIDYĀ VEDIC GĀYATRĪ AND VEDIC TRADITIONS: 92
• ESOTERIC MEANINGS OF THE ŚRĪVIDYĀ: 97
• THE ŚRĪVIDYĀ APPENDED TO OTHER MANTRAS: 103
• TRIPURĀ UPANIŞAD HĀDI AND KĀDI VIDYĀ: 104
• THE SIXTEEN SYLLABLE FORM OF THE ŚRĪVIDYĀ: 107
• THE MEANING OF THE VIDYĀ INITIATION AND OTHER MANTRAS: 108
• SECRECY AND THE ARTICULATION OF THE MANTRA: 111
• ŚRĪCAKRA THE TRANSCENDENT ASPECT OF DEVĪ: 115
• CREATION AS THE FORM OF GOD: 121
• THE ŚRĪCAKRA DEITIES: 123
• INTERPRETING TANTRIC RITUAL: 147
• ACQUIRING POWER BY EXPLOITING INCONGRUITY: 149
• THE FIVEFOLD STRUCTURE OF ŚRĪVIDYĀ RITUAL: 151
• TANTRIC SCHOLARSHIP AND MODES OF COMPARISON: 162
• TANTRIC AND NONTANTRIC WORLDS OF CONVERGENCE AND DISJUNCTURE: 166
• CONVERGENT AND UTOPIC MAPS OF THE WORLD: 167
• RITUAL STRATEGIES AND OBJECTIVES: 173
• THE RELIGIOUS VIRTUOSI: 183
• APPENDIX OF DIAGRAMS: 189
• NOTES: 201
• BIBLIOGRAPHY: 257

Popular passages

Page xix - Ritual is a means of performing the way things ought to be in conscious tension to the way things are in such a way that this ritualized perfection is recollected in the ordinary, uncontrolled, course of things.

Page xvii - We seem to have an infallible paradigm of identity in the identity of a thing with itself. I feel like saying: "Here at any rate there can't be a variety of interpretations. If you are seeing a thing you are seeing identity too".

About the author

Douglas Renfrew Brooks is Assistant Professor of Religion and Director of Asian Studies, University of Rochester. Brook's textual and historical investigations of Sakta tantrism are augmented by extensive field work and experience among contemporary practitioners. He is also the author of The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction to Hindu Sakta Tantrism.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Auspicious Wisdom: The Texts and Traditions of Srividya Sakta Tantrism in South India; SUNY Series in Medieval Studie; SUNY series in tantric studies
• Author: Douglas Renfrew Brooks
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: SUNY Press, 1992
• ISBN: 0791411451, 9780791411452
• Length: 301 pages
• Subjects: Religion / General; Religion / Hinduism / General