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Author: Publisher: Nicolas-Hays, Inc. ISBN: 0892546166 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 407
Book Description
About 16 centuries ago, an unknown Indian author or authors gathered together the diverse threads of already ancient traditions and wove them into a verbal tapestry that today is still the central text for worshippers of the Hindu Devi, the Divine Mother. This spiritual classic, the Devimahatmya, addresses the perennial questions of the nature of the universe, humankind, and divinity. How are they related, how do we live in a world torn between good and evil, and how do we find lasting satisfaction and inner peace? These questions and their answers form the substance of the Devimahatmya. Its narrative of a dispossessed king, a merchant betrayed by the family he loves, and a seer whose teaching leads beyond existential suffering sets the stage for a trilogy of myths concerning the all-powerful Divine Mother, Durga, and the fierce battles she wages against throngs of demonic foes. In these allegories, her adversaries represent our all-too-human impulses toward power, possessions, and pleasure. The battlefields symbolize the field of human consciousness on which our lives' dramas play out in joy and sorrow, in wisdom and folly. The Devimahatmya speaks to us across the ages of the experiences and beliefs of our ancient ancestors. We sense their enchantment at nature's bounty and their terror before its destructive fury, their recognition of the good and evil in the human heart, and their understanding that everything in our experience is the expression of a greater reality, personified as the Divine Mother.
Author: Publisher: Nicolas-Hays, Inc. ISBN: 0892546166 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 407
Book Description
About 16 centuries ago, an unknown Indian author or authors gathered together the diverse threads of already ancient traditions and wove them into a verbal tapestry that today is still the central text for worshippers of the Hindu Devi, the Divine Mother. This spiritual classic, the Devimahatmya, addresses the perennial questions of the nature of the universe, humankind, and divinity. How are they related, how do we live in a world torn between good and evil, and how do we find lasting satisfaction and inner peace? These questions and their answers form the substance of the Devimahatmya. Its narrative of a dispossessed king, a merchant betrayed by the family he loves, and a seer whose teaching leads beyond existential suffering sets the stage for a trilogy of myths concerning the all-powerful Divine Mother, Durga, and the fierce battles she wages against throngs of demonic foes. In these allegories, her adversaries represent our all-too-human impulses toward power, possessions, and pleasure. The battlefields symbolize the field of human consciousness on which our lives' dramas play out in joy and sorrow, in wisdom and folly. The Devimahatmya speaks to us across the ages of the experiences and beliefs of our ancient ancestors. We sense their enchantment at nature's bounty and their terror before its destructive fury, their recognition of the good and evil in the human heart, and their understanding that everything in our experience is the expression of a greater reality, personified as the Divine Mother.
Author: Thomas B. Coburn Publisher: SUNY Press ISBN: 9780791404454 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 276
Book Description
Coburn provides a fresh and careful translation from the Sanskrit of this fifteen-hundred-year-old text. Drawing on field work and literary evidence, he illuminates the process by which the Devī-Māhātmya has attracted a vast number of commentaries and has become the best known Goddess-text in modern India, deeply embedded in the ritual of Goddess worship (especially in Tantra). Coburn answers the following questions among others: Is this document "scripture?" How is it that this text mediates the presence of the Goddess? What can we make of contemporary emphasis on oral recitation of the text rather than study of its written form? One comes away from Coburn's work with a sense of the historical integrity or wholeness of an extremely important religious development centered on a "text." The interaction between the text and later philosophical and religious developments such as those found in Advaita Vedanta and Tantra is quite illuminating. Relevant here are the issues of the writtenness and orality/aurality of 'scripture,' and the various ways by which a deposit of holy words such as the Devī-Māhātmya becomes effective, powerful, and inspirational in the lives of those who hold it sacred.
Author: Sinu Joseph Publisher: Notion Press ISBN: 1649198671 Category : Health & Fitness Languages : en Pages : 348
Book Description
The book ?tu Vidy? emerged in search of answers to questions asked by adolescent girls and women in India during the author’s interactions with them as part of Menstrual Health workshops, conducted over a span of a decade across rural India. In an attempt to decode menstrual practices, the author undertook a journey across India and studied various indigenous knowledge systems such as ?a?-Dar?ana, ?yurved, Tantra, Cakra, Y?g, ?gama ??stra, Jyotis?a ?a?stra, and several sub-texts from these categories. As a result, the book goes beyond just describing cultural practices and takes a deep dive into explaining the scientific and logical reasoning behind the origin of these practices. This book is for all Indian women who have unanswered questions pertaining to menstrual practices, for menstrual researchers who will find a treasure trove of potential areas for research pertaining to menstrual health, for sportswomen to discover the ancient techniques that worked in sync with women’s periods and not against it, and also for the feminist who assumes that cultural practices around menstruation are a taboo that needs to be done away with. The correct understanding of the science behind menstrual practices, as given in this book, will help women prevent menstrual difficulties, develop a positive attitude toward menstruation, and learn to work in sync with nature’s cycles. ?tu (pronounced as ruthu) is one of the terms for menstruation in Sanskrit. Vidy? means knowledge. ?tu Vidy? is the author’s attempt to bring together various indigenous knowledge systems that provide information about the science of menstruation, which is relevant even to this day.
Author: Vanamali Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1594777853 Category : Body, Mind & Spirit Languages : en Pages : 275
Book Description
Presents the mystery of the Divine Mother in all her manifold aspects • Explores more than 30 different goddess aspects of the Shakti force, both beneficial and malefic • Includes Sanskrit hymns and classic verses by Sri Auribindo for each of the goddesses Shakti is synonymous with the Devi, the Divine Mother or divine power that manifests, sustains, and transforms the universe. She is the womb of all creatures, and it is through her that the One becomes the many. Our first and primary relationship to the world is through the mother, the source of love, security, and nourishment. Extending this relationship to worship of a cosmic being as mother was a natural step found not only in the Shakti cult of Hinduism but also in ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Babylonian cultures. Shakti presents more than 30 goddess incarnations of the Divine Mother that represent both the beneficial and malefic aspects of the Shakti force. From Lakshmi, Parvati, and Saraswati to Durga, Chandika, and Kali--each of the different functions of the female goddesses in the Hindu pantheon is revealed, accompanied by traditional Sanskrit hymns, classic verses by Sri Auribindo, and discussions of tantric philosophy. The author draws from the Devi Bhagavatham, which describes all the stories of Shakti, and the Devi Mahatmyam, the most powerful scriptural text that glorifies Shakti in her form as Durga. Using these texts she shows that through the power and grace of the Divine Mother we may be released from the darkness of ignorance and taken to the abode of knowledge, immortality, and bliss--the source from which we have come.
Author: Vidya Dehejia Publisher: Prestel Publishing ISBN: Category : Architecture Languages : en Pages : 432
Book Description
"Devi, the Great Goddess of India, is beautiful, beneficent, terrifying, all-powerful, and glorious. Ubiquitous in India's social and spiritual fabric, she has, over the millennia, been painted, sculpted, carved, and wrought from silver and bronze in myriad shapes and forms. Devi: The Great Goddess brings together 120 of these diverse examples of Devi and a group of distinguished essayists who explore facets of Devi worship and tradition, including ritual, architecture, literature, history, and contemporary issues such as feminism and gender politics. The book appeals to readers compelled by the exploration and interpretation of the art, religion, and history of India."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Author: Ramesh Menon Publisher: books catalog ISBN: Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 536
Book Description
The Devi Bhagavatam is said to have been composed in Bengal in the sixth century CE, in twelve Parvas and 18,000 slokas. The text is only available in Bengali, with Hindi commentaries. It is replete with references to and legends from an obviously pre-Vedic religion of the Goddess. The Devi Bhagavatam is a Shakta Purana. It is for the Shakta what the Bhagavata Purana is for the Vaishnava: his or her most sacred book. The Shaktas worship Shakti, the Eternal Feminine, in all her forms. Devi is Kali and Durga; she is Saraswati, Mahalakshmi and Parvati; she is Sati, Sita and Radha. She is the Mother of the Universe; without her animating power, Shiva becomes shava, a corpse. This book is an abridged literary rendering of the Devi Bhagavatam. It retells all the major legends of the Goddess, as well as some other, less known tales.
Author: Swami Satyananda Saraswati Publisher: ISBN: 9781877795527 Category : Languages : en Pages : 394
Book Description
The name Chandi comes from the word "chand" which in Sanskrit means to tear apart. The spiritual meaning of Chandi is "She Who Tears Apart Thought." The recitation of the Chandi Path is designed to guide the reader's awareness into the presence of Chandi - the Divine Mother Herself - so that all conflict of mind may return to Peace.
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Author: Thomas B. Coburn
Author: Swami Sivananda
Author: Swami Jyotir Maya Nanda
Author: Thomas B. Coburn
Author: Sinu Joseph
Author: Vanamali
Author: Vidya Dehejia
Author: Ramesh Menon
Author: Swami Satyananda Saraswati