Studies in Hinduism III (Beitr'age Zur Kultur- Und Geistesgeschichte Asiens)

by Gerhard Oberhammer, Marion Rastelli

Following the first two volumes of "Studies in Hinduism" that discuss the relationship between the Vedic and the Hindu religions and the phenomenon of Tantra, this third volume deals with the religious traditions of Pancaratra and Visistadvaitavedanta. The first three contributions examine the transmission of the texts of Pancaratra. M. RASTELLI illustrates how the text of the Paramesvarasamhita was compiled from earlier Pancaratra works by means of the conception of the throne(asana) that is used for the worship of God. M. CZERNIAK-DROzDzOWICZ describes the eight-fold religious practice of a Pancartric devotee, which constitutes a structural element of the text of the Paramasamhita. Thematically related, G. OBERHAMMER's contribution on Pancaratra deals with the structure and the content of the twenty-fourth chapter of the Paramasamhita, which describes the vidvatpuja, the "worship [performed] by a wise one".\nThe volume's other three papers are devoted to the tradition of Visistadvaitavedanta, which is historically closely related to the Pancaratra. G. OBERHAMMER discusses Meghanadarisuri's concept of the goddess and its position in the history of ideas of the Ramanuja school. H. MARLEWICZ deals with the Visistadvaitavedanta polemics against the advaitic akhandavakyartha theory. M. SCHMUCKER describes the Ramanuja school's criticism of the advaitic teaching on the perceptibility of the being as such (sanmatra).

152 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2002