The Brahmayāmalatantra or Picumata vol. 1

Volume I: Chapters 1–2, 39–40 & 83. Revelation, Ritual, and Material Culture in an Early Śaiva Tantra

Shaman HATLEY

Collection : Collection Indologie

Collection's number: 133

Editor: Hatley (Shaman)

Edition: EFEO, Institut français de Pondichéry (IFP)

Publication date: 2018

Status : Available

70,00

ISBN-13 : 9782855392318

ISSN : 0073-8352

Width : 17.5 cm

Height : 25 cm

Weight : 1.339 kg

Number of pages : 708

Distributor : EFEO Diffusion, EFEO Pondichéry Contact : shanti@efeo-pondicherry.org

Geography : India

Language : English, Sanskrit

Place : Pondichéry

Support : Papier

Description :

XII+696, hardcover

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Abstract

The Brahmayāmala or Picumata is one of the earliest surviving goddess-oriented (śākta) tantras, its core probably dating back to the late seventh or early eighth century. Though long forgotten, it is thus crucial to understanding the early history of the Tantric traditions. Spanning more than twelve-thousand verses and 104 chapters, this monumental work is transmitted in a beautiful Nepalese palm-leaf manuscript of the eleventh century, which forms the principal basis for this critical edition. Complementing volume II, edited by Csaba Kiss in the same series, this volume includes the first published edition and annotated translation of five chapters of the Brahmayāmala. The volume also presents pioneering studies on topics these chapters illuminate: Tantric Śaiva conceptions of revelation and the canon, the history of Tantric coital ritual, the mythology of Bhairava, and the iconography and symbolism of the skull-staff (khaṭvāṅga). As with other texts published in the Early Tantra Series, study of the Brahmayāmala helps reshape our knowledge of Tantric Śaivism and religion in early medieval India.

Notes

You can also order this title at the following address:

shanti@efeo-pondicherry.org

About the editor

Hatley (Shaman)

After completing an interdisciplinary liberal arts degree at Goddard College (1998), Shaman Hatley studied Indology and Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, completing his doctorate in 2007 under the direction of Harunaga Isaacson. He taught at Concordia University, Montréal, from 2007 to 2015, and is now Associate Professor of Asian Studies and Religious Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. His research concerns Tantric Śaivism, yoga, and goddess cults in early medieval India.

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