Devī: Goddesses of IndiaJohn Stratton Hawley, Donna Marie Wulff The monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have severely limited the portrayal of the divine as feminine. But in Hinduism "God" very often means "Goddess." This extraordinary collection explores twelve different Hindu goddesses, all of whom are in some way related to Devi, the Great Goddess. They range from the liquid goddess-energy of the River Ganges to the possessing, entrancing heat of Bhagavati and Seranvali. They are local, like Vindhyavasini, and global, like Kali; ancient, like Saranyu, and modern, like "Mother India." The collection combines analysis of texts with intensive fieldwork, allowing the reader to see how goddesses are worshiped in everyday life. In these compelling essays, the divine feminine in Hinduism is revealed as never before--fascinating, contradictory, powerful. |
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Devī: goddesses of India
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictEditors Hawley (religion, Barnard Coll.) and Wulff (religion, Brown Univ.) offer a collection of scholarly essays exploring the portrayals of 12 Hindu goddesses from a number of regions and time ... Read full review
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Amazing book with references to the holy scriptures, but an author with the name W is very oversmart
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appears asked associated authority become Bhagavati Bharat Mātā blood body called caste culture curse dance dark death deities demons described Devi Devi Mahatmya devotees divine earth especially essay example experience expression fact female festival Figure Finally follows Ganga girl give given Godavari Goddess gods hand head Hindu human husband important India interpretation Kāli Kerala known Krishna lead living Lord Māhātmya male manifest Mātā māyā means Mother myth narrative nature offer origin particular performance person pilgrimage play possession practice present Press Radha referred relation Religion religious represented ritual river sacred sakti Sanskrit sati seems serve sexual shrine Śiva social songs spiritual Śrī status story Studies symbol temple term tion tradition University various verse village Vindhya vision waters wife woman women worship young
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Page 140 - The Ganga, especially, is the river of India, beloved of her people, round which are intertwined her racial memories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumph, her victories and her defeats. She has been a symbol of India's age-long culture and civilization, ever-changing, ever-flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga. She reminds me of the snow-covered peaks and deep valleys of the Himalayas, which I have loved so much, and of the rich and vast plains below, where my life and work have been cast.
Page 140 - Jumna rivers in Allahabad ever since my childhood and, as I have grown older, this attachment has also grown. I have watched their varying moods as the seasons changed, and have often thought of the history and myth and tradition and song and story that have become attached to them through the long ages and become part of their flowing waters.
Page 25 - Kali, be with us. Violence, destruction, receive our homage. Help us to bring darkness into the light. To lift out the pain, the anger. Where it can be seen for what it is — The balance-wheel for our vulnerable, aching love. Put the wild hunger where it belongs. Within the act of creation. Crude power that forges a balance Between hate and love. Help us to be the always hopeful Gardeners of the spirit Who know that without darkness Nothing comes to birth As without light Nothing flowers. Bear the...
Page 129 - When they had made love she lay in his arms in the kunja grove. Suddenly she called his name and wept — as if she burned in the fire of separation. The gold was in her anchal but she looked afar for it! Where has he gone? Where has my love gone? O why has he left me alone? And she writhed on the ground in despair, only her pain kept her from fainting. Krishna was astonished and could not speak. Taking her beloved friend by the hand...
Page 36 - Then from Visnu's face, which was filled with rage, Came forth a great fiery splendor (tejas), (and also from the faces) of Brahma and Siva.
Page 290 - Section 2 suggests the futility of any effort to murder the goddess. The kingdom of Kali is within us deep. The built-in destroyer, the savage goddess. Wakes in the dark and takes away our sleep. She moves through the blood to poison gentleness. How then to set her free or come to terms With the volcano itself, the fierce power Erupting injuries, shrieking alarms? Kali among her skulls must have her hour.
Page 339 - Diana L Eck is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University...
Page 254 - In the third room a heavenly light radiates from "the map of a golden India — bright, beautiful, full of glory and dignity!" The Mahatma says, "This is our mother as she is destined to be.
Page 38 - Mann, the ascribed author, begins his account of the king as follows: lasting elements from Indra, the Wind, Yama, the Sun, Fire, Varuna, the Moon, and (Kubera) the Lord of Wealth. Because a king is made from particles of these lords of the gods, therefore he surpasses all living beings in brilliant energy...
Page 172 - In childhood a woman should be under her father's control, in youth under her husband's, and when her husband is dead, under her sons'.
Bibliographic information
| Title | Devī: Goddesses of India |
| Editors | John Stratton Hawley, Donna Marie Wulff |
| Publisher | Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1998 |
| ISBN | 8120814916, 9788120814912 |
| Length | 352 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |