The Teachings of the Śivadharma

Studies on the History of Śaivism 2, 2021

Śivadharmāṃrta, ‘The Nectar of Śiva’s Religion’, is a collection of articles that present some of the initial results of the research on the Śivadharma carried out by the SHIVADHARMA and DHARMA projects. All the contributions in this book are based on the study of primary sources and cover topics that range from specific aspects of the Sanskrit texts of the Śivadharma corpus to their broad network of influence and from considerations of the early historical context in which the Śivadharma might have arisen to the early modern Tamil adaptations of the Śivadharmottara. This book should be of interest to all scholars working on the religious traditions of South Asia, especially those focussing on textual sources.

Studies on the History of Śaivism, 1. University of Napoli L’Orientale Press., 2021

A Śaiva Utopia centers on the eleventh chapter of the Śivadharmaśāstra, known as the Chapter on Śiva’s Discipline (Śivāśramādhyāya). A critical edition and annotated English translation of the Sanskrit text of this chapter is preceded by a comprehensive study of the Śivadharma’s revision of the Brahmanical ‘laws on class and discipline’ (varṇāśramadharma), tracing its utopian vision of a society bound by Śiva devotion. An edition and English translation of a Sanskrit commentary on the chapter, preserved on a unique palm leaf manuscript in Malayalam script, is included as well. The book concludes with an appendix, which addresses the revision of the Śivāśramādhyāya in the Bhaviṣyapurāṇa, where the Śivadharma has been turned into a Sauradharma ('religion of the Sun'). A Śaiva Utopia should be of interest to all historians of Indian religions.

The article introduces chapter 6 of the Śivadharmaśāstra which contains a lengthy mantra invoking all cosmic powers and deities for appeasement (śānti). Following a brief introduction to the Śivadharma corpus of texts, the form and characteristics of the mantra are illustrated by means of a few examples of invocations to individual deities. The mantra includes references to various iconographical and mythological aspects of the deities invoked that can be used fruitfully for historical research into their development. It is argued that the invocation systematically presents all deities and powers as oriented towards Śiva, thus establishing the authority of Śaivism. A brief discussion on the use of the mantra as attested in the Śivadharma and in inscriptions concludes the article. It is shown that the mantra was specifically used for securing the wellbeing of the kingdom ruled by a Śaiva king.

This panel focuses on topics that contribute towards a more differentiated understanding of the various Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva devotional communities and their interface in early medieval South-Asia (ca. 5th-12th centuries CE). One of the main objectives of these papers is to understand the emergence and process of the literary production of the Vaiṣṇavas and Śaivas and to identify religious groups and their motivations behind these texts. In particular, our focus is on relevant sections of the Mahābhārata, the collection of texts designed to provide social norms and systems of practices for their respective communities of devotees, such as the Viṣṇudharma or Śivadharmaśāstra, as well as texts of contemporaneous initiatory traditions, such as those of the early Pañcarātras. This panel thus hosts two kinds of papers: firstly, those on specific topics within each system, which can be used as a basis for comparison; secondly, papers that directly address the comparative aspects, including those dealing with textual relations, cases of reuse, and direct textual influence. By identifying points of convergence and divergence between these religious groups, the papers aim to bring into focus the boundaries and interface, or even levels of syncretism, regarding Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva communities in this dynamic period which saw the rise of devotional movements.

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta is a groundbreaking volume of sixteen newly commissioned chapters written by leading international scholars of Vedānta. The volume highlights the diversity of philosophical traditions within Vedānta, exploring their contemporary relevance and charting out new directions for research. Contributors include Neil Dalal, Marcus Schmücker, Michael Williams, Ravi M. Gupta, Jeffery D. Long, Stephen Phillips, Andrew J. Nicholson, Ankur Barua, Klara Hedling, Francis X. Clooney, Daniel Raveh, Anand Vaidya, Ethan Mills, Arindam Chakrabarti, and Ayon Maharaj. The hardcover edition of the book will be available on 25 June 2020. Endorsements: “"Showcasing material from a commendably wide range of Vedāntin traditions and time periods, this Research Handbook provides tantalising tasters of intra-Vedāntin debates, ways of approaching texts, and modes of engaging Vedānta in cross-cultural conversations. With orienting introductions and bibliographies opening up the work of other important scholars in the field, this collection should provoke further specialist investigations and prove a rich source for those who are not specialists in Vedānta but would like to engage with these Indian examples of Asian Philosophy.”” – Jacqueline Suthren Hirst, Honorary Research Fellow in South Asian Studies, University of Manchester, UK “The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta brings the work of scholars shaping the field of Indian philosophy into a volume that presses forward into the future of Vedānta scholarship. The book refutes misconceptions, and corrects for the historical imbalance in the coverage of this diverse set of traditions, by covering the philosophy of Viśiṣṭādvaita, Dvaitādvaita, Bhedābheda, and Advaita too, ranging from the earliest authoritative texts of the traditions to the most influential modern and contemporary thinkers. Ayon Maharaj's precise overview of Vedānta in the introduction makes the book accessible to the eager, beginning student of Indian philosophy, even as the articles push the reader into unexplored material, original theses, and innovative cross-cultural work. The book deserves a place among even small collections of contemporary research on Indian philosophy.” – Christopher Framarin, Professor of Philosophy, University of Calgary, Canada

Oxford University Press, 2023

This book examines the life of a nineteenth- to early twentieth-century Tamil yogin named Sri Sabhapati Swami (Śrī Sabhāpati Svāmī or Capāpati Cuvāmikaḷ, ca. 1828-1923/4) and his unique English, Tamil, Hindi, and Bengali literature on a Sanskrit-based system of yogic meditation known as the "Rājayoga for Śiva" (Tamil: civarājayōkam, Sanskrit: śivarājayoga), the full experience of which is compared to being like a "tree universally spread." Its practice was based on a unique synthesis of Tamil Vīraśaiva and Siddhar cosmologies in the colonial period, and the yogic literature in which it is found was designed to have universal appeal across boundaries of caste, gender, and sectarian affiliation. His works, all of which are here analyzed together for the first time, are an important record in the history of yoga, print culture, and art history due to his vividly-illustrated and numbered diagrams on the yogic body with its subtle physiology. This book opens with a biographical account of Sabhapati, his editor Shrish Chandra Basu, and his students as gleaned from textual sources and the author's ethnographic field work. Sabhapati's literature in various languages is then analyzed, followed by a comprehensive exposition of his Śaiva cosmology and religious theories. Sabhapati's system of Śivarājayoga and its subtle physiology is then treated in detail, followed by an analysis of Sabhapati's aesthetic integration of aural sound and visual diagrams and an evaluation of the role of "science" in the swami's literature. Sabhapati also appealed to global authors and occultists outside of South Asia, so special attention is additionally given to his encounter with the founders of the Theosophical Society and the integration of his techniques into the thelemic "Magick" of Aleister Crowley, the German translation of Bavarian theosophical novelist Franz Hartmann, and the American publication of New Thought entrepreneur William Estep. To these are appended a never-before-translated Tamil hagiography of Sabhapati's life, a lexicon in table-form that compiles some archaic variants and Roman transliterations of technical terms used in his work, and a critically-edited passage on an innovative technique of Śivarājayoga that included visualizing the yogic central channel as a lithic "pole."

2003

Daisaku Ikeda, the president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), and Ved P. Nanda, the renowned scholar of international law and vice provost and professor at the University of Denver, are currently collaborating, via correspondence, on the publication of their dialogues. The dialogues between the two leaders took place during their meetings in 1994, 1996, and 1997. During the professor’s 1997 visit to Japan, an agreement was reached to publish the dialogues. Since then, the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 have plunged the world into a frightening new era, revealing an underlying virulent animosity pushing civilizations toward conflict, and compelling humanity in the 21st century to pursue the well-being of all the world’s peoples and build a harmonious global society through dialogue between the civilizations. In their dialogues, President Ikeda and Professor Nanda discuss how to awaken in humanity a vision of hope as they explore the following themes from the viewpoint of Bu...

Journal of Dharma Studies, 2018

The concept of the Journal of Dharma Studies arose from the scholarship produced by a learned society, the Dharma Academy of North America (DANAM), 1 which has been meeting annually for over fifteen years in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). Over this time, nearly a thousand scholars have participated in or attended the conferences of DANAM and helped foster analytical-constructive and translational research and scholarship on various fields and sub-disciplines. These include philosophy, theologies, ethics, epistemologies, hermeneutics, semiotics, esthetics, asceticism, praxis, metaphysics, musicology, gender, classical literature, and direct responses to critical planetary challenges-all of which comprise the diverse expressions of the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist religious traditions. Perhaps, most importantly, the DANAM School of Thought has developed, for methodological and pedagogical use, the terms BDharma Traditions^ and BDharma Studies^-that is, the (i) singular, (ii) interrelated (inter-Dharma), and (iii) dialogical (interreligious) academic study of the three traditions that emerged in ancient India but are, at present, global in scope and experience. Arguably, the most important rationales for the development of the term were to: i. Avoid the conflation of the study of the Dharma Traditions with Area Studies in order to highlight the international and variegated expressions of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain thought and practice. ii. Examine the shared histories, categories, significance of commonly held philosophical assumptions, epistemic methodologies, and practices, as well as two millennia of mutual illumination and cross fertilization, between the Dharma Traditions.