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She is benevolent and nurturing, yet fierce and terrible, a warrior and a lover. She creates and gives life, is death personified, and the one who grants eternal salvation. She is the ultimate form of reality, the cosmos. The Goddess inspires deep devotion and it is not surprising to see Her being worshipped and revered across homes in India. Shakti delves into this rich tradition of the Divine Feminine as She is represented across India and the subcontinent. In Shakti, encounter the Goddess in all Her glory and numerous forms. Dive deep into Her fascinating mythology and rituals. Unravel the philosophy behind Her worship and Her adaptation within many belief systems. From the origins of the Goddess in the ancient civilization of Harappa to Her evolution and changed character in contemporary times, Shakti tells the complete story of the Goddess in a linear fashion. During the course of its narrative, it brings together the diverse threads from different cultures, regions, and traditions to create a wonderful web within which the Goddess can be perceived and understood.
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He's the destroyer of evil, the pervasive one in whom all things lie. He is brilliant, terrifying, wild and beneficent. He is both an ascetic and a householder, both a yogi and a guru. He encompasses the masculine and the feminine, the powerful and the graceful, the Tandava and the Laasya, the darkness and the light, the divine and the human. What can we learn from this bundle of contradictions, this dreadlocked yogi? How does he manage the devotions and duties of father, husband and man of the house, and the demands and supplications of a clamorous cosmos? In The Reluctant Family Man, Nilima Chitgopekar uses the life and personality of Shiva-his self-awareness, his marriage, his balance, his detachment, his contentment-to derive lessons that readers can practically apply to their own lives.With chapters broken down into distinct frames of analysis, she defines concepts of Shaivism and interprets their application in everyday life.
Na Punyam Na Papam, Na Saukhyam Na Duhkham Na Mantro Na Tirtham, Na Vedam Na Yajna Aham Bhojanam Naiva Bhojyam Na Bhokta Chidananda Rupah Shivoham Shivo Ham Beyond Sin And Virtue, Beyond Joy And Sorrow, Beyond Scripture, Ritual And Pilgrimage, And Beyond Familiar Experience. This Is Shiva, In Essence. Once Feared As The Capricious And Terrifying Rudra, Shiva, The Most Un-Brahmanic Of Gods, Has Traditionally Been Shunned By Orthodox Vedic Religion. Although The Shiva We Recognize Today Retains Much Of His Original Contrarian Nature, He Is Firmly Ensconced In Popular Imagination As The Awe-Inspiring Mahadeva, Supreme Lord Of The Universe. In A Unique Attempt To Explore The Varied Planes Of Tho...
He's the destroyer of evil, the pervasive one in whom all things lie. He is brilliant, terrifying, wild and beneficent. He is both an ascetic and a householder, both a yogi and a guru. He encompasses the masculine and the feminine, the powerful and the graceful, the Tandava and the Laasya, the darkness and the light, the divine and the human. What can we learn from this bundle of contradictions, this dreadlocked yogi? How does he manage the devotions and duties of father, husband and man of the house, and the demands and supplications of a clamorous cosmos? In The Reluctant Family Man, Nilima Chitgopekar uses the life and personality of Shiva-his self-awareness, his marriage, his balance, his detachment, his contentment-to derive lessons that readers can practically apply to their own lives.With chapters broken down into distinct frames of analysis, she defines concepts of Shaivism and interprets their application in everyday life.
Illustrations: 24 B/w Illustrations and 2 Maps Description: This book endeavours to signify a way by which the development of religion may be studied within the parameters of a defined geographical and chronological context. Encountering Sivaism has taken cognisance of the evolution of Siva's pantheon through the fluid process of cultural coalescence. The agencies of acculturation include the visual and the literary material. Art is looked at as an index to socio-religious change at macro and micro levels without restricting the study to specific doctrinal-theological developments, the focus has been on the rationale of religious developments in terms of the material mileu.
Shiva: Destroyer and Protector, Supreme Ascetic and Lord of the Universe. He is Ardhanarishwara, half-man and half-woman; he is Neelakantha, who drank poison to save the three worlds-and yet, when crazed with grief at the death of Sati, set about destroying them. Shiva holds within him the answers to some of the greatest dilemmas that have perplexed mankind. Who is Shiva? Why does he roam the world as a naked ascetic covered with ash? What was the tandava? What is the story behind the worship of the linga and what vision of the world does it signify? Namita Gokhale examines these questions and many others that lie within the myriad of stories about Shiva. Even as she unravels his complexities, she finds a philosophy and worldview that is terrifying and yet life affirming-an outlook that is to many the essence of Indian thought.
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 S...
Where have I come from? Where will I go when the body perishes? What is Reality? What is Maya? In the pursuit of Truth, one often contemplates the meaning of existence. What is life? Is there a mystery beyond life and death? Have I experienced countless universes before? How did it all start? How will it end? The Vedic Journey begins for the one whose heart resonates with the Grand Vedic Question – Who am I? Eye of Shiva – Beyond the Quantum Universe – explores ancient concepts such as: • Relative and Absolute Consciousness. • The field of experience generated by Prakriti. • The changing order of the observer and the observed. • The states of waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep. • The essence of ‘is’ and ‘is not’. • The condition of Kaivalya, and the Abode of Shiv. It brings forth the translations of Vijnan Bhairav Tantr and Kaivalya Upanishad, emphasizing the direct link between consciousness and the quantum worlds of relative realities.
In different stages in the history of South Asian religions, the term yoginī has been used in various contexts to designate various things: a female adept of yoga, a female tantric practitioner, a sorceress, a woman dedicated to a deity, or a certain category of female deities. This book brings together recent interdisciplinary perspectives on the medieval South Asian cults of the Yoginis, such as textual-philological, historical, art historical, indological, anthropological, ritual and terminological. The book discusses the medieval yoginī cult, as illustrated in early Śaiva tantric texts, and their representations in South Asian temple iconography. It looks at the roles and hypostases of yoginīs in contemporary religious traditions, as well as the transformations of yoginī-related ritual practices. In addition, this book systematizes the multiple meanings, and proposes definitions of the concept and models for integrating the semantic fields of ‘yoginī.’ Highlighting the importance of research from complementary disciplines for the exploration of complex themes in South Asian studies, this book is of interest to scholars of South Asian Studies and Religious Studies.