[INDOLOGY] "vIraka"

[Valerie J Roebuck]

I haven't got a reference for it, but I have a distant memory of seeing it used in South Indian iconography as the name of a member of Śiva's entourage - possibly Nandin in human form with a bull's head?

Valerie J Roebuck
Manchester, UK

On 10 Aug 2013, at 17:16, Andrew Nicholson <andrew.nicholson at stonybrook.edu> wrote:

> Dear learned colleagues,
> 
> In Kurma Purana 2.7 there is a section praising Siva, in which classes
> of beings are named and he is identified with the best in each of
> those classes; this is similar to the section extolling Krsna at BhG
> 10.21-39.
> 
> In the final quarter of 2.7.10 is "gaNeSAnAM ca vIrakaH". Can any of
> you help me identify who this "vIraka" (mannikin, little man) is? Is
> it a reference to some specific form of Siva, or perhaps to Skanda or
> Ganapati himself?
> 
> Many thanks for your help.
> 
> Andrew
> ___________________________________
> Andrew J. Nicholson
> Associate Professor
> Dept. of Asian and Asian American Studies
> and Dept. of Philosophy
> SUNY Stony Brook
> Stony Brook, NY 11794-5343  USA
> Tel: (631) 632-4030  Fax: (631) 632-4098
> 
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