[INDOLOGY] New book jointly published by the Institut Français de Pondichéry/Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient/Asien-Afrika-Institut, Universität Hamburg

[Anurupa Naik]

*JUST RELEASED
*

**

*/Early Tantric Vaiṣṇavism: Three Newly Discovered Works of the 
Pañcarātra. The Svāyambhuvapañcarātra, Devāmṛtapañcarātra and 
Aṣṭādaśavidhāna/**//*

Critically edited from their 11th- and 12th-century Nepalese palm-leaf 
manuscripts with an Introduction and Notes by Diwakar Acharya. 
Collection Indologie n˚ 129; Early Tantra Series n˚ 2, Institut Français 
de Pondichéry / Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient / 
Asien-Afrika-Institut, Universität Hamburg, lxxxvi, 229 p.

Language: Sanskrit, English. *700 Rs (30 *€*). *ISBN: 978-81-8470-206-4 
(IFP) / 978-2-85539-152-6 (EFEO).

The three works presented in this volume are hitherto unpublished texts 
of great significance for the early history of tantric Vaiṣṇavism, and 
we have grounds for supposing that they are older than any hitherto 
published Vaiṣṇava Tantras. They preserve archaic elements not found in 
other Pañcarātra works, such as Vaiṣṇava /brahma-mantra/s styled after 
the Pāśupata ones, and the veneration of eight heroes of the Vṛṣṇi clan, 
as well as of the pentad of Varāha, Narasiṃha, Trivikrama, Vāmana, and 
Vasudeva. Their ritual makes profuse use of Vedic mantras, one of them 
even requiring the installation of Vedic hymns (rather than tantric 
mantras!) chosen from each of the ten /maṇḍala/s of the /Ṛgveda/ in 
every image of Viṣṇu. In a spirit rare in the Vaiṣṇava traditions of the 
second millennium, these scriptures call on devotees to identify Brahmā, 
Viṣṇu and Śiva. They thus present a picture of Tantric Vaiṣṇavism in the 
first millennium AD as imbricated with Śaivism and Brahmanism and tell 
us much about the early history of tantrism and of Hinduism in general.

The first and third of these texts are transmitted to us in a single 
palm-leaf manuscript dated to Nepal Samvat 147 (1027 AD), and the second 
in a slightly newer and undated one, both from the treasure trove of the 
National Archives, Kathmandu. This volume contains a first edition of 
these texts with a detailed introduction, including an English synopsis, 
along with text-critical notes and indices, as well as facsimiles of the 
manuscript leaves.

*Keywords:*Mantramārga, Vaiṣṇavism, Pañcarātra, Early Tantra, Ritual

**

*About the Editor*

**

*Diwakar**Acharya* studied Sanskrit with traditional teachers beginning 
with his father and at universities in Nepal, India, and Germany. He 
started his teaching career in 1993 in Nepal and is currently teaching 
Indian philosophy and classical Sanskrit studies at Kyoto University, 
Japan. His research covers a wide range of topics in Sanskrit 
literature, Indian religious and philosophical traditions, and the early 
history of Nepal. He has published /Vācaspatimiśra’s Tattvasamīkṣā: The 
Earliest Commentary on Maṇḍanamiśra’s Brahmasiddhi/ (2006) and /The 
Little Clay Cart/ (2009), as well as a number of articles in journals 
and anthologies.

*To order, contact:*

Institut Français de Pondichéry

P. B. 33, 11, St. Louis Street,

Pondicherry-605001, INDIA

Ph: +91-413-2231660 / 661.
Fax: +91 413-2231605

E-mail: library at ifpindia.org <mailto:library at ifpindia.org>

*Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient*

P.O. Box 151,16 & 19, Dumas Street

Pondicherry - 605001,INDIA

Ph: +91-413-2334539.
Fax +91-413-2330886

E-mail: shanti at efeo-pondicherry.org <mailto:shanti at efeo-pondicherry.org>


-- 
Ms. Anurupa Naik
Head, Library and Publication Division
French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP)
UMIFRE 21 CNRS-MAEE
P.B. 33
11, St. Louis Street
Pondicherry-605 001, INDIA

Tel: 91-413-2231660
Fax: 91-413-2231605
e-mail:anurupa.n at ifpindia.org
website:www.ifpindia.org

  









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