[INDOLOGY] On Devadāru Forest/lingam origin narratives...

Mon Apr 1 06:28:54 UTC 2024

Dear Westin,

You may also want to have a look at the three articles by Wilhelm Jahn on
the subject: 'Die Legende vom Devadāruvana', published in 3 parts in
*Zeitschrift
der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, *volumes 69-71 (1915-17).

It also forms a major element in the South Indian *Cidambaramāhātmya*, for
which see Hermann Kulke, *Cidambaramāhātmya: Eine Untersuchung der
religionsgeschichtlichen und historischen Hintergründe für die Entstehung
der Tradition einer südindischen Tempelstadt*, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz,
1970.

The earliest version may well be that recorded in the early *Skandapurāṇa*,
chapter 167 (verses 72-80), edited and discussed with reference to other
sources in my own book *Early Śaivism and the Skandapurāṇa: Sects and
Centers* (Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 2006).

I hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Peter Bisschop

——

Peter C. Bisschop

Professor of Sanskrit and Ancient Cultures of South Asia

Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS)

Matthias de Vrieshof 3 / 2311 BZ Leiden / The Netherlands

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/peter-bisschop#tab-1

copies of my publications are available for download at

https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/PeterBisschop

ERC PURANA project (2022-2027)

https://purana.pubpub.org/

On Mon, Apr 1, 2024 at 7:27 AM Westin Harris via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Thank you all for replying on and off the list.
>
> Here is our Pine Forest survival kit at present time:
>
> Doniger, Wendy. *Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Śiva*.
> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973).
>
> - Especially chapter 6.
>
>
> ——. *Śiva: The Erotic Ascetic* (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981).
>
> - Especially chapter 6.
>
>
> Handelman, Don, and David Shulman. *Śiva in the Forest of Pines: An Essay
> on Sorcery and Self-Knowledge* (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
>
>
> ——. *God Inside Out: Śiva’s Game of Dice* (Oxford: Oxford University
> Press, 1997).
>
> - Re: the Pine Forest episode’s relationship with Siva’s dice game
> narratives.
>
>
> Kramrisch, Stella. *The Presence of Śiva* (Princeton: Princeton
> University Press, 1981).
>
> - Especially chapter 7.
>
>
> Pathak, Shubha. “Shifting Śāstric Śiva: Co-operating Epic Mythology and
> Philosophy in India’s Classical Period,” *International Journal of Hindu
> Studies* 27, no. 2 (2023): 173–212. (
> https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-022-09337-8).
>
>
>
> *Sincerely,*
>
> *Westin Harris*
> Ph.D. Candidate
> Study of Religion
> University of California, Davis
> https://religionsgrad.ucdavis.edu/people/westin-harris
> <https://religions.ucdavis.edu/people/westin-harris>
>
> 2021 Dissertation Fellow,
> The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies
>
> Sarva Mangalam.
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 31, 2024 at 5:34 PM Shubha Pathak <pathak at american.edu> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear Westin et al.,
>>
>> Two relevant secondary sources with which to start, if you have not
>> already done so, are *Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Śiva *by
>> Wendy Doniger [O'Flaherty] and *Śiva in the Forest of Pines: An Essay on
>> Sorcery and Self-Knowledge *by Don Handelman and David Shulman.  I
>> discuss both books in my article "Shifting Śāstric Śiva: Co-operating
>> Epic Mythology and Philosophy in India’s Classical Period,” *International
>> Journal of Hindu Studies *27, no. 2 (2023): 173–212 (
>> https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-022-09337-8).
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Shubha
>>
>>
>>
>> –––
>> Shubha Pathak, PhD, PhD
>> Associate Professor
>> Department of Philosophy and Religion
>> American University
>> Battelle-Tompkins 113
>> 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
>> Washington, DC 20016-8056
>>
>> Phone: 202-885-2957
>> Fax: 202-885-1094
>> E-mail: pathak at american.edu
>> Web pages: http://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/pathak.cfm
>>
>>                     https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4087-0601
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
>> Westin Harris via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 26, 2024 7:37 PM
>> *To:* INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
>> *Subject:* [INDOLOGY] On Devadāru Forest/lingam origin narratives...
>>
>>
>> *External Email:* Use caution with links and attachments.
>> Dear Indologists,
>>
>> I thought there would already be a thread on this topic, but my searches
>> of the archives came up fruitless.
>>
>> I am looking to learn more about narratives of Śiva in the Devadāru
>> forest (cavorting with the sage's wives and rebuking the sages) as an
>> origin story for the worship of *śivaliṅga*s.
>>
>>    - What are the oldest datable examples of the Devadāru forest
>>    narrative and/as the origin story for liṅga worship? (Purāṇas or otherwise?)
>>    - I have heard contemporary traditions (especially in the South)
>>    refer to this form of Śiva as Bhikṣāṭana. Is this epithet attested in the
>>    earliest sources, or does it develop later?
>>    - I have also heard the Devadāru/Bhikṣāṭana Śiva associated with
>>    narratives of Śiva's penance after beheading Brahmā. Is the Devadāru forest
>>    narrative often associated with Śiva's brahmanicidal episode, or is this
>>    connection less common? (It seems to me that the Devadāru forest narrative
>>    already hinges on topoi like transgression and expiation, as Śiva rebukes
>>    the sages for their transgressions but then provides his *liṅgam* as
>>    a means to absolution, so I could see how the two vignettes might naturally
>>    overlap).
>>
>> As a disclaimer, I fully understand that dating puranic stories is often
>> a nonstarter. Therefore, speaking of "earlier" and "later," or "often" and
>> "common," can already be problematic. Still, I am hardly an expert in the
>> vast puranic corpus, so any help is much appreciated.
>>
>> Thank you all.
>>
>> *Sincerely,*
>>
>> *Westin Harris*
>> Ph.D. Candidate
>> Study of Religion
>> University of California, Davis
>> https://religionsgrad.ucdavis.edu/people/westin-harris
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://religions.ucdavis.edu/people/westin-harris__;!!IaT_gp1N!z0fk4xkDOBelVfgs03mUfT0d104Kt2jbVRzc1OE22ZUacxepf_L2JSAI5-VilvnFCm1I0mGvXzawqOQj4BSjfV2StFax$>
>>
>> 2021 Dissertation Fellow,
>> The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies
>>
>> Sarva Mangalam.
>>
>
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