Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the publication of the following volume:

Paths to Liberation in Hindu Traditions. Edited by Cristina Pecchia, Marion Rastelli and Vincent Eltschinger. (Brill’s Indological Library 66). Leiden 2026.

This volume presents new studies on the descriptions and discussions of the path to liberation in different Hindu traditions. The first part examines path-related contents in the works of three philosophers, namely the Vaiśeṣika Praśastapāda, the Śaiva Utpaladeva, and the Viśiṣṭādvaita Veṅkaṭanātha. The second part shows how path-oriented practices and theistic views are related with soteriological goals in the Pāśupata, Pañcarātra, and Purāṇic traditions. Overall, the essays illustrate the diversity and complexity of the discourse on the path to liberation, offering new insights into the religious and philosophical map of premodern South Asia.

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments vii

List of Tables viii

1 Paths to Liberation in Hindu Traditions: Introduction 1

Cristina Pecchia

2 The Vaiśeṣika Path to Liberation in Context 31

Johannes Bronkhorst

3 Inventing a Śaiva Way to Liberation? Utpaladeva’s “New Path” 53

Isabelle Ratié

4 Amazing Grace: the Path to Liberation in Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta and Especially in the Work of Veṅkaṭanātha 104

Elisa Freschi

5 The Pāśupata Path of Liberational Death 119

Peter C. Bisschop

6 Is Ritual Initiation Sufficient to Achieve Salvation? Paths to Liberation in the Pāñcarātra Tradition 140

Marion Rastelli

7 “The Path is the Goal”: Liberating Practices in the Viṣṇupurāṇa and the Narasiṃhapurāṇa 187

Peter Schreiner

Index 219

With best regards,

Marion Rastelli

Mag.Dr. Marion Rastelli

Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia

Austrian Academy of Sciences

Dominikanerbastei 16 / 4th floor

1010 Vienna

Austria

Phone +43 1 51581 6417

Postal address:

Mag.Dr. Marion Rastelli

Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia

Austrian Academy of Sciences

Wiesingerstrasse 4

1010 Vienna

Austria