E-Book Content
A HISTORY OF INDIAN LITERATURE JAN GONDA MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS LITERATURE IN SANSKRIT OTTO HARRASSOWITZ • WIESBADEN JAN GONDA MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS LITERATURE IN SANSKRIT 1977 OTTO HARRASSOWITZ • WIESBADEN A HISTORY OF INDIAN LITERATURE Contents of Vol. II Vol. II: Fasc. 1: Epics and Sanskrit Religious Literature J. Gonda Medieval Religious Literature in Sanskrifc O. Botto Sanskrit Epics L. Rocher Pur anas T.Goudriaan and S.Gupta Tantrist Literature CIP-Kurztitelaufnahme der deutschen Bibliothek A history of Indian literature / ed. by Jan Gonda. - Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz. NE: Gonda , Jan [Hrsg.] Vol. 2. Epics and Sanskrit religious literature. Fasc. 1. -> Gonda , Jan : Medieval religious literature in Sanskrit Gonda , Jan Medieval religious literature in Sanskrit. - Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, 1977. (A history of Indian literature: Vol. 2., Ease. 1.) ISBN 3-447-01743-0 €> Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Photoeraphische und photomechaniache Wiedergabe nur mit ausdruckJJcher Genehmigung des Verlages. Gesamtherstellung: Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, Printed in Germany Sigel: H I L CONTENTS CHAPTER I CHAPTER II General Introduction. The Agamas 1 Visnuism 7 CHAPTER III Bhakti 10 CHAPTER IV The Pafiearatra Samhitas: introduction, name, chronology, geography 39 CHAPTER V The Pafiearatra Samhitas: contents 57 CHAPTER VI A survey of the main Samhitas extant 87 CHAPTER VII The Pafiearatra Samhitas: their relations with the earlier religious Sanskrit literature .. .. 108 CHAPTER VIII The Pafiearatra Samhitas: structure, themes, motifs, style 117 CHAPTER IX CHAPTER X Vaikhanasa literature 140 Sivaism 153 CHAPTER XI The Sivaite Agama literature 163 CHAPTER XII The individual Agamas 180 CHAPTER XIII Pasupatas, Natha-Yogins, worshippers of Dattatreya, Vira-Saivas CHAPTER XIV Stotra literature CHAPTER XV Gitas, mahatmyas and other religious literature . . 216 232 . . 271 Glossary 287 Abbreviations 289 Index 294 Jan Gonda MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS LITERATURE IN SANSKRIT CHAPTER I GENERAL INTRODUCTION. THE AGAMAS The subject of this fascicle, medieval religious literature in Sanskrit, is varied and wide in scope, including an almost countless number of mainly Visnuite and !§ivaite hymns, treatises, ritual manuals, commentaries and ancillary writings. A considerable part of these works has not yet attracted the attention which they deserve; regrettably enough, most Indologists are not, or not much, interested in these important sources of knowledge of India's living religions. Many texts have not even found an editor; translations are few in number. That is why the following pages can hardly be expected to offer the reader more than a survey of this literature so far as the publication of texts, the limited number of translations, and the books and other studies written by predecessors and obtainable in Europe have made it known to the present author. Attention will be focussed mainly on the contents of the works discussed, their significance, influence and position both from the point of view of the historian of Sanskrit literature and from the angle of the student of Indian religions. These texts are in fact first and foremost documents of religions which in many respects differ from th