Grim grimoires : pragmatic ritual in the magic tantras
- Degree Grantor:
- University of California, Santa Barbara. Religious Studies
- Degree Supervisor:
- David G. White
- Place of Publication:
- [Santa Barbara, Calif.]
- Publisher:
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Creation Date:
- 2016
- Issued Date:
- 2016
- Topics:
- South Asian studies and Religion
- Keywords:
- Jainism,
Magic,
Buddhism,
Tantra,
Hinduism, and
Ritual - Genres:
- Online resources and Dissertations, Academic
- Dissertation:
- Ph.D.--University of California, Santa Barbara, 2016
- Description:
But magic was not unique to Saiva sources. Two circa tenth-century Digambara Jain tantras from Karnataka describe all the six results procedures, namely the Bhairavapadmavat ikalpa and the Jv alamalinikalpa. The two Jain tantras represent a curious backwater of medieval Jain ritual culture in which pragmatic rituals for aggressive, martial, and even erotic ends are prescribed without concern for normative Jain ideology on non-violence and asceticism. Titular goddesses Padmavat i and Jvalam alini are Jain deities suited for the agonistic, medieval world in which Saivas, Buddhists, and Jains competed to secure royal patronage and vied for popularity in contentious religious marketplaces. Presenting six results lore in these texts uncovers a Jain tradition of magic that has never been thoroughly studied and demonstrates contiguity with Saiva tantra traditions, especially Srividya. A full translation of the Bhairavpadmavat ikalpa is appended to this dissertation.
Finally I depart from Saivism and Jainism and turn to the Buddhist Bhutad&dotbelow;amaratantra, whose main ritual concern is conjuring, the third constituent in my definition of magic. The tantra opens by describing Buddhist Vajradhara/Vajrap an&dotbelow;i dominating Mahesvara, forcing to Saiva god to convert to Buddhism and to support Buddhism, to support Buddhists, and to protect all those who practice the rituals in this text. After the conversion narrative, the text describes numerous sequences of goddess spirits who are dominated via spells, hand gestures, and ritual exertions. When presenting conjuring materials in this Buddhist text I note parallels deities and practices, especially yaks&dotbelow;ini spirits and yogini sadhana practices, that are found throughout the magic tantras. A partial critical edition of the Bhutad&dotbelow; amaratantra created from Nepali manuscripts is appended to this dissertation; its contents are either translated or glossed in the body of this final chapter.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (785 pages)
- Format:
- Text
- Collection(s):
- UCSB electronic theses and dissertations
- Other Versions:
- http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqm&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:10249986
- ARK:
- ark:/48907/f3t72hmp
- ISBN:
- 9781369576634
- Catalog System Number:
- 990047512310203776
- Copyright:
- Aaron Ullrey, 2016
- Rights:
- In Copyright
- Copyright Holder:
- Aaron Ullrey
File | Description |
---|---|
Access: Public access | |
Ullrey_ucsb_0035D_13314.pdf | pdf (Portable Document Format) |