Krsna: Lord or Avatara?: The Relationship Between Krsna and Visnu

ISBN-13: 9781138862388 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015

Freda Matchett

Opis

This is a study of three Sanskrit texts, the Harivamsa, the Visnupurana, and the Bhagavatabelonging to the puranic genre, the chief source of knowledge of the origins of popular Hinduism. It treats them as integrated compositions and displays the theological motives and creative skill which have gone into the making of them. It shows how all three texts contain narratives which present Krishna as one of several subordinate manifestations (avataras) of Vishnu. All three use much the same traditional material, yet each, by arranging this material in its own way, presents a distinctive view of Krishna, and the most influential of them, the Bhagavata , builds up a world view in which Krishna, not Vishnu, is supreme.

Recenzje

'the chapters are nearly put together so that the book makes for fluent and good reading suitable even for the general reader interested in the theme. As a scholarly work it will remain for a long time indispensable for anybody diving into the vastness and perplexity of purãnic literature, in a part of which she has left useful signposts for guidance.' - Karel Werner, Bulletin of SOAS

Spis treści

Acknowledgements, 1 K???a, Vi??u and the avat?ra myth, 2 Epic evaluations of K???a, 3 K???a in the Hariva??a, 4 The all-pervading Vi??u, 5 K???a in the Vi??upur??a, 6 The Bible of K???aism, 7 K???a in the Bh?gavatapur??a, 8 The Lord’s cosmic play, 9 The Supreme Reality: K???a or Vi??u?, Notes, Bibliography, Index

O autorze

Freda Matchett