The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism

religious traditions and the definition of their members are often obscure and in any case evolved over the course of time. The ...

temple according to an inscription from Besnagar). In these early inscriptions, the Bha ̄gavata faith is not in contradiction wi ...

Brockington 1998: 326). The Na ̄ra ̄yan.ı ̄yaparvan of the Maha ̄bha ̄rata, dated third to fourth/fifth century ad(Brockington 1 ...

fifth-century Sanskrit inscription of southeast Asia found in the ruins of the monument of Prasat Pram Loven of the Fu-nan (a ki ...

(NP) of the Maha ̄bha ̄rata (12, 321–39) does not seem to mention the word eka ̄yana, although it refers to Pañcara ̄tra (Schrei ...

NP refers to two concepts which became essential in later Pa ̄ñcara ̄tra: the four- emanation theogony and the five-ka ̄laworshi ...

some degree with Vais.n.avism, no Vedic s ́a ̄kha ̄is so closely and exclusively con- nected with Vais.n.avism as the Vaikha ̄na ...

(nivr.tti). “Activity” signifies yogic practices and procures yogic powers, but does not procure release from further births. “D ...

and Ton.t.arat.ippot.i may have been temple priests, but the ritual system (Vaikha ̄nasa, Pa ̄ñcara ̄tra, or other) they practic ...

Several scholars consider that the term bha ̄gavatarefers to a group of Vais.n.ava Sma ̄rtas which was already in existence in t ...

ascribe the oldest extant Pa ̄ñcara ̄tra texts to the sixth century at the earliest, but still discusses the region of their com ...

These inscriptions demonstrate the influence of Pa ̄ñcara ̄tra in this part of southeast Asia as early as the seventh century, t ...

gnosis (jña ̄na) section. Its physiology which involves mystical centers and a complex “vein” (na ̄d.ı ̄) system differs from th ...

The medieval Vaikha ̄nasa corpus was addressed to Vaikha ̄nasas who were temple priests. Their qualification for this office was ...

The corpus also prescribes two kinds of initiation (dı ̄ks.a ̄) to non-Vaikha ̄nasas: the Nya ̄sacakradı ̄ks.a ̄ and the Nigamad ...

Though not numerous, yogic practices are not altogether absent from temple worship. Meditation plays an essential role at precis ...

of divine power. The mobile image of worship (kautuka,arca ̄) which receives the essential of the daily worship but draws its po ...

influenced directly or indirectly the later Vais.n.ava traditions. Each was accom- panied and more or less supported by a specif ...

Ra ̄ma Mis ́ra, he left a life of luxury in the Co ̄l ̄ a capital Gangaikondacholapuram and settled in Shrirangam as a renouncer ...

the thirteenth century. His works mainly written in a highly sanskritized Tamil (Man.iprava ̄l.a), are compiled under the title ...