The Skandapurāṇa is one of the earliest Purāṇas, with a strong Śaiva message throughout the entire text. It promotes devotion to Śiva and narrates stories about Śiva, his relatives and followers.... Show moreThe Skandapurāṇa is one of the earliest Purāṇas, with a strong Śaiva message throughout the entire text. It promotes devotion to Śiva and narrates stories about Śiva, his relatives and followers. It does not, however, deny other gods. At least six narratives concern Viṣṇu and his deeds. Three of these are manifestation myths, narrating Viṣṇu’s conquest of the Asuras. For its retellings, such as Viṣṇu’s manifestation myths, the Skandapurāṇa combines known narrative elements with new characterizations, features and scenes. This is not only observable in the stories as a whole, but also on the level of narrative details. In this article, I will show this by studying one of Viṣṇu’s primary weapons, the cakra, ‘discus’. The description of the cakra sometimes agrees with those in other texts, such as its fiery appearance and its quality of returning to its owner. At the same time, there are various new characterizations, for example the fact that it originally belongs to or comes from Śiva. With the help of a theory referred to as narrative consistency, I will explore the reasons behind the inclusion of known elements and the introduction of new elements, as well as the reasons behind a combination of the two. Show less
In her dissertation Revealing Śiva’s Superiority by Retelling Viṣṇu’s Deeds – Viṣnu’s Manifestation Myths in the Skandapurāṇa, Sanne Dokter-Mersch examines three myths in the Skandapurāṇa, a... Show moreIn her dissertation Revealing Śiva’s Superiority by Retelling Viṣṇu’s Deeds – Viṣnu’s Manifestation Myths in the Skandapurāṇa, Sanne Dokter-Mersch examines three myths in the Skandapurāṇa, a Sanskrit Purāṇa composed in the sixth to seventh century. Although myths about god Śiva and devotion to him are central in the text, it also contains narratives about other gods. This dissertation focusses on those myths in which god Viṣṇu manifests himself as Man-Lion (Narasiṃha), Boar (Varāha) and Dwarf (Vāmana) in order to conquer the enemies of the gods. At the time of composition of the Skandapurāṇa, Śiva and Viṣṇu each had their own religious ideology and devotees, which raises the questions why the composers of this Śaiva Purāṇa dedicated so much attention to Viṣṇu and how these manifestation myths are retold. With the help of different (narratological) methods, Dokter-Mersch addresses these questions by looking at the manifestation myths as part of a literary genre, the Purāṇas. Show less
Bisschop, P.C.; Dokter-Mersch, S.; Törzsök, J.; Yokochi, Y. 2021
