The Triumph of the Goddess

CONTENTS PREFACE ix Acknowledgements xv Introduction: The Vindication of the Goddess in the Puranic Tradition 1 Part I The Two Bhagavatas: Contending Revelations and Visions of the Divine 1. The Origin and Transmission of the Two Bhagavata Puranas: A Canonical and Theological Dilemma 17 2. Horsing Around with Visnu: A Case of Capital Murder 34 3. Who Slew Vrtrasura? Deception, Redemption, and Grace in the Two Bhagavatas 53 Part II The Two Devi-Mahatmyas: Revisions Within the Tradition 4. The Three Great Adventures of the Devi: Heroic Eroticism and Maternal Compassion 81 5. The Great Manifestations of the Devi: Maha-Kali, Maha-Laksmi, Maha-Sarasvati 132 6. Of Merchants and Kings: Worship and Its Fruits in the Frame Stories of the Devi-Bhagavata and Markandeya Puranas 153 Part III The Two Gitas: The Harmonization of Traditions and the Transcendence of Gender 7. The Devi Gita and the Bhagavad Gita: Self-Revelations of the Supreme Reality 179 8. Gita-Reflection in the Mystic Islles: Narada's Journey to the White Island and the Trimurti's Journey to the Jeweled Island 201 Conclusion: The Triumph of the Goddess 213 Appendix: Three Theories on the Text-History of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana 219 ABBREVIATIONS 226 GLOSSARY 227 Notes 233 BIBLIOGRAPHY 295 INDEX 311