Triumph of the Goddess

C. MacKenzie Brown is Professor of Religion, Trinity University.

• PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Introduction: The Vindication of the Goddess in the Puranic TraditionPart I. The Teo Bhagavatas: Contending Revelations and Visions of the Divine 1. Origins and Transmission of the Two Bhagavata Puranas: A Canonical and Theological Dilemma 2. Horsing Around with Visnu: A Case of Capital Murder 3. Who Slew Vrtrasura? Deception, Redemption, and Grace in the Two BhagavatasPart II. The Two Devi-Mahatmyas: Revisions Within the Tradition 4. The Three Great Adventures of the Devi: Heroic Eroticism and Maternal Compassion 5. The Great Manifestations of the Devi: Maha-Kali, Maha-Laksmi, Maha-Sarasvati 6. Of Merchants and Kings: Worship and Its Fruits in the Frame Stories of the Devi-Bhagavata  and Markandeya PuranasPart 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 8. Gita-Reflections in the Mystic Isles: Narada's Journey to the White Island and Trimurti's Journey to the Jeweled Island Conclusion: The Triumph of the Goddess Appendix: Three Theories on the Text-History of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana ABBREVIATIONS GLOSSARY NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

"In this Puran the apotheosis of the Goddess in India is most fully presented. Given the intense interest in the Goddess, and in goddesses generally, it is important to have Brown's close study of the Devi-Bhagavata. One entire area of readership will be those interested in the construction of the Ultimate Reality on feminine terms." — Diana L. Eck, Harvard University"He has accomplished an unprecedented task, that of seeing this Puran's vision whole, against its historical backdrop, with a sharp eye for how its vision reworks familiar material. The scope and importance of what he accomplishes should not be underestimated. Hindu worship of the Goddess has been especially resistant to historical analysis and is therefore of particular interest, both to indologists and to those with an interest in gender studies." — Thomas B. Coburn, St. Lawrence University