Lectures on Pancaratra

The Jayakhya-samhita is one of the three gems of the Pancaratra or tantric Vaishnavism. This early medieval text contains material on cosmology, ritual, and the construction of mantras. The seminar will focus on selected chapters.

The Jayakhya-samhita is one of the three gems of the Pancaratra or tantric Vaishnavism. This early medieval text contains material on cosmology, ritual, and the construction of mantras. The seminar will focus on selected chapters.

The Jayakhya-samhita is one of the three gems of the Pancaratra or tantric Vaishnavism. This early medieval text contains material on cosmology, ritual, and the construction of mantras. The seminar will focus on selected chapters.

These lectures will examine conceptions of liberation and paths leading to liberation in the history of ‘Hindu’ traditions. After an introductory lecture that raises some of the theological questions about the relation of path to goal and the importance of ritual and asceticism in the history of Indian religions, we will begin with an examination of Samkhya, the philosophical backdrop of Yoga, and move on to the opening Yoga-sutras, their ideal of liberation as isolation (kaivalya), and the means of achieving that goal. We will trace the development of devotion (bhakti) and examine bhakti and yoga in the Bhagavad Gita before moving into the medieval period. Here the lectures will describe some developments of bhakti in vernacular literatures, focusing on both texts that advocate devotion to iconic forms and the later texts that advocate devotion to an absolute without qualities. Here we will also examine the importance of ritual texts and the relation between ritual, devotion and yoga. Lastly we will trace the themes of liberation and path with examples from selected tantric traditions within Vaisnavism and Saivism.

The Jayakhya-samhita is one of the three gems of the Pancaratra or tantric Vaishnavism. This early medieval text contains material on cosmology, ritual, and the construction of mantras. The seminar will focus on selected chapters.

The Jayakhya-samhita is one of the three gems of the Pancaratra or tantric Vaishnavism. This early medieval text contains material on cosmology, ritual, and the construction of mantras. The seminar will focus on selected chapters.

The Jayakhya-samhita is one of the three gems of the Pancaratra or tantric Vaishnavism. This early medieval text contains material on cosmology, ritual, and the construction of mantras. The seminar will focus on selected chapters.

The Jayakhya-samhita is one of the three gems of the Pancaratra or tantric Vaishnavism. This early medieval text contains material on cosmology, ritual, and the construction of mantras. The seminar will focus on selected chapters.

We will continue to read through this long text; the ritual sections from chapter 10.

We will continue to read through this long text; the ritual sections from chapter 10.

We will continue to read through this long text; the ritual sections from chapter 10.

Recently I have located a 14th century palm-leaf manuscript of Jayottaratantra in the National Archives, Kathmandu, and am preparing an edition of it. Previously, we had no access to this text though the title appears in the list of Āgamas found in the Pādma- and Pārameśvarasaṃhitā, and also in the Pañcarātrarakṣā of Vedāntadeśika. The Jayottaratantra, in fact, serves as the foundational layer of the Jayākhya-saṃhitā, one of the earliest available Vaiṣṇava Tantras. The Jayottaratantra is quite concise and contains approximately 400 verses. Unlike the printed version of the Jayākhyasaṃhitā that contains nearly 5000 verses, it is coherent and consistent. I will report on special features of this text along with those of other three early Vaiṣṇava Tantras from Nepal, in one of my lectures.

However, in these two seminars, I propose to read the ninth chapter that deals with Yoga from my edition of the text. We will interpret the text, occasionally discuss philological problems, and compare the text with the corresponding chapter of the Jayākhyasaṃhitā. 

We will continue to read the Jayakhya Samhita

We will continue to read the Jayakhya Samhita