The Brahmayamalatantra and early Saiva cult of yoginis
Abstract
The present thesis comprises a study of the Brahmayamalatantra, a scripture of early medieval tantric or "esoteric" Saivism, and its cult of yoginis : flying, shapeshifting female deities whose occult powers practitioners sought in visionary, transactional encounters. Composed prior to the ninth century, and perhaps considerably earlier, this unpublished work of one-hundred and one chapters and more than 12,500 verses constitutes one of the most significant sources for the study of early Saiva ritual and goddess cults. After introducing the text, the tradition, and the figure of the yogini, chapters 2 and 3 review the extant literary, art-historical, and epigraphic sources concerned with yoginis, with a focus on the background and early development of their Saiva cult. It is within this context that the Brahmayamala is situated. Particular problems addressed include the relationship between the yogini cult of the Brahmayamala and the Brahmanical Mother goddesses (matr[dotbelow] ), the post ninth-century temples of yoginis, early tantric Saiva literature, and the Buddhist yoginitantras. Chapter 4 investigates the Brahmayamala 's form, textual strata, provenance, and social and geographic horizons, while chapter 5 examines the position the text articulates for itself within the Saiva tradition. Part II of the dissertation consists of critical editions and translations of several chapters of the BraYa, which appear in print for the first time.
Recommended Citation
Shaman Hatley,
"The Brahmayamalatantra and early Saiva cult of yoginis"
(January 1, 2007).
Dissertations available from ProQuest.
Paper AAI3292099.
http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3292099
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