Sarasvati Riverine Goddess of Knowledge: From the Manuscript-carrying Vina-player to the Weapon-wielding Defender of the Dharma (Brill's Indological Library) (Brill's Indological Library, 27)

PREFACE; ABBREVIATIONS; LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS; INTRODUCTION; PART ONE VEDIC SARASVATI; VEDIC LITERATURE; CHAPTER ONE RG VEDA; CHAPTER TWO ATHARVA VEDA; CHAPTER THREE YAJUR VEDA; CHAPTER FOUR BRAHMANAS; VEDIC SARASVATI IN RETROSPECTIVE; PART TWO EPIC AND PURANIC SARASVATI; EPIC AND PURANIC LITERATURE; CHAPTER FIVE MAHABHARATA; CHAPTER SIX PURANAS; EPIC AND PURANIC SARASVATI IN RETROSPECTIVE; PART THREE BUDDHIST SARASVATI; SARASVATI IN BUDDHIST SUTRAS; CHAPTER SEVEN SUTRA OF GOLDEN LIGHT; CHAPTER EIGHT GREAT ELOQUENCE DEITY; CHAPTER NINE BATH; CHAPTER TEN KAUNPINYA'S PRAISES;Drawing on textual and art historical sources, this book traces the conceptual and iconographic development of the Indian riverine goddess of knowledge Sarasvati from sometime after 1750 BCE to the seventh century CE. This is a fascinating depiction of the transformation of the Indian riverine goddess from the manuscript-carrying vina-player to the Buddhist weapon-wielding defender of the Dharma. Drawing on Sanskrit and Chinese textual sources, as well as Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist art historical representations, this book traces the conceptual and iconographic development of the riverine goddess of knowledge Sarasvati from some time after 1750 B.C.E. to the seventh century C.E. Through the study of Chinese translations of no longer extant Sanskrit versions of the Buddhist Sutra of Golden Light the author sheds light on Sarasvati's interactions with other Indian goddess cults and their impact on one another. This is a fascinating depiction of the transformation of the Indian riverine goddess from the manuscript-carrying vīṇā-player to the Buddhist weapon-wielding defender of the Dharma. Drawing on Sanskrit and Chinese textual sources, as well as Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist art historical representations, this book traces the conceptual and iconographic development of the riverine goddess of knowledge Sarasvatī from some time after 1750 B.C.E. to the seventh century C.E. Through the study of Chinese translations of no longer extant Sanskrit versions of the Buddhist Sutra of Golden Light the author sheds light on Sarasvatī's interactions with other Indian goddess cults and their impact on one another. This is a fascinating depiction of the transformation of the Indian riverine goddess from the manuscript-carrying v -player to the Buddhist weapon-wielding defender of the Dharma. Drawing on Sanskrit and Chinese textual sources, as well as Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist art historical representations, this book traces the conceptual and iconographic development of the riverine goddess of knowledge Sarasvat from some time after 1750 B.C.E. to the seventh century C.E. Through the study of Chinese translations of no longer extant Sanskrit versions of the Buddhist Sutra of Golden Light the author sheds light on Sarasvat's interactions with other Indian goddess cults and their impact on one another.