The ANU South Asia Research Institute Book Adda is a recurring seminar series that showcases the work of the SARI members within the ANU working on political, social, historical, and cultural issues in South Asia, with the goal of encouraging greater exchange, collaboration, and networking amongst the research community.

The Viṣṇu Purāṇa: Ancient Annals of the God with Lotus Eyes.

Translated from the Sanskrit by McComas Taylor
ANU Press (2021)

Abstract:

Viṣṇu is a central deity in the Hindu pantheon, especially in his manifestation as the seductive cattle-herding youth, Kṛṣṇa. The purāṇas are sacred texts, which, as the Sanskrit name implies, are collections of narratives from ‘long ago’. The Viṣṇu Purāṇa is thus an ancient account of the universe and guide to life, which places Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa at the centre of creation, theology and reality itself.

This text, composed about 1,500 years ago, provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the most important themes and narratives that constitute the Hindu imagination: the creation and destruction of the universe, the origin of gods and mortals, the peopling of the world, and the structure and conduct of ideal brahminical society.

The Viṣṇu Purāṇa describes the trials of exemplary devotees, the existential struggles between gods and demons, and the exploits of legendary cultural heroes. It also contains many ecstatic songs of praise for the deity. The ever-popular accounts of Kṛṣṇa’s love games with the cattle-herding girls of Vṛṇdāvana, which have proliferated in literature, dance, song and visual arts over the millennia, are found here in authoritative form.

This, the first new English translation in nearly 200 years, attempts to retain something of the metrical and sonic qualities of what was, originally, a text created for oral performance.

About the book author:

McComas Taylor is a Professor, Reader in Sanskrit from ANU School of Culture, History and Language, has led the South Asia Program in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University in Canberra. His research lies at the intersection of contemporary critical theory and classical Sanskrit narrative literature. His primary focus is on the construction of ‘true’ discourse in the Foucauldian sense in the Sanskritic, Hindu episteme. His initial work in this area was on the narrative fables in the Pañcatantra cycle. The primary output of this was a book, The fall of the Indigo Jackal, published by SUNY Press in 2007. Following that, he turned his attention to textual studies of the mahapuranas in which he explored various authorial strategies aimed at empowering puranic discourse. More recently, he has studied contemporary oral rendition of puranic texts, specifically the Bhagavatapurana, to explore ways in which performative and ritual practices empower discourse.

Discussant:

Easwar Anand Thampi, PhD student in History, School of Culture, History and Language, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.

The book is available online via ANU library's website. Participants are encouraged to read and prepare their questions in advance. Registration is essential as seating is strictly limited in the Boardroom. Thank you for your cooperation.

For general enquiries, please contact SARI Research and Advisory Committee member, Ranu Kunwar at ranu.kunwar@anu.edu.au

Light refreshments will be provided at 12.50pm.

For general enquiries, please contact SARI Research and Advisory Committee member, Ranu Kunwar at ranu.kunwar@anu.edu.au

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Contact the host of SARI 'Book Adda' with Professor McComas Taylor