The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the Devī-Bhāgavata Purāna

by C. Mackenzie Brown

The authors of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana endeavored to demonstrate the superiority of the Devi over competing masculine deities, and to articulate in new ways the manifold nature of the Goddess. Brown's book sets out to examine how the Purana pursues these ends. The Devi-Bhagavata employs many ancient myths and motifs from older masculine theologies, incorporating them into a thoroughly "feminized" theological framework. The text also seeks to supplant older "masculine" canonical authorities. Part I of Brown's study explores these strategies by focusing on the Purana's self-conscious endeavor to supersede the famous VaisBhagavata Purana.

The Devi-Bhagavata also re-envisions older mythological traditions about the Goddess, especially those in the first great Sanskritic glorification of the Goddess, the Devi-Mahatmya . Brown shows in Part II how this re-envisioning process transforms the Devi from a primarily martial and erotic goddess into the World-Mother of infinite compassion.

Part III examines the Devi Gita , the philosophical climax of the Purana modeled upon the Bhagavad Gita . The Devi Gita , while affirming that ultimate reality is the divine Mother, avows that her highest form as consciousness encompasses all gender, thereby suggesting the final triumph of the Goddess. It is not simply that She is superior to the male gods, but rather that She transcends Her own sexuality without denying it.

344 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1990

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has to be regarded as one of the most comprehensive and yet compact studies of the Devi, ever undertaken by Western scholars. It contains the following sections~
* Introduction: The Vindication of the Goddess in the Puranic Tradition
Part I~ The Two Bhagavatas: Contending Revelations and Visions of the Divine— three Chapters detailing the divergent traditions;
Part II~ The Two Devi-Mahatmyas: Revisions Within the Tradition—three Chapters detailing Devi's adventures and significances of particular method of story-telling adopted for them;
Part III~ The Two Gitas: The Harmonization of Traditions and the Transcendence of Gender— two chapters describing the philosophy behind some of the erotic myths.
* Conclusion— in this chapter the atuhor shows how Devi not only transcends the three great male Gods, but even her own feminine identity as Prakriti, to become the ultimate reality.
* Appendix— probable history of the text.
All these are followed by Glossary and detailed Notes.
Overall, this book deserves to be read by anyone interested in understanding the growth and evolution of the Divine Feminine tradition. It's scholarly, but also very interesting thanks to the genuinely curous attitude of the writer.
Highly recommended.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent commentary on the devi bhagavata, its textual history, and how it differs from various other puranas (plus the bhagavad gita) in its motifs and themes - i would recommend reading this after one reads the devi bhagavata at least once in preparation for re-reads