2013/08/01 by Jessica Frazier · 3 citations
Arts and Humanities · Chemistry · #Indian and Buddhist Studies #Study and Philosophy of Religion #Travel Writing and Literature #Vitality #Renunciation #Dance #Hinduism #White (mutation) #History #Art #Aesthetics #Literature #Religious studies #Theology #Philosophy #Chemistry
paper · doi:10.1093/jhs/hit028
openalex publication_date 2013/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
In the tale of the young and beautiful goddess ‘Bhakti’ she is depicted as the very essence of vitality, both in physical appearance and, it becomes clear, in religious life. In the Padma Purāṇa, we meet her as a young mother seeking an elixir of youth for her aged sons Knowledge and Renunciation, so that they can be rejuvenated to the same vigour that she herself enjoys. Interestingly, she is not a competitor to jñāna and vairāgya, but rather a caring mother eager to be returned to a vigorous relationship with them – but Narada tells her that only bhakti can dance: her sons have limbs that are as stiff as wood, and hair as white as a crane, and even the whispering of Upaniṣads and Gītā into their ears will not wake them. The only medicine that will work is the fruit of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa,...