Buddhist Goddesses of India

Miranda Shaw is associate professor of religious studies at the University of Richmond. She is the author of Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism (Princeton).

Winner of the 2006 Book of the Year Award in Religion, ForeWord Magazine One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2007 "This first comprehensive survey of Buddhist female deities fills a gap in academic treatment of the goddess role in the evolution of Buddhism... Each chapter is a complete work on a single goddess and may be read independently. Highly recommended."--Library Journal "Buddhist Goddesses of India will delight and entice students of religious studies, cultural anthropologists, art history enthusiasts, goddess spirituality practitioners, and anyone interested in the divine feminine."--Leah Samul, ForeWord "Buddhist Goddesses of India is a wonderful contribution to the study of deities... All in all, Shaw's book is a valuable resource for the scholar, the practitioner, and the student of goddess traditions. Her rich profiles provide the necessary historical, iconographic, and ritual background for us to understand the meaning and context of these goddesses, and the art she has chosen and represented with vivid colored plates ... beautifully illustrates the variety, vitality, and power of the goddess traditions of Buddhist India."--Judith Simmer-Brown, Buddhadharma "The theme of this fine work is best described as untangling and clarifying the complex early role and appearance of female deities found throughout the Himalayan plateau. There is a dearth of understanding of the symbolism of goddess-deity characters: figures of wisdom, healers, heavenly and earthly mothers, beautiful and powerful beings. [...] This is a marvelous study. Buddhist Goddesses of India serves the reader on multiple levels."--New Age Retailer "This comprehensive study of Indian Buddhist goddesses fills a major gap in knowledge of the breadth of divine female figures in the Buddhist world... Well documented, and with a fine, full bibliography, this book is beautifully and lavishly illustrated in color and black and white."--Choice "Scholars of Buddhism who are unaware of the importance and pervasiveness of Buddhist 'goddess' traditions would be well advised to read it. It will also be of interest to graduate students, in part because of its broad coverage and helpful references."--David B. Gray, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

• Acknowledgments ix Note on Transliteration xi Introduction 1 Part One: Ascent of the Sacred Female in Early Buddhism Chapter 1: Prthiv: Mother Earth 17 Chapter 2: Mayadev: The Buddha's Wondrous Mother and Her Sacred Grove 38 Chapter 3: Yaksins: Voluptuous, Magical Nature Spirits 62 Chapter 4: Sri Laksmi: Glorious Good Fortune 94 Chapter 5: Hariti: Goddess of Motherly Love 110 Chapter 6: Female Buddhas: The Case of Gotami 143 Part Two: Mahayana Mothers of Liberation Chapter 7: Goddesses in the Flower Ornament Scripture 155 Chapter 8: Praj~naparamita: Luminous Mother of Perfect Wisdom 166 Chapter 9: Parnasavar: Healing Goddess Clothed in Leaves 188 Chapter 10: Mairci: Lady of Sunrise Splendor 203 Chapter 11: Janguli: The Buddhist Snake Goddess 224 Chapter 12: Sarasvati: Divine Muse 234 Chapter 13: Vasudhara: Lady Bountiful 247 Chapter 14: Cunda: Saving Grace 265 Chapter 15: Sitatapatra: Invincible Goddess With a Thousand Heads and Hands 276 Chapter 16: Usnisavijaya: Bestower of Long Life and Immortality 291 Chapter 17: Tara: Mahayana Buddha, Universal Savior 306 Part Three: Tantric Female Buddhas Chapter 18: Vajrayogini: Her Dance Is Total Freedom 357 Chapter 19: Nairatmya: Her Body Is the Sky 387 Chapter 20: Chinnamunda: Severed-Headed Goddess 403 Chapter 21: Simhamukha: Lion-Faced Female Buddha 418 Chapter 22: Kurukulla: Red Enchantress with Flowered Bow 432 Epilogue 448 Notes 453 Glossary of Tibetan 521 Bibliography 525 Index 553