Scholar, Serpent, Yogin, and Devotee: The Many Faces of Patañjali in Indian Traditions /

Scholar, Serpent, Yogin, and Devotee: The Many Faces of Patañjali in Indian Traditions /

This study illuminates the many faces of Patañjali in Indian traditions. Often regarded as an incarnation of the cosmic serpent Ādiśeṣa or Anantanāga, Patañjali is celebrated, in both story and art, as a grammarian, scholar and practitioner of yoga, physician-alchemist, medical authority, teacher, a...

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Main Author: Bühnemann, Gudrun (Author)

Format: eBook

Language: English

Published: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2026.

Series: Asian Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2026.
Brill's Indological Library ; 64.

Subjects:

Art History.
Religious Studies.

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Call Number: N5305

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Table of Contents:
  • List of Figures
  • A Note on the Transliteration of Sanskrit and Tamil Words
  • Introduction
  • 1 Patañjali: Author(s), Works, and Contemporary Relevance
  • 1.1 Works Ascribed to Authors Named Patañjali
  • 1.2 The "Unified" Patañjali
  • 1.3 On the Contemporary Relevance of the Figure of Patañjali
  • 2 Legendary Accounts of Patañjali
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Legends in the Tradition of the Naṭarāja Temple in Cidambaram
  • 2.3 Legends in the Tradition of the Mīnākṣī Sundareśvara Temple in Madurai
  • 2.4 Legendary Material in Rāmabhadra Dīkṣita's Patañjalicarita
  • 2.5 Legends Principally about Patañjali as Grammarian
  • 2.6 Legends Concerning Patañjali's Foster Parents
  • 2.7 Legends Explaining the Etymology of the Name Patañjali
  • 2.8 Conclusion
  • 3 Sites, Shrines, and Temples Associated with Patañjali
  • 3.1 The Grammarian
  • 3.2 The Philosopher of Yoga
  • 3.3 The Tamil Siddha and Practitioner of Yoga
  • 4 The Predominantly Two-Armed Iconography of Patañjali in the Tradition of the Naṭarāja Temple in Cidambaram and Beyond
  • 4.1 Sculptures
  • 4.2 Paintings
  • 4.3 Summary and Conclusion
  • 5 Four-Armed Representations of Patañjali in the Tradition of Yoga Authority nlai Krishnamacharya
  • 5.1 Krishnamacharya and the Iconography of Ananta (Ādiśeṣa)
  • 5.2 A Widely Recited Verse in Praise of Ādiśeṣa/Patañjali
  • 5.3 Visual Representations of the Four-Armed Patañjali
  • 6 Mostly Anonymous Representations of Patañjali as a Two-Armed Meditating Sage
  • 6.1 Engravings in Birlā Temples in North India
  • 6.2 Representations in Tamil Siddha Traditions and Beyond
  • 7 Selected Contemporary Paintings of Patañjali as a Two-Armed Figure
  • 7.1 Ajithan Puthumana
  • 7.2 Norman E. Sjoman
  • 7.3 Pieter Weltevrede
  • 7.4 Kalathi Adiyen Aadi Nandhi
  • 8 Epilogue
  • Appendix: Variations in Transcriptions of Tamil Place and Temple Names
  • Bibliographical References
  • General Index.