Buddhist Goddesses of India (Hardcover)

by Miranda Shaw (Author) "The honor of being the first goddess to appear in Buddhism belongs to Prthivi (pronounced PRI thi vee), "Vast One," mother earth..." (more)
Key Phrases: tshogs dang bcas, thabs kun btus, divine yoginis, American Institute of Indian Studies, White Tara, Shakyamuni Buddha (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
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 )

Review
Beautifully written and erudite, this book fills a need in the growing literature about goddesses in Buddhism. The goddesses are meticulously researched and brilliantly analyzed. Destined to become a classic in the field, Buddhist Goddesses of India leaves no doubt that goddesses have been central, not peripheral, to Buddhism, even from the earliest traceable beginnings of the tradition.
(Susan L. Huntington, author of "The Art of Ancient India" )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 571 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (October 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691127581
• ISBN-13: 978-0691127583
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #405,594 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, accomplished & engaging, December 1, 2007

By	dancer (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is more than worth it for the pictures alone. The images of Buddhist goddesses are simply gorgeous--whether clear black and white, or glorious color. Representing architectural elements, reliefs, gates, sculptures, painted cloth, and more, these images provide an invaluable visual document of the female images of divinity populating Buddhist history.

Even so, the book offers far more. Shaw not only gathers these visual images for us, she helps us understand them--why they exist, why they appear as they do, and what they teach us about Buddhist thought and practice. For each goddess, Shaw considers the visual representations alongside the goddess's appearances in literature, history, ritual practices, and other Hindu and folk traditions. Moving among these various representations, Shaw creates compelling accounts of each deity's religious significance. She also documents change over time, charting the ascension of goddess figures through three stages of Buddhist history, early, Mahayana, and Tantra. The female Buddhas of Tantra occupy the third section of the book. And all along the way, Shaw deftly moves from persuasively engaging issues in Buddhist scholarship to telling vivid stories about the goddesses themselves.

This comprehensive, accomplished book is for everyone and anyone who is interested in Buddhism, India, goddesses, South East Asia, Indian art and architecture, comparative religions, or the religious significance of art in general. Its stories and pictures engage and delight. At the same time, it is a must-read for scholars in all these fields for the ways in which it stretches and prunes our understanding of Buddhism. As Shaw persuasively documents, there is far more to the tradition than teachings of renunciation. Equally integral to the tradition are life-affirming, female-celebrating expressions of wisdom, creativity, and devotion.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impeccable scholarship, inspiring information, October 9, 2007

By	Buddhist scholar - See all my reviews

This magnum opus will remain a serious resource for information about Buddhist Goddesses of India for decades. The scholarship is impeccable. Not only does it bring numerous texts and information into English for the first time, it explicates vast amounts of material loaded with insightful interpretations that only an expert authority can provide. This text will also reward those seeking inspiration from the Buddhist pantheon of goddesses. The prose is lyrical, compelling, and transports the reader into the powerful and colorful worlds of these ancient goddesses.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars transcendent authorship, October 5, 2007

By	R. Morgan (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ms. Shaw is an impeccable scholar whose transcendent writing captures the imagination. This inspired text is a compilation of unparalled research on an amazing array of Buddhist deities. Beautiful book.