TY - JOUR AU - Marion Rastelli, PY - 2019/06/14 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Worshipping Viṣṇu’s Twelve Manifestations: A Glimpse into Early Medieval Vaiṣṇava Lay Practice JF - Cracow Indological Studies JA - CracowIndologicalStudies VL - 21 IS - 1 SE - Articles DO - 10.12797/CIS.21.2019.01.07 UR - https://journals.akademicka.pl/cis/article/view/790 SP - 165-207 AB - <p><strong>Worshipping Viṣṇu’s Twelve Manifestations: A Glimpse into Early Medieval Vaiṣṇava Lay Practice</strong></p><p>The paper traces the history of religious practices devoted to a particular set of the twelve manifestations of Viṣṇu. These practices are mostly monthly observances (<em>vrata</em>), which were widely known and implemented as evident from their description in various textual sources such as the Baudhāyana Sūtras, Varāhamihira’s <em>Bṛhatsaṃhitā</em>, the <em>Ṛgvidhāna</em>, the <em>Viṣṇudharma</em>, and appendix passages of the <em>Mahābhārata</em>. They were highly influential even beyond the sectarian borders of Vaiṣṇavism, since they served as a model for the composition of a full calendrical scheme in the<em> Niśvāsamukha</em>, which belongs to the earliest extant Śaiva <em>tantra</em>, the <em>Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā</em>.</p> ER -