Conference: Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Ontario, May 25, 2009.

Panel (organized by Richard Mann): The History of Śaivism: Textual and material evidence for the development of sectarian Śaivism

"Śaivism and Viṣṇu's Avatāras: the Slow Rise of Sectarian Discord"
(Benjamin J. Fleming)

Abstract:
This paper investigates the transmission of stories about Vaiṣṇavite avatāras within the medieval corpus of the Śaivite mythology. Specifically, I will examine two chapters from the Śiva Purāṇa tradition that present Śiva's pacification of both the Man-Lion and Boar avatāras: Jñāna-saṃhitā 59-60. Building on an earlier study of these myths in the early Skanda Purana by Phyllis Granoff, I hope to shed light on the shifting Śaivite discourses about Vaiṣṇavism, the place of avatāras within medieval Śaivite theology, and the development of the Śiva Purāṇa itself. It will be shown that sectarian rivalries, often assumed to be implicit in these Śaivite myths, emerged slowly and with increasing tension over the course of centuries – the earlier material presenting a more ecumenical treatment of Vaiṣṇavism.