Auspicious Wisdom: The Texts and Traditions of Srividya Sakta Tantrism in South India.

• Author: Bolle, Kees W.

The title "Auspicious Wisdom" is a precise literal translation of "Srividya," the name of the best known esoteric, Tantric, tradition of south India (although it is not limited to the south). The Great Goddess (one of whose preferred names is Lalita) is central; the performance of her cult is essential; the philosophy that comes with the tradition cannot be said to be dispensable, but is not the most crucial (certainly not the most constant) element in the transmission of the cult, which has continued perhaps from the sixth century on. The tradition is not rooted in the Vedic texts, and yet many of its adherents are dvija, hence people who are what they are as a result of their Vedic "belonging"; very many, if not most, are vaidika. The type of thought most prevalent, although one cannot speak of a ruling philosophy, is what one could call a popular advaita, with some embellishments, especially pertaining to the reality of the great Goddess. With this final sentence, however, I have already said something one cannot gather without a great deal of difficulty from the mountain of information in the book.

It would seem that the book Professor Brooks wrote provides all the information one might want. And yet there is very much to say, as he himself knows very well. Only two years earlier, in 1990, he published his first book on the subject, The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction to Hindu Sakta Tantrism in South India (Univ. of Chicago Press). In the book now under review he announces a forthcoming sequel in the same SUNY series, "Series in Tantric Studies," under the editorship of Paul E. Muller-Ortega, again on Srividya. Auspicious Wisdom is divided in two parts. Following an introduction, part one (on "Srividya Tradition and Texts") has six chapters, respectively dealing with "Kula Tantrism and Srividya Tradition," "Earliest Historical Evidence for Srividya in Tamil Literature," "Srividya in Text and History," "The Goddess Lalita Mahatripurasundari: The Sthula Aspect," "The Srividya Mantra: srividya," and "Sricakra: The Transcendent Aspect of Devi."

Reviewing Brooks' first book (in Numen 39:273-75), I expressed my hope that the author would return to Tantrism, "and deal at greater depth with the large questions that intrigue him." I had not counted on his incredible industriousness, and I have to confess, that at such short notice, no one could have met all reviewers' hopes. The present book is informative, as was the first, yet does...