It seems that puranic authors, while dealing with war and the use of different weapons, are referring to something that mostly happens in the world of gods and goddesses, as if they wanted to exorcise grievous realities. Furthermore, the text of the Devi-mahatmya preserved by the Devibhagavata-purana, in the context where weapons and battles are described, seems to introduce an additional "filter", since it states that the violent facts that are described are not within human control, but are due to a unavoidable, superior power (daiva). The analysis of the puranic versions of the Devi-mahatmya brings the following issue: the Goddess employs almost exclusively actual "human" weapons, which seem to have nothing to do with her extraordinary, "divine" or "magic" power. In addition to that, the Goddess' killing is not "violent", as it is in fact a "sacrifice" (ranayajna, yuddhayajna). The few extraordinary weapons that are mentioned are mantras, or they are connected with the power of yoga, but this also happens as far as human heroes are concerned. A research into the names listed in the sahasranamas, as well as to iconographic sources and the real icons, brings to the same conclusion.
Le armi della Dea. Osservazioni in margine al Devī-māhātmya
PIANO, Stefano
2008-01-01
Abstract
It seems that puranic authors, while dealing with war and the use of different weapons, are referring to something that mostly happens in the world of gods and goddesses, as if they wanted to exorcise grievous realities. Furthermore, the text of the Devi-mahatmya preserved by the Devibhagavata-purana, in the context where weapons and battles are described, seems to introduce an additional "filter", since it states that the violent facts that are described are not within human control, but are due to a unavoidable, superior power (daiva). The analysis of the puranic versions of the Devi-mahatmya brings the following issue: the Goddess employs almost exclusively actual "human" weapons, which seem to have nothing to do with her extraordinary, "divine" or "magic" power. In addition to that, the Goddess' killing is not "violent", as it is in fact a "sacrifice" (ranayajna, yuddhayajna). The few extraordinary weapons that are mentioned are mantras, or they are connected with the power of yoga, but this also happens as far as human heroes are concerned. A research into the names listed in the sahasranamas, as well as to iconographic sources and the real icons, brings to the same conclusion.
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