Why are the myths of the Indian Great Goddess,
Durgā, found in the
Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa framed by myths glorifying the Sun,
Sūrya? And why do these glorifications mirror each other in both content and form?
In exploring these questions, this book argues for an ideological ecosystem at work in the
Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa privileging worldly (
pravṛtti) values, of which Indian kings, the Goddess (
Devī), the Sun (
Sūrya) and sage
Mārkaṇḍeya himself are paragons.
Join us in the “flip interview” as as your New Books Network Hindu Studies host
Raj Balkaran (University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies) is interviewed on his new book,
The Goddess and the Sun in Indian Myth: Power, Preservation and Mirrored Māhātmyas in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (Routledge, 2020) by guest-interviewer Christopher Austin.
Christopher Austen is Associate Professor, Religious Studies at Dalhousie University