Jains Killing, Killing Jains: Aggressive Magic in the Jain Tantras

Jains Killing, Killing Jains: Aggressive Magic in the Jain Tantras

Aaron Ullrey (Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara)
Friday, March 6 / 3:00 PM
6056 Humanities and Social Sciences Building

During the medieval period Digambara Jains in Karnataka composed and circulated two magic Tantras containing aggressive magic that was in vogue at the time and that challenged Jain ideals of nonviolence and nonaction. Prescribing explicitly hostile magic ranging from seduction to bewildering and even killing, Jain Tantra authors invoked wild goddesses cast into more Jain-acceptable appearances. The lecture will examine Jain aggressive magic and the strategies used by Jain authors to adapt to the aggression of the Śaiva age, the time of Tantra.

Aaron Ullrey is a doctoral candidate specializing in South Asian religions and cultures at UCSB. His lecture will draw on his doctoral research in South Asia supported by Fulbright-Hays and the American Institute of Indian Studies.

Sponsored by IHC South Asian Religions and Cultures Research Focus Group
Website: https://www.ihc.ucsb.edu/southasian/