SIVA – THE EROTIC ASCETIC

Oxford, London, 1981, 2^nd pr.  ISBN 0-19-520250-3.  Trade soft cover, 386 pages including Appendices.  Very good; some edge and cover wear, light creases; binding sound.  Interior clean and unmarked with tanning pages; black & white illustrations.  ‘Highly acclaimed upon its original publication in 1973 under the title Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva, this book applies a structuralist method to a corpus of mythology never before analyzed, or for the most part, translated from the Sanskrit.  The author traces the development of an Indian approach to an enduring human dilemma:  the conflict between spiritual aspirations and human desires.  The work treats hundreds of related myths and examines a wide range of Indian texts (Vedic, Puranic, classical, modern, and tribal), centering upon the stories of the great ascetic, Siva, and his erotic alter ego, Kama.’ (from rear wrap)