Research Fellow at the Śākta Traditions research Programme, OCHS

Biography:

PhD in South Asian Studies (University of Vienna), Silvia has lectured in the past at the Leopold-
Franzens-Universität in Innsbruck and at the University Ca’ Foscari in Venice. She was Research Associate at the Institut für Indologie und Zentralasienwissenschaften of the University of Leipzig,
and is currently Research Fellow at the OCHS.

Research Area/s:

Her interests focus on the Tantric religious traditions of the Śrīvidyā and of the Pāñcarātra,
specifically on the philosophical and theological doctrines expressed in the relevant South Indian
Sanskrit textual traditions. She has also translated into Italian texts from the Sanskrit narrative and
devotional literature, for editions aimed at a general readership.

Selected Publications:

Her publications include:

•  The Philosophical and Theological Teachings of the Pādmasahitā, Verlag der Österreichischen
  Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 2014.
• Goddess Traditions in India / Theological Poems and Philosophical Tales in the Tripurārahasya,
  Routledge Hindu Studies Series, Routledge, London and New York 2022.
• “The 108 Names of the Goddess Tripurā in the Māhātmyakha a of the Tripurārahasya”, in T.
  Goudriaan (ed.), The Sanskrit Tradition on Tantrism (Panels of the VII World Sanskrit Conference,
  vol. I), E. J. Brill, Leiden 1990, 85-95.
• “The Lady of the Island of Jewels and the Polarity of her Peaceful and Warring Aspects”, in A.
  Michaels, C. Vogelsanger, A. Wilke (eds.), Wild Goddesses in India and Nepal, Studia Religiosa
  Helvetica Jahrbuch, vol. 2 , Peter Lang, Bern 1996, 105-122.
•  “The Relevance of rūpa and mūrti for the Doctrine of God in the Pādmasahitā”, Journal of
  Hindu Studies, Vol. 8, Nr. 2, Oxford 2015, 233-244.
  – “Is Yogic Suicide Useless? The Practice of utkrānti in Some Tantric VaiLMava and Śaiva
  Sources”, Journal of Indian Philosophy, Vol. 48, Nr. 3, 2020, 427-445.