Supervisors: Prof.dr. Peter Bisschop, Prof.dr. Dominic Goodall (EFEO)

The Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā is one of the oldest surviving Hindu tantric scriptures. Various scholars, such as Śāstrī (1905:lxxvii; 137–140), Goodall and Isaacson (2007:4), Goudriaan and Gupta (1981:33–36), Sanderson (2006:152) and Bagchi (1929:757ff.), have repeatedly stressed the religious and historical importance of the Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā in their works, especially for the study of Indian religious history. The text has not yet been published. Since there is only a single surviving manuscript, dating back to the 9 ^th century, my research will prevent the very real threat of decomposition into unintelligibility of this significant historical document and its loss to the scholarly community.

In order to contextualize the historical evolution of the Niśvāsamukha as a text, it shall be presented jointly with the first five chapters of the Śivadharmasaṅgraha, a work of lay Śaivism. The text of these five chapters will be presented in an appendix. They are closely linked content-wise with the Niśvāsamukha.

• hindu tantric scriptures
• indian religious history
• niśvāsamukha
• religious studies