In Love With the Body of God
Eros. and the Praise of Icons in Southdndian Devotion
Keywords:
Śrīvaiṣṇava, Vedāntadeśika, Tiruppāṇāḻvār, Tamil devotional poetry, Sanskrit hymns, erotic imagery, divine embodiment, temple icons, Ranganatha, Vishnu, Srirangam, wasf, Song of Songs, anubhava, Hinduism, South Indian bhakti, Aḻvārs, Śrīvaiṣṇava commentary, image worship, theology of desireAbstract
Steven P. Hopkins’s “In Love With the Body of God: Eros and the Praise of Icons in South Indian Devotion” delves into the Śrīvaiṣṇava tradition’s deeply sensual and theologically rich devotional poetry, focusing on how divine embodiment is expressed through erotic and aesthetic language. Centering on the 14th-century poet-philosopher Vedāntadeśika and the Tamil mystic Tiruppāṇāḻvār, the essay analyzes hymns that describe the image of the deity Ranganatha (a form of Vishnu) at Srirangam using the wasf tradition—detailed praise of each bodily part, akin to the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible. These hymns elevate the deity's icon beyond symbolic representation, presenting it as the living, desirable body of God. Hopkins further explores the Śrīvaiṣṇava use of commentary as a devotional practice of anubhava (intimate, experiential participation), allowing devotees to relive and amplify the original poetic moment. The essay ultimately reveals a theology where divine eros, poetic beauty, and temple ritual converge, allowing the devotee to simultaneously behold, possess, and be possessed by the divine image.
