Religions of South Asia 2.1 (2008) 65-81 ISSN (print) 1751-2689 doi:10.1558/rosa.v2i1.65 ISSN (online) 1751-2697 © Equinox Publishing Ltd 2008, Unit 6, The Village, 101 Amies Street, London SW11 2JW. ‘This Is the Truth—the Truth without Doubt’: Textual Authority and the Enabling of ‘True’ Discourse in the Hindu Narrative Tradition of the Śivapurāṇa McCoMAS TAyLor ABSTrACT: In contrast with the major theistic religions, the highly decentral- ized Hindu traditions lack a single external authority capable of imposing stan- dards of orthodoxy or heterodoxy on all parts of the fold. The purāṇas need to compete with one another and other texts for a position of orthodoxy, and they have achieved this in part through the adoption of internal textual strategies. This paper examines one of the most important members of the genre, the Śivapurāṇa, and identiies three such strategies. First, the discourse is placed in the mouths of three ictional meta-narrators: the deity Śiva, the sage Vyāsa, and his disciple Romaharṣaṇa. Second, the discourse is spiked with ‘power claims’ relating to its own eicacy and potency. Third, strict procedures are prescribed for the public performance of the text. While not unique to the Śivapurāṇa, the combination of meta-narration, power-claims and performative prescription all serve to elevate and valorize the text and enable it to function as ‘true’ discourse in the Hindu episteme. KEYWORDS: canonicity, meta-narration, performance, power, Śivapurāṇa, textual authority, ‘true’ discourse. Truth cannot function in a vacuum, but is enabled by a complex set of social practices. In every epistemic community, the production, validation and dis- semination of ‘true’ discourse must conform to certain principles. In Judaism the canonical master texts of the Tanakh were authorized by a council of scholars at Jabneh in Palestine in 90 CE. In the Christian traditions, various ecclesiastical synods throughout history have authorized some books as true revelation for inclusion in the Bible, and have debarred others as heresy. The inal form of the Qur’an was determined under the auspices of the third Caliph, Uthman, in about 650 CE, and has been maintained faithfully ever since by the umma. The earliest form of the Buddhist canon was authorized by the council of ive hundred of the Buddha’s closest disciples shortly after his death. In these traditions, the composition of the canon and its capacity to function as ‘true’ were in part bestowed on it by authority external to the