Bhakti e salvezza preterintenzionale nei Purāṇa

Epico-puranic Hinduism revolves around bhakti towards a personal Lord, who bestows his favours — be they consisting in bhukti (fruition) or mukti (salvation) — on his devotees according to the way of their worshipful approach: ye yathā māṃ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham, as the well-known śloka of the BhG runs, which Śaṅkara glosses: yena prayojanena… māṃ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva… anugṛhnāmy aham, laying stress on purpose ― prayojana. Besides innumerable passages conforming to this conception, however, Purāṇas are rife with narratives of a different kind, diverging from it under two main aspects: on one side, as the grace accorded does not stem either directly or indirectly from the Lord; on the other side, as it dispenses with the devotee’s worshipful intention, or even with his actual awareness. These narratives may be grouped under a few distinct heads: a) spontaneous efficacy of specific places and times; b) salvation of purposeless agents like animals, corpses and other inanimate beings; c) salvation of the reckless evil-doer; d) salvation of the god-hater. The present paper presents some examples of each type, concluding with some thoughts on the theoretical background of the puranic doctrines of “unintentional salvation”.