The aim of the dissertation is to present a critical edition of kāṇḍa 15 of the Paippalādasaṁhitā of the Atharvaveda. The work is divided into two main parts: an Introduction and the critical... Show moreThe aim of the dissertation is to present a critical edition of kāṇḍa 15 of the Paippalādasaṁhitā of the Atharvaveda. The work is divided into two main parts: an Introduction and the critical edition itself. The Introduction deals first with topics related to the transmission of the text. After the description of the manuscripts collated for the edition and the study of their mutual relationships, I address the problem of orthography and spelling in the written sources. Arrangement and content of the hymns are then discussed. The explanation of the way the text is presented and the criteria according to which the critical apparatus has been prepared follow. Finally, the methodology and results of the metrical analysis are investigated. The critical edition follows the same pattern for each of the 23 hymns that constitute the kāṇḍa. Text, translation, a positive critical apparatus, parallel passages, and commentary then follow in that order, arranged stanza by stanza. The comment deals with philological, grammatical, metrical and lexical problems, as well as with the interpretation of the text. At the end of the volume, after a list of abbreviations and the Bibliography, an Index Verborum and an Index Locorum complete the dissertation. Show less
Grammatical as well as poetological studies of the Rigveda have almost exclusively concentrated on the regular patterns of Vedic Grammar and Poetry. As was to be expected, irregularity of any kind... Show moreGrammatical as well as poetological studies of the Rigveda have almost exclusively concentrated on the regular patterns of Vedic Grammar and Poetry. As was to be expected, irregularity of any kind has always had a very difficult stand with scholars. Against the background of a highly regular prosodic and grammatical system, rare exceptions have been neglected, played down, or simply (dis)qualified as nonce formations, aberrations, abnormities, and even monstrosities. The further a formal excentricity deviates from the norm, the more likely it appears to me that this deviation is intended. And, not only is it to be accepted as intentional, it may convey a Surplus of Meaning that could not have been communicated in a regular way and by normal means of expression. All along the partly published (A. B. C. D.), partly unpublished (E. F.) articles that are united in this dissertation, I have enacted the role of a critically devoted advocate of the Vedic poet, taking sides with him or trying to do justice, in his apparent absence, to certain forms of irregularity. Show less
In Sanskrit discourse, discussions about property and ownership traditionally belonged to two disciplines: hermeneutics (mimamsa) and moral-legal science (dharma-sastra). Scholars of hermeneutics... Show moreIn Sanskrit discourse, discussions about property and ownership traditionally belonged to two disciplines: hermeneutics (mimamsa) and moral-legal science (dharma-sastra). Scholars of hermeneutics tended to ponder the question of what motivated people to acquire and alienate property, and scholars of moral-legal science contemplated exactly how people did acquire, use and alienate property. Beginning in the 16th century, however, a remarkable disciplinary shift occurred. Show less
Anyone who aims to discuss the Sanskrit intellectual tradition of the early modern period is required to preface his exposition with two remarks. The first is the typical caution offered by those... Show moreAnyone who aims to discuss the Sanskrit intellectual tradition of the early modern period is required to preface his exposition with two remarks. The first is the typical caution offered by those in a new field of research, though in this case the caution truly has bite. Sanskrit science and scholarship from the 16th through the 18th centuries has only just begun to attract the attention of scholars. In addition, the vast majority of texts have never been published, and some of these are housed in libraries and archives where access is either difficult or impossible. The second remark concerns a rather atypical language restriction on our problematic. In striking contrast to China or the Middle East, while somewhat comparable to Western Europe, India in the early modern period shows a multiplicity of written languages for the cultivation of science and scholarship. But two of these, Sanskrit and Persian, monopolised the field, and did so in ways that were both parallel and nonintersecting. Each constituted the principal language of science for its associated social-religious sphere, while very few scholars were proficient in both (at least aside from mathematicians and astronomers, and even these were very much in the minority). Sanskrit continued its pervasive, age-old dominance in the Hindu scholarly community, and merits consideration as a completely self-contained intellectual formation. With those two clarifications in mind we can proceed to ask what actually occurred in the world of Sanskrit knowledge during the early modern period, and how a comparative analysis may illuminate the general problem of modernity. Show less
The present dissertation concentrates on the study of construction rituals of the Hindu tradition, with special attention to the prathameshtakaanyaasa (the laying of the first stones), the... Show moreThe present dissertation concentrates on the study of construction rituals of the Hindu tradition, with special attention to the prathameshtakaanyaasa (the laying of the first stones), the garbhanyaasa (the placing of the consecration deposit) and the muurdheshtakaanyaasa (the placing of the crowning bricks). The basis for the study is formed, on the one hand, by Sanskrit texts on architecture and ritual, dating from ca. the 7th to the 15th centuries AD, and, on the other hand, by the archaeological material. The chief textual source is the Kaashyapashilpa, a South Indian treatise on art and architecture and ritual, usually dated 11 – 12th century AD. Three chapters from the Kaashyapashilpa, which deal with the three aforementioned construction rituals, have been critically edited, translated and provided with a commentary. In order to answer the questions whether construction rituals mentioned in the ancient Sanskrit treatises were ever performed and if so, whether they were performed according to the textual prescriptions, the information given by the Sanskrit texts have been compared with the material traces of construction rituals originating from various regions of South and Southeast Asia. Show less
