Indologie

A fresh and original translation from Sanskrit of the dashrajnya hymn (hymn 7.18 of Rig Veda) describing this defining battle between Aryan king Sudas and his Aryan as well as non-Aryan foes. The decisive battle led to the uprooting of many tribes from the Sapta Sindhu area.

Many existing beliefs are shown to be merely due to misunderstandings. Further, it is shown that the existing translations fall well short of the true meaning.
For example, no Matsya tribe was involved in this battle.

The figure of the socially-engaged detective who transcends his – a high- ly gendered agency operates here – generically-sanctioned roles as a glorified intellec- tual mercenary or “gumshoe”, solver of conundrums and “tangled skeins”, champion of the rule-of-law and keeper of the last resort, while attempting to uphold a universe of moral and ethical values that, simultaneously, do not stray too far from the high road of societal and political acceptability, is a figure to conjure within the literary history of Bengal in the twentieth century. In the present essay, the attempt will be made to study, through a comparativist’s prism, this gravitas, endowed by society, which is associated with the image of the successful private investigator in Bengal; often, his is a voice striking a blow for the spirit of rational enquiry, as with Feluda, and, in other cases, he upholds the dignity of the traditional order/s, while exposing its/their soft under- belly of moral corruption and criminal collusion, as with Byomkesh Bakshi.

L’oggetto del presente lavoro è l’aśvamedha, il sacrificio del cavallo, così come esso viene descritto e presentato nel poema epico Rāmāyaṇa.
Verranno individuati i passi del Rāmāyaṇa in cui il sacrificio del cavallo assume una certa rilevanza, quindi si cercherà di analizzare il testo per offrire un’esegesi di quanto descritto: dopo aver passato in rassegna i passi significativi del poema, si traccerà una descrizione sommaria dell’aśvamedha secondo quanto proposto dai testi ritualistici, soprattutto brāhmaṇa legati allo Yajurveda. In questa seconda parte la descrizione offerta dal Veda servirà per un costante rimando a quanto rintracciato nel Rāmāyaṇa. Il primo obiettivo di questo lavoro è assicurare che i sacrifici equini presentati nel poema di Vālmīki siano degli aśvamedha, secondo quanto è descritto nei brāhmaṇa.
Nella terza parte si predisporrà una sorta di rassegna dei più importanti tentativi di interpretazione dell’aśvamedha: per rendere il più possibile esaustiva questa trattazione, verranno anche presentate due interpretazioni del sistema sacrificale, scelte con un ovvio riguardo alla possibilità di applicare le stesse all’oggetto del presente studio.
L’aśvamedha è il sacrificio del cavallo: una pratica sacrificale testimoniata nel mondo hindū fin dalle origini più remote

Schwabenspiegel II, Autorenlexikon
Moser, Heike & Katrin Binder. 2006. »Universitätsprofessoren und ›Heidenmissionare‹ – Indienforschung in Tübingen«. In: Schwabenspiegel II: Literatur vom Neckar bis zum Bodensee 1800-1950. Band 2.2 ›Aufsätze 2‹. Ulm: Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, S. 927-934 (sowie Vollversion auf beiliegender CD-Rom).

Schwabenspiegel II: Literatur vom Neckar bis zum Bodensee 1800-1950. Autorenlexikon. Ulm: Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft.
Moser, Heike. 2006a. »Ewald, Georg Heinrich August (1803-1875)«. In: Band 1.2 ›Autorenlexikon‹, S. 42.
Moser, Heike. 2006b. »Garbe, Richard Karl (von) (1857-1927)«. In: Band 1.2 ›Autorenlexikon‹, S. 50.
Moser, Heike. 2006c. »Glasenapp, Otto Max Helmuth von (1891-1963)«. In: Band 1.2 ›Autorenlexikon‹, S. 54.
Moser, Heike. 2006d. »Hauer, Jakob Wilhelm (1881-1962)«. In: Band 1.2 ›Autorenlexikon‹, S. 62-63.
Moser, Heike. 2006e. »Kapff, Ludwig Heinrich (1802-1869)«. In: Band 1.2 ›Autorenlexikon‹, S. 76.
Moser, Heike. 2006f. »Roth, Walter Rudolph (von) (1821-1895)«. In: Band 1.2 ›Autorenlexikon‹, S. 130.
Moser, Heike. 2006g. »Thieme, Paul (1905-2001)«. In: Band 1.2 ›Autorenlexikon‹, S. 158-159.

Il presente lavoro è stato quindi ordinato in due parti. Nella prima è stato raccolto tutto ciò che riguarda l’aśvamedha, dal valore simbolico dell’animale ai paralleli con i sacrifici equini in area indo-europea, dai contributi di studio più importanti sul sacrificio del cavallo in India alle testimonianze fornite dalla letteratura. La seconda parte è invece incentrata sull’Āśvalāyanaśrautasūtra come fonte privilegiata per l’esame dell’aśvamedha: si compone di un inquadramento generale della storia del testo e della traduzione con interpretazione dei sūtra dedicati al sacrificio del cavallo insieme ai due commenti di Gārgya Nārāyaṇa e di Devatrāta.
Investigare l’aśvamedha attraverso un solo śrautasūtra ha risposto all’esigenza di individuare quella stringa rituale che registra non solo i tratti immutabili della sequenza, ma anche quelli contestuali. Per usare le categorie di Roy Rappaport si potrebbe parlare di aspetto canonico e autoreferenziale del rito.
La scelta su quale degli śrautasūtra utilizzare è caduta sull’Āśvalāyanaśrautasūtra innanzitutto per la scarsa considerazione di cui quest’opera ha goduto nell’analisi del sacrificio del cavallo: entrambi gli śrautasūtra del Ṛgveda, infatti, hanno suscitato scarso interesse a proposito di questo rito. Soltanto Pandurang Vaman Kane nella sua opera History of Dharmaśāstra ha ritenuto la fonte dell’Āśvalāyanaśrautasūtra in qualche modo degna di considerazione.
Questo śrautasūtra però offre delle informazioni assolutamente uniche: alcuni elementi del rito, come per esempio il pāriplava, sono testimoniati, infatti, oltre che dallo Śatapathabrāhmaṇa, solo dagli śrautasūtra del Ṛgveda. Proprio per questo la fonte prescelta si è rivelata fin da subito particolarmente preziosa.
L’indagine dell’aśvamedha attraverso una fonte specifica è stata dunque l’occasione per provare l’efficacia di un metodo nuovo nello studio dell’aśvamedha e del rituale in genere. Tra le tante pratiche sacrificali, il sacrificio del cavallo ha consentito di avvicinarsi proficuamente al rito dell’India antica, tenendo però in considerazione che l’aśvamedha da una parte è stato un complesso rituale incomparabile nel suo genere, mentre dall’altra ha dimostrato una straordinaria vitalità nella storia della cultura. Attraverso l’esame del sacrificio equino si è potuto allargare lo sguardo e proporre anche un metodo di analisi della pratica rituale in genere. Nel caso specifico si è individuato nello scopo del rituale (artha) ciò che in qualche modo contraddistingue l’azione rituale stessa. La stringa è cioè governata da questo principio che, a ragion veduta, può essere identificato come un elemento immutabile e rigido del rito perché non modificabile, sebbene possa essere spiegato o trattato in modi diversi, e perché attiene a una dimensione trascendente.  Lo scopo dell’azione rituale è, infatti, ciò che determina la relazione con la sfera del sacro perché produce una realtà non determinata da fattori umani. Il raggiungimento dell’obiettivo posto dal rito è una parte della sfera sacra perché appartiene a quella realtà autentica ed eterna alla quale si fa risalire la stessa pratica sacrificale. Il rituale deve allora innanzitutto garantire ciò che per cui viene celebrato: l’aśvamedha, che è possibile definire come ur-sacrificio in considerazione della sua antichità e importanza, costituisce un esempio straordinario perché è il rituale che soddisfa ogni desiderio. È il rituale per eccellenza e attraverso l’indagine sull’aśvamedha è possibile cercare di individuare il meccanismo di funzionamento della pratica sacrificale in genere. Gli śrautasūtra offrono dunque un’immagine nitida del sacrificio, proprio in quanto stringa formale composta per un fine ben preciso, l’attuazione di un collegamento con le sfere del sacro.

The Elephant is an animal found only in India and Africa. If this animal were to be mentioned in the Rigveda, it would be a clear proof that the Events described in the Rigveda took place in India. However, this translation shows that the words from the Rigveda commonly understood to denote the elephant, actually refer to another animal. This animal is not found in India.

A recenziókban részletes és alapos ismertetését valamint értékelését adom a következő két kötetnek:
1.  Az indológus indián − Baktay Ervin emlékezete, szerk. Kelényi Béla, Budapest, Hopp Ferenc Kelet-Ázsiai Művészeti Múzeum, 2014, 448 p.
2. BAKTAY Ervin: Amrita Sher-Gil művészete, ford. HEGYMEGI KISS Áron, szerk. és kísérőtanulmány: KELÉNYI Béla, Budapest, Hopp Ferenc Ázsiai Művészeti Múzeum, 2015, 36 p.

In Rig veda, Indra is treated much like a celebrity sportsperson of today.

This original translation from Sanskrit, of Hymn 3.45 of Rigveda, just as my other translations, demonstrates how lucid and lively the hymns of Rigveda are, in contrast to the almost abstract work of all previous translators.

Basically since the time of their publication it has been generally known that the Sanskrit dictionaries written by Monier-Williams (1872 and 1899) and both of the Petersburg dictionaries (Böhtlingk/Roth 1855–1875 and Böhtlingk 1879–1889) are interdependent, which no one working with these works philologically for a prolonged period of time will fail to notice. Due to its well-structured layout and its English rather than German equivalents for many Sanskrit scholars the 1899 second edition of the “Monier-Williams” has emerged as the primary – and quite often sole – source of consultation for questions regarding Sanskrit lexis. Since for the majority of cases Monier-Williams does not offer exact – if any – literary evidence for the proposed meanings translated from German, any user working philologically will have to refer to the Petersburg dictionaries for evidence. Surprisingly, this fact does not seem to be generally recognized anymore or is even challenged partially or in full with reference to an article by Ladislav Zgusta (1988). In his article Zgusta studies the relation-ship between the dictionary of Monier-Williams in its 1st edition of 1872 and the large Petersburg dictionary developing seven categories to determine the respective degree of textual dependence. In conclusion he attests Monier-Williams complete independence “in respect to the general plan of the arrangement of his dictionary, or its macrostructure; and in respect to his semantics, or the way in which he handles the description of meaning by English equivalents.”

This article tries to show that this assessment does not do justice to the actual relations. On the one hand Zgusta is making a principal methodical error in only investigating those instances where Böhtlingk himself aimed at providing proof of Monier-Williams’ dependence. On the other hand he is mistaken regarding a couple of details or draws incorrect conclusions from them. As a result, when inquiring about the meanings of a Sanskrit word derived from and applicable to certain sources, Monier-Williams is of little help and consulting the Petersburg dictionaries the best option.

Der Weg zur Befreiung. Das Fünfte Buch. Das Buch über das Zurruhekommen. Übersetzung von Roland Steiner. (Anonymus Casmiriensis: Mokṣopāya. Historisch-kritische Gesamtausgabe. Herausgegeben unter der Leitung von Walter Slaje. Übersetzung. Teil 4). [Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz. Veröffentlichungen der Indologischen Kommission]. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2015. XIX, 614 pp. - 1 Abbildung. ISBN: 978-3-447-10282-7

Abstract:
Bei dem „Weg zur Befreiung“ (Mokṣopāya), einem im 10. Jahrhundert in Kaschmir entstandenen Sanskrit-Text, handelt es sich um eine philosophische Welterklärung, die der Weise Vasiṣṭha dem Königssohn Rāma in einem langen Gespräch darlegt. Ziel dieser didaktisch aufgebauten Unterweisung ist die Selbstbefreiung aus dem leidvollen Daseinskreislauf, die nicht zu einem Rückzug aus der Welt führen muss, sondern dem „schon zu Lebzeiten Befreiten“ (jīvanmukta) ein intentionslos-tätiges, leidfreies Leben in der Welt ermöglicht. Dabei wechseln philosophische Abschnitte mit kunstvoll erzählten Geschichten, die bestimmte philosophische Aussagen veranschaulichen sollen.

Mit dem „Buch über das Zurruhekommen“ wird eine mit Anmerkungen versehene philologische Übersetzung des aus insgesamt 4299 Strophen bestehenden 5. Buches des Mokṣopāya nach dem Wortlaut der historisch-kritischen Gesamtausgabe vorgelegt. Sie enthält elf Erzählungen, darunter eine originelle Version der bekannten Prahlāda-Legende, die in den Dienst der im Mokṣopāya vertretenen Philosophie gestellt wird. Stärker als in den vorangegangenen Büchern werden nun auch Meditationstechniken erörtert. Von besonderem literarischem Reiz ist zudem die Erzählung über den Asketen Gādhi, der Viṣṇu bittet, eine Manifestation seiner „Illusionskraft“ (māyā) erfahren zu dürfen, und daraufhin fantastische Bewusstseinszustände durchläuft, die sich nachträglich in der „realen“ Welt bestätigen lassen.

Harṣadeva’s Nāgānanda is transmitted in at least five contaminated recensions related to each other in a complicated manner. The “Nepalese” recension, represented by three palm-leaf manuscripts from Kathmandu, the oldest of which is dated 1155 (or 1156 A.D.), and also the reconstructed Sanskrit version underlying the canonical Tibetan translation divide the text into six acts by splitting up the last act of the well-known “Indian” recension into two. Further more, an additional stanza at the end of the fifth act of the six-act division is found both in the “Nepalese” and in the “Tibetan” versions. The division into two acts (V and VI) occurs at the place where the Nāga Śaṅkhacūḍa leaves the hero’s parents in order to go to Garuḍa on mount Malaya. At the beginning of the sixth act, he has arrived where Garuḍa is eating up the hero Jīmūtavāhana.
This paper attempts to show that the Nāgānanda was most probably a six-act play originally. My tentative conclusion based on my investigation into the textual transmission of Harṣa’s piece is that the two “oldest” recensions of the play, viz., the “Nepalese” and the “Tibetan”, are relatively authentic – with regard to form and content. In sofar as neither of these two versions can be identified with the non-extant original text, our result is not sufficient in order to answer the question about the authentic arrangement of the acts.
One needs further to consider histrionic representations and theatrical techniques of classical Indian plays to the extent our limited knowledge permits us. The detailed philological analysis of the relevant stage-direction of the different recensions as well as consideration of poetical, scenic and dramaturgical aspects, as they feature also in other classical plays, leads to the same conclusion, viz., the probability of the six-act division.
We are furnished with an additional important argument by the famous author Abhinavagupta (ca. 950–1020 A.D.). In his Abhinavabhāratī, a commentary on Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra, we read in connection with the use of prāveśikī-dhruvās (“entrance-song” or “theme”) that the entrance “even of an important character in an agitated state, is not accompanied with an entrance-song at all, as is the case with Śaṅkhacūḍa approaching Garuḍa who is busily engaged in devouring Jīmūtavāhana”. The example given by Abhinavagupta is only suitable if Śaṅkhacūḍa actually has to enter the stage in the opening scene of the sixth act. This point has to be seen in the light of the fact that Śaṅkhacūḍa, in the five-act version, is on the stage for the entire duration of the act. Therefore, Abhinavagupta’s illustration presupposes a six-act Nāgānanda.
On the other hand, Sāgaranandin (13th century A.D. ?), the author of the Nāṭakalakṣaṇaratnakośa, knows only the Nāgānanda divided into five acts. According to him, the last fifth act was designated as Cūḍāmaṇi (“Crest-Jewel”) which could indicate an old title of the shorter act V which is found in the six-act division.

Die philosophische Unterredung zwischen dem Weisen Vasiṣṭha und dem Königssohn Rāma (vasiṣṭharāmasaṃvāda), die vor allem unter dem Namen „Yogavāsiṣṭha“ bekannt geworden ist, liegt in verschiedenen Fassungen vor, die teilweise beträchtliche Unterschiede im Textumfang aufweisen. In der Forschung herrscht weitgehend Einigkeit darüber, daß die zahlreichen Kurzversionen tatsächlich gekürzte Fassungen sind. Demgegenüber vertritt Peter Thomi bis heute die These, daß es sich bei der längsten der kürzeren Versionen, dem sogenannten „Laghuyogavāsiṣṭha“, „höchstwahrscheinlich nicht um eine Kürzung handelt“, sondern die längeren Fassungen im Laufe der Überlieferung erhebliche Erweiterungen erfahren haben. In meinem Aufsatz möchte ich zum einen zeigen, daß die Argumente, die für die Ursprünglichkeit dieser einen Kurzfassung und die These einer sekundären Erweiterung vorgebracht worden sind, sämtlich nicht stichhaltig sind. Zum anderen werde ich darlegen, daß es – unabhängig voneinander – formale und inhaltliche Gründe gibt, die nur den Schluß zulassen, daß auch das „Laghuyogavāsiṣṭha“ eine spätere Kürzung ist. Umgekehrt läßt sich erweisen, daß die gegenteilige Annahme zu unlösbaren Schwierigkeiten führt. Im Ergebnis wird mit weiteren Gründen die Auffassung bestätigt, daß das „Laghuyogavāsiṣṭha“ ein Auszug ist, der auf die unter dem Titel Mokṣopāya überlieferte kaschmirische Fassung dieses Textes zurückgeht, während die Langversion der Vulgata („Yogavāsiṣṭha“) auf einer späteren Kontamination dieser beiden Textüberlieferungen beruht.

Der Weg zur Befreiung. Das Vierte Buch. Das Buch über das Dasein. Übersetzung von Roland Steiner. (Anonymus Casmiriensis: Mokṣopāya. Historisch-kritische Gesamtausgabe. Herausgegeben unter der Leitung von Walter Slaje. Übersetzung. Teil 3). [Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz. Veröffentlichungen der Indologischen Kommission]. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2013. 293 pp. - 1 Abbildung, ISBN: 978-3-447-10060-1

Abstract:
Der „Weg zur Befreiung“ (Mokṣopāya) ist ein im 10. Jahrhundert in Kaschmir anonym entstandener Sanskrit-Text, der sich in unterschiedlichen Fassungen über Indien verbreitet hat und vor allem in der späten, vielfach entstellten Vulgata-Rezension unter dem Namen „Yogavāsiṣṭha“ bekannt geworden ist. Inhaltlich handelt es sich um eine philosophische Welterklärung, die der Weise Vasiṣṭha dem Königssohn Rāma in einem langen Gespräch darlegt und dessen Hauptaussage lautet, dass nichts, was als Objekt und als Subjekt der eigenen Erkenntnis erscheint, tatsächlich existiert, sondern alles immer nur „Geist“ ist. Die philosophischen Abschnitte werden dabei durch kunstvoll erzählte Geschichten ergänzt, die bestimmte philosophische Aussagen veranschaulichen. Ziel dieser didaktisch aufgebauten Unterweisung ist die Selbstbefreiung aus dem leidvollen Daseinskreislauf, die nicht etwa zu einem Rückzug aus der Welt führen muss, sondern dem „noch zu Lebzeiten Befreiten“ (jīvanmukta) ein intentionslos tätiges, leidfreies Leben in der Welt ermöglicht.
Roland Steiner legt mit dem „Buch über das Dasein“ eine mit Anmerkungen versehene philologische Übersetzung des aus ca. 1869 Strophen bestehenden 4. Buches des Mokṣopāya nach dem Wortlaut der historisch-kritischen Gesamtausgabe vor. Sie enthält unter anderem die Geschichte der drei Widergötter Dāman, Vyāla und Kaṭa, die so lange als unbesiegbare Kampfmaschinen ohne „Ichbewusstsein“ ihr Unwesen treiben, bis es den Göttern gelingt, ihnen mit List die Vorstellung eines „Ich“ einzuprägen. Von besonderem literarischem Reiz ist außerdem die Erzählung über den Asketen Dāśūra, die den Charakter der Welt als „Trugerscheinung“ (māyā) illustriert.

The figure of the socially-engaged detective who transcends his – a high- ly gendered agency operates here – generically-sanctioned roles as a glorified intellec- tual mercenary or “gumshoe”, solver of conundrums and “tangled skeins”, champion of the rule-of-law and keeper of the last resort, while attempting to uphold a universe of moral and ethical values that, simultaneously, do not stray too far from the high road of societal and political acceptability, is a figure to conjure within the literary history of Bengal in the twentieth century. In the present essay, the attempt will be made to study, through a comparativist’s prism, this gravitas, endowed by society, which is associated with the image of the successful private investigator in Bengal; often, his is a voice striking a blow for the spirit of rational enquiry, as with Feluda, and, in other cases, he upholds the dignity of the traditional order/s, while exposing its/their soft under- belly of moral corruption and criminal collusion, as with Byomkesh Bakshi.

Una serie di saggi, raccolti, a cura di István Keul, in un volume dedicato ai rituali di consacrazione noti in India come prāṇapratiṣṭhā, ha per tema una pratica caratteristica del mondo indiano, non solo nei culti tradizionali dell’induismo, ma anche nelle prospettive religioso-filosofiche del giainismo e del buddhismo. Secondo Keul questi rituali possono rappresentare una fondamentale chiave di lettura per comprendere il meccanismo dei cosiddetti riti di consacrazione. Il volume edito da Brill nel febbraio del 2017 ha per titolo “Consecration Rituals in South Asia” e racchiude i contributi di diversi studiosi, da Annette Wilke a Marie-Luce Barazer-Billoret, da Shingo Einoo a Elisabeth Raddock, tutti con competenze specifiche in singoli ambiti religiosi e culturali del subcontinente indiano.