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How to organise translations or editions of the same text in a bibliography?

Suppose you want to refer to n-translations or editions of the Rāmāyaṇa or of the Vigrahavyāvartanī, what would you do? I can think of two solutions

  1. You refer to only a couple of translations among the many texts you refer to. In these cases, I would order them (just like I do for all texts) according to the name of the editor–translator.
  2. You write a study specifically on a given text and need to quote many translations or editions. In these cases, I would suggest having a separate section of your bibliography dedicated to just that. Within the separate section, I would again order editions and translations according to the name of the editon, but one could also use the name of the author, if he is a historical person. I would strongly discourage from using the name of authors like Vyāsa for the alphabetical order.

What do readers do?

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Maṇḍana on fixed sacrifices

The eight century philosopher Maṇḍana tried to streamline the distinction among various types of sacrifices he inherited from the Mīmāṃsā school. The Mīmāṃsā distinguishes between:

  • fixed sacrifices one has to perform throughout one’s life
  • occasional sacrifices one performs when the occasion arises (e.g., the birth of a son)
  • elective sacrifices one performs in order to obtain a coveted result

It is also noteworthy that the auxiliary acts of fixed and occasional sacrifices can be performed “as much as one can”, whereas auxiliaries of elective sacrifices need to be performed exactly as prescribed.
The motivator of the former two groups seems to be the fact that the Veda prescribes them, whereas the motivator of the latter group seems to be the fact that one desires their result. But this is weird, given that they are enjoined by prescriptions which have a comparable form. Maṇḍana tried to find a way to have the same motivator for all. This is how he develops his argument:

  1. Prima facie view: The motivator can only be the fact that one desires a given result. In the case of fixed sacrifices, the result needs to be something one desires fixedly, like happiness.
  2. This hypothesis does not stand to reason, because the following three aspects of fixed sacrifices remain irreconcilable, namely their being fixed, their having a result and the fact that their auxiliaries needs only to be performed as much as possible. In fact, if they need to have a result, they cannot be fixed, since one would cease performing them as soon as one’s desire for them were appeased.
  3. Hence, the desire for the result can be the motivator for the actively undertaking of sacrifices, whereas the fear for a sanction needs to be the motivator for the not-ceasing to perform them.
  4. Final view: No, the above contradiction can be avoided because the fixedness is not just something one arrives at pragmatically, due to the fact that one happens to desire happiness all the time. Rather, their fixedness is prescribed in the Veda, hence it is surely not the case that it ceases. Consequently, one just needs to correctly identify a desire which never ceases, and this is the desire to eliminate accumulated bad karman. People who are currently suffering will be keen in eliminating bad karman in order to eliminate the cause of their sufferings. And people who want to achieve new goals will also want to eliminate bad karman, since they know that this could hinder them.
  5. Thus, it is true that all sacrifices are motivated by desire. The desire motivating fixed sacrifices never ceases and needs to be identified as the destruction of bad karman, because its fixed nature is itself prescribed by the Veda.

As often the case, the pars destruens is almost more interesting than the pars construens.

Jugendfreundschaften, wie Blutverwandtschaften, haben den bedeutenden Vorteil, daß ihnen Irrungen und Mißverständnisse, von welcher Art sie auch seien, niemals von Grund aus schaden, und die alten Verhältnisse sich nach einiger Zeit wieder herstellen.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Die Wahlverwandtschaften (dtv Gesamtausgabe, 1963), 183
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About the International Association of Sanskrit Studies

The following petition has been recently posted on the Indology mailing list:

Dear Colleagues,

A number of Sanskrit scholars plan to present the following letter to the International Association of Sanskrit Studies. We think it’s important that everyone in the field of Sanskrit studies who is concerned about its future should have the opportunity to read it and add his or her voice. If you would like to add your name, send a message to iassletter@gmail.com (not to me, please). After a week or two, the list will be finalized and presented to the IASS.

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Coffee Break Conference, Oxford 2018 Call for papers

We invite proposals for papers for the 9th Coffee Break Conference, which will be hosted at Wolfson College, University of Oxford, 4-6 December 2018.

The theme of the conference this year is “Science and Technology in Premodern Asia.” We welcome proposals of papers on the topics of (1) Mathematics & Astronomy and (2) Technology & Applied Science, both in premodern Asia. The papers can be based upon all research methods; cross-cultural or cross-disciplinary approaches are especially welcome. Doctoral students are also invited to submit proposals.

Before the conference, papers and handouts will be pre-circulated among all the participants. Each speaker will be allotted 20 minutes for the paper and another 20 minutes for discussion.

We will be able to cover the 3-night accommodation in Oxford for every participant. We may also have funding to partly cover travel expenses (in principle, only within Europe), but we expect participants to pay for most of their other expenses. There are no registration fees for the conference.

We are delighted to announce that our keynote speaker for the conference will be Prof. Christopher Minkowski, Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford.

If you would like to give a paper on the theme of Mathematics & Astronomy, please send a title and abstract (max. 300 words) to Matt Kimberley, Matt.Kimberley@bl.uk, by 31 October.

For papers on the theme of Technology & Applied Science, please send a title and abstract (max. 300 words) to Dr. Jonathan Duquette, jonathan.duquette@orinst.ox.ac.uk, by 31 October.

Further information about the conference will soon be available.

For any other question, please contact Yiming Shen (yiming.shen@wolfson.ox.ac.uk) or Dr. Jonathan Duquette (jonathan.duquette@orinst.ox.ac.uk).

Das Schicksal gewährt uns unsre Wünsche, aber auf seine Weise, um uns etwas über unsere Wünsche geben zu können.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Die Wahlverwandtschaften (dtv Gesamtausgabe, 1953), 167

“In der Komödie sehen wir eine Heirat als das letzte Ziel eines durch die Hindernisse mehrerer Akte verschobenen Wunsches, und im Augenblick, da es erreicht ist, fällt der Vorhang, und die momentane Befriedigung klingt bei uns nach. In der Welt ist es anders; da wird hinten immer fortgespielt, und wenn der Vorhang wieder aufgeht, mag man gern nichts weiter davon sehen noch hören.”

(the count speaks)

Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Die Wahlverwandtschaften (dtv Gesamtausgabe, 1963), 63

“Die Ehe ist der Anfang und der Gipfel aller Kultur. Sie macht den Rohen mild, und der Gebildetste hat keine bessere Gelegenheit seine Milde zu beweisen. Unauflöslich muß sie sein: denn sie bringt so vieles Glück, daß alles einzelne Unglück dagegen gar nicht zu rechnen ist. Und was will man von Unglück reden? Ungeduld ist es, die den Menschen von Zeit zu Zeit anfällt und dann beliebt er sich unglücklich zu finden. Lasse man den Augenblick vorübergehen, und man wird sich glücklich preisen, daß ein so lange Bestandenes noch besteht. […] Unbequem mag es manchmal sein, das glaub’ ich wohl, und das ist eben recht. Sind wir nicht auch mit dem Gewissen verheiratet, das wir oft gerne los sein möchten, weil es unbequemer ist als uns je ein Mann oder eine Frau werden könnte?”

(Mittler speaks)

Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Die Wahlverwandtschaften (dtv Gesamtausgabe, 1963), 61
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Adding theism on top of atheism

The “chapter on the refutation of a connection” is the chapter Kumārila uses to discuss his anti-theistic arguments. Bhavanātha does it too, but he then adds, at the very end of his discussion:

evam īśvare paroktam eva anumānaṃ nirastam, na tv īśvaro ‘pi.

In this way I have refuted the inference to the existence of the Lord said by other scholars, but I have not refuted the Lord Himself. (NV, tarkapāda, end of sambandhākṣepaparihāra)

Thus, it is quite clear that:

  • Bhavanātha (and perhaps also other Mīmāṃsā authors?) did not understand Kumārila’s refutation of theism as a refutation of any form of theism.
  • This distinction might have looked obvious enough to Bhavanātha, since he did not feel the need to elaborate about that.
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How to address an academic

short promemoria for younger colleagues

It happens time and again that a male colleague or student I never met writes me addressing me as “Madam” (or any other form of it). This is not a crime, but I wonder whether they are aware of what they are implicitly communicating by doing it, namely that they consider the fact of being a woman more relevant than the fact of being a scholar. Fine, if you are inviting someone to the opera, but somehow weird if you are asking them to review a book, write an article or participate in a conference…