Double Optative Suffix In Prakrit Asoka XIII Na Hamnesu Na Hamneyasu

Author(s): Colette Caillat
Publisher: Colette Caillat
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269699/1

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THE "DOUBLE OPTATIVE SUFFIX" IN PRAKRIT ASOKA XIII (N) NA HANNESU ~ NA HANNEYASU BY COLETTE CAILLAT In several passages of the Rock) and P(illar) E( dicts ), Asoka insists on his horror of violence, slaughter and massacre, on his intention to promote non-injury and dharma. He desires that his descendants "should not think that a fresh conquest ought to be made, (that), if a conquest does please they should take pleasure in mercy and light punishments (ch'amti ca lahu-dandata ca rocetu), and (that) they should regard the conquest by morality (dhrama-vijayo ) as the only (true) conquest." As he expresses his good will and benevolence - " all men are my children", he defines the policy which he methodically adopts towards those who might fear him. In ihe Kalinga Sep( arate ) Edicts, it is emphasised how, to" the borderers outside the empire" (amtanam avijitanam ) the emperor wishes to inspire confidence, to persuade them that he wants nothing but their happiness; that he will exercise all possible patience and forgiveness, that his sole desire is to see them practise the Law (dharma), as they, in fact, thanks to him, have learnt to do.3 As for his policy towards the "forest people" (the atavi) inside the empire, it is similarly defined in RE XIII (M-O). The king resorts to conciliation and instruction (anuneti anunijapeti) ;' he explains his own behaviour so as to convince them to change their ways (N, infra ) and to conform to the commendable attitude which he defines as consisting of "non-injury of all beings, self-control, equanimity", savra-bhutanan ach'ati samyamam samacariyam (0) 1 RE XIII (X). cf. (P), Hultzsch's translation, CII 1, p. 69-70 (as far as possible, the translations of Sh will follow Hultzsch). Compare J. Bloch, 125-132: U. Schneider, 117-119. The text of XIII is best preserved in Sh, the version which will generally be quoted here (CII 1 p. 66-68; U. Schneider, 69-80). 3 Sep. I Dh (E) [(Jg F)] save munise paja mama (cf. Sep II Dh D, Jg E). 3 Cf. XIII (Q:S); Sep II Dh (F-G) Jg (G-H). 4 Hultzsch's reading; but he adds (p. 67 n. 25); "Read 'nijhabeti, which is Buhler's reading ". Cf. the corresponding Mansehra nijhapayati. But perhaps the replacement of the aspirate by the corresponding unaspirated stop is really meant in this Gandhari dialect (cf. CII p. LXXXVI).

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638 ABORI : Amstamahotsava Volume Though the general meaning is clear, several details have remained obscure, and perhaps were se even for Asoka's contemporaries. For Sh deems it necessary to complete samacariyam with rabhasiye, "in case of violence", probably to draw attention to the obligation to respect this commandment, whatever the specific circumstances. Perhaps more discussions will be needed to elucidate what exactly is meant in the sentence XIII (N), (i) anutape pi ca prabhave devanampriyasa vucatitesa (ii) kiti avatrapeyu na ca hamneyasu. CumineusU. As far as the first part is concerned, U. Schneider, who has recently summarized the interpretations proposed by various scholars, does not altogether dismiss Hultzsch's translation " And they are told of the power (to punish them ) which D. (possesses ) in spite of (his ) repentance", though he prefers " Und bei aller Reue wird ihnen (seine) Macht verkundet" (p. 117; 142). Jules Bloch had considered all renderings unconvincing, and left prabhave untranslated, "On leur explique que le remords en est la cause" ( 129 and n. 16). As for the second part (kiti ... ), almost all translators understand, like Hultzsch," in order that they may be ashamed of their crimes ) and may not be killed " (" damit sie sich zuruckhalten mogen und nicht getotet werden ", U. Schneider). Thus they take hamneyasu as an opt. passive. So does J. Bloch in his Grammatical sketch, $ 40 (?). But he translates as an opt, active, "de facon qu'ils se repentent et cessent de tuer" ("that they /./ renounce killing", 129), in accordance, as it seems, with the rest of the development : perhaps a wise decision. G. Fussman notices this discrepancy, considers Bloch's translation to be mistaken, grammatically impossible, in contradiction with the basic show 5 From his note 16 p. 129, it is clear that Bloch categorically rejects the " grammatical", " translation ", and chooses to render the general tenor of Asoka's message. As a conference interpreter puts it: what is translated is a text, not a language ("on traduit toujours un texte et non une langue"), Marianne Lederer, in Traduire ; "Les idees et les mots ", ed. D. Seleskovitch, Etudes do linguistique appliquee, Nouvelle Serie 24, oct.-dec. 1976 (p. 18 ff.). This passage has been abundantly discussed. That hamneyasu is a passive is more or less taken for granted everywhere, though the resulting meaning is so confusing that various explanations have been attempted time after time. For a moderate assessment of the implications of XIII (N), cf. K. R. Norman, "Asoka and capital punishment". JRAS 1975, 16-24 ( = CP I 200-213); n. 2, p. 16, refers to F. Edgerton's review of Bloch's book, TAOS 72 ( 1952), 117 ( on hamneyasu ). Remarkably, the latter adds to his critics: I wish I dared render " that they (the foresters ) may be ashamed, and they (the animals ) may not be killed "'...

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CAILLAT : " Double Optative Suffix " in Prakrit 639 of power which is implicit and often explicit in the message of the almighty emperor.6 U. Schneider also insists on the threatening tone of Asoka's message here and elsewhere ( 150 ). But it has just been seen that the immediate context of XIII (N), both the preceding and the following sentences, are conciliatory and persuasive, as the king invites the atavis to instruction, to reflexion and voluntary amendment ( anuneti + anunij(h )apeti, XIII M). Obviously, the sovereign wishes on the one hand to inspire confidence (compare his words in Sep I and II ), and, on the other hand, to obtain the voluntary, the true conversion of the jungle people to the principle which he defines (XIII (O), supra ), and to the practice of dharma. In other words, he wants to make the demonstration of the dharmavijaya - a "victory" which can result only from the inner conviction of the antagonist - as in the case of the foreigners who reign far away, against whom he has never waged war, whom he does not even envisage to kill ( Sep II ). Given this situation, perhaps the grammatical status of Sh hamneyasu, Er (Ka) hamneyu needs further investigation. Could Bloch, a sensitive translator, have been guided by his subtle linguistic feeling? For it is well known that 1 ) the MIA passive of HAN is not always the form inherited directly from OIA HANyal te ); 2) the MIA optative of this verb shows several variants: (i) the direct reflex of OIA hanyat (Amg haniya ), (ii) the common MIA, Pa hane( yya ), Amg hane( jja), (iii) the "mixed " Pa hanne, BHS hamyye (Patna Dhp), hannye (Subasi Dhp). The question raised in the present paper, therefore, is the following: are the Asokan optatives hamneyasu ~ hamneyu passive forms? or could they be active, that is the exact pl. counterpart of Pa hanne? It will be clear that there can be no grammatical objection to the second solution. Unfortunately the Greek rendering of this part of RE XII-XIII is not known. As for the Indian versions, almost all are completely damaged, except to some extent for Er where scholars decipher ha[m]neyu.? The same 6 G. Fussman, "Pouvoir central et regions dans l'Inde ancienne : le probleme de 1'empire maurya ", in Annales 1982 Ndeg 4, 621-647. It is emphasised (p. 627); "la seule traduction tenant compte de la grammaire est "afin qu'ils se repentent et ne soient plus tues" // En d'autres termes, les ordres du roi doivent s'appliquer partout, meme chez les populations qui vivent en marge, sous peine de repression violente...". Cf. U.S. 's ed., and, recently, Ulrike Niklas, Die Editionen der A soka-Inschriften von Erragudi, Bonn 1990 (Schriftenreihe des Caulfeild-Meisezahl Instituts fur Hochasienforschung 1 ), 138-141.

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ABORI; Amrtamahotsava Volume form can be conjectured for Ka, where ...ne... is legible." The Asokan optative, whether in the (S)E or in the NW, is thus derived from a base *HAN-y-, to which the usual MIA suffix -ey- is appended. How is this HANY- to be analysed? 640 A passive form of HAN apparently occurs in REI (G), though only once, in Sh: trayo va prana hamnamti, "only three animals are being killed " (CII). But in the other versions of the same RE, the verb in use is the passive of a-RABH, (Er Ka Jg) alabhiyamti, a verb which Sh, like the versions, uses in the preceding and following sentences (F; H), arabhiyisu (aor.), arabhisamti (fut.). There is no doubt that both verbs refer to the same semantic sphere, and the reasons for Sh's choice are not clear.9 Whatever they may be, if hamnamti is a passive, it tallies with the Pa forms hannante (Thi 451), hannare (SI 76, 22*),10 On the other hand, it will be borne in mind that the OIA present forms of HAN have rarely been directly inherited in MIA. Even in Pa the present indicative active hanti is archaic and exceptional ( G 140), and has been replaced, sometimes by (-)hana( ti), or by hana( ti) (PED, s. v. hanati). Pk has the corresponding Amg hana(i), Amg, etc., hana(1) (Pi 499; 561; etc.). As for the passive, though OIA HANya( te) is continued in the Pa hannati) and Pk hanijja(i), this form is not unrivalled: Vararuci 8. 45 teaches hammai; so does Hemacandra 4. 214, who, for HAN and KHAN, quotes hammai hanijjal, khammai khanijjai. He adds that hammai can also be used in the active (kartary api), 11 a statement confirmed by the usage of some old Amg canonical texts.12 In general however hammai features as a passive, of which Pi (540) mentions several occurrences in M and Amg. In the old Jaina canon, the passive base hamma(i) is common. It even appears that, in several places where the vulgate text of the canon reads hannathe ancient versions, as quoted in the old commentaries (Carpi in particular) had preserved hamma-, 1 What is more, the Tika, the case being, renders 8 For OIA -ny-, MIA -nn- in the West, -nn- elsewhere, J. Bloch SSSS 1f. 9 K R. Norman, Lexical variation in the Asokan rock edicts", Transactions of the Philological Soc., 1970, 121-136 (122) CP I 130-143. 10 Both quoted G 122. 11 Cf. Pischel's translation, p. 160. On khammai, hammai, Pi 540. 19 13 Cf. W. Schubring, Acar, Glossar, s. v. han. E. g. in Suyagada 1. 11. 37, the editions write vinihannejja, quoted as vini-hammejja in the Curni (quoted in the Jaina Agama Series ed., p. 95, n. 2). Cf. my paper in J. Deleu Felicitation Vol. n. 61 (in the press).

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CAILLAT : " Double Optative Suffix" in Prakrit 641 (-)hannejja with (-)hanyat, thus as an optative active14, built on a present base *hanya-(cf. the Sk 4th class ). Taking these various facts into consideration, it seems possible that, when attempting to adapt the old present HAN(ti) to new models, MIA, apart from hanati, hanati, also created a present characterized by the -yasuffix, which appears to have developed freely at the Pk stage ( Pi 487f.). The Pa grammarians themselves had pointed to the existence of such forms as vajjati vajjanti alongside with vadati vadanti (Sadd 386, 22ff.). From DA there could have existed an optional present dajjati dajjanti, mentioned as an equivalent of deti dadati, again in Sadd 833. 7-8 (cf. 370. 9; G 143 d). Given all the above evidence it cannot be precluded that a MIA active base hanna- hanna- (OIA *hanya-) did exist in old MIA, 15 and that the above Asokan optatives hamneyu hamneyasu are to be directly conneeted with it. . In Pk, such transfers from OIA athematic to MIA -ya-thematic bases are seen to have taken place. For RUDH, Hc 4. 218 teaches rumdhai runbhai and rujjhai (cf. Pi. 507; CDIAL 10779); for YUJ, Hc 4. 109 registers jum ja- jujja- juppa-. More generally, Pi notes the extension of the -yasuffix in Pk. Further, various NIA verbs confirm this development. 16 Nevertheless, as observed by G (143d) and D. Andersen (A Pali Glossary, s. v. dadati), such a present as dajjati is, in all probability, a backformation from the old opt. (Pa) dajja, etc. (da-d-ya-) - an easy process considering the frequent neutralisation of the semantic opposition between the optative and the indicative. It was perhaps made still easier when the opt. as in the case of dajja, had been formed with the old (athematic) morpheme -ya-.. But the latter had not altogether disappeared at the ancient stage of MIA, and, on the other hand, the MIA inherited marker -e was being vari. ously reinforced. In particular, apart from dajja dadeyya dade, etc, or 14 16 16 Cf. Deleu Fel. Vol., ib. Sh I (G) hamnamti (supra) could be taken as a 3rd pl. active, " (people ) kill ". But the coexistence of the same stem for the passive (IG) and the active (XIII N) is not impossible, as is shown precisely by Amg ham mai. The Pk intr./passive present stems like ghummai, summai, etc., have been studied by L. A. Schwarzschild, JA 1952, 65-75, "Ghummira, gholira 'agite, branlant'". For NIA, V. CDIAL 9134 badhyate is bound'. - Altern. Page #6
642 ABORI | Amrtamahotsava Volume dadeyya si dajjasi, Sadd mentions dajjesi (370. 3), quoting Ja VI 494. 26* (Ee dajjasi, but v. 1. -esi). G (143) and CPD 17 note the "Doppelbildungen" ( anupa-) dajjeyya ( anupa-) dajjeyyama, in the nissaggiya formula, Vin III 259. 13** 12**, (cf. ib. 36, 35).18 CPD further observes the vitality of such formations, of which Hindi di jiye is the reflex. Several other examples are quoted in CPD (I p. 517) s: v. asnati19 : not only vajjesi ( vadesi, cf. supra ), but the 1. pl. patiki. riyemu (Ja IV 38 1. 13* v. I., in a jagati ), and several 3. sg., among which, in comparatively ancient verses, pakampiye (Ja VI 295. 9* v. I., anustubh ) and the probably old hanne, also in a jagati, A IV 254, 17* (cf. I 214. 34* Ee hane): panan na hanne na c' adinnam adiye20 "kill not, nor take what is not given thee" (Hare trsl. ). In fact, Pa hanne is not an exception, as BHS appears to have used comparable forms: in the 3rd 4th cent. A. D., the Subasi Dhp (5. 18). writes (han )ny( e );21 later the Patna Dhp manuscript ( 203 ) perhaps wrote hamyye, 24 in the stanza correspondiug to the Pa Dhp 10.2 (= 130 ) 11 Cf. also O. v. Hinuber, Uberblick 440. 18 No v. 1. Cf. CPD I, s. v. anu-ppadeti ( sa. anu-pra-DA ]: 204. 13ff.: "pot. with double pot. suffix", with references to canonical passages (D, M, Vin**) and Sadd 833.9. etc. Quoted in O. v. Hinuber, 1. c., also referring to Epilegomena 29. 1-4, where the five kinds of opt. are listed: (a) from -(i)yat;b) from -et; c) blend of a) and b); d) blend of opt. and imper.; e) analytic opt.). Not commented upon in Mp. Ee quotes the (Burmese) v. 1. hane, hane (cf. vihane, Sn 348b), hanne. - The metre preferably requires I --u-). Ee prints nacadinnam, and quotes the v. I. ca dinnam, rhythmically correct, and evidently to be read c'adinnam. The stanza recurs elsewhere, also with various read. ings, cf. AI 214. 34* (and n. 1, by A. K. Warder): also Sn 400 and n. 2. It will have been observed that, in most cases, the " mixed opt." is a v. 1. difficilior (not inferior). 91 According to the very careful reading of H. Nakatani; see his edition, Udanavarga de Subasi I, Paris 1987 ( Institut de Civilisation Indienne 53 ), p. 93. For the date of the ms., v. the introduction to the volume; ca. 300 is also proposed in H. N.'s contribution, in Documents et Archives provenant de l'Asie Centrale, ed. A. Haneda, Kyoto 1990 (Societe Franco-japonaise des Etudes Orientales ), 43. N. P. Chakravarti, L' Udanavarga sanskrit I, Paris 1930 ( Mission Pelliot en Asie Centrale ). p. 58, notes the desperate state of this ms. : he would read hanyam na. Gustav Roth's reading, in the language of the Earliest Buddhist tradition, ed. Heinz-Bechert, Gottingen 1980. According to Margaret Cone," Patna Dharmapada I", ( Continued on the next page.)

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CAILLAT : " Double Optative Suffix " in Prakrit 643 na haneyya na ghataye (d=129 d = Sn 705d ), to Uv 5. 19 (na hanyan na ghatayet) or to Mvu 3. 387. 13* (naiva himse), or again to Dasaveyaliya VI 100 ( na hane). The corresponding Pk forms would normally be, in the West, hanne, in the East hanne (cf. the Pa v. 1. hane, also [--]!). The above evidence is conclusive : there can remain no doubt that, grammatically at least, Asoka Er na hamnesu, Sh na hanineyasu can - must? - be taken as more examples of those active "mixed optatives", which combine the two optative markers -y(a)- and -el y )-. If this is the case, then J. Bloch's rendering of Asoka's RE XIII (N) is almost certainly right. The emperor evidently wishes the forest dwellers to conform to th rules which he has set for the rest of the empire, which he tries to impress on everyone's mind Constantly, in the earlier as well as in the later rescripts, he emphasises that it is prohibited to kill, whether "here", especially in the royal kitchen (REI), or generally, with regard to certain animal species (PE 5). The North-Western populations also, in Laghman and Kandahar, are said to take heed of the interdiction. Kandahar I appears to be particularly explicit. Therein it is proclaimed, "when 10 years had passed ", that "in regard to the eating of Lord the number of butchers.. / All the people have forborne (from killing ). And in regard to those who caught the fishes, those people denounced (the catching). Likewise, in regard to those who were hunters, they have forborne from hunting. "29 Naturally, the forest dwellers, wherever they are, are pressed to respect the same laws. Hence, they are told how the emperor, who enjoys consi (Continued from p. 642.) JPTS 13 (1989), 101-217 ( 103 ), the manuscript "can be dated in the second half of the twelfth century A. D.". She reads hamyya ( stanza 202 in her ed.). But it is not stated whether it is "because / ./ the MS testimony is clear, or because a parallel supports one alternative rather than another" (see p. 103). In the latter case, the parallel could be that of Uv 5. 19. M. Cone quotes her predecessors' readings: Shukla hanye. G. Roth hamyye, as can be seen, would not be isolated. 23 " Freely translated by G. Ito, "A new interpretation of Asokan Aramaic inscriptions Taxila and Kandahar 1", Studia Iranica 6 (1977), 151-161 (156ff.), ubi alia. Cf. also Id.. Asokan inscriptions, Laghman I and II". Studia Iranica 8 (1979), 175-188.

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644 ABORI Amrtamahotsava Volume derable "power", nevertheless is smitten with "remorse" when remembering the cruelty involved in the profession of arms and in any conquest (anutape + prabhave). What an example he sets for all, including the atavi, who consequently, like all others, should be persuaded, should feel intimately bound, to abandon their usual violent way of life, in other words, " to repent and kill no more" ! Languages Amg - Ardhamagadhi; BHS Abbreviations Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit: MIA Middle Indo-Aryan; OIA = Old Indo-Aryan; Pa = Pali; Pk Prakrit ; Sk Sanskrit. Edicts: Dh Dhauli; Er = Erragudi; Jg = Jaugada; Ka Shahbazgarhi; Sep Kalinga Separate Edicts; PE (Arabic numerals); RE = Rock Edicts (Roman numerals). Books : J(ules) Bloch = Kalsi; Sh= Pillar Edicts. Les inscriptions d'Asoka, Paris 1950 (references to the pages; ib. Introduction linguistique, references to the SSSS). = CII Inscriptions of Asoka, New edition by E. Hultzsch, Oxford 1925 (Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum 1), references to the pages. CPD A Critical Pali Dictionary. Epilegomena Epilegomena by Helmer Smith to Volume I of CPD, Copenhagen 1948. GW. Geiger, Pali Literatur und Sprache, Strassburg 1916 (CIAPhA 1.7), references to the SSSS. He Hemacandra's Grammatik der Prakritsprachen, ed. R. Pischel. I Text u. Wortverzeichniss; II Ubersetzung u. Erlauterungen, 1877-1880 (repr. Osnabruck 1969). CII. Hultzsch= = K. R. Norman, CP I Collected Papers I, Oxford 1990 (The Pali Text Society). PED The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary. Pi Grammatik der Prakrit-Sprachen, Strassburg 1900 (GIPHA 1. 8), references to the SSSS.

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GAILLAT : " Double Optative Suffix" in Prakrit 645 Uberblick = 0. v. Hinuber, Das altere Mittelindisch im Uberblick, Wien 1986 (Osterreichische Ak. der Wiss. Philosophisch-Hist. Kl., Sitzb. 467, Veroffentl. der Kommission fur Sprachen u. Kulturen Sudasiens 20 ), references to the $S. U. S( chneider )= U. Schneider, Die Grossen Felsen-Edikte Asokas, Wies baden 1978 ( Freiburger Beitrage zur Indologie, 11). V( ara )r( uci) = E. B. Cowell, The Praksta-Prakasa ... ed., notes, English translation, and index of Prakst words by ..., 2nd ed. London 1878 (repr. Calcutta 1962 ). W. Schubring = Acaranga--Sutra. Erster Srutaskandha. Text, Analyse und Glossar von ... , Leipzig 1910 ( AKM 12. 4). Abbreviations of Pali texts as in CPD (cf. Epilegomena ).