Interpreting Vakyapadiya 2486 Historically

Author(s): Ashok Aklujkar
Publisher: Ashok Aklujkar
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269517/1

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INTERPRETING VAKYAPADIYA 2.486 HISTORICALLY (PART 2) Ashok AKLUJKAR (Vancouver) 1.1 In the first part of this article, to be published in the Dr K. Kunjunni Raja Felicitation Volume, I have pointed out, among other things, that the explanation of parvatad agamco labdhva bhaaya-bejamusaribhih // sa nito bahu-Sakhatua candrearyadibhih punah // given in Punyaraja's or Helaraja's TIka is contextually unjustifiable. In the present part I wish to analyse the Tika explanation further to establish its mythic character and to account for its acquisition of that character. This is how the TIka comments on the verse: atha kalantarena candroaryadibhir aganch labdhva tena copaya bhutena sakalani bhas yavasthitani yani nyaya-bijani tany arruertya vyakarandgamah punar api aphlta tah nfta ity abhidhatim aha (at this point 2.486 is cited) parvatat tri-kutaika-dalavarti-tilingaika-debad iti. tatra hy upala-tale ravandviracito mula-bauta-vyakaranaganas tiethati kenacia oa brahma-nakaasantya (aa?] candracarya-vasurita-grou-prabhrtinat datta iti.' taih khalu yathavad vyakaranasya eva-rupan tata upalabhya, Batatan ca bigyanan vyakhyaya Cvyakarandgamo?) bahu-sakhita nito vistarah pripita ity anubruyate. 2.1. The Tka shares the detail parvatat with the verse. Its identification of parvata, no doubt based on the traditional information it had, is very plausible (see Part 3 of this article to be published in the near future). However, the association It displays with a bountain or hill seems to be different from the one which the author of the verse displays. The latter's phrase, daksinatyesu granthamatre vyavasthitah, indicates that he looked upon parvata simply as a source or location of documents in which the vyakaranagarna was preserved; he does not seem to vi least in verses 481-490, parvata as something in contact with the Vyakaranagama in a mysterious way - as having the presence of vyakarunagana in a form inaccessible to ordinary men. However, this is precisely the way the TIka author looks upon parvata; in his view, parvata is a place of revelation. Now, this type of association with mountains or hills is not rare. There are several instances in religious 11terature of knowledge gained miraculously at elevated places, and I would be surprised 11 scholars of religion have not already

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be noted in this connection is the fact that the Tlka, unlike verse 486, associated Vasu-rata, whose name resembles the name Vasu-gupta, with the acquisition of the mla-bhata agcona.? included elevated places among the locales of revelation and tried to explain why they figure so frequently in accounts of revelation. What is significant is that the knowledge gained thus is usually said to be fundamental (mala-bhuta) and is claimed to be the content of an original insight which subsequently suffered distortion. Probably the closest modern parallel to the terse narrative in the TIka 1s to be found in what has been weltten in the case of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon movement. Smith's story agrees with the one contained in the Tika in all the crucial structural elements - revelation on a hill or mountain. assistance by a super-human creature (angel, brahma-raksas), access to an otherwise invisible and long-lost ancient account written on a highly durable material (golden tablets in the case of Smith, wala-tala in the case of Candracarya), and the claim made about the discovered account that it can lead people back to the true, original understanding (b) The tenth to twelfth centuries of the Christian era, in the atmosphere of which the pika author probably lived (see note 4), seem to be marked in north India by considerable interest in rock and stone inscriptions. The Maha-nataka or Hanuman-nataka is said to have been discovered on a rock surface during the reign (1011-55) of Bhoja (De 1959: 218-20). Historians 11 ke Kalhana (twelfth century), as we learn from Raja-tarangini 1.15, evidently studied the ed icts, grants, and inscriptions accessible to them. The enlightened Paramara rulers apparently were so keenly aware of the loss of literature due to use of perishable writing materials that they got inscribed on stone slabs some of the appropriate 11terary creations of their times as well as some basic texts of biotras such as the Mahesvara sutras or Pratyahara sutras (Bhatia 1967: 94, 320, 320 fn. 6, 324, 326, 340-41). It need not surprise us, therefore, 1f in this atmosphere the TIka author or those who preceded him in Bhartr-hari studies thought that if an agama had been preserved for a long time it must have been inscribed on a rock somewhere. 2.2 We are told in the Tika that the mula-bhuta vyakaranagama remains or endures (tisthati) on a rock surface. I have indicated above that in accounts of revelation the object which serves as the immediate source of knowledge is not rarely one which can be durable material for inscribing. This is only logical, given the situational elements that the knowledge to be discovered is lost for a long time and that revelations to persons far removed from each other (1.e. repeated revelations over long segments of time) are to be accounted for. However, there could be more to the appearance of the Tika detail than the structural strains in revelation stories or the activation of a particular mythic element. Influence of certain contemporary factors cannot be excluded from consideration: (c) Conceivably, by the end of the first millennium A.D., the knowledge of the scripts in which older inscriptions were written was lost to such an extent that a tendency to view them as containing secret, mysterious messages decipherable only in an extraordinary experience developed among the people. Such a tendency is very 11kely to make itself felt in the exegesis of 486 1f the parvata mentioned in that verse was taken to be Sri-parvata (see Part 3). Since Sri-parvata 1s particularly famous for miracles and the presence of beings having extraordinary capacities, the then un intelligible inscriptions in its vicinity! could have been viewed as myster1ous writings of great antiquity and significance comprehensible only to those who possessed superhuman capacities of the mind. (a) Kema-raja, who was most probably only one generation removed from the author of the TIka," tells us in his Sivasutra-vimarsint that the Siva-sutres were revealed to Vasugupta on the Maha-deva-girt after Siva advised him in a dream to acquire the secret doctrine (written (see note 3)] on a great rock (mahati sila-tale). S The structural similarity of this story with the story recorded in the Tika or with the story of Joseph Smith is obvious. What is specifically interesting at this point is that the tradition of Kashmir Saivism, with which the Tika author was in all probability familiar, contained a revelation account in which the matter to be revealed was available on a rock. The probability that this detail influenced the TIka author's or his predecessors' narrating of the account of Candracarya is all the greater because the rock associated with Vasu-gupta is known as Shankarpala (= Bankaropala); the word upala thus figures in the narrative of Vasu-gupta's extraordinary experience as well as in that of Candracarva's. 1 st 2.3 Ravana is the composer or author of the mula-bhata vyakaranagama, according to the trka. This detail is internally consistent in that it agrees with four other details: (a) The agua was preserved in the South. (b) It was discovered at Tri-kuta, a mountain or mountain range surrounding Pavana's Lanka, as the sources recorded in

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(c) It was available, most probably in an inscribed form, on a rock, in chiselling which the Raksasas associated with Ravana seem to have specialised. 11 (d) It was delivered by a brahma-raksas, that is, by a being having genetic and scholastic affiliations with the brahmins but opposing in conduct, on account of uncontrollable pride and greed, the dharma of the brahmins. 12 Ravana was the son of the brahmin Visravas (valmlki-ramayana 7, chapters 7 and 9). The tradition frequently speaks of him as a very learned Individual (cf. Bhasa's Pratima, Act 5). However, his deeds bore no relation to his lineage or learning. 1ts original cause. According to more than one school, the Vedas appear from the pranava seed and eventually again become one with it. In the Tika account, this sarga-sthiti-laya way of thinking has been brought to bear on the science of grammar. Grammar to viewed as a body of knowledge that develops from a perpetual subtle source, is thrown in a state of disarray, and can be reorganised through reference to the subtle source. The latter remains as a constant basis or blueprint in the background. 2.6 That a brahma-rakeas was instrumental in imparting Ravana's mula-bhata vyakaranagama to Candracarya is also an interesting detail. As indicated above, it agrees with Ravana's description in literature as a fallen brahmin. What is more interesting is that at least one more grammarian is said to have become a ghost or spirit of similar sort. K.V. Abhyankar (1954) tells us that, according to a tradition current among Paniniyas of the post-Siddhanta-kaumudI period, Bhattoji DIksita became a brahma-sanandha (Marathi equivalent of brahmamaksas) and instructed Jaanendra-sarasvati, so that the latter could write his Tattva-bodhinI commentary. I shall have more to say on this point in Part 4, which will be devoted to a comparison of the Tika account with other accounts of Candra's acquisition of the agcona. 2.4 The mention of Ravana is Interesting also because it agrees with the attribution of many other works to Ravana. Sudhirakumara Gupta (1967) has edited and translated into Hindi the fragments said to come from Ravana's commentary on the Reveda. Mun 1 Jambuvijaya (1961: 150-1, 174; 1966: Prakkathanam p. 20; 1976: 498-9), and Anantalal Thakur (1961: 12-4) have gathered much valuable information on the Kacandi, which was a bhagya or tlka, ascribed to Ravana in the Vaisepika system (cf. Potter 1971: 238-9); Matilal 1977: 60-2). Aufrecht (Catalogus gorum pt. I p. 526) mentions a Sri-sukta-bhagya by Ravana, as well as works called Ravanabhait (or Chalaksana; pt. I p. 526, Pt. II p. 123) and Ravana-cetaka (pt. III p. 112). Three short texts relating to medicine, Kumara-tantra, Arka-prakaba, and Nadt-parlkpa, are also said to have been composed by Ravana (Filliozat 1937: 171-8). The first is available in several languages, including Chinese and Arabic, while the last is In many editions by the Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office (6th ed. 1976; Haridas Sanskrit Series no. 141) and Chowkhambha Orientalia (1st ed. 1975). A hymn to Siva said to have been composed by Lankesvara (an epithet of Ravana) is published in Kavya-mala pt. 1 (1866; 2nd ed. 1893). In short, there is a tendency in Sanskrit literature toward (a) confusing some historical authors named Ravana13 with the mythical Ravana of the Ramayana fame and (b) attributing works in almost all branches of learning to Ravana. In the latter aspect, Ravana is almost a rival of Siva, whose devotee he is said to be. 2.7 Thus, once one realises that the event recorded in 2.486 has been mythologised by the time the fiki was written, one sees a host of factors operating behind the words of the Tika, and a fascinating web of mythological and historical strands emerges. It becomes apparent, as the word amuruyate in the Tiki explanation indicates, that the author of the Tika is not the author' of the story or myth narrated. To a large extent, 1f not exclusively, he merely connects his traditional information with the verse. Notes 2.5 The Fika characterisation of the agama as mila-bisita befits a way of thinking according to which things evolve and dissolve cyclically. I think it need not be established anew that a dominant tendency in Indian culture is to look upon the products or evolutes in various spheres as emerging and submerging in rotation. According to most schools of Indian philosophy, the universe arises, expands, dissolves, and returns to 1. An English summary of the TikZ explanation is given in section 2.5 of the first part of this article. The aspects in which the Tika explanation appears hazy and hesitant are clarified in footnote to that section.

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2. Although scores of narrations of Joseph Smith's acquisition of The Book of Mormon plates are available, the following two publications will furnish most of the necessary details in the clearest manner: (a) Donna Hill, Joseph Smith the first Mormon, Garden City (N.Y.): Doubleday and Company, 1977, pp. 70-97; (b) William Edwin Berrett, The restored church, Deseret Book Company, thirteenth edition, 1965, pp. 22-60. ... abhagna-Sama-samvega-labdha-siddhir naridhipah / &rt-pamatadav adyapi bhavyanam eti drk-patham //. In Bhavs-bhuti's Malati-madhava (speech a ter 8.8, speech at the beginning of the ninth act, 9.53, 10.14), Kapalakundala and Saudimint, who possess siddhis, are depicted as residing at Sri-parvata. Jagaddhars, in his comment at the beginning of the ninth act of that play, observes: nana-siddhi-sthanatvena devatatmakatayd bhaganat-padan brf-parvate. The great siddha Nagarjuna is associated vith SrI-parvata. Bu-ston (p. 132) speaks of Nage-bodhi's residence at Sri-parvata. The Tika does not specify that the agama was 'written', but that would be the natural implication of upala-tale tiethati 'remains on the surface of a rock/stone'. Ksema-raja Vas a disciple of Abhinava-gupta who, in turn, was a student of Indu-raja, brother of Hela-rija (most probably), whom I consider to be the probable author of the Tika. 5. See Chatterji 1914: 26-31. The pictures of the Maha-deve giri and the rock are given at the beginning of Chatterji 1911. 6. This detail is taken from Chatterji 1911, who is not responsible for the Sanskritised form bankaropala. Chatterji (1914: 26-31 ) adds that Kallata, who was Vasu-gupta's disciple, can be said to corroborate the Siva, Maha-devegiri, and dream elements in Ksema-raja's account, but not the rock element, and that the tradition as recorded by Rama-kantha, Utpala, and Bhaskara differs in that according to it Vagu-gupta received the doctrine from a siddha. (b) General praise of Sri-parvata as a place where religious or spiritual practices bear fruit easily is to be found in: Mahabharata 3.83.16-17; Agni-purana 113.3-7; Visnu-smrti 85.34; Sivopanisad 6.189-3. (c) Other references to SrI-parvata in Sanskrit texts known to me are: Susruta-sanhita oikitoa section 29.27; Subandhu's Vasava-datta p. 100 (Vani Vilas edition, corresponding to p. 156 of Gray's edition); Brahmanda-mahipurana 1.16.220-238; Vanana-purana 45.92 (the last two According to Kirfel 1954:112). (a) Inscriptional references to Sri-parvata which indicate 1ts fame as a holy place and which I have so far come across are: Chikkulla plates of Vikramendra-Vartan II, ed. by F. Kielhorn, Epigraphia Indioa, vol. IV (1896-7) no. 25 p. 193; Inscriptions at Ablur, ed. by J.F. Fleet, ibid., vol. V (1898-9) no. 25, pp. 251, 259: Three western Ganga records in the Mysore Government Museum at Bangalore, ed. by J.F. Fleet, ibid., vol. VI (1900-01) no. 6 p. 51 in. 4 (which, in turn, refers to an inscription of 1168 A.D. found at Balagani); Talagunda pillar inscription of Kakusthavarman, ed. by F. Kielhorn, ibid., vol. VIII (1905-06) no. 5 p. 28 in. 4; Talagunds stone-pillar inscription of the time of Santi-varman (c. 455-70 A.D.), ed. by F. Kielhorn, ibid., vol. VIII (1905-06) pp. 317f, reproduced in Sircar 19651 474-9; Nagarjunakonda Inscription of Vira-purusa-datta (regnal year 14), ed. by J. Ph. Vogel, 101d., vol. XX p. 22, reproduced in Sircar 1965: 235. (e) If SrI-parvata is taken as identical with Sri-faila, (see. n. 10 below) one could add the following to the above references: Sankara, Yoga-taravalt verse 28; Ballila, 3hoje-prabandha p. 60 in Sadasiva-Sastri Joshi's edition, Haridas Sanskrit Series no. 42, 1949; Padma-purans, Uttarkhante hanter 19/20: Revhatma. chapter 29 It is perhaps revealing that in Punyaraja's summary verses appended to the TD Candracarys of 2.486 does not figure; only Vasurata is mentioned: bhratasydmaya-adrasya valydkarana-gaminah / mula-bhitam awapyatha parvatad agamath evayam // dodrya-ramaritena nyaya-marga vicintya sah prantto vidhivao odyan mama vyakarondgamah Il cf. Ojha 1918: bhumika p.2, Burnell 1878: Introduction PP. 1-2, m. 1. (8) Bana, Kadambar! (Peterson's third edition, p. 227): ort-parvatabcarya-urtta-sahasrabhijhena ... jarad-dravida dharmikena; Abhinava-gupta, Locans on Ananda-vardhara's Dhvanyaloka 1.13: na hi nirvighnottama-siddhayo 'pi eriparvatadaya iman aiddhi vidadhyuh; Kalhana, Raja-tarangini 3.267 and 4.390: Orf-parute pabupata-unti-vegain tam agatan / deakhyu abua-padakhyah siddhah kandasanah dadat //

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(according to H.H. Wilson, The Vishnu Puraha, vol. v, 1870, p.118 fn *). Fleet, Epigraphia Indica, vol. V, (1898-9) no. 25 p. 241, informs that a text called Channabasavapurana speaks of a miracle (absorption of a Prabhu into Siva) that reportedly took place at SriSaila. 10. Although Sanskrit authors as well as modern scholars have frequently identified Sri-parvata with Sri-saila in Kurnool district, it seems more Justifiable to hold that the primary association of the name Sri-parvata was with the Nalamalai or Nagarjunakonda area in Guntur/ Guntoor district (see Part 3). Several inscriptions have been discovered in that area. 11. See Raja-tarangini 4.503-10. As indirect evidence, see Valmiki-ramayana 7.7.21. 12. It is evident from the following statements that the term brahma-raksas or brahma-raksasa refers to those who bring harm to the brahmin way of life despite their association with brahminhood: Mahabharata 2.11.68, 9.42.17. 13.92.12, 13.112.40-42, 13.133.61; Manu-smrti 12.60; Yajnavalkya-smrti 3.212; Agni-purana 371.35. 13. Ravana was the name of a king of Kashmir according to Kalhana 1.193-5. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY For Vakyapadiya editions used in the preparation of this article, see my earlier publications. Details of publications are not given here also in the case of easily accessible works such as plays and puranas and well-known series such as Epigraphia Indica and Kavya-mala. All references to the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are based on the critical editions published respectively from Poona and Baroda. Abhyankar, Kashinath Vasudev. 1954. SrEmad-bhagavat-patanjali-krta vyakarana-mahabhasya, prastavana khanda - volume 7 added to Vasudevasastri Abhyankar's Marathi translation of the Vyakarana-mahabhasya). Pune, Deccan Education Society. Bhatia, Pratipal. 1970. The Paramaras (c.800-1305 A.D.). Delhi. Munshiram Manoharlal. New Burnell, A.C. 1878. Elements of south Indian paleography. Reprint 1968. Delhi, Indological Book House. Bu-ston. History of Buddhism (Chos-hbyung) by Bu-ston, II. Part, The History of Buddhism in India and Tibet. Translated by E. Obermiller. Materialien sur Kunde des Buddhismus, no. 19. Heidelberg, 1932. Chatterji, Jagadish Chandra. 1911. (ed.) sa-sutra-vimarsini of Keema-raja. The Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies, no. 1. Srinagar. 1912/1914. Kashmir Shaivatam. The Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies, no.2. Srinagar. De, Sushil Kumar. 1959. Aspects of Sanskrit Literature. Calcutta, Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay. Filliozat, J. 1937. Le Kumara tantra de Ravana et les textes paralleles indiens, tibetain, chinois, combodgien et arabe. Cahiers de la Societe asiatique..., no. 4: Etude de demonologie indienne. Paris. Gupta, Sudhirakumara. 1967. (ed., tr.). Ravana-bhasyam. Jayapura, Bharati Mandira, Anusandhana Sala. Jambuvijaya, Muni. 1961. (ei.). Vaibesika-sutra of Kanada with the commentary of Candrananda. Gaekwad's Oriental Series, no. 136. Baroda. 1966. (ed.). Dvadasara-naya-cakra of Mallavadin with the commentary of Simha-suri-ganin. Part 1. Bhavnagar, Jain Atmananda Sabha. 1976. Part 2 of the 1966 title from the same source. Kirfel, Willibald. 1954. Das Purana vom Weltgebaude. Bonn. Matilal, Bimal Krishna. 1977. Nyaya-Vaisesika. Vol. 6 Fasc.II of A history of Indian literature, ed. by Jan Gonda. Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassovitz. ----- Ojha, Gaurishankar Hirachand. 1918. Bharatiya pricina lipimala. Reprint of 2nd ed. Delhi, Munshiram Manoharlal. Potter, Karl H. 1977. Indian metaphysics and epistemology: the tradition of Nyaya-Vaibenika up to Gangesa. Vol. 2. of The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies. Delhi Varanasi-Patna Mat (1) and-

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Sankara. Yoga-tanavalt. Ed. by R.D. Vadekar. Poona, R.D. Vadekar. 1963. Also available in editions of minor works of Sri-Sarkaracarya. Sircar, Dines Chandra. 1965. Select inscriptions bearing on Indian history and civilization, vol. 1. Second ed., revised and enlarged. Calcutta, University of Calcutta. Sivopanisad. See Astavihba-eatottaropanisadah. Nirnaya-sagara Press. Bombay. Thakur, Anantalal. See Jambuvijaya, 1961. Visnu-smrti. The institutes of Vishnu, together with extracts from the Sanskrit commentary of Nanda Pandita called Vaijayanti. Ed. by Julius Jolly. Calcutta, Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1881. Bibliotheca Indica work 91, nos. 458, 463.