Reviews Of Different Books

SR No.: 269338
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Total Pages: 16
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 2 MB

Page 3

REVIEWS 227 mentals vgl. L. Renou: Grammaire sanskrite 3. ed. Paris 1968, S. 291". - Renou mentions as an example of an instrumental of accompaniment: na kenapi vakti "il ne parle avec personne". However, in this verse the instrumental mahibhrta depends on prapitah: 'A certain man, who, (at the order of] the king, had been brought before him...'. On p. 80 Kolver reads in Rajatarangini 8.1235 puro 'parodhavagrahavyadhicauradyupadravah: "die Leides (manifestationen wie] Vertreibung (aus Besitz), Durre, Krankheit, Raub usw. (in) der Stadt". One must of course read puroparodhao. Stein translates: "the blockade of the City, the drought, the plague, the robberies, and other troubles". The following misprints have to be corrected: p. 129, Rajatarangini 4.36 read nsttajnatvan for nsttajnatyan; p. 150, Rajatarangini 8.2541 read annais for amnais; p. 164, n. 5, Rajatarangini 7.1443 read misad for misad. Australian National University J. W. de Jong J. F. Staal (ed.), A Reader on the Sanskrit Grammarians. Cambridge, Mass., and London, The MIT Press, 1972. xxiv +557 pp. PS15.75. In 1961 Renou remarked in a review that there was a revival of interest in the Sanskrit grammarians (JA [1961], 256-57). Since then there has been great activity in this field as is shown by the large number of publications that have appeared in the last ten years. Staal's Reader is not meant in the first place as a contribution to the history of the study of the Sanskrit grammarians. As he writes in his preface, the study of the most important articles that have appeared during the last one and a half centuries is the best way of attaining a better understanding of their work. Moreover, recent developments in Western linguistics make it possible to arrive at a more adequate understandng than in the past. The Reader begins with Hsuan-tsang in the seventh century and ends with four articles by Renou. The editor has divided the history of the study of the Sanskrit grammarians into seven periods: I. Early Accounts (Hsuan-tsang, I-tsing, Fa-tsang, al-Biruni and Taranatha); II. The Foundations of Western Scholarship (Pons and Colebrooke); III. The Romantic Period (A. W. von Schlegel and Wilhelm von Humboldt); IV. The Golden Days (Bhandarkar and Kielhorn); V. The Skeptics and their Critics (Whitney, Liebich, Bohtlingk and Buhler); VI. The Transition (Bernhard Geiger); VII, The Modern Period (L. Bloomfield, B. Faddegon, K. C. Chatterji, P. Thieme, P. Boudon, K. A. Subramania Iyer, J. Brough, Y. Ojihara and L. Renou). Apart from the texts in the first group all selections are given in the original language (English, French and German). Most selections, especially in the last four groups, consist of complete articles. The editor has provided introductory notes. The Reader concludes with a bibliography, listing the publications mentioned in the notes and in the selections, an index of names, an index of Sanskrit grammatical terms and an index of sutras. A separate index of passages of the Mahabhasya would have been useful. The editor has made an excellent choice. The introductions and explanatory notes give the necessary information. In some cases they reflect the personal opinions of the editor as could be expected. The selections seem to have been reproduced from typescript. The reproduction is clear but slightly pale. It is regrettable that the original page-numbers have not been added between square brackets. This would have been useful in tracing references to the original publications which are not always easily accessible. The number of misprints is surprisingly small. The following have come to my notice: p. 58 fongeux - fougeux; p. 195 Mimasmaka - Mimamsaka. The first three groups of texts are of a more historical interest but they occupy only 64 of a total of 525 pages. The first selections are taken from Beal's translations of the