Buchbesprechungen Comptes Rendues

SR No.: 269429
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: W B Bollee
Publisher: W B Bollee
Total Pages: 4
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 333 KB

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BUCHBESPRECHUNGEN/COMPTES RENDUS
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kalpa-niryukti and the Brhat-kalpa-bhasya-which cover most of Parts ! and 2-and of a glossary of selected words-which fills most of Part 3. The Introduction recalls that "the vocabulary (- glossary, JB) is of primary interest in the present study, the text serving mainly as a reference" (p. 5). Indeed, "[g]lossaries of this kind may on the one hand Serve as an index rerum and a complement to the table of contents; on the other, they can provide the new Dictionary of the Prakrit Languages appearing in Poona and the supplements of Turner's Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages with new words, wordforms and references, and thus may indirectly also be useful for the etymological references in dictionaries of modern Indian languages" (p. 4).
in constituting the text, use has primarily been made of the 6-volume Brhatkalpabhasya edited by Chaturvijaya and Punyavijaya (Bhavnagar 1933-1942). However, since the Brhatkalpabhâsya borrows at times from the Avašyaka- and Oha-Niryukti, and parts of it are borrowed by the Nisitha. and Višesavašyaka-Bhasya, existing editions of these works have been explored for variant readings. Even though I have found no explicit remark to this extent, it appears that the Niryukti is printed in italics, the Bhaswa in ordinary print.
The "Glossary of Selected Words" lists selected words (253 pages of them), followed by the corresponding Sanskrit word and the occasional reference to commentary or secondary literature. Strangely enough, the Part no. 3) which contains the "Glossary of Selected Words" (pp. 1-253) also contains "Additions and Corrections to the Glossary" (pp. 305-311). It is a pity that these additions and corrections have not been inserted in the glossary itself. The same applies to the "Additions to the Remarkable Sanskrit words from the Commentary" (pp. 312-315) which complements "Remarkable Sanskrit words from the Commentary" (pp. 254-259)
There are other unexpected portions. The end of Part I consists of "Corrections on: Materials for an Edition and Study of the Pinda- and Oha. Nijjuttis of the Svetambara Jain Tradition, Stuttgart 1994" (pp. 371372). "Corrections on: The Nijjuttis on the Seniors of the Svetambara
-Siddhanta, Stuttgart 1995" (p. 373), and "Appendix: Elfrun Linke, Glossary of Schubring's Doctrine of the Jainas" (pp. 374-411): Part II contains "Corrections on: Materials for an Editions (sic) and Study of the Pindaand Oha-Nijjuttis, vol. II Stuttgart 1994" (p. 421). All these portions are no doubt useful-and indeed, all users of the English version of Schubring's Lehre der Jainas will wish to use Linke's Glossarys--but it is somewhat surprising to find them hidden away in this study
As pointed out above, a study of the contents or a translation of the texts was not part of the author's intention. It seems to have come as an afterthought to add a summary of the contents of the Bhatkalpabhasya and a translation of the Kalpasútra to which it is attached, for these occur Part 1 pp. viii-xxiv and Part 2 pp. vii.xxxiv, i.e., in the portions with Roman page numbers immediately following the prefaces and, in Part 1 preceding the introduction
Little effort is made to explain the complicated nature of Jaina exegetical literature. All is condensed into the following lines (Part 1 p. 2): "As is well-known, niryuktis originally may have been composed as memory aids for monastic teachers, and for that very reason they are metrical. Following the expansion of topics to be treated (brhad-/mila Imahá-)bhâsya stanzas were added. Thus Bhadrabahu's small original (cf. the niryuktis on other canonical texts like Ayaranga and Sayagada) swelled to nearly 7000." A note accompanying these lines refers to L. Alsdort's article "Jaina exegetical literature and the history of the Jaina canon" but
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This book ("The Nijuttis on the Seniors ...") contains itself "Corrigenda on my Materials for an Edition and Study of the Pinda. and Oha-Nijjutis of the Sve. tambara Jain Tradition. Vol. II: Text and Glossary Stuttgart 1994" (Bollée, 1995: 194-197), while "Materials for an Edition and Study Il contains an "Appendix Index to R N Shriyan, Mahapurana of Puspadanta Ahmedabad, 1969" (Bollée. 1994 397-418). The glossary is preceded by a preface signed WB (no doubt: Willem Bollée) which suggests that Bollée has prepared the glossary Elfrun Linke's role is nowhere explained The "Bibliography" (Part 3 pp. 261-284) specifies this publication as "in: Mahavira and his Teachings 1-8" which is of no use. The full reference occurs under
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Ciled as in Balbir, 1993: 16, where further details can be found. I find no full specification of this work in the volumes under review. The "Contents" (p. v) correctly adds: vol. II.
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