Book Reviews

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

Page 33

REVIEWS
219
In his introduction to the 1926 edition, Ananthakrishna Sastry remarked that "many doubted the authenticity of the work" (p. xxi). In his preface to the present edition, Krishna Warrier writes: "The rare merit of Samkara's commentary on the VSN (Visnusahasranāma) is that there is a singular unity of purpose between it, reputedly the earliest commentary from his pen, and his acknowledged masterpiece the Brahmasūtrabhāşya" (p. xiii). He does not indicate where it is stated that this Bhasya is the earliest commentary written by Sankara. Western scholars who have made a critical study of the authenticity of the works ascribed to Sankara do not attribute the Bhäsya on the VSN to him, although, as far as I know, this work has not been studied in particular, cf. A. J. Alston, Samkara on the Absolute (London, 1980, pp. 48-50) who refers to studies by Hacker and Mayeda.
The translation is not always carefully checked. For instance, in the pūrvapithikā p. 6: yad vihāyāparah panthah nrnam nästi is rendered by "for going there is no other path". P. 7: mucyate janmasamsārabandhanāt itīdam upalaksanam itaresām phalānām api is rendered by: "Freed: from all other effects, also". P. 9: pūjāvisesabhūtam is rendered by "form the last part of the worship". In the same section the Sanskrit text and the English translation do not always correspond, cf., for instance, pp. 16-21 and 38-42. Not all quotations are translated in their entirety and the translation of the commentary leaves out explanations which are perhaps considered less important by the translator, for instance, p. 92: prapancarūpena bhavatiti, kevalam bhavatity eva vā bhavah / bhavanam bhāvah sattătmako vā //. Translation: "Bhāvah. The absolute Existence. He expands himself as the universe; or remains as pure existence." Undoubtedly, these imperfections will be corrected in a future edition which will certainly be required before long. As are all the editions of the Adyar Library, this work has been carefully printed. It is provided with two indices, one of the thousand names and one of quotations.
Australian National University
J. W. DE JONG
J. Harmatta (ed.), Prolegomena to the Sources on the History of Pre-Islamic Central Asia. Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1979. 339 pp. $ 29.50. J. Harmatta (ed.), Studies in the Sources on the History of Pre-Islamic Central Asia. Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1979. 162 pp. $ 14.00.
Both the Prolegomena (Pr.) and the Studies (St.) contain a series of articles relating to sources on the history of pre-Islamic Central Asia. The only information provided on the aim of these two volumes is found on the dustjacket. According to the text on the dustjacket of Pr., the General Conference of UNESCO in 1966 adopted a resolution to launch a project for the study of the civilizations of Central Asia, and the principal aim of this volume is to put forward the problems connected with sources, to outline the geographical and chronological limits, and to define the methods of their collection. Pr. seems to be the result of a conference held in Budapest on 25th April 1973 on "Problèmes des sources sur l'histoire de l'Asie Centrale de l'époque achéménide jusqu'à la conquête arabe." This much can be gathered from indications found scattered in Pr. (cf. p. 119, note *, p. 199, p. 261, n. 1 and p. 275). According to the original plan, the battle of Talas (751 A.D.) was to be the upper chronological limit of the Collection of Sources but the Conference decided to extend this limit up to the turn of the 1st millenium A.D. (p: 275, note *). It is not possible to discover whether all the papers published in Pr. were read during the conference and to what extent the different authors were asked to fulfil a specific task. The text on the dustjacket of Pr. says that "these studies provide an introduction to the problems of the historical sources of pre-Islamic Central Asia." It would have been helpful for the reader if the editor of Pr. had explained the exact purpose